Chapter 17 – The Best Man
Shopping for rings was long and tedious, but fruitful. Doralice found something that she liked right away, a polished gold band with a heart carved into it. I was harder to please and had almost given up looking when I finally found just the right one. Another gold band, with the Ace of Hearts carved on the outside. Totally me, yet a good match for Doralice's ring. Of course, it cost a small fortune, probably due to the carving, but I didn't care. I was only buyin' one of these in my lifetime.
Our shopping done, we headed back towards Little Bend. It had been a good day, even the encounter with Lolly. I finally cleared the air about my life before Doralice, and she took it well. I hoped that my talk with Bret went half as well. Whether he was ready for marriage or not, I was.
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The next week went by pretty quick; I was surprised. I took Doralice with me when I went to see Sam Humphries, and she found a couple coats I might have been hesitant about before. They tended to have a little more color than I normally wore, but nowhere near Dandy Jim's clothes. One was a little darker than medium blue; the other was a deep forest green. And of course, he had two beautiful black frock coats that were perfect. Three new waistcoats finished out the buying spree, but I was quite pleased, and so was Doralice. She was right, I needed to dress like I was part of the establishment, because I was.
The day finally came for Bret's stage to arrive, and I went to meet the coach by myself. I had no idea how he was gonna react, and I didn't want him to say somethin' in front of Doralice that he might regret later.
He was the last one off the stage and looked pretty good for having spent the better part of ten days traveling. There was a big smile on his face when he saw me, and I got enveloped by the Maverick bear hug; it had replaced the cold fish handshake that used to punctuate our greetings. It took the Maverick clan a while to show affection with each other.
"You're lookin' good, Brother Bart."
"Not too bad yourself, Brother Bret."
"Where's everybody else? Didn't they want to come greet me?"
Well, it took us about three seconds to get down to the subject I wanted to avoid like the devil. "Uh, they thought it might be best if I was the one that picked you up."
"That doesn't sound good. What trouble are you in this time?"
Trust my brother to have that kind of faith in me. "I'm not in trouble, Bret. Me and Doralice are gettin' married."
Bret shook his head. "You sure this time? I've heard you say those words before."
"I'm talkin' about Doralice, brother. She's not like any woman I've ever been involved with. This wedding is happening. I've already moved into her house here in town, and all my belongings are there."
"What are you gonna do about playin' poker? And if you don't play, how are you gonna make money? And how are you gonna handle not travelin' around?"
I had grabbed Bret's suitcase and wanted to sit down somewhere. "Let's go to the LB Bar and have some coffee, and we can finish this discussion. Besides, you ain't seen what they did over there."
"Declared it a public health hazard and tore it down?"
"Very funny. No, Benny finally spent some money on the place. It almost looks good."
We walked the half block or so to the LB Bar. I let Bret go in first so he would get the unobstructed view. I heard him suck in his breath and mutter, "Oh my God." Ray Ames was behind the bar, as always, and he waved and smiled. Some things never change.
"Told you."
Bret sat down at a table and I followed. Ray automatically brought two cups of coffee over, then slapped me on the back. "Heard you're gettin' married, Bart. Congratulations." Then he turned to Bret. "You here for the weddin'?"
"Well yes, I guess I am. How'd you like all the changes that Benny made?"
"Suits me fine. The place has been fallin' apart for years. Bart picked himself somebody special to be Mrs. Maverick, didn't he? Listen, I gotta get back to the bar. I'll keep an eye on your coffee cups."
Once again Bret shook his head. "Same old Ray. I'm surprised Benny didn't replace him, too."
"According to Ray, he tried. Nobody else would take the job."
"Can't blame 'em. Maude have that problem?"
"Bret, me and Doralice are just about runnin' the place. Maude's there in the mornin's, but when we come in, she's gone."
"So that's what you're doin' for money."
"I'm workin' as Doralice's floor manager, unless it's slow. Then I find a game and play poker. And if I want to go somewhere out-of-town for poker, I go."
"What does Maude have to say about that arrangement?"
"Bret, I own ten percent of Maude's."
His eyes got big. "Well, management and an owner too. Did you get that for marryin' the girl?"
That question didn't sit well with me. "Maude changed the ownership before she got married. I didn't know anything about it."
Bret looked stricken. "Calm down, son. I meant it as a joke."
"Might as well clear up your other question. Not travelin' constantly ain't gonna bother me at all. Besides, I can go wherever I want whenever I want. She ain't gonna put me in a corral with a shackle around my legs; she's marryin' me." I took a swallow of coffee. "This is the one, Bret, just like Momma was for Pappy. I don't wanna spend another day without her. And I been around enough to know." I laid my hand down on the table, the one that usually wore the pinkie ring. The ring was gone, safely put away somewhere. It took Bret a minute, but he finally noticed that I was ringless. He stared at my right hand for a long time before he said anything.
"Alright, I give up. You must be confident to take the pinkie ring off. When and where's the weddin'? You ain't gettin' married in a church, are you?"
I shook my head. "The weddin's anytime in the next few days that we can pull it all together. And no, we're not gettin' married in a church. We're gettin' married . . . on the hilltop, so Momma can be there."
"Doralice is okay with that?"
"She understands completely. She's got her dress, and I already bought rings. Only thing I need is . . . a best man."
"So get . . . oh. Are you askin' me?"
I nodded this time. "Wouldn't have nobody else."
"I'm honored. And of course I'll do it. Who's gonna give the bride away?"
"Nobody. It's a long story, but she prefers it that way. And it's her decision to make."
"Explain it to me sometime. Right now I'd like to go make sure the bride-to-be knows what she's gettin' into. I promise I won't try to discourage her." His eyes twinkled as he asked me the next question. "You got an office, Mr. Floor Manager?"
"Nope. Not yet. We'll have to wait and see what happens."
"Let's go then. You can pay for the coffee."
Like I said before, some things never change.
