Lucky to be loving you

Chapter 20

Page 58

Just as Rosemary planned, the extravagant bridal shower for Fiona was quite the talk of the town. The ladies were very flattered to have a driver in a Rolls Royce pull up to their house and have the door of the automobile opened by the driver awaiting her presence. Each Rolls Royce held 3 ladies which meant that there was quite the caravan processing out of town headed to the Clubhouse of the Clearwater Country Club. Each of the ladies wore their Sunday best including their beads, hats, and pumps. It was if there was a fashion show going on with the ladies decked out in their finest.

Ruth Scholl was delighted to have such a fancy shower and had gladly agreed to help with the expense, but she did tell her son, "James, I don't know if Fiona will appreciate all this fuss, but Rosemary went through all this trouble, so I agreed."

James reassured her, "Mother, Fiona is used to Rosemary's extravagant vision for events. Many times she has been a big help for Fiona with several of the community doings, so not to worry. It's part of what we've come to expect with Rosemary at the helm."

"Well, if you're sure, dear," Ruth smiled, "it's my pleasure."

James patted his mother's hand and walked her to the Rolls Royce, "now, have a wonderful time and enjoy yourself!"

Fiona had asked her matron of honor, Christy, to ride with her and Ruth Scholl. James caught a glimpse of Fiona and blew her a kiss which was immediately returned.

Patrick had proven to have a foracious appetite and had kept his mom busy.

Christy was beside herself. Never in her imagination did she ever dream of riding in a Rolls Royce. Even though she had to leave Timi Anne, and baby Patrick with Rick and his parents, she was looking forward to this time to just being with the other ladies. Patrick had proven to have a foracious appetite and had kept his mom busy. Lucky for Patrick she had an overabundance of milk and was able to express enough for a few bottles. Now she was enjoying looking out the window and seeing the scenery as they drove to Clearwater.

Fiona was happy as a lark pointing out various spots of interests along the way to her future mother-in-law. When they arrived at the Clubhouse, the ladies all had the doors of the Rolls Royce opened for them as the driver held out his gloved hand to help each of his riders out. Once all of them were gathered together they went up the stairs to the magnificient Clubhouse as the drivers parked. As they approached they could hear the lively music of the orchestra playing.

Brook felt out of place, but Violet, Ruth and Elsa were with her and let her know they would stay by her side and were ushered to one of the reserved tables.

Soon Minnie, Elizabeth, Dee, and Rosemary were seated close to them followed by Flo, Dottie, Molly, and Faith. Bertie, Emily, Mary and Gail sat together, and Katie, Rosaleen, Debra stayed together and Maggie, Lisa, and Lana were the younger groups. Clara joined Christy, Ruth and Fiona at the main table.

The ladies were treated to a champagne brunch of quiche lorraine, sliced fried potatoes, fruit salad, shrimp cocktail, cheese blintzes, deviled eggs, hot rolls, cheese platter, and tiny tea cakes.

Minnie offered to say grace before they began to eat, and caught some off guard who had already began.

When she finished, it was a perfect time for Christy to stand up and clink her glass with her fork getting everyone's attention, "I'd like to thank Rosemary for all her hard work in planning this lovely shower and for Mrs. Ruth Scholl who provided this for all of us to enjoy today."

With that everyone clapped. Christy continued, "Most of you know that I had nowhere to go when I first came to town with my newborn baby Timi Anne. It was a difficult time for me, but Fiona was there for me right away. She gave me a warm welcome and opened her home for me and Timi Anne. Not only was she a gracious host, but she also taught me how to cut and style hair and other services Nichols and Dimes provides so I could learn to provide for my daughter." Christy began to be choked up.

Walking over to Fiona, she put her hand on Fiona's shoulder, then continued looking directly at her, "You are like a big sister to me and I couldn't have asked for a better friend. I am honored to be your matron of honor. I love you!"

Fiona now had tears in her eyes and squeezed Christy's hand. The two looked at each other laughing and crying at the same time.

When Christy took a deep breath, she looked at the other ladies and raised her glass, "Here's to Fiona, not only a great mayor, but a beautiful lady and friend. May you enjoy a long and blessed life with Dr. James!"

With that, "Here, here!" was joyfully expressed around the room.

Fiona stood up, "Thank you ladies very much. I'm so happy to be with you all. Now, please enjoy your luncheon!"

"Oh my, I feel like royalty!" Ruth exclaimed.

Violet nodded in agreement, "This is fancier than I ever tasted!"

"I don't even know how to pronounce the name of the food, neverless, eat any of it," Brook giggled.

The younger ladies watched the older ladies for the proper way of using their utensils and how delicately they ate.

"This is a lesson we could teach the girls when we have our next Girl Guides meeting," Katie suggested to Rosaleen and Debra who both nodded in agreement.

While they were all enjoying their luncheon, Marion Harris came on stage to join the orchestra. The ladies were fascinated with her reportraire of songs. From, "After Your Gone", "Some Sunny Day", "Tea for Two", and "The Man I Love." She was an incredible singer and Rosemary glowed with pride for getting her to perform.

Page 59

The day of the wedding for Fiona and James arrived. Even though it had been such a whirlwind of activities from Thanksgiving on, it was finally here on this beautiful day. Although it had been a bitterly cold January, it was if the warmth of the south had blown into the little town of Hope Valley, parted the clouds, and allowed the sun to take over!

When Fiona woke up and pulled her bedroom curtains aside looking out she gasped with delight. Seeing the sun after weeks of cloudy, snowy days spoke loud and clear to her that God had blessed this day for her and James.

Just the presense of her brothers and now her father meant the world to her. How she wanted her family to be together again, and now they finally were here celebrating her marriage. Her father, Ronald Miller, who she'd refer to as her daddy when it was just the two of them, had come to not only support his daughter and give her away, but to meet the man whom she had fallen head over heels in love with. Ronald was proud of the strong, independent woman Fiona had become. Although she had originally followed in her dad's footsteps learning all she could about the new telephone industry which picqued her interest, she also adapted when she was let go of the telephone industry company. She pursued her other talent working with hair, and later self-taught herself the care and nourishment of facials and nails.

Never known to be a quitter she opened her new business, Nichols and Dimes, which became a relied-on business that was needed in the ever-growing town of Hope Valley. So much so, that when Christy came into her life, that became a mutual blessing for both ladies. Christy was young and eager to provide for her daughter, becoming a quick learner and eventually Fiona could depend on her for running the salon when she couldn't be there. Knowing that she'd be counting on her for a few weeks while honeymooning in Europe with James, compliments of Robert and Ruth Scholl, she was confident everything would run as smoothly as if she was there.

She would miss being home as she had grown so fond of everyone there and they of her. Being the Mayor proved to be an exciting, ambitious, yet exhausting responsiblity at times, but so well worth it. However, enjoying the sites of Paris, Rome, the Alps, and more with her new husband promised to be a dream come true.

Turning back to her bedroom, she noticed that her time with Christy that morning was going to be coming up quickly. She would be doing Christy's hair then Christy would be having Christy do her hair. They had already done their nails the day before in preperation for the Bridal shower and they still looked good.

When they arrived back to town after the shower and Fiona was driven to her home, she was surprised to see her father waiting for her inside. It was just the two of them as her brothers and Carl, James brother, had gone to James' bachelor party at the Benson Hills Inn where James himself was a regular entertainer, but not that night. That night all the brothers were in together on reserving Flamin' Mamie to entertain. They had heard what a wild show she put on, and wanted James to loosen up and have a good time. He pretended the show was entertaining, but not one he enjoyed. James was a one-lady man, and this woman who was dragging her scarf across his lap and face seemed harmless, but it made him uncomfortable and all he could think about was Fiona. Being a good sport he laughed with the rest of them, but when she sat on his lap and began running her hands through his hair, he pretended to sneeze, claiming he must be allergic to her perfume. Startled, she got up and back away but continued to sing her sultry song, but from a distance. James was relieved his sneezing worked so he added a few sneezes in as extra emphasis.

Back at Fiona's house, her father waited for his precious daughter.

"Daddy!" Fiona exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

As she quickly took off her coat and sat on the sofa next to her father, giving him a big hug, he had tears in his eyes. Holding his daughter after so many years, made him burst with emotion, "Fiona, you are a sight for sore eyes!"

After such a long embrace, the two were both shedding tears and wiping their eyes, staring at each other. Ronald cupped his daughter's face in his hands and spoke, "Honey, I'm so sorry I haven't been up here before to see you. As usual I've been consumed with work, but now that I'm retiring and Stephen is moving up the ladder he'll be stepping into my position."

"Oh Daddy, I hope that means you will be up here to visit! James is such a good man, and you're going to love him!" Fiona said excitedly.

"You can plan on it, sweetheart."

Fiona laid her head on her father's shoulder hugging him tightly, "I was beginning to worry that I would have to have Charlie walk me down the aisle," she laughed.

"Honey, I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world! You know your brothers, they just couldn't wait to get here, so they went ahead of me. I took the next train I could. With the boys staying at Billees, I was told that I could stay with you. So, I took my luggage upstairs to your guest room and made myself at home. I hope that's all right?"

"All right? Yes! Of course, that's more than all right." Fiona laughed.

The two of them talked the rest of the night catching up on what was going on in each other's lives. Even though it was cold outside, inside Fiona's home was the sweet warmth of love.

So when she woke up and looked outside at the beautiful sun that had beckoned her awake, she knew her father was in the other room as she could hear his snoring. She had forgotten all about that, until now, but it made her smile.

Page 60

Fiona skipped lightly down the stairs carrying her robe to the bathroom, hoping not to wake her father. She heated her biggest pot full of water on the stovetop. Then she proceeded to the fireplace where she placed a few logs and some kindling in the pit and started a fire. Luckily, there were still embers from last night when she and her father had stayed up talking much too long. Stoking the embers with the poker she managed to get a fairly strong fire started up.

Rubbing her hands over the warmth rising up from the fireplace she thought about what a wonderful night she had with her father reminiscing, laughing, and even shedding a few tears, which proved good for the soul. The memories were flowing from the two of them like a waterfall. It was no wonder they stayed up so long. Even though she had shared how much she had wished her mother was there to share this moment with her, it was cathartic to finally feel this was the right time to talk with her father about what was in her heart. She spoke with deep emotion about how much she loved James and how she knew he was the one.

As she felt the warmth heating up the room and heard the water bubbling on the stove, she snapped out of her thoughts and scurried to the stove and carried the big pot to the bathtub. Pouring the hot water into the rest of the water, she gingerly poked her toes in and gradually got in the tub.

Meanwhile, Ronald woke up and went downstairs. Knocking on the door, he checked to see if his daughter was occupying the room, but he heard her singing away.

"Daddy?" she stopped and called.

"Yes, Fiona, it's your old man. I should've known you would have gotten the fire going. That's my girl," he chuckled. Shuffling off to the kitchen he got busy making coffee and breakfast.

It wasn't long before Fiona came out in her robe. "Daddy, that felt so good," she smiled.

"I could tell by your singing."

Fiona laughed, "Christy should be coming over here soon. If she does, please send her upstairs to my room," she said as she kissed her dad on his cheek.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"Oh, just a cup of coffee, right now," she answered as she poured two cups one for her and one for her father. "I can't think about eating until my stomach settles down."

Upstairs, Fiona took out her cosmetic and hairstyle bags setting them next to the vanity. Unwrapping the towel off her head, she began to brush out her hair when she heard her father opening the door.

Shortly, Christy came bubbling in her bedroom and the excitement in her voice was contagious, "There's the bride-to-be!"

Christy hung up her matron of honor dress next to Fiona's gown. Fiona stood up and gave her good friend a big hug as they both giggled with glee.

"I brought you up some toast. Your dad insisted you eat a little something, He's right you know," Christy nodded.

Fiona nodded, "He's always right," she smiled.

"Okay, Okay, let's get the bride ready to meet her groom!" Christy declared.

With that the two ladies got busy taking turns spiffing each other up with facials, make up, and hairstyles.

Over at Billees, Fiona's brothers were slowly getting up with a struggle after such a late and boisterous bachelor party. Enduring their headaches, they stretched and yawned, but Charlie looked out the window, which was a big mistake.

"Dang, the sun is so bright!" Charlie said as he pulled the curtains closed, "Thank goodness this isn't a morning wedding!"

"Let me check out your hair and beard," Adam called out to his brothers. "It's a good thing I'm a barber or you guys would look like you just got out of bed."

"Well, we did," laughed Steven.

At Benson Hills Inn, Robert and Ruth Scholl were preparing for their son's wedding. They had invited some good family friends and relatives, so the entire second floor was filled with guests. The Scholls explained to their guests that the Community Church of Hope Valley was too small for them all and apologized. However, they had rented out the Benson Hills Inn Grand Ballroom for the reception, so they were looking forward to the dinner dance. In the meantime, their guests could enjoy an elegant buffet luncheon in the Princess Room.

Meanwhile, James was thankful that he hadn't over-indulged at his party last night. Most everyone enjoyed themselves, some more than others, he chuckled, but now he was focused on becoming Fiona's husband, to have and to hold from this day forward! He was up and just about ready when he stopped to wake up his brother, Carl.

"Hey bro, are you going to sleep all day and miss my wedding?" he teased as he shook his shoulder. "You're my best man!"

"James, hey man, I need my beauty sleep," Carl retorted.

"Yeah, well, that'll take too long, get up now and get cleaned up," James chided, "I'm counting on you to get me to the church on time!"The ding-dong of the church bells began to clang. People knew this was the time the town had been waiting for. Their mayor was getting married! Excitement was in the air