A Time to Love (2 page)

Adrienne Forrest noticed her oldest daughter push past Linda and head toward a side door. “Janet!” she called. “Where are you going? Aren’t you going to ride to the Diamonds’ house with Daddy and me?”

Janet paused. “I’m not going to the dinner, Mother. My apartment’s not very far. I’m going home.”

Everyone in the group fell silent.

Nolan moved quickly to his daughter’s side. “Honey, this isn’t polite. The Diamonds have gone to a lot of trouble to provide this dinner. Since you’re part of the wedding party, it’s only right that you attend.”

Janet’s features darkened. “Look, Dad, I just want to go home, all right?”

Nolan’s lips pressed together tightly as he said, “I don’t like this, Janet. But at least you should go over there and excuse yourself to Ed and Frances.”

A wing of Janet’s yellow hair had come loose and was hanging over one eye. She gave her head a toss and said, “If you insist.”

She walked toward the Diamonds, her body rigid, and said, “I really need to be going home. Thank you for the invitation.” With that, she pivoted, gave her parents and sister a cold look, and walked out the side door.

Nolan Forrest looked nonplussed as he turned to his friends and said, “Ed … Frances … I’m sorry for Janet’s rudeness. I hope you—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ed replied. “It’s evident she’s uncomfortable with all of us. C’mon, everyone. Let’s go eat!”

Grandma Esther Diamond had prepared a sumptuous meal for the wedding party. She was a small, frail woman of seventy-five, with deep lines in her face and a thick head of snow white hair done up in a bun on top of her head. Her bright eyes sparkled as she looked the group over and said, “Soup’s on, folks! Take your places!”

She moved up to Lewis and Linda. “How’d the practice go, children?”

“It went fine, Grandma,” Linda said with a smile.

“Sure wish I could be there tomorrow night to see it, but I have to catch my train about an hour before weddin’ time.”

“We wish you could be there, too, ma’am,” said Lewis.

As the guests were taking their places, Grandma noticed there was a vacant place at the main table. “Oh-oh. Did I count wrong?”

“No, Mom,” Frances said. “Linda’s sister, Janet, had to get home after wedding practice.”

“Oh. Okay.”

The pall Janet’s behavior had put on the evening was soon dispelled as Pastor Stanford told funny stories about strange things that had happened at weddings he’d performed over the years. Soon he had everyone laughing.

After the meal was over and the women had begun to clean up the tables, the men went to the parlor.

The pastor edged up to Nolan Forrest, and he said in a low tone, “Is there anything I can do to help Janet?”

“I think you’ve done all you could, Pastor. You must have talked to her three or four times while she was still under our roof. She’s just got to get saved if there’s going to be a change in her.”

“I know. She’s really turned away from anything to do with the Lord, the Bible, or God’s people. If you’d like, Doris and I will go to her apartment and try to talk to her again.”

“Well, it sure can’t hurt anything, Pastor. Our hearts are heavy for her. Adrienne and I put a little pressure on Linda to ask Janet to be her maid of honor. We thought maybe just being back in the church and at the wedding might light a spark inside her.

“We’ll see how it goes with her after tomorrow night,” said the preacher. “If being in the wedding should cause her to come on Sunday, that will at least be a step in the right direction. But Doris and I will pull a little surprise visit on her this coming week, no matter what.”

“Thank you, Pastor. I’ll tell Adrienne. That’ll encourage her.”

When the women had finished clearing the dining room table, Frances and Grandma told them to go on home, the two of them would tackle the dishes. Adrienne and Nolan Forrest remained to help their friends while the others said their thanks and good-byes.

Linda and Lewis, who had planned a moonlight drive along the shore of Boston Harbor, thanked Grandma and the Diamonds for the sumptuous dinner, then left.

When Adrienne and Nolan were finally preparing to leave, Grandma said, “If I’d known about this here weddin’ when I left home five weeks ago, I’d have planned to stay another day or two so I could
attend it. But I’ve got to catch that train tomorrow and head back to Philadelphia.”

“When will you be back again, dear?” Adrienne asked.

“Prob’ly in about six months. I’ll come back and pester Ed and Frances again for another five weeks.”

“Pester?” Frances said, laughing. “Mom, it’s always a blessing to have you here! Besides … Ed won’t say it, but he still likes your cooking better than mine!”

“He’d better!” Grandma said with a grin.

Lewis gave Linda his hand as they stepped up to the buggy. The moon was a silver disk in the sky, spraying them with soft light.

“I love you, my darling,” Linda said.

“And I love you, sweetheart,” Lewis replied, looking into her eyes.

Their kiss was sweet and tender, then Lewis helped Linda into the buggy, rounded the rear of the vehicle, and climbed in beside her. “Where would you like to go?” he asked.

“To the harbor. I love the reflection of the moon on those deep, dark waters.”

Lewis guided the horse through the dimly lit streets of Boston. They met a few carriages and buggies along the way as they headed east toward the harbor. Linda tucked her hand under Lewis’s arm and said, “Mr. Higgins said he’ll have our apartment all freshly painted and ready when we get back from our honeymoon.”

“When did you see him?” Lewis asked as he watched a drunken man staggering along the street.

“This morning. Mother and I drove over to see how it was coming along. Are you as excited about the honeymoon as I am?” she asked.

Lewis didn’t answer immediately.

“Darling?”

“Hmm?”

“I said, are you as excited about the honeymoon as I am?”

“Oh. Sure. I’ve always wanted to see Vermont in the summertime.”

“Me, too,” Linda said, taking a deep breath. “Oh, Lewis, I’m so happy! Just think of it! By this time tomorrow night, we will be Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Carter on the train heading north for Vermont!”

There was a moment of dead silence, then Lewis said, “Yeah! Just think of it!”

Linda leaned forward to look at Lewis’s eyes by the glow of the street lanterns. “Darling, is something wrong?”

“No. Why?”

“You seem so pensive. Like your mind is a million miles away.”

Lewis chuckled hollowly. “Oh. I’m sorry. Of course there’s nothing wrong.

I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.”

“About what?”

“About what!” he said incredulously. “In case you didn’t know it, girl, yours truly has never gotten married before! I’m a groom for the first time in my life! So I’m nervous!”

Linda laughed. “Well, I’ve never been a bride before, either! I’m pretty nervous myself.”

The harbor came into view, and Linda’s attention shifted.

“Oh, look, darling!” she said. “The moon’s reflection is magnificent on the water’s surface.”

Suddenly they heard pounding hooves and iron wheels grating on the cobblestone street. A police wagon whipped past them, accompanied by an officer on horseback. He glanced back at them as he rode by. The police wagon and horseman sped toward the edge of the harbor, then made a right turn up the shoreline.

“I wonder what that’s all about,” said Lewis.

Linda craned her neck to follow the movement of wagon and rider, but they soon passed from view.

Lewis guided the buggy up to the rim of the dark water and pulled rein. “Would you like to get out for a few minutes?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. I love to stand right at the edge and watch the moonlight flicker on the surface. It’s very romantic.”

Lewis set the brake and jumped out of the buggy. He hurried around to Linda’s side and helped her down, keeping hold of her hand
as they stepped to where the water lapped the shore.

They could hear excited voices from the direction where the police had gone.

“Trouble of some kind,” Lewis said, looking in the direction of the sounds.

After a moment of silence, Linda said, “Lewis, I hope Janet doesn’t embarrass us some way tomorrow night.”

Lewis nodded. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“I think Mother and Daddy are sorry they pushed me into asking her to be my maid of honor. She certainly embarrassed them tonight.”

“That she did.”

“I’m really not sure why Janet agreed to be my maid of honor. She actually surprised me.”

Lewis shrugged.

“Well,” Linda continued, “she sure made it clear tonight that she’d rather have been just about anywhere else.”

There was silence again, then Linda said, “Lewis, I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“As cantankerous as Janet was tonight, I wouldn’t put it past her to just not show up tomorrow night.”

Lewis’s eyes widened. “You mean not be there for the wedding?”

“Yes. Especially after Daddy made her excuse herself to the Diamonds before she left tonight.”

Again they heard the sound of pounding hooves. Soon the police wagon and galloping team materialized out of the darkness and rumbled by within a few feet of where they had parked the buggy.

When Lewis saw the policeman on horseback coming, he led Linda to the street. The policeman saw them and drew rein.

“Sorry we about ran you over when we came by earlier, folks,” said the officer, his Irish brogue strong.

“What happened?” Lewis asked.

“A young woman tried to commit suicide over there by those warehouses. She jumped in the ’arbor and a couple of night workers saw ’er
go in. One of ’em dived in to save ’er while the other one went for help. I was on me beat at the time near there. By the time I got to the spot, the fella had pulled ’er out, but she’d almost drowned ’im, fightin’ him off, screamin’ that she wanted to die. While he pumped water from her lungs, I rode fast for the paddy wagon so’s we could get ’er to the hospital.”

“Will she be all right?” Linda asked.

“I think so, missy. She was breathin’ a bit shallow an’ coughin’ when we put ’er in the wagon, but at least she was breathin.” He shook his head. “Ever’ once in a while, we have somebody wants to end it all an takes a jump into the ’arbor. We usually don’t know about it till the body washes up on shore. This girl was plenty fortunate somebody saw ’er go in an’ cared enough about savin’ ’er to jump in after ’er.”

“And the man who went in after her?” said Lewis. “How is he?”

“He’ll be all right. Took in some water and got himself some scratches on the face, too.” The officer pulled out his pocket watch, angled it toward the nearest street lamp, and said, “Ain’t you two out a little late?”

“We’re getting married tomorrow night,” said Lewis. “We were just spending some time in one of Linda’s favorite spots.”

“Gettin’ married tomorra night, are ya? Well, congratulations. I hope ye have a happy life together. My Maureen and I ’ave been married now for forty-two years.”

Linda smiled. “Well, congratulations on that, Officer—”

“Shanahan, missy. Patrick Shanahan.”

“I hope you and your wife have many more happy years, Officer Shanahan.”

“Thank ye, missy,” the officer said and grinned. “Well, I’ve got to stay on me beat. You two don’t stay ’ere too much longer, okay?”

Lewis pulled the buggy up in front of the Forrest house, hopped out, and helped Linda down. When she felt his arms encircle her waist, she raised up on tiptoe and kissed him.

He led her up onto the front porch, kissed her soundly, and said, “Good night, Linda.”

She sighed. “Well, darling, the next time I see you will be through my veil when Daddy and I start down the aisle.”

“And I’m sure you will look beautiful,” he said, and kissed her again. He watched her go inside, then climbed into the buggy and drove away.

As Linda stepped inside the house, she could hear her parents talking in the parlor.

Adrienne cut off in the middle of a sentence when she saw Linda come in. “Have a nice drive?” she asked.

“Yes. The next time I see Lewis, he will be standing in the church, waiting to make me his blushing bride.”

“Sure you don’t want to call it off till you turn forty, honey?” Nolan asked. “It’s hard to let go of Daddy’s little girl.”

Linda leaned over his chair and kissed his cheek. “Now, Daddy, you wouldn’t want your little girl to be an old maid, would you?”

“Sounds all right to me,” he said with a chuckle. “At least till you’re forty.”

“Maybe your sister will be the old maid,” said Adrienne. “The rate she’s going.”

“I heard what you were saying about Janet when I came in, Mother, and I agree that her attitude was bad tonight. She made no pretense of the way she feels to be a part of the wedding.”

Nolan glanced at Adrienne and said, “I wish now that we hadn’t pressured Linda to make Janet her maid of honor just because she’s her sister.”

Adrienne’s face took on a pinched look. “I … I was so hoping that by her being with Christians in the wedding party, she might decide to get her heart right with God.”

“I’m afraid it’s going to take more than that to get Janet interested in turning to the Lord,” Nolan said.

Linda sighed. “You’re right, Daddy. I wish Joline was my maid of honor. But all we can do now is proceed as planned.”

T
HE
B
OSTON
R
AILROAD
S
TATION
was bustling with summer travelers as Ed and Frances Diamond escorted Ed’s mother toward the terminal building.

“What time is it, son?” Grandma Esther asked.

“It’s 5:20, Mom. We’re doing fine. Your train doesn’t leave for another twenty-five minutes.”

“Well, I want you to put me on the train and leave right away. I don’t want you two being late to the wedding.”

“You worry too much, dear,” Frances said. “We’ll stay till you pull out, then head for the church. The wedding isn’t till seven o’clock.”

They passed through the doors to the terminal and into a milling crowd.

As they threaded their way through the press, they saw trains marked for New York City; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Maine; Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, and New Orleans. Just beyond the latter was the train to Philadelphia.