Designed to Love (8 page)

"Liz, I'm sorry, I just didn't think it
would be a big deal. It's just a book," Alisha responds, looking
hurt and confused.

"It's not just any book. It was my dad's,"
Liz replies, raising the book and shaking it in front of Alisha's
face. Elizabeth doesn't bother acknowledging Ronan and me when we
walk in the room. She stares coldly at Alisha, her face still red
with anger, and before Alisha can respond, she abruptly turns and
stomps out of the room, leaving the three of us standing there in
stunned silence.

"Wow, what was that all about?" Ronan
asks.

Alisha shakes her head in disbelief. "I'm
not sure I really know."

This is the second time since Thanksgiving
that Elizabeth has lost her temper for a seemingly minor offense
and the behavior is so out of character for her that we all express
the same concern. The first time, she jumped down Burke's throat
for leaving his dirty dishes in the sink, and now two days later,
Alisha is getting it.

***

"Tell me again what's going to happen in
three days," Ronan whispers in my ear, as I sit on his lap watching
Claire out the window with Midnight Star, the black gelding,
quarter horse, given to her as a birthday gift.

"I'm not saying it again. I've already told
you ten times now," I say, trying to sound stern.

"Come on, just one more time and I'll leave
you alone," he softly pleads.

"All right," I sigh, "Three days from now, I
am going to teach you how to do laundry correctly," I say and I
feel his chest shake as he silently laughs and then says,
"Nope."

"Okay, now I remember. We are going shopping
for a Christmas tree."

"You better say it, or I'll tickle you," he
threatens, applying pressure just under my rib cage," making me
giggle already.

"Um, we are going to take Claire to see the
Saturday matinee?" I manage to get out, before he has me on the
ground, tickling me to the point that I almost wet my pants from
laughing so hard.

"Say it out loud, Cataryn," he orders,
laughing along with me.

"Okay! Okay!" I beg him. "Three days from
now, I am going to become Mrs. Callahan. There, are you satisfied?"
I shout.

"For now," he says, standing up and reaching
down to give me a hand up. He's grinning ear to ear and it's hard
to pretend that I'm annoyed, but I give it my full effort, lightly
pushing him aside to resume watching Claire with Midnight.

It seems surreal that in just a few days, I
will officially be, Mrs. Ronan Callahan. Remarkably, I have no
anxiety or second thoughts. In fact, Elizabeth and Alisha keep
commenting on how calm I am. My biggest concern right now is
waiting to hear back from Tucker. I asked him to walk me down the
aisle at our wedding and he got all sentimental. He said he needed
to make arrangements for his parents' music store, as December was
one of the busiest times of the year, but would be calling sometime
today to confirm. He is the only outside friend that I have
invited, as the Harolds are for Ronan. With my parents' missionary
work, we traveled all over, and the handful of friends that they
made along the way, had slowly disappeared after my parents' death.
Not one of them offered their assistance when we were thrown into
the foster care system, and as much as I hated admitting it, I
still harbored some resentment.
A small,
intimate wedding is perfect,
I think to myself, smiling
happily.

***

Any other six-year-old, trying to climb on a
horse's back, without a bridle or saddle, would have been cause for
concern, especially given the previous owner's disclosure about
Midnight's behavior issues. The 360 Horse Ranch had the best
selection of quarter horses in Montana; each one profiled in detail
on their website. With the help of horse expert, Jeanne Funston,
the choice had been narrowed down to two kid appropriate horses,
both of which she agreed to bring to Canada for Claire to choose
one. But three days before the departure, Claire made an
unannounced visit to the facility, using her gift for remote
travel, and handpicked Midnight Star, one of the few horses not
even offered for sale. Just to appease Claire, the Funstons agreed
to bring Midnight along with the other two. I'm sure they had every
intention of bringing him home with them once we saw how
inappropriate he was for a six-year-old. Of course, the rest of us
knew it would end differently, and now as we watch Claire take her
sixth running leap for Midnight's back, we all agree he is well
worth the money spent.

Having feline DNA helps Claire easily scale
Midnight's back, but the ski outfit she's wearing, makes staying on
his back nearly impossible. If Midnight is bothered at all by her
futile attempts, it doesn't show. He looks back at her with mere
curiosity, occasionally shifting his weight and swishing his tail.
Brandon is on standby, ready to catch her if she overshoots her
target, but each time she slips, he doubles over in a fit of
laughter. The rest of us are inside, crowded around a large picture
window, watching the scene below with a similar level of
amusement.

"Maybe we should just have her take her ski
pants off," Elizabeth says, and the rest of us shake our head
"no".

"This is too much fun to watch," Burke says,
chuckling.

Claire glances up at the window and her face
sours when she sees the rest of us laughing as well. She makes two
more failed attempts to mount Midnight's back, and then stands back
with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at a hysterical
Brandon. We're still watching when she gives a slight wave of her
hand and Brandon's feet fly out from under him, like an invisible
carpet had been plucked from beneath his feet. Everyone inside
says, "Ouch," at the same time, and when she looks up at us again,
there is an expression of triumph and satisfaction, as if daring
any one of us to laugh at her now.

***

All flights into Calgary International
Airport are delayed by at least forty-five minutes, and as eager as
I am to see Tucker, I can't help but appreciate the extra time out
of the house. Elizabeth has been unusually irritable with just
about everyone, including Michael and I can't help but feel that my
wedding has something to do with it.

"Let it go. If she's uptight about our
wedding, then that's her problem, not yours," Ronan says in his
ever so practical way. "But, you know...if you really want to, we
could get a hotel and stay in town tonight," he hints, making me
suddenly blush.

"It's the only chance I'll have to see
Tucker though," I say already feeling torn. We hadn't made a
decision to be virgins on our wedding night, but now that we were
officially "safe", we had no time to ourselves. Burke's parents
came into town two days ago, and both nights we stayed up past
midnight talking to them.

"What's one more night?" I say kissing him
lightly. When he pulls me in close and wraps his arms around my
waist, it makes one more night seem like an eternity.

***

I had a hunch that Tucker would be one of
the first passengers to exit the plane, since Ronan had purchased
his ticket. The thought of anything other than a first class seat,
probably never even crossed his mind. When Tucker sees us, he grins
broadly and holds his arms open to receive first me, then Ronan, in
a hug. Tucker and I formed a bond almost instantly on the first day
of school and having him walk me down the aisle was the next best
thing to having my own brother Chord give me away.

"All right, let's hear it," Tucker says once
we're in the car.

"Hear what, Tuck?" I ask innocently.

"Let's hear all about the wedding details,"
he says impatiently. "The dress, the hair, the food, the cake, you
know...all the wedding stuff," he says, rubbing his hands
together.

"Tucker, I told you, I was going to wear
sweats on my wedding day," I say convincingly, and Ronan instantly
catches on.

"Yeah, we decided to have a sports themed
wedding day, keep it casual you know. You can wear either shorts or
sweats, although personally I think it's going to be a little
chilly for shorts."

Tucker's face falls. "You're kidding right?"
he says, glancing at the garment bag holding his suit.

Ronan plays the part well. Keeping a
straight face, he looks in his review mirror at the two of us in
the back seat and with a concerned expression says, "It's okay if
you didn't bring shorts Tucker, I have an extra pair that you can
borrow."

I take a deep breath, bite my lower lip and
glance out the window to keep from laughing.

Tucker looks perplexed and shaking his head,
mutters "I guess I could wear my swim trunks."

Ronan and I bust up laughing at the same
time and Tucker, looking first embarrassed, then relieved, throws
one of his complimentary airline peanuts at me, threatening future
paybacks.

After regaining Tucker's trust, we do fill
him in on the details of the wedding, with the exception of my
dress and hair. "For that you both will just have to wait and see,"
I say teasingly, and catch Ronan looking in the review mirror with
one brow raised.

***

Brandon made reservations at one of the
fanciest restaurants in Calgary for our pre-wedding dinner and with
Tucker's flight being delayed, we have just enough time to make it
there without being late. Of course, we are completely underdressed
for the place, but nonetheless we were treated like celebrities and
ushered into a private back room where the others are waiting.
Tucker is introduced to the rest of the group and Claire comes up
and greets him with a hug. I catch him glancing around the table at
the Designers and although I know he would never say anything, I
can tell he's made the correlation that they all carry the same
unusual exotic eye characteristics. Someday, I would fill him in on
the truth, but not tonight.

By the time we complete the five course
dinner and make it back to the house, everyone is yawning and
Claire is sound asleep on Elizabeth's shoulder. I'm exhausted as
well, but when Tucker pulls out his guitar, I can't resist bringing
mine out too. We entertain the others singing one song after
another and even coax them into singing along on a few. It is well
after midnight, by the time we go to bed.

***

I've been told that most brides don't sleep
very well on the night before their wedding, so I am shocked when I
sleep soundly and don't wake up once until after nine o'clock the
next morning. Even before I open my eyes, I sense that Ronan is
gone. In his place is a red rose with a note attached to his
pillow.

My beautiful Cataryn,

No man has ever loved a woman,
more than I love you,

And I'll spend the rest of my life
proving it!

Forever,

Ronan

"Oh, no you don't, Mr. Romance DNA," I
mutter. He made a bet with me that he could get me to cry before I
walked down the aisle today and it seems he was starting early in
his efforts. Before I even have a chance to get out of bed, there
is a faint knock on the bedroom door then Claire enters, carrying a
tray which she places down on the bed next to me.

"Ronan wanted you to have breakfast in bed,"
she says smiling and pulling the cover off the plate with a bagel
and a hardboiled egg. Next to the plate, is another long stemmed
red rose and a folded note that reads:

My dearest Cataryn,

Your happiness is my happiness.
Your sorrow is my sorrow

And, your dreams are my dreams.
You own a part of my heart

And, will live inside
me...always!

Eternally yours,

Ronan

"I'll get you for this, Mr. Callahan," I
whisper, blinking back tears as I take a bite of bagel. Claire
smiles knowingly, but when I start to question her, she quickly
gets up and skips to the door, saying she has to help Alisha with
the flowers.

"Yeah right, you little traitor," I accuse,
as she closes the door behind her.

***

Elizabeth squeezes her eyes shut and inhales
slow, deep breaths, making an obvious effort to calm herself down.
I hold my breath and look to Alisha to intervene before Elizabeth
has a complete melt down.

"It's no big deal, Liz," Alisha quickly
exclaims, as she blots the mess up then holds the towel up
confirming that the spill is easily being absorbed.

Elizabeth had accidently dropped a bottle of
red fingernail polish on the bathroom floor and her reaction to the
mishap is extreme.

"It is a big deal, Alisha. It's going to
leave a stain on the floor," she says through clenched teeth,
plopping down on the floor and grabbing a towel from Alisha to
scrub the area. She looks like she is about to cry and Alisha
quickly reassures her that the rest will come off with polish
remover. Claire watches her with curiosity, then slowly walks up
and sits down next to her, placing her hand on her arm. Within
seconds, Elizabeth starts to relax and Claire reaches up and throws
her arms around her neck. "I love you Aunt Liz," she says with a
child-like sincerity. Elizabeth hugs her back and says, "You too,
pumpkin." Alisha and I let out a sigh of relief.

***

I couldn't be in better hands with
Elizabeth, Alisha, and Tucker fussing over me, so I close my eyes
and picture Ronan waiting for me at the altar, while they apply the
finishing touches to my hair and make-up.

"My God, you're gorgeous," Tucker whispers
as Alisha goes to get my wedding dress.

"Thanks Tuck," I say, looking deep in his
eyes that are now moist with tears. "Don't do it," I warn him, and
he quickly looks away. Alisha comes in carrying my wedding dress
and hands it to Tucker while she hurries away to finish applying
her own make-up. He lets out a low whistle and says, "All right,
let's see this thing on."