Facing Redemption (29 page)

“Easy Lauri,” she murmured. “It’s just a storm…and a little rain.”  After letting out some air, she realized how tightly she was holding her steering wheel.  She let off her gas, as she was speeding a little too fast in the rain, and loosened her grip.

Living smack-dab in the middle of tornado alley, meant dealing with treacherous storms through the month of May.  And as much as she loved this state, she second-guessed her sanity on staying here when this type of storm started brewing.   Lauri looked up to gauge the sky.  Here, grey skies could quickly turn to sickly green, which meant tornados.  So far she didn’t see that tell tale green color or any clouds that looked ominous enough to become wall clouds.

Cars around her were struggling to navigate through the high waters that were starting to build.  Flooding was common, and she was on a road where some areas dipped a little too low for her comfort level, so she veered off and took the turnpike to get home.

As she merged in traffic to access the toll road, a large truck sped by sloshing through a large puddle.  Water splashed up covering Lauri’s entire view.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the rain was coming down hard enough that she really couldn’t clearly see out her windshield.  Lauri didn’t even know how much room she had between her and the car in front of her.

“This is crazy,” she told herself.  Getting caught in a downpour was not on her agenda today, and she debated on the best course.  She still had to meet with the wedding planner and get home by 4:00, when her son came home from school. 

Lauri quickly made the call to pull under the overpass, and wait it out. 
If I can’t see in front of me than no one else can either… It’s an accident waiting to happen.

She pulled over to the far right in order to stay away from any oncoming traffic that may come through.  As she slowed to a stop, she heard the pounding of hail coming down onto the bridge above her.  She watched as ice rocks the size of golf balls bounced on the ground on either side of her and bound toward her car from both ends. 
Thank you,
she silently prayed
.  Thank you for making me stop. 
She was just far enough inside the overpass to be protected.

Her hands shook and she pulled her phone from her purse.  She dialed her home number hoping Ms. Adams would still be there.  Ms. Adams, Jesse and John’s life long caretaker, left the Mikale estate just recently once Jesse put his father’s home on the market. Ms. Adams agreed to help out Jesse and Lauri a few days a week with cooking and cleaning.

Lauri put her finger in her ear to block out the sound of the storm around her.  She struggled to hear the phone ring.

“Mikales …” Angela Adams cordially answered.

“Hey Ms. Adams.  It’s me.”  Lauri said loudly.

“Lauri!  My goodness – it sounds like a battle going on out there.  Where are you?  You sound like you’re in the middle of it.” 

“I’m okay.  I pulled under an overpass until the hail stops.  Can you get a weather report?”

“I was just watching.  It looks like it’s getting ready to leave the Edmond and OKC metro area – and head east pretty fast.”

“Whew…that’s good.  Listen, I’m running late and need to see if you can stay a little later this afternoon until Alex gets home from school.”

Angela warmed at the thought of spending time with her favorite little guy.  “Of course.  You know you don’t have to ask that.  I would only go home to my apartment and watch Jeopardy.”

“Great!  Thank you.  As soon as this stuff passes, I’m heading to meet with the wedding planner. Chastity’s rehearsal dinner is tonight.  Can you have Alex ready for me so when I get home, his homework will be done and I can pick him up to leave?”

“Sure!  Do you want me to come with you tonight too so I can watch Alex in case you need to attend to wedding details?  You know in case of a wedding emergency…”

Lauri felt sorry for Ms. Adams.  After years of being the one who ran everything in the absence of a mother to both Mikale boys, now she felt a little useless without anyone to attend to.

“That would be really nice.  Thank you.  Can you call Jesse to give him an update, so I have one less call to make in this weather?”

Ms. Adams smiled to herself.  “Of course.”

Chapter 41

Timothy slowly pulled into the arrival area of the airport and parked.  The storms had delayed his groomsmen’s flights for over an hour.  It felt like an eternity before he finally made the trek to pick up Guy and Scott. 

He pulled back through the passenger pick up, hoping to see his two friends, but had to pull back out to make another pass around the airport.  He circled back through for the second time with not a second too soon, because from the looks of the sky it seemed as if another storm was about to move through.  Timothy shook his head and looked up through his windshield at the clouds. 

“What else could go wrong?”  He asked himself.  Timothy slowed down as the rain started slowing pelting his windshield.

So far the wedding plans had taken a slight turn from the expected.  Timothy’s mom received a phone call last week, to let her know that the pastor, who was going to marry him and Chastity, had passed away.  Timothy was shell-shocked.  This was the man, who dedicated him as a baby and was still very close to the family.  It was going to be hard to fill those shoes, but they already had a call into a local friend to perform the ceremony.

Now with the storms getting ready to hit, it seemed like a dark cloud had permanently set over his wedding.  Receiving Guy and Scott’s texts, today when they disembarked from their planes was the shot in the arm he needed.   The tension in his chest eased a bit, knowing he was going to pick up his groomsmen.

Guy and Timothy had been college roommates and friends since their sophomore year.  Their history went back further than his and Scott’s, which was only from law school.  Scott was stand-up and responsible, while Guy was off the cuff and a little bit of a loose cannon.  Guy was the exact person Timothy needed to help lift his spirits today, but both friends would be a welcome distraction.

Throughout school Guy was always the life of any party, but he studied hard too.  His hard work and dedication paid off in full when he was accepted into one of the top medical programs in the country.  Now his friend was a cardiologist on the east coast, which was too far away as far as Timothy was concerned, but they managed to stay in touch through the years.

Timothy’s former law partner, Scott, bought his portion of their practice when Timothy moved to Oklahoma.  Scott liked to think of himself as a fun guy, but he was a little more on the serious side.  Scott, although dated some, held an eternal torch for his paralegal, who was back home in California. 

Timothy slowed his car to take another look through the crowd coming out of the sliding doors at the Southwest pick up.  He immediately saw Guy, looking like he’d just showered and shaved.  He chuckled to himself. 
He probably freshened up on the airplane. 
He could picture his friend taking his cordless shaver into the bathroom 30,000 feet in the air.  It would be typical for Guy to make sure he was looking his best even after a rough landing.

Timothy honked the horn and pulled alongside to help Guy load his bags into the car.  Guy flashed his perfect smile down at him.

“Hey buddy.  Good to see you!”  Timothy got out of his car and quickly embraced his friend.  He pulled away and looked Guy in the eyes.  “It’s been too long.”

“I know.  Between my job and your practice … there’s not enough time.  Hey wait a minute - how’d you even find time to date – let alone get married?”

Timothy chuckled.  “I’m not married yet.”

“Whoa…second thoughts already?  You know I’m your man…I can get you out of this if you’re really interested.”

Timothy laughed as he lifted his friend’s third bag into his trunk.  It was heavier than he expected.  “Man what do you have in here?  One of the cadavers from your hospital?”

Guy laughed.  “Hey - a guy has to look good!  I brought enough to sport for any occasion…like your bachelor parteeeyyy.  We’re going out tonight, right?”

Timothy grabbed the last bag and tossed it in his car.  He gave Guy a look that left no interpretation.  “Hardly.”  He rolled his eyes and got in.

Guy slid in the passenger seat and started in.  “What do you mean hardly? This guy I used to know, named Tim Banks, was always up for a party.  I mean he wasn’t the life of it, like I was, but he was always there, ready and willing.”

“Well that was then…and we were in college.”  Timothy drew his last word out, for emphasis.

Guy sighed.  “Okay.  Boring, but okay.  It’s your party dude…we’ll do what you want to do.”

“Besides the rehearsal dinner is tonight.”  Timothy tried to look stern but busted into a grin, while pulling his hand from his pocket.  “But that doesn’t mean that we couldn’t go for a playoff game.” 

Guy’s eyebrows shot up, as he grabbed the three-playoff tickets from his friend.  “Sweet!  I knew just because you were settling down that you weren’t dying off!  Playoff tickets?  To the Thunder?”  Guy almost shrieked. 

Timothy nodded mischievously.  “You didn’t think we weren’t doing anything tonight did you?  Really?”

“Well I tried to get you to plan something tonight.  I mean for goodness sakes it is your last night as a single man!  But you told me NO!  I wanted to call all your friends in town for one night and you said no!”

“Well this is my surprise to you.  Here check these out.”

Guy grabbed the tickets.  “These are suite passes.  You got us a suite?”

“Well it pays to be marrying a former Mayor’s niece.”  Timothy winked.   “They’re a gift from him.”

“Shut up!  Who’s going to be here?  I see three here.  Is Ned making it after all?”  Guy asked in excitement.  Ned was their third of the three amigos from college, and he was off in Los Angeles on the set of his latest show.

“No.  He’s knee deep in casting and can’t get away.  But Scott, my former law partner … you remember him don’t you?”  Guy nodded as Timothy continued.  “And a few of my friends, from work, might make it.  Oh, and a couple younger cousins that my mom is making me take.  They’re legal, but …” Timothy’s voice tailed off.

Guy nodded and slapped Timothy on the shoulder as they pulled out into traffic.  “Who cares if we have to baby-sit a couple of kids? Let’s get this party started!” He laughed aloud.

“Okay wild man.  Let’s pick up Scott first. He texted me right after you did, so he’ll be out here any minute.”  Timothy grinned.  “It’s really good to see you. I missed that mug of yours.”

“Don’t tell Chastity.”  Guy laughed.

Timothy rolled his eyes.  “Oh!  Hey there’s Scott, he’s the one in the khakis.”

“He looks a bit…Yale-ish.”  Guy gave him a look.

“Take it easy. He’s a great guy.  Now get out and help him with his luggage.”

Guy gave Timothy a salute and jumped out to shake Scott’s hand.  “How you doing buddy?  I’m Guy.  Let me get your bag.”  Guy reached for the suitcase.

“Thanks.”  Scott lifted an eyebrow.  “You bring your skycap?”  He teased Timothy.

Timothy walked around the front of his car and gave Scott a man hug, patting him on the back.  “Good to see you?  How’s the practice?  How are things with Janie?”

Scott smiled.  “You too.  Great and … and the same.”

“She still doesn’t know you’re alive?”  Timothy chuckled.

“Something like that, but now that you’re gone it’s a lot easier to get her attention.”

“What?”  Guy teased, before they all got back in the car.  “Banks break another heart?”

“Something like that.”  Scott answered.  “Only she wasn’t in love with him…just infatuated.  Once he fell head over heels for his new bride, she got the idea pretty quick that he would never take notice of her.  And I knew I had my chance.”

“How long has it been that you’ve been trying to get this girl to notice you?” Guy asked.

Timothy answered for Scott.  “Only since we hired her.  Heck!  That’s the reason we hired her.  It wasn’t only for her skills; it was because Scotty back there fell for her at first sight.”

“Oh man, you’ve got to be kidding me!  That’s the most pitiful thing I’ve ever heard of!”  Guy laughed.  “There are plenty of fish in the sea.  Why stick to one?”

“Scott, don’t listen to him.”  Timothy hollered to the back seat, in efforts to be heard over the storm.  Now that they had left the terminal the rain was coming down harder, and conversation would be impossible.  He turned his head to look for Scott’s reaction.  He was staring out into the rain.

Timothy smiled at his friend and then drove off into oncoming storms.

Chapter 42

Anne smiled at Chastity as she made her final spin in her wedding dress.  It was a strapless spring dress with a floral embellishment along the edges of the top and waistline.  It was whimsical and classy, which was a perfect combination to fit Chastity’s personality. It was perfectly rouched along her waistline that gave the effect of very feminine curves … not that Chastity needed help accentuating her positives.  Anne almost started tearing up.