Chapter 22: Southern Belles
I was standing at the altar, in my pink bridesmaid’s dress, and neither CeCe nor Skylar were anywhere to be seen. I felt something tickling my cheek. I swatted at it and heard giggling. I felt something brush against my cheek, again, and abruptly opened my eyes to see Lucy standing directly over my face, with her feather boa dangling over me.
“You silly goose,” I said, grabbing the feather from the grips of my three-year old before pulling her on top of me so I could tickle her back.
“No mommy. Don’t tickle me. I’m gonna pee.” She barely made out the words in between all the giggles.
“Pee! Pee! It’s okay—you need to take a shower anyway.”
“Mommy, I’m gonna tell papa on you.” She screamed loudly, muffled with laughter as she attempted to wiggle out of my hold.
“Okay, I’ll stop.” I said letting go of her for a second before tickling her again.
“Mommy!” She squealed.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop for real.” I kissed her head before letting her go.
“Mommy we need to go. We got to get to Auntie’s wedding.”
“It’s 9:30 AM honey. You need to get going soon. Do you want us to bring Lucy with us so you have some privacy?” My mother appeared in my doorway.
“Oh my gosh—I’ve got to go! Yes, please bring Lucy.” I jumped up and ran towards the shower. “Mom, please get my purse and make-up bag together.”
Ten minutes later I kissed Lucy goodbye and rushed to my car.
“We’ll see you shortly honey. I’m praying for you.” My mother called out to me as I shifted into first gear.
I sped to the ferry, parked my car and hurried on with my bags. My bridesmaid’s dress, that I hoped I would not need, was already at the Inn, courtesy of Bev. My heart was racing again. I didn’t know what I would find when I saw CeCe. She was going to be hurt or mad or sad. I put my make-up on while the boat made its way to the island. I was the only passenger on the ferry. We reached the dock and I quickly grabbed my bags and rushed towards the Inn.
It was a beautiful warm morning with the sun still making subtle appearances between the passing clouds. The chairs and tables for the reception were already set up on the front lawn, facing the river. There were people everywhere setting up all the personal touches CeCe designed. I looked around for CeCe or Skylar as I made my way to the Inn. Nothing—just like my dream.
I entered the Inn and was quickly greeted and escorted by Jillian, the wedding planner, a younger more restrained version of Bev. I tried explaining that I needed to meet with CeCe by ten AM but she did not seem worried. I wasn’t sure how to react by her hastiness. She hurried me down the long corridor and swung open a pair of doors. I looked at my watch. It was 10:15 AM.
“Your dress is in here. You have two minutes to get it on. We need to get you down to the bride for pictures. As soon as you’re done, I’ll take you down there. I will be standing right outside your door.”
“Okay, I’ll be right out.” I shook my head. Skylar must not have talked with CeCe yet. Or maybe he had and she persuaded him to continue with the wedding. My heart felt the weight of the last four years press down.
“You have one minute.” Jillian shouted.
“Almost done,” I said feeling shaky again.
I zipped up the back of my dress and placed my clothes in my bag. I dabbed on some pink lip gloss wondering if Skylar would be there with CeCe.
“Time’s up.” The door swung open to my surprise. “Follow me.” She turned in the opposite direction.
I followed her back down the long corridor and stopped at the very end where she pushed open another set of doors. This time, I saw the back of CeCe. She was alone in the room and standing at the window, looking out. Her hair was perfectly curled with blonde extensions, brushed up into a fancy side pony-tail. Her dress, strapless, covered in champagne lace, with an ornate rhinestone belt and fitted to just above the knee before it billowed out, was breathtaking. From her profile I could see that her left arm was crossed over her abdomen while her right elbow rested on her left hand and her right hand covered her mouth. She was silent and I could hear a needle drop. Jillian opened a cabinet for my items to be placed before she walked back out of the room closing the doors tightly shut.
“So, do you think I should I go through with this?” I heard CeCe ask, without turning to see who was in the room with her.
Nervously, I answered, “Do you think you should go through with this?”
“I love him but what if there was someone else out there?” She asked, unflinching in her question as she remained interested in the activities outside.
“What do you mean CeCe?” I was shaking again, wondering if she had spoken with Skylar or if she was just testing me.
“What if I was just marrying Christian because he’s the first good man to come along?”
“Do you love him?” I asked, feeling ill.
The door swung open again. I turned to see who it was. Jillian was standing there with Bev.
“Charlotte dear, we need to take pictures now.” Bev instructed.
“I’m not ready yet mother. Come back in a few minutes please.” She said without turning around.
“Okay. We will be back in five minutes.”
“Make it ten.” CeCe demanded.
“Back in ten,” Bev said before closing the doors.
“CeCe, why are you asking this?”
Finally, she turned around looking down while she twisted her fingers into the curls of her pony-tail. “I need a friend right now—no judgment please.” She started.
“Yeah, sure CeCe,” I waited for what came next.
“Last night after you left I started talking with Eric.” She paused glancing over my face. “It turns out that there may just be something there—something unfinished.”
“CeCe…”
“Char, just listen.”
“Okay.” I said, sitting down.
“I know that you said Eric wasn’t the one but I wasn’t convinced after I saw him kiss you last night. So, I pulled up a chair and we talked for the next four and a half hours.” She said with no identifiable expression on her face.
“And what did you find out?”
“I found out all kinds of things.” She said turning back around towards the window.
“Like what?”
“Like he broke up with you because he said he never truly got over me since the fifth grade.” She said with a slight smile on her cherry red lips.
“What?”
“I’m sorry Char. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear this morning on my wedding day.” She said, turning back around. “I was trying to see if I could work things out between you two. However, the more we talked I remembered what fascinated me about him in the first place. He’s funny and sweet and smart and shy with a dash of courage.”
I felt a strange feeling hurl up in my belly. “What happened CeCe? What did you talk about that took you four and a half hours?”
“Don’t get mad, okay? Promise?”
“Okay CeCe, I promise. What happened?”
“We went down to the landing. We talked so much that I don’t know what came over him or me but we just ended up kissing.” She said covering her mouth.
“You kissed Eric?”
“You promised to not get mad!”
“What about Skylar?” I asked, angry that I was walking on eggshells while she had made out with my ex-boyfriend on the eve before her wedding day.
“That’s why I need a friend. I love him but what if I’m rushing things just because he’s so good to me?”
“Rushing things—you think?”
“Wait—what did you say?” CeCe looked at me, suddenly confused.
“Don’t you think you’re rushing things?”
She moved away from the window and towards me. “No, not that—you said Skylar.”
“Don’t you think you’re rushing things with Christian?” I said, tr
ying to ignore that I said Skylar.
“How did you know his middle name?” She asked in an accusatory way walking very close.
“CeCe, I tried calling you several times last night. I needed to talk to you and I couldn’t get a hold of you. Why wouldn’t you answer my phone calls?”
“Why are you changing the subject? How did you know Christian’s middle name?” She asked coming within a few feet of me.
“CeCe you are doing the typical CeCe thing and talking just about what you want to talk about.” I answered backing up.
“Answer me.” She said in a louder tone.
“I know lots of things CeCe.” I raised my voice.
“Yeah, like what?”
“I know lots of things about your fiancé.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something here?” She asked with a quality of resentment in her voice.
“Maybe if you answered your phone you’d know why.”
“Really, what kinds of things do you know about my fiancé?” She followed me.
“You really want to know?”
“Tell me Char!” She shouted.
“Well first of all your flower girl is his daughter.” I said, stopping in my tracks.
“What craziness are you talking about?”
“You heard me CeCe. And now I wonder if you didn’t know all along and was just too jealous of me and Eric to tell me the truth about who your fiancé was.” I raised my voice louder.
A knock at the door interrupted us before the door swung open again. “CeCe, we need to take pictures now.” Her mother said standing there with Jillian, a server with a beverage tray, and five of her bridesmaids.
“Go away. We are talking right now.” CeCe yelled, scaring all but her mother away before she went over and closed the door on them.
“I’m not jealous of anyone.” CeCe hovered by me.
“Really, you mean you never thought that Christian who has a middle name of Skylar with a last name of La Fleur which when translated to English means Flower and who has a house in this part of the country could have been my Skylar—my Sky Flower? You never even considered it?” I asked feeling flames coming from every word.
“Really Char. I’m too busy to put every single detail that you’ve ever told me into a study guide.” She said, just inches from my face.
“Hmm, that’s very convenient for you.”
“No, I didn’t know besides he picked—he’s marrying me.” She said, waving her finger in my face.
“That’s funny. Last night when he kissed me and said he still loved me, he said he couldn’t marry you today.” I said, pushing the doors back open and knocking a few handfuls of people, behind the door, over.
CeCe’s face turned fire-engine red, “Come back here Char!”
“I’m finding Skylar and we will sort this out.” I said, picking up my dress and running down the hallway.
“I was not done talking. Get back here!” CeCe yelled chasing after me as fast she could in her dress.
“Catch me if you can.” I yelled, slipping out the back entry doorway.
“That’s not a problem I’ve always been faster than you.”
I ran across the back lawn, passed the ceremony chairs and massive floral arrangements, looking for Skylar. “You have to be good at something.”
“You’ve always been jealous of me and you know it.” CeCe ran after me catching up quickly.
I scanned the grounds and saw no sign of Skylar. I looked back over at the Inn and saw about twenty people peering through the windows at CeCe and I. “I am not jealous of you CeCe.”
“I’ve always had the cars, the friends, and the boyfriends you’ve wanted.” She said, closing in.
I doubled back around passing in front of the pond still scanning for Skylar anywhere. “You’re ridiculous and so narcissistic CeCe! I don’t want your life.”
“Just my men.” She said in arm’s reach.
“How many men do you have to have?” I asked, before feeling my head jerk back quickly stopping the momentum of my forward motion just steps from the pond.
“They choose me.” She said, grabbing my hair.
“Ouch CeCe! Let go of my hair!” I said, whirling around.
“Take back what you said first! This is my wedding day and you’ve ruined it.”
“You ruined it all by yourself!” I said, pushing her forward while trying to release her hand from my hair.
“You…” She pushed back as I grabbed her hand to keep from falling backwards in the pond.
“I’m falling!” I said, feeling my body tumbling back with CeCe falling on top of me before we landed in the muddy pond.
“You! You ruined my wedding day!” CeCe cried as she found her bearings and stood up covered in mud and algae.
“You kissed another man the night before your wedding.” I screamed just as Skylar and Eric approached us.
Skylar looked at Eric with a slight frown. Eric bobbed his head to the side.
“You kissed my fiancé!” She retorted.
Eric looked at Skylar with the same questionable look and grinned.
I looked at Eric and found the courage to smile back before I glanced over at Skylar.
“What are you girls doing?” Skylar asked, eyeing CeCe and I.
I stood up quickly, slipping on more mud before falling back down into the pond as CeCe cackled.
“Oh you think that’s funny?” I said, pulling on the back of her dress causing her to become a leaning tower of mud, sliding back down into the pond beside me.
“Charlotte!” She hollered.
I picked up a handful of mud and threw it at her pretty face. The guys backed away from the pond. Stunned and angry, CeCe picked up two handfuls of mud and threw them like a fast-pitched baseball at my head.
“You’re like a pig in the mud.” CeCe screeched.
“Ouch!” I screamed picking up more mud to chuck at her. “Maybe the mud will help cover up your blemishes, you definitely don’t look like a southern belle.
“You are crazy!” CeCe yelled as she rushed at me.
Realizing that a woman scorned, a southern woman no less, on her wedding day was one of the most powerful machines known to human kind, I backed up as fast as I could but it was no use. She caught my leg and dragged it upwards causing me to get mouthfuls of algae scum and mud in my eyes, ears, and nose. I found a footing and gained my stature back—grabbing her waist—like one of the wrestling moves my brother Edward showed me years ago. I leaned all my weight into her, knocking her down. We wrestled another few minutes while Eric and Skylar took a seat on the grass nearby. They were smart enough to not get pulled into the murky mess. CeCe and I were locked up neck and neck covered in grime from head to toe. I squeezed tightly around CeCe’s neck.
“Okay, you win.” CeCe pleaded. “Get your monkey arms off me.”
“Say it one more time.”
“You win.” CeCe said louder. “Now let me go.”
“Okay.” I said, letting go of her before she reached around and pulled me under the water as she quickly moved out of my way.
I came up out of the water to see her break into laughter. I looked at her and laughed too. We stood there for a minute, filthy, and water-logged. Her face softened. I began to feel the tears rush back.
“You’re a mess.” I laughed.
“You ruined my wedding day.” CeCe stopped smiling.
“I’m kind of sorry I ruined your day.”
“It’s about time you apologized.” She said seriously before, her lips curled into a sideways smile. “I’m sorry too—I really didn’t know that he was your Skylar.”
“When I didn’t hear from you for five months last year, my heart broke. I know what it’s like to not have you in my life and I don’t want to live without you ever again and I don’t want to live without Skylar.” I said, walking over to CeCe.
“I love you Char.”
“I love you Cecilia Kathryn Crawford.”
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We met in the mud and stood motionless for a moment. I reached for her and she threw her arms around me.
“What are we going to do?”
“We are going to stop making the mistakes that we can avoid.” She said with her head bent around my neck.
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“No, but the bad choices we make don’t make our situations any better, even if only for a moment.” She said, holding me tightly.
“Did I ever tell you that I’ve always admired you?”
“I’m going to need you to keep the compliments coming for a while.”
“I’m being truthful CeCe. I love your ability to fight hard for what you want including our friendship.”
“Thank you.”
As we got to the edge of the pond, Eric and Skylar lent their hands to help pull us out. As we made it back to dry land, I noticed an audience from the lawn to all the windows. CeCe, in true form, waved to all as she curtsied and took a bow.
The news quickly spread to all three families and to most of the county within the 24 hours. CeCe and Skylar took off to talk and figure things out. I thanked Eric again for his truly wonderful friendship. He said I was allowed to give him a hug after I washed up. The wedding was cancelled and the Crawford’s decided to throw a party for the entire town since they’d already paid for everything. Lucy stayed at the party with my parents so she could wear her pretty pink dress. We decided to wait and not tell her just yet that she had another daddy.
Alone and covered in mud, I took the ferry back to St. Marys. I went home and took a hot shower. Afterwards, I sat down in front of my computer. I reflected back over the past 48 hours and set out to finish the last three chapters of my book while my entire family celebrated on Cumberland Island all night. I laughed and cried thinking about the frailty of life, how the unexpected things—the unmade plans God knew about all along brought challenges, surprises, but best of all relationships worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world. I stayed up writing until the last period was in place. I saved a copy of the book and then emailed it to Mrs. Kisielewski at 11:59 PM. Just after midnight I crawled into bed and closed my eyes.