DASHED DREAMS (26 page)

She’d received letters from RJ, but never opened them. She put them in a desk drawer. Some day she’d read them, but not now. The wound was still too fresh. Once she thought that she should either return or answer but them, couldn’t bring herself to do either.

Emma called the office. “Hi, Joy. This is Emma. Is she in or too busy?”

“She’s here. You know, this isn’t any of my business, but she’s really hurting. I was going to call you for an appointment. Do you have anything open in the next few days for a perm and a cut?”

“I was wondering if you’d join Lynda and me at Geiuseppe’s on Friday night? We want to see you. It’s been months and you keep turning down our invitations. Jillie, we want to spend some time with you.”

“I don’t know. You know, I’ve got quite a few things accomplished while hanging around home.”

“Like what?” Emma asked, trying to get her best friend to talk to her.

“Well, I’ve painted my kitchen, caught up on my reading, and I hey even learned how to crochet a chevron afghan. And I’ve done a lot of thinking.”

On Friday night, Jillian arrived at Giuseppe’s a couple of minutes after seven. Meagan said, “Jillian, how nice to see you again! Your friends have already arrived. They’re in the first booth.” Jillian could see Lynda waving at her. When she approached the booth, she was shocked to see Gary sitting beside Emma. She said, “Hello, everyone.” She slipped in beside Gary in the booth. “Hello, Gary. Nice to see you again.”

“Well, we know what you’ve been going through these past months and we’ve been keeping our news under wraps, but now I have to tell you. Gary and I are getting married. And I want you to be my maid of honor,” Emma said with much excitement in her voice.

“I’ve noticed Gary at your house quite a bit. You certainly didn’t take me by surprise. Congratulations to you both! I know both of you are going to be very happy and have a great life together. Em, you know I wouldn’t miss being your maid of honor.” Jillie leaned over to Gary and gave him a brief hug, and he kissed her cheek. She was trying hard to control her tears.

Lynda said, “Now you’re going to make me cry. Hey, kids, tell her you’re other news.”

“Well, Gary talked to your Dad for his permission to marry his ‘adopted’ daughter, and he and Mom gave us their blessings. And he’s going to walk me down the aisle.”

Jillian smiled, as she knew how close Emma and her parents had become over these past years. The tears were filling her eyes again, she thought: Dad’ll be walking Emma down the aisle not daughter, as I’d dreamed. She took a deep breath. “Hey, Em, I know how much Mom and Dad love you. I’ll bet they were bustin’ their buttons. When did you talk to them? They didn’t mention anything of this to me last night.”

“Well, Gary went to Fort Worth to talk to them and I talked to Mom about a week ago by phone. They agreed not to tell you. I wanted to be the one to share the news with you.”

Lynda and Emma excused themselves to go to the powder room. There was a sense of anticipation in the booth between the only two diners left. Jillian felt as she was going to burst. From the moment she’d seen Gary, she wanted to ask about RJ.

“How is he?” she asked, trying to control the tears.

“He’s home. He’s hurting. He misses you terribly. He went in a broken shell of a human and came out a changed man. The treatment center put Humpty Dumpty back together again. You know, he’s lost a lot, not just you, but career-wise. He’ll probably have my head when he finds out I’m telling you this, but the companies he was endorsing pulled their contracts. They didn’t want their product associated with a drunk in rehab. That’s really funny, `cause they wanted his endorsements when he was a drunk before rehab. As an employer of twelve men and women, all lost their jobs. He went in on top of the world and came out on the bottom with all this crap dumped on him. Hey, it’d cause a man to drink!”

Suddenly, she wanted to run. She felt as she had no air, couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see him again. She was too ashamed of herself for having totally abandoned him. Returning his letters had been something a schoolgirl would’ve done. He’d needed her support. How could she face him?

When Emma and Lynda returned, Emma leaned over to Gary and asked if he’d told Jillie yet. He shook his head yes.

“Emma, when and where are you going to be married?”

“At…,” Emma paused, hesitant to say where. “Two Hawks. Your mom asked me, it’s a wonderful place…so peaceful. It’ll be a June wedding. Jillie, are you okay?”

Again, Jillian felt like she’d been hit in the chest and all the oxygen drained from her body. All she could do was nod. She wanted to run, escape her pain. Suddenly she felt physical ill.

“Excuse me.” She got up and ran down the hall to the ladies’ room. She closed the door of the first stall and lost the contents of her stomach. She leaned over and rested her head on the stall wall. She inwardly scolded herself: Jillian Louise James, get ahold of yourself. Emma’s your best-friend. You should be happy for her. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t get married at Two Hawks. Grow up, girl.

As she wiped her face with a cool towel, Emma came in. Saying not a word, the girls hugged each other, rocking back and forth, tears running down their faces. They both started talking at the same time. They looked at each other, laughing.

“Come on out and finish your dinner. I should’ve told you earlier, but I was worried about you and what you’ve been through.”

“Em, I’m so sorry I ruined your dinner. I’ve acted so selfishly. You have no idea how happy I am for you and Gary. You have every reason to be married where you want. My parents are your parents and they love you.”

That night, as Jillian knelt down beside her bed, her prayers included a blessed life for Emma and Gary. And as every night, she prayed to God for RJ’s safe-keeping.

Chapter 29

The next couple of weeks there were fast and furious, with wedding plans being made in both the Nevada and Texas camps. Jillian found that her mother had gone head-over-heels in transforming Two Hawks into a enchanting wedding setting for Emma and Gary. The girls were to arrive on Thursday, and the wedding was to take place Saturday evening.

Emma and Gary had made a quick trip to Texas to get their wedding license the week before. They found out that the Texas law has a 72-hour waiting period between the issuance of the license and the wedding. No blood tests were required, but both had to be present when applying for the license.

Tucker’s Hotel and Casino provided their transportation to Dallas, as Jack Morgan was coming to the wedding. He’d received two invitations, one from Gary and one from Lynda. When Lynda called to him invite him, he offered that the girls to fly with him. He’d send a car to pick them up on Thursday morning and they’d leave from Lake Tahoe.

When the car arrived at Jillian’s house, the girls were packed and waiting. Lynda almost beat the doorbell ringing to open the door.

“How nice to see you again, Miss Brockhurst. Congratulations, Miss Elliott.”

“Nice to see you again, Lionel. We’re all ready,” Lynda said pointing to the luggage sitting by the front door. He nodded and gathered the bags. Emma picked up her bags and Jillian slid hers out the front door and locked it. She picked up her bags and headed down the sidewalk to the waiting limousine.

Jillian handed Lionel her bag. “How nice it is to see you again, Dr. James. I’m so sorry to hear ‘bout Mr. Montgomery. How is he?”

“He’s fine, and thank you for asking, Lionel.”

He opened the door for the ladies, then finished loading the trunk.

In the driver’s seat he looked back through the slider. “Ladies, you all know where everything is. Just sit back and I’ll have you three lovely ladies at Lake Tahoe Airport in no time.” He then closed the slider.

The ride to Lake Tahoe was enjoyable. As always, Emma and Lynda talked nonstop about this and that regarding the wedding. A couple of times they asked Jillie a question and she answered with only one or two syllables. They understood and continued to talk but only to each other.

Jillian’s thoughts ranged from the first time she’d ridden in this car to watching RJ being driven off in a stretch limousine in Bermuda Dunes. She glanced out of the window, only to see her reflection in the tinted glass. She saw a despondent-looking shell of Jillian Louise James looking back at her. She’d been looking in the mirror each and every day, but never really seeing. She mumbled to herself, “Oh, my God!”

Hearing Jillie mumbling, both Emma and Lynda stopped talking, trying to understand what their friend was saying. All they could make out was, “I’m sorry.” Tears were running down Jillian’s face.

When they arrived at the Lake Tahoe Airport, the sun was shining brightly on the pines. A huge noble pine forest surrounded the airport, the runway and taxiway was carved between the trees. The two-story terminal building looked like an A-frame chalet. The limousine drove out onto the tarmac. Jack stood beside the plane. Jillian was the first one out of the car. She smiled as soon as she smelled the crisp pine scent. She felt, as though these were their trees, their scent, and their home.

Once the plane was in the air, Jack came over to Jillian. “It’ll be nice to see him again. I’ve been trying to open communication with him.” He looked over at Lynda, who was gesturing for him to continue. He nodded to her to come over them, and she moved over next to Jillian.

“Jillian, Lynda and I have an announcement. We’re also getting married.”

Jillian’s mouth dropped open. She expected the news, but it was still surprising. “Well, congrats! When? Where?”

“A couple of days after Emma and Gary’s wedding. We’re going to Houston. Jack has a son who lives there, so we’re going to be married there. Jillie, I…we want you to be happy for us.”

“Lynda, Jack, I am. I wish you the best of everything and much happiness. Lynda, I feel like you’re my own sister. I know that for you to make this commitment, you love this man very much.”

Jillian hugged Lynda and patted Jack on the shoulder. Smiling outside, inside her heart was breaking.

Dan and Grace James were waiting at the Burleson Airport for the jet to arrive. They expected one bride, but had no idea they were receiving two. The plane taxied off the runway onto the tarmac, and stopped. Looking over to where her parents stood, Jillian saw that they were holding hands. They always held hands whenever close to each other. She hurried towards them.

Emma, Lynda, and Jack came alongside the threesome. Jillian reintroduced Jack to her parents. Lynda and Emma hugged Dan and Grace. Dan asked everyone if they wanted lunch, and all agreed. Jack said he and Lynda was going to rent a car, so they’d be right behind them.

The foursome arrived at the Cracker Barrel and was seated immediately. They were sipping their iced teas, when Lynda and Jack arrived. Lynda beamed as she sat down, and Grace noticed the huge ring on her left hand.