Out of The Box Regifted (9 page)

With a twinkle in her eye she reveals, “Tommy swears that you can melt bricks ya know, kinda like you did with Wesley and Hayden. We really don’t know the extent of what you did, but it worked and you brought them all back together. He told me pretty much everything about his brothers and their past rocky relationship. I hurt so badly for him.” She shakes her head in disbelief, “I can’t even imagine what it was like when his mom was dying - How he chose not to be there, just to keep the peace. God how awful that must have been. He’s got so many emotional scars from that, and it just breaks my heart because he’s such a caring person, kinda like his dad.”

All I can do is hug her, and give her my word that I WILL do everything I can, to facilitate her parents being a part of her wedding day.

The next day, I take a deep breath, as I nervously dial Mariah’s number. Part of me wants her to answer, but part of me is scared and hopes she doesn’t. I don’t know what to expect. Is she a nice person? I have no idea. Maybe she won’t answer and I can leave a message. No such luck. She answers on the third ring. A high pitched voice eagerly answers, “Hello?”

“Hi, may I speak to Mariah please?”

“Speaking.” She answers, with a guarded tone.

“Mariah, my name is Olivia Petersen.” I take a deep breath not wanting to jumble my words. “This is gonna sound really convoluted, and I apologize, but your niece Emily is engaged to my fiancés son and I…”

She interrupts me, “Emily - our Emily is engaged?” She asks excitedly.

Feeling a bit relieved - like the ice has been broken, I continue and explain the reason for my call.

Her voice is welcoming, “Wow that’s incredible news. We haven’t talked to her in ages. Why in the world didn’t she call me? Not that I’m upset you’re calling but...Forgive me, but who are you again? I’m sorry, but you caught me off guard and I forgot what you said your name was. I don’t mean to be rude.”

I smile, as if she can see my face. “Olivia. I’m Olivia Petersen.” I tell her that I would love to contact her folks, and ask if she has their numbers.

Sounding a bit apprehensive, she answers, “To be completely honest with you Olivia, I haven’t talked to Hannah in a long time, but I do stay in contact with Glenn. He actually lives in Schaumburg. I can give you his number if you’d like, but it may be best if I call him. He’s a very private guy and I don’t see him answering a call from a number he doesn’t know.”

I’m both optimistic and relieved, “Mariah that would be wonderful. Emily wasn’t sure about this. She’s spoken so highly of you and Gary, and said she had no idea how to contact her parents. I think she was uncertain about calling you, for some reason. Any help you can give contacting her folks, is greatly appreciated.”

I give her a little background; on the hook up, Tommy, his band and how Tommy wants them to get married before the band goes out on tour.

She sighs and the tone of her voice sounds sad. While I don’t even know this woman, I can tell this is painful for her. “I’ll be the first to admit, Olivia that I wasn’t the perfect stand in mom by any means, and I regret it deeply. When Emily came to live with us, we had younger kids, lots going on in our lives and I just didn’t give her what she needed. I feel so guilty, like I let her down, but I’m so proud of her. I always knew she had what it took to be successful.” I hear a sniffle as she continues, “I’m pretty sure this is why she didn’t call me herself. We left on strained, for lack of a better word, terms.”

In my mind, I’m now starting to understand why Emily was so apprehensive about calling Mariah, she was afraid of rejection. I can’t even imagine having to live with someone and feeling like an outsider. I can tell that Mariah feels guilty. I need to get the conversation back on a positive, so I tell Mariah that we have plans to go look for wedding dresses and ask if she would like to join us.

Her voice is excited, “Oh Olivia, I’d love to. Emily’s okay with this?”

“
Of course, Mariah! I know she’d love for you to come.

She’s relieved and begins rambling, “Olivia, please tell Emily that I’ll be there with bells on! Or better yet, would you give me her number so I can call her myself? I think I’d rather call her. This is so exciting. I can’t wait to tell Gary and the kids. Now I just need to figure out the best way to let Glenn know. A wedding… I. Am. So. Excited! Gosh I’m just rambling, aren’t I? I’m gonna call Emily as soon as we hang up. I can’t wait to meet Tommy. He sounds like a dream. Heck, I can’t wait to meet you. Thanks so much for calling!”

I feel so relieved after the call. I was so worried about calling her, but feel like a huge load was lifted and now I can’t wait to talk to Emily.

I’m nervous wondering if Mariah was serious about calling Emily right away. An hour later, Emily calls and her voice is giddy with happiness, “Olivia?”

“
Yes?” I eagerly ask.

“
Oh My God! Aunt Mariah just called and said you called her. She wants to go wedding dress shopping with us. Can you believe it? This is amazing. Oh, and she said that she and Uncle Gary are coming to watch Avenue on the 23rd too. They’ll get to meet Tommy. Yay!” The happiness in her voice makes me smile. As I’m talking to her, I’m looking out the kitchen window, visualizing the wedding. I can see the yard full of chairs, decorated to the hilt and people laughing, dancing, and having a good time. I pour myself a cup of coffee and resume the conversation.

“Have you told Tommy yet?”

She giggles, and I can just picture her twirling her hair sitting on the floor. “Not yet…you're the first person I called. I’m cooking dinner tonight and I’m gonna surprise him when gets home from rehearsal.”

***

After I get off the phone with Emily, I get an incoming text from Lainey.

‘Have you talked to Patti?’

I’m caught off guard by such a random text. She’s referring to my best friend in Houston, who I have NOT been good at staying in touch with. Patti and her husband Walt were our best friends when we lived there. The Bakers and the Petersen’s were joined at the hip for years. In my mind I’m reminded of the good times we had.

I reply to her text. ‘
Not lately….why
?’

Patti and I were wives of husbands who traveled lots when I lived in Houston. Walt, like Alan, was called out of town a lot with his job, so Patti and I just connected. We did keep in touch when I first moved, but once Alan dropped the bomb on me, I just didn’t have the heart to stay in touch. How do you explain that your husband left you for someone else? Out of sight, out of mind, is how I opted to deal with it.

Lainey’s next text perturbs me. I don’t know why she’s so hell bent on my contacting Patti.
‘You should contact her before you come to Houston, dontcha think?’

Defensively I respond, ‘
I’m a big girl Lainey…I’ve got everything handled :)’

My way of dealing with this situation is actually to procrastinate, not call Patti ahead of time, and surprise her once we get to Houston. Sound good to me! My inner goddess even pats me on the back and gives me a thumbs up.

***

The wedding dress shopping day is finally here. Kyra, with her stellar organizational skills, has set the appointments and we’re all ready. We meet at the coffee shop down the street from the first shop we’ll be going to. I spot a woman walk in, looking around like she’s meeting someone, and I’m guessing it must be Mariah. The look on Emily’s face is a bit reserved and nervous, but as soon as Mariah spots her, her eyes light up and they run into each other’s arms. Mariah is not what I pictured at all, when I spoke with her on the phone. It’s funny how you picture someone a certain way when you’re talking to them on a phone call, but then you actually see them and they are completely different. I don’t know exactly what I pictured, but she’s a doll. She’s got dark blonde wavy shoulder length hair, petite in stature, and wearing minimal makeup, but very pretty and stylish. I'd venture to say she’s in her mid-forties. She’s wearing a cute trendy outfit, straight legged dark wash jeans, a cute multi colored peasant top, with knee high boots and large hoop earrings.

“Aunt Mariah it’s been so long. You look so beautiful.” Emily says, as she steps back to look at her.

Mariah walks around Emily shaking her head grinning. “Emily, Emily, let me look at
you.
” With a sad tone in her voice, she puckers her lips and tilts her head, “You’re all grown up now and getting married. You’re beautiful baby girl... so beautiful.”

Kyra and I retreat back to our table, and give Emily and Mariah some privacy and a chance to reconnect.

Kyra wipes a tear from her eye. “Aww I’m so glad she came. Poor Emily, she’s been so nervous about this. Her stomach’s been in knots since she found out Mariah was coming. Tommy and Todd told her it would all work out for the best. Let’s just hope her dad will be on the same page. I can’t even imagine life without your parents. It’s bewildering. My parents are such a big part of my life, and I feel so bad for Em.”

I tilt my head to the side and ask what I’ve been dying to find out. “Speaking of parents, do yours know about Todd?”

She looks uncomfortable, and I’m suddenly curious at her response, “I’ve told them I met someone that I’m seeing pretty regularly. They asked if he was a student at the university and I told them he’s in a band and well, the verdict is still out on that. Dad’s gonna be a hard sell, more so than Mom, I think. Actually my Mom is pretty cool, but Dad, let’s just say he’s not so cool.”

“So they haven’t actually met Todd yet?”

She’s nervously tapping her nails on the table, looking off to the side and I’m wondering what the big deal is. She takes a deep breath, “Not yet. I’ll have to approach that with a lot of thought and planning. The time isn’t right just yet.”

Call it intuition, but I’m sensing there are issues here. I feel like she’s afraid her parents will be disappointed when they meet Todd. Is she actually embarrassed about introducing him? I ask her about her folks, in an attempt to get a grasp on this uncomfortable feeling I have.

She tells me that her parents are both high powered corporate attorneys and that they live in the Chicago area. She has younger twin brothers, who are just starting college.

“They both want to go to law school. I was the one who wasn’t into the lawyer thing. At first, my folks were pretty bummed, but I think they’ve gotten over it.”

High powered attorneys, which explains why I think she’s hesitant to bring Todd home. I have a feeling that Todd doesn’t live up to Daddy’s expectations. The thought of this goes all over me and I don’t want to show my emotion, so I ask about her education.

“
I finished my bachelor’s degree in 3 years, so I’m ahead of the game actually.”

An overachiever, I think to myself. “Wow! And I thought my Lainey was a wunderkind. You’ll be how old when you get your masters?”

She scrunches her face in an uncomfortable way, “I’ll be 23 when I finish and I’ve been told, on more than one occasion, that I’m an overachiever. I’ve pretty much gone to school year round since high school and it’s wearing me down, but I’m so close and I can’t stop now.”

I’m completely stunned, “23… That’s quite an accomplishment, Kyra. You should be very proud of yourself. Todd told me you were 25.”

“He did? Actually when we first met, he told me he thought I was 25. I guess because you’re usually 22 or 23 when you graduate with your bachelor’s.”

I feel the need to ask about her and Todd’s relationship. It’s nagging at the back of my mind, why she’s not comfortable introducing Todd to her family, and I need to find out more. She tells me that at first, they got off to a rocky start and I’m definitely not going to act like I know what she’s talking about.

Her face lights when I mention his name. “Oh man…when I first met Todd, he was by far the hottest guy I’d ever laid eyes on. We actually met in this very place, you know. I came here to study and have a cup of coffee. The table I was going sit at had no chairs and my hands were full with my coffee and books, so I asked if I could use one of the chairs from his table. He acted all cool and told me to just sit with him, and from there we struck up a conversation. He was so easy to talk to and I really liked him right away. He wasn’t like any guy I’d ever met before, and we talked for a couple of hours off and on. When he told me he was in a band, I kind of freaked out at first. After all, band guys usually have quite the reputation and are pretty stuck on themselves. Plus he IS a great looking guy.”