Authors: Danielle Steel
We'd better be going, Olivia said finally, and led the women outside to where her husband and Jared were already waiting. They were using separate cars to get to the church. The wedding itself was going to be small, their friends were invited to the lunch afterward, but very few had been invited to the church service.
Tad watched the women as they came down the porch steps, talking and laughing and giggling like young girls. It brought 4iis own wedding day to mind. Olivia had looked lovely in her mother's wedding gown, but it seemed so long ago now. She looked so tired and so worn and so different now. Life hadn't been easy for them, the Depression had been particularly rough, but that was all over now. The ranch was doing well, their children were almost grown, they were safe and happy in their comfortable little world in their remote little valley. And then suddenly he caught his breath, as Becky stood on the porch, looking shy and proud, the veil clouding her face, her bouquet of roses held in her trembling hands. She looked lovely, and he felt tears sting his eyes as he saw her.
Isn't she a picture, Tad? Olivia whispered proudly, pleased at the effect their oldest daughter had visibly had on him. For years she had tried to push Becky deeper into his affections, but it was always Crystal who warmed his heart ' Crystal ' with her wild ways and unfettered grace as she ran at his heels. But now Becky had finally done it.
You look lovely, sweetheart. He gently kissed his daughter, feeling the veil touch his lips with her cheek, and he pressed her hand as they both fought back tears, and then the moment was gone and they were all hurrying to the cars to get her to the church where she would become Mrs. Thomas Parker. It was a big day for all of them, and especially for Becky, and as he hurried around the car to slide behind the wheel, he suddenly stopped and felt the same pangs that had torn at his heart since the first time he saw her. Standing shyly like a doe in the plain white dress, hesitant, shy, the sun glinting on her hair, her eyes the same color as the sky, Crystal stood and watched him. There was no fighting what he felt for her, what she was to him, and always had been. She stopped for a moment, too, and they both smiled. She felt strong and alive and loved whenever she was near him. He smiled at his youngest child, as she slipped into the car Jared was driving their grandmother in, and with a wild gesture she tossed one of her white roses at him, and with a gurgle of laughter, he caught it. It was Becky's day, he didn't need Olivia to remind him of that, Crystal was who she was. And she meant everything to him. She was the rarest of the rare. She was simply ' Crystal.
The service was simple and sweet as the bride and groom exchanged their vows in the little white church in Jim Town. Becky looked pretty and proud in the gown her mother had made, and Tom looked nervous and very young in a new blue suit he had bought for the wedding. Boyd Webster was the best man, with his coppery hair and a face full of freckles. And as Tad watched them from the front pew, he thought of how young they all were, scarcely more than children.
Crystal was her sister's only attendant, she stood to one side, looking shyly up at Boyd, and trying not to look with curious fascination at his wife in the back row. Hiroko had worn a simple green silk dress, and a string of pearls, and black patent leather shoes. She was anxious to look as Western as she could, although Boyd had wanted her to wear a kimono. She had worn a ceremonial kimono at their own wedding in Japan, and she had looked like a doll with the traditional Kanzashi in her hair, and the gold dagger and tiny brocade purse filled with coins tucked into her gold obi. But all of that was forgotten now, as Becky's close family and friends watched her become Tom's wife. He kissed the bride, as Jared cheered, and Olivia dabbed at her eyes with the lace handkerchief she had carried at her own wedding. Everything had gone off perfectly, and they stood outside for a time, chatting with family and friends and admiring Becky. The best man slapped Tom on the back as he beamed, and everyone shook hands and kissed and enjoyed the simple celebration. Jared threw a handful of rice at them as they got back into their cars, and drove in convoy back to the Wyatt Ranch for the carefully prepared luncheon that Olivia, Minerva, and their neighbors had been working on for days before the wedding.
As soon as they got home, Olivia flew around the kitchen instructing ranch hands to carry trays and platters to the waiting tables outside. Their wives had been hired on to help serve and clean up afterward, and the tables laden with food seemed to stretch on forever, turkeys and capons, roast beef and ribs and hams, black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes, vegetables and salads, aspics and deviled eggs, and cookies and sweets and fruit pies and a huge white wedding cake set up on its own table. It looked like enough food for an army, as Tad helped the men to open the wine, and Tom stood grinning at his bride, with Boyd smiling shyly beside them. Boyd was a good-looking boy with an open heart and kind eyes, and he had always been fond of the Wyatts. His sister, Ginny, had gone to school with Becky, and he remembered Jared and Crystal when they were babies, although he was scarcely older than they were. But at twenty-two, with four years of war under his belt, he felt a lifetime older.
Well, Tom, you did it. How does it feel to be a married man? Boyd Webster grinned broadly at his friend, as Tom looked around him with unconcealled pleasure. Marrying into the Wyatt family had been a step up in the world for Tom Parker. He was looking forward to living on the ranch and sharing in its comfortable profits, if not directly, at least in life-style. Tad had been grooming him for months, explaining to him about the corn and the cattle and the vineyards. The walnuts were the least profitable venture on the ranch, but even that was no small operation. And in walnut season, everyone on the ranch lent a hand, until their fingers were stained from picking and shelling the walnuts. For the first few months, though, Tom was going to be helping his father-in-law with the vineyards.
Yeah, I'll bet you will, one of Tom's friends teased him over plates heaped with ham and turkey, wine-tasting, isn't that what they call it, Tom? The groom laughed happily, his eyes a little too bright, as Becky giggled in the center of a group of the girls she had grown up with. Most of them were married now too. With the war finally over, and the boys coming home just as the girls finished high school, there had been dozens of weddings in the valley in the past year, and some of them had already had babies. And they were already teasing Becky now about getting pregnant. It won't be long, Becky Wyatt ' just you wait ' another month or two, and you'll be expecting! The girls giggled as cars and pickup trucks continued to drive up, and their neighbors arrived, dressed in their Sunday best, reprimanding their children, admonishing them to behave, and not tear their clothes running wild with their friends around the tables. Within an hour, there were two hundred well-wishers crowded along the long tables of food, and half as many children, small ones standing close to their mothers' legs, afraid to stray too far, babes in arms, a few little boys carried about on their fathers' shoulders, and a slight distance away from the carefully laid tables, a huge crowd of children running and playing tag, with their parents' words of caution instantly forgotten. The boys were chasing each other around the trees, as several of the more adventurous ones climbed them, and the girls stood in large groups giggling and talking and laughing, some of them taking turns on the swings Tad had built years before for his own children. They joined their elders briefly from time to time, but on the whole each group was content to ignore the other, the parents assumed that the children were safe nearby, and the children were content that their parents were having too much fun to concern themselves about what their offspring were up to.
And as always, Crystal stood on the fringe of the younger groups, almost forgotten except for an occasional glance of envy or admiration. The girls always eyed her cautiously, and the boys, in recent years, had been fascinated by her, although they expressed it oddly at times, pushing and shoving, and even tugging at the long blond hair, or pretending to spar with her, or push her too hard, or doing anything they could physically to catch her attention, without actually talking to her. And the girls tried not to talk to her at all. Her looks made her much too threatening. She was set apart from them without understanding why. It was the price she paid for her beauty. She accepted the way they treated her as something that was, without yet understanding why. Sometimes, when the boys pushed her, and she was feeling brave, she shoved them right back, or hit them, or even tripped them when they annoyed her. It was her only communication with them. And the rest of the time they ignored her. She had known them all since they were born, and yet in recent years, it was as though she had become a stranger. The children were as aware as their elders were of how striking she was, how breathtakingly lovely. But no one knew how to deal with it. They were simple folk and it was as though in the past year or two, she had become someone different. It had particularly struck the boys coming home from the war, after four years away, they were shocked to see what had happened to Crystal. Always pretty as a little girl, there had been nothing about her at ten to suggest the full force of her beauty as she became a woman. But part of her appeal was that she was as yet unaware of her effect on the men around her, and she was still as patient and good-natured as she had been as a little girl. If anything, she was shyer now, because she knew her effect on those around her had altered subtly, but she didn't know why. Only her brother treated her as he always had, with rude affection. But her lack of awareness about her looks made her innocence all the more sensual, a fact of which her father was well aware, and for two years now he had told her to stop hanging around the ranch hands. He knew exactly what they were thinking and why, and he didn't want Crystal unwittingly doing something to provoke them. Her gentleness and silent way of moving among them was far more arousing than walking past them stark naked.
But Tad wasn't worried about her now, as he talked politics and sports and local gossip and grape prices with his friends. It was a happy day for all of them as their friends ate and talked and laughed, and the children played nearby, while Crystal watched them.
Hiroko stood slightly apart from all of them too, beneath the shade of a tree, silent and alone, her eyes never leaving her husband. Boyd was talking to Tom in a circle of friends, reminiscing about the war. It was hard to believe it had ended less than a year before. It seemed lifetimes behind them now, with its terrors and its excitement, the friends they had made, and those they had lost. Only Hiroko stood there now, as a living reminder of where they had been, and what they still remembered. She was eyed with open hostility, and none of the women approached her. Even her sister-in-law, Ginny Webster, was careful to shun her. Ginny was wearing a tight pink dress, low cut over her full bosom, with a matching jacket with little white polka dots, and a peplum which accentuated her shapely bottom. She was laughing even louder than the rest, and flirting with all of Boyd's friends, just as she had years before when Boyd brought them home after school and she tried to captivate her brother's buddies. But her effect and her style were far different from Crystal's. She was overtly sexual with her bright red hair and her tight dress and her obvious makeup. She had been talked about for years, and the men loved to slip an arm around her shoulders and get a good look down her dress to her ample bosom. It brought back memories for many of them. Since she'd turned thirteen, Ginny had always been generous with her favors.
What you got there, Ginny? The groom sidled up to her, smelling of something stronger than the wine Tad was serving. A few of the men had been drinking whiskey in the barn, and Tom had, as always, been quick to join them. He eyed her now with obvious interest as he squeezed her close to him, and let his hand slip under her jacket. She was holding Becky's bouquet, but he wasn't referring to the flowers. He was looking straight into her cleavage. Did you catch the bouquet? Guess you're next. He laughed raucously, displaying good teeth and the smile that had won Becky's heart years before. But Ginny knew more of him than that, which to some, was no secret.
I told you I'd be getting married pretty soon, Tom Parker. She giggled at him, and he pulled her even closer, as Boyd blushed and looked away from his sister and his friend, catching sight of his tiny ivory bride, watching them from the distance. Boyd felt a pang as he looked at Hiroko then. It was rare that he left her side, but today, as Tom's best man, it was hard to be as attentive to her as he would have liked. But as Ginny and Tom teased and laughed, Boyd quietly slipped away, and went to find Hiroko. She smiled as he approached, and he felt his heart tug as it always did when he looked into her gentle eyes. She had brought him comfort a long way from home, and she had been devoted to him every moment since she'd arrived in the valley. It broke his heart to see how unkind people were to her. Despite his friends' warnings in Japan, he hadn't been prepared for the viciousness of their words, or the doors that had slammed in their faces. More than once, he had thought of moving away, but this was his home, and he wasn't going to run away, no matter what they said or did to him. It was only Hiroko he worried about. The women were so unkind to her, and the men were worse. They called her a gook and a Jap, even the children wouldn't talk to her, having been told not to by their parents. It was a far cry from her gentle loving family in Japan.
You okay? He smiled down at her, and she bent her head and nodded and then looked up at him shyly in the way that always made his heart melt.
I'm fine, Boyd-san. It is very handsome party. He laughed at her choice of words and she looked embarrassed and then giggled. No?
Yes. He leaned over and kissed her gently, not giving a damn who was watching. He loved her and she was his wife, and to hell with them if they couldn't understand it. His red hair and freckles stood out in sharp contrast to her ivory skin and jet-black hair which she wore in a neat bun at the nape of her neck. Everything about her was simple and neat and nicely put together. And her family had been just as shocked as his own when they had told them they were getting married. Her father had forbidden her to see Boyd again, but in the end, in the face of Boyd's kindness and gentle ways and obvious love for the girl, in spite of themselves and her mother's tears, they had relented. Hiroko had told them nothing in her letters of the brutal reception she had met in the Alexander Valley, she told them only about the little shack where they lived, the beautiful countryside, and her love for Boyd, making it all sound simple and easy. When she first arrived she had known nothing of the internment camps for the Japanese during the war, or the fury and scorn she would meet in California.