Kasey squeezed my hand as I instructed my phone to never allow another call or text from Carol to come through again.
We stepped into the store that appeared to be free of former classmates and headed to the glass cases.
Kasey browsed while I tried – discreetly – to check the balance in my checking account.
I could feel the blood drain out of my face as I ran the numbers.
Kasey noticed, of course.
“Hey, we don’t have to ..”
I took her hands in mine.
“Do you love me?”
“What kind of silly question is that?”
“.. and I would tell you the same thing.”
She stared at me.
“What would you do for me?” I asked her.
Her forehead wrinkled.
“Is there anything that you would not do for me?”
“You have to wait three more weeks.”
“Other than that.”
“No.”
“Then do you not think that I would do anything to make you happy?”
“You already make me happy. Let’s go.”
“I’m buying you a ring.”
“We’ll wait.”
“Today.”
“I’ll find a reasonably priced one,” she finally conceded.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Cuz when we see Carol again – which you fucking know is going to happen as soon as we walk out of this store – I want her to shit herself.”
Kasey pulled her hands out of mine and wrapped mine in hers.
“As much as I love that idea – and can already imagine the look on the whore’s face. That’s not a valid reason to spend that much money.”
I squatted down, wrapped my arms around her legs – just under her ass – and stood back up – raising her above me – a head taller than everybody else in the showroom.
Loud enough for everyone to hear, I said, “This gorgeous girl has agreed to marry me and I need a ring as beautiful as her.”
“That’s not a good reason either,” she whispered – but she leaned forward and kissed me hard enough that I had to set her down to fix the tent in my pants.
The new laptop was on hold – so were the tires for the car – as well as the other things I’d been saving for – but – after we’d picked the engagement ring and wedding band, even Mrs. Williams was kissing me.
I walked out of the store with both ladies on my arms.
We nearly ran into Carol.
“Hello Carol,” Kasey said. “What a pleasant surprise.” She extended her hand so that the hag could clearly see the ring.
When Carol looked up at her, she said, “My fiance has blocked your number. Stay away from us or I’ll cut you into so many pieces they’ll need a magnifying glass to find them all.”
With that, we left the mall and headed back to #24 Mulberry.
I started to pull into the drive but there was an ancient Lincoln Continental parked in “my” place – so I pulled out front – as Kasey cursed under her breath.
“Grandma?” I guessed.
She nodded – pointing to the hag standing on the front steps – next to a man whose sandy hair was starting to gray at the edges.
Kasey led the way towards the house. Her mother trailed behind. I ended up in the middle.
“Hello, Grandma, Grandpa. What’s up?”
“Merely stopping by for a visit, sweetheart.”
“I, uh, have company right now. We were running errands and just came home to grab a jacket. We’re going to go play putt-putt and the forecast said it might rain.”
I stopped beside Kasey; her mom was still a half-step behind me.
“We just wanted to chat for a bit, dear. It won’t take long.”
“We can talk here, if you’d like.”
“Who’s this?”
“This is Reggie. My fiance.”
“Fiance? You’d need a ring for that, wouldn’t you though?”
Kasey held out her hand.
“My, my! I’ll bet that came with a hefty set of payments!”
“Not that it’s really any of your business but he paid cash. What do you need, grandma?”
“Well! That’s not a very nice way ..”
I stepped in front of Kasey.
“Kasey and I will be married three weeks from today. We’re going to play putt-putt and talk some more about arrangements. If your matters are more urgent than that, this might be a good time to spit them out. Otherwise, they can probably wait until after the wedding.”
I looked from the woman to her mate – to see him staring at me.
“Since Kasey’s father is no longer here, would you be willing to give her away?” I asked him.
“Harold!”
He looked at her with more backbone than I expected, but said nothing.
“Fine!” the woman spat at Kasey.
Turning to leave, she muttered, “I wasn’t even invited to the last wedding.”
“That’s not true,” my former Science teacher whispered behind me.
“What?!” the hag turned to confront her.
I stepped between them.
“From what I understand, you chose not to participate in the last wedding. It would not hurt my feelings in the least if you boycotted this one as well. That, however, is your decision.”
“Well! I never!”
I looked at her and smiled – waiting for her to remember what I’d said the last time she spewed that vitriol at me.
She stomped off to the car, waiting for her husband to open the door for her.
Only after the car was down the road and out of sight did the two loveliest women in my life break into tears and snuggle into my arms.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” I apologized – mostly to Kasey – but to her mom as well.
Her crying lessened and she sniffled, “No. It was fine – better than fine, actually – and I never even thought about Grandpa Williams taking daddy’s place.”
She started sobbing again.
When they were down to mild hyperventilation – their bodies recovering from the intense crying – I said, “I need to ask you something.”
“What?” Kasey asked.
“Can we go to the zoo?”
“Cuddly animals will take my mind off of Grandma Williams?” she asked, stray tears still dampening her cheeks.
“Well, that – and – I should probably tell mom that I’m getting married.”
~~~ Feeding Time ~~~
At the ticket-area, I stepped up to the window of the cashier that I knew.
“Hey, Linda!”
“Hey, Reggie!”
“Can I get two staff visitor passes?”
“Um? Okay?”
I grabbed Kasey’s hand and held the ring up for her to see.
“I proposed to Kasey and I kind of need to go tell mom before somebody else does.”
“Holy, shit! Aw, sweetie! That’s awesome!” she said to Kasey.
Looking at me she said, “You too, Reg.”
I laughed, “Thanks.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“Three weeks.”
“Shit! She’s not ..”
“No,” I laughed. “We ..”
“I mean .. I don’t think your mom would .. Oh, listen to me! Let me get you those passes!”
She printed out two passes and gave them to me. I handed them over to Kasey and her mom.
“Your mom works here?” Kasey asked, as we headed inside.
“She’s the nutritionist.”
“Aw, cool.”
Mrs. Williams asked, “You know where to find her?”
“This time of day, she should be feeding the little furballs in the children’s section. Prepare for cuteness-overload!”