I took the envelope. “Before the wedding?”
I turned it over, looking for a name. “Did they say who it’s from?”
Albert shook his head. “I’m sorry. The delivery woman didn’t offer, and I didn’t ask.”
My thoughts were on the wedding. “Have you heard from Jonathon?”
“Yes. He’s on his way to the cabin with Judge Nichols.”
I reached for my topcoat. “I’ll head over there. It’s getting close, and I’m not supposed to see Julia in her dress.”
Albert smiled. “Traditions.”
Traditions and normalities.
They were new, and as I donned my overcoat, I decided I liked them. I could do this. I could be normal.
Taking the envelope, I made my way through the kitchen and through the breezeway out into the garages. Julia had planned the wedding at the cabin. I’d planned a small get-together at the house for afterward. I’d invited a few more people such as Connie and her husband, Eric. Vicki and I discussed Julia’s parents and came to the decision that the call was Julia’s. She’d said she would inform them later. That was fine with me.
The wedding and later celebration would be small. I’d given Connie instructions to deliver more food and drinks for later. It wasn’t fair to ask Mrs. Mayhand to make everything. With a code to get through the front gate, Connie would be ready for us once the wedding was over.
My thoughts were on our celebration much later, the one up in our suite. Yes, Julia and I had a visitor spending the night, but it was our wedding night. I didn’t plan to let it pass without our own private festivity. As I got into the truck, I remembered one piece of our wedding I’d forgotten.
Our wedding rings.
Luckily, I was ahead of schedule.
Sneaking back into the kitchen, I stopped, not wanting to run into Julia. Listening for voices, I hurried to my office. The rings were in their box in the top drawer of my desk. Slipping the box into my suit coat pocket, I paused back at the staircase.
This was finally it.
The door to the breezeway hadn’t shut all the way. Going back out, I made sure it latched. Back in the truck, I waved at Albert as I drove down the lane out onto the public road before turning up the unusually well-traveled lane. Hell, the cabin could go months without a visitor and today it would practically be Grand Central Station. As I turned up the lane, my cell phone buzzed. Once I was at the cabin, I wouldn’t be able to answer.
Pulling to the side of the lane, I put the truck in park as the name came up on my dashboard.
My head shook.
Of course, Lena would make it known she wasn’t invited. I hit the green button ready to make my excuse. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Jesus, Van. How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“What are you making up to me?” she asked. “Wait, first I have to tell you what is happening.”
My gaze went to the clock on my dashboard. “Can this wait? I can call you back.”
“Van, she isn’t here.”
“Who?”
“Madison,” Lena said. “I should have known something was going on.”
“What are you saying?”
“I told you that Phillip wouldn’t allow me to visit in the last year. I hadn’t tried until now. I was getting the runaround. I just met with the director of the facility here in San Antonio. She’d been on vacation and no one else would meet with me. Phillip took my name off all her documents.”
“What are you saying?”