Pennies From Heaven (The Bella Novella Collection Book 3) (6 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tu te payes ma poire

Translation: Are you buying yourself my pear?

(Are you pulling my leg?)

As the first week of April morphed into the second, I found myself wrapped up in plans for Lily and Cecil’s big day. I kept a close eye on the extended weather report, doing my best not to get too anxious. So far, so good. Looked like we were in for peaceful skies on the afternoon of the 30
th
.

Just to be sure, I gave Justine—my favorite weather girl from Channel Eleven—a call. She answered her cell phone on the third ring, her voice as joyous over the phone as it was on the nightly news.

“Bella! I can’t believe it’s you! Seems like just yesterday we were planning my big day, and now I’m an old married lady.”

“Hardly.” I laughed. “You’ve been married, what? Four months? Five?”

“Well, I feel like it’s been longer. What can I do for you, Bella?”

“I need the inside scoop on the weather in Splendora on Saturday, the 30th of April at 2:00 p.m.”

“Well, nothing like being specific.” She laughed. “Are you forgetting that I completely botched the weather report on my own big day? Are you sure you don’t want to call Frank from Channel Two?”

“Very funny. I’ll take whatever you have to give me.”

“Okay, hang on a second and let me check.” She disappeared for a few seconds and then returned. “Okay, Saturday the 30
th
of April.” More silence. “Hmm.”

“What? Should we be worried?”

“Oh, no, sorry. Just noticed that the Rockies are going to have snow that weekend. Never ceases to amaze me that it can be snowing in one part of the country and summery in the next. Don’t you find that strange?”

“Yes, but about Splendora. . .”

“And would you believe the northeast is going to have more rains that weekend? They’ve been deluged already. I often wonder how much rain a place can take before the dams start to break. As you might recall, last spring the northeast had some of the worst flooding in years, and all because of April showers.”

“Yes, but Splendora. . .”

“Is in the clear. I’m looking at all of my models and not one shows a drop of rain that weekend. Feel better?”

“I do. And it jives with what I found online.”

“So I wasn’t your first stop.” She sighed. “I knew it.”

“I just hated to bother you. I know how busy you are.”

Just as she started to respond, our call was interrupted.

“Sorry, Bella. That’s my manager. I’ve gotta run.”

And with a click, she was gone.

Seconds later I realized I’d missed a text from Jenna. Her words
Meet me at Parma Johns?
took me by surprise. What was she doing on the Island?

Despite my crazy workload, I dropped everything and headed to my family’s restaurant. As I pulled my car up to the pizza parlor, I noticed some activity across the street at Super Gyros, the Greek restaurant owned by the Pappas family. Half a dozen police cars lined the street.

“What’s happening?” I called out to Mrs. Pappas after I got out of my car. “Is someone hurt?” I took several quick steps in her direction until I arrived on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Even from here I could smell the yummy scent of lamb from inside.

“Not yet,” she responded. “But I’d like to give my husband a swift kick in the backside. Why he felt the need to offer free gyros to all of the police officers on Galveston Island is beyond me.”

“Laz does the same thing. At least the police will never go hungry.”

“Right? Problem is, they’ll be so full they won’t be able to chase the bad guys.” She shook her head. “Speaking of chaos, how are things going with Lily’s wedding? Cassia says they’re doing a French theme.”

“Right. Paris.”

Mrs. Pappas reached for a dishtowel and tucked it into her waistband. “Between us, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. The family is Greek, like us. Why would they do a French wedding?”

I shrugged. “Oh, I never thought about that, to be honest. Lily just happens to love Paris.”

“Well, my husband is beside himself. You know how he is, Bella. Says he’s boycotting the wedding.”

“He can’t do that. Lily is his. . .” I paused to make sure I got the family relation right. “She’s his daughter’s sister-in-law. That practically makes him Lily’s uncle.”

“He says no relative of his will have a French wedding on his watch. Then he went off on a tangent about how the French tried to stamp out the Greeks during the Crusades, but I’m pretty sure he’s got his history wrong.”

“C’mon. I know Mr. Pappas. He’s just kidding around.”

She shook her head. “Hardly. But never you mind all of that. I’ll get him there, if I have to drag him kicking and screaming.”

I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Guess I’d just have to see on the big day. In the meantime, I needed to get to Parma Johns to spend some time with Jenna.

I walked across the street and entered our family’s restaurant. The familiar strains of
Pennies from Heaven
played through the speakers and the aroma of pepperoni and sausage tantalized me, along with caramelized onions and green peppers. Yum.

“Bella, what brings you here?” My brother Nick called out from across the room. “Lunch break?”

“Yeah. Jenna told me to meet her here.”

“Oh, right. I saw her a few minutes ago.” He looked around. “Maybe she went next door to the bakery.”

“Thanks.” I walked through the opening leading to Let Them Eat Cake, my sister-in-law’s bakery, and found my BFF deeply engrossed in a conversation with Scarlet. They shushed the minute they saw me.

“Hey, you two.”

“Hey, Bella.” Jenna had that a suspicious look on her face, one I couldn’t quite figure out.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing. Just talking to Scarlet. I was ordering a cake for next month.”

“Someone’s birthday?”

“No.” She cleared her throat. “Just missing Scarlet’s cakes.”

“So why not take one home today?” I asked.

“Ah.” This seemed to stop her in her tracks. “Good idea.” She turned her attention to Scarlet. “I’ll take one chocolate. . .to go. Bubba Jr. and Weston will love me for this.”

“Speaking of the boys, I’m surprised they’re not with you.”

“Oh, they’re in pre-school back in Splendora. Earline agreed to pick them up today so that I could have a day off. I really need it.”

“Things at the BBQ place too much to handle?”

“Well, business is booming, but I’m wiped out all the time.”

As my very pregnant sister-in-law busied herself getting Jenna’s cake ready to go I glanced at my watch and gasped when I realized I only had an hour before I had to pick up the older kids from school.

Jenna turned my way with a smile. “It’s so good to be back on the island. I’ve missed it so much.”

“The chaos of Splendora too much for you?”

“Nah. Just miss my old stomping ground, that’s all. And I’ve missed you.” She put her hand on my arm and gave me a smile so warm it completely melted my heart. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved.”

“Me too.” She took the boxed cake from Scarlet, paid her, and then we headed back through the opening to Parma Johns, which teemed with even more customers than before.

As the overpowering scent of garlic wrapped itself around us, my stomach growled. Jenna, on the other hand, looked a little green around the gills.

“You okay?” I asked.

She seemed to startle at my question? “Hmm? Oh, sure. Maybe I’ve waited too long to eat. It sounded good to me, too. . .until I smelled it. Then I started feeling a little nauseous.”

“Really? Pizza never made you sick before. You sure you’re not lactose intolerant like Pop?”

“Never have been before. Anyway, I’ll eat some pasta while you have your pizza. I just wanted to talk to you about the mess going on in Splendora.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard all about it from Lily.”

Jenna groaned. “I have a great idea. Instead of talking about the goings-on back home, let’s just have some girl-talk, okay?” She looped her arm through mine. “I really miss that, Bella. A lot.”

Okay, then. We’d have girl-talk. Still, I couldn’t help but notice she’d called Splendora home. My BFF was now firmly rooted in the country, far, far from Galveston Island. For some reason, that knowledge caused a wave of sadness to wash over me.

Not that I had time to be sad for long. Within minutes we’d ordered our food and taken our seats at the counter. From that point on, our conversation shifted to weddings, family stories and Galveston goings-on. Jenna seemed to eat it up.

In fact, she seemed to eat up. . .everything. The girl ate all of her pasta and half of my meatball pizza.

Very, very suspicious.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Qu'est-ce que je ferais sans toi?

Translation: What would I do without you?

The next couple of weeks whirled by, the clock moving so fast I could hardly keep up.
The morning before Lily and Cec’s wedding I awoke at seven a.m. to bright, sunny skies. So, Justine was right this time. The weather would play nicely. No last-minute surprises. Good going.

About ten minutes later I received a call from Cecil in Splendora. “Um, Bella?”

“Cecil. Getting excited?”

“Yes. But, Houston, we have a problem.”

“Technically I’m in Galveston, not Houston.” A yawn escaped and I tried to stifle it. “But that’s beside the point. What’s going on, Cec?”

“It’s raining.”

“What?” I sat up straight in the bed. “Are you serious?”

“I am. It’s not a hard rain, but it’s a rain. We’re working on the backdrop this morning, getting it in place, but if I put it out in the rain it’ll be warped before the reception tomorrow afternoon. You know?”

“Is it too late for me to get my tent guys out there to cover the garden area?”

“Well, let’s hold off another hour or so. Praying this will lift. According to the weather report—”

“Don’t talk to me about weather reports,” I interrupted. “It’s pointless.”

“Well, according to the weather reports this will lift in another hour or so. Hopefully we’ll have clear skies this afternoon. And if we’re fortunate, the sun will dry the grounds quickly.”

I prayed he was right. By ten o’clock I’d gathered my whole family together at the Rossi home so that we could caravan north to Splendora.
I needed their help putting the chapel in order for tomorrow’s Parisian ceremony.

I couldn’t help but notice the
Laz for Prez
signs had been removed from the front yard of my parents’ place. I’d have to remember to thank Uncle Lazarro later. Now, if he could just keep from getting Earline riled up once we arrived in Splendora, perhaps we’d have a lovely, carefree—albeit rainy—day. 

Not that we got off to a great start. Mom and Pop argued about which car they should take. Rosa and Laz squabbled over Guido, the family parrot. For some reason, Rosa felt compelled to take our fine-feathered family member along for the ride. My brother and his wife couldn’t seem to get their kids under control. And my sister and her husband—the only ones wearing designer clothes and looking like they just stepped out of a magazine—climbed into his sports car, impatient to get going.

When we finally got everyone loaded into the cars, we hit the road. D.J. drove our van and I sat in the passenger seat, eyes firmly riveted on my iPad.

“Whatcha readin’ over there?”

“Hmm?” I looked up from the tablet. “Oh, last minute details for the wedding.”

“Still working? Look around you, Bella. Bluebonnets are still in bloom.” He pointed off to the side of the highway. Sure enough, the gorgeous state flower bloomed in abundance along the roadway surrounded by Indian Paintbrushes and other gorgeous wildflowers.

“It’s gorgeous.” How I wished I could spend more time just watching, but with so much work yet to be done, how could I? My gaze shifted again to the iPad.

After a few minutes, D.J. turned up the radio and before long the kids were singing at the top of their lungs. I listened in, unable to focus on my tablet. Moments later I heard that still small voice from above whispering, “Close the tablet, Bella. Spend time with your family.”

So I did. I shut down the tablet and started singing with abandon. I’d never claimed to have a good singing voice, but it seemed to get the twins tickled. And D.J.

“I love it when you sing, Bella,” he said. . .after I stopped.

“Oh? You find it entertaining?” I offered up another
tra-la-la
, just to see his reaction.

An admiring look followed from my sweetie. “I find it inspirational. You sing with your whole heart and there’s nothing finer.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.” He gave me the sweetest smile I could ever recall seeing. “You do everything with your whole heart. Work, play, worship, love me.” A playful wink followed from my sweetheart and I felt my cheeks growing warm.

“I guess I’m just a whole heart kinda girl,” I said, and then dove back into the song, louder than ever.

Before long we reached Splendora and discovered clear skies. Not a drop of rain greeted us. I ushered up a silent prayer of thanks. Hopefully the ground would dry quickly so that the men could get the set pieces in place in the garden.

There was no time to stop at Donny’s Truck Stop today. No way. I had to get to the wedding facility in a hurry. D.J. pointed our van toward the exit and before long we were under the covering of the tall, stately pines, headed past Bubba’s BBQ, beyond his parents’ place, and toward the wedding facility.

We arrived to find Lily and Jasmine hard at work with their team. I gasped when I saw the interior of the building.

“Oh, Lily! You don’t need our help at all. It’s perfect!” I stared in wonder at the soft pink and white décor in the foyer, taking in every detail of her hard work.

“Trust me, I need your help. If you head into the chapel, you’ll see that we’ve barely started.” Lily turned her attention to my husband. “And I hate to bother you with this, D.J., but we’ve got a problem with one of the ceiling fans. Oh, and the A/C’s stuck on 80. We can’t seem to get it to budge. And Mama told me that one of the toilets in the ladies room isn’t flushing properly. Other than that, absolutely nothing has gone wrong.” She released an exaggerated sigh.

D.J., ever the hero, saluted her. “I’ll get right to it, ma’am.”

At this point Sophia offered to help with the kids, thank goodness. I dove into action in the chapel, dressing the candelabras and adding some of the prettiest decorative items I’d ever laid eyes on. All French, of course, and most so quaint they made me sigh.

From the foyer I heard Guido singing
100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
. Nothing like a little ambience to keep the day fun. Mama took a couple of steps toward me, a disgusted look on her face.

“I still can’t figure out why Rosa and Laz decided to bring that bird.”

“He needs fresh air.” Uncle Laz’s voice sounded from behind us and I turned to see that he had joined us.

“Well, he’s not getting it here, at the wedding facility.” Mama clucked her tongue. “Honestly, this is the last place he needs to be, cooped up indoors.”

“We planned to drop him off at Earline and Dwayne’s place but no one answered when we called. I assumed we would find them here. . .and we did.” Rosa let out a little squeal and then headed across the room to give Earline a hug.

“So, what do we do with the bird?” Pop asked.

I looked at the bird, perched on the guest book table. “You know Guido. He’s pretty good about staying put. I’ll ask D.J. to find a branch from the field behind us. If he brings it in, Guido will stay perched on it for hours.”

“Good point.” Mama nodded. “He’s probably worn out after the car trip, anyway.”

I did feel a little sorry for Guido, truth be told. The poor bird was cooped up in the Rossi home for hours on end. Spending a little time in the country would be just the ticket. He’d lived in Splendora once upon a time, after all, and had loved it then. In fact, I’d once wondered if Guido might prefer a permanent life among the cardinals and bluebirds than life inside of the chaotic Rossi household.

Thinking about Guido taking up permanent residence in the piney woods of East Texas caused my thoughts to shift to Jenna. She seemed happy enough here, but I missed her terribly. Hopefully we’d get to spend some quality time together this weekend. If she ever showed up. I glanced at my watch, and realized we’d crossed the noon hour. She and Bubba were probably hard at work at their restaurant. Hopefully she’d come after the lunch crowd thinned.              

Cassia and Alex arrived with flowers galore, which they started sorting for the rehearsal dinner centerpieces. If these gorgeous roses were any indication of what tomorrow’s wedding flowers would look like, we were in for a real treat. I couldn’t help but admire these two—they made flower design look like a true art form.

We all took a lunch break a short while later. Laz and Rosa fed us sandwiches and soft drinks, and then we dove back into our work once again. As we hung decorations, I found myself humming a familiar praise song. Before long, Lily latched onto the song and joined in. Then Jasmine added her voice to the ever-growing chorus. The guys threw in some harmony and before anyone could say, “Gee, it’s starting to look like Paris in here!” we’d knocked out an amazing rendition of
How Great is Our God
.

He
was
great. It didn’t take a team of decorators to see that He’d created something more beautiful than a lovely room. God had bonded us—all of us—as brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins and so on. He’d taken families from Galveston, Splendora, Cut ‘n Shoot and beyond and woven them together as one big happy family.

Even Earline and Uncle Laz seemed to be working as a team today. I had his word that he wouldn’t mention politics. . .at all. I prayed he would do as promised. Then, perhaps, we’d have a peaceful, loving weekend.

We certainly seemed to be off to a good start. I watched in awe as Cecil’s parents worked side by side with Lily’s mom and dad. Surely the Lord had done a work in their relationship, too. I couldn’t help myself. I had to figure out what had happened.

I made my way over to Lily and rested my hand on her arm. Without saying a word, I gestured to her mother-in-law, who gabbed happily with the other ladies. My elevated eyebrows must’ve been enough for Lily to understand the gist of my question. She pulled me aside, her eyes now brimming with tears.

“Bella, the most wonderful thing has happened.”

“I see that. But. . .how?”

“Well, it started as a small thing. Seemingly small, anyway. Moggie is an amazing seamstress.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I had a problem with my gown. The alterations lady in Kingwood totally botched the hem.”

“Oh, no.”

“Right? But when Moggie heard about it, she asked if she could take a look. Next thing you know, she’s got a ripper in her hand and she’s ripping out the stitches. And then she takes a few nips and tucks and then, voila! My dress is as good as new. Better, really. It now fits like it was supposed to from the beginning.”

“That’s great, Lily.”

“Here’s the best part. Moggie and I really bonded while she was working on it. She told me the coolest story about a missions trip she went on as a kid. I didn’t even know that she was raised in church but her parents were missionaries. Isn’t that cool?

“Sure is.”

“And you won’t believe what happened next. Mama and I were beside ourselves over the centerpieces. We had the perfume bottles and knew they’d make good vases but as for the rest of the tables, well, we just couldn’t quite piece together the right ideas. I didn’t want everything to be uniform. I really wanted each table to have its own French flair.”

“Right.”

“I showed Moggie some of the pictures I’d found on Pinterest and you won’t believe it, but she made centerpieces even prettier than the ones we saw online.”

“Whoa.”

“She has quite an eye for details and for color, too. I can’t wait for you to see what she’s come up with. You’re going to flip.” Lily paused. “No, you’re going to want to hire her to do centerpieces for Club Wed.”

“I just might.”

“She’ll be on the island a lot once Cecil and I get settled into our new place.” A wistful look came over Lily and for a moment I thought she might cry. Instead, she turned her focus to the room, filled with family and friends. “D.J. was right. Cecil’s parents felt out of place. I get that. I’ve felt that same way at times.”

“Me too. I think we all have, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I’ve learned something really important, Bella.”

“What’s that?

“We all do. We all struggle to know where we fit in. I went through it in school. I never seemed to fit in with the other girls, especially in my teens. And I’ve watched Mama struggle with the same thing, though some folks would never know it. She’s Greek. She’s got her own style. She’s different from a lot of the other ladies here in Splendora. It’s been a tight squeeze to fit in but she’s managed, though I’ve seen her hurt a few times along the way.” Lily paused. “We’re all trying to figure out our place. We’re looking for a place to belong and for people who love us just as we are.”

I nodded and my heart felt overcome with her words. . .her revelation. “You’re right. I’ve seen it in my own kids, young as they are. They want to fit in with their peers. I’ve even seen it with brides who come through the doors of Club Wed. Everyone wants to belong.”

“Yes we do.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “And I’m so grateful that God took the time to show me that we all fit in his family. There’s a place for everyone at the table, no matter how different we are, no matter where we come from. I’ve learned my lesson, Bella. That’s going to be my life’s mission, to make sure no one feels left out, or on the fringes.”