Always a Bridesmaid

"With my father, it's a bit like the Cold War. We avoid one another whenever possible and remain civil when forced to interact. For the record, he's the one who essentially disowned me because I refuse to see the world the same way he does. My mom and I have a reasonable level of closeness, but she supports my father virtually without question so that puts a strain on our relationship, too. Shelby is daddy's little girl. End of story. She would never do or say anything to ruffle his feathers so she can pretty much snap her fingers and get anything she wants. That hasn't bothered me for many years, by the way. I mention it only because you asked. More to your point, she and I can get along, but only if I'm willing to do everything her way."

Emma didn't smile for a couple of seconds so Kelley didn't know how to react. When she finally did she told him, "If you haven't figured it out yet, Shelby is a manipulator. She gets what she wants and when she can't, she enlist's Daddy's help. When that doesn't work, she pouts, sulks, or lashes out. I wish I could say something nicer, but I'm sure you don't want me to sugar coat things because, as they say, the truth will out."

"No, please don't sugar coat anything," he replied. "I'm just standing here listening to you say the things out loud I've been wondering since we met. I don't think I'm naive or...stupid. And yet I've somehow allowed myself to get 'roped in' as it were."

"Ah, yes. That's exactly what Shelby does. It's often so subtle you don't realize it's happening until it's too late. Just know that for everything she gives, there's something she hopes to get. With Shelby, nothing is for free."

Emma saw the way Jason was reacting to her comments and said, "I'm really painting a very negative picture for you, aren't I? I don't mean to, Jason. I just want to be completely honest with. Oh, and speaking of honesty, if you haven't been asked to start attending church with the clan yet, you will be. And one more thing. You should give up any idea of ever leaving the low country. Shelby would never, ever move away from our parents so keep that in the back of your mind, okay?"

"I will," he said as he mulled over everything Emma had just told him. He looked up, smiled at her, then asked, "What brings you over here, then, if not to visit family? You know, while I'm asking questions that are none of my business."

"Relax, Jason. You can ask me anything about anything...or anyone...anytime you like. As I said, I work at the hospital, and we have patients who need cheering up. I can't afford to buy them all flowers from a shop out in town, so I grow them here. I come by pretty regularly to care for them or maybe cut one or two to put in a vase." She smiled weakly then said, "Children and the very old are my weak spots. Children can't understand why they have cancer or some disease that's killing them and I can't tell you how often I've had older patients whom no one comes to see. I like to think a pretty rose or carnation helps at least a little."

Kelley raised his eyebrows and exhaled loudly. "Wow. You're nothing like Shelby, are you?" he said seriously before adding a smile after the fact.

"Well, she is my sister," she said as though that was the extent of the similarity. "Then again, we've never had our DNA checked so anything's possible."

"You do look alike. You're both very pretty if you don't mind my saying. Did you ever do the beauty pageant thing?"

Emma laughed and scoffed at the same time. "Beauty pageant? Me? Oh, hell no! You'd never catch me out there in a bathing suit giving some lame answer to a question like how I'd bring about world peace. That world is so shallow and so phony it makes me sick." She smiled then said, "And that's just one more thing to never say to Shelbo! She thinks having been Miss Low Country is the be-all, end-all of awards." Emma leaned closer and said, "I used to think she slept with that cheap tiara on her head!"

Kelley laughed with her until it struck him she might just do exactly that.

"How are the wedding plans coming since we last spoke?" she asked trying to move on.

"Oh, yeah. The wedding. Don't get me started, okay?"

"That bad already?" she asked sympathetically.

"I don't know. She just wants this...grandiose event and every little detail has to be just so or..."

"I get it," Emma said in agreement. "She's wanted this Cinderella wedding as long as I can remember. I'm seven years older so by the time she started buying bridal magazines and planning her wedding, I was getting ready to go to college. But trust me, I get it. I often think the wedding means more to her than the marriage itself. For me, I don't give a hoot about the ceremony. I'd go to the justice of the peace in a pair of jeans if that's what the man I loved wanted. Oh, and I'd be happy to live anywhere as long as I could work. But not Shelbo. No, sir. She wants the fairytale wedding and then to be taken care of. You know, pampered, spoiled..." She stopped in mid-sentence. "Jason, I'm really sorry. I know you said you don't want sugar coating, but I'm really going way too far here. I think it might be best if I just went out the greenhouse and left you alone."

"Oh, sure. Feel free. I didn't mean to keep you," he let her know. "It's just that you're really easy to talk to, you know? You're not pretentious or... Never mind, now I'm the one talking out of school."

"In school, out of school. It's still the truth, Jason." She hesitated then said, "I see what Shelby sees in you. I'm just not sure, you know she..."

They heard a car door open followed by voices.

"Looks like the clan is back from Sunday services. That's my cue to run and hide." She turned around to leave then said with that smile of hers, "It's not too late if you want to run, too."

They heard Shelby's voice growing louder saying, "He must be around back."

"Too late for me," Kelley said.

The sisters saw one another and Shelby said rather icily, "Oh, hello, Emma. I had no idea you were here."

"Just trying to choose my times carefully, Shelbo. Don't worry. I'm leaving."

"Don't call me that!" she hissed. "Especially not in front of my fiancee!"

Emma didn't respond. She just looked at Jason and said, "See you around?"

Shelby was standing next to him as they watched her sister walk away.

"Don't listen to her, honey. She's an angry, bitter old woman who doesn't want anyone else to be happy."

"She seems pretty down to earth to me," Kelley offered rather casually.

"She's never gotten over the death of her fiancee." She turned to Jason and said, "I don't believe in speaking ill of the dead, but he was an atheist just like her and it was obvious God was sending her a sign. She's just too stubborn to accept it."

"A sign?" Kelley said with genuine incredulity. "What kind of...sign?"

"Well, that she needs to get right with God, of course. How could the good Lord condone her marrying a man like that?"

"You mean a college-educated American willing to serve his country and give his life for it? That kind of man?"

"Jason. Sweetheart. There's no need to be indignant. This is a matter of the spirit and one can only understand through the spirit. You're trying to analyze it with your mind and that's a no-win proposition. In time, you'll understand these things, too. Now come along. Since you're here, you may as well stay for Sunday brunch!"

Kelley barely spoke two words for the next three hours and those were things like 'please' and 'thank you' during their meal.

At one point, Colonel Stanton asked Jason if they'd settled on a location yet for their upcoming nuptials. He started to answer when Shelby cut him off.

"Not yet, Daddy. We're going to have to get busy, though. We have SO many places to look at before we can make such an important decision, don't we?" she said mostly to Jason.

Something inside him snapped. He didn't let it show and he didn't say anything negative. Rather, he smiled and told Mrs. Stanton brunch had been wonderful then said he really needed to excuse himself.

"But why?" Shelby asked. "What could you possibly have to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon that's more important than spending it with the love of your life?"

Whatever was bubbling up inside of almost spilled out like magma from a volcano. Somehow he managed to limit his commentary and said quietly but rather coldly, "Why don't we just get married at the base chapel? That seems more than adequate to me."

Both parents looked at one another knowing something...fiery was coming from their daughter.

"Jason Kelley, you cannot be serious! One cannot simply and glibly make a choice of that magnitude! My wedding day will be the most important day of my life and I will not just settle for some place because it's 'good enough'!"

"Your wedding day?" he said gritting his teeth. "Gee. Silly me thinking I was somehow involved." He stood up and said as he nodded at them, "Colonel Stanton, Mrs. Stanton."

"Jason! You sit down right now! You may not just get up and walk out on my family like this."

Every fiber of his being wanted to tell her she could have her family and what she could do with it. Instead he said to her parents, "My apologies for leaving so abruptly. I just need a little time to think." He glanced at Shelby and half-heartedly said, "I'll call you."

She sat there stunned to the point of disbelief as Kelley walked away. He was close to the front door when he heard her mother say, "Don't just sit there, Shelby. Go talk to him!"

He grabbed his coat and walked outside and almost got to his car when he saw her coming down the steps of the big, country porch complete with a swing.

"Jason! Wait. Don't leave like this," she said as she hurried toward him.

The car door was open but he didn't get in.

"I know Emma did this," she told him. "I know her. She'd poisoned your mind. I don't need to know exactly what she said, the fact that you're acting this way so soon after she talked to you is all the proof I need. Jason, don't pay any mind to what she said. None of it is true. She really is bitter and..."

"Shelby? Stop," he told her firmly without anger. For the first time since they'd met, he put his foot down and put it down hard. "Don't you dare blame your sister for any of this. If you want to blame someone, go take a look in one of the many mirrors in your room."

She went to speak but he didn't give her a chance. "I understand this wedding is a big deal to you and I want you to have it. But goddammit, I'm getting married, too!"

Her eyes opened wide in disbelief followed by her covering her mouth with her hands. "You did not just take the name of the Lord in vain!" It was both a question and a statement. "Please tell me you did not just do that."

"Stop with your self-righteousness already. You and I fuck never every day and yet you don't express any concern about having sex out of wedlock. So don't get all high and mighty because I'm 'up to here' with you trying to control me, this wedding, and every other aspect of our lives. I'm either your equal partner or you're on your own. Is that clear?" His voice was steady, firm, and clear. There was no anger, but there was passion. His eyes were locked on hers and he could see them welling up with tears.

"I will not be spoken to that way!" she said, her voice trembling with anger. "No one talks to me that way. No one."

"Maybe someone should have years ago," he said icily. "Suit yourself. Either you change the way you treat me or that is exactly how I'll be talking to you from now on. The choice is yours. I love you, Shelby. Or at least I think I do. But I'm a man, not a prop in the theater or your life. When you're ready to treat me like your equal, let me know, okay?"

With that he got in, closed the door, and drove off leaving her standing there still stunned with tears falling down her face. Kelley knew they weren't tears of sadness but of anger as this may have been the first time anyone ever put her in her place.

Her parents were both waiting for her when she went back inside.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" her mother asked as she tried to hold her.

Shelby pushed her away and said, "I cannot believe I ever said 'yes' to that man's proposal! Why...the audacity!"

Neither of them were willing to tell her the truth, something both of them knew but had never spoken. They'd created this monster of a daughter whom they'd spoiled and pampered all her life and now they—and she—were reaping the whirlwind of the seeds they'd sewn.

"He'll come around, honey," her mother said trying to reassure her. "He's probably just nervous. You know, there are just so many details to think about and that can be very stressful!"

She looked right passed her mother and at her father. "Oh, Daddy! He can't do this to me! I...I chose him! I chose him and he's mine. He can't just walk out on me like that." When he didn't respond she said, "Do something, Daddy! Don't just sit there. You need to fix this! Talk to him. Convince him this is a terrible mistake. Help him understand what he's giving up if he walks away from us!"

Her father motioned for her to come to him and he took her in his arms and told her, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll give him a day or two to calm down then have him over for dinner. Everything will be fine."

"Do you promise?" she said as her tears ran down her face.

"Of course I promise, Princess. Everything will be just fine. Just give it a little time. Your mother is right. He'll come around."

Shelby barely slept all night. She just couldn't understand what in the world had upset Jason so much. Secretly, she blamed her sister and yet, even if she had talked to him and put thoughts in his mind, he was much too smart not to be able to see how wonderful a life with Shelby Stanton would be. Her father had to be right. He would eventually calm down, and then she could get back to planning her dream wedding.

She didn't fall asleep until a little after 6am and didn't wake up until just before dinner. Her eyes were red and puffy and her head hurt terribly. She had no interest in eating and decided to call Jason and see if he'd come around yet.

The call went straight to voicemail and the thought of him not answering her call made her furious. When she heard his recording end she said, "I've waited almost 24 hours for you to call and apologize. Even though you didn't, I decided to reach out to you and you won't even talk to me? Jason, I am telling you that you will deeply regret it if you don't make this right and do so very soon. I expect you to call me back tonight so we can put this...unfortunate incident behind us." She thought about saying 'I love you' but couldn't bring herself to do so.

She kept her phone next to her throughout dinner and the rest of the night, but it never rang. No call, no text, no nothing. She began to sob somewhere around midnight as feelings of self pity overwhelmed her.

By around 2am she stopped crying and got angry. "He doesn't deserve you, Shelby Stanton!" she said out loud to herself. "He's not good enough for you! You are a Stanton and no one can treat you this way!"

She got up and went to the bathroom and washed her face. As she went to dry off, she looked at the large diamond ring on her hand and got even angrier. She pulled it off as hard as she could and before she knew what happened, it had swirled down the drain.

"Oh, my God!" she said in a panic. "Oh, my God! What have I done?"

When she woke up the next day around noon, she immediately began looking for a plumber to come to the house and get her ring back.

"No, I can NOT wait until tomorrow!" she told the woman who answered the phone.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. All of our technicians are on other calls and the earliest we can get to you is..."

"Please put your supervisor on the phone!" she said angrily.

"David Rathman speaking," she heard a pleasant voice say.

She explained her situation and Mr. Rathman said, "I'm the owner of the company and while all of my men are on other jobs, I'm still a certified plumber so I'll come over and take care of this for you, Ms. Stanton. I'm pretty sure I know where you live, but could you give me your address so I can be sure, please?"

Two hours later, a white van that said 'Rathman Plumbing, LLC' drove into her driveway. Shelby met him at the door and said, "It's upstairs in my bathroom."

He followed her until she pointed to the sink where it happened.

"Okay, so...this is your engagement ring?" he asked as he shined a flashlight down the drain.

Shelby gave him the gist of what happened and as the man began opening the trap under the sink he asked her, "So you took your ring off to take a shower or something?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but my fiancee and I had a bit of a...misunderstanding and I was rather upset with him..."

"Oh, okay. Gotcha," he said. "First big fight?"

"Well, yes. As a matter of fact it was."

Rathman didn't ask any more questions as he worked but Shelby felt like she had to tell someone and she began talking.

"So he wants a smaller, simpler wedding?" he asked as he pulled the U-joint/trap out.

"Evidently," she said. "I don't exactly know. What I do know is he doesn't understand the importance of this wedding."

"Ah! Here it is," the plumber said.

He was laying on his back and for the first time Shelby realized he was a very handsome man. He was possibly 35, but he was every bit as good looking as Jason and he owned a business. He sat up and smiled at her.

"Let me just rinse it off for you. It's got quite a bit of gunk on it."

He got up and as he did he said, "I made the same mistake once myself."

"Mistake?" she asked not sure what he was referring to.

"I was engaged several years ago. My fiancee wanted the perfect wedding and I thought it was too much."

Now very interested, Shelby said, "So please tell me what happened."

He rinsed off her ring, dried it with a towel on the rack next to the sink, then handed it to her.

"Basically, I ran her off. I failed to appreciate just how much having the wedding of her dreams meant to her. Her parents were paying for it and all I had to do was go along for the ride, but I couldn't keep my big mouth shut." He smiled a wry smile and said, "I'd do anything to have a second chance."

"Did you try and apologize to her?" Shelby wanted to know.

"Oh, sure. But the damage was done. I'd made one too many comments about how she was making too big a deal out of a wedding. Now I realize how foolish I'd been and I'd give everything I own to have her back."

"But you did learn from your mistake, right?" she asked.

"I did. The hard way." He smiled at her then said, "You're a very beautiful young woman, Ms. Stanton. If I were your fiancee, I would do anything and everything in my power to give you the wedding of your dreams."

Shelby smiled and said, "Well, you are obviously a very intelligent and perceptive man, Mr. Rathman." She smiled coyly then said, "And a very handsome man if I do say so." She paused then said, "Is there by chance another woman in your life at his point?"

"Oh, no. I have my hands full with my business so I don't do much dating. But were you not engaged..." he said with a big smile.

"Did you say you're the owner of the business, Mr. Rathman?" she asked still smiling that coy smile.

Kelley hadn't spoken to Shelby since walking out. He'd listened to her voicemail but didn't respond. In fact, he had no intention of doing so until she expressed a willingness to change her attitude and that's when he realized the chances of that happening were slim to none. After all, if Shelby Stanton always got her way and this big wedding in which he was but an afterthought was what she wanted, it seemed unlikely in the extreme she would even see any need to change. And that's where he left it.