Page 92 of Dreams and Reptiles

“Mr. Liang?”

“Dominic, please.”

“Okay. Dominic. Your son is very important to me, and this might be out of line, but if you’re here to further criticize his choices, I would ask that you not do that today. Please.”

He gazed at me for a long moment with dark eyes and a furrowed brow. I wasn’t intimidated by him, but I could see why Francis had been.

“I have dishonored my son and my wife. I only recently learned just how badly I misjudged them. I’ve come seeking forgiveness and nothing more.”

Francis hadn’t given me any indication that his father was dishonest, so I took him at his word.

“All right. But he’s not going to be able to speak to you until much later.”

He nodded and looked down at his feet, his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “I will wait as long as it takes, and if he is unable, I will come back tomorrow. I’ve booked a room at the inn indefinitely. I must speak to my son. And my wife.”

I had a sneaking suspicion he found out what actually happened to Francis. Good. The father in me appreciated what it took to admit you were wrong, and the strength necessary to make things better.

“That’s good. If you’ll excuse me, I want to be close by in case Francis needs me.”

Cocky, but this man was going to realize real quick that I would burn the world down for his son. And his ex-wife.

He nodded, turned his back, and lit another cigarette.

I saw Francis speaking with Evelyn and Karen near the gazebo and noticed that the seats were nearly full. Only a few folks were hovering around the patio talking, including Todd and his groomsmen. They were all consoling him, but he had a brave smile on his face.

Francis climbed the steps of the gazebo and raised his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming to Maison De Reve today for the Deevers-Davidson wedding. We’ve had a change of program, which we’ll explain in a moment, but I want to take this opportunity to share a bit about the mission statement for this house.”

He cleared his throat, and I walked closer, moving to stand on his right where he could see me.

“We’ve all committed to different paths in our lives, whether it be education, a relationship, a job, or something just as meaningful. And sometimes those paths fulfill us in all the ways we thought they would. But for many of us, the paths we choose define us in ways we never imagined or desired, and they don’t fill our souls. I came here to Foggy Basin because the path I had chosen turned out to not be one that was healthy for me, nor did it fulfill me. It took a lot of self-reflection and pigheadedness, I guess you would say, to get to this place in my life.”

A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd. I could only smile at the man I loved and hoped he understood just how brave he was

“My mission in creating this retreat is to help people find the paths that bring them joy or peace or happiness, because sometimes we discover that the path we thought we should be on is not the right one for us, even if we had the best intentions. It’s important that we support the people we love, even if we don’t understand the choices they’re making or wouldn’t make them for ourselves, because oftentimes people are fighting battles that no one else is aware of. I hope today you will have a bit of patience and grace, and remember a time in your life when you needed someone to support you, to stand up for you. Karen and Todd would like to speak to you all, and I ask that you give them your complete attention and support.”

There was a bit of confused chatter through the crowd this time, as Karen and Todd—dressed nicely but not in their wedding attire—climbed the steps together and turned to address their loved ones. Todd took her hand, and she smiled at him gratefully.

“Thank you all for being here on our special day,” Karen said. “We hope you’ll understand when we share with you that we will not be exchanging vows today.”

Lots of folks clutched chests and pearls, covered their mouths, and gasped. The reactions were strong, to say the least.

Todd smiled at Karen and turned to address the crowd.

“Karen and I have been in love since we met our freshman year at Sacramento State. Our families have become close, our friends have become close, and we’ve grown so much during this time. Part of that growth occurred when we discovered that Karen’s mother, Angela, was diagnosed with cancer. Our families supported us as we tried to go to school and also help out at home. We’re all trying to support Angela through her journey, and our one wish was to give her the opportunity to see us married. That still may happen someday down the road.” He tugged on Karen’s fingers, and she smiled, but her tears had begun to fall.

“But today, while we may not be joining the ranks of married folk here in Foggy Basin,” he continued, and the crowd all chuckled softly, “we would like to offer you the opportunity to renew your vows with your partner. This life is short. And precious. And for that reason, we must not rush to make decisions that will last a lifetime. Karen and I would like to invite you to come on up here, renew your vows, exchange new vows, whatever your heart desires. Dianne Kent, the pastor of our nondenominational church here in Foggy Basin, has generously agreed to oversee this celebration. However, if this is your first nuptials, you won’t be officially hitched until you get an actual marriage license.”

More chuckles from the audience

“We would like to begin our celebration,” Karen said, “by witnessing my parents, Adam and Angela Deevers, as they renew their vows in front of the most important people in their lives.”

Karen’s father stood and wheeled his wife’s chair to the base of the gazebo steps, where Pastor Dianne joined them with a loving smile. She spoke some words of welcome. She invited people to say a prayer of thanks to whichever power they desired, or to give a moment of silence, and then she introduced the Deevers, who had been married for 30 years.

When it was time to exchange their vows, Karen’s father got down on one knee and took her mother’s hands. There was not a dry eye in the house as the two of them smiled at each other, even laughing at their lack of preparedness. They agreed to continue to love and cherish each other for the time that they had left, and to be reunited in the next life.

Karen stepped forward and hugged her parents, and when it was finished, the family turned and smiled at the crowd, who all clapped and cheered as the photographer they’d hired took various pictures of the family. Karen’s father wheeled her mother down the aisle, and Todd and Karen followed them into the house.