Heartstrings by Marilee Boekweg
Chapter Fourteen
“It’s frightening out there,” Tilly burst in, bringing along every willing speck of snow.
“Hi, Tilly. Come on in,” Eroica replied unnecessarily.
Eroica and AnnaMaria were sitting in Eroica’s front room, having a Sunday evening chat when Tilly knocked on the door.
“Well, Eroica, here it is,” Tilly cried as she draped a huge clothing bag over the couch. “And I can’t wait to see you in it, although if I were you I would at least wait till spring. This weather is terrible for a wedding. Jem and I were married the day before Thanksgiving, and there was a huge snowstorm. It was the biggest storm I have ever seen. Cars all over the roadside, snowplows piling snow everywhere, power lines going down throughout the state. I thought for sure we weren’t going to make it to the temple. But we did, and we were just about the only ones there.
“And our wedding reception—you would have thought we were having it during a
football game. Nobody came. But Jem and I didn’t care. I guess no bride or groom does care about anything like that on the day of the wedding. We had wedding gifts piling in for weeks after that. We were probably given more gifts than we otherwise would have been, because people felt so badly for missing our reception. It was a fun time of life. And it will be for you too, Eroica. But I still recommend that you get married in the spring.”
“Tilly, slow down,” protested Eroica. “I’m not getting married. I’m not engaged. I’m not even dating anyone.”
“Those are all minor details, my dear. And yes you are dating someone. That nice boy who was over here when you were helping me hem the wedding dress. You know, your music teacher.”
“Eroica is dating her music teacher?” AnnaMaria was completely surprised.
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes she is,” Tilly confided to AnnaMaria. “What is it that he teaches? Music tension? Trauma? Trombone? Something like that.”
Eroica felt trapped. “He teaches music theory.”
“Oh,” AnnaMaria jumped in, “Eroica couldn’t possibly be dating her theory teacher. He’s an old man.”
“What!” Eroica cried. Things always got out of hand when Tilly was around. “I never said that my theory teacher was on old man.”
“Yes you did.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yes you did.”
“No I didn’t. I think I said that he was going to be hard to get along with.”
“Oh, that’s what it was.”
At this point, Eroica and AnnaMaria burst out laughing.
“So, Eroica, are you dating him?” Her sister asked with all curiosity.
“Absolutely not. We are just friends.”
“Humph,” was Tilly’s response. “There is no such thing. Believe me, I have five boys, and they don’t think of girls as friends. It has never been that way. Not since the day God made Eve for Adam. Besides, I saw the way that he looked at you. He certainly doesn’t see you as just a friend.”
“So, Tilly, what’s in this huge bag?” Eroica hoped to change the subject.
“I told you, it’s your wedding dress.”
“What!” cried Eroica, as AnnaMaria burst out laughing again. When Tilly was around, nothing ever made sense. “Tilly, you know that I am not in the market for a wedding dress.”
“Every unmarried girl is in the market for a wedding dress, whether she admits it or not. Anyway, this is a gift. I’m giving this to you for someday. And hopefully it will be someday soon. This is the dress that you helped me hem. No one has worn it but you, so it rightfully belongs to you.”
“What happened to the girl that was supposed to wear it?” asked Eroica.
“She never came to get it. I worried that something terrible had happened. I tried to call Mrs. Penrod several times, but no one ever answered. I meant to keep calling, but I got busy doing other things and I forgot about it.
“Kip is getting his mission papers ready to go in the mail. He has to go to the dentist, and the doctor, and he had to have his wisdom teeth taken out. All four of them, and they were all impacted. And Kasey is trying to finish up his Eagle Scout project. After that I will only have three boys left in scouts. What a relief it will be to have that over with. And Kyle keeps falling behind in his math homework, so every night I have to make sure that he has done it. And done it right. Krandle just got braces on, so I have been in the orthodontist’s office a lot. And Kody keeps getting into fights at school, so I have to keep his father after him. Poor Kody. It’s hard on a boy to be short.
“Anyway, I finally remembered to call Mrs. Penrod yesterday, and she told me that her daughter had run off to Las Vegas and eloped. Can you imagine? She was not happy about it. And she didn’t want the dress at all. She didn’t even care about the pearls. She told me to keep it and do whatever I wanted with it. So I am giving it to you, Eroica. It was meant for you. It fits you perfectly, and the style is so becoming on you. It’s your dress.”
“Tilly, I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I hope that someday I will be able to wear it. I’ll tell everyone that you made it especially for me. And I promise I will try to get married when the weather is warm.” Eroica gave Tilly a grateful hug.
“If I were to have had a daughter, Eroica, I would have wanted her to be just like you,” Tilly answered back.
“I guess I’m the only one that hasn’t seen this dress,” said AnnaMaria as she carefully unzipped the bag to examine its contents.
The rest of the evening was spent in planning Eroica’s wedding, right down to the white peacocks wandering amid the guests, and AnnaMaria’s boys picking at the wedding cake until they knocked the whole thing over.