The Hope of Hattie Phelan: Volume I

39

The Wedding

Kenneth and Pearl got married. The wedding ceremony went fairly quickly, mostly a blur since I could tell that the dispersion of family members was affecting the whole Rickman family. Miss Rebecka was moody, tearing up often; Kenneth was melancholy; and Wally was grim. David was catching onto all three and was extremely moody, crying all the time. And Miss Rebecka had asked for my help to watch him, so I missed a huge portion of the ceremony and the reception due to me secluding myself outside with David. It was nice outside, which helped, but he was extremely fussy compared to his usual self. I sat on the steps of the church, David cuddled in my arms as he cried his lungs out.

"It's all right, David," I whispered into his ear as I rocked him back and forth to soften his crying. He stopped for a bit, only sniffling occasionally. Now that he was quiet, it helped me think more clearly.

"Hattie," a voice said behind me. I turned to see Wally. He had taken off his surcoat, sleeves rolled with waistcoat and necktie.

My breath hitched as I stood up to face him. "Walter," I said, shifting David on my hip as we stared at each other for a moment. "How is the wedding so far?"

"Good," Wally nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as the wind tousled his hair. "It was getting hot with all the dancing, so I came out here."

"Did you dance at all?" I asked, switching arms with David as Wally stepped down the stairs to get at my level.

"A little," Wally replied, looking out across the church property as the autumn breeze carried a few orange leaves to the ground. "I danced with Essie, Nan, Mama, and Martha."

"You didn't dance with Richie again?" I asked, giving him a teasing look.

He laughed, looking at the ground with a shy smile. "Not this time," he chuckled, before looking at me seriously. "Would you like to walk?"

"What for?" I asked, holding David a little closer as if to guard myself.

"I would like to talk before I get too busy packing with Mama."

"All right."

We started walking toward the edge of the property, staying in the sun, for the shade was too cool.

"Hattie," Wally started before taking a breath, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for getting upset with you. The things I said were heartless and very wrong of me."

"I forgive you, Wally," I replied, as I rubbed David's back soothingly, the leaves crunching beneath our feet. "But are you sure you need to go off to Chicago? I know what it's like up there and I don't want you to go through all the hardships."

"I'll be with my brother, working for his boss's company, I think," Wally said, glancing over at me strangely. He must be wondering why I was so worried about this. If only he could have seen what I had seen when I lived there. Tuckerton would look like heaven in comparison. "I should be fine."

"Just know that if things ever go south, let me know and we all can get you out of there," I said, looking away as I shifted David to my other shoulder. "I don't want you to go through what I did or be stuck there like Da."

"Thank you, Hatts."

"Hold up." I looked over at him with a brow raised before I laughed. "That name is reserved for Da and David only, Walter. And you know that."

"Hatts," David giggled, burying his head into my shoulder. I smoothed his hair down, glad that I had him to keep me warmer in the cold wind. I enjoyed holding David since he reminded me of Colin.

"Fine, Hattie," Wally said with a chuckle as he accentuated my name. "But I'll stop only if you call me 'Wally'."

"Fine, Wally," I said, trying to hold back a smile. I sobered a bit as I realized I should apologize to him as well. "And I'm sorry, too."