Who Gives this Bride? Read online

  Who Gives This Bride

  Valderia Brunson

  Copyright 2020 by Valderia Brunson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is dedicated to my father, James - for always being there.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Other books by Valderia Brunson

  Connect with the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  Alma Gibson was scrolling through photos of bridal gowns on Pinterest when her phone chimed and the text from her nosy Aunt Faye popped up.

  Don’t let that girl up and invite some narrow behind stranger to her wedding, the text read.

  Alma was getting ready to respond to her crazy tail aunt when Marissa stepped out of the dressing room.

  The wedding dress seemed to fill the entire room with its many folds and tufts of crinoline and organza billowed out like bubbles in a glass of cold milk. The fitted bodice made Marissa’s small frame appear even more petite. Combined with her pixie cut and curly tresses she could have easily been the sassy smart mouthed character on one of the popular modeling reality shows. Alma knew better though. Marissa had always looked like she would be the one to tell someone off, but she was the kind of nice that the Bible tried to convince us we could all be. Alma on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

  With her wild mane of naturally curly hair, large smile with generous deep set dimples, and grown woman curves everyone’s first impression was always that she was the sweet, gentle mothering type. It didn’t take long for them to quickly realize that Alma was the surly, sassy, and skeptical type. She was a bulldog when it came to her family and it didn’t hurt that she had a short tolerance level when it came to people. She was quick to cut off people who had become problems and move on to the next adventure. Her character traits served as both her greatest strengths and her greatest weaknesses.

  “Can you zip me up?” Marissa timidly asked as Alma quickly jumped up and helped her adjust the dress over her slight frame just before sliding the zipper slowly upward.

  “What kind of maid of honor would I be if I couldn’t help my baby sister? Now turn around and let me see.”

  Today was the final fitting and Marissa turned to reveal that the meticulously beaded wedding gown fit her perfectly. She looked so elegant, like an absolute princess.

  “Princess Kate has nothing on you Sweet Pea.” Alma used the nickname that their mother had always used for Marissa.

  Marissa laughed and Alma watched as her eyes began to water up.

  “Mama would have been so happy for you Mimi,” Alma felt the tears welling up in her own eyes and sniffed quickly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “Now, Alma, don’t you have me in here crying. You know how fragile I am right now.” The tear navigating its way down Marissa’s face signaled that it was already too late.

  “You are going to make an absolutely beautiful bride,” That was the last thing Alma got out before the two of them exploded into a tearful embrace.

  To say their emotions were raw would be a gross understatement. Now that their mama had passed away in late October, almost eight months earlier, the sisters were all they had in the world. There were of course the nosy aunts and the well meaning cousins, but none shared the bond that they did and none of them were experiencing the pain that they were now left with since their mama was gone. They were still navigating through the firsts. The first Thanksgiving without their mama and the first Christmas without her. Their first Mother’s day without her had been spent, not at a crowded restaurant complaining about the slow service and subpar food like Alma loved to do, but instead laying flowers in front of her gravestone and recalling their fondest memories of her. Their birthdays alone had left them completely raw and then when Mother’s day had finally rolled around it painfully reopened the wounds that stubbornly refused to scab so they could finally heal from the gnawing hurt.

  Now here they were at the one event where the absence of your mother was even more painfully obvious and put out on display for the world to see. There would be no mother of the bride to walk down the aisle and be seated in the honored position on the front row. All of the wedding programs listed their mother’s name with an asterisk that informed the world that she was lovingly viewing the proceedings from her seat in heaven. It may have been somewhat bearable if a father had been present and accounted for, but there would be no father of the bride to fill the gaping hole and at least provide the support of walking her down the aisle.

  Marissa and Alma both had different fathers, but neither of them had a relationship with their respective fathers. The fact that neither Marissa nor Alma knew who their father was, was the scorn and utter embarrassment of their meddling Aunt Faye.

  According to their mother, Marissa’s father had gone out for cigarettes in the same direction as Alma’s father, towards Neverland. Nearly as soon as their mom had passed away Marissa had taken up the arduous search for her father in earnest. She had used every tool that she could find and paid exorbitant fees on various search sites that would show just the peak of a name and then promise to have more information if you just clicked this button and paid for that background check or whatever special feature they were selling.

  Marissa was fairly confident that she had located him and forwarded a long letter to the last known address proclaiming that she had forgiven him for the past and wanted to build upon the future. The letter had also generously included an invitation to her wedding and was sent in the ivory envelopes with the honeysuckle borders and gold foiled lettering. In order to demonstrate her total forgiveness she had invited the mystery man to give her away, if he cared to show back up and participate in her life for the first time after thirty one years.

  Aunt Faye was thoroughly against it and for once Alma had to agree with her. Aunt Faye’s earlier text was her last ditch effort to get Alma to convince Marissa to abandon her search for her ‘no good father’ as Faye affectionately liked to describe him. Alma had vehemently argued with Marissa about that ridiculous decision. Now, standing in the dressing room and looking at her sister positively shine, she couldn’t help but ask one more time.

  “Why would you want someone who has never looked a single day for you, seen a single birthday, or sent a single card to walk you down the aisle and be a part of the most important day of your life?” Alma reached into the box and retrieved one of the two veils that they had carried with them for the final fitting.

  Marissa reached out to take it and the wispy layers fluttered in a way that resembled the breath of angels as she placed it atop of her head.

  “Because mama's gone forever, I have to at least try. Maybe he’ll show up this time because this is the one event that he doesn’t want to miss. I guess I just want to have a daddy to lean on.” Marissa wiped away another tear. “Pass me the other one.” Marissa gently removed the veil that seemed to swallow her small frame and took the second veil that Alma passed her.

  As Alma gently folded the veil into the box, Marissa adjusted the smaller veil atop her head. It was a tiara replete with crystals and faux diamonds with a small veil that dropped just below her eyes. As soon as she put it on it was clear that that was the o
ne. Alma remained silent while Marissa looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  Alma had promised to not be a vocal as she normally was on matters such as this. Marissa wanted a wedding that reflected her dream and not anyone else’s. Alma was happy to stay silent on the veil issue that she had been toiling over for a few months. Alma was relieved to keep her mouth shut and give Marissa complete and total control when it came to the cake, the photographer, the venue, the date, and every other minute and exhausting detail of this once in a lifetime event. The father thing was the only issue that she couldn’t seem to drop.

  Still, Marissa’s answer had silenced Alma. Even though Alma thought it was a ridiculous idea, it made perfect sense.

  Alma had actually met her father, but it wasn’t something that she ever talked about, not even with Marissa. It was also the same reason that she never wanted to meet or see her father ever again. How Marissa could be so naïve and forgiving was beyond her, but she hadn’t had the awful experience that Alma had to know just how disappointing meeting your father for the first time could really be. Especially when you built it up to the mystical and fairy tale proportions like Alma had done. She silently prayed that the invitation to the unknown dad went unanswered and Marissa never had to suffer the reality of finding that out.

  * * * * *

  “These people are going to drive me absolutely crazy Marc.” Alma rolled her eyes as she took a long pull of her milkshake through the wide glass straw. It was Saturday evening and Alma had managed to steal away from helping Marissa with wedding prep so she could spend a few moments with her man, Marc Slade.

  “Those people are your family and you’re a part of that insane asylum you guys call a family,” Marc laughed and took a big chunk out of his burger. A small bit of mayonnaise pooled into the corner of his mouth and his lips were shiny with burger grease.

  “Wipe your mouth, nut,” Alma tossed her cloth napkin at him feigning disgust.

  “Thank you, but I have my own napkin, nut,” he playfully tossed it back and she ducked, but it still managed to land on her shoulder.

  Marc smiled back at Alma and she couldn’t help giggling in response. She had always been branded by her family as the enforcer and she could go toe to toe with anyone when she was determined to get her way, but with Marc she felt as delicate as a flower. She was able to be fragile with him because she knew he wouldn’t let her break. Two years into their relationship and he hadn’t backed down from her once. She relished the one time she had stood to confront a manager regarding their service and Marc had held up his hand and told her to have a seat while he deftly addressed it. It let her know that he was capable of shielding her from having to deal with such unpleasantness. It had absolutely floored her because her whole family had expected her to be that person for them. Now she had someone that she could lean on for support.

  “My Aunt Faye is bent on turning the church upside down if anyone even remotely suggests that they are Marissa’s father and she’s got a couple of my old cousins that she’s trying to deputize as ushers slash security guards to watch the door.”

  “They’re going to be like those church ushers that don’t think anyone is good enough to be in the church but them. They’ll probably try to stop the preacher on the way in and check his credentials. Make sure he’s got that oil,” Marc sat back and rubbed at his belly, probably trying to soothe it from laughing so hard at his own joke and partially from the tautness that came from the way he destroyed his burger, fries, milkshake, and half of her sweet potato fries.

  He was a good looking man and Alma lost her train of thought as she took him in, for the 1000th time. His big smile and straight white teeth reminded her of his soft lips and even softer kisses. He wasn’t a fitness freak, but he was definitely fit and his strong arms were nice to cuddle with on the couch watching old movies. His short fro was neat and tailored. Sometimes he let his facial hair grow into a manicured beard he liked to call the ‘the blue collar’, but he was smooth shaven now.

  “She asked Leon to invite a couple of friends,” she placed air quotes around friends.

  “You mean the same Leon that just got out of the clink?”

  Alma nodded.

  “You can’t ask thugs to be on the lookout for nothing. Not real thugs. They take that stuff way too seriously and you’re going to end up having one of them tussling with some old dude or some fool knocking over the wedding cake, or something even worse, like a drive by that targets all of the old men that look like deadbeat dads.” He mimicked old men clutching their hearts like Fred Sanford and Alma had to laugh with him.

  “I know, she’s so ridiculous. She was even like,” Alma cleared her throat and lowered her voice in an impeccable impression of her Aunt Faye, “Make sure that strong Marcus is coming so he can help out if something pops off. What on earth does she know about popping off?”

  “I can’t stand when she calls me Marcus and you sound just like her,” Marc shuddered. “Every time she says my name all I see is old Eartha Kitt in her old woman stockings calling Eddie Murphy over.”

  “Marrrrcus,” Alma laughed as she let his name roll around in her best Eartha Kitt impression.

  “Stop. I can’t right now that that voice,” he held up his hand for Alma to stop. “Change of topic. We know your Aunt is going to do something wild because that’s just who she is and I’m not even sure she can help it. My question is what are you going to do if he actually shows up?” Marc took a sip of water.

  “I honestly don’t think he’s coming so I haven’t bothered to think about it. She’s getting married on Saturday and she hasn’t heard anything from him at all. She doesn’t even know if the letter was delivered or if he was the right Josiah Carter.”

  “Well, there’s not a lot of Josiah’s out there, so.”

  “Whatever, we’ll see what I do if he bothers to show up. Until then, I’m not going to waste any more energy on it.”

  “Well said, so what are we going to do about this dessert situation?” He held up the dessert menu and winked at her.

  “You’re such a bad influence. You know I’m trying to fit into that form fitting maid of honor dress I convinced Marissa that I wanted.”

  “Well, a little cheesecake now is not going to make a difference one way or another. The wedding is less than a week away. You know you want some.” He danced the menu in front of her trying to entice her into the dessert. Alma looked at the marbled cheesecake with chocolate sauce drizzled across the top and shook her head.

  “Nope, all I see is a really long time on the treadmill and I’ve already did my workout today. There will be cake at the wedding, besides, I just had some of your milkshake.”

  “I’m impressed. Look at that willpower.”

  “Well, you never know. Aunt Faye might need to ask me to work security on Saturday,” she flexed her arm muscle as she said it.

  Marc lowered his voice and leaned into her, “I’m all the security you need girl.” His soft kiss warmed her skin and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “What if we don’t work out?” Marissa’s voice broke the quietness.

  It was Wednesday evening before the wedding and Marissa had started to get nervous at every turn. Alma opened her eyes and lifted her head off the back of the couch. She had fallen asleep on the Lifetime movie that Marissa had insisted on watching. Work had been a bear as she had tried to tie up as many loose ends as possible before she took off for several days. She had one more day in the office and then was off until the following Wednesday.

  “What are you talking about?” Alma was a bit groggy, but she knew exactly what Marissa was talking about. She hoped that having Marissa say it out loud would let her hear how ridiculous it sounded. She had been expressing doubt all week long and it had only increased as the wedding day got closer. It was one of the last times time they would spend together before Marissa was married. The two of them had conspired to have some time to hang out before all of the fami
ly started arriving in town.

  “You know mama was in love with all of the men in her life. My dad, your dad, Elroy, all of them.” Elroy had been the closest thing they had had to a stepfather, but he only stayed around long enough for them to really miss him when he left.

  “It was so sad. She wanted to be in love, but none of her relationships ever worked out. Maybe that’s just a Gibson family curse.”

  “Stop being ridiculous Mimi.” Alma let her head rest on the couch cushion and closed her eyes again, hoping Marissa would drop this silly string of thought she seemed bent on.

  “I wish I could, but which of mama’s sisters are in a successful marriage? Mama, Joyce, Dorothy, Faye, all of them single. Joyce is divorced, Dorothy was divorced and then she remarried and her husband died. Faye never got married and Mr. John has just been around forever. Can you imagine that Faye is the one that ended up with the most solid relationship out of all of them?” Faye and Mr. John were a solid couple. It was rumored that they lived together, but Faye swore out that she wasn’t shacking up with no man.

  “Mimi,” against her will Alma lifted her head again and looked over at her sister. It was then she noticed the tears welling up in Marissa’s eyes and could see that she was genuinely distraught at the sequence of unfortunate and failed relationships Alma had recounted.

  “Mimi, mama was a good woman, but she wasn’t you. And Justin is certainly not either of our fathers or Elroy, or our Auntie’s ex-husbands, or even Mr. John. You can’t place such negative expectations on him. Think about it. You met him on a blind date that your crazy co-worker set you up on. He asked you to marry him six months to the day you met. You’re getting married exactly a year to the day later. You both love God, you’re both really good people who care about others, and you’re both in love.”

  Marissa wiped at the tear in her eye.