I Have a Dream

Angel and Adriana are busily planning a wedding, again.  The details are easy enough and the dress has been purchased.  Paul and best man Burt will be wearing suits.  They will wed by the river in the back yard of Adriana's home.  This will be their home. Paul has big plans for a remodel to make it their own.  It will be a little of him and a lot of her.  Angel's brother-in-law is a minister at the Church of God and has agreed to perform the ceremony.  Guests will be limited to some co-workers of hers and employees of his and naturally, their best friends from next door.  Angel will wear a deep pink dress which Adriana chose for her matron of honor.  She has asked her friends not to do the shower thing; instead she would love a nice night out with anyone who would like to join them.  Paul suggested they combine men and women because he had no desire to go out with a bunch of men.  That being the case, they all agreed to just make it a night at the local club.  It became an open house type affair.  Signs at both places of employment and word of mouth would be the invitations.


Maybe it was the signs that made all of this celebration common knowledge, maybe just the fact that the general contractor of the biggest job this town had undertaken in years was the subject, either way everyone in town knew about the wedding, the pre-wedding party and even the remodeling plans for the adorable house Adriana had purchased not so very long ago.  It would appear that everyone they ran into knew about and was happy about their plans.  Things were just moving along so smoothly and life finally had more sunshine than rain for two people who had been through their share of storms.


The party had a great turn out.  The 6 best friends had a nice dinner before the party guests arrived.  Once the party started, it was wonderful. A few of the attendees over-drank and a few others seemed to have passed out, but someone else would see to the safe dispatch of anyone needing assistance.  Angel had arranged a number of drivers for just such a situation.  None of the six over indulged, but they all had enough cocktails to toast and celebrate the occasion. It was exactly the kind of party they had wanted and all felt light and elated as they left the night before the wedding soiree.


About 3 AM Paul was jarred from sleep by his cell phone.  It was the police department calling to inform him there had been some trouble at the work site. No details were available, but his presence had been requested by the investigators on the scene. 


He rolled out of the bed where he had just a couple of hours before, made mad passionate love to his betrothed.  She looked very sleepy now and asked if he wanted her to come along.


"No, you sleep.  You have a wedding to star in and it's only a few hours away."  He kissed her good-bye and left her to drift back to sleep.


It was a beautiful night.  The sky was filled with stars, not a cloud to be seen.  The moon was full and bright and nearly created enough light to function without artificial means. 


As he reached the site and exited his car, he noticed a woman seated in her car at the end of the parking row.  She appeared to be watching the action as if it were a movie.  He assumed she belonged to one of the officials on scene and didn't give her another thought.  He could see her profile, because of the bright moon and thought he had seen her before, but no idea where or even when it might have been.


An investigator in plain clothes met him about half way up the wooden walkway the crew had laid out.


"Sorry to have to disturb you on the night before your wedding and all, but I thought you'd like to see what's going on here."  Greg Tilson had been on the force for 28 years and was looking at retirement in 2 more years.  He was very good at his job and his instincts were frequently right on the money.  He had a really bad feeling about the mischief that had been created here tonight. It wasn't the work of teens, he was sure of that. It was too precise and care had been taken to not cause damage to anything of much value.  Everything that had been damaged was easily replaceable and of an inexpensive nature.  The site had very expensive machinery which was left untouched.  There were bins of tools, left untouched.  The building itself wasn't damaged.  The damage was paint sprayed on the equipment, scratches in the steel doors.  Electrical wiring had been cut cleanly.  Telecommunications lines cut cleanly. These were things done by someone just trying to cause disruption, not to stop the project or to cost so much that someone, namely the general contractor, would be set back.  Just mischief.  Just disruption.  Just "Hey, look how easy this is!" kind of thing.  Greg saw this as step one.  He felt sure there would be more if they couldn't find the culprit.


"It's good that you, ya know, called and all.  I'm responsible for this place so I sorta need to know what's going on here.  Why do ya think someone would do this?  It can all be repaired in an hour or so, but why would...I mean, seriously?  Just sorta mess stuff up and take off?  Do you think they were spotted by someone?  Or just got scared?"  Paul had never had problems on a site before and didn't really know what to think or what to do.


"We are still trying to process the stuff we found.  Might find a fingerprint or maybe the perp left something behind, by mistake.  It's a long shot, but we'll give 'er a shot.  I think it's more of a warning, but I don't know what they are warning you about.  Do you have an idea?"  Greg hoped Paul knew of someone who didn't want this project, or didn't like him or didn't like one of the crews he had hired.  Something to help, any info that only Paul would have.


"I really don't know.  I haven't heard anything but good comments about this job.  The crews are all local guys and you can talk with them, but I don't know anything.  Can't honestly even imagine what would be gained by this kind of cosmetic damage."  Paul was thinking about every person he had dealt with both during and before this job and couldn't think of any negativity being shown or discussed.


The parking row was empty when he returned to his car.


He returned to his own apartment after finishing up at the site.  He touched base with each foreman and made sure things were covered and tight for the next 4 days while he and Adriana would be on their honeymoon.  He assured them all that he would be back on Wednesday to go over everything that had been done while he was gone and to compare the timeline so as to stay on schedule.  The bonus for finishing under the wire was huge and he hoped to get it and share it with the foremen.  All that having been completed, he was now free to get packed and ready for his wedding and honeymoon.  His mood took a decided upturn while thinking of the rest of this day and the next four alone with his wife.


The wedding went well.  Adriana looked elegant in her ankle length dress of off white satin.  It was slightly flared from the form fitting waist to the hem. There was a delicate lace overlay on the bodice, but the skirt was smooth and shiny.  She wore rose colored heels and carried a bouquet of rose colored lilies with lilies of the valley scattered through.  Her hair was pulled up into a soft pile of curls at the nape of her neck and the front was straightened and laid perfectly against her lightly tanned check on each side.  She wore a little more make-up than usual hoping to look good in the pictures they would be looking at for the rest of their lives.  Her dark, naturally curly hair was behaving today, almost as if it had been commanded to be perfect for this one day.  She had never looked or felt any more ravishing than on this her wedding day.  


Paul in his black suit and off white shirt (as directed by Angel), rose tie (ditto) and ridiculously continuous smile, looked every bit the bashful groom.  Nearly 50 years old and he felt like a kid again.  This woman was everything to him and she made him feel as if he had lived the days before her, only to get to her.  His life truly had begun the day he first saw Adriana.

Their lawn was manicured by a friend of Paul's earlier in the week and Angel had seen to the chairs and the arch for the ceremony.  Josh had been in charge of actually setting up this day and he had done a great job.  The music was his to arrange, as well and he had hired a local boy who DJ'd on week-ends and was happy to do this wedding.  He had all the appropriate songs, he said.  


Every wedding should have a little glitch to break the tension and their's was the music.  The young man had loaded Dolly Parton's "Working 9 to 5" instead of her "I Will Always Love You."
It was good for a quick giggle and then the wedding resumed with the proper mood restored.  It would always be their first memory of this day, looking back in years to come.


It's over and they are Mr. and Mrs. at long last.  Adriana was relieved and happy and ready for a vacation with her husband.  Ready to have nothing to distract either of them from each other for four long days and nights.  And off they drove about an hour after the ceremony.  


Thinking in the shower later that evening, she was so thankful to God for all of these blessings.  She was living a life she never even knew existed and it was all because He had a plan for her. She had a dream, oh so many years ago; tonight she was living that dream times ten.


Paul was praying a prayer of his own.  


"My dear heavenly Father, thank you for the love of this woman and for please make me worthy of such dedication.  Please guide us through this marriage and always hold us safely in your hands.
For all my sins, I ask forgiveness and help in the future to live a cleaner and more glorious life.  Please help me walk in your path. Amen"


And with those prayers being sent, the newlyweds fell into bed and began their happily ever after.
They had a dream and it was now their reality.


Jo