Spring fancy

Lavyrle Spencer Spring fancy

Chapter 1

The wedding rehearsal was scheduled for 7:00 P.M. Winnifred Gardner opened the door of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church at ten after. Hoping to slip in unobtrusively, she was dismayed when a howling gust of March wind caught the door and whipped it out of her hand, then sent it thunking against the brick wall before swirling inside the vestibule, announcing her tardiness to everyone. Muttering a curse, she tried to hold the hair out of her eyes with one arm while recapturing the stubborn door with the other.

There must have been fifteen people in the vestibule, and every face turned to note her late arrival. Bride, groom, priest, servers, parents, groomsmen, ushers and bridesmaids all watched her rush in, breathless, smelling like old Earl Evvsvold's garage floor and looking as if her hair had been styled with his air hose.

Sandy Schaeffer-tomorrow's bride and Winnie's dearest friend-left Father Waldron's side and hurried forward, smiling.

'Winnie, you made it!'

' Sandy, I'm so sorry I'm late, but my car-'

Sandy waved away the explanation. 'It's okay. The organist isn't here yet, either, so we've just been talking over the procedure before we walk through it.' Sandy reached impulsively for Winnie's hand but had barely touched it before it was sharply withdrawn.

'Don't touch me! I stink like gas. Oh, I hate those pump-your-owns!' Winnie sniffed her fingers, grimaced and hid the hand inside her coat pocket just as a stocky brown-haired man joined them.

'There she is! The maid of honor.' He plopped a platonic kiss on Winnie's cheek.

'Hi, Mick. Sorry I'm late. Everything went wrong tonight.'

'No problem. We just got here ourselves.'

Winnie assessed Sandy 's prospective groom-a sturdy convivial man of Polish descent, who'd made his fiancee the happiest woman in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. There were times when Winnie envied them immensely for sharing 'that certain something' so elusive and necessary to a truly special relationship. They laughed often, teased each other and shared so many common interests. Mick draped an arm around Sandy 's shoulders and grinned down at her while Winnie began moving away toward the washroom.

But Mick stopped her and crooked a finger at someone. 'Hey, Jo-Jo, come on over here.' A man turned from his conversation with Mick's parents, raised an index finger, turned back to the couple to excuse himself and approached.

He clapped Mick's shoulder. 'What's up, Ski, my man?'

Mick Malaszewski slapped his friend's shoulder and caught Winnie's elbow with his free hand. 'I guess it's about time you two met. Jo-Jo, this is Winnifred Gardner, Sandy 's maid of honor. Winnie, this is my best man and my best friend, Joseph Duggan.'

Jo-Jo. How many times had she heard the name? A firm square hand captured Winnie's before she could warn him to beware of gas. But a moment later she forgot all about warnings, except that of her own heart as she heard again the pleasant tenor voice, rich with expressiveness.

'So this is Winnie. It's about time I met the woman I'm going to walk down the aisle with.' He covered the top of her hand with his other and gave her a smile to match that in his voice.

He was nothing at all like what she'd expected. Not as tall, not as crude, not as brooding. Somehow the name Joseph Duggan had conjured up a tough thuggish sort, a longshoreman, maybe, with a wild Irish temper and a burly body. Instead, Jo-Jo was a toned and tapered five-feet-ten, had a head full of wild fluffy brown curls and the most twinkly eyes she'd ever encountered. His hand was dry, hard and very commanding. And as Winifred placed her left hand atop his, she forgot the engagement ring upon it.

'Joseph,' she said simply. 'It seems as if we should have met years ago after all I've heard about you.'

'I'll second that. I've heard plenty about you, too, and it appears none of it was quite true.'

'Oh?' She cocked her head inquisitively.

'They've been holding out on me.' For a moment his eyes flickered down to her mouth, then back up. Winnie suddenly realized how warm, personal and extended the handshake had become. She jerked free and leaped back a step.

'Oh, you're going to stink like gas! I'm sorry! I ran the pump over just a few minutes ago while I was filling my… my car, and I got it all over my hand and on my shoe and my cuff, and I was going straight to the ladies' room to get rid of the stench, but I never got the chance and-' she raked her hair with four fingers '-and the wind practically tore my hair out, roots and all. I have to… to comb it.'

'A pity,' he teased.

'A pity? Why, I look like a disaster, and I… I didn't-' She stumbled to a halt. Winnifred Gardner, why ever are you prattling, she thought while Joseph Duggan watched a becoming blush inch its way up one of the most charming chins he'd ever seen, then pass an exquisite mouth whose lips had dropped open in surprise. He lifted his eyes to her beguilingly disheveled hair. In the muted amber light it appeared to be the color of peanut butter. Large wide eyes stared at him momentarily before she did the most amazing thing: she blinked… but with only one eye! It was the most unusual nervous reaction he'd ever seen. And it had been a nervous reaction, and it had been a blink, not a wink. For a winking face uses more than an eye to flash its message. This was a blink, pure and simple, but he'd never in his life seen anyone do it so charmingly.

Her eyes flickered down to his Adam's apple, then away from him entirely, and he let his gaze wander downward. Her name doesn't fit. Winnifred Gardner sounds like a supercilious prude with lineage and laureateship. Instead, the woman before him seemed to blend the shyness of Winnie-The-Pooh with the conditioned body of Superwoman, and the whole bundle smelling like gas.

Joseph Duggan was enchanted.

'You have a few minutes yet. Father Waldron is still socializing over there.'

Winnie clapped her mouth shut and whirled toward the hall leading to the washroom. Behind her, she heard Jo-Jo Duggan's voice chiding Sandy and Mick. 'Where in the blazes have you been hiding her all these years?'

In the clean silent lavatory she doused her hands liberally with pink liquid soap and scrubbed furiously. After rinsing, she gave them a critical sniff and disgustedly began soaping again. This time she worked a thumb roughly over her knuckles in an effort to get rid of the smell. In the process she cut herself on her diamond ring. The swift sting of the soap in the cut brought her back to her senses.

Winnifred Gardner, act your age. He's just teasing. And obviously a flirt. He probably said what he did just to see how you'd react, and you came through with classic feminine witlessness!

Still, when she checked her reflection in the mirror, her cheeks held two bright patches of flustered blood, and her eyes were a little too sparkly, her lips quirked up in a grin that told how great it felt-witless or not-to be flirted with.

She removed her coat and caught it over one wrist, scrutinizing her dress. It was a pale mauve shapeless thing that came alive when its belt was cinched. She smoothed the wool over both hips and recalled Paul's words: 'Well, well, a dress. What do you know about that?' If he hadn't prefaced his compliment with that wry remark, she wouldn't have become so piqued. But by the time he'd got around to adding, 'You look great, darling,' the effect had been ruined. Next he'd dropped his eyes to her high heels, given a mock-lurid grin followed by a growl as he buried his face in her neck, whispering his intentions, had she not had to leave at that moment. Still stung by his earlier remark, she'd pushed him away and given him a conciliatory kiss instead of the dressing down he deserved. It wasn't as if she never wore dresses!

Winnie pushed aside the memory, stooped to wipe the dull spot where the gas had splattered the toe of her black-patent high heel. She felt uncomfortable in both dress and heels, but what else was a woman supposed to