Page 52 of Spilling the Tea

Deciding to change the subject, she turned toward him beaming broadly. “So, what date do you want to reschedule our wedding for?”

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. “As soon as possible.”

Her smile widened. “Let’s talk to my parents to see how that can be arranged.”

Three months later

***

At the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Milton Madaris wedded Felicia Lee. Although Jantzen was totally against it, Milton refused to back down from Waylon standing beside him as his best man. Victoria was Felicia’s maid of honor, and her sisters were her bridesmaids.

Charlotte, in shame, left Houston for Denver with her husband and newborn child. Even though her lies resulted in Waylon’s broken engagement with Victoria, he tried talking his father out of disowning his sister. However, no matter what he said, Kurt Satterfield would not change his mind. It was as if Waylon’s words fell flat.

As a wedding gift, their uncle QT sent tickets to Milton and Felicia to join him for a month in Paris. Milton and Felicia would leave within a week after their wedding. He also sent a ticket to Victoria to use whenever she felt the need to get away from Houston for a while. She would have to reapply to nursing school since she hadn’t started last year in September as planned.

Milton had made plans for him and Felicia to spend their wedding night in a hotel in Augusta. They would remain there for two days. Then they would travel back home to Texas tocatch the steamship to Paris. It would be the first international trip for both of them.

“Happy?” Milton asked her as they danced together.

“Very. I thought this day would never come.”

“But it has. Thanks for believing in me, Fee.”

“And thanks for giving me a reason to believe in you.” She looked across the room. “Victoria and Waylon look so sad and miserable.”

“I know. He probably wants to ask her to dance but knows doing so might cause a scene with my father. They aren’t allowed to talk to each other. You saw how upset Pa was when he saw Waylon was my best man.”

“I’m glad you stood your ground. He is your best friend and was supposed to be the one to stand beside you today. I can’t imagine anyone else doing so. I hope Pa Jantz comes around. Victoria loves Waylon.”

“And he loves her.”

Later that night, in a darkened hotel room in Augusta, with the sultry voice of Billie Holiday flowing in the background, Milton made love to the woman who would always have his heart. His Fee.

Four months later…

***

Victoria raced Magic across the open plains. Her destination was to meet Waylon in the fruit grove, which had become their secret meeting place over the past few months. They loved each other, and their families’ positions in this feud were unfair to them.

Her parents left for Dallas yesterday and would be gone for a few days to visit her mother’s brother, who was under the weather. Milton and Fee had returned from Paris and were taking another trip. This was to New Orleans to see Fee’s cousin Naomi perform in a gospel concert. Victoria was to have gonewith them but encouraged them to go without her because she wasn’t feeling well.

She doubted either of them had believed her claim, but neither had said anything. Over the past few months, Milton had given her several warnings that if their pa found out that she was disobeying him and sneaking around and seeing Waylon, it would make things harder for her.

Considering her and Waylon’s circumstances now, Victoria didn’t know how that was possible. Once Charlotte’s lie had been exposed, Kurt Satterfield had given back his blessing for her and Waylon to marry. When she’d run into him one day at the feed store, he had personally apologized for being the one to end their engagement.

On the other hand, her pa refused to discuss the possibility of her and Waylon resuming their engagement. Slandering the Madaris name had been like a personal affront to him. Her mother tried explaining that for a Madaris man, a hit to their pride was hard to overcome. Etta Madaris had asked her to be patient; hopefully, her pa would come around.

What if he didn’t? Did Pa honestly expect her to live the rest of her life without Waylon? Granted, they hadn’t planned to marry until she’d finished nursing school, but what if he still refused to give his blessings after that time? It just wasn’t fair. For the past year, she worked three days a week at the hospital, while hoping her father would change his mind about her and Waylon’s engagement.

She and Waylon had developed a way of secretly communicating using the postal box he rented in Hall General Store. She would write a letter one day, and he would get it within two days. Only once did she not show up for their meeting because her parents had unexpectedly changed their routine and hadn’t gone to visit the sick church members as they usually would do on Thursday evenings.

When she reached the fruit grove, she saw Waylon waiting.After bringing her horse to a stop, he helped her dismount. Once her feet touched the ground, he drew her into his arms and kissed her.

She loved it whenever he did. A degree of warmth would flow through her veins, eventually heating her blood, leaving her with a level of yearning that he’d initiated over the past year.

“You look mighty pretty today, Victoria,” he said when he finally released her mouth.

That’s another thing she liked. The gruff timbre of his voice whenever he finished kissing her. “And you look mighty handsome today, Waylon.”

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