truth about me. We've been living a lie all this time, and now she has taken me from him and brought me here to live with a man twenty years younger than she
is. More lies. Everything is lies, lies, lies!"
But like the coward I am I swallowed my
dream words. The power of the music, the lights, the
excitement and the sight of Tony standing so tall and
handsome at the altar with little Troy looking so
grown up and serious beside him stopped me. I felt
utterly caught up in this madness, tossed about by its
waves. I glanced at Grandma Jana sitting in the front
row and saw her nod and smile at me. Even she was
lost in the ceremony now. Events were flowing over
us. We couldn't hold them back.
Little Troy peeped out from behind Tony,
searching for me. When he saw me, he smiled and
waved. Tony looked down at him and he drew back
smartly. Then Momma took her place at the altar; the
music stopped, and the words began. My heart
pounded at the sound of them, especially the sound of
"To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer
or poorer, through sickness and in health, 'til death do
you part."
Momma had taken the same oath with Daddy
and it hadn't mattered a bit. What did it mean to say
those words, even before an altar? I studied Tony's face to see what was going on in his mind. Did he think the same thing I thought--she had said these words with another man and broken that oath? Did
she mean them now?
Tony gazed into Momma's eyes as she spoke.
He looked bewitched. In some subtle, mysterious
way, she'd managed to gather in his reins, and now
she was in complete control, I thought. He looked
ready to accept anything and say anything to have her.