Her mother stepped toward Laura Jo with an imploring look on her face. “Will you tell us about our granddaughter?”
“You knew?” Laura Jo was thankful for Mark’s steady hand steady on her elbow.
“Yes, we’ve known for a long time.” Her mother’s look didn’t waver.
They had known and they still hadn’t helped? Or they’d known that Laura Jo would throw their help back at them if they offered?
“Please, tell us about her,” her father pleaded.
Laura Jo spent the next few minutes telling her parents about Allie. They seemed to hang on every word. Had they changed?
“Thank you for telling us,” her mother said with a soft sigh when Laura Jo finished.
They were interrupted by the krewe captain getting the attention of the people in the room. He announced the buffet dinner was being served and gave directions about which tables would go first.
“We should return to our table,” Laura Jo said.
It was her mother’s turn to give her an entreating look. “Laura Jo, may we see Allie sometime?”
Laura Jo stiffened but she forced her voice to remain even. “I’ll have to think about that. She knows nothing about you.”
Moisture spring to her mother’s eyes.
The table next to her parents’ rose to get in line for their meal.
“I think it’s time that we returned to our table, Laura Jo. It was nice to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Herron.”
Mr. Herron blinked as if he had forgotten Mark was standing there.
“Thank you for coming over, Laura Jo. It’s wonderful to see you.”
Her mother sounded like she truly meant it.
“It’s nice to see you, too.” Laura Jo turned and headed back to their table on shaky knees.
Mark leaned in and asked, “You okay?”
“I’m good.” She smiled. “Really good, actually. Thanks for encouraging me to speak to them.”
He grinned. “Hey, that’s what a good date does. So are you going to introduce Allie to them?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that but at least I’ll think about it.”
“Sounds like a plan. Hungry?”
“Much more than I was a few minutes ago.”
“Good.”
They returned to their table and had to wait until a few tables on the other side of the room lined up and then it was their turn. Mark placed his hand at the small of her back again. As disconcerting as it was to have him touch her, he’d done it enough over the past couple of weeks that she’d grown to not only expect it but to appreciate the simple gesture.
They were almost to the buffet tables in the middle of the room when Mark jerked to a stop. She turned to question him about what was wrong. He stood looking in the direction of a group of people who were obviously together. His face had darkened. All pleasantness of a few minutes ago had washed away. One of the group was in a wheelchair. Did he know the man?
Mark quickly regained his composure and closed the gap between him and her.
“Are you okay?” she whispered when he came to stand next to her.
“I’m fine.” He added a smile that for once didn’t reach his eyes.
They stood in line for a few minutes, working their way to where the plates were stacked. A large floral arrangement was positioned where the tables intersected. On the four tables were shrimp cocktail, gumbo, salads of all types and prime rib, with a man serving that and desserts.
As they slowly filled their plates, Laura Jo saw Mark glancing toward the end of the line. She noticed the man in the wheelchair. This time Mark seemed even more uncomfortable about the situation.
As they went through the line Mark spoke to people. Thankfully everyone accepted her as his date and nothing more. Maybe she could get through this evening after all. She’d been a teenager when she’d last been at this kind of function. She had matured and changed since then.
During the meal, Mark spoke to the woman to the right of him. Laura Jo had a light conversation with the man in full regalia to her left. Once during the meal Mark gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. That little gesture said, We’re in this together. She appreciated it. Except for Marsha, it had been her and Allie against the world.
She had finished her dinner when Mark got her attention and asked her to tell the woman he’d been talking to about the shelter. The woman told Laura Jo that she would like to help and how to contact her.
The conversation was interrupted by the captain announcing that it was time to introduce the krewe directors.
Laura Jo smiled at Mark and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle hug and whispered in her ear, “You’re welcome. See, it’s not as bad as you thought.”
“No, it hasn’t been. Thanks to you.”
He kissed her temple. “You can really thank me later.”
Before she could react to that statement the captain started calling names and people were lining up on the dance floor that was acting as a stage.
It was her turn to feel Mark stiffen. She saw the man in the wheelchair Mark had looked at earlier propelling himself across the stage, while an attractive woman walked beside him.
She glanced at Mark. His focus was fixed on the man. “Do you know him?”
“Yes.”
“He’s your friend from the accident, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” The word had a remorseful note to it.
The next man was being introduced and she didn’t ask Mark any more. With everyone having been presented, the crowd clapped in appreciation for the work the board had done on the dance.
The captain then asked for everyone’s attention again. “The king and queen and their court have arrived.”
There was a hush over the room as the first lady-in-waiting and her escort were introduced.
The young lady wore an all-white dress made out of satin and adorned with pearls and sparkling stones. Her white train trailed across the floor. It was heavy, Laura Jo knew from experience.
When she had designed her train so many years ago it had had the family crest in the center with a large, pale pink flamingo rising from it. The bird’s eye had been an onyx from her grandmother’s train when she had been queen. Each pearl and precious stone were sewn on by hand. It had been edged in real white fox fur. She’d worn long white gloves that had reached above her elbows. She’d been told she’d never looked more beautiful.
And this happened every year. The pomp and circumstance of it all still astounded her.
She and her mother had designed and planned her dress and train for months. They had even taken a trip to New York to look for material. A designer there had made the dress then it had been sent back to Mobile, where a seamstress that specialized in embellishments had added them. What she would wear consumed their family life for the entire year before Mardi Gras.
She had no idea what her dress and train had cost but she was sure it would have been enough to run the shelter for two or three months.
“I bet you were a beautiful lady-in-waiting. I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention,” Mark whispered close to her ear.
She smiled.
The couple walked to the captain and his wife on the stage and curtsied and bowed, before circling back to the rear of the room. By that time another couple had moved forward. The entire court was dressed in white, with the females having different dress and trains that had their personal design. The escorts wore identical outfits. Each couple paid their respects and this happened eighteen more times.
From the court would come next year’s king and queen of Mardi Gras. Since her grandmother had been queen, Laura Jo had been on track to be the queen the year she turned twenty-one. The king would reign the year he turned twenty-five.
She glanced at Mark, who was watching the stage more than the couples parading up the aisle. “I did notice you and you were a handsome king,” Laura Jo whispered.
“Thank you, fair maiden.”
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Laura Jo giggled. She knew well that there was a private and public side to Mardi Gras. It all started around Thanksgiving, with all the coming-out balls for the girls. The society families held the balls and she’d been a part of the process. She’d loved it at the time. Now she looked back on it and saw how spoiled she been and how ignorant of the world. Not until she had gotten away from her parents’ house had she realized how many people could have been helped with the money that had gone into just her dresses for Mardi Gras.
As the royalty came into sight, Laura Jo couldn’t help but be amazed at the beauty of the couple’s attire. No matter how many times she had seen this type of event, she was still left in awe. They wore matching gold outfits trimmed in gold. The king’s clothing was adorned as much as the queen’s. She had gold beads that came to a peak halfway up the center of her skirt. The bodice had swirls and curls covering it. They carried crowns on their heads that glittered in the lights. The king carried a diamond-headed walking stick while the queen held a scepter that matched her crown.
Laura Jo had forgotten the artistry and how regal their trains were. They were both at least twenty feet long. Theirs, like those of the ladies-in-waiting, told a story of their life. The king’s had his family crest with a hunting motif around it, which included an appliqué of a deer head. The queen’s train was also appliquéd but with large magnolias in detail. Around the edge was a five-inch border of crystals that made it shimmer. The neckline had a collar that went from one shoulder to the other in the back. It stood up eight inches high. It bounced gently as the queen walked. It was made from a mass of light and airy bangle beads formed into magnolias and leaves, the centers being made out of pearls.
Their trains alone could buy a room in the house they were looking at for the shelter.
“How did it feel to be the man of the hour?” Laura Jo asked Mark.