Part 7
It had been several hours since Brian had left and Kevin was beginning to get worried. He’d kept a close eye on the storm and he knew it was a bad one. There was already about six inches on the ground and it was coming down hard.
Torie knew Kevin was worried too. As they were in the kitchen getting drinks, Torie said, "Kevin, Brian will be fine."
Looking at her, he asked, "How did you know?"
"Because you’ve checked your watch every five minutes for the last two hours and you’ve been watching the storm. It’s gotten worse, Kevin."
"Yeah, it has. We’re stuck here for a while…all of us."
Putting her arms around his waist, she said, "There are worse things in
life."
"It’s our wedding night, ‘Munchkin’. Didn’t you want some privacy?"
"Sure, but at least we’re stuck with friends and NOT our parents. It’ll
be okay, ‘Boo’. I should call Daddy though and tell him. Where’s your
cell?"
"I gave it to Brian."
From the living room, Howie called, "Kevin, ‘Rok’s’ on the line!"
"There you go, ‘Boo’. He’s okay. Go talk to him."
Kevin and Torie went together into the other room where he took the phone from Howie. He talked to Brian for a few minutes before hanging up.
"Did he have any problems?" asked AJ.
"Not really. He just had to go really slow. He did say that the state has shut everything down. They’re saying this is the worst storm to hit Kentucky in over a hundred years."
"Shut down everything? What does that mean?" asked Nick somewhat panicked.
"It means we’re snowbound," said Kevin. "We need to let our families know that we’re okay."
"What about food?"
"You’re gonna have to go huntin’ for our meals, Nicky," teased Torie. "Kevin’s already gotten dinner."
Everyone laughed at the expression on Nick’s face and AJ said, "Kevin, she’s better than you at picking on Nick."
Kevin hugged her close as he said, "Where do you think she learned it?"
"Speaking of food. What is for dinner?" asked Fiona.
Sarah laughed, "You’re worse than Nick. ‘Boo’, want me to go fix some dinner?"
"NO WAY!" protested Howie. "This is your wedding day. You shouldn’t be cooking dinner for us."
"And exactly which one of YOU clowns is gonna fix dinner?" queried Kevin. "There’s NO McDonalds’, NO pizza delivery, and I KNOW you don’t have Mama D hidden anywhere."
"Just cuz I still live at home doesn’t mean I can’t cook," protested Howie.
"Yeah, right! And just how many meals have you fixed since we’ve been home?"
Nick, AJ, and Howie looked at each other as AJ said, "You know, Mr. Perfect thinks we can’t do ANYTHING. I think it’s time to prove him wrong."
Torie laughed, "This ought to be good. While you three are destroying our kitchen, I’m gonna call Daddy. Howie, do you mind if I use your cell?"
"No, go ahead," he answered handing her the phone.
"I’m gonna go show the guys around the kitchen. After you talk to your dad, can you get the bedrooms ready for everyone? The girls can have Jerald and Tim’s room and the guys can have my room."
"Sure," answered Torie with a kiss.
The guys headed to the kitchen as Torie dialed her dad’s number.
"Hey, Daddy! I just wanted to let you know Kevin and I are okay."
"Have you two got plenty of food?"
"We’re fine, Daddy. I’ve got some news," bubbled Torie. "Kevin asked me to marry him."
"Congratulations, baby! Have you two set a date?"
"Sorta. Daddy, Kevin arranged for Reverend Thomas to come up here today…we’re already married."
There was a silence on the line that made Torie nervous. She looked at Kevin as he came out of the kitchen and he knew she’d told him.
"Daddy, please, say something," pleaded Torie as Kevin wrapped his arms around her as the girls gracefully exited to give them privacy.
As he spoke, Torie heard the disappointment in his voice and tears formed in her eyes. "Victoria, I’m happy for you because I know how much you love Kevin. I had just thought that I’d be able to give you away…see you wearing your mother’s wedding dress. You know, the whole walking you down the aisle, giving you away thing that goes with the wedding I’ve always heard you talk about."
"I’m sorry, Daddy. It’s just that…Kevin is getting ready to go out on the road again and he didn’t want to go without me. He had everything all planned and it was so romantic."
"Let me talk to him," whispered Kevin. He took the phone from her and started, "Mr. Riggs…."
"Kevin, you never said anything about getting married this weekend."
"I know but I just couldn’t wait. I haven’t really had a chance to tell Torie this but if she wants to do the big ceremony, it’s fine with me. I’ve got a month before we leave."
"If that’s the case, why didn’t you just wait?"
"Mr. Riggs, I love her and I want her in my life. You gave me your permission and your blessings. Just because we went ahead, does that really change it?"
"Answer me one thing. Is Torie pregnant?"
"No sir! You’d have known it if she were. We haven’t been together since my birthday so she’d be showing by now."
The line was silent once more and this time, Kevin was the one who was nervous. Finally, Torie’s dad said, "No, things haven’t changed, Kevin. You just took me by surprise that’s all. We’ll talk more when you two get back. Stay safe and tell Torie I love her."
"I will."
As Kevin hung up, he realized Torie was crying. Setting the phone down, he reached to caressed her cheek to wipe the tears away. Kevin spoke gently, "Torie, please, don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay."
"You didn’t hear him, Kevin. He called me ‘Victoria’," whimpered Torie.
"Shhh….he’s okay with it, Torie. I promise." Kevin placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look him in the eye. "Torie, your dad loves you and he just wanted to be a part of it."
"Did you mean it when you said we could do the big ceremony?"
"Yes."
"When do you leave on tour?"
"January 28th…Nicky’s birthday."
"So I have a about four weeks to plan it?"
"And you can have whatever you want, beautiful."
Torie wiped the rest of her tears away. "How could I ever top this?"
"You don’t have to, ‘Munchkin’. I’ve heard you describe the wedding you want so go ahead and plan it. It’ll be just as romantic and Howie got pictures of this one so we’ll have BOTH ceremonies recorded for us to remember."
"Will you be around to help me?"
"I have to go back to Orlando for a party on New Year’s Eve and I was hoping you’d be able to go with me. Other than that, I should be here."
"So, when do we set the date?"
"How about four weeks from today, January 20th?"
"You’ll be here…I mean, your schedule will allow you do be here?"
"I just told you all I have is the party for New Year’s Eve, Torie. Besides, I’ll just tell them my boss said I have to be here," teased Kevin.
"Oh, you’re mean," laughed Torie.
"But I got you to smile, didn’t I?"
"You always do. Okay, with everyone here, how are we gonna have our wedding night?"
Kevin pulled Torie to him and began kissing her neck working his way up to her ear. He whispered against her skin, "Don’t worry about that baby. The guys are use to ignoring those sounds."
"From you?"
"NO! NOT HARDLY! Just don’t worry, Torie. Let’s go see what kind of mess those three clowns have made of the kitchen."
"You’re cleaning up the mess," laughed Torie.
"NOPE! They clean their own mess."
"What are we going to do after dinner, for entertainment?" she asked as they went to the kitchen.
The others heard the question and AJ spoke up, "Yeah, what ARE we gonna do besides listen to you and Torie doing ‘the nasty’?"
"Not even funny, ‘Bone’," shot Kevin. "There’s plenty here to do. We’ve got board games and cards."
"There’s always charades," suggested Torie.
Kevin looked at the group and said, "There’s also ghost stories."
"Oh, this sounds GOOD," said AJ. "Scare the crap out of the girls causing them to jump into our arms."
Everyone laughed as Kevin said, "Doesn’t look like we really need to have a reason from the way you three were dancing earlier."
It was set. After dinner, the group was going to settle in for the night to play board games and when it got late enough, tell ghost stories.