A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding Read online

  Randy returned to his own seat where Alice was already sitting with Chloe.

  “What have you been up to?” his sister questioned him.

  “Just some music critiquing with some of the other patrons.”

  Turning her head forward, she said, “Okay, Randy, don’t tell me.”

  On the way out of the theater after the performance, Randy caught Kari’s eye again. She turned to Linus and then looked back to see Randy once more before she left the building. Randy said goodbye to his sister and dashed out to see if he could find Kari one more time, but they were gone. Even though he knew she would more than likely return to the dormitory, he decided to head back to the train station.

  On his thirty-minute train ride back to the city, he thought about Kari Montgomery and her wistful sea green eyes. He tried to figure out why she interested him when all the women who had traipsed past him over the past year had made no impact.

  He prayed silently, Lord, I’m not sure why, but Kari Montgomery does fascinate me. Is she the one you’ve chosen to work alongside me?

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  Chapter Four

  Kari entered the office of Ellen Bradstreet, the Assistant Director of Archives at the Wellington Opera House. A large valanced window graced the back of the room, allowing warm afternoon sunshine to fill the office. As she took a seat on the plush couch covered in a floral tapestry material, a wave of nervousness soared inside her stomach. Her eyes glided around the room past the small, white shelf containing a set of antique books and then settled on her friend.

  “Kari, thanks for coming in today. I know it’s short notice, but this will really help me out.” While Ellen spoke, her attention was focused down on the papers in front of her. When she was finished, she looked up and smiled at Kari from across an ornate nineteenth century cherry wood desk which was covered in files and papers, order seeming to be nowhere in sight.

  “It’s no problem. I enjoy the days I get to come be tour guide.”

  “It makes you wonder if you should have gone into public history, doesn’t it?” Ellen flashed her a large smile.

  “Sometimes,” Kari answered with a shrug.

  “That reminds me. How’s your book coming?” asked Ellen, playing with the pen in her hand.

  “Okay. I’ve had more time to work on it these days.”

  “Still based on your dissertation?”

  “Yes and growing.”

  “Sounds like fun. Well, I have to get going.” She dropped her pen and started straightening the disorganized papers on her desk. “Your tour group should be getting together in a half an hour or so. Until then just relax in here.” Taking the papers, she slipped them into a manila file folder.

  Kari gave her a fleeting smile before Ellen left. While still sitting in her chair, Kari mentally walked through the script she had put together for her Opera House tour.

  Ten minutes later, she stood and stared out the window to the street below, observing the crowd forming at the door of the Opera House. Peering at the people, she thought she saw Randy Steele among them. She shook her head, thinking she must be mistaken but found herself looking again, trying to focus in on the faces. A tall man with hair like coal glanced up at her and smiled. It was Randy. Kari stepped back from the window and sat in a nearby chair.

  What is he doing here?

  She had been surprised to see him at Palmer House two days ago, but after she recovered from the shock, she just wondered what had brought him there. Now he was here again. Sitting back in her chair, she wondered what it was about him that made him seem so different. She chuckled to herself when she realized it was his sense of humor. Even in high school, she always ended up choosing funny before good looks. Randy was blessed with both. She moved over to the window again, casting a guarded look down below. After seeing the young pastor with the rest of her tour group, she quickly moved away from the window, returning to the seat she had just vacated.

  Her heart seemed to be keeping time with the lighthouse clock hanging on the wall as the second hand moved around with a loud tick, tick, tick . As the time for beginning the tour approached, Kari took a deep breath, rose from her seat, and then walked to the door closing it behind her. Stepping into the early afternoon sunshine, she faced the crowd with a smile as she clasped her hands tightly behind her back, attempting to avoid locking onto a certain pair of steel blue eyes.

  “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I want to welcome you all to the Wellington. My name is Kari Montgomery and I will be your guide today.” After the introduction and opening remarks, she started in on her script. “Built in 1874, the Wellington is one of the oldest entertainment venues in the state. It was built by Abraham Beatty and so it was first called the Beatty Opera House.”

  “And how did Mr. Beatty afford to build such a building?” asked a familiar voice out in the crowd.

  Kari glanced around to spot the owner of the voice and stopped on Randy. A tiny smile teased at his mouth and she couldn’t help the slight curving of her own lips in return.

  “A good question…sir,” she responded to Randy. As if she had no control over herself, she smiled again. “Mr. Beatty was a coal and lumber merchant who was quite wealthy by the time he built the Opera House. In fact, this was the site of his uptown coal and lumber yard.” After answering his question, she returned to her script, feeling a little bit more at ease.

  “This building is one of the best examples of American Victorian architecture in the country.” She went on to describe some of its outstanding features. Before leading the group inside, she pointed up at the black marquis with the golden lights spelling out “Wellington,” explaining it had been put in place in 1932.

  After walking into the lobby, Kari led the group past the staircase and began the tour of the building, imparting the history and significance of the structure as they went. At the end of the tour, she took them to see the Wurlitzer Organ, which was installed in the twenties to accompany silent movies. The white instrument gleamed under the lights as she stood next to it and explained the history of the organ and the extent of its restoration.

  At one-thirty, she ended the tour and said her farewells to the group as they went their separate ways. She started to walk back inside when someone called her name. She turned to see Randy walking toward her.

  “Good afternoon, Pastor Steele. Enjoying the cultural amenities we have here, I see.”

  “It was Alice. She asked me to come spend the day with her and at the last minute she got called away. A ‘journalism class fiasco,’ I believe she called it. She told me to check out the Opera House tour. I was surprised to see you as my tour guide.” He slipped his hands casually into his pockets.

  “I don’t usually lead the tours. I went to school with the archivist and I like to help her out from time to time. I love local history. I’m a historian, if you didn’t know.”

  “My sister told me you teach history.”

  “Teach it, live it, breathe it.”

  “Something you are passionate about.”

  “Sometimes it seems like it’s all I have.” Kari stopped and looked away from him. Why had she conveyed so much personal information to him? She shifted from foot to foot and glanced around at the opera house gardens nervously. She recognized she put more into her job and researching her articles and book than she should. Yet deep down inside she knew it was really all she had these days since Geoffrey had exited her life and Emily had gotten married and moved away.

  “You worked hard this afternoon. Why don’t I take you to lunch?” offered Randy. His expectant expression was hard to resist with that particular pleasant smile gracing his face. A gentle wind lightly ruffled his soft, dark hair as he waited for her answer. “Please don’t refuse by saying you have too much work to do. We always have too much to do. Sometimes you just have to stop and do something fun.”

  Kari gazed at Randy with her
head cocked to the side as she considered whether to agree or not. She knew she needed to get back to campus and start on her Sunday school lesson. But there was just something about him that pulled her towards him. Despite her better judgment, she began to think he was right.

  “I do have a lot to do. I would normally refuse, but I have to eat. Okay let’s go to lunch.” She released a smile at him. “And I even know the place.”

  After going upstairs to fetch her purse, Kari led Randy to a nearby deli on Market Street. They ordered their lunches and sat down at one of the umbrella adorned outdoor tables. The sunlight shimmered down through the branches of the cherry trees that lined the street, casting shadows all around them.

  They both just sat with their sandwiches before them until Randy suggested he’d pray. As he bowed his head, Kari followed his lead. “Dear Lord, Thank you for this wonderful day and the pleasant weather. Please bless this lunch, the food and the fellowship. In Your name, Amen.”

  Randy lifted his sandwich but before taking a bite said, “I enjoyed your tour today, Kari. Very informative.”

  “You mean boring, right.”

  “No, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t realize there was so much history behind a building.” The wind blew a piece of his dark hair across his forehead. He pushed it back into place and again it slipped down onto his brow.

  “I love old buildings especially Victorian ones. There is so much in the architecture alone that tells a story.”

  “And the Philharmonic.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant as she stared back at him.

  “You love the Philharmonic as well, or do you just enjoy spending time with…Dr. Hamilton, was it?”

  “Linus? Oh, he’s just a friend.”

  “Just a friend?” He lifted his left eyebrow at her, questioningly.

  “Actually, he’s more of a colleague. I met Linus last summer when we were assigned to teach a joint class— Comparative Literature of the Early United States . It was half literature and half history. I haven’t been on a real date since…” Kari stopped amazed at herself for again conveying to him more than she had intended. What is it about him and his soothing voice ?

  “Since…?” he encouraged her to finish as he arched his brows.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about that.”

  “About what?”

  “I’m sure my Aunt Patty has told you my entire life history.”

  “She told me your father died when you were in high school and you helped your mother out considerably until she died last year.”

  Kari looked down, feeling that particular pang of loss over her parents once again. Still staring at her half eaten turkey sandwich she replied, “Yes, I’ve lost both my parents; I still miss them.”

  “I’m sure you do.” He took another bite of his sandwich before continuing. “So, you haven’t had a date since your mother died? Is that what you were going to say?”

  Kari wanted to agree with him. It would make it simpler than admitting the truth, but she couldn’t lie to him. She eyed her glass of iced tea innocently, “Uh, no, it wasn’t. I haven’t had a date since I broke off my engagement.” Picking up her glass, she took a big gulp while looking straight at Randy.

  His astonished expression revealed his surprise. Evidently, Aunt Patty had exercised some restraint because she had clearly neglected to fill in the young pastor as to the details of Kari’s broken engagement.

  “I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you, especially with losing your mother, too. You seemed in good spirits last month at Emily’s wedding though.”

  “Actually, I was feeling a bit down until I…” A slow smile emerged. “…well, until I talked to you. I guess your antics took my mind off it.”

  Randy smiled at her with satisfaction. Kari felt the affect of it with goose bumps tingling at the back of her neck.

  “You mean you’ve forgiven me?” he asked still smiling while tilting his head to the side.

  “Forgive one another as I have forgiven you,” Kari paraphrased from Ephesians.

  “You know your Bible, Miss Montgomery.”

  “I hope so. My father and mother had me memorize a chapter a week from the time I was ten.”

  “Good for them. I wish more parents took that much interest in their children’s moral upbringing.”

  “You’re the youth pastor at Grace, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. I love it. Of course, Alice says it’s because I’m as juvenile as they are.”

  “Is that true?”

  “Well, I’ll just say that I take pleasure in being able to serve God, stay young, and even enjoy my job.” He playfully raised his eyebrows at her as he took a sip of his soda.

  “What brought you to work with the youth?” She knew her questions were becoming probing and personal, but he was the one who insisted on having this lunch so she figured she’d ask the questions.

  “I love working with them so it was never a question.” A harsh expression crossed his face, but as soon as it had arrived it was gone. “Actually that’s not true. When I started college, I was going to be a lawyer like my father, but I knew God was calling me to be a pastor. I finished my degree in pre-law to please my parents and then went off to the theological seminary.”

  “Your parents aren’t happy about your chosen profession,” said Kari more as a statement than a question. She was amazed at how free and open he was with his personal history. She very rarely revealed herself to anyone.

  Randy laced his fingers together in front of himself. “No, Dad is still reeling I didn’t go to law school. He wouldn’t pay for the seminary. He kept hoping I’d give up this nonsense and go on to law school later. I didn’t.”

  “Where do your parents live?” She leaned her cheek into her open palm, her elbow supported on the table as she asked her question.

  “I grew up in upstate New York, Sackets Harbor. It borders on Lake Ontario.”

  “Sounds lovely.”

  “It is. You’d like it; there’s a lot of history. It was a great place to grow up. We were members of the country club and the yacht club, but I always felt like something was missing from my life.”

  “Your parents weren’t Christians?”

  “Nope. Not then, not now. My father is what you would call an agnostic. Although before I decided to go into church work, he was just ambivalent to God. Now it’s like he has declared war. He wants nothing to do with anything Christian. He’s still angry I chose to follow God instead of practicing law.”

  “So how did you and Alice become Christians?”

  “When I was 17, a revival came through and I decided to go. Alice was always tagging along with me, and in the end we both went forward and accepted Christ. My life has never been the same since.”

  “I’m sure it hasn’t. God has a way of doing that to you.”

  “Amen to that. When did you become a Christian?”

  “Well, growing up in a Christian home, I felt like I always knew the gospel, but when I was seven I realized I hadn’t actually asked Christ into my heart. I asked my mother about it and prayed right in my bedroom one night. My life has been fairly normal—no drug stories, no awesome transformation.”

  “That’s great. God doesn’t want us to suffer. He instructs in His Word how to live not as a stranger who wants to keep us from fun but as the protecting father who wants to guard us from harm.”

  “Very true.” Kari was intrigued by the man sitting next to her. He was so honest and open. And every time he looked or smiled at her she felt her heart lurch inside. It was a worrisome feeling. She looked down at her watch. “I really have to get back to campus and prepare for tomorrow.”

  “What are you doing tomorrow?”

  “Usually it would just be another day at church, but I’m teaching a Sunday school class for a friend of mine who has been sick with the flu this week.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to interfere with that. I’ll walk you back to campus.”

  “No. Please do
n’t bother.”

  “I insist,” he said with a playful smile.

  Kari was tempted to give into him as she glanced at his blue eyes glistening in the sun, but her intuition was twittering around inside her, telling her it wasn’t a wise decision. She was already feeling a bit too close and comfortable with him as it was. She needed to place some distance between them and the best way she knew how to do that was to think of him as a pastor rather than as a man. “I really appreciate you taking me to lunch today, Pastor Steele, but…”

  “Please, you’ve got to drop the Pastor Steele. Call me Randy or at least call me what everyone at church calls me, Pastor Randy.”

  “Okay, Pastor Randy, thanks for lunch, but I really need to get back. I’m sure you have to catch a train so don’t put yourself out for me.”

  “It’s no trouble.”

  His gorgeous smile was just too unnerving. He was like the proverbial knight in shining armor. But as much as she enjoyed his company, it scared her. Her stomach tightened, and she just wanted to get away. “I really wish you wouldn’t.”

  Randy’s smile slid off his face instantaneously as if he had received a silent message. His face clouded over with irritation, and he sat up straight. “Sure. I understand, Miss Montgomery . Thanks for taking the time to humor the pastor kid.” He stood up with precision. The muscles in his jaw were tight, and the expression in his blue eyes was intense and troubling. “Goodbye.” Without another word, he took off down the street toward the train station.

  Kari remained in her seat stunned by his departure, a knot forming in her stomach. She never even tried to stop him from leaving or explain what she really thought of him. She just sat there like an observer to the whole scene. When his shrinking silhouette was all she could see of him, Kari rose from the table and walked off in the direction of the college campus, her heart full of concern.

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding