Love's Harvest, page 24
part #1 of A Salmon Run Novel Series
Chapter 17
For the first of January, it was a beautiful day, even by Washington State standards. The temperature outside still reminded the populace of Salmon Run it was winter, but the sky was a clear, crisp blue with not a single cloud in sight.
The inhabitants of the Nooksack Valley Winery and Vineyard, which included nearly everyone who worked either in the vineyard, the production plant, or the admin offices, had been up since the crack of dawn readying the place for the afternoon guests. Who were certain to come early to be assured of a good seat for the wedding.
It’d been all of five and a half months since Diego proposed and Julia accepted, and during that time not only had the entire winery been rebuilt, but the workers’ living quarters had been constructed, as well as four separate homes—one for the Pasquals, one for Joaquin and his daughter Gabriela and her children, another for the Reynolds family, and, of course, the last for Julia and Diego.
Once the insurance money rolled in, the displaced workers at the winery turned their skills toward construction, and with their combined help, everything went up seemingly overnight. Diego had explained to them that without the winery, little or no work could be offered to them, that was, unless they were willing to assist in the rebuilding of the compound. Needless to say, everyone voted to stay on board.
Of all those who experienced the fire first hand, Diego’s injuries took the most time to heal. The wallop he’d received on the back of his head translated into some vision problems, and although he was completely healed, he found his impaired vision now forced him to wear glasses.
Julia thought he not only looked quite handsome but studious as well in his new spectacles, and she told him so every chance she got. The truth was Diego hadn’t been well enough to go back to managing the vineyard right away, so instead he enrolled at Western, the state university in Bellingham, to pick up the few college courses he needed to update his Washington State teaching credential.
He was happy to then pass the orchard management position on to Joaquin Lopez, who was already doing a bang-up job on replanting the vineyard, readying it for an upcoming mid-summer harvest. In turn, Joaquin taught his daughter Gabriela how to oversee production, the job he’d previously held before the fire. Loyalty and a dedicated work ethic must run in the Lopez family, for Gabby met the requirements of her new position quickly and everyone at the winery noticed how well she excelled at it.
Mariela continued her directorship of the retail end of things, including the overseeing of the wine club, while Rafa took on the role of the compound handyman. Julia was still in charge of PR, but something new had been added to her job description, and it had to do with the new building which was in the process of being added to the property. A charter school for the children of the immigrant workers at the compound whose ages met the criteria for grades K through Eight.
This new enterprise captured Julia’s imagination once she recognized how much insurance money she was actually going to receive as a result of the fire. The school still had to be built, but already the construction crew had broken ground with a projected grand opening date of August first, right on time for the new academic year.
At first, Julia imagined becoming the principal of the school. Then something happened which forced her to gleefully change her mind. She and Diego were pregnant. Four months along, as a matter of fact. Even though she was reluctant at first to give up the projected position as principal, she realized after the first challenging trimester she needed to put her child first—at least over and above her usual workaholic whims. Besides, she rationalized to herself, she could still teach music, both privately and at the school, keep her attention on the PR for the winery, and still be a semi-stay-at-home mom.
Yeah, sure!
That meant someone other than Julia and Diego had to take over the job of principal, and in Julia’s mind, that could only be one person: James. It was unfortunate that as a result of the fire he’d been disbarred. James had in the past been a darn good lawyer, but breaking the law was simply that—breaking the law. However, the judge in this case had known James for some years and had taken his stellar work as an attorney into consideration.
The judge also couldn’t help but be swayed by the fact James had stayed true to his word and met all the requirements necessary in recovering from his gambling addiction. In fact, he was currently being trained by his sponsor to gradually take on that role himself sometime in the near future.
No one was more astounded and flattered than James when Diego and Julia asked if he’d be interested in the position as school principal. In the privacy of their own conversation, Diego and Julia still felt it was best James not handle the money end of things quite yet. The best and most obvious person to be in charge of the budget was of course Gayle. She also was so flabbergasted when Julia and Diego presented her their offer, she nearly fainted.
“That still doesn’t get you off the hook from being my administrative assistant, you know!” Julia teased Gayle.
“I’ll do that, too. I’ll do anything you want,” said Gayle. “James and I owe you so much as it is, we’ll probably be working for you for the rest of our lives.”
“Well, I hope so!” continued Julia. “Oh, that reminds me, would you be up for the job of school secretary as well? Things will wind down a bit at the winery during the fall and winter months, and both Diego and I could sure use your help at the school.”
Gayle began to cry. “I’d love to! But, only if my kids can attend as well, and for free?”
Diego, who’d been quiet up to this point, raised his head and feigned a look of disgust. “You Lutherans are all alike. Loco right down to the pocketbook!” Julia started to snicker, and try as he may, Diego likewise couldn’t keep a straight face.
“Only kidding, Gayle. Your children will always be welcome at our school. Call me loco as well, but I’d never think of taking your money. Jimmy and Bobbie are two of my favorite people, and I can’t wait to have them as students.”
Diego was proud not only of his new Master degree in teaching, but his new position as head teacher of the Nooksack Valley Charter School. It was the perfect job for him, that and coaching the boys’ afterschool soccer team. With his skill set in the art of persuasion, it didn’t take much coercing to talk Rafa into coaching the team for the girls as well.
News of the school spread fast. Not only were the families and their children at the compound excited, several other families outside the winery were as well. Already Deputy Christos Sotiropoulos and his wife had inquired on behalf of their three children.
The curriculum would feature a bilingual education in Spanish and English with a heavy emphasis on music, math, and science, particularly as it focused on the growth, processing, and sale of wine. Also, the cultural history of Mexico, as well as that of the United States.
The school would also offer evening courses for the adults to improve their English and prepare them for citizenship, should they so desire. Diego even thought about offering classes in auto mechanics, especially since everyone in the county now knew he was the proud owner of the Crestliner and that he’d done most of the refurbishing work himself.
Sometime around noon as the guests slowly trickled, the wedding party scattered so as not to be seen. Julia had avoided Diego the entire morning in the hope of bringing as much maidenly virtue as she could to her role as the blushing bride. Yet with her baby bump already showing, even she had to laugh at her situation.
She knew some people would talk, but down deep Julia didn’t care. She’d at last come to a place in her life where she no longer gave two cents about what people thought. All that mattered to her now was that in a few minutes she was to finally become Mrs. Julia Treadaway Reynolds Gonzales, wife of Diego Gonzales-Martinez, in front of her many friends and family.
~
Mariela ran around like a chicken with her head cut off. She’d been up most of the night preparing her special tamales, made extra special by the fact her mother had been in her kitchen to help. Every time Mariela thought about how sneaky she’d been in getting her parents to come up from Mexico to surprise their son at his wedding, she broke out in giggles.
It’d been years since their older brother and parents had seen Mariela or Diego, and they were having the time of their lives visiting with them and the Pasqual children. Eduardo had been a toddler when Mariela, Rafael, and Diego left Mexico, and Felicia hadn’t as yet been born.
Yet keeping the visit a secret from Diego had been nothing short of a miracle, especially with the children around. As late as even that very morning, Mariela overheard Eduardo speaking to Diego as the family and workers set up the large room in the winery for the event.
“I know something you don’t know, Uncle Diego,” Eduardo teased.
“Is that so?” Diego half-listened, his mind focused on setting up the chairs, flowers, candelabras, and other decorations for the service.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you because it’s a secret!” Eduardo smiled in utter glee.
At that exact moment, Mariela walked in on them. Knowing she had to stop Eduardo from blabbing, she pretended to survey the work which had been done thus far in decorating the room.
“Eduardo, remember what I asked of you?” Mariela said sternly.
“Si, mama, I know. Sorry.”
He then turned to Diego. “Sorry, but if I tell you my secret, mama says she will kill me.”
“That’s never stopped you before!” Diego laughed.
“Yes, but this time she said if I told, I wouldn’t be allowed to eat any of her tamales. Then she would kill me.”
Diego laughed as he glanced over at Mariela, who was about ready to come out of her skin.
“Well,” she stammered, “we certainly wouldn’t want that to happen, not on this the most beautiful day of your Uncle Diego’s life. Right?”
“Sí, Uncle Diego, but …”
Mariela interrupted Eduardo before he could continue. “Eduardo, you come with me. I need help carrying up the food.”
“But mama …”
“Ahora! Now!”
Diego smiled and shook his head. He couldn’t imagine how he’d be any more surprised than he already was that he and Julia were finally getting married. And in less than an hour. He had dreamed of this day, years ago, but never believed it’d happen to him in his lifetime.
How wrong he’d been! Not only was he in love with the woman of his dreams, but soon she’d be the mother of his child. “Ah,” he caught himself sighing out loud. You’ve got it bad, amigo! He thought to himself as he stood back to assess the decorated room.
Time was slipping away fast. Diego still had to change into his tux and help Eduardo into his suit. He thought about asking Rafa to stand with him as his Best Man. Rafa was after all Diego’s brother-in-law and the closest male member of his family.
Yet it was clear to Diego that of all the people in his family, he was closest to Eduardo. They knew each other like the backs of their hands. Diego recognized in his nephew much of the same temperament he’d displayed as a young boy—smart, mischievous, and often rebellious. So, when Diego presented his request to Mariela and Rafael, they completely understood and were delighted that he’d pay their son such an honor.
Diego led Eduardo to one of the offices which had that very morning been turned into the men’s dressing room for the occasion.
“Why do people get married?” asked Eduardo as Diego worked at combing the boy’s rebellious hair.
“Because they love each other and want to spend their lives together. Why do you ask?”
“Chuey said it was because you want to have lots of sex together and make babies.”
Diego tried not to laugh. He knew who Chuey was. A boy Eduardo’s age from the compound who was the youngest of four older brothers, all in their teens.
“You don’t need to listen to Chuey, but he’s right about making babies. Julia and I are going to have baby by summer, did you know that?”
Eduardo’s face turned red. “Sí, Chuey told me.”
“Ha! Chuey again! Well, soon you’ll have a little cousin, and he or she will look up to you for help and advice. You must be very kind and very good so your cousin’ll be kind and good like you, too, when he or she is your age.”
“Can’t you simply ask God for a boy? Why does it maybe have to be a girl?”
Diego did laugh this time. “That’s a very good question. We can pray for whatever it is we desire, but God gives us what we need. That, of course, may not always be what we want or think we should have.”
Diego studied himself and Eduardo in the mirror as he now combed his own hair. “But I’ve seen how well you act around your sister, so I know whether Julia and I have a boy or a girl, you’ll be the perfect cousin. Sí?”
“Sí.” Eduardo still wasn’t sure he was buying it, but at least he’d told his uncle that he thought the baby should be a boy. “It’s just that I think girls are weird.”
Diego grinned. “Ah! You’ll change your mind soon enough, amigo!”
Diego put his comb down and looked Eduardo straight in the eye. “I want to tell you how happy and proud I am that you’re my Best Man today. You’re a fine young man, Eduardo. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different!” Diego’s eyes grew glassy.
“”All right, already! Jeez! Don’t cry!”
“I can’t help it. It’s your breath!” Diego teased.
“Is not!” Eduardo started to laugh.
“Is too!” Diego struggle to be serious.
“Is not!” Eduardo continued.
Diego raised his eyebrow and stared at the boy as if to say, are you calling me a liar?
“Is it?” asked Eduardo as he held his hand over his mouth to see if he could smell anything.
Diego immediately burst out laughing and nudged the boy with his elbow. “Ha, ha! Gotcha!”
The two pretended to spar with each other until they were interrupted by the entrance of Pastor Knudson and Father Juan, the two men of the robe called in to officiate the wedding. Both were more than familiar with Diego and Eduardo, partly because Mariela’s family attended Our Lady of the River, and the Reynolds family had gone to Riverside Lutheran since the new church was built in the 1970s. More importantly, Diego and Julia since the fire had alternated their attendance at each church every other week.
“So, Diego, are you ready to take the plunge?” teased Father Juan.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, Father!” Diego smiled proudly.
Diego felt the sleeve of his coat being tugged.
“Uncle Diego,” whispered Eduardo. “Are we going to be thrown into water?”
Everyone laughed. Finally, Pastor Knudson crouched down to Eduardo’s level and kindly gazed into the eyes of his new friend. “Not to worry, Eduardo. ‘Taking the plunge’ is merely an old goofy saying repeated by a bunch of old goofy men.”
“Who you calling old, grandpa?” teased Father Juan, who himself wasn’t much older than Diego.
“Hey, watch it, you!” teased back Pastor Knudson.
As soon as the musicians, who also worked at the winery, began to play their guitars and their trumpets, the men in the dressing room grew quiet. Mariela had specifically been asked to sing La Gloria Eres Tu as the opening prelude with the Mariachi band. A beautiful and familiar romance to all Mexicans, this song had become Diego’s favorite since falling in love with Julia.
“That’s our cue, boys,” remarked Father Juan as both ministers followed by Diego and Eduardo walked out of the makeshift dressing room and toward the front of the makeshift sanctuary. Diego could tell by the energy in the room that the place was packed.
As he waited for the music to end, Diego’s curiosity got the better of him. He surveyed the room to see who was there. At the back of the room sat the Sabatini and Sotiropoulos families. Toward the center sat Reverend von Buskirk and his family, his acquaintances from the Nooksack Indian Reservation, particularly the George family, and Julia’s half-sister Alicia.
His eyes wandered down to the front rows, and when they did, he lost it—completely. There sat his mother and his father, as well as his brother and wife from Guadalajara, whom he hadn’t seen in years. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his wet eyes as every member of his family did the same.
“Is this what you were trying to tell me earlier, you rat?” Diego asked Eduardo playfully in a whisper.
Eduardo could only grin and nod his head.
As soon as Mariela finished the song, she sat down to everyone’s applause. The Mariachis continued to play as both Felicia and Bobbie sashayed down the aisle carpeted by throw rugs, competitively flinging paper rose petals in their path. The entire congregation as well as the wedding party laughed as they watched the antics of the two girls.
Next to process in was Julia’s Maid of Honor, Sheriff Barbara van Persie—and in full uniform, no less. She looked somewhat like a duck out of water, and the astonished audience couldn’t help but react as well.
As soon as Barb made it to the front, the music changed to the Wedding March, inviting the guests to stand in honor of the bride. Slowly, arm in arm with her nephew Jimmy at her side, Julia made her way down the aisle, the entire time keeping her eyes glued on Diego. She wore a simple long white dress with a white Spanish mantilla as her veil. As soon as Diego saw her, his breath hitched.
When Julia saw Diego’s wet eyes, hers began to water as well. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever been this happy.
Suddenly, out of nowhere Julia remembered the words to a song from a Frank Sinatra record her father had played over and over again years ago.
“Love is lovelier the second time around …”
She smiled at the memory, and Diego returned her smile of his own.
