The ceremony was brief but had the requisite ‘I dos’ and the proper amount of kissing. The lipstick felt weird on Rachel and on me too. Everyone hugged everyone else. I had not noticed him before until Mr. Powell was slipping out the back of the chapel. I was unsure if I should have invited him, but he somehow found out about it anyway.
We celebrated with some fancy snacks and drinks that night at the house. I didn’t know how to pronounce most of them, nor did I know where Keisha had found them. At least they were tasty. After the celebration was over, Keisha prepared to leave. She gave me a big hug and kiss and did the same for Rachel. Keisha had to stop crying. We owed her a debt of gratitude for this impromptu wedding.
“You are welcome anytime,” I said to Keisha.
“Thank you for letting me be a part of this. And we will get Jessica back.”
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A few weeks later, Keisha contacted us, “Guess what! I found the perfect place for your honeymoon. A secluded cabin by this lake for a week. It has a beautiful view.”
“Sounds great, Keisha, but I am not sure–”
“Don’t even talk about money. This is on me.”
“Okay, but let me talk with–” I felt a tug on my arm, and Rachel was there nodding her head vigorously.
“Okay, great, I will pick you up tomorrow.”
Rachel hugged and snuggled with me. “I guess we are going on a honeymoon after all.”
As Keisha drove us for the four-hour drive to the cabin, Rachel and I elected to stay in the backseat together. I think Keisha hoped to talk along the way, but we had other things to take care of.
As Keisha was driving, she yelled back at us, “Girl, can you turn down the volume, people two lanes over can hear.”
Later she said, “A honeymoon is not about mooning people. And girl, you don’t need to be flashing your titties. Cover up; there is a blanket back there.”
After a couple of hours, she said, “Can’t you two wait until we get to the cabin?”
“Fine, I will pull over and let you finish your business.”
Keisha pulled over to a truck stop and parked in a back corner of the lot somewhere along the road. Eventually, we disengaged and made ourselves look presentable, but we still could not let go of our hands.
We searched for Keisha at the truck stop and found her standing next to some ad magazines, real estate, user cars, etc. She was staring at a magazine in disbelief. I joked about getting a bigger car like a van.
Keisha held up the magazine and turned it to see the front cover. It featured a shiny Dodge Charger and a salesman trying to look like a celebrity, Simon Thayer. She looked like she was in shock.
Keisha held out the magazine so we could see. She said, “This is Don. He is the one who took Jessica.”
We had found them. We had always been hoping to find her. But now, the realization set in as we asked ourselves, how were we going to Jessica away from him?