The alarm clock sounded very early the next morning. As Jane shut it off, she felt even more surrealistic. Could this really be happening?

Apparently it was; as she swung around and got her feet on the floor, she could see that her room had been close to stripped out, so she and Sophia must have really done it last night: it wasn’t a dream. This was going to be a day she would never have dreamed about a week before.

Since Madelyn was up in Steamboat Springs with her boyfriend, Jane didn’t bother with a robe but just went to the bathroom in the nude. She took a shower and washed her hair – she’d put it off the night before – and went back to her room to get dressed. Even that wasn’t much, just panties, a sundress that didn’t require a bra, and a light shirt to wear as a jacket during the cool hours of the morning, the new flats she and Sophia bought a couple nights before.

There wasn’t much to take to her car, but it would require two loads to carry down. She took one down, and as she gathered the second she realized she really ought to leave a note for Madelyn, who would be surprised, and perhaps worried to see half of the apartment empty. She found a sheet of paper and a pen and then sat down at the kitchen table to write:

Madelyn:

I know this comes as something of a surprise, but I’ve decided to move in with my boyfriend.

Even now she couldn’t bring herself to tell the whole truth. She thought a bit and then went on.

It came as a real surprise to me, too, but I think it’s the right thing to do. Sorry to leave you hanging on the rent but I’ve paid my share for most of a month ahead of time. There’s some food and things left over you might as well use up. We’re going to be gone for a while, but I’ll get in touch with you after we get back. Wish me luck!

-- Jane

Well, there it is, she thought as she finished up. I’ll leave this note on the table along with my key to the apartment. One final bridge burned. I hope I’m doing the right thing.

She gathered up the final things she needed to take down to the car, set them out in the hall, then as she closed the door it locked automatically behind her, leaving a lot more of her past behind her than the few months she’d spent with her roommate. The future suddenly seemed very fuzzy to her.

With her final armload of things on the seat of her Nissan, she drove across town to Rob and Sophia’s. She’d never been there before, but Sophia had given her a good map, and it took her right to where she had to go. She hadn’t even gotten the engine shut off when the garage door opened, and Rob motioned her into a vacant spot in the garage. “So, Jane, how are you today?” he asked as she got out.

“If I said I was a little nervous, would you believe me?”

“I’m afraid if I were in your shoes, I’d be a lot nervous,” he grinned. “I was a lot nervous the morning I married Sophia, and we’d been living together for years and had known each other longer than that. Of course, knowing her I had every right to be nervous.”

“There’s something to be said for not knowing what you’re getting into,” she sighed.

“That’s the way of things, I guess,” he agreed. “I’ve spent enough time studying World War II that I often find myself wondering about what a fighter or bomber pilot must have felt like just before a mission. They wouldn’t know whether it was going to be a milk run or hell on earth with no hope of survival, and they wouldn’t know if their life was going to last longer than the next hour or two. Yet, those men did it again and again, and I often wonder how.”

“Rob, do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

“I can’t say. I know Rick and I like him, so I’d say there’s a good chance this is going to work out just fine. But there are so many unknowns for both of you that I wouldn’t dare try to make a prediction. Let’s get your suitcase and other things over into our car. Sophia is still getting ready and should be along in a few minutes.”

It didn’t take long. Jane had just the one big suitcase and a carry-on, along with a rarely used purse. She and Sophia had more or less completed packing the suitcases the night before. They had just finished putting them into the trunk of Rob and Sophia’s big white Lincoln when Sophia came out into the garage. “Good enough,” she said. “We’re running a little early. If you’d like, we could stop somewhere for a cup of coffee or something after we pick up Rick.”

“That sounds good. I haven’t had a thing today.”

“Then let’s get going.”

As advertised, Rick’s apartment proved to be in a relatively grubby part of town, an older and somewhat run-down neighborhood that Jane knew from her own past had many off-campus students living in it; it was hard to find a place to park the big car.

“Rob,” Sophia suggested. “Why don’t you run up and get Rick?”

“Might as well,” he replied. “Knowing him, the odds are fifty-fifty that he laid awake most of the night worrying and hasn’t gotten up yet.”

“You’re probably right,” Sophia smiled. “Jane, I suspect you’ll learn that Rick sometimes isn’t the most competent person around when it comes to the practical side of life.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” Jane smiled. “I guess part of my job is to do something about that.”

Rob was indeed in the old house for several minutes, long enough that Jane was starting to wonder if Rick had thought better of the idea. “He should be pretty well packed up,” Sophia announced. “We spent enough time working on it yesterday afternoon before I came over to your place to help you out.”

“You’ve really been working both sides of this arrangement, haven’t you?”

“Of course. Somebody has to provide some motivation. It’s not going to be long before it’ll be all your job. Once you get the hang of it, it ought to be easier than I’ve had it.”

“I sure hope you’re right. I feel like I’m really taking a step into the unknown.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sophia advised. “Two weeks from now what seems unknown and scary will be familiar and easy. That’s why there are honeymoons in the first place. I will give you a hint, though. Try to act like you’re the confident one as some of the fitting-together and getting-used-to-each-other problems come up. Knowing Rick, he’s not going to be, so you’ll have to take him by the hand and lead him through most everything.”

“What if I’m not very confident, either?”

“Then at least act like you are. It’s just that you’re going to have to be the competent one and take the lead in a lot of things until you two work things out. Jane, this is not that difficult. It’s been done billions of times before.”

“Yeah, but not by me,” she said as the door to the house opened. Rob came outside carrying a big suitcase, while Rick followed with a carry-on.

“Well, I guess he must have been awake after all,” Sophia opined. “Probably just a little last-minute trouble getting organized.”

Jane watched Rick carefully as he came closer. Did he seem a bit reluctant to her? There was no telling – she didn’t know him well enough to make that judgment. His bag and his carry-on went into the trunk with the rest of the luggage, and he got into the back seat across from Jane. “Good morning, Rick,” she said cheerfully. “How are you today?”

“Oh, OK,” he replied, a bit shyly.

“Rick told me he didn’t sleep very well last night,” Rob announced. “He had just gotten out of the shower when I got up there.”

“Are you going to be all right?” Sophia asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said a little reluctantly.

“Well, you might get to sleep a while on the plane,” Jane suggested, suspecting that the reality of this had hit him a little harder now and he was having a little trouble coming to grips with it. Well, that made two of them. Probably more than a little of that was his natural shyness coming through.

“Not likely,” he replied softly.

“We’re going to stop for some coffee and maybe something to eat,” Rob said. “We have to make it a quick one, but what with all the time I’ve spent in airport terminals the last few years, I suspect the food will be both better and cheaper if we stop before we get there.”

Jane glanced over at Rick, who seemed to her to be cowering on the far side of the seat. She thought about reaching out her hand to take his, but couldn’t make up her mind whether to do it – it might make him more nervous, rather than less. “You’re probably right,” she replied to Rob, keeping a watch on Rick out of the corner of her eye. “I think we’d all feel a little better with some coffee in us.”

They made a quick stop at a doughnut shop on the way out of town. A chocolate dipped old-fashioned and a cup of black coffee settled the butterflies down in Jane’s stomach a little, and seemed to relax Rick as well.

Along the way, Sophia got down to business. “Just so everyone’s up to speed, the plan is to fly to Las Vegas, go to the Marriage License Bureau and the Office of Civil Marriages. Since it’s a Saturday and they’re likely to be busy, I made an appointment. I figure that’ll probably eat up most of the day, so I booked us hotel rooms. Rob and I will fly back here tomorrow, and you kids will get a plane to Los Angeles, then to Honolulu, then to Kauai, where you have a rental car reserved. You’ll have to drive to the resort where I have your reservations, and the rental will allow you to explore the island a bit. That’s going to be a long day, what with all the waiting, and I figured there was no point in trying to cram the wedding and flights to Hawaii all into one day.”

“I’m not sure you could even cram it into one day,” Rob commented. “And you probably wouldn’t like it very much if you tried.”

“You know more about it than I do,” Jane commented. “I suppose you have everything else planned out, too.”

“Right, including your flight from Kauai back to Honolulu, and your hotel reservations there. I didn’t arrange for a rental car, since you might not want or need one, or at least not for the whole time, unless you want to explore outside the city a bit. If you do want a rental car, you can arrange for one at the airport or probably your hotel. And, of course, I also have your tickets for your flight back to Los Angeles, and then back to Denver. Give us a call from Los Angeles, and we’ll meet you at the airport. Does that sound simple enough?”

“Sounds like it ought to work,” Jane agreed, taking a sip of her coffee. “This has all the earmarks of being quite a honeymoon.”

“I trust Sophia,” Rick agreed. “It should be all right.”

Once again, the whole thing seemed indeed surreal to Jane. A week ago she could never have dreamed of this, and it could still have been a dream as far as she was concerned. She glanced over at Rick, wondering again about the wisdom of this whole thing. She knew him so little that she might as well have said that she didn’t know him at all, but she was only a few hours away from being married to him! This couldn’t be happening . . . yet it was.

It wasn’t a terribly long drive across Denver to the airport. Since it was Saturday the morning rush hour traffic wasn’t as bad as it could often be. Jane had learned early on to avoid the freeways at that time of day, although she rarely had to deal with them. There wasn’t a lot of conversation in the Lincoln, and most of it was between Rob and Sophia. However, Rick did seem to loosen up a little bit, although he never got to the point where he seemed as comfortable as he had at Umberto’s, and for that matter Jane didn’t relax all that much herself.

Jane had only been on airliners a couple times, so getting through security at the airport seemed a little strange and drawn-out to her. There was a lot of waiting in the pre-boarding area; to fill some of the slack time they found a seat at a table in the concourse and had more coffee. Rob was right: the coffee wasn’t as good and was considerably more expensive. As before, Rob and Sophia carried on most of the conversation with Jane occasionally contributing something. Rick might have said as much as a dozen words during the period, and Jane couldn’t tell if that came from nervousness or shyness.

One of the few advantages to flying first class was that they got to board the airliner first. The seats were only two wide, much more comfortable than those toward the back of the plane. “Rick?” Jane asked as they put their carry-ons in the overhead rack, “Would you like to sit at the window or on the aisle?”

“Whatever,” he replied. “Your choice.”

“The window, I guess. It might be fun to look out.”

Once the first class passengers were boarded, it still took a while to board the rest of the plane, and there was more of a wait to get going. “Time to spare, go by air,” Rick muttered at one point.

“I agree, it seems like we spend a lot of time doing nothing,” Jane agreed. “But it would take a really long drive to do it in a day. There’s supposed to be some really pretty country along the way. Have you ever driven it?”

“No. Maybe someday. I don’t like driving that much. I’m not very good at it. It took me over three days to come here from Sunnyvale.”

Wow, Jane thought. That’s the most I’ve heard him speak all morning. Maybe he’s getting used to the idea. “What did you do, come through Salt Lake City?” she asked, mostly to try to get him talking a little more.

“Yeah, a lot of it is pretty dull.”

“Have you ever driven around in the mountains much?” she asked, waving her hand in the general direction of the west.

“I hear it’s pretty but I’ve never been there.”

“I haven’t been up there as much myself. Maybe we’ll have to go check it out sometime.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. “Probably would be better than flying.”

Over the next “seeming forever” it took them to get going, Jane kept trolling questions past her near-future husband. Sometimes she got a sentence or two reply, other times only a word or two. Guess he really is shy, she thought. I’m going to have to work on that or I’m going to be spending a lot of time talking to myself.

Finally, the airliner was pushed away from the ramp. The engines started, and they taxied out to the runway, taking even more time. There were the usual safety lectures from the cabin attendants, and then they turned onto the runway. Behind them they could hear the engines spool up, and were pushed back into their seats. In only seconds, the plane began to rotate. Jane was looking out the window at the scene when she felt Rick’s hand in hers, and squeezing hard. She turned to him and said. “You really don’t like flying, do you?”

She could see the look of fear on his face. All he could do was shake his head.

“It’s OK, Rick,” she said confidently. “We’re going to be just fine.”

He still said nothing, but the grip of his hand on hers didn’t relax a bit as the airliner broke ground. There was the clunk of the landing gear retracting, and the plane pointed even higher. At least, Jane thought, it doesn’t look as bad from here in the front. The other times she’d been flying it had been toward the back of the plane and the up-angle looking up the long rows of seats had been more than a little scary.

Rick’s grip on her hand didn’t relax until they leveled out, but even at altitude he didn’t let go. Maybe, she thought, he’s getting more comfortable with me – or maybe he really doesn’t like flying, and holding onto my hand gives him a little bit of confidence. Either way, it seemed reassuring. Jane knew they were going to be facing several other flights over the next two weeks, and she hoped that maybe in that time Rick would get a little more accustomed to it.

The flight from Denver to Las Vegas goes over some of the most rugged and wildest terrain in the lower forty-eight states. As Jane looked out the window – and she didn’t much – she saw only occasional roads and tiny settlements, and a lot of dry, barren-looking desert. Fortunately, the flight didn’t take all that long; it seemed like they’d barely reached altitude when the pilot throttled the plane back and began the long descent into Las Vegas.

As the plane got lower, Jane could feel Rick’s hand gripping hers more tightly. She tried to divide her attention between Rick and the strange view outside. He clearly got more nervous as they approached the ground and heard strange sounds from the airplane. Then they heard the scrooch of the tires on the runway and felt the plane slow. Rick relaxed a little after that point, but never took his hand from hers before the plane was at a stop. “Sorry,” he said softly as they began to unfasten their seat belts. “I guess flying makes me a little nervous.”

“Me too,” she smiled. “But I guess it’s one of those things you get used to after a while.”

“I sure hope so. I don’t like being such a baby about it, but I know I am.”

“It’s OK,” she told him. “I don’t mind.”

They were soon off the plane, walking through the terminal with its huge ads for casinos and hotels. “So here we are in Las Vegas. How did you like the flight?” Rob asked as the four of them walked to the baggage claim area.

“There’s some pretty countryside out there,” Jane commented.

“We’re here,” Rick said. “I guess that’s what’s important.”

Once they had their baggage, they went out to the cab stand. There were a number of cabs waiting; they went to the first one in line and got a ride to the big hotel on the strip where Sophia had made reservations. They checked in, took their baggage up to their rooms, and since it was now past noon, they decided to have a good lunch in the dining room. By the time everything was said and done, an hour had passed before they caught another cab, this time to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau.

Quickie weddings are big business in Las Vegas – approximately five percent of all marriages in the country are celebrated there. Even though the workers there have things down to a science, sometimes the lines are a little long, and it took almost two hours to get all the paperwork completed.

Once they had the marriage license, it was only a short walk to the Office of Civil Marriages, which offered the prospect of a quiet, official ceremony without a minister being involved. Since it was busy, again they had to wait more than an hour before it was their turn. “It might have been nicer if we’d been a little more organized,” Sophia commented. “But since we were looking for quick, I guess we have to take what we get.”

There were several other couples waiting. Jane noted one couple where the prospective bride spent much of the time talking the ear off of her husband-to-be. Jane couldn’t help but wonder how that one was going to turn out; she sure wouldn’t have wanted to have been that guy, although she hoped that in time Rick would be more communicative than he had been so far today. There was a little talking back and forth among the other couples – and sometimes a handful of friends or relatives that accompanied them. Some were quiet, some seemed nervous, some were obviously drunk. Ever since she’d been a little girl, Jane had occasionally entertained thoughts of what her wedding day might be like. This didn’t have much to do with any of them.

Finally, the clerk called, “Thredford and Marshall.”

“That’s us,” Sophia said.

“Jane,” Rick said. “Are you still sure you want to do this?”

All the waiting had made her a little nervous. “Might as well,” she said tentatively. “How about you?”

“Well, yeah, what the hell. Let’s do it.”

Five minutes later they were man and wife. The ceremony was muted and casual, performed by a man who seemed casual and cracked a couple jokes he’d probably used a million times before he got down to the ceremony. The judge was nice enough to witness the signing of the pre-nuptial agreement that had been worked out, and then they got down to business.

The actual wedding was perfunctory; there was none of the pageantry of a big wedding, but according to him they were just as married. After the judge pronounced them man and wife, they had a rather mild little kiss – the first time they’d ever kissed. Very quickly they were back out on the street, carrying the piece of paper that proved they were married.

It took a while to get at taxi to take them back to their hotel, and Jane almost wished they’d taken the time to walk, just to see the sights.

With all the waiting, it was now getting into the evening. “We might as well have dinner, which will have to count for a wedding reception,” Sophia said. “Then we can catch a show or something, if you like. Or, if you’d rather, after dinner you kids could go to your room and do what you probably really want to do.”

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