The Prayers in Rossford

I am so glad you all came with me for this journey. Now we have reached the end of our Rossford journey. At least for now. There will be other *AND TO ME, BETTER) Rossford stories, and I you join me with them, but for now this trilogy is through.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries

and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move

mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give

all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,

but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy,

it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight

in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,

always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,

they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled;

where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know

in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection

comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child,

I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like

a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;

then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part;

then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Simon lifted Adele’s veil and kissed her.

“Todd?”Fenn murmured next to him. “Todd, are you crying?”

Looking handsome, but miserable in his black tuxedo, Todd nodded quickly.

“It’s just like us, isn’t it?” Todd said. “That’s just how it was.”

“Yes,” Fenn said, patting Todd’s wrist. “But my dress wasn’t nearly as pretty.”

Cause um

The sex was good

You had my mind

And I

I let you

Come back

Every time

You would

Violate

And cross

The line

And you

Knew that I

Would be

The type

To always

Wait so patiently

Thinkin’

You was comin’

Home to me

Well

Damn, I never heard

The keys

Or

Felt ya taps

Sayin’ are

You sleep

There was a tap on Milo’s shoulder and he said, “Hey, Bren!”

“May I cut in?”

“You gotta ask the lady.”

“Lady?”

Dena nodded and offered her hand.

“Is that Mary J. Blige?”

“That is the end of Mary J. Blige. And now…”Dena frowned, trying to recognize the intro.

“Water Runs Dry,” Brendan said. “Take my hand.”

Dena nodded, and they movedto the center of the dancefloor.

“Wow, look at you, Bren!”

“Am I still a good dancer?”

“You are a better dancer now that you’re out and with a boyfriend and everything.”

“Thanks.”

“And your ass is tighter.”

“God, Dena!”

“I guess Kenny’s really been keeping you working.”

Dena just smiled.

“You’rea really horrible girl. You know that?”

“I miss you, Bren.”

“I’m not that far away.”

“I know.”

“There’s Layla over there. It’s her mother’s wedding. You better ask Aidan if you can cut in.”

He did, and then Layla handed Aidan off to Dena, and moved from them with a graceful step.

“I’ve done something terrible.”

“What?” said Brendan.

“I’ve told Dena I’m sleeping with Aidan.”

“And you wish you kept it private?”

“No.”And then Layla punched him in the arm while they danced.

“Ouch! Ass grabbed and sucker punched in a day.”

“I never slept with Aidan.”

“Then why—? Oh…”

“Oh, what?”

“Did Dena finally do it with Milo?” Brendan’s eyes lifted and he looked to the side. “The two of ‘em got a whole new vibe going on.”

“First you. Then Milo. And… me batting zero.”

“You’re sounding really stupid now,” Brendan said.

“And you’ve… done more than any of us.”

“That statements gets a little old after a while,” Brendan said.

“I wasn’t serious,” she said, as they danced together and Layla put her head on her old friend’s chest.

“Brendan the big gaymo loser! How come he’s been laid more than me? It gets real old sometime, Layla.”

“I don’t think that way. I never said that, Brendan. But I do get tired of being the Virgin Layla. So I lied.”

“You need to tell the truth, then.”

“And I even said I’d slept with Will too.”

“Oh, Layla!

“Don’t you ever get tired so much of something, of being who you are you… just wanna lie?”

Brendan pulled Layla away from him and said, “I screwed up all our lives because I got tired of being myself so much all I did was lie.”

“Nell!”

Bill and Nell turned around to see who had drunkenly called out her name, and it was Charlie, wheeling around.

“Hey, Charlie,” said Nell. He’d been good to her, never done her any harm. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“I came with Meg,” Charlie said. He pronounced her name loudly. “Fenn and Adele told her to come to the wedding.”

“That is…”Nell began, but didn’t know what to say. Charlie, still looking somewhat foolish, with his lips twisted up, was holding his hands out.

“You want to dance?” Nell said.

“Yes. Absolutely,”

She turned to Bill.

“You all have….”Bill said with a small smile, “a wonderful time.”

As they lurched off, a strange, amused look in Nell’s eyes, the girl called Meg arrived holding a wallet.

“Hello,” said Bill.

“Hi,” Meg said, brightly, but she wiped the back of her hand over her face.

“Are you all…”Bill began. “I mean, can I help you?”

“This was my fathers,” Meg said. “This is what’s left of him. Fenn told me he had the wallet. He had forgotten it, but he thought maybe there’d be something in it. Some clue.”

“I think that’s a very good idea,” Bill said.

From the dance floor, Nell screamed as Charlie dipped her, quickly.

“I will be glad to help you.

Saint Barbara’s possessed a brick social hall, which had once been the old school. And this was where the reception was held. Adele hiked up the skirts of her cream colored gown and came back, through the kitchens, into one of the old rooms where Fenn was waiting for her.

“I have a present for you,” he said.

Adele cocked her head.

He waved it off and said, handing her an envelope, “They’ll be lots of little presents coming like this.”

Brows furrowed, she opened the envelope and gasped.

“This is…”

“Yeah.”

“Fenn! What about… you gave Meg the card.”

“The card and what was left in the account.”

“But this is…”Adele began.

“A hell of a lot of money. I know. And Brian had a hell of a lot of money, and Tom and Lee have a hell of a lot of money. And Noah and James and Tara. And now you and Layla and… well, shit. We all have a lot of money. Even Julian has a hell of a lot of money. We’re making it rain!”

“What about that Meg?”

“She gets all his houses and all his secret shit.”

“How much did you leave of his money?”

“A quarter of a million.”

Adele, holding the check, looked as if she wasn’t sure she should hold it.

“There was so much more of it, though.”

“A quarter of a million is a lot of money, Addy. Along with everything else. I think she’ll do fine.”

They were quiet and then Fenn said, reaching for the check, “But if you don’t want it…”

“Oh, I want it. But she’s his daughter.”

“Yes, but he tried to kill us. And besides: we’re the Houghtons.”

“Brian!”Paul called.

Brian looked up and said, “Ah, Hello, Paul.”

“You don’t have to pretend not to see me,” said Paul. “We’re past all that. I hope.”

Brian smiled a surprisingly shy smile for Brian, and then said, “It is good to see you. I bet Adele’s pleased.”

“Here for Adele and Fenn. I heard you really planned a kickass party.”

“I’d like to think we all planned a kickass party.”

“I heard it was pretty much all you.”

Brian shrugged.

“You’ve changed a hell of a lot, Brian.”

“We all have.”

Paul stopped to consider this and said, “You’re right.”

“That’s rare,” Brian said. “Changing. Most people don’t. You just stay the same. You stay a little stuck in a thing and you can’t get out. But we all kind of came together. And changed each other.”

“For good or for bad.”

“No,” Brian shook his head with a hard smile. “Whatever happened, I think all of it was good. In the end. And that makes it all sort of a gift. All of it.”

Todd passed them and enthused: “Great reception. Awesome party afterward! Fenn’s gonna love it.”

A moment later, Julian came by with Claire, and she looked from her brother to Brian.

“I want peace now,” Paul said. “I want peace.”

Claire’s face was only a little softer.

“You,” her boyfriend said, “need to stop fighting other people’s fights. Especially when everyone else is finished fighting them.”

Claire looked at Brian, and he looked at her. They didn’t smile at each other, but Claire didn’t frown.

At last she spoke to Brian.

“I’ve actually never looked at you before,” she said. “I just realized you once. I saw you shadowy, in a video, and I never forgave you. And I never looked at you.”

And then Fenn arrived, and before anyone could say anything, he cleared his throat and said, “I’d like to make a speech.”

They all turned to acknowledge him.

“Today, I turn fort,” he began. “And I am not proud. This is precisely the reason I had Adele schedule her wedding today, so I would be forgotten. I was thinking, though, how nice a surprise party would be, and hoping I’d actually get one.”

They all looked at him.

“Since I’ve seen no signs of a party, I can only conclude there won’t be one.”

Silence.

“And I’ve realized that this is a good thing because, at the end of the day, I really, really, really, hate surprises and being the center of things. And whoever would have the… guile, or what I can only call the nerve, to piggy back my birthday party onto my sister’s wedding, is definitely a man—or a woman—who wants their nads snatched out and stuffed in their throat.”

Fenn took a breath and then said, “Now I’m going home to rest.”

And then he was gone.

“Well,” Claire said to Brian, “this should be interesting.”

Paul said, “It always is.”

THANK YOU!