False Idols - Published Version

Chapter 2

Tracy Cruz smiled through her veil down at her father as she let go of his hand. She knew that the smile he flashed back masked a grimace of agony as he painstakingly turned his wheelchair and rolled over to her mother's side in front of the first row of pews.

She was so glad that this day could happen while her parents were still present to witness it. And so lucky to have survived this long herself. If she had taken thirty seconds longer to zip herself into a radiation suit after the Hurricane reactor retaining wall failed, she wouldn't be here today. Maybe it was, as so many of the church's congregation had told her, a miracle from Heaven that she had survived.

It was also a miracle that she could support herself here in Kerrville. Eric Romero, CEO of Southwest Pipelines, Inc., a local oil and gas transportation company, was a member of the church, too. Despite the faltering local economy, he had been kind enough to offer her a job as a corporate legal counsel. It wasn't going to make her rich, but it provided an income she could use to service her school debt and a mortgage.

As her father wheeled himself away, Ricky had taken her arm firmly and was guiding her towards their spots before the altar. She looked up at old Reverend Doctor Edgar Lawson. The man she'd affectionately called Doc in her childhood looked almost as weak as her parents, but he was still ministering to the small nondenominational church here in Kerrville where she had grown up. She remembered him, thirty years ago, giving her a sugar cookie and sip of grape juice during her first communion. He'd flashed her the same reassuring smile then that he was giving her now as he presided over her wedding.

She found her spot and turned to face Ricky. He was trying to keep his composure, but his crooked grin kept bursting through and he was rocking as she shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"Dearly beloved," Doc intoned in his raspy voice. "We are gathered here today to witness the wedding of two of our congregants.

"Ricardo de Leon has been a lifelong member of our National Unity Church. In fact, I don't think there was a single Sunday in the last thirty-odd years when I didn't see him singing in the choir, or organizing youth events, or helping some of our elder members to and from the parking lot.

"It was first in this church, in Sunday school, that Ricardo met Tracy Cruz. They grew up together in our community. Yet after high school graduation, Ricardo's life remained rooted in Kerrville, while Tracy went out into the world.

"The world can be a dangerous place, and Tracy was nearly taken from us. It was only thanks to the Lord that she has returned. And so it is with a deep sense of gratitude towards the Lord that today in His house of worship we join Tracy's and Ricardo's into a single life."

"Ricardo, would you make your vow to Tracy?"

Ricky gulped and took a deep breath. Tracy tried not to smile. She knew he wasn't good with words, and she wasn't expecting much. "Tracy, my love. Every day after you left Kerrville, I prayed to God that one day you would return. I know that God has a plan for all of us, and that there's a reason for everything. I could never understand why His plan called for you to leave. But I think now it was a test, to prove that my love for you was pure. I know that I will continue to pass that test every day for the rest of our lives."

Simple and to the point. Just like Ricky. But smart, too. No customary comments about forming a family together. Because he knew her secret, the reason why she'd never let herself get too close to any man before him.

"And Tracy? Your vows?"

Now it was Tracy's turn to gulp and take a deep breath. She looked out at the audience. The pews were packed with family and friends, some of whom she hadn't spoken to in the nearly two decades between high school graduation and her return to Kerrville last year. Yet all of them had turned out to celebrate her wedding. That was the nature of a small tightly knit community. The community she had wanted so urgently to escape when she was eighteen, for reasons that had faded with time.