Two days after arriving back on the outskirts of Preston, I began my journey south to Oxford and the wedding. It all began with a taxi ride from where Roxy was moored, into Preston and then two trains. The first took me to Wolverhampton and the second to Oxford. The ticket inspector on the train from Preston kindly suggested that I change trains either at Wolverhampton or Birmingham International rather than at Birmingham New St. Little tips like this make travelling a whole lot easier and for that, I was very thankful.

According to the timetable, the interval between the two trains was just three minutes. She said that it could take longer than that to switch between platforms at New St whereas, the connecting service would arrive on the same platform at the other two stations. That sort of tip saved me a lot of angst which made the journey a lot less stressful.

I spent a lot of the trip watching the landscape from the comfort of my seat. We’d just crossed over the Manchester Ship Canal near Warrington when I began to get an idea. The industrial landscape of the area got me thinking about the painting I’d done of Millers Dale [1] for my accountant, Matt.

I remembered enjoying creating a period picture. In this case, it was circa 1910. I began to realise that there just might be a lot of scope for similar pictures of places and people in the past. I could show small scale scenes of people doing their job both in the county and in industry.

Once I’d changed trains, I composed an email to the owner of the gallery that had put on my last three shows. I asked him if he thought that there would be a market for this sort of picture. I attached a photo of the Millers Dale picture to back up my idea before sending it using the free Wi-Fi service that the train offered once we’d left Coventry Station.

Just coming up with an idea made me a lot happier. The lack of subject ideas for my painting was beginning to nag me. At least now, I could rest easy for a few days.

I still had to decide on what I should give Melody and Heidi as a wedding present. I had an idea but I needed to discuss it with them first.

---

Oxford Station is not right in the centre of the city but thankfully, my Hotel was about halfway between the Station and the Dreaming Spires of the Universities that are scattered around the ancient city centre. There were cheaper places farther out of the city but this was close to the Pub where the reception was being held so that suited me fine.

I checked into my room and after sending Melody a text to let her know that I had arrived, I took a long hot shower. There is something about a decent shower that makes the poor apology for one onboard Roxy that makes me feel ashamed. Putting in a new one is on my wish list for the winter now that I have a lot of battery power to spare. In the meantime, I luxuriated in the wet steam for almost ten minutes.

After drying my hair with the supplied dryer, I got ready to go out into the city. The earlier rain had blown away and the sun was out. There were students and tourists by the thousand in the city. Most of the former were starting to head out of the city as their classes and lectures came to an end. In a few weeks, their exams would be over, the summer balls a memory and Oxford would become relatively quiet for a few months. Come September, it will start all over again.

As I headed for the coffee shop where I was due to meet Melody and Heidi, I did feel a few pangs of regret for not seeing out my days as a student. There is no use crying over spilt milk, those days have passed and my life had taken a very different course.

I’d hardly got through the door to the shop when Heidi started waving her hands at me. I waved back and made my way to the table where she was sitting.

"Hello, Heidi. It is nice to see you again. Where's Melody?"

The smile that was on her face disappeared in a flash.

“We have a problem. Melody is trying to sort it out right now.”

“That sounds serious. Let me get a drink and we can talk. What about you? Do you want a refill?”

“I’m fine. I’ve probably drunk far too much coffee today as it is.”

“Ok, I’ll be back in a minute.”

As I stood at the counter waiting for my order to be fulfilled, I looked at Heidi. She did look troubled. I hoped that whatever it was, it was not going to stop the wedding that is due to take place in less than 24 hours.

With a mug of Latte in hand, I returned to the table where Heidi was sitting.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

She nodded her head.

“Everything was going along just fine. We had all the paperwork done, the ceremony booked, reception sorted and even a place for us to go away for a couple of nights. Then in the early hours of yesterday morning, I got a phone call from home.”

“Home being the one in the USA?”

“Yeah. It was from my Pop in Georgia. Somehow, he’d heard that I was getting married and what was worse, getting married to someone named Melody. He demanded that I cancel it immediately and also that I was supposed to be marrying Josh Cooper.”

“Who is this Josh Cooper?”

“He is the son of my Father’s business partner, Joe Cooper. Both of them grew up together and have been in business since… well forever. Josh and I also grew up together even if he is almost three years older than me. He’s just finished his Harvard MBA and is going to work at a big investment firm on Wall St. That’s a big feather in the Cooper family’s hat. Because we’d dated a few times, it was generally assumed around town, that we’d get married when I have finished my studies. Once we were married, I’d do like my Mom and Josh’s Mom did, give up a career and devote my time to supporting the career of my husband and raising the Family. Josh’s Uncle is in the Georgia State Legislature and Josh says that he is going to become a politician after a few years of wheeling and dealing in NYC. According to my family, my future had been all mapped out from the day I started kindergarten. That plan did not include me winning the scholarship to Oxford. They didn’t want me to come but eventually, I convinced them that having a lawyer with an international background would be good for Josh’s career. It sounded convincing enough for them to give me their blessing and off to Oxford I went. I was already having my doubts about Josh for the simple reason is that he's a Republican and I'm not. All my family are deeply red but none of their crap… sorry beliefs made me even think about registering as a republican.”

“Which you knew as soon as you set foot in Oxford was total bollocks?”

Heidi smiled.
“Almost. A month into my first semester here, I knew that I was not going back to Georgia for anything but the odd visit. That state is riddled from top to bottom with corruption and nepotism and that’s before you get into Politics. That is not for me besides, I’d probably end up killing Josh if I was confined to being his arm candy for the foreseeable future. My ‘duty’ was to look good, say nothing and support my husband as he climbs the greasy pole towards Congress. The political views here are what they'd call communist but they are not but that does not matter to them. I just felt at home here whereas, back in good old Georgia, I was feeling very much a fish out of water.”

“I take it that you didn’t tell your family all this?”

“No. I had to lie and lie and keep lying about my intentions. I kept telling them that my top priority was concentrating on getting my degree. I was doing that nicely until Melody came into my life and hit me out of the ground."

“In these parts, I think it is called ‘hitting you for six’.”

“She did and I knew even before I met you that I was going to marry her.”

“I saw that determination in your eyes.”
Heidi managed a brief smile so I continued.

“After your father’s initial rant what did he say?”

"He kept trying to stop me from making a huge mistake, one that will ruin my life."

“If you love Melody, how can it be a mistake?”

“It isn’t. The thing is that he’ll lose face in the Church. Both him and Josh’s Father are elders in the Southern Baptist Church. Marrying a woman is bad but once he finds out that Melody is trans, he’ll explode. At this particular church, Trans people are in their eyes, the devil incarnate. They are even below progressives on the social ladder in their little bit of the world.”

“Ah… The fire, brimstone, hell and damnation brand of Church then?”

“Yeah. The thing is… I grew up with that being rammed down my throat. Oxford was a total culture shock. We are told by our Politicians that all Socialists are Communists and are just plain evil. Then there is universal healthcare. I never really knew what Obama was trying to do but whatever it was, was thoroughly evil. Having lived here for nearly two years now, I’ve seen how it works and it is great. It is a shame that Trump and his ilk hate it with a vengeance. He keeps promising an alternative but… words are cheap to Trump but the truth is really hard.”

“Sounds like your family is GOP and you have become a ‘progressive’?”

"How do you know about the 'progressive' movement?"

I smiled.
“There is this thing called the Internet and YouTube. But what is your father going to do?”

Heidi was silent for a moment.
"My dear father is on his way here to stop me from marrying Melody. He said that he was going to meet with Josh and come here and drive some sense into me."

I did some quick mental calculations.
“That means they’ll be on a flight from the USA tonight which will land at Heathrow in the morning. If he comes from JFK, the flight could be here at six or seven in the morning.”

“That’s what I thought. Add an hour for immigration and then an hour and a half to rent a car and get here, they could be here in time to disrupt the ceremony.”

“Bummer. What is Melody doing?”

“She says sorry.”

“What has she done to me to make her say sorry?”

“She’s in Reading with your Lawyer. She’s sorry for costing you money with Evan fees.”

I laughed.
“That is not a problem. I remember telling them that Melody’s legal costs were to come from my account when I introduced them.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Evan won’t screw me over the fees and if he can help you two avoid the wrath of your father then it will be worth every penny.”

Heidi breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Melody told me that you wouldn’t mind but I know lawyers.”

“You know Lawyers in the USA. Evan is a friend of mine. We go back a long way. I trust him not to screw me over. He gets well paid for his job so there is no reason for him to ruin a friendship that spans more than a decade.”

She smiled at me.
“Thank you. You don’t know what that means to me.”

“That’s fine. I’m just annoyed that no one called me to give me a heads up about all this.”

“I wanted Melody to call you but she said that it would be better for me to explain it directly.”

“She’s got a good head on her shoulders. I think she did right.”

Heidi didn’t seem all that convinced.

“It will be fine. Once you have said ‘I do’ there is naff all that your father can do about it.”

I gave her a big hug and hoped to hell that it would be fine.

---

[at the Wedding Reception the next day]

It was time for the 'Best Woman' to say a few words. I chinked a spoon against the side of an empty glass to get the attention of the twenty-odd people who were celebrating the marriage of Heidi and Melody.

There hadn’t been any sign of her father but as every minute went by, the danger of him appearing and making a scene increased. Heidi had received a text from an old school friend back in Georgia confirming that he was coming to, 'save his daughter from an eternity in hell'. Heidi had sent back a picture of her and Melody in their wedding finery. The friend had responded with a ‘go for it girl’ message. That did wonders to her morale.

The room fell silent as I stood up.

“On behalf of both Heidi and Melody, I want to thank you all for coming here this afternoon.”

I looked at the happy couple.
“We are here to celebrate the wedding of these two wonderful people. Normally, this would be the time when I would say something very embarrassing about one of them for your amusement. Sadly, there is nothing really embarrassing to tell so I’m just going to tell you all what I think of the happy couple.”

“When Melody told me about helping someone learn Portuguese, I remember smiling. For the first time since I’d rescued her from some thugs, her eyes were alive. Every time she met Heidi after that, she had changed. Not a lot but it all added up. She has changed into a lovely young woman. It is clear to everyone who knows them that Heidi is responsible for a lot of that. Heidi changed as well and we can all see how devoted they are to each other.”

“What I see is a couple that is far stronger than the sum of the two parts. There will problems for them to solve in their life ahead together. All I hope is that they remember that their true friends will be there to help them in times of need. All they need to do is ask.”

“I once told Melody that I was more like an elder sister than a friend. I hope that Heidi considers me to be the same.”

I looked at the happy couple once again.
“I want everyone to raise their glasses and toast Heidi and Melody.”

Everyone stood up and raised their glasses.
“To Heidi and Melody!”

I sat down relieved that it was over. Heidi leaned over and gave me a brief hug.
“Thank you, Savannah. Those were nice words.”

I’d tried to get her to call me Lauren but she flat out refused to call me anything but Savannah because of the city in her home state of Georgia. I just hoped that something else from Georgia was not about to arrive and spoil the proceedings.

I leaned over to the couple and said,
“Time for me to go and stand guard outside.”

I didn’t wait for a response. None was needed. They both knew about the plan.

I went outside the room where the reception was being held carrying a glass of bubbly for Evan, my lawyer friend. He’d played a blinder these past few days and deserved a glass or two as thanks for all his work.

“Here you go, some refreshment,” I said as I walked up to Evan.

He smiled and took the glass.
“So far it has been all quiet on the landing front.”

“If I was in his shoes, I’d be here. From what Heidi described to me, he is not used to losing at anything.”

“Sounds like someone else we know?”

Even smiled.
“You mean your father?”

“Yeah. That’s who I mean.”

"You have to go and see him and clear the air about that picture in the gallery. Who knows… he might have changed his mind about you given all the deep shit that David is in at the moment?”

I chuckled.
"Didn't you once spend an hour debating the point of view that 'Parents are incapable of changing their mind on anything important once they become a parent'?"

Evan laughed.
“Trust you to remember that. That debate wasn’t my finest hour. I was shot down in flames. It took me weeks to regain my street cred at school.”

"The upside was that you learned a valuable lesson that makes you a great lawyer. After that debacle, you were never even 1% unprepared for anything. That is a sign of a great lawyer."

“Yeah, it was wasn’t it.”

---

We were starting to think that the happy couple would get away on their weekend away without Heidi’s Father making an appearance when we heard voices at the bottom of the stairs.

I looked at Evan who nodded and took a deep breath.

Two people appeared at the top of the steps.
“This must be the place,” said the younger of the two.

The older one just grunted.

“Can we help you?” asked Evan.

“Is this where my daughter is supposed to be getting married?” asked the older one.

“Are you Mr Mueller?”

“Yessir, and you are?”

"I'm Evan ?????, your daughter's lawyer."

“Lawyer? Don’t make me laugh. She can’t afford no lawyer.”

“She can if a good friend is paying the bills,” I said.

"And who might you be?" said Mr Mueller.

"I'm the very good friend who is paying her legal bills. Lauren Hall at your service.”

“Where is my Daughter? I want to put a stop to this madness. She was promised to Josh here.”

Evan picked up a few sheets of paper from one of the chairs that were in the hallway.

“This is for you Mr Mueller.”
He turned to Josh.
“This is for you Mr Cooper.”

Evan stepped back saying,
“You have been served.”

“Served? Served with what?”

“This looks like a restraining order,” said Josh.

“Go to the top of the class. All that very expensive Harvard Law training was worth something. Yes, those are restraining orders banning you from coming within one hundred metres of Heidi or her wife, Melody. They were married nearly four hours ago so you can’t stop it. It is done and dusted.”

Josh was reading the terms of the order.

“Is there a problem Josh?” asked Mr Mueller.

“Whoever wrote this knows their stuff. We can’t see Heidi without risking going to jail for contempt of court. If she wants to see us then that is fine. The order only lasts for two weeks.”

“That’s when her exams are finished,” said Evan.
“She does not want any interruptions.”

"So… getting married and going away on the honeymoon is not an interruption?" said Mr Mueller.

“She and Melody are going away for two nights. Then it is back to revising for the exams,” I said in their defence.
“Melody will make sure that she eats properly and gets a decent amount of sleep.”

Mr Mueller looked me up and down. This wasn’t the first time he’d done that. I hated it when men did that.

“What job does this Melody do?”

His question surprised me for a second.

“Melody works in a Coffee shop but her prime job at the moment is to support her wife in her career.”

Just then Josh tried to walk towards the door to the reception room.

Evan interrupted him.

“You can’t go in there or don’t you think that order applies to you?”

“I want to see her tell me to my face that she’s a lesbian.”

“Josh? Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

“Damm hell I am.”

“Then perhaps your father should be told about Brianna Harrington?”

Josh’s face went white.
“How…?”

"The wonders of social media. Do you think that using your middle name as an alias would stop Heidi from finding all about your affairs and there have been many haven't there even though, you were supposed to be going to marry Heidi?”

Josh looked angry.
Heidi’s father looked astonished.

“Why don’t you tell Mr Mueller about Brianna and her son. Your son Josh. He’s going to be one in September. When you posted pictures of you and Brianna with your son on Facebook the day after he was born, she took it as a sign that you had someone in your life.”

“Is this true Josh?”

“Yes, it is. And, no, my father does not know. Brianna was at Harvard with me. We live together in Queens.”

“Why you! And to think you stood there in front of your father confessing your love for Heidi over Facetime less than 48hours ago. Then I find out this?”

“It isn’t true. I promise,” pleased Josh.

“Oh yes?” said Evan.
“See this.”

Evan handed Mr Mueller a printout of a screenshot. If showed the Facebook post where Josh was celebrating the birth of his son.

“Pop will kill me when he finds out. How many sermons has he delivered about sex out of wedlock!”

“Mr Mueller, I think that you need to think carefully about what you do next,” said Evan.

“I know one thing and that is, Josh, you are done here. I think you should get the hell out of town. Rest assured, I will be speaking to your father before you get back home. If I were you, I’d get back to your love nest in Queens and make an honest woman of the mother of your child sooner rather than later. Do you understand this?”

Josh looked terrified.

“What’s the matter Mr Harvard Lawyer?” asked Evan.
“Oh yes. The mother of your child is already married.”

Josh looked at Evan.
“You must have had help in preparing all these lies?”

“I had some help from Melody and one other person. That person delights in getting the facts right. You didn’t help much with posting your face all over Facebook. Google is a powerful friend in times like this. Three hours. That was all it took to get the facts, the real facts, not fake news but the truth.”

Josh went very red in the face. He looked at Mr Mueller who just shook his head.

Josh knew that the game was up. He just turned and legged it down the stairs.

After a few seconds, Evan said,
“Now that he’s gone, have you changed your mind about Heidi and Josh?”

“If I ever see that SOB back in Georgia then I’ll not be responsible for my actions.”

“Mr Mueller, I will ask Lauren here to see if Heidi and Melody want to speak to you. If the answer is no then I suggest that you follow Josh back to the USA. There is a bus that runs from just down the street right to Heathrow Airport. You might even get on a late flight home today if you are lucky.”

He just glared at both of us. I took the hint and headed into the reception room.

---

“Heidi, your father is here. If you want to speak to him, now is the chance. Josh has been told to get lost by your father. He blew his top when we told him about the other side of Josh’s life.”

Heidi looked at Melody who nodded her head.
"You go, darling. Get him off your back until after your exams. Then you can rest easy."

Heidi grinned and kissed Melody.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said trying to sound confident.

I went with her out into the hallway.

“Hello Pop,” she said quietly.

"Hello, sweetness. You look happy."

“I am. Melody is so good for me. I knew right from the first time we met that she was the one for me.”

Her father didn’t look very happy.

“I know that we won’t be welcome back home but my life is here now. I’m going to qualify here with Evan’s firm.”

“But… your Mom?”

“I know that it will be hard on her but I have made real friends here for the first time in my life. Back home, my friends were all children of your friends from the Church or your business. Coming to Oxford was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was suffocating in Georgia. This place is so cosmopolitan. There are people from twenty different countries on my course. That mix of cultures has made me realise how insular we are back home.”

“But… it is your home?”

“Sorry Pop, it was my home. If you and Mom want to visit then you will be welcome but you will be better off disowning me as your daughter. Lesbians are not exactly popular with the people you go to church with every week.”

Her father didn't know what to do with himself. Heidi decided for him.

She went up to her father and gave him a big hug.

I could see a small tear form in his eyes.

This was clearly very embarrassing for him. He left without saying another word.

Heidi looked a bit sad.

"You left the door open for him should he come to visit. The ball is in his court but if I was you, I'd give your Mom a call soon just to test the water."

She nodded her head.

“It is getting close to the time that you should be leaving for your weekend away,” said Evan.

---

Most of those who attended the reception watched Evan drive off with the happy couple in the back of his car a few minutes later. Almost all of them went back inside as there was still some money left behind the bar and the lure of free drinks was just too tempting.

I thought about going back to my hotel but there was nothing there for me apart from a bed and some TV. Not having one onboard Roxy had very much weaned me off the habit. My radio and laptop kept me abreast of what was going on in the world.

I wandered towards the canal and walked down to where it meets the River Thames. Being beside or travelling along a canal or a navigable river was my life now. I hadn't been aware of it before today at just how attached I was to my life on the cut.

I remembered Melody falling flat on her face after tripping over a mooring rope at almost this very spot just a few weeks… no make that months before. The irony was that she’d put the rope in place less than a minute earlier. We’d both had a good laugh that evening.

It was then that I realised that she'd grown up a huge amount in those few short weeks since I'd rescued her from that gang in West London. She wasn't the petulant teenager anymore. This time, she laughed at herself. I didn’t know if that change was down to me or what but the confident woman that I’d seen get married just a few hours earlier had made me smile just a bit. I guess that all she needed was the opportunity to grow and by heck, she had grown as a woman.

The way that she’d taken it upon herself to deal with Evan and sort of the legal stuff was a sign of both how mature she’d become and how much she loved Heidi. The way that Heidi had talked about Melody told me that she loved her just as much.

Feeling a bit sad that one episode in my life was over, I walked back into the city and started to think about getting something to eat. The afternoon was almost over and the buffet at the reception seemed a long time ago. As I passed by the front of my Hotel, I sensed someone close behind me. Then I smelt ‘her’.

I turned around and there was Carla.

“I wondered when you would show up,” she said smiling.

“Carla? Wha… What are you doing here?”
[to be continued]

[1] http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/millers_dale/