Dragged to the Wedding(75)
“Have you got everything?” Gran asked.
“You better believe it. We’ll eat and change clothes. Then come back closer to showtime so he doesn’t see us.” Now all he had to do was put his plan into action.
* * *
“How did you know what color tie to wear?” Gran asked as she stepped out of the restaurant’s ladies’ room, dressed in a vintage cream dress that went nearly to the floor. James was in a black tuxedo, white shirt, and royal blue bow tie. “I know you wanted to coordinate.”
“Daniel said that tonight is the Ice-travaganza, which means Daniel will be the Ice Queen in blue trimmed with white.” He had managed to extract all the information he needed without making Daniel suspicious. “Here’s your coat.” He held it for her and then put on his own, gathering their old clothes in the hanger bag he’d brought. “Let’s go.” James took Gran’s arm and was sure to tip the hostess, who had allowed them to change in the restrooms, as they headed out into the evening.
James placed their clothes in the trunk, got Gran in the car for the return to the theater, and parked in the performers’ lot, where a space had been saved for them. Candy met them at the theater door, beautiful in white and blue. “Get in here right away. Lala’s still in her dressing room.”
“Thanks for helping,” James whispered.
Candy fanned her face. “Are you kidding? This is beautiful.” She motioned them through the side of the stage.
“Tulane,” James said quietly as a vision in light blue, blinged with enough crystal to blind half the audience, turned and smiled.
“Oh, honey. Are you ready?” Lala’s drag mother, Tulane Highway, was appearing as a special guest for the week, and James had enlisted her help as well. “I’d kiss you both, but it would ruin the makeup. Don’t worry about a thing. It’s all set.” She squeezed his hand, made air kisses, then did the same with Gran. “Go take your seats.”
James offered his elbow, Gran accepted it, and they made their way out into the packed cabaret theater to their seats at one of the side tables in the front.
“Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, Cabaret Candide is proud to present our bevy of talented ladies here to tickle your fancy—and anything else within finger distance,” the announcer said as the curtain rose to reveal the company, on the stage in an ice palace setting, where they did a fabulous choreographed dance number that ended with all of them facing stage right. “Our star of the evening is our very own Ice Queen, the amazing, the operatic, Miss Lala Traviata.” James stood along with Gran and half the audience as Daniel appeared, mesmerizing in ice blue that took James’s breath away. She twirled onstage, gliding to front and center and singing a rather bawdy version of “Sleigh Ride” as the other ladies acted out the best parts. It brought tears to his eyes and left his belly sore from laughing.
“Darlings,” Lala purred once the song was over. “I have a special guest tonight. She’s my drag mother, which tells you just how old she is.”
“Bitch...” a deep voice intoned from the wings.
“I love her to death, and she knows it. So please welcome, direct from New York, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Newark, the one, the only, the well-traveled Miss Tulane Highway.”
* * *
The music for Lala’s signature number began, and James snapped out of his reverie. He had barely taken in the rest of the show, his attention on Lala the entire time. She sang her BDSM tribute to Doris Day and then thanked the audience. As expected, Tulane took the microphone.
“Sweetheart, we have one last bit of business this evening,” she said. “There’s a very special guest in the audience who has something he wants to say. He’s making his cabaret stage debut tonight, so please give him a warm welcome.” That was his cue, and James stood, walking to the side and up onto the stage.
The lights were nearly blinding, so he kept his eyes on Daniel as he accepted the microphone. Tulane moved downstage, as did all the other girls, leaving him and Lala at center. “I’m not as eloquent as our Ice Queen here, but for those of you who don’t know, I’m James, Lala’s boyfriend. At least for the next few seconds. Who knows, after this she might kill me.” A titter went through the audience while Daniel blinked at him, the smallest signs of nerves visible around the eyes James knew so well. “But I think it’s time that our own Miss Traviata become Mrs. Traviata.” James reached into his pocket and then went down on one knee. Daniel gasped, hands fluttering. “Sweetheart, light of my life.” He opened the box, displaying a white gold ring set with diamonds and sapphires. “Will you fill my life with excitement, joy, and a dose of unpredictability, and become my forever partner, taking my family as your own with all the insanity that entails?”
Lala choked out a yes, and the audience applauded as James slipped the ring onto Daniel’s finger, then stood, taking the center of his life into his arms.
“I love you,” Daniel breathed, his arms sliding around James’s neck.
“I love you too, more than I can say,” James said, kissing Daniel right there onstage. The audience applause grew deafening. Daniel’s lips moved, but James couldn’t hear him over the roar of the crowd. He kissed Daniel once again, holding his hand as the curtain lowered to the stage.