The Cooper Saga 08 (Stories 71-80) by Bill Bernico

Author:Bill Bernico [Bernico, Bill]
Format: epub
Publisher: Downwind Publications
Published: 2021-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

*****

It was the second week after the New Year and all of Gloria’s planning and arrangements had paid off in the form of the reception we’d missed out on when we had eloped to Las Vegas two months earlier. Gloria had rented a large hall in Glendale and she’d even found a band on that short notice as well. All of our friends were there and as much family as we could round up from both sides. Dad’s newly discovered half-brother, Nicholas was there with a guest, a woman about his age, in her early eighties. They made a cute couple.

Dad was there, too and he’d managed to find himself a date for the evening. Dad and Gloria was just about all the family I had left these days. I think I remembered Grandpa Matt talking about a couple of nephews he had back in Chicago, but we couldn’t locate them and they probably wouldn’t have made the trip for someone they’d never met anyway.

Gloria was an only child and both her parents were dead. She did invite one uncle and aunt who pretty much kept to themselves all night. She did manage to invite some of her friends and even a few of her former clients from when she and her father had their own private investigations business.

We all sat down to dinner and had a good time getting to know each other. When the meal had finished and the tables and chairs had been cleared away, the band began to play some old, forgotten tunes from the sixties and seventies. The dance floor filled and for the first time in my life, I saw my father dancing. It was an odd sight for me and I wished I’d thought to bring my camera. When the song ended, the guitar player in the band stepped up to the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention, please,” he said over the P.A. system. “This next song is a very special song and goes out to the bride and groom, Gloria and Elliott.”

Clay and his half-brother Nicholas disappeared behind a door next to the stage. The guitar player slipped out of his guitar and handed it to Clay, who had walked out onto the stage. Nicholas followed and took a seat at the piano. The band’s guitarist grabbed the microphone again. Elliott quickly turned to the stage, surprised to see his father and his new uncle up there.

“Tonight we have two very special guests with us,” he said. “The groom’s father, Clay Cooper and his brother, Nicholas, will play a song just for the newlyweds tonight. Please clear the floor for Elliott and Gloria, and please give a warm welcome for the only West Coast appearance of The Cooper Brothers.”

The audience applauded and cheered and whistled and when the noise died down, Nicholas started playing the intro to a slow ballad with a jazz feel to it. Clay joined in after four bars and the music that they produced filled the hall with sweet, mellow notes.

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