Portrait of a Wedding

By EL Bossert

Planning for Mic and Ruby's wedding is proceeding smoothly until the only professional photographer in their hometown of Summit refuses to take pictures at the ceremony because he does not believe two women should be married.

As their friends and family rally around them with support, Mic and Ruby must decide whether to file a complaint against the photographer with the state Human Rights Commission. Will the law be on their side? Will prejudice be a dark cloud over their wedding? Does love always win?

Portrait of a Wedding explores the bravery, determination, and love story behind the headlines. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Two Boots Publishing
• Release date: Oct 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386902584

EL Bossert

EL Bossert was raised on a small quiet farm, near a small quiet town in the Midwest, with horses, goats, cats, sometimes chickens, and a very large Newfoundland who was occasionally mistaken for a bear. EL is an author of romance novels and irreverent text messages whose alter ego holds down a day job as a professor of gender studies in order to support their hiking habit. EL spends time with family and friends watching movies and enjoying the conversation.  EL Bossert is the author of Charming Memory, Portrait of a Wedding, and The Book of Baby J.

Book preview

Chapter One

MIC BALDWIN, WILL YOU marry me? Ruby’s brown eyes twinkled as she looked expectantly into Mic’s steely blue-gray eyes.

Every fork, spoon, knife, and coffee cup in the diner went silent. All faces turned toward Mic.

Mic briefly bit the inside of her top lip before setting her jaw and scanning the room with a sweep of her narrowed eyes. I’ve been set up, she thought to herself. Her gaze settled back on Ruby.

TWO HOURS EARLIER, as a local church’s steeple bell clanged twelve times, Mic received a text from Ruby. Do you have time to run home and grab the bundt cake pan? I need it this afternoon for a special order. One at diner is dented.

Mic still enjoyed seeing the word home referring to the house she and Ruby shared. Although they had lived together for a year, the excitement of creating a life together remained fresh.

No problem, Mic texted, punctuated with a heart and several kiss emojis.

Bring it by the diner at 2:00 please, Ruby replied with three red hearts attached.

Mic thought the specificity of time was strange but decided Ruby must be busy with the lunch crowd. She would happily comply with the request. Pauly, I’m headed home for lunch, she called to the mechanic supervisor across the service bays of auto repair shop.

Pauly merely nodded to indicate she heard Mic, returning her attention to the car parts spread out in front of her.

Come on, Angel. Mic rousted the tan and black short-haired German Shepard mix out of a nap and opened the truck door for the dog to jump in.

Home was a two bedroom house on the lake just outside Summit. Mic inherited the property when her grandfather passed away. The house sat empty for a year until Mic, at the age of fifty-one and after the breakup of an eighteen year relationship, decided she needed a change of scenery. She moved to her new home, and soon purchased an abandoned gas station near downtown, renovating and expanding the building into a four service bay auto repair shop.

Mic began frequenting the diner Ruby owned just a couple of blocks from the shop. Although the attraction was instant, it took several weeks for Mic to work up the nerve to ask Ruby out on a date. Two years later Ruby sold her house and moved in with Mic. Mic had never felt more content and happy.

Mic found the bundt pan in a cabinet and set it on the counter next to the door. She made herself a sandwich and sat at the large wooden dining table, enjoying a few quiet moments as she ate. Angel settled in a cool corner of the open great room, which encompassed the living, dining, and kitchen areas. When Mic rose to return to the shop, Angel gave her a side-eye and groan.

Okay, you can stay here, Mic said, leaning over to scratch Angel’s head.  Mic grabbed the cake pan on her way out the door.

Back in her office, Mic completed paperwork for several orders before two o’clock. She strolled along the sidewalk toward the diner with bundt cake pan in hand on a pleasantly mild early summer day. Located in an old bank building on Main Street a half block from the town square, the locals in Summit referred to the diner simply as Ruby’s. The original wooden teller counter was repurposed as a bar-height lunch counter with a row of high stools. The vault door served as the entry to the kitchen. The dining room held twelve tables with four chairs each.

Looking around the diner as she stepped inside the front door, Mic thought it a little strange every seat was occupied long past the usual lunch hour on a Wednesday afternoon. She was immediately distracted as her eyes landed on Ruby walking directly toward her. Ruby’s face, framed by her swept back dark brown hair, and curvaceous body stirred lustful thoughts in Mic’s mind. She forgot the strangeness of the crowded diner.

Mic Baldwin, will you marry me? Ruby’s brown eyes twinkled as she looked expectantly into Mic’s steely blue-gray eyes.

Every fork, spoon, knife, and coffee cup in the diner went silent. All faces turned toward Mic.

Mic briefly bit the inside of her top lip before setting her jaw and scanning the room with a sweep of her narrowed eyes. I’ve been set up, she thought to herself. Her gaze settled back on Ruby.

Mic placed the cake pan she was still holding on the closest table. She looked around the diner again, realizing everyone present was a friend or family, including Ruby’s parents seated at a table in the far corner. One of the servers stood by the kitchen door holding up a phone as if recording the event.

Everyone in the diner, including Mic, knew the answer to Ruby’s simple question. Mic also recognized the crowd was expecting an impromptu performance. She sighed dramatically.

Well, I think I’m gonna need a big piece of paper and a pen. Mic pursed her lips, shaking her head slowly from side to side, looking around at the assembled audience. Need to draw up a list of pros and cons on this one. Anyone have something for me to write on?

A woman at a nearby table began to rummage through an oversized handbag.

Ah, that’s okay, Mic shrugged, I’ll just use the board. She made a great show of striding behind the lunch counter and wiping the daily specials off the chalkboard with the sleeve of her work shirt. Retrieving a short piece of white chalk, she wrote PRO and CON at the top of two columns on the board.

Let’s see, pro... Mic’s tanned, calloused hand scratched her head through short sandy hair. She grimaced with exaggerated strain. Ruby is incredibly kind and thoughtful. Mic wrote kind + thoughtful on the board. Compassionate, hard-working, smart, creative, Mic printed quickly but legibly as she spoke. Definitely good looking, no question about that. And she’s younger than me by a few years, so maybe she’ll take care of me in my old age. Mic stopped to wink at Ruby, then slowly scratched her head again while feigning an exaggerated