Shortly before the wedding, Les Severance flew into Abilene. He stayed at Mike’s place with his son, Wendi and new grandson Shane. Mike took him up to Dyess Air Force Base and out to meet his racing friends. Les liked Wendi right away, but he loved Shane on sight. He held him and fed him as often as possible, beaming with pride. He often took care of both the boys, allowing the couple time on their own.
The night before the wedding, they all went out to a carnival. Tristan, of course, wanted to get on the rides. On one of them, though, he got scared and started crying. The operator immediately shut down the equipment and helped Tristan get off.
Tristan ran past Wendi’s outstretched arms and went straight to Mike, hollering, “I want my daddy. I want my Mikey. I want my daddy. I want my Mikey.”
Mike bent down, picked him up and comforted him until he calmed down. Les was amazed that in such a short time, Mike had formed so intense a bond with the little boy.
They all drove down to San Angelo early on the day of the wedding and went by the clinic to check on the remodeling in progress under Lloyd Davidson’s supervision. Wendi was breastfeeding in the car while Leslie wandered through the clinic alone. The place was crawling with workers. Around the corner, Les spotted a person he described as a “little cowboy,” wearing the big hat, boots, large belt buckle and jeans. The man walked up to Les and said, “So you must be the dad?”
Les held out his hand and said, “Yeah, I’m Michael’s father.”
The man didn’t shake his hand at first. Instead he took a step backwards and looked Les up and down as if we were appraising a horse. Then he stepped forward and, stuck his hand out, and the two men shook. The man didn’t say a word. He simply spun around on his heels and left. Les guessed that he’d just met Lloyd Davidson, but he didn’t know for sure.
He continued his self-guided tour until he met a woman. She said, “So you must be the dad?”
“Yeah I’m Michael’s dad,” Les said.
“I’m Wendi’s mom,” Judy said and then turned around and left without saying another word.
Les walked into the room where a group of men were busy working. They all appeared to be Mexican—an ethnicity not seen often in the wilds of Maine. He was fascinated by watching them work and listening to them talk in Spanish. He was curious if their construction methods were the same as the ones he was used to seeing in his home state.
The foreman noticed him and asked him in English, “Are you the father of the guy marrying this veterinarian?”
“Yes,” he said, sticking out his hand. “I’m Les Severance.”
The foreman cocked his head at Les’s unusual accent. “Where you from?” he asked with a smile.
“I’m from Maine.”
“Wow. That’s a long way off.”
“Yeah, it is,” Les said.
“Do you have any Mexicans in Maine?”
“We had some once. They came up to pick our potatoes.”
“Those weren’t Mexicans,” the foreman joked.
“They weren’t?”
“No, it’s too cold in Maine for Mexicans. They must have been Eskimos.”
Les and the foreman were laughing together when Lloyd and Judy walked past the men without speaking. Les shook his head.
“They’re mad at your son for marrying their daughter, no?”
“You think so?” Les asked.
“Mucho,” he replied.
The wedding was a simple affair. Judy ordered flowers for Wendi and brought a wedding cake. They all gathered downtown in the small room next to the Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace office on September 13, 2004, just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Judge Eddie Howard presided.
The party was small, just Wendi and Mike, 3-year-old Tristan and 12-day-old Shane, Lloyd and Judy and Les, along with Deputy Linda Moore as the official witness. Before the ceremony started, Judy spoke to Tristan in a loud voice, obviously wanting others to hear. “Did you get scared on that ride?”
Tristan nodded his head.
“Tristan, you need to kick that bad man. He scared you. You should have kicked that man.”
The service was short—over nearly as soon as it started. It was punctuated by Judy stomping out of the room in tears, slamming the door immediately after Wendi said “I do.”
Both sides of the family were supposed to meet at Zentner’s Daughter Steak House on Knickerbocker Road for an after-wedding celebration. Lloyd and a sobbing Judy drove off with Tristan. Wendi, Mike, Les and Shane left in Wendi’s car and arrived at the restaurant first.
They waited for the Davidsons and Tristan to arrive. They were beginning to get worried when Wendi got a call on her cell phone. It was her mom saying that they couldn’t make it. She either didn’t give Wendi a reason or Wendi chose not to share it. Les could only assume it was because Judy and Lloyd didn’t like Mike.
When Les returned to Maine, he told family friend Shirley Harvey that Wendi seemed “to be a nice young lady, but her parents are something else. I’ve never met anyone like that. They’re ignorant and cold.”
Shirley asked, “How does Michael put up with that?”
“He just lets it roll off his back.”
Les was glad he’d gone to Texas to meet his son’s wife and baby, and happy he’d been there to see the young couple exchange vows. He sure couldn’t say that he’d enjoyed meeting Wendi’s parents. He worried about how much impact Judy’s negativity would have on Mike’s relationship with his new wife. He was concerned that Judy would make a lot of trouble for his son and possibly destroy his marriage. He didn’t know that he’d witnessed the planting of the seeds of his son’s destruction.