Dearly Beloved

 

Miss Geneva Musgrave, wedding coordinator and florist, 60s

Tina Jo Dubberly, Frankie’s oldest twin daughter, 20

Honey Raye Futrelle, oldest Futrelle sister, 50 going on 30

Frankie Futrelle, oldest Futrelle sister, 40s

Dub Dubberly, Frankie’s husband,40s

Twink Futrelle, middle Futrelle sister,40s

Nelda Lightfoot, local psychic

Gina Jo (G.J.) Dubberly, Tina Jo’s identical twin sister,20

Justin Waverly, seminarian, 20s

John Curtis Buntner, highway patrolman, Dub’s best friend,40s

Wiley Hicks, Twink’s fiancé,40s

Patsy Price, Tina Jo’s future mother-in-law,40s

 

Plot Summary: The Futrelle Sisters, Frankie, Honey Raye and Twink, are throwing a wedding. Frankie has almost made herself sick with elaborate preparations for her daughter Tina Jo’s antebellum-inspired wedding, and the rumor mill in their small town of Fayro, Texas, is working overtime. No surprise there, the Futrelle Sisters have never been strangers to gossip. After all, they did survive the scandalous breakup of their almost-famous gospel singing trio, The Sermonettes. But Twink’s desperate attempts to get her boyfriend of fifteen-and-one-half years down the aisle, Frankie’s ongoing conversations with their dead mother and Honey Raye’s tendency to race to the altar at every opportunity have kept tongues wagging for years. In spite of her own marital problems, Frankie has held steadfastly to the hope that she can pull off one “final Futrelle occasion” with elegance and style with the help of the cantankerous wedding coordinator, Miss Geneva, who runs the local floral shop/bus depot. But on the day of the nuptials, Frankie’s hope begins to dim when she discovers Twink’s alternative solution to an expensive catered wedding dinner is a potluck supper sponsored by Clovis Sanford’s House of Meat. When the prodigal Honey Raye arrives at the church in skintight gold lamé, consumed by hot flashes and a steely determination to right old family wrongs, Frankie’s hope is shaken. It is lost completely when word reaches the church that Tina Jo and her fiancé have fled Fayro and eloped. The sisters ultimately pull together to find ways to keep the unsuspecting guests in the pews while a highway patrolman races off to track down the runaway bride and groom. As a last resort, and to the delight of the citizenry of Fayro, Texas, The Sermonettes reunite and sing again.