Obsessed With You

by Jennifer Ransom

  Cathy told Aaron that she couldn’t marry him while she had so many doubts. It was all too much. She asked him to contact his family members and friends to let them know the wedding had been called off. She told him she would take care of everyone else. She said she would cancel all of the arrangements.

  Then she called her grandfather and said she was on her way home.

  Chapter Four

  Four hours into her drive her cell started ringing. She didn’t even have to look at it to know it was Aaron. She decided to not answer the phone while she was driving. She needed to keep her wits about her on the interstate.

  Six and a half hours later, Cathy turned off of the interstate, onto the road that ran parallel to the beach in the Florida panhandle. Normally, the aqua water would have been beautiful to her. Today, she only had one goal. Get to Monmarte Bay. Finally, she turned off the beach highway and headed to the little bay town that had become her home after her father died. The town that was her mother’s hometown.

  A few miles later, she drove through the town, barely noticing the quaint storefronts and fall flowers spilling out of their pots. She kept driving until she turned into her grandfather’s sandy driveway, then drove all the way up to his blue Victorian house with the cottage a few hundred yards away.

  Grandpa was sitting on the expansive porch of his Victorian. He got up when Cathy pulled in and walked over to her car. He gave her a hug when she stepped out of her car.

  “Grandpa, I’m sorry to put you out like this,” Cathy said. She was feeling tearful with all of the emotions of the last twenty-four hours and a tear or two escaped her eyes.

  “This is always your home,” Grandpa said. “You could never put me out.”

  He put his arm around her and walked with her into the house.

  Cathy went through the front door, into the foyer. The familiar chandelier was above her, sparkling. The hardwood floors beneath her feet felt firm and welcoming. She glanced toward the kitchen area and thought about her grandmother stirring biscuit dough in her blue bowl. Grandma had been gone for fourteen years, but Cathy had brought her blue bowl home.

  She dropped her purse and sank into the couch.

  “I’ll be right back,” Grandpa said.

  Cathy looked around the room that was so familiar to her. Grandpa had never changed a thing after Grandma died. There was the country armoire against the wall that used to hold the TV and stereo equipment. Now it only held the stereo stuff; a huge flat-screen TV sat on a table. It was on a golf tournament with the sound turned off. That made Cathy think of Aaron and his all-important golf date that morning. That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back in a situation that was already hanging by a thread.

  Grandpa returned carrying a glass of scotch in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. He handed her the chilled white wine.

  “Did you talk to Aaron last night?” Grandpa asked.

  “Yes, I did. He got home very late and I really have no clue where he was all that time.”

  “Business, right?” Grandpa asked. He was a businessman himself. Even though he was seventy-five years old, he continued to dominate the real estate market on Monmarte Bay.

  “That’s what he said,” Cathy said sarcastically.

  “What did he say about the phone call and the photo?” Grandpa asked.

  “He said someone’s trying to ruin his life. But that’s just not ringing true for me.”

  “He’s a powerful man. He could have enemies,” Grandpa said.

  “I guess so,” Cathy said taking a sip of the cool wine. “But then he left early this morning for a golf date with a potential client. And that was it for me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He put his business above our relationship,” Cathy said. “He made it the priority when we were facing a difficult situation. And I realized it would always be that way. I don’t want that.”

  “I see what you mean,” Grandpa said.

  Cathy sat up straight on the couch and looked at her grandfather.

  “I’ve got to make a lot of phone calls tomorrow to people attending the wedding. I’ve got to cancel all of the arrangements.”

  “I’ll get Eileen and her girls on it,” Grandpa said. Eileen was Grandpa’s girlfriend who ran a bed and breakfast in town.

  “That would be great, Grandpa,” Cathy said. “It’s so embarrassing to have to let people know the wedding is called off. But I’ll need to let Heather and Michelle know personally.”

  “Of course,” Grandpa said.

  “I just need to not do anything for a little while,” Cathy said.

  “Eileen came over after you called and fixed up the spare room upstairs. I figured you’d want to stay here for tonight. I’m afraid the cottage has been empty this season. I’m not sure what kind of shape it’s in, but it’s yours if you want it.”

  Cathy went out to her car for her suitcase that held her toiletries and a few clothing items. She picked up her laptop and went back in the house, up the wooden staircase, and into the spare bedroom. She dropped everything on the bed before she picked up her phone.

  Aaron had called her twelve times, leaving five voice messages pleading for her to call him. He had sent three texts. The first one said, “Be home soon. I love you.” He must have sent that while he was still on the golf course, having no idea he would be returning to an empty house.

  The other two text messages just asked her to call him right away. She did that now.

  “Cat, you’ve got to come back home,” Aaron said before she could say anything.

  “I can’t,” she said. “I’m already gone.”

  “No. You can’t do that. We’re getting married in a week.”

  “Not anymore,” she said. “Having a strange woman call me about having an affair with you and talking about your private birthmark has been hard enough to take. Seeing that photo with your tie in it was more than enough. But you leaving this morning to keep your golf date was the final nail in the coffin.”

  Silence. She kept talking.

  “It made me realize that you would always put your business first. It would always be your priority over me and our children. Our life. And I don’t want that.”

  “Cat, you’ve got to believe me that someone is trying to hurt me. You’ve got to trust me on this.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on with that,” she said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you left me this morning, when I was upset, so that you could go play golf. I’m just not going to put up with that kind of behavior from my husband. So there’s no point in getting married, even if I could get over my suspicions.”

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” Aaron said. “I should have realized that I needed to stay with you.”

  “You sure should have,” Cathy said.

  “Where are you, Cat?”

  “I’m at my grandfather’s house,” she said. “And I don’t want you to come here.”

  “I’m going to find out who’s doing this,” he said.

  “Are you going to let your family and friends know the wedding is off?” Cathy asked, ignoring his comment.

  “I’ll let them know,” Aaron said. He sounded resigned.

  “Then we’re through talking,” Cathy said. “I’m sorry things have turned out this way. Very sorry. Goodbye.”

  “Bye, Cat,” he said sadly.

  Chapter Five

  “Here’s the list of all of the attendees with their phone numbers,” Cathy said to her grandfather the next morning.

  “I’ll get Eileen on it right away,” he said.

  “What’s she going to tell people?” Cathy asked.

  “She and her girls are going to say that due to unforeseen circumstances, the wedding has been called off. They won’t answer any questions because they don’t know any answers.”

  “Thanks, Grandpa.”

  “I’m going over to the B and B to give Eileen the list. Try not to stress too much.”

  “I’ll try,�
�� she said giving her grandfather a hug. “I’ve got a few calls to make myself.”

  After her grandfather left, Cathy picked up her cell phone and called Heather.

  “Hey,” she said when Heather answered. “I’ve got some news about the wedding and I’d like to get Michelle on the phone, too, if possible. Okay?”

  “Of course,” Heather said. “What’s going on?”

  “Let me get Michelle first,” Cathy said.

  She called Michelle and prayed she would answer. She didn’t want to have to explain everything twice. Michelle answered on the third ring.

  “I’m sorry to tell y’all that I’ve called off the wedding,” Cathy said. She was trying not to cry, but she drew in a big shaky breath after she told them.

  “Why?” Heather said.

  “What happened?” Michelle asked.

  “I just realized that I didn’t want to live the lifestyle, that it wouldn’t be best for me and our future together,” Cathy said. It was lame. She hoped it would fly.

  It didn’t.

  “What the hell do you mean?” Heather asked. “He’s rich, Cathy. Rich! Why are you giving up a secure future, and with a gorgeous man, I might add.”

  “What are you talking about, Cathy?” Michelle asked. “I think there’s a lot more to this story.”

  Cathy broke down and told her best friends what had happened. She couldn’t keep anything from them.

  “But he does always put his business first,” she said. “And all of this just makes me realize that I don’t want to play second fiddle all the time.”

  They talked for an hour about the situation. Neither friend held back on her opinion. In the end, they both respected Cathy for what she had done and said they would support her.

  “I’m sorry about the bridesmaid dresses,” Cathy said as they were ending the conversation. “I do hope you can wear them sometime.”

  All three laughed then, before saying goodbye.

  Next, Cathy called the florist and cancelled. The woman that answered the phone said the flowers had already been paid for.

  “Then I’m requesting that you take them to a cemetery and distribute them among the graves,” Cathy said.

  Then she called the gardens where the wedding was going to be held. She cancelled the package that included the caterer, the venue, and the photographer.

  “You’ll lose your deposit,” the man in charge of events that day said.

  “Okay,” Cathy said.

  And then it was over. Everything was canceled. Eileen and her girls were calling everyone else. Nothing more to take care of. Cathy went upstairs and threw herself on the bed crying. In one week’s time, her world had been turned upside down and now she faced an uncertain future. Alone.

  She was staring at the TV when her grandfather came back a couple of hours later.

  “I did it,” she said. “I canceled everything.”

  “I’m sorry, honey,” he said. “I know this is rough on you. I wish I could take your pain away.”

  “I don’t know what to do now,” Cathy said. “I had planned my whole life around marrying Aaron and now. . . .”

  “Just take your time. You’ve got a place to stay as long as you need one, and that means forever.”

  Grandpa was really the only man that Cathy could ever trust. Her own father had died on her when she was eleven. She had been angry with him for that, for a little while.

  “I know you don’t want to stay in this big ole house with your grampa,” Grandpa said. “I thought you might like to move into the cottage—whenever you’re ready. It could use some fixing up and it might take your mind off all this.”

  “I haven’t been in there since Mom died,” Cathy said. “I guess I need to face it.”

  “You don’t have to. It was just a suggestion,” Grandpa said.

  “It’s a good suggestion,” Cathy said. “I’ll go over there today. In fact, I’ll go over there right now.”

  Grandpa set off on the sandy path connecting the two properties with Cathy following him. A minute later, they emerged onto the cottage property, resplendent with oak trees and hydrangea bushes with dried flower heads, well past their blue bloom. Cathy spotted the pier beyond the house. She had spent many hours on that pier, fishing when she was younger, sunbathing when she became a teenager.

  Grandpa opened the front door. The house smelled musty as Cathy stepped inside.

  “No one’s been here for a while,” Grandpa said. “I guess almost a year.”

  Cathy walked around the rooms. They were all in desperate need of a paint job. The kitchen still had its original features that were now vintage. Cathy had always liked that about the kitchen.

  “Do you think you want to stay here?” Grandpa asked. “It feels a little dreary.”

  “It just needs some TLC,” Cathy said. She was grateful that her mother had not killed herself in the cottage. She had done that in Grandpa’s house, with a handful of pills and a bottle of vodka, leaving him to find her in her childhood bedroom that had since been closed off. Grandpa put a lock on the door so that no one would ever enter the room again.

  “You know you can stay up at the house with me as long as you want to,” Grandpa said. “You don’t have to come here.”

  “I think I need to come here, Grandpa. I need to have some solitude to figure my life out.”

  “We’ll get whatever supplies you need,” Grandpa said. “And all the help you need, too.”

  They went back to the Victorian where Cathy retrieved her suitcase from the spare bedroom and put it in her car. She kissed her grandfather and drove to the cottage.

  Her new life was beginning, whether she liked it or not.

  Chapter Six

  Cathy did nothing over the following week. She slept long hours, watched TV for long hours, and went to her grandfather’s house at the end of each day. She wanted him to know that she was still alive because she knew he was concerned about her mental wellbeing. Especially after what her mother had done, in his own house. She cooked him a meal each day, more as reassurance to him than anything else.

  She had been trying not to think about Saturday, her wedding day. October 20. It was going to be such a beautiful outdoor wedding in the gardens, with the trees blazing colors in the background and chrysanthemums of all colors all around the arch. It would have all been so perfect, her in her perfect dress, her best friends around her, both families there to wish them luck in their new life. And such a beautiful cake with sugar leaves falling from the top.

  The cake! She had forgotten to cancel the cake! Cathy scrambled for her phone and called the bakery. The wedding was supposed to be in less than twenty-four hours.

  “We’ve already made the cake,” the bakery owner told her. “It’s paid for.”

  “Then please donate it to the soup kitchen,” Cathy said.

  “This is very unusual,” the bakery owner said. “We’ve never done that.”

  “I’m asking if you can do that now,” Cathy said. “Please.”

  “We’ll do it,” the baker said with a sigh.

  After Cathy ended that painful call, she went to her grandfather’s and cooked him a spaghetti dinner.

  “Honey, you don’t have to cook for me every night,” Grandpa said. “I appreciate the hell out of it, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want you to feel obligated. I go to the B and B a lot of nights. So you don’t need to worry about me getting my meals.”

  “I know, Grandpa. I guess it’s given me something to focus on this week. Tomorrow is the wedding day, you know.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “I think I’ll spend the day alone tomorrow. I won’t be much good around anybody. So, I’ll assume that Eileen will take care of you.”

  “Okay, honey. You’ll call if you need me, right? I’ll worry if I don’t hear from you.”

  “I’ll call you to let you know I’m okay,” she said.

  Cathy wasn’t okay. She crawled into her bed in the cottage with a bottle of wine
to keep her company. She drank four glasses before she fell into a drunken slumber. When she woke up, the sun was streaming through the lace curtains and she had a hangover from hell. How appropriate, to have a hangover on this day that was supposed to be the most special day of her life. She supposed it was fitting, since the day was now a complete travesty.

  Cathy popped three Advil into her mouth and washed them back with bottled water. She sat on the couch and turned on the television. Saturday morning cartoons looked good. She watched the Smurfs for a while, then switched over to movie channels. She settled on Sleepless in Seattle, which was supposed to be light and funny. She couldn’t really concentrate on it, though. She kept looking at the clock. She was two hours from the two o’clock wedding that was supposed to be. She would already be at the gardens with her bridesmaids, fixing her hair and make-up, if she hadn’t called the wedding off.

  Cathy ticked off the time while she tried to occupy her mind with TV. At one point, five minutes before two, she gave in and started sobbing. And now, ladies and gentlemen, we do not give you Mr. and Mrs. McMahon. Because their wedding was never going to happen.

  And then it was two-thirty and the time for the ceremony was past. Just two more hours and the whole thing would be over and Cathy could start her life. At five, it was over. No more wedding.

  Cathy dragged herself off the couch and changed out of her gown into jeans and a light sweater. It was all done now.

  She had left her cell phone on the kitchen table and she needed to let her grandfather know she was all right. She picked it up and looked at the messages. A text from Heather checking on her and a voice mail from Aaron.

  “Cat, I love you. I’m never going to love anyone else. This is the saddest day of my life. I’ll marry you anytime and anywhere you say.”

  The pain at hearing Aaron’s sad voice went through her body and settled in her stomach. She barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up.

  After she ate a piece of toast, Cathy called her grandfather.

  “I’m okay,” she said. “It’s been rough, but I survived it.”

  “I’m here if you need me,” he said.

  Cathy made a cup of tea and crawled into bed. She took three more Advils and dropped off to a restless sleep.