The waitress stopped by the table, and they placed their orders. When she walked away, he cut off another piece of bread for himself and popped it into his mouth. “Our flight leaves here at noon tomorrow. We have a layover in New York City, and then we fly into Geneva.”
“Are we staying in Geneva?” She’d never been out of the country, and she was excited at the prospect.
He shook his head. “No, I rented a little cabin in the mountains. We’ll rent a car there and drive up. I have some sightseeing adventures planned as well.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ve never been anywhere outside the country.”
“You do have a passport, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve had it for three years.”
“Why’d you get a passport if you weren’t going anywhere?” he asked, frowning. That didn’t make any sense to him at all.
“I was planning to go to Rome for my honeymoon three years ago.” Erin said the words softly. He would make of it what he wanted.
“You’ve been married before?” Al hated that idea.
She shook her head. “Randall was killed on his way to the church on our wedding day. We never quite made it that far.” She was surprised when tears pricked her eyes, and she dashed one away with an angry hand. She thought she was cried out on that subject, but here she was, making a fool of herself on her wedding day.
“I—I had no idea.” How am I supposed to respond to that? “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. It was rough going for a while, but I’m okay now. I wouldn’t have contacted Dr. Lachele if I wasn’t. I don’t know where these tears came from…I honestly thought they’d finally dried up. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. There’s nothing wrong with crying for someone you’ve loved and lost.” His hand covered hers on the table between them. “I’m looking forward to making memories with you.” Already he wanted his to be the only man’s name on her lips.
Their salads were put in front of them then, and she picked up her fork and started to eat. “So tell me something about you that most people don’t know. We’re strangers, but we’re married, so I need to know the dirt.” She had to get off the subject of Randall or she’d lose it, and she didn’t want her new husband to think she spent all her time crying for her dead fiancé. Truly it had been over a year since she’d sat down and wept for him. She was just feeling maudlin today because of the wedding.
He thought about it for a moment. “I graduated from college with a degree in marketing a week before my parents died. I thought I’d end up doing advertising campaigns, but I needed to support my sister. So I started managing the restaurant where I’d been a server while in college. While there I watched them try to perfect a dessert. I took the recipe home and messed with it and ended up making it a ton better. That’s still the recipe I use for my fudge topping.”
“Can I come to work with you someday and just watch you make chocolate? I can’t quite put my finger on what’s so special about your fudge, but it’s the best I’ve ever eaten.”
“Have you tried the peanut butter fudge? That’s my favorite.”
She frowned. “No. Why didn’t you bring me peanut butter fudge for my wedding gift?”
He sighed. “I thought about bringing you a mixture, but I just didn’t know what you’d like.”
“Now my mom and sister are going to get to try your peanut butter fudge before me!”
“Do you really think they’ll go while we’re out of the country?”
Erin laughed. “You gave my mother a note giving her a discount on chocolate. They’ll be there every day, and they’ll try every single flavor.” She shook her head. “Who’s in charge while we’re gone?”
“An old co-worker of mine. Name’s Dale. We waited tables together, and he was promoted to cook at the same time I was promoted to manager. When I decided to open Frank’s Fudge, he agreed to become my manager. We work together most days, but with two of us, we can take time off. We’re open Monday through Saturday, and I usually get to take at least a half day off during that time.”
“What half day do you take off? Are we ever going to see each other?”
He shrugged. “I almost always take Sundays off. Sometimes I have to restock inventory on Sundays. I try to take Wednesday mornings for errands.”
“Wow. So I guess I’ll see you mostly in the summer. At least we won’t get sick of one another too quickly.” Would they have to schedule time to make the babies she so desperately wanted? How uncomfortable would that be?
“I hope we never get sick of each other.” Al pushed his salad away and took another drink of his Pepsi. “This is my first trip out of the country too. I’m really excited.”
“Do you ski?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’ve never really had a lot of time for stuff like that. I love mountain views though.”
“You can get those at home. I’m surprised you didn’t go for a beach somewhere.” It was winter in Wyoming, and the snow would be up to her butt for months, and he chose a mountain vacation. The man had lost his mind!
“I thought Switzerland would be fun. Don’t you?”
“Sure. I don’t know that it would have been my first choice, but I’m excited to go!”
“I love the idea of snuggling together under a blanket by a roaring fire.” He brought her fingers to his lips. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Erin felt a rush of tingles wash through her at the touch of his lips. She hoped he wasn’t going to do that in public often. “Sure…”
“You’re not going to hold out on me, are you?” he asked, just as the server slid their plates in front of them.
The server looked back and forth between them for a moment, obviously trying to decide if he should keep his mouth shut. In the end, he opted not to. “Don’t hold out on him! That’s just mean!”
Al nodded, agreeing with the server. “It is mean. It’s our wedding night.”
“Poor guy. Your wedding night and she’s threatening to hold out on you? That’s just cruel!” The server shook his head and walked away.
Erin frowned at Al. “Was that really necessary? Now that random guy is going to be thinking about our sex life all night. It’s none of his business.”
“Trust me, he’s got more important things on his mind. He probably just figured that if he agreed with me, I’d tip more.”
“Well, I’d still appreciate if you didn’t do anything like that again. It’s embarrassing.”
Al raised one eyebrow. “You really don’t think that all the people at our wedding—knowing we were meeting at the altar—were wondering whether we’d do each other tonight? That’s all I could think of.”
She rolled her eyes. “You have a vested interest, and none of the others do. I sure hope no one was thinking about that. They should have been admiring my dress or thinking about how cute my bridesmaids looked.”
“Your friend I met at the reception…she was a bridesmaid…where did you say she’s from?”
“Atlanta. We were roommates in college. She found a job in Georgia after graduation, and she moved there. I’ve only seen her a few times in the past four years.” She couldn’t begin to express how much she missed Jean. After their first very rough week living together, they’d become best friends. If she could move Jean back to Wyoming, she’d do it in a heartbeat.
“I lived at home while I went to college. It turned out to be a good thing, because it wasn’t as much of a transition for Misti when our parents died.”
“What happened to them?” She couldn’t imagine losing one parent, let alone both at the same time. She loved her mom, but deep down she was very much a daddy’s girl.
“They were hit by a car while walking. They had the right of way, but the teenage driver dropped her cell phone, and was driving on the wrong side of the street, completely hanging over onto the passenger side floorboard trying to find it. She was mortified, and I think she punished herself more than anyone else ever could.”
“I can’t imagine.” Erin shook her head. “Imagine living in that girl’s brain and knowing that she had killed two people for the rest of her life. I’m sorry for your loss.”
He smiled slightly. “Don’t those words feel empty when you say them? I know you’ve heard them a million times just as I have. It doesn’t bring back the people we love.”
“No, it doesn’t. But I don’t know of another way to offer comfort.”
Al shrugged. “There probably isn’t a better way. Just an observation.”
Chapter Four
By the time they got back to their room, Erin was absolutely exhausted. “Do you realize I had to be up before six to get ready for the wedding? My hairdresser had to start working at seven to get me ready. I’ve never spent so much time primping for an event in my entire life!”
Al looked at her skeptically. “Not even when you were getting ready for your other wedding?”
She shook her head. “My hair was shorter then…easier to do.” It felt so strange to be there alone with a man other than Randall, getting ready for her wedding night. “I’m going to go change.”
He nodded, glad she hadn’t asked him to wait to consummate the marriage. He’d thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but now that he’d met her, he realized it was a big deal. He didn’t want to wait. Dr. Lachele had done her homework. Something about this girl touched him…and not in the physical sense that he wanted to be touched. It was something deeper…more profound. He felt protective of her after only a few hours’ acquaintance. How had that happened?
Erin shut the door behind her and looked down at the simple short piece of nothing she’d bought for the night. How on earth was she going to wear that in front of Al? He was still mostly a stranger.
She took a deep breath and stripped out of her comfortable clothes and pulled the satin and lace garment over her head. Brushing her teeth, she looked at herself, assessing. Hopefully Al wouldn’t laugh when she walked out there trying to look all sexy. She felt like a child playing dress up in her mother’s clothes. Of course, she’d never seen her mother wear anything like she was wearing. She shut down that line of thought. She wasn’t going there!
Opening the door, she left the bathroom and stood self-consciously in the middle of the bedroom, feeling his eyes on her. “Bathroom’s all yours.”
Al could see she needed a moment, so he walked past her, running his hand down her arm before disappearing into the bathroom.
Erin climbed under the covers, feeling a little less ridiculous once she was completely covered. With Randall, this would have been so natural. With a stranger? Not even a little bit.
When Al came out of the bathroom, his eyes were drawn to Erin, who was covered up to her chin. She wasn’t feeling good about this, and it was obvious. “You okay?”
She shook her head. “Not really. This doesn’t feel right.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Then we’ll wait.”
“We will?”
“Of course we will. I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t feel comfortable with. I mean I’d rather not wait another minute, but if it’s not right for you then it’s not right for us.”
She stared at him for a moment, and sighed with relief. “Thank you.”
“Dr. Lachele warned me that a lot of the woman she matches feel like they need a little time before the wedding night. She said that the mail order brides of old did it with their new husbands on the wedding night, and they didn’t complain, but modern women are used to having more choices about their bodies.”
“They did it? Were those her exact words?” Erin couldn’t imagine Dr. Lachele saying ‘did it.’
“Well, she said ‘the old hide the pickle’ but I was trying to be a bit more circumspect. And now look what you did! You dragged it out of me!” Al shook his head at her.
She was thankful he’d put on a pair of pajama shorts. “That sounds more like Dr. Lachele. That woman is…something else!”
“She absolutely is! We’ve gotta love her, though.”
“We do?”
He nodded. “She brought us together, and so far, we haven’t killed each other. We’ve been married for like eleven hours or something!”
“That’s almost forever, isn’t it?” Erin was glad he could make her smile. That was something to build on. And he makes chocolate for a living. I can’t ever forget that.
Al slipped into bed beside her, reaching over to turn off the light. “So am I allowed to kiss you and stuff?”
“Depends on what ‘and stuff’ entails. Maybe is the only answer you’re getting at the moment.” Erin turned toward him on the bed, propping her head up on one fist.
He put his hand on her shoulder and slowly stroked it down her arm. “ ‘And stuff’ is light touching…I won’t grope anything covered by your…what is that thing you’re wearing anyway?”
She shrugged. “Does it matter what it’s called?”
Al shook his head. “I guess not. I like it, whatever it’s called.”
“I’m glad.” Erin watched him as he scooched a little closer to her, his hand cupping her cheek.
He leaned forward, watching her for skittishness. They’d already kissed a couple of times, but never when they were mostly naked and lying in a bed together. He was fully aware that the bed made everything so much more real. As his lips brushed against hers, he felt hers soften beneath his, her hand moving to his shoulder to cling to him.
When he’d lifted his lips, he sighed, resting his forehead against hers. “It will happen, though, won’t it?”
Erin chuckled. “Of course it will. We both want kids, and IVF doesn’t sound like a viable financial choice.”
He smiled. “I’m not even going there. Okay…do you have a timeframe in mind?”
“I have no idea. I want a little time to feel comfortable with you. We have ten days or so before I go back to work. Let’s make the most of them.”
He didn’t like her answer, but he’d accept it. He had too much respect for her to argue about it. “Sounds good. We can make the most of them by kissing a lot, right?”
“Absolutely. Just be ready for me to slap your hands away if you get too frisky.”
“Frisky? I’ve always liked that word!”
“Me too.” Erin felt her eyes trying to close. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to sleep with a strange man so close—and face it, Al was strange—but she surprised herself. She was way too tired to stay awake another minute.
Al watched her as she drifted off, her head still propped on her hand, a smile on his face. Maybe he hadn’t gotten what he wanted that night, but for life? He thought she was just what he needed. That crazy purple-haired matchmaker knew what she was doing after all.
*****
They were up early the following morning to get ready for their flight to JFK Airport. “I wish we had a little time to see New York City while we were there,” Erin told him as she put her shoes on. “I’ve never been, and I’ve always wanted to go.”
Al frowned. “I didn’t know. I’d have made it happen if I had. And this is why Dr. Lachele should have let us talk.”
“Maybe,” Erin answered vaguely. She wasn’t certain she’d have married him if she’d met him first, and getting to know him told her that he was a decent guy. Maybe Dr. Lachele was right in doing things the way she did.
“Okay, I think we’re ready. We have time for breakfast before heading to the airport. Their breakfast is supposed to be absolutely amazing.”
“Then feed me. You don’t want me getting hangry at the airport!”
He shook his head at her, grinning. “I never knew a girl as tiny as you could eat so much.” He was absolutely thrilled to see she didn’t pick at her food, though.
She shrugged. “I’m active. I mean, I’m not a runner, but I’m a fidgeter. I never stop wiggling. I’m sure the way I eat will eventually catch up with me, but it hasn’t yet!”
A couple of hours later, they sat together at their gate
waiting for their flight.
“I’m so glad we’re done with security. Are we really going to Switzerland?” Erin was getting excited. It may not be her dream vacation, but it was somewhere she’d never been.
“We have a two-hour layover at JFK, which won’t be enough time to leave the airport. We can buy souvenirs though, if that’s something you like to do.”
Erin grinned. “I love souvenir shopping. The cheesier the better. And I don’t care at all who laughs at me.”
“Do people laugh at you for that?” Al made a face. “Why are people so mean to each other?”
“No idea. I went on a vacation with a friend once, and she was…well, she’s not my friend anymore. She kept me from buying the silly souvenirs, and then when I got up and went shopping before she woke up, she insisted on digging through my bags and made fun of everything. At one point, she pulled something out and wrinkled her nose and asked who the object was for. I smiled and told her it was for me, plucked it from her hand, and put it back in the bag. She never asked again, but I never gave her the chance.”
“She sounds rude.”
Erin nodded emphatically. “It’s weird, because I thought we were good friends until that trip. She made fun of everything I wore and everything I did. After that, I had no time for her.”
“Some people have to make themselves feel better by criticizing everyone around them. I won’t make fun of anything you buy. I promise.” Al thought about that for a minute. “Okay, that may not be true. Like if you buy a plastic unicorn that poops rainbow candies…I’d laugh at that.”
“You have my permission to laugh if I ever buy anything so utterly disgusting.”
He chuckled. “All right. I’ll take you up on that.”
Erin loved to people watch in airports. It was truly the most fascinating place on earth. She nudged Al with her elbow. “Do you think that guy over there is on his way to meet a girl? Look at him…he’s holding a rose, and he keeps moving it from one hand to the other. And he’s got that slightly panicked look in his eye that men get before a blind date.”
Wooing In Wyoming (At The Altar #11) Page 3
