Ollie set her face in stone, bracing herself for the bad news. She was sure Claire was going to tell her that she was back with Scarlet. She nodded to Claire. “Go ahead. I can take it.”
“I know you probably hate me and I completely understand why,” Claire began.
“I don’t hate you,” Ollie said. “But if you don’t hurry up and give me the bad news I’m going to jump off this chair so you don’t see me cry and I’ll break both legs and you’ll have to take care of me until I heal.”
Claire grabbed Ollie’s arm. “You won’t really jump, will you?”
“Listen, Claire, I don’t know why you love Scarlet. But you do. I can see that now. I’ll make this whole thing easy on you, I promise. I’ll give you the divorce and let you go on your way and I won’t hate you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to exit.”
“Ollie, you’ll send the chair flying.”
“No, I won’t. There’s a trick to it. You lean over…”
“I don’t want to know how. I want you to sit here and listen to me.”
“Claire, what could you say that we haven’t said before? I’m not the one for you. You want a go-getter, a live large, be-somebody kind of person. I just want to do my own thing, at my own pace and enjoy my life. I thought you were the one for me, but I guess I was wrong.” Ollie swiveled in her seat and slid off the chair. She was now hanging off the chair, holding on by the side rail, her feet dangling twenty feet off the ground.
“Ollie!” Claire yelled.
“Oh, shit,” Ollie said, looking at the ground. “It’s a long ways down there. Oh, shit.”
Claire wrapped her hand around Ollie’s wrist and held on tight. “I won’t let you go, Ollie, I promise.”
“Do you mean that literally or figuratively?” Ollie asked.
“Literally,” Claire said. “And figuratively. Both. Ollie, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I was wrong before. So wrong. I want to enjoy my life and I want that life to be with you. I realize that now and I’m sorry.”
“For realisies?” The chair started to move. “It’s moving, oh, shit it’s moving,” Ollie said, panicked.
“Just hang on,” Claire said. “We’ll be at the top in no time.”
“I… don’t… think…” Ollie stuttered. Her grip on the rail slipped.
“Oh, shit, Ollie,” Claire said. “You can’t fall now. If you fall and die, I’ll kill you!”
Ollie’s hands slipped off the rail. Now Claire was holding Ollie by both wrists. “Omigod, omigod, omigod,” Claire breathed. “You’re so heavy.”
“Don’t turn loose,” Ollie said. “You promised.”
“I saw this in a movie once. A guy was holding another guy’s hand while he dangled off the side of a cliff,” Claire said.
“Okay, okay,” Ollie said, “That’s good.”
“No, it’s not,” Claire said. “He dropped the guy and he died.”
“You’re not instilling much security in your ability,” Ollie said.
“I’m going to let you go now,” Claire said.
“No!” Ollie screamed.
Claire let go.
Ollie dropped. Fortunately, the chair had made it nearly to the top and it was only a two-foot fall to the ground.
Claire bailed out of the chair, ran to Ollie, and smothered her in an embrace. She kissed Ollie long and hard and she wouldn’t have stopped kissing her except Ollie’s goggles fogged up and made her giggle.
Ollie took off her goggles and looked deeply into Claire’s eyes. “You’re sure about this?”
Claire nodded. “I’m sure. You’re my happy ending, Ollie.”
Judge O’Connor Speaks
Judge O’Connor cleared his throat and smiled into the camera. “I have been a judge for twenty-seven years. That is a long time. I have seen a lot of marriages. And I have seen a lot of divorces. After a while you get to know which couples are truly in love and will make it work. I knew just by looking at them that Ollie and Claire were destined to be together. I’m not talking about magic or hocus-pocus or any star-crossed lovers stuff. I am talking about pure, unadulterated love. The kind of love that involves the whole heart and soul. That kind of love doesn’t come along every day. And when it does, you can’t let it go. That’s why I lied to Ollie and Claire. I could have signed off on their divorce the first day they walked in that door. But I figured if they were given enough time, they would reconsider. True love would win out. So, I told them they had to go to a marriage counselor and establish residency here in Iowa.” He chuckled. “And I was right, was I not?”
He winked at the camera.
Clearing his throat again, he said, “Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward? Till death do you part?”
The camera panned back, revealing G-Ray and Begonia standing before the judge. They faced each other, holding hands. Ollie stood beside G-Ray as his best man. Claire was next to Begonia as her Matron of Honor.
“I do,” G-Ray said. He leaned in and kissed his new wife.
Ollie and Claire beamed while Oscar and Meyer ran in circles around the kissing couple.
The End
If you enjoyed this book please leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter and Facebook. Tell all your friends. Good reviews help keep us Indie Authors in business. Thank you!
Other works by Layce & Saxon:
More Than a Kiss
Memoirs of a Gay-She
Veronica’s Tale, a short story
Heart’s Desire, a steamy short story
Coming in the Spring of 2015: Kiss and Tell, a romantic comedy adventure, by Saxon Bennett and Layce Gardner.
Be sure to check out the authors’ websites at Laycegardner.com and SaxonBennett.wordpress.com
Be the first to know about new releases and giveaways by signing up for our email list!
Crazy Little Thing Page 22
