by C. J. Corbin
"Okay, but I don't want to talk to him right now."
She nodded, "That's fine." She hit the contact on her phone. He picked up immediately, so he was no longer at the tree stand. "Hey Mikey!"
Mikey? Hmmm...
She continued, "I'm doing great. You, however, are not." There was a pause as she listened. "Well it seems once again you're being an asshole."
My eyes widened.
"Yes, Elizabeth is here with me at her cabin... No, she's going to stay here for a bit... No, she doesn't want to talk to you... No, I'm not putting her on the phone, and you can stop raising your voice, you know that never worked with me... Pleading doesn't work either... Knock it off Mikey, you're going to have to be more original. You had better leave the tree stand where it is too," she dictated. "What do you mean it’s non-negotiable? Don't piss me off too." She frowned. "Okay, I'm going to hang up now, because I'm not going to listen to your ranting... Yes, you are ranting. Bye Mikey." She disconnected the call.
"You call him Mikey?"
Christina grinned and raised one eyebrow. "He hates it!"
I smiled, but then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, and my face lost the smile.
She squeezed my hand, "Don't worry, Mikey will come around." I squeezed back and smiled, but the smile didn't reach my eyes. She started to clear the dishes from the table and I moved to get up to help. Her hand pressed on my shoulder. "You sit there. Let me do this."
"Thank you, Christina," I replied gratefully.
"I found the perfect wedding dress for you. Can I show you?"
I wasn't sure there was going to be a wedding, and she was talking about dresses? But she looked excited and I didn't want to take her fun away. "Okay."
Sitting back down at the table, she opened her iPad and flipped through pictures. "Look." She pointed to a picture of a dress. A dark-haired model who looked a lot like me wore it.
My breath caught. The dress was white satin covered in white lace. The fishtail design, tightly fitted to mid-thigh where it flared out to the bottom of the dress. The back was completely bare to the waist except for the lace which came up the sides to form the sleeveless shoulders. A camel sash wrapped around the waist and the bow simply tied in the back hung down below. It was so simple, and I loved it!
I smiled, "What makes you think this would fit me?" I pointed to my stomach, "Remember, preggers here."
"Have you and Michael set a date yet?"
I frowned and looked at her. My expression said it all.
"Well, it will be beautiful even with a baby bump."
"It’s gorgeous." I wanted the dress. I looked at her, and she was gazing wistfully at the dress. "What about you? Anyone in your life?"
She shook her head and answered vehemently, "No!" Then she laughed, "Was that a little too strong?"
I nodded. "Michael hasn't told me a lot about your first marriage, but I'm gathering it soured you to love?"
"Not so much soured. My ex-husband is an idiot. I worked hard on creating my company FIND-IT!, and he was willing to give it up so easily." She poured herself another glass of wine and took a sip. Christina grinned, "You want to hear about it?"
Laughing, I said, "The writer in me wants to know."
We moved over to the couch, settled in and she began her story.
"I met Tim, my ex at Stanford. We had a few classes together and seemed to hit it off. I was majoring in computer science with a minor in business and had started working on a search engine project which used the servers at the university. Tim and I hooked up and before either of us knew it, we were living together. I worked out of our small garage and he helped me with selling advertising. Oh gosh," she smiled and her eyes had a wistful look to them, "We were so small. We weren't really making a living at that point; we ate a lot of macaroni and cheese. As soon as he graduated, he went to work and it seemed natural to get married. We didn't really have a wedding much to my mother and grandmother's disgust. We drove to Reno and married there.
I continued to work on FIND-IT! Tim worked his regular job and helped me sell advertising on the weekends. Soon, we outgrew Sanford's servers and needed some investors to help us purchase our own equipment. About that time, my paternal grandmother passed away, and both Michael and I inherited money from her estate. I used my inheritance and Michael gave me part of his because he knew that if Margaret had discovered it, she’d have spent the money quickly. My parents and my grandmother Helen contributed money too. So again I was off and running." Christina paused to take another sip of wine. "Not bored yet?" She said smiling.
I shook my head, "No, not at all! Please continue."
She grinned, and when she did, her dimples in her cheek deepened and her face reminded me so much of Michael's. "We started to get noticed, not just by the community at Stanford, but actually worldwide. FIND-IT! began to be recognized as a reliable engine which offered many different choices. That's when AppSoft came knocking at our door. Tim was thrilled. He wanted to sell! I didn't because this was my baby and they weren't offering the right money. It was my opinion they wanted to buy us so we’d go away. We were the competition and I felt we were worth a lot more than they were offering. Mind you, this was very early on before all the dot com craziness began in Silicon Valley."
"Do you mind me asking how much they were offering?" I inquired.
She smiled, "Not at all. It was a measly two hundred grand."
My eyes grew big, "That's not so measly in my book. I had to sell a lot of books to make that kind of money in the beginning."
Christina pressed her lips together and then laughed, "In the dot com business it was paltry, and Tim wanted to snap it up. I had put every waking moment into the company. This led to a huge chasm between us. It wasn't the only chink in our armor but it was a nasty one. We continually fought about it, and he threatened to take me to court to force me. So, my sweet brother gave me the rest of the inheritance he had. He simply gave it to me with no strings, and he didn't want anything in return." Her eyes looked wistful and a little misty. "That's who he is Elizabeth. He has the biggest heart I've ever seen in a man. He’ll give you the shirt off his back and expect nothing in return."
"You bought Tim out?"
She nodded firmly, "That's exactly what I did! I divorced the ass-wipe too. At the time, he was thrilled with the money. I was back to eating macaroni and cheese, but I loved every minute of running my own company. When I considered going public, he actually came back and tried to sue me to get control of the company, claiming I still owed him money. Ha! I have very good attorneys."
"Wow! He really had some nerve."
"Yeah, he had some big ones, but not bigger than mine!" She cackled. “Several years after I divorced, Michael divorced the bitch from hell."
I laughed loudly, "Oh you call her that too?"
Christina smirked, "I believe it’s what’s on her driver's license."
I liked Christina more and more.
"I made Michael," she continued, "move into my house with the girls. His photography was taking off and he had to do a lot of traveling. During the summer, he could take the girls with him, but he felt it was important the girls stay in school and have a normal life. Unbeknownst to him, I was transferring shares of FIND-IT! stock into his name at the original share prices. He owned almost half the company and never knew it." Her look was devious. "I had to do it after the divorce was final so the bitch wouldn't get her hands on anything. As it was, she left him with nothing."
"Except the three things he wanted the most., I replied.
"Oh you know that story? Yeah, he wanted the girls and his Mustang. She got everything else. The house, the money he’d saved, everything. The bitch. Ohhhh!" She groaned, "I can never understand how a mother could not want her children. She really is made of ice! What Michael ever saw in her, I'll never know. She lost in the end, didn't she?"
I nodded.
"I'll never forget Michael's face when I presented him with the stock. First, he was speechless, and
then he kept telling me to take them back. I don't think he realized just how much they were worth."
"You are an incredible sister. He is very fortunate."
"I'm the fortunate one. He is a special brother. He was there for me when I needed it, and I tried to be there for him too!"
"So you ended up selling the company?" I asked.
Her smile was broad, "Yes. AS approached me again, with a much different offer. It made both Michael and me very rich."
"Very rich?"
She laughed, "You really don't know how much money he has, do you?"
I shook my head, "No. I only recently found out about the money."
"Did he ask you to sign a prenup?"
"No. He said he didn't want to start our marriage thinking it was going to end."
"Don't get pissed off, Elizabeth, but I told him he should."
Surprise caught my face, "You did?"
She nodded, "I didn't want this to be another case of his heart getting in the way of his head."
"I can understand that. My dad wanted Michael to sign a prenup too..." When she looked puzzled, I added, "because of my books."
"And you said no?" Christina asked.
I smiled, "I never even considered the possibility."
"Oh the two of you," she smiled.
"I know. I think both of us are incurable romantics. I know Michael is a terrific man, but I can't get caught up in the control again...I just can't."
She blew a heavy sigh, "Then you’re going to have to talk to him."
I frowned, "I was. He walked out on me." Suddenly I felt exhausted again. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm tired again.
"Go lay down. I'll clean up here. I need to run a few errands, but I'll be back, okay? I'll feed the dogs later, so you don't have to worry about it."
When I awoke later, it was dark outside and raining softly. I turned on my side and saw Michael sitting in my rocking chair. His head rested on his chin and he snored quietly. He looked so sexy even while he slept. He hadn’t shaved in days and the stubble on his face showed his raw masculinity. Looking at him made me ache to touch him. He certainly didn't look comfortable since the chair was too small to accommodate his large frame. It was as if he sensed I was awake because he opened his eyes and looked over at me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked faintly. "I thought you had a meeting in the morning in San Diego."
He straightened up and ran both hands through his hair. "I," he cleared his throat, "I thought it was more important we talk, especially after Christina called me. Why are you here?"
I sat up cross-legged in the bed and switched on small lamp on the bedside table. Dim light flooded the room. "I needed to think."
"You can't think at home?"
Looking down at my hands, I twisted my fingers in my lap. Why was this so hard for me? "Michael," I paused and then looked at him.
"Where's your ring?" The sound of his voice had a mixture of hurt and anger in it.
I looked at my left hand, "I took it off." I said it simply.
"What does that mean?" The anger grew in his voice, and then he softened it asking the question again. "What does it mean, Elizabeth?"
"What it means is I need to think."
"What does your ring have to do with it? Are you thinking about calling off the wedding?" There. He said the words. The words I had feared and he said them first.
"You left," I whispered and then looked up at him. "You always accused me of running away, but you've been doing it too. First with Margaret and now with me."
"Margaret has nothing to do with us," he dismissed.
I shook my head and set my chin. "No. She has everything to do with us. The mistakes both of us made in our first marriages will be with us and we're destined to repeat them if we don't at least acknowledge them. I don't want a marriage with you like I had with Kevin. I'd rather be alone." There. I said the words too.
His eyes flashed with disbelief and he raised his voice, "Are you telling me I'm like Kevin? Damn Elizabeth, you know how to cut me to the quick!"
"No. I didn't say that you were like Kevin. I'd never say that, you know that." I inhaled deeply. "Did you ever wonder how I could recover from Kevin's attack so quickly?" I didn't wait for him to answer. "You were a big part of the recovery, but it was also because I’d finished with him a long time ago. He didn't mean anything to me any longer. I will not go back to those days of fear. I decided that after the attack."
"Elizabeth," his voice grew soft again. "You know I’ll never hurt you. I’d never lay a hand on you."
"Don't you understand it's not only physical? He controlled me in other ways. Did I ever share with you that he chose the clothes I’d wear every day? He actually rated me on a number system on how sexy I was. He controlled the friends I saw, who I spoke to, and where I went. I'm thankful I had my writing as a retreat."
"It's not the same. I'm trying to prevent you from hurting yourself."
"It’s not a decision for you to make," I fired back.
"That's not fair. You’re carrying our child. I have to have some say in it."
"But where does it end?"
He balked, "Don't use the slippery slope argument with me. I love you, and I only want to see you safe."
"What about the running away?"
"I concede I did that with Margaret, but it was out of self-preservation. It was also the business I was in. I have to go to the photographs, they don't come to me."
Now we were getting somewhere.
"You left today, Michael. You left me alone. The hospital had just released me and you left me."
"I knew Christina would be here."
"It isn't her job to care for me," I replied almost inaudibly.
He scrubbed his face with his hands and then used them to push up from the chair. "You're right. Both of us have a lot to think about." He stood above me, "I have an early flight to San Diego in the morning. Debi said she would check in on you." He leaned over and kissed me on the top of my head.
I looked down again at my hands in my lap. I couldn't look at him, because my heart was slowly shattering into tiny pieces. The pain radiating from my heart was worse than what I’d experienced falling from the tree stand. "Okay," I said in silence. I held the tears back until I heard the door softly click closed.
CHAPTER FORTY
What happened? What happened to us? One minute we're perfectly fine, in love, having the time of our lives, and in a blink, we're questioning being together. My mind was flying. I couldn't sleep. I wasn't hungry. I couldn't even cry any more. My foot and shoulder hurt. I took some Tylenol and went out to the kitchen to make tea.
Sitting at the table in the dark, I contemplated my cup of tea. I heard Christina's SUV pull up to the back of the house. It was still raining. I felt bad for her because the rain meant the delayed construction of her new house.
She came in through the back door and peeked around the corner. "Oh you're up! Good. I have pizza¸ want some?" She hung her coat up on the hook by the door and slipped out of her shoes. "Man, it is wet out there! We are having one soggy spring." She set the pizza on the table and took out two plates and napkins. "Want something else to drink? Tea? Oh, that sounds good. I'll make a pot."
I sat there staring at my cup. For not being hungry ten seconds ago, the smell of the freshly baked pizza made my stomach growl.
Christina turned the light on over the table and sat opposite me. Her face blanched when she saw mine. Immediately she reached out and took my hand. "Elizabeth, what happened?"
"Michael," my voice cracked, "he was here, and we talked." The tears flowed down my cheeks. "He left again."
"Damn!" She exclaimed, "That man is so infuriating!" She placed both hands on the table and moved to rise. "I'm going to go get him. This is silly!"
I reached out to her. "No don't! Please. We both need to think. We're talking in circles right now. Neither of us is willing to concede anything. Let him go to his meeting tomorrow. He'll be back."
"I'll be okay."
"Let me tempt you with pizza!" She grinned opening the box.
I had to admit having Christina around for company was a good thing. Her stories about Michael and the girls when they lived with her distracted me enough and tired me out. After eating and washing up at my bathroom sink, I fell asleep quickly.
Early the next morning, there was a knock on the back door and I heard Debi and Christina's voices. They seemed to be having a long conversation, then there was a soft tap on my bedroom door.
"Come in," I answered from the bed.
Debi poked her head around the door after she opened it. "Whatcha doing?"
I smiled and was glad to hear her usual greeting. "Hey Debi. So you're talking to me?"
She laughed and sat down in the same chair Michael had used yesterday. "Only because you have the most awesome sister-in-law to be."
Raising my eyebrows, I looked at her skeptically. "Really?"
"Come on, let's get you out of bed. Christina is making tea and I brought coffee cake for us."
"Debi's coffee cake?" I grinned and threw off the covers. "Lead the way."
She helped me hobble out and we sat at the table.
Christina called from the kitchen, "Would you rather have decaf coffee?"
"Tea please." I answered.
Michael was not a fan of decaffeinated coffee, because of the way it was processed and he’d gotten me used to drinking herbal teas. He purchased a large supply of teas for me and I found I actually liked them, even though I didn't think I would. As Christina sat down to join us, Debi sliced the coffee cake and put it on our plates.
"Debi told me you're Wonder Woman," I said to Christina.
Christina's face instantly reddened, "Oh, it's nothing really." Her face belied her response and she looked happy.
"I don't call it nothing," Debi beamed. "She had a wonderful idea last week. Certainly more than we could have done. She purchased a house near Stanford for the kids, and she’ll help both of them with their expenses until they graduate.
