First Comes Marriage

by Sophia Sasson

  He opened a door that displayed her name. She stepped into a corner office with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlooked the river on one side and downtown London on the other. A modern L-shaped desk stood in the center of the spacious room, allowing her a perfect vantage point. She touched the smooth, unmarred surface. She turned to her father.

  “I had this office made for you while you were away. I know how much you enjoy the view from mine, so I thought I’d build one for you.”

  Her heart squeezed painfully. Her father hadn’t just handed over his office, he had made a better one just for her. It was the way he’d treated her all his life.

  She threw her arms around him, and he held her tightly. “Oh, my child, I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve been looking forward to this moment my entire life.”

  “Pitaji, you didn’t have to go through this much trouble for me.”

  “Yes, I did, Meera. I want you to make your own mark on this practice. Depending on how your research goes, you can make this into a cardiac clinic, a genetics hub...the possibilities are endless. And this—” he gestured expansively “—will be your command center.”

  Meera struggled to breathe. Her father had spent his entire life building the practice just the way he wanted it, and he was going to turn the keys over to Meera to do with as she pleased.

  “And wait, I have something else for you.” Meera wiped tears from her cheeks and took the box from her father. She lifted the lid—inside was a flimsy plastic stethoscope. She gasped.

  “This is how I knew you were the child for us. When you said it was your favorite toy, I knew in my heart you were meant to be my daughter, and that one day we would be standing here just like this. I’ve saved it ever since. You are my legacy, Meera.”

  Fresh tears filled her eyes. Her heart swelled.

  “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  She gazed down at the stethoscope in her hand, the stethoscope of a little girl who had nothing. She looked out the office window and then back at her father, who beamed with pride.

  “It wasn’t important. I love this office, and I love you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Jake said through gritted teeth. He turned to see Kelly standing with her hands on her hips.

  “Don’t you get your panties in a bunch—it ain’t my fault she left ya. Now pick up your bootstraps and quit making everyone crazy. The hands are working for free, and your bad temper ain’t making it easier.”

  Jake took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Kelly was right. It wasn’t hers or anyone else’s fault that he hadn’t heard from Meera in two weeks. She hadn’t answered his email, and her text messages were short and perfunctory.

  On top of it all, an invitation to her wedding had arrived today. It was in a fancy envelope with red velvet paper and gold lettering that proudly announced she was marrying Raj in two weeks. Guess that answers my question! Although part of him suspected Raj had sent the invitation out of spite.

  Old Pete, the town mailman, had seen the invitation and figured out what it was from the envelope, which proudly proclaimed the bride’s and groom’s names on the return address label. The entire town now knew he’d been left. Again.

  He went back to checking cattle, the few he still had, to make sure they were healthy. Working with the animals was one of his favorite chores; he always marveled at how gentle these large creatures could be. A heifer kicked him in the shins, and he cursed loudly. No matter how much he reminded himself that he would miss having the cattle, he was not feeling the love today. He closed the gate and returned to the house with Kelly.

  “When are the buyers coming?”

  She checked her phone. “They’ll be here in a coupla hours.” They stepped over the drop cloths that covered the foyer. Several of the townspeople were coming by in the evening to help paint. “The renos are coming along.”

  Jake nodded. He still couldn’t believe the outpouring of support to help him build up the dude ranch. He had assumed the town would turn against him when he decided to make the ranch a tourist attraction, but instead they had offered to help. Apparently, a few temporary tourists didn’t bother people as much as “cultureless rich folk” moving into their beloved town. They didn’t want to see him lose his property like Mrs. Hayes had. Plus, Meera had been right: they saw the potential to boost their own businesses.

  Kelly surveyed the latest repairs, nodding approvingly. “You know, you’re more stubborn than your old man. If you were gonna do all this anyway, why didn’t you start when she was here?”

  “I didn’t want her stayin’ or coming back on the promise of something I wasn’t sure would work.”

  Kelly rolled her eyes. “You were testing her.”

  He rubbed his neck. Was that what he was doing? “I just didn’t want her to stay out of obligation. If I’d told her I was gonna put her plan into action, she’d feel like she should be here to help me with it. That pompous fella was right—she needed to go back to London so she could make up her mind on home base. I want her to come back for me, the way I am, not because she thinks she can mold me into something more palatable for her...or her parents.”

  He turned away from Kelly. He didn’t want to talk about Meera, didn’t want to think about Meera, didn’t want to see her face wherever he went.

  After Meera left, he’d started work on the dude ranch. She was right; it was the only solution. She had also been right that keeping the cattle didn’t make good financial sense. He had known it all along, but the new spreadsheets she’d sent him had made it even clearer. Why had he been so stubborn about the cattle? Truth be told, he had only turned to cattle ranching when horse training stopped being profitable. A financial decision. Yet that was another fight he’d picked with Meera.

  He sighed. “I was testing myself, Kell. I wanna make sure I’m making decisions with a clear head. There’s a lot of hands counting on me, and I don’t want to do something for my own selfish needs.”

  “Boy, you’re dumber than you look.” She walked right up to him. “You want that girl to give up her whole life, and you’re willin’ to give up nothing? Take it from one stubborn mule to another—love ain’t about power, it’s about letting go.”

  She stalked off, shaking her head as she went.

  Jake went upstairs and surveyed the work that had been done on the bedrooms. The hands had offered to work overtime for free to get the major renovations done, and the town was chipping in. Mrs. Cregg and Norma Jean were stitching new curtains for the house. Tom had given him a big line of credit so he could buy the necessary tools and materials. He knew he could do this; he had run the numbers, and he would pay them all back.

  Kelly had overseen the work on the house while he took care of the property. He hardly recognized the rooms; the furniture shone with polish, the newly sanded and stained floors gleamed and the linens were spotless.

  His own bedroom was untouched. He hadn’t decided what to do about it. He walked over to the balcony and sat in the chair, looking out at the cottage. Meera’s clothes still hung in the closet, but her scent was gone.

  He went back downstairs, walked into the kitchen and stopped.

  “Jolene?”

  She smiled at him. “Billy John let me in.”

  “Well, I didn’t think I’d ever see you here again.”

  She was beautiful, her long blond hair falling in layers over her shoulders. Her eyes were lined with blue makeup that made their natural hue even stronger. She looked as if she belonged in his kitchen. Meera would call her an all-American beauty. She sat in the chair that Meera usually used. She was pouring tea from Meera’s teapot.

  Someone had made coffee, so he got himself a cup and sat down.

  “I came to see how you’re doing. I’m sorry about Meera.”

 
Good news travel fast.

  She studied his face. “You’ve got it bad, huh?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, at least you’re over me.”

  He worked his jaw. “She turned out just like you—didn’t want to be stuck in Hell’s Bells on the ranch. At least you had the decency to tell me face-to-face.”

  Jolene touched his arm. He remembered how Meera used to do that and pulled away.

  “Jake, I didn’t leave you because you wanted to live in Hell’s Bells. I left because you never wanted to leave.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “The difference is that I want to see the world. I didn’t want you to give up the ranch, I just wanted you to step outside of it once in a while—travel, experience new cultures, see what the world has to offer.”

  She didn’t want to be imprisoned here.

  His chest tightened. “I didn’t not want that, it’s just we never had the money.”

  “And you never put in the effort to figure out how to make it happen. Heck, Jake, I didn’t think you’d ever give up cattle ranching, but look at you now, turning the place into a dude ranch. That’s all I wanted out of you. To be open to possibilities, to make your mark, go beyond what your daddy left you.”

  The coffee tasted bitter. He suddenly wanted a cup of tea. “Why were you drinking fertility tea?”

  She laughed. “You found that?” She put her teacup down. “I wanted your babies, Jake. I was gonna suggest we get hitched and start a family.”

  He frowned. “Then why’d you leave?”

  “’Cause you were a stubborn something-or-other who didn’t want me going to Charlotte to buy a dress. ‘Jolene, Mrs. Cregg or Lily can make you a dress.’ You wouldn’t consider a honeymoon in the Bahamas—‘Jolene, we’ll stay in the guest cottage, it’ll be just like our own private hotel.’ I felt like we’d never get off this ranch, and I couldn’t breathe.” Her voice was filled with a sad longing. “All I ever wanted was for you to love me as much as you loved your cattle.”

  His gut twisted. Had he really done that?

  “I heard you went to New York City with her.”

  He nodded. “I guess I learned how to get off the ranch.”

  She shook her head. “You found someone who inspired you to do something more.”

  He took a big gulp of his coffee, burning his tongue. He focused on the pain in his mouth.

  “Someone who also didn’t think I was good enough for her to stay.”

  Jolene put her hand on top of his. “I never thought that, Jake, don’t you believe it for one more minute. I’ve regretted every minute we’ve been apart. I was impulsive.” Her eyes glistened. “Since I left, I’ve been realizing just how much I miss you. I was crazy to ever let you go, Jake.”

  His heart pounded. What was she saying?

  She slid her chair closer until their legs touched. “Jake, I want us to get back together. We’ve loved each other for so long, we got along so well... I made a mistake. I think we should get married, and this time we won’t drag it out. We’ll do it the way Lily and Joe did. We can get married tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “THIS IS A total disaster.”

  Meera closed her eyes. She was standing in her bedroom, wearing the Sienna Simone wedding dress. Her mother turned her attention to the panicked tailor in front of Meera. No one on Savile Row wanted the wrath of Neela Malhotra.

  “You idiot! How could you ruin a Sienna Simone!” He twisted his handkerchief.

  “The dress was about a foot longer than she is. I had to take in the bodice to make it flow.”

  “Well, you have done quite an incompetent job. This dress is not wearable.” Neela dismissed the man and turned her fury on Meera. She shrank back.

  “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t screwed up your appointment with Sienna, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She bit her lip and paced the room.

  “What if Meera wears the sari you wore at your wedding, Neela aunty?”

  Meera looked gratefully at Priya. She had arrived that morning from America. The wedding was two weeks away, and the engagement party was tonight.

  “Yes, Mum, it would be so special to wear your sari—you said you’ve preserved it.” Meera began taking off the ruined Sienna Simone as her mother continued to pace.

  “No, that wouldn’t be suitable.”

  “But why not?” Priya asked.

  Neela did another lap of the room. “No, I don’t want her wearing my sari. My poor dead mother would not approve,” she said absentmindedly. But there was something in her tone that made Meera’s stomach turn. She was about to protest, then thought better of it; she was on thin ice as it was.

  “I will just have to go to Southall tomorrow and find her a sari. There won’t be a fitting required, and the Indian tailors are much more competent with stitching a blouse.”

  She glared at Meera. “I hope you’re happy. You’ve ruined the wedding.” She shot a glance around the room, and Meera flinched. “And clean up here, it’s a pigsty. I don’t know what has happened to you since you’ve returned from America.”

  She stormed off, and Meera looked miserably at Priya, who put her arm around her. Meera had told her cousin the whole story, including what had happened between her and Jake.

  Meera nodded. “She’s still mad at me.” She stepped out of the Sienna Simone dress and pulled on a dressing gown. “I should go talk to her, try to smooth things over.”

  “Why don’t you give her some time to cool off? You need to get dressed for the engagement party, anyway.”

  Meera sighed. Priya was right; the party was supposed to start in a couple of hours, and the hairdresser, makeup artist, manicurist and pedicurist would be here soon. She would be wearing a red lace gown by Valentino. She needed to put the dress on before everyone else arrived.

  Priya tidied up while Meera stared blankly at her laptop, then went to her own room to get dressed. Jake hadn’t written to her. She began a new email to him, but the words seemed hollow and completely wrong. She slammed the screen shut.

  She stood and stretched; she was exhausted from the endless ladies’ luncheons her mother had insisted on in addition to the work she was doing at her father’s practice. She looked around her room. Her mother had designed it, and it had been featured in one of Britain’s top home design magazines. It was the best in modern furniture, with sophisticated silver, black and gray accents. She thought back to Jake’s room at the ranch, the warm colors, the sense of comfort and home. She needed to talk to him, hear his voice. It would be early in Hell’s Bells; he would be doing the morning feed.

  She opened her dresser and took out a plain wooden frame with a yellowed picture inside, showing her with her parents the day she was adopted. The peeling walls of the orphanage stood behind them as she held her father’s hand, a big smile on her face.

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks and gazed around her room again. At least fifty children would have slept in a room this size at the orphanage. Her parents may have brought her back to this house, but her former life was always with her. She never left food on her plate, she enjoyed the feel of fine clothing, she happily wore the sparkly diamonds her parents gave her and she never touched dirty things. It was what she wanted. It was what she’d worked for all her life.

  So why did she feel as empty and alone now as she had waking up every day at the orphanage?

  She put the picture back in the drawer, burying it under several layers of folded scarves. She needed to put on her dress. Most of the out-of-town guests had arrived and would stay the two weeks until the wedding. There were events each night to keep the six-hundred-person wedding party entertained. Meera shuddered to think what it would mean to send them all home. For the little orphan girl to embarrass the people who had given her
everything.

  Priya came back. “Meera, you’ve got to get ready.” Meera sat at her dresser, unable to move.

  Priya went to her closet to find the dress. “What’s this?”

  She was holding a package wrapped in brown paper. Meera frowned, then remembered. When she’d driven through Hell’s Bells to go to the airport, the townspeople had come out and waved. Meera almost ran Joe over when he stepped in front of her car. He’d handed her the package and said it was a gift from Lily. Preoccupied with thoughts of Jake, Meera tossed the package into her bag and hadn’t thought about it since.

  She tore the paper and gasped. It was a white wedding dress with a strapless sweetheart neckline and little beads across the bodice that ended in a satin belt. She held up the dress, watching the skirt fall in layers.

  She hadn’t bought the silky material for Lily. She must have spent a month’s salary on the materials.

  With Priya’s help, she slipped the dress over her head. She studied her reflection. It fit perfectly. Not a stitch out of place. The tight bodice showed off her petite frame and the layers made her look taller than she was. It was exactly what she wanted for her wedding, something simple and elegant.

  The hope and love sewn into the dress choked her. She buried her face in her hands and let the tears come. Pain raked through her body.

  “Did your patient make it?”

  Meera nodded, unable to speak.

  “It’s actually really nice.”

  Meera couldn’t take it anymore. She slipped out of the dress and handed it to Priya. “Put it away.” Priya looked at her quizzically. “Get it away from me. Now!”

  Priya folded it and rewrapped it in the brown paper. Meera went to her closet and brought out the engagement dress she was supposed to wear.

  She stepped into the dress, and Priya zipped her up. The dress alone could have covered the loans Jake had begged the banks for to save the ranch. He had refused to let her lend him money...not that she had much of her own. Her parents had bought the dress, just like they bought everything else for her.