The CEO Came DOA

by Heather Haven

  “What do you think, Lee?”

  “I don’t know, sweetie.”

  “Do you think I should meet them? They’re flying in day after tomorrow for the funeral.”

  Sharise seemed unable to stand, and would have slid down to the floor, if Gurn hadn’t held her up. I answered her child.

  “I don’t know, but maybe you should meet them. See what they’re like. If you like them, if they’re nice people, if your gut tells you they’re telling you the truth, you can go from there. Take Katie with you and listen to what she thinks. She has your best interests at heart.”

  “Yeah, I will.”

  She paused for time. I even thought she might have gone away. But no.

  “I hope they are. Nice, I mean. It would be like, cool, to have grandparents.” I could hear the hope in her voice.

  “Yes, it would, Skye. Family is always cool.”

  There was a moment’s silence. Then Skye spoke again, this time more upbeat.

  “Okay, I’ll see you in, like, a few, Lee.”

  “You betcha. I’ll see you.”

  “Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  I heard her move away from the door. Finally. I wiped at the sweat dripped down my forehead and at the back of my neck. A sense of relief flooded through me.

  “Thank God she couldn’t barge in here. I didn’t want her to see any of this.”

  There was a moment’s silence. Sharise’s faraway voice made me look at her anew.

  “Oh, God, what am I doing? That was my little girl out there. Let me go, please. I won’t give you any more trouble.” She leaned the back of her head against Gurn’s shoulder. “Please.”

  Something in her voice caused him to release her. He stepped away, put the safety back on the gun, and shoved it in the waistband of his tuxedo pants.

  Sharise sank to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs. Drawing her body in, she rocked back and forth, as if to comfort herself. When she spoke, it was hard to understand the words, but we let her talk.

  “You think I don’t love my baby, but I do. I just taught myself not to think about her or let it get in the way of my life. I hope my parents mean it. I hope they learned their lesson. But you never know about people. It’s all a crapshoot.”

  Throwing her head back, Sharise let out a hollow, empty laugh, so sad it brought tears to my eyes. She spoke again, this time in a firm, unemotional tone.

  “Get me out of here. Call your cop friend but let’s make believe I never showed up to where my little girl is. Please. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have.”

  I looked at Gurn and he looked at me. I took my phone off the counter and speed dialed Frank.

  I basically apply with my teams the lean startup principles I used in the private sector go into Silicon Valley mode, work at startup speed, and attack, doing things in short amounts of time with extremely limited resources.

  Todd Park

  Chapter Forty-one

  Mom and I stood at the rear of the family room, having entered from the butler’s pantry on the sly. The lush sounds of chamber music filled the air. The string quartet had arrived late due to the weather. Fortunately, the wedding had been delayed by the police’s hasty departure with a subdued Sharise. Showing up miraculously two minutes before the new scheduled time, the quartet trooped in just as we were wondering how we could do the ceremony without them. Boom box, anyone?

  Around one hundred and fifty guests sat on folding chairs crammed together in the connected living, dining, and family rooms. Sliding doors that can fold into themselves provided opened walls for just such an occasion, courtesy of an architect with options on his mind.

  The wedding guests sat facing the temporary ceremonial altar backlit by the blush of soft lighting emanating from the bay windows. Dozens and dozens of cream colored LED candles glowed on various levels, flickering between bursts of holly, pine cones, and fresh baby’s breath. After the chapel incident, Mom swore never to have a real candle in the house again.

  Tugger and Baba had more or less loped down the aisle a few moments before, rings tied to their necks by two gorgeous satin bows; red for Baba, green for Tugger. Guided by the steady hand of Tío, the single lead separated into a double at the bottom and attached to a harness on each cat. It controlled them somewhat as they scurried down the aisle almost as one.

  The only iffy moment came when a child reached out and grabbed Tugger’s tail. Spooked, Tugger leapt about four feet into the air, landing on the other side of Baba. She panicked and together they picked up speed, racing down what remained of the aisle, dragging Tío behind. My elegant and cool-headed uncle made it look like the quickened pacing had somehow been part of the ceremony. He retrieved the rings from the cats’ bows, gave them to the padre, tucked a cat under each arm, and sat down in the front row, bride’s side. During a round of applause from spectators, I felt my heartbeat return to something resembling normal.

  Then in rhythm with Pachelbel's Canon, all ten bridesmaids, two by two, started down the aisle. How my mother managed to find over a hundred cream-colored LED candles at the last minute I don’t know, but their placement on either side of the narrow makeshift aisle, served as warmth, light, and delineation. Space being at a premium, the women walked as closely together as they could without banging into one another.

  There was a clear view of the ceremony site for an instant, as the bridesmaids crowded on either side of the altar, one grouping gowned in forest green velvet, the other in ruby red. So Christmassy, so perfect.

  In front of the decorated bay windows was the marital archway, white roses woven in and out of its lattice frame. Under the arch stood the padre, Gurn, and my brother. The setting was absolutely beautiful. Why I doubted Mom could pull something like this off in less than forty-eight hours I’ll never know. She’s a miracle maker.

  “I wish Gurn had allowed me to put concealer on his black eye,” Mom said, leaning into my ear. Her voice was resigned rather than annoyed, as she had initially been. I studied my beloved waiting for me at the end of the aisle.

  “The yellowing does clash with the tuxedo,” I said. ”But every man has his limits, even Gurn. He really isn’t into makeup.”

  The padre noticed me and moved to the center of the ceremonial archway. A shift of his eyes in my direction and a slight nod was all he gave. Bride in place. Good to go.

  Just then the man I loved saw me and shot me one of his glorious smiles. A sense of calm came over me. I knew it would be all right. Everything would be all right.

  The string quartet stopped playing and silence filled the grand room. Richard caught sight of me, as well, and stepped away, taking the empty seat in between Tío and Vicki. Vicki was holding Stephanie, quiet and sleeping.

  Everything was perfect. Even though it seemed like everything had conspired against us, from burnt out churches, murderous ex-wives, and howling rainstorms, this was happening. I was getting married. Nothing could interfere. Nothing could go wrong.

  The quartet began to play the Wedding March. It was time to retrieve what I called my ‘cheat sheet’ from inside the bodice of my gown.

  Whoops!

  Missing.

  Gurn and I were supposed to write our own vows, more to appease my mother than anything else. One could say I hadn’t had a lot of spare time recently, so it didn’t get done. In fact, I’d forgotten about it until a few hours before the wedding.

  Too clever by half, I decided to cheat. I went on line, and found Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee,” a poem of which I knew only the first two lines by heart. But that didn’t matter, I told myself, I would simply read it aloud. So I printed out a copy for the ceremony.

  I took a deep breath and reached inside my bodice for the absentee paper again. It still wasn’t there. I groped and groped. I heard the strains of the Wedding March. Everyone stood, turned, and glared at me. I panicked.

  “Mom, I can’t find the paper with my vows,” I whispered. “How will I r
emember what I’m supposed to say?” I looked at my mother, sheer terror enveloping me. “It must be here somewhere.”

  I began a really frantic search, patting down myself from shoulder to waist. There wasn’t much room for anything else inside the dress besides me, but you never knew. Watching, the room began to giggle. Well, not the room, but everyone in it.

  “Liana, Liana.” My mother grasped both of my shaking hands in her cool, serene ones to stop them in their quest. “You don’t need any paper.”

  She let go of my hands and reached behind me. Gathering up my tulle veil, she brought it up and forward, covering my face. Adjusting it, she went on.

  “Just say what’s in your heart, dear.”

  “I can’t remember what’s in my heart,” I croaked.

  “You will.”

  She held on tight to my arm and gently pulled me down the aisle. I tried to follow in time with the music.

  Left pause. Right pause. Okay, got it.

  I’d asked my mother to ‘give me away’ as the saying goes, because with Dad gone I felt closer to her than anyone else on earth. Except the man I was heading toward. But it probably would have been confusing to ask Gurn to give me away.

  We walked closer and closer. I don’t even remember breathing.

  When we arrived at the end of the aisle, I resisted the urge to pat myself down one more time. My mother took the bouquet from my hands and gave it to my matron of honor. Then, after lifting my veil and kissing me on the cheek, she placed one of my hands in Gurn’s and took her seat on the aisle next to Tío.

  “Hi,” Gurn said so softly only I could hear him.

  “Hi,” I replied, just as softly. I felt giddy with happiness.

  The padre cleared his throat, stepped forward, and began the ceremony. I would like to say I heard every word he said. I haven’t a clue. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. All I could feel was the love I bore this man.

  I’m sure the words had something to do with ‘do you’ ‘forsaking all others’ and ‘til death do you part’; the standard, wise old saws unless you’re the one standing in front of loved ones and your community listening to them. Then they become the most important words in the world. Too bad I missed them.

  “And now Lee and Gurn would like to make a declaration of their love for one another in their own words,” the padre suddenly said.

  Gurn nodded, but I shook my head. Until that moment, and filled with such joy, I’d forgotten I lost my cheat sheet. No one paid attention to me. Gurn took my left hand in his again, my new gold wedding ring sparkling on my third finger, and looked at me. All I could think was,

  Jeesh, when did he memorize his vows? In the midst of fighting for his country? And no cheat sheet?

  “Lee, you are an amazing, loving, funny, and beautiful human being. I’m so fortunate you decided to share your life with me. At first I thought, can this be happening to me? Can I be this lucky? Can I have everything in the world? Maybe, maybe not. But I’m going for it. I’m going to try to be worthy of you, try to give you the love you deserve. I vow to love you each day just a little bit more than the day before. And that will be for now and for always, ad infinitum, an eternity of you and me. You are my one, true love. Thank you, my beloved, for returning that love.”

  He stopped speaking and looked at me. I looked at him. It was my turn.

  “Oh, Gurn.” My voice trembled with emotion. “Backatcha.”

  A titter arose from the onlookers. A titter arose from Gurn and then he winked at me. I winked back.

  “A woman of few words,” he said in a clear, loud voice. “Could it get any better?”

  The crowd burst out laughing. So did I.

  Gurn looked out at the happy throng of those near and dear. “Only kidding, folks. She can say anything she wants, at any length, and at any time.” He paused dramatically. “Just try and stop her.”

  The crowd roared, during which time he turned to me and said in a quieter voice, “I love you; no embellishments.”

  “I love you; no embellishments,” I whispered in return.

  “You may now kiss your bride,” said the padre, returning us to a more somber state.

  Gurn drew me into an embrace.

  Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

  Steve Jobs

  Chapter Forty-two

  “I’m sorry I didn’t have time to memorize my wedding vows.” I didn’t look at Gurn when I spoke, but laid my head on his shoulder.

  “That’s all right, babe. It went just fine. Actually, it went better than fine. It was funny.”

  “When I locate my cheat sheet, I’ll read you what Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know how you feel.”

  “Good, because I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it.”

  Exhausted after five hours of wedding festivities on top of everything else, we were in bed looking up at the ceiling, laid out in our matching pajamas. The cats were draped across our feet, sleeping soundly. Gurn turned to me.

  “You know the saying, ‘No good deed goes unpunished’?”

  “That’s when you do a good turn for someone and instead of thanking you, they smack you for it?”

  “This time your good turn saved our bacon.”

  “You mean inviting Skye to the wedding.”

  “Skye being there is what caused Sharise to give up without someone getting hurt. Congratulations, Lee, on setting another old wives tale to rest.”

  “I think the reality of what she was doing hit her when she heard her daughter’s voice. It changed everything.”

  “I was glad Frank snuck Sharise out, so as few people as possible knew she was there.”

  I looked at Gurn. “But then he would. He’s a father. He tried to protect Skye, especially as it didn’t make any difference to the final outcome. Sharise confessed to everything.”

  Gurn patted my hand. “Let me ask you a question, is your mother talking to me?”

  “Not really.”

  “The makeup thing?”

  I nodded. “She’ll get over it. While we’re on the subject of mothers, do you think your mom is mad at me because of what Tugger did?”

  “The scratches will heal, hun.” Gurn kissed me on the forehead. “It’s all fine.”

  “Never sneak up on a cat.”

  “Lesson learned.”

  I nodded and yawned in my new husband’s face. “Sorry.” I stifled the next yawn. “I could sleep for a week.”

  “I’ve got other plans for you.”

  “That’s if you can stay awake, yourself, bub. I wonder if Mom was pleased overall with the wedding? I mean the ceremony went beautifully, but the reception didn’t go quite the way she’d planned. On the other hand, your dad’s toast was just the best.”

  “I know. Too bad the section of the tent over his head decided to collapse from the rain just then. I think the applause would have gone on a lot longer, otherwise.”

  “At least it didn’t come down on the wedding cake. Or the booze. That would have really put a damper on things.”

  “When did we get the call from the caterer saying his van was trapped in a flood on 101 and there was no way he was showing up with the food?“

  “I can’t remember, Gurn. It’s all a blur.”

  “I thought for sure we were screwed.”

  “But we had Tío’s canapés and wedding cake.”

  “Unfortunately, there weren’t any entrees.”

  I turned and looked at my new husband, searching his face for an answer. “Do you think the guests noticed?”

  “You’re kidding, right? People were passing out TicTacs, until we cut the cake. Thank God there was enough of it.”

  “And everyone went back for seconds, because it was delicious.”

  “Because they were starving.”

  “I hope the photographer meant it when he agreed not to sue us for his camera getting ruined. But I think the tent people have som
ething to answer for. Canvas really should be sturdy enough for a little wet weather.”

  “It was a monsoon with gusts up to thirty-five mile an hour, Lee. That’s not a little wet weather.”

  “My gawd.” I let out a sigh. “No wonder my veil blew away.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t blow away.”

  “But still and all, I would have liked to have had some pictures of the wedding.”

  “A lot of people took pictures with their phones. We’ll have something. You looked beautiful, sweetheart, every man’s dream. I’ll always have your image in my head. I don’t need any reminders.” He reached over and nuzzled my neck.

  We were silent for a moment then intertwined our left hands together. We stared at the gleaming gold rings adorning our ring fingers and what they symbolized. I interrupted the silence with a whisper.

  “I hate to use the word catastrophe...”

  “…and yet it seems so apropos,” Gurn whispered back.

  We shared another moment of silence. I felt a giggle rise from the center of my being. I heard Gurn rumble with a chuckle next to me. Both came to the surface at the same time, and we burst out laughing. We didn’t stop for a while.

  “Poor Mom,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes. “She’ll never live this down. Even the toothpicks washed away. I’m sure Lila Hamilton Alvarez is wondering how this could have happened to an event she planned so long. Should I ask her how she felt it went?”

  “Don’t, Lee. That’s sort of like asking, ‘and other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?’”

  I wiped my eyes again. “It’s over for our guests, but you and I still have to go on a winter wonderland honeymoon in Tahoe, when neither of us can ski. I can’t help but feel a little bad about that.”

  “I postponed it.”

  “You did?”

  “Early this morning. I didn’t think we’d want to spend a week looking out the window at all the other skiers. We’ll go sometime in March. I hope that’s okay. I forgot to tell you what with one thing and another.”