“Ethan?”
“Hmm, who’s that? Peach is that you?”
“Yeah, morning. Erm, how are you?” I started awkwardly, not certain I could broach the subject that easily when my supposed husband barely knew my voice on the phone.
“Ergh, what time it is?”
“Around ten. Listen, how is your memory of last night, because mine seems to have cut off at a certain point,” I probed. He did not sound entirely cogent yet but surely he would have answered with equal alarm if he did remember.
“Yeah, it was a great night, I think we may have over done the blushing brides… wait! Oh, shit,” he said pausing dramatically.
“Yes?” I asked, holding my breath with the anticipation of the revelation.
“Around ten you say? Crap I overslept, I’ve got to get going. Ow, my head!”
I empathized with his last exclamation of anguish as he had obviously tried to sit up quickly and was just as hungover as I was. But it was clear he couldn’t remember either. At least he sounded a little more alert and was perhaps ready for the bombshell I was about to drop in his lap.
“Ethan, I may have a bigger shocker for you than what time it is. Do you not remember anything from the chapel?” I asked, continuing to prod him in the right direction.
“Hmm, not really. Hey I really have to get on the move, I have a delivery to oversee. How would you like to come along with me, that way we can talk more? Go over the details of what I’ll need you to do.”
That did actually sound better than this ineffectual phone conversation, and despite the drama of our situation I did have the urge to be around him again. I agreed with the idea and after a couple of aspirin I urgently got ready, my body cursing every movement I made.
Thirty minutes later he was there to pick me up, in a rather nice car as it turned out. I hopped in and sank into the luxurious leather seat.
With a quick greeting we were on our way.
“Brought you a coffee. Thought we both could use it.”
“You’re a godsend!” I exclaimed and took the waiting cup from its holder.
As I sipped, waiting for the caffeine to work its magic, I glanced over at him, reminded of all the affection I had felt for him yesterday. Today was no different, it was clear I was very attracted to him from the way my body reacted. I could barely sit still.
Ethan was dressed smartly, ready for business. He also smelled fantastic. We were both, if our eyes were anything to go by, still suffering the effects of our overindulgence last night. Makeup had struggled to improve my sore tired eyes, and his, even though still gorgeous looked a little red around the edges.
“So where are we heading?” I asked, still uncertain of when was the right time to tell someone that you were married to them, and show them the certificate that was safe in my bag.
“It’s about an hour away. There’s a big wedding party for a rather special client, I need to be there on behalf of the winery to oversee the delivery and schmooze some.”
“Face of the company and all that is it? Not a bad face for that, I have to say.”
He simply nodded and smiled at my daft compliment, his smile made me easily forget my hangover. Maybe there was nothing but to dive right into the news I had. I started to open my mouth, trying to form the words, but couldn’t quite find the right way to say them.
“So what was it you were going to tell me before?” he asked as if sensing my hesitation, taking his gaze off the road for a moment.
“Okay… please don’t be mad. But, erm… So you don’t remember the chapel at all last night, right? Because there is something you might need to know,” I started, he raised his eyebrow and waited. I bit my lip and held back the laugh. “Apparently we did more than just visit.”
“What do you mean? What did we do?”
“I… we—”
“Did we have sex?” he said at the exact same time I said: “We got married.”
“What?” was the best response he could manage.
I hadn’t realized just how quiet a car could be until that moment, even the engine seemed to be holding its breath as we silently continued down the road.
“I found the marriage certificate when I woke up this morning. It’s in my bag now. I don’t remember it happening though… Do you?”
“Holy shit. You can’t be serious?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“But we were so wasted. You wouldn’t think they’d let us. I don’t understand… So we’re actually husband and wife now?”
There was something about hearing it out loud from his lips that made my heart flutter. He appeared to be taking this better than I had imagined—the car hadn’t gone careening off the road, that I had to take as a good sign. I watched his features as he absorbed and contemplated the news.
“I suppose it’s not far from the plan we already had in mind,” he said slowly, “I mean, obviously it was an accident and I am sorry for the ridiculous circumstances—”
“It was a shock for sure.”
“And we didn’t have sex?”
“No,” I replied.
“Good.”
My heart twisted at this.
“Wait, no. I didn’t mean it like that, Peach. I’m glad we didn’t because I’d want to remember…”
“Oh,” I said and hid the smile that tried its best to creep onto my lips. “You’re right though, we need to keep this professional, all business right?”
He merely nodded. “True. For the best. And I’ll be happy to arrange an annulment next week. What do you say, all we have to do now is pretend to be madly in love, could you do that?” he asked with an irresistibly endearing smile.
I offered a sound of contemplation and sat there for a moment watching the scenery pass by. It was odd how comfortable it still felt being around him, my husband. The feelings I did have kept overshadowing the terms of our arrangement, I had to remind myself of the purpose of all this. A week or two of this charade and I would have all the money I needed to set my life straight and perhaps start a new one. I could stop waitressing, stop putting myself through torturous auditions, and start the wedding business I’d always dreamed of.
“Well, okay,” I started confidently after my period of thought.
“One thing though,” Ethan interrupted. “In order to get an annulment everything has to be strictly above board. We can’t let things get out of hand like they did last night.”
“You mean…” I trailed off knowing he was taking my business comment seriously, and I was immediately regretting it. No sex, no intimacy, nothing. Could I go ahead with that all the while knowing my feelings for this man, my husband, were growing?
“Yes. For your sake, as much as mine, this has to be a business arrangement and nothing else. Can you live with that?”
“Can you?” I hurled back, catching him off-guard. The car swerved slightly. I looked out the window and smiled to myself.
“Yes… of course,” Ethan replied, though some of his earlier confidence was no longer evident in his voice.
“I’m sure I can manage to keep my hands off you, Ethan,” I said with a coy glance. Maybe I was a better actress than I thought after all. “But we’ll need to know plenty more about each other, right?”
“Certainly, and we’ve got another forty minutes driving. Seems like it’s a good time to start.”
We spent the rest of the journey interrogating each other, mining for knowledge, both factual and make believe. It was like we were creating ourselves as the perfect couple, a whirlwind romance made in heaven.
We bombarded each other with fast paced queries about favorite foods, movies, animals, colors, and so on. We were wrapped up in the questions as a fun game, laughing with delight at each other’s most surprising responses. I even delved deeper into our cover as we dreamt up our first meeting, our first kiss and what we most loved about the other. We each got a little quieter with these more emotionally invested subjects, saddened perhaps by the fact we’d never get to experience t
hem if we went ahead with an annulment.
However, they were essential to our cover and great background for method acting my role, though I found myself answering with more honesty than necessary.
How odd it felt to be telling this man my genuine feelings even though it was under false pretenses. With this thought I considered his responses and whether they held any truth. I watched his face as he focused on the road, deciding that maybe he was being as honest as I’d been.
“What?” he asked, glancing over at my intent gaze.
“Nothing, just thinking.”
It wasn’t much further until we arrived at our destination, a rather elaborate villa, with miles of land surrounding it. Ethan informed me it belonged to an old friend and client of the Dalton family and he was there on behalf of the winery to ensure the delivery and that all the arrangements for a big party went smoothly.
We passed though the gated security and meandered up the long drive. Ethan parked up at the side of the villa where there were several vans and a scurry of people unloading boxes and chairs.
“Here we are, are you ready to put our charade through its paces?” he asked with one hand paused on the door handle. “Though we don’t need to announce our relationship status here. It might be fun to see how convincing we are.”
“Sure thing, honey,” I said gleefully, “after you.”
We strolled through an open arch carefully avoiding the passing haulers, some of which nodded and greeted Ethan, employees I presumed. They occasionally glanced toward me with a certain curiosity. I already felt on display. I made sure to walk directly beside Ethan with the air of one who belonged, what I didn’t need to fake was my interest in the surroundings. It was obviously quite the wedding celebration, flowers and white chiffon abound, it was quite the season for weddings and I was in the midst of it again.
“Ethan, my good man,” said a well-dressed middle-aged man as he greeted us, shaking Ethan’s hand vigorously.
“Michael, how are things looking for you? Only the best selection of wines for you,” Ethan replied.
“Rather well, and I must say that 2014 pinot noir you sent over is absolute heaven. You’ll have to hold some bottles back for me because they’ll be none left here after tonight. But enough about wines, who would this be? More than an associate I hope for your sake, Ethan?” the man asked offering me a hand shake.
“Yes indeed, Peach please meet Michael Lawson, an old friend of the family and also our best client.”
The man waved off the flatteries and shuck my hand.
“Charmed, you’ll be pleased to know that I am a little more than an associate,” I said stroking Ethan’s arm beside me, settling into my role.
“Good to hear it, it’s about time this fellow had some better luck.”
Ethan looked noticeably uncomfortable at this remark and quickly changed the subject. He flagged down one of the passing employee’s with some quiet instructions. I took the moment to step forward beside Michael taking in the view of the grounds and the party decor.
“Looks like quite the shindig.”
“Ah yes, he didn’t tell you? My son’s wedding, this is all for the reception, quite the ordeal I must admit.”
“It all looks fabulous, you’ve done him proud. Though do those center pieces look entirely central to you? Would you mind if I—”
“Please my dear, don’t be afraid. To be honest my wife would have been the best at this rest her soul. But you sound like you have quite the eye. If you want to get stuck in while you’re here by all means please do. I’m sure my niece is around here somewhere, she’s taking care of all the wedding planning, but she won’t mind you helping.”
Ethan returned at this point with his secret gift for Mr. Lawson, a rather old and rare bottle from his winery. Unable to resist my involvement in the party decor a moment longer I left the two gents to it and dove in, adjusting the center pieces and correcting wayward stems, and unable to resist, fluffing or re-tying the bows at the backs of the chairs.
After that, it was like I’d broke the dam and I couldn’t help but continue. Luckily, my connection with Ethan and the host gave me the credibility to issue instructions and have things arranged without question. I quickly made more improvements to the decor and hastened up the arrangements of further tables, and making sure things were a little better organized. I was completely in my element with the planning and hurried back and forth to the vans investigating all elements involved. Eventually I bumped into Michael’s niece who looked completely overwhelmed. She was so grateful for my help and even broke down at one point, saying it had been more stressful that she’d though. But together we got the job done.
As I worked I caught snippets of conversation between the two men. “She’s a keeper” and “Let’s hope so” caught my ear specifically.
It was a nice thought but obviously one that couldn’t ever last, not if an annulment was already present in Ethan’s mind.
5
Ethan
It had been another fine day with Peach. I had never expected her to be so in her element with the arrangements at the reception. Michael and everyone seemed over the moon with her. It was no wonder she had wanted to call herself a wedding planner for our arrangement. She was a natural, I had asked her what she might do with the money from our arrangement and she happily discussed a wedding planning business, it all made great sense.
I began to feel even guiltier for the circumstances and how I was using her. I still couldn’t really believe we were actually married. It was not generally in my nature to mislead or manipulate anybody. I had stumbled into this through necessity as well as an unquenchable desire to be around her.
Maybe I was using the circumstances to force myself into the companionship that I had avoided for so long? But now I was in the thick of it, falling down the rabbit hole of our arrangement, it was getting harder to tell truth from fact. I knew how I felt when I looked into her eyes, that was real. But how could I tell her that? It felt cruel to do that at this point, especially when we’d decided there would be no chance of intimacy. I’d promised her the annulment. I couldn’t go back on my word.
With everything ready at the reception I had to nearly drag her away. It was easy to see where her passion lay and extracting her away from all the wedding coordinating was almost heart breaking.
It was quiet now back at the car, all the other people, employees, and vehicles had left ready for the party in a couple of hours. We were all alone, and I stood before her admiring the glow she had from the delight in her recent activities.
“So how do you think we did?” I asked.
“Hmm, you mean as a couple? Great I’m sure, though we still might not hold up if anyone was to interrogate us.”
“I’m sure we can test each other on the way back. Speaking of which, where do you want to go? I’m heading back to the estate I think, you could join me, if you’re feeling brave?”
“As daring as it might be to meet your family now, I am pretty tired and still a little hungover. I have plenty to take care of. Mundane stuff, plus I have work tomorrow. Could you drop me off at home?”
“Sure.” The sudden thought of dropping her home and not seeing her again for the rest of the evening pained me. I also realized how closely we had drifted together as we spoke, her lips were enticingly near and I had to fight the rising urge to kiss her.
Had I even kissed my bride during our drunken ceremony? I couldn’t remember. Like much from that night we had to merely make presumptions, that thought and the make believe first kiss we had discussed in the car before made me want to kiss her badly. What a fine way it would be to horribly complicate things, I had no right to do that.
“We better get going,” I quickly said.
“Yeah, I think so,” she replied, apparently shaken from the same revelry.
With Peach, or should I say my new bride, deposited safely home I headed back to mine. The family estate west of the city. It had been home for not just my entire
life but for three generations of my family.
It had been built up from humble beginnings by my great grandfather in the hay day, as Las Vegas began its rapid rise. Now it was hopefully going to be my time to take over the reins, which sorely needed to happen.
There had been a slow but persistent decline in the state of the business. For years there had been a growing separation in the management ideas for the place, between my mother, father and the third most invested party, my cousin Nial. He ran the finance and legal side of the place nowadays, and he rarely masked his ambitions for more. It was easy to imagine him whispering in my parents ears to undermine me and he no doubt had some part in the contract stipulations I now faced, bringing back an old tradition for the inheritor to be engaged, that had long ago been done away with.
Since my father’s death these tensions had found new heights. My mother, who had grown even more distant in her grief, conspired with Nial over bizarre new side ventures. She never seemed to consider my involvement in the business as serious or as required. And while I networked, nurturing clients and opportunities she only saw it as a frivolous party life. I was glad I would be able to circumvent the ridiculous hurdle to my inheritance, though I had been struggling on the drive back from Peach’s about how to break the news. Maybe the best way was just to let them have it, what could they do about it? It was after all what my mom seemed to want if the contracts were anything to go by.
I found my mother and Nial talking in my father’s old office. Mom sat at the desk while my cousin lurked by the window that had a view out over the southern vineyards. They both turned slowly to watch me enter. I could feel the atmosphere of defiant expectation from the moment I entered the room.
“Ethan, I presume Michael was content with today’s deliveries?” my mother started. “I also hear you even raided the private cellar for a generous gift.”
“Perfectly happy and he sends his regards,” I replied, resisting any debate about my gift.
For the first time in my life I now knew how badly I wanted to run the business, without someone always looking over my shoulder or seconding guessing my decisions. I was not sure if it was because of the adversity my mother and cousin were presenting or my new found passion for life Peach seemed to instill in me. Either way, I was ready, and I would not be undermined any longer.
His Blushing Bride_The Cocktail Girls Page 3
