by Gina Leuci
I could hear the distant sound of tractors and wondered if Kevin, another of the so-called summer interns, was mowing the lawns in the downtown area again. It was almost lunchtime now. The streets were busy as people headed out to do errands or hit the diner for lunch. At the moment, I hated each and every one of the townsfolk of Wellington. How could they allow two couples to be forced to marry against their will? How could they be so accepting of a ‘law’ that had to date back to the founding of the town? Laws that us newcomers were completely unaware of.
“Please tell me there are no more surprises I need to know about.” I asked the question hoping for reassurances, but when Caleb didn’t answer immediately I felt my chest tightening.
His words, when he finally spoke, did nothing to alleviate my fear. “As far as I know, there are no more videos until a couple is expecting.”
I felt another rush of heat engulf my face. I spun around to face him halting him in the middle of the sidewalk. I finger jabbed him in the chest. “Let’s get something clear, here and now. You. Me. We are not married. I don’t care what the pastor guy claims. And what we saw back there?” I shuddered. “Not happening. So there will be no more explicit movies.”
Caleb put his hands up in surrender. “Whoa, Grace, we’re in this together. I think you know I have no intentions to rush anything.”
“Rush? There’s nothing to rush. I’m out of here at the end of the summer, if not sooner. End of story. End of whatever the hell this is.” I turned and stormed away, but not before I noticed my outburst hadn’t gone unnoticed by an older couple walking hand in hand across the street. Good. Let them see how pissed I was. Surely someone in this messed up Jonesville-wanna-be town would start to question the town elders.
Caleb caught up and his tone was low, for my ears only. “I told you, I will go to the council meeting on Wednesday.” A random thought crossed my mind, and I slowed my pace again. “Now what?” he asked.
“What if…” I tried to formulate my thought into a coherent, reasonable request. “Caroline and Aaron got married and got to go home to visit her family, right?”
He caught on. “You want to know if you get to go home as well.”
A slight glimmer of hope invaded my overwhelmed thoughts. “Makes sense. The precedent was set.” It would get me out of this gated hell-hole, and once I was out, I would never return.
“I’ll see what I can do. As a matter of fact,” he nodded toward the building housing the town offices. “Want me to go speak with our illustrious manager now?”
I nodded.
“Fine. Why don’t you wait for me over at the park?”
I watched until he entered Town Hall, but I didn’t cross the street to the playground filled with kids. I wanted to hear what was said. I followed and entered the building. I asked the first person I spotted to direct me to the town manager’s office then walked down narrow hallway. The door was open just enough to hear inside, and I heard Caleb’s deep tone.
“Don’t you think this has gone far enough?”
Roger’s snarky voice echoed out into the hallway. “You knew the plan from the beginning, but you interfered.”
“When you said you wanted to recruit from colleges, I was against it,” Caleb retorted. “This town has always searched out those looking for a safe sanctuary, not us picking and choosing and holding people here against their will.”
“They all came willingly. They all signed a contract.”
“They all came here with the understanding they would be returning home.” Caleb’s voice was terse but controlled.
I pressed against the wall, trying to peek around the door, but I couldn’t see either man as Roger continued to speak. “And all but two decided to stay on of their own accord.”
“Do you hear yourself? The two who want to go home were coerced into a compromising situation to benefit your children. How convenient.”
There was a loud bang, causing me to jump. Roger’s voice turned from ice to anger. “Why did you have to interfere? Five more minutes and both of my children would be happily married right now.”
I strained to hear Caleb’s response. “Are you condoning rape to get what you want?”
“Of course not. The mere appearance of a sexual interlude would have provided the opportunity for them to be married. Instead, you intervened, broke my son’s arm, and then spent the night with the girl yourself.”
“The only thing I did was stop Leland from ending up with a prison record, because from what I witnessed, Grace wanted nothing to do with him. As for the rest, the storm hit, and we couldn’t safely make it back. We found shelter and fell asleep.”
“From the way you two were tangled together, you can’t tell me nothing happened. You’re just like your father, ruining the reputation of young girls. You’re lucky you’re not in a cell for what you did to my son.”
Roger was back to his snide self, and I half wanted to run in and punch his smug face. The other half of me wanted to know how Caleb would react. I gripped the door jamb as I held my breath, needing to hear the rest.
“By the way,” the owner of the deeper voice said, “I am attending the council meeting on Wednesday. I will be putting in a request to take Grace to Vermont so I can meet my new in-laws, like Aaron did with Caroline.”
“Have you consummated the marriage?” From his tone, Roger knew we hadn’t.
“Excuse me?”
I pressed a hand to my mouth to muffle my gasp of shock. I didn’t want Roger to know I was there.
Roger continued in a confident tone, “It’s my understanding you haven’t even ordered your wedding rings. Until I know you are both taking the marriage seriously, that girl is still under her contract. No phone. No internet. No contact with her family.”
Caleb began to pace, and I pressed against the wall so he wouldn’t see me. “Jesus. Why did I ever come back to this place?”
“Don’t you take the Lord’s name in vain, young man.” The town manager was going full steam. “You want to go visit her parents, then you get her pregnant. Give her incentive to stay. She won’t leave her child behind, and we won’t allow a Wellington to be raised out in that dangerous civilization.”
“You’re being unreasonable. This marriage is a farce, and you know it.” Caleb’s voice, while still low, maintained his steely control. “I’ve decided to send Grace home to Vermont.” Tears of relief sprung to my eyes at Caleb’s declaration.
“Not happening.” Roger’s nonchalant tone had me peeking through the open doorway again, this time not caring if I was noticed. “We have high moral standards that includes no divorce. Unless you plan on leaving Wellington with her, she stays.”
“I never signed on for this, Roger. We brought everyone here under false pretenses, and your children happened to choose the two people who want to go home.” I heard Caleb’s boots hit the floor while he paced the office, his voice rising as he spoke. “Up until now, I’ve gone along with keeping them here because they signed a contract, but I re-read the wording the other day, and everything about this is off.”
My fingers were white-knuckled on the door jamb. It took everything in my power not to burst inside the office, but I had to hear what Caleb said, and I didn’t want to interrupt as things were just getting good. Caleb was standing up to Roger. He was keeping his promise.
“What they signed, the so-called contract you had drawn up, never says they are leaving at the end of the summer,” Caleb revealed.
I stepped back from the door in shock. Holy shit. He was right. The wording had said: For the duration of your stay.
Roger wasn’t surprised. “What’s your point?”
“You never intended for them to leave when you sent me on that recruitment mission, did you?” I didn’t hear a response before Caleb continued. “I’m an officer of the law. I refuse to be a part of holding someone here against their will.”
“Like I said,” Roger stated, “If you help her out, you go, too.”
There was on
ly a slight hesitation, before I heard a response. “Fine.”
“If that’s your decision,” the town manager’s voice was almost too casual and I once again moved toward the door. “It’s a shame, though, that your children won’t have their father around. You brought them home to raise them under the safety and security we offer here in Wellington. They are one of us. They stay.”
Even through the door, I felt the air go icy cold. “Those are my children, Roger.”
“They are Wellingtons. No child under the age of eighteen leaves these gates. That is our law. You knew that when you moved back.”
Roger’s voice faded a bit, maybe he moved further into the room, I’m not sure, but I had to press against the door again to hear him. “The choice is yours. You can stay and make the best of your new marriage, have a few more kids, and enjoy the freedoms of what our life here offers. Or you can cause another scandal by helping Grace leave these gates. If you do, you’ll be banished from town, like your father, and lose custody of your children, like your father. I think you know what you need to do. You can go now. Don’t bother coming to the meeting. The rest of council will already be briefed.”
As Caleb exited the room, he nearly tripped over me. “Grace.” His arm snaked behind my back, and he led me quickly out of the building and away until he sat me at an empty bench just outside the entrance.
He squatted in front of me, eye level. “How much did you hear?”
“All of it.” My stomach cramped. My eyes hurt from holding in tears. “I’m not going home, am I?”
“Never say never.”
I held out my arm with the bracelet. “Take it off, I know you can, and let me leave.”
He traced the skin around the bracelet and sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m not the only cop in town. If the bracelet is disengaged or shut off, an alarm goes off at the station. The entire town will be shut down before you reach the gates.”
I saw the shadows in his eyes. “And if you help me, your kids will be taken from you. This town is a prison, don’t you see that?”
He took a seat beside me and placed my hand between his two. “Maybe I’ve known all along, but a part of me wanted to believe it was a place of security for my children who’d lost their mother to violence. I needed to come home. I needed to belong. I saw what I wanted to see.”
“What do we do now?” While I asked, I knew this man didn’t have the answers. And even if his eyes were opening to the true nature of what was in front of him, I couldn’t be quite sure I had a true ally. While he’d promised to get me home, I couldn’t ask him to sacrifice his children for me.
As of this moment, going home to my family was not happening, and it scared the hell out of me.
Chapter Four
It’s very easy to crawl inside oneself and not want to come out. I went back to the apartment, got into bed, hid under the covers, and stayed there. I didn’t cry. The pain in my chest was too much for any type of emotional outpouring.
I wanted my parents. I wanted to talk to my dad, who always knows the right thing to say no matter how crazy the situation. I wanted my mom, who despite her preoccupation with the restaurant, always takes time to hug and check in with me and my sister. And Sarah. More than anything, I wanted to see her kooky, smiley face and hear her loud, obnoxious laughter.
But Roger had made it clear I was never going back home to Vermont.
Unless I was pregnant.
The fetal position wasn’t small enough for the way I felt. I should never have come here this summer. Hah! Like I could have ever predicted the complete insanity of this tucked-away town.
I would wager a bet, if I ventured to the nearest town outside of Wellington and asked what they thought about the people here, they’d have nothing but good things to say. Sure, they lived behind a gate, but the residents appeared to move freely in and out, going to jobs, to college, and all are super polite.
The façade of this place was amazing. I’ve had my ups and downs, but I can’t deny how, with a few exceptions, most of the people I’ve met here are friendly and welcoming. I never thought I’d stay once the summer intern program was over.
Caleb checked on me before heading to his parents for dinner and to tuck his kids in. He checked on me again when he got home, before heading into the other bedroom to sleep on the floor.
In the morning, he made me tea and eggs and put them on the nightstand. “Grace, today is Independence Day. There are lots of activities going on throughout town. A parade this afternoon. Fireworks later. Do you feel up to it?”
I ignored him and the food. I know he left the apartment at one point, but other than going to the bathroom, the bed was my new haven.
I pretended to be asleep when I heard him return. I had no concept of time so I was surprised to hear a knock on the apartment door a while later. I rolled over, uncovering my head from under the pillow so I could hear who the visitor was.
“Hi, Mom.”
Rita. Oh, sure. Caleb had his mom around to see and talk to. I can’t even call mine.
“Is she still in the room?” I heard the woman ask. If he answered, I didn’t hear the response. Maybe he nodded, but his mom continued. “Is there anything I can do?”
“I don’t think so. Can I ask a question, though?”
By the fluctuating tone, I could tell they’d moved from the door toward the couch. “When you married Dad, did you have a hard time adjusting here?”
His mother seemed unfazed by the sudden question. “Sure I did. I was seventeen, almost eighteen. I wasn’t able to finish high school and moving away from my family was difficult.”
“Strange, but I never heard how you met. I guess, when I was old enough, you and Dad were in the midst of the divorce, and Dad was, well…”
“Yes, I suppose at that time I wouldn’t have been receptive.”
When the air conditioner cycled on, I shifted on the bed, rolling so my head was at the bottom, closer to the closed bedroom door so I could listen to their conversation.
“Your father was a real charmer back then. He was fresh out of the police academy and looking to get experience, so he’d do whatever grunt work he could get at the police station in town which was located only a block from my high school.”
The older woman gave a little chuckle. “He always managed to finish his shift in time to walk me home. Then it led to going for a soda. We’d only known each other three months before we had sex, and before long I was pregnant with your sister.
“Bruce immediately stepped up to do the right thing. He said there was no other option but to get married, and he swooped me up and brought me here to Wellington.”
Caleb continued to question his mom. “But you got to go home to see your parents, right?”
“Oh, goodness, no, I never went back,” she said. “They disowned me when I got pregnant so young.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, needing to hear every word. It was as though Rita didn’t realize she was confirming my every suspicion about this town. And from Caleb’s questions, her revelations were equally eye-opening for him.
“You never tried to reach out? Or they, you?”
“Your father said there was no need. If my parents didn’t accept the situation when it happened, then they weren’t good parents and didn’t deserve my time.”
Was Caleb thinking the same thing I was? Bruce had used a ruse to keep Rita here? “What about when you divorced? Did you think about going home?”
“Oh, heavens, no, not with you children to think about. Besides, there were too much drugs and violence outside of our gates. No, no. This was a much better place to raise you. You should understand. It’s why you came back here to raise your children.”
I heard rustling and knew his mom was getting ready to leave. “Give her time. It’s a shock right now, but she’s been here a couple months now. Surely she has seen what our wonderful town can provide for her.”
“Yes, I’m sure she has.”
They’d moved closer to
the door. “We’ll be heading down to The Square for the festivities. Are you coming?”
“No. I’ll stay here. Can you give the kiddos a hug from me?”
“You know I will. I love you, son.”
I sank back onto the bed. This farce of bringing people here to marry had been going on for quite a while, but under a more subtle façade. From what I heard, I don’t think Caleb’s mother even grasped the enormity of her captivity over the years.
If this behavior had been going on for years, no wonder no one had intervened on my behalf at the church. I crawled back under the covers and wished for sleep. Wished for anything but the dreaded sense of hopelessness filling my soul.
Not much later, I heard another knock on the apartment door and groaned. Why couldn’t people leave us alone?
“Is Grace here?”
I recognized Jake’s voice immediately. I should talk to him, but getting out of bed would take too much effort. He was trapped as much as I was in a forced marriage, but in a way he’d brought his on himself. I’d told him not to sleep with Hope the Siren.
Caleb answered, “Let me check.” The door swung open, but I already had the pillow over my head again. “You have a visitor.”
I grunted back. “Not now.”
He stood at the bedroom door for a few moments. Not moving. Staring at me. I could feel the intensity but I refused to budge and he caved first, closing the door once again.
“Sorry, Jake. She isn’t feeling well today.”
“Oh, okay.” My heart bled a little at my friend’s dejected tone before I heard him leave.
The door swung open again. “Grace, it’s time to get up. Get moving.”
“No.” I was being stubborn. I wanted to go home, and this place was not my home. “Leave me be.”
I heard him walk away and when I peeked out, I realized he’d left the bedroom door open. Ugh. I still refused to get up. I moved my head to the top of the pillow but covered it with the sheet and blanket.
