“Mellie and I wanted just a simply ceremony without any fuss or bother. Unfortunately, our families had other ideas,” he continued. The wedding was now to take place at the Baptist Church, with a huge reception to follow at the community center.
“I’ll tell you one thing, Bailey. There’s nothing quite like marriage, nothing like exploring the secrets of the woman you love.”
“Mellie doesn’t have any secrets from me. Sometimes I think I know her better than I know myself,” Bailey replied.
Tanner laughed as if enjoying his own private joke. “You’re in for a rude awakening, Bailey. Women have more secrets than old barn cats have fleas, and discovering them only intensifies the intimacy of the marriage.”
Tanner laughed once again and reared back in his chair. “Listen to me, I sound like some sort of advertisement for the sensitive male of the century.” He leaned forward. “But honestly, Bailey, I’ve never been as happy as I am with Colette.”
Bailey saw the happiness on Tanner’s face. It curved his friend’s mouth, shone from his eyes and for just a moment a shaft of envy swept through Bailey.
He shoved the uncomfortable feeling away as he stood. “I hate to eat and run, but I do have a big day tomorrow.” The big slice of pot roast he’d just eaten sat heavily in his stomach as he thought of the wedding the next day.
Tanner rose as well. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Tell Colette thanks for the wonderful meal,” Bailey said as the two men stepped outside onto Tanner’s porch.
“No problem,” Tanner replied. “I hear the town council appointed you as the judge for the Miss Dairy Cow Contest.”
“Yeah. Why did you back out?”
Tanner shrugged his broad shoulders. “The main reason was because I’d promised Colette the minute she moved here from Kansas City, we’d get her shop up and running. I wasn’t sure how much time that was going to require. So, have you seen SueEllen Trexlor naked yet?”
Bailey shot a startled look at Tanner, who laughed. “How did you know?”
“Right before I withdrew my name as judge SueEllen showed up here one night wearing a raincoat and nothing else.”
“She was in my shower the other day, waiting to help scrub my back,” Bailey explained.
“Poor SueEllen.” Tanner shook his head ruefully. “She wants that crown badly and doesn’t realize displaying herself won’t get it for her.” Tanner grinned. “But she does have a nice figure, doesn’t she?”
Bailey returned the grin. “I didn’t notice.”
“Yeah, right,” Tanner replied dryly as Bailey got into his truck. “We’ll see you tomorrow evening at the reception.”
Tomorrow evening at the reception. Tanner’s words echoed inside Bailey’s head as he drove home. More than once that day he’d had to fight the desire to phone Mellie and call the whole thing off.
He’d definitely overreacted to the whole Miss Dairy Cow thing, had been vulnerable because of SueEllen’s naked appearance and had fallen prey to Mellie’s crazy scheme for a baby.
Still, even though he’d wanted to call her and back out, he hadn’t. It was no longer a matter of just letting Mellie down.
Things had spiraled way out of control. In the past week his mother and Mellie’s mother had been like twin tornadoes, blowing away any obstacles that stood in the way of a day to remember.
Flowers had been ordered, a caterer found, the community center had been reserved and a band had been hired. He’d been fitted for a black tux with yellow cummerbund and tie, and wedding gifts had been arriving at the house for the past three days.
He had a feeling nothing short of his death could force an end to the events he and Mellie had set into motion.
One thing easy to dismiss was Tanner’s assertion that part of a marriage was discovering each other’s secrets. Mellie with her bright-green eyes and freckled face was like an open book to him.
He knew what she liked to eat and how her nose turned bright red when she cried. He knew her politics tended to lean to the right, that her left-front tooth was a crown and that her nickname when growing up had been “skinny, minny Melanie.”
He certainly had no secrets from Mellie and he hadn’t been lying when he’d told Tanner that he knew her better than he knew himself.
No, there would be no surprises, no wondrous awakenings to deepen any marital intimacy between Mellie and him. Hopefully he could succeed in getting her pregnant right away, then they could have a quiet separation and an uncomplicated divorce.
But what about the baby? A little voice whispered in his head. For the first time he considered the outcome of this deal with Mellie. The outcome would be a tiny human being…Bailey’s baby.
Bailey had never thought much about having children. Stephanie had made it clear when they’d married that she wasn’t particularly interested in having a family. Bailey had suspected she felt the same way about children that she did about animals…they were messy and dirty and required too much attention.
He parked his car in front of his house, then walked to the barn to check on the pups. No wonder he loved dogs. They were so remarkably uncomplicated. Feed them, water them and scratch them behind the ears, and they offered back unconditional love.
He only hoped this brief marriage to Mellie remained as uncomplicated as it had sounded when they’d first agreed to it.
Melanie stood before the mirror in the church’s ladies’ room, staring at the reflection of the bride in the glass. She’d told her mother all week she didn’t want a wedding dress, that her beige suit would work just fine, but Marybeth Watters was not about to allow her daughter to be married in an old suit.
The dress they’d finally agreed upon was a simple, but traditional white gown. A slick silk with tiny seed buttons down the front, it clung to Melanie like a second skin, delicately displaying the thrust of her breasts and the slenderness of her waist.
Her hair had been braided and coiled around her head, the bright copper color broken up by baby’s breath and daisies tucked into the coils.
“You look beautiful,” her mother said, and turned her around to face her.
Melanie wrinkled up her nose with a rueful grin. “I look as beautiful as a freckle-faced, redheaded woman can look.”
“Nonsense,” Marybeth said. “You look absolutely beautiful.” With tears sparkling in her eyes, she hugged Melanie. “I’m so happy for you, dear. I just know you and Bailey are going to be so happy together. The whole town has known for years that the two of you were meant for each other. We’ve just been waiting for the two of you to realize it.”
Guilt swept through Melanie as she returned her mother’s hug. She swore that once this particular lie was finished and over, she’d never do anything like this again. In the end her mother would forgive her the broken marriage if Melanie presented her with a new grandbaby.
“I’m going to check to see that everything is ready. I’ll be right back, dear.” As her mother left the small room, Melanie turned back to face the mirror.
There was nothing Marybeth Watters loved more dearly than her grandchildren. Her bout with cancer a year before had made Melanie realize how short life could be and had driven into a frenzy Melanie’s desire to have a child.
And now it was finally going to happen. Her cheeks pinkened as she thought of the night to come. She moved away from the mirror and to the window, where dusk was cascading with purple hues to claim the last of the day’s light.
In just a few minutes she and Bailey would be married, and tonight, after the reception, they would go to his house and she would crawl into his bed. They would have sex and hopefully make a baby.
Before the shiver that had started at the base of her spine worked its way fully to her shoulders, her mother opened the door. Eyes shining with the tears Melanie knew she would shed during the brief ceremony, she simply said, “It’s time.”
Melanie picked up her bouquet from the counter and drew a deep, steadying breath. She didn’t know why she sudden
ly felt so nervous.
It was Bailey, for crying out loud. Bailey, who had reluctantly dressed up like a sheep to play opposite her Bo Peep one Halloween, Bailey, who had taken her on her first roller coaster ride. He was her very best friend. As quickly as the nerves had stretched taut inside her, they relaxed. It was just good old Bailey, and everything was going to be fine.
As Melanie stepped out of the rest room and into the hallway, she heard the swell of the organ music playing the bridal march.
The group inside the sanctuary would be small. Both Melanie and Bailey had insisted that only immediate family members be allowed into the church. However, Melanie suspected most of the entire town would turn out for the reception following the ceremony.
Her father awaited her, and with a gentle smile he took her arm in his. “You look gorgeous, pumpkin,” he said softly.
“Thanks, Dad.” She squeezed his arm tightly and then the two of them began the slow walk up the center aisle of the church.
Her heart pounded in her ears, and nervous tension made her feel a slightly suffocating sensation. Then she saw Bailey. He stood next to the preacher, tall and handsome in the black tux. His yellow bow tie was slightly crooked, and he had a look of sheer panic on his face as his gaze darted around the room as though seeking a quick exit.
Then he saw her and his eyes widened slightly as if in surprise. Melanie fought against an impulse to giggle. She couldn’t believe they were actually doing this and knew he was feeling the same sort of surreal disbelief that she was.
As her father gave her hand to Bailey, she winked at him. One corner of his lips curved up in a half smile and he winked back. Within five minutes they were officially man and wife.
The kiss that sealed their union was the kind Melanie was accustomed to receiving from Bailey, a light sweet peck on the lips.
“I can’t believe we did this,” he said a few minutes later when they were in his truck and headed toward the community center. He pulled at his tie, as if it was in the process of slowly strangulating him. “By the way, you don’t look bad in a wedding dress.”
“Thanks, and you aren’t totally ugly in a tux,” she replied, returning his backhanded compliment.
He flashed her a quick grin as he pulled into the already crowded parking area of the community center. He found a parking place, pulled in, then cut the engine and turned to her. “Well, we did it.”
“We did half of it,” she replied and to her surprise felt the warmth of a blush stealing over her cheeks. “I have now officially saved you from the claws of the crown-crazed single women of Foxrun. Now all you have to do is fulfill your end of our bargain.”
“You want me to do that right here? Right now? I’ll try, but I have a feeling the stick shift might get in the way.”
Although he was teasing her, she saw an edge of tension in his eyes, felt it radiating from him. Or was she feeling her own edge of tension about the night to come?
“I think before we do anything rash, we should probably go inside and enjoy the reception your mother and mine spent hours pulling together.”
“You’re right.” He pocketed his keys and opened his door. “Time to go in and pretend to be the happily-in-love-forever couple.”
It was all a game of pretend, Melanie reminded herself as she and Bailey walked toward the community center. He held her hand, his fingers strong and warm wrapped around hers.
There was a crowd of well-wishers standing just outside the door, and Melanie and Bailey’s appearance was greeted with cheers as bird seed rained down on their heads.
Laughing, they raced toward the door and entered the community center, which had been transformed by their mothers into a ribbon-and-crepe-paper wonderland.
A lace-covered table at the front of the large room held a fountain spewing champagne and a three-tier wedding cake.
The band members were tuning instruments on the small bandstand in one corner, and the long banquet tables were filled with friends and neighbors and acquaintances.
Melanie lost Bailey as she was engulfed in dozens of hugs. She was passed like a football from arms to arms, hugged and kissed and congratulated until the faces began to blur in her mind.
She caught a glimpse of Bailey, being slapped on the back and kissed on the cheek by well-wishers. He had the same dazed look on his face that she knew covered her own, as well.
Her mother rescued them, grabbing first Melanie by the arm, then Bailey and leading them to a table with a beautiful centerpiece. “You two sit here,” she instructed. “In just a little while the band is going to play the first dance just for the two of you.”
They both sat. “I feel like I’ve just been mauled by a wild pack of rabid dogs,” Bailey said as he straightened his tie.
Melanie laughed. “They all mean well.” She frowned as she saw a familiar old man making tracks toward them, a glass of champagne in each hand. “Uh-oh, here comes my uncle Jack,” she warned Bailey.
Jack Watters, while one of Melanie’s favorite relatives, was also more than a little bit outspoken and eccentric. He plopped the glasses of champagne on the table before them. “Drink up,” he exclaimed. “You’re several glasses behind everyone else in the room.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Bailey said and took a sip of the bubbly.
Jack clapped Bailey on the back. “If it was a hundred years ago, we wouldn’t be sitting here at this reception. We’d be throwing a jamboree, beating pots and pans outside your window while the two of you consummated your marriage. But this being the century that it is, I imagine you two have been going at it like rabbits for years.”
“Uncle Jack!” Melanie exclaimed as Bailey laughed.
“Ah, loosen up, Melanie,” Uncle Jack replied, then ambled away from their table.
That’s exactly what Melanie tried to do as the party wore on. She danced the obligatory first dance with Bailey, cut the cake with him and shared a toast. But with each moment that passed, rather than loosening up, she was tightening up.
Bailey on the other hand was definitely getting more and more loose as the night wore on. She’d lost count of the number of glasses of champagne he’d drunk, but the intense sparkle in his eyes and the slight flush on his cheeks let her know he was precariously close to his limit.
She, too, had drunk more champagne than usual, but each glass she drank seemed to make her more stone-cold sober. Tonight. The thought of her and Bailey in bed together caused every nerve ending in her body to tingle with a strange kind of energy, and the sensations were only getting worse with each passing minute.
She looked out onto the dance floor where Bailey was dancing with her aunt Nancy. He’d shed his tux jacket long ago, and his shirt was unbuttoned to expose a tuft of dark chest hair.
Bailey loved to dance and he did it well, moving with a natural rhythm and grace that Melanie had always envied. She had two left feet on the dance floor and considered dancing as desirous an activity as a root canal. Bailey had already danced with nearly every woman in the room, and in the past hour the crowd had begun to thin.
Melanie thought it was protocol that the bride and groom leave the reception before the bulk of the guests did. With this thought in mind, she stood with the intention of reining in her husband and taking him home.
Her husband. Bailey’s mother’s ring on her finger felt cold and alien, as it had from the moment he’d slipped it on her hand.
He was her temporary husband, but also her lifetime friend, she reminded herself, and this thought dispelled some of the tension she’d been feeling about the night to come.
She stood at the edge of the dance floor until the band stopped playing and Bailey and her aunt stopped dancing, then she walked over to Bailey. “I think it’s time we make an exit,” she said. “It’s customary for the bride and groom to leave before the guests.”
“It is?” He cast her a big grin. “We certainly want to be customary, don’t we?” He threw an arm around her shoulder, and as they made their way toward the door, te
lling people thank you and goodbye, she noticed he was more than a little unsteady on his feet.
“Maybe it would be best if you drive,” he said as they approached his truck. He dug into his pocket for the car keys. “I’ll be fine by the time we get to my place. I’m just feeling a little bit woozy.”
“I’ll be happy to drive.”
Within minutes they were heading in the direction of Bailey’s house. Bailey, apparently still functioning beneath the haze of an alcoholic buzz, was talkative, as she knew he tended to get when he drank.
“Did you have a good time?” he asked. “I had a great time,” he replied, not waiting for her to answer. “I never knew it could be so much fun to get married. Stephanie and I didn’t have a reception or anything like that. Of course, if we had, she would have been totally ticked off with me for dancing with everyone. But you aren’t mad, are you?”
“No, I’m not mad,” she replied, keeping her gaze focused on the road. “I know how much you love to dance.”
“That’s one good thing about you and me, Mellie. We understand each other.” He reached over and patted her on the shoulder. “You’re a champ, Mellie.”
She wasn’t feeling like a champ. As she parked the truck in front of Bailey’s house, she felt like nothing more than a mass of bunched and bundled nerves.
For years she’d dreamed of losing her virginity on her wedding night, and always in those dreams she was giving herself to a prince of a man who loved her with a depth of emotion that was overwhelming.
Instead, she’d given up those dreams and twisted Bailey’s arm into marrying her so she could have the child her heart so desired.
They got out of the truck, and Bailey staggered slightly as he took the porch stairs. “You don’t really want me to carry you over the threshold, do you?” he asked.
“I would expect and demand it if this was a real marriage,” she said, although in her heart she couldn’t help but think it might have been nice under different circumstances.
If the Stick Turns Pink... Page 6