His Make-Believe Bride

by Frankie Love

  Alice bites her bottom lip shaking your head in disbelief. “How did I get so lucky to find you?”

  “If I remember correctly, it took you nearly drowning for us to meet.”

  This gets her laughing again, and then someone comes on stage with a microphone, telling everyone to head outside so we can wish the bride and groom off.

  Alice and I follow the crowd, and everyone is given sparklers, and they light up the night with hundreds of glittering wands.

  The crowd parts for Alice’s sister and her husband. The pair rush through us, toward a white limousine. Everyone claps and smiles, and for a family wedding, I’m surprised at how undramatic this one has turned out to be.

  Anna stops and gives Alice a kiss and tells her she loves her.

  I watch, knowing that in a good moment, a lot can be swept under the carpet.

  As they drive away, some guests return to the reception, and others leave. Alice and I go to the bar to get a drink, and when we get there, we’re greeted by her father and Peter Gunheight.

  Alice looks at them, clearly annoyed, muttering under her breath to me, “Sorry, baby.”

  I just shrug it off, I can handle these two men.

  “Aiden?” Alice’s dad says to me. “We need to have a word with you.” His voice is tough, stern.

  “Dad, can we just wait ––” Alice starts but her dad cuts her off.

  “No. This can’t wait. Peter here told me you two were engaged.” Dad’s eyes are fiery and I run my hand over my beard glancing at Alice who just rolls her eyes.

  “Peter, that is my business, okay? You don’t need to run off and tell my dad things that are none of your concern.”

  Peter crosses his arms smugly. “Well, it is my concern. I care about you Alice, I always have. I’m going to end up with you.”

  “I’m not a prize you can just claim. I’m a woman. And I happen to be in love with Aiden.”

  “So, it’s true?” her father asks, steely-eyed. “You’re engaged to this man?”

  I step in “There was a miss––”

  “Aiden, you don’t need to justify anything to them,” Alice says. “It’s none of your business, Peter. So please, leave well enough alone. It’s my sister’s wedding,” she says. “Please don’t make this about anything else.”

  “We waited until she left before we confronted your supposedly ‘fiancé’,” Peter hisses. His use of air quotes really pisses me the fuck off.

  “Alice, you may say you’re in love with this man,” her father says, looking me up and down with disdain. “But you don’t know anything about him.”

  “I know enough, Dad,” Alice says. Her determination makes me so damn proud of her. She may have seen herself as weak and small before, but Alice has found her voice and it makes me swell up with love for her.

  “No, Alice, I don’t think you do,” Peter scoffs. “He is just using you. And probably wants your money.”

  “Did your fiancé tell you he was married?” her father asks.

  My face goes white, my heart constricts. No fucking away.

  “Married?” Alice asks confused. She looks over at me. “What is he ––” she shakes her head. “Aiden?”

  “Yes, technically, but I swear it’s not – –”

  Peter pulls up his phone. “His marriage to Sheila Morgan took place in Juneau, Alaska two years ago. And they are still married, according to last year’s tax turns.”

  “That’s fucking bullshit ––”

  “Sheila?” Alice asks. “The Sheila I met?”

  “Yeah, the Sheila you met, I’m not keeping anything from you. She’s my ex.”

  “Your ex what?” Alice asks. Her father and Peter are watching everything we say with concentration.

  “My ex-wife. At least soon to be ––”

  “Soon to be?” Alice’s mouth falls open in shock. “Aiden, you’re married?”

  “Alice ––” I reach for her but she has already stepped away, covering her face in shock.

  “I trusted you. I loved you.”

  “Love. Not loved. This is still me and this is still you. A fucking certificate doesn’t change anything.”

  “Yes, it does. A certificate changes everything.” Alice shakes her head, tears streaming down her face.

  Her mom sees that something is happening and rushes over, but Alice just pushes her away before walking through the crowd.

  And then she’s gone out the door.

  “Don’t you dare go after her, you fucking asshole,” Peter warns me.

  “You don’t understand,” I try to explain. “It isn’t like that. It’s a whole legal mess––”

  But her dad raises a hand to cut me off, shaking his head at me.

  I can’t stand around and justify anything to these men.

  I just need to find Alice.

  I need to explain.

  The concierge won’t tell me what her room number is.

  Her family certainly won’t either.

  She doesn’t answer her phone. Doesn’t respond to my texts.

  I try knocking on random doors at the hotel, but the manager tells me I have to stop waking up guests or I’ll be kicked out.

  I don’t want that to happen. I figure I can stand in the lobby until she comes out of her room because eventually, she has to leave this place.

  In the meantime, I pull out my phone and punch in a number.

  “Hello, Aiden?” Lewis, my lawyer, is on the phone.

  Thank God he picked up, it’s certainly not office hours.

  “Hey, it’s an emergency.”

  “What kind?”

  “I need to settle with Sheila. Tonight. Tomorrow. Just as soon as fucking possible.” The line is silent for a few minutes too long. “Lewis? You still there?”

  He coughs. “You sure you’re thinking straight? We’ve been fighting her on this for two years, Aiden.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “She’s asking for 15 million and a monthly stipend for the next five years.”

  “I know. I don’t care. Give her whatever she wants. Fifteen million isn’t even a third of what I own. And I need this done in the next twelve hours. Less, if it’s possible. Find her, get her to sign. Send me the contract.”

  I get him the hotel information, tell him where he can fax documents--knowing how essential it is that we get this taken care of before it’s too late.

  Fearing it already is too late.

  He gives a low whistle. “Why the change of heart?”

  I run my hand over my beard. “I met someone.”

  “Must be someone pretty special.”

  “More than special. I met the woman who is my soulmate. My heart. My everything.”

  No more games.

  No more make-believe.

  No.

  I need Alice as mine, no matter what it costs.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I turn off my phone, lock my door, and take a long hot shower.

  This can’t be happening.

  I fell in love with a married man.

  How could he have done this to me? And how could I have been so blind, so stupid, so naïve?

  The part that hurts the most is that it was my father and Peter who told me. Not Aiden. It also means they were right and I was wrong. Aiden isn’t the man for me after all.”

  Aiden, who had plenty of chances, to be honest with me.

  As I wash away the day, the shower masks the tears that continue to pour from my eyes, I try to make sense of Sheila and Aiden.

  Remembering their conversation at the bar, none of it makes sense.

  She was engaged. Was throwing it in Aiden’s face. And Aiden wasn’t having any of it.

  I wrap myself in a towel, trying to decide how to proceed. I crawl under the blankets, so exhausted, and I close my eyes, telling myself it will just be for a few minutes. I’ve been taking family photos, getting hair and makeup done, played a piece, made love with Aiden... confessed my love to Aiden. Ugh. I roll to my stomach, buryi
ng my face in the pillow. It’s all too much for one day.

  I wake up to someone knocking on my door. Shouting at me. “Alice, open the door. It’s your mother and father. We mean it, open up.”

  Groaning, I roll over, looking at the alarm clock, and I’m shocked to see it’s eleven am. I must have really been worn out . I can’t remember sleeping in like this.

  “Alice,” my dad calls. “Open the door or we will ask the manager--”

  “I’m coming,” I call, standing and reaching for a bathrobe. Cinching the belt at my waist I let down my hair and reach for the doorknob. My feet hit a manila envelope that has been slid under the door.

  I lean over for it and then open the door for my parents.

  They push right in.

  “Alice, we need to talk,” Dad says.

  “I know, just...give me a second okay?”

  They sit down in the armchairs in my room, and I sit on the edge of my bed opening the manila folder.

  “Oh, you haven’t read it yet?” Mom asks.

  “Read what?”

  Mom and Dad exchange a look I don’t recognize.

  Apology?

  “Open the envelope, Alice,” Dad says.

  I do. When I slide out a stack of papers, my lips push forward as I try to register what I’m holding.

  Flipping through the stack, my heart stops.

  “What...?” I blink back tears, holding a divorce settlement dated this morning. A settlement Aiden gave Sheila for fifteen million dollars.

  Holy crap. Aiden is loaded.

  “Dad... Aiden isn’t... married?”

  “I’m sorry, Alice,” my dad says. “I didn’t know the details. I let Peter...”

  “We didn’t realize his intentions,” Mom adds.

  “Intentions?” I look at her, so confused. “Why do you care? You have acted like Aiden doesn’t matter since the moment I mentioned him. Now you find out he is a millionaire and he is good enough for me? Good enough for you to come here and pretend like we have a relationship?”

  Mom’s eyes fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Alice. I know I’ve made a mess of things.”

  I snort. “You have spent the last year acting like I was an idiot. And now you have a change of heart? Why?”

  “Aiden wrote us a letter.” My mom reaches for a paper in her purse and hands it to me. “A letter that changed everything.”

  Dear Mr. And Mrs. Camry,

  As you can see from the contents of this envelope, I married Ms. Sheila Morgan two years ago. Immediately after which, I discovered her intention of taking my fortune. We entered a two-year legal battle, which I decided to end last night after the truth of my marriage was brought to light.

  Yes, in technical terms I am married until this paperwork is filed-- but in my heart, it has been over since the day it began.

  The settlement that includes one-third of my fortune is absurd--but what is even more outrageous is the idea that I might lose your daughter’s heart over money.

  I love Alice with all that I am. I intend on marrying her, which is why I need to settle with Sheila now.

  I ask not only for your daughter’s hand in marriage but also for the chance to get to know you. I know on the surface I may not appear to be the man you imagined for Alice. I am not Peter Gunheight in any way, shape, or form--nor do I want to be.

  The only thing I want to be right now is your daughter’s husband. And I want her to be my bride.

  --Aiden

  I cover my mouth with my hands, my tears dripping all over the letter.

  “I need to see him. Talk to him.”

  “You can’t let him give his ex the money,” my mom says. “You have to talk him out of it.”

  I shake my head. “Mom, don’t you understand it was never about money for me? It was about love. True love. And I love Aiden.” I reach for my phone. When I turn it on I see I’ve missed his calls and texts.

  There are a few voicemails. One from him and one--

  “Dad, the symphony called.”

  “Before you listen to the message,” Dad says. “I need to tell you something.”

  My forehead creases, confused.

  My dad looks uncomfortable, not a word that I ever use on him. “I want to talk about what happened after we played at the reception.”

  Oh. Meaning when my dad hugged me like he loved me. Like he was proud of me.

  “You did so well at the audition, and then yesterday, it was… a moment I’ll never forget.” He runs his hands through his hair, not meeting my eye, and when he does, I see there are tears in his.

  “Dad, are you crying?”

  He brushes his hand over his eyes and shakes his head. “I know I’ve been intense ... that I’ve pushed you. And I’m sorry, Alice if that has made you hate me.”

  “I don’t hate you. I just sometimes wonder if you resent me. Resent me for still playing when you had to quit.”

  Dad places a hand on my shoulder. “Alice, no one ever fought for me. For my dream. I never wanted that for you. After you girls were born, and my career as a cellist hadn’t taken off, and I knew there were bills to pay and a mortgage to cover, I knew I needed to step up and get a real job. No one suggested I keep at it until I made it big. No one told me I couldn’t quit.”

  I nod, slowly, seeing my father clearly for the first time in my life. “And that’s why you keep pushing me. You don’t want the same thing to happen to me that happened to you.”

  “I messed up, of course. And I’m sorry. But I hope you believe my intentions, at least, were good.”

  His revelation rocks my world. I’ve spent so long been angry with him. Never once trying to understand him.

  “You make sense to me, but I wish you and Mom wouldn’t be so controlling. I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes, Dad.”

  “I know. But just like me, she has her reasons for being the person she is.”

  I scrunch up my face. “She wants an in with the Gunheight family because they get tickets every year to New York Fashion Week.”

  Dad laughs. “Guess we all have our reasons for acting the way we do.”

  “I do too, Dad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m terrified of failing again. Of disappointing everyone. So, I protect myself by keeping everyone in the family at arm’s length.”

  “Between you and I, Alice, let’s try something new.”

  With that, my Dad pulls me into a hug. We aren’t at arm’s length anymore, Right now, my dad is embracing me.

  With my parents’ acceptance of me, and of Aiden, I press play on the voicemail, holding my breath. “Hello, Alice Camry, we know this isn’t customary to do over the phone, but we wanted to call and offer you a spot as fourth chair cellist in the Seattle Symphony.”

  My father gasps, my mom reaches for my hand.

  I did it.

  “I can’t believe it,” I say.

  “I can,” Dad says firmly. “I absolutely can.”

  I try Aiden’s phone, but he doesn’t answer. But I remember which room he is staying in. The room where we made love yesterday evening. My body is electric with the memory. My skin still tingling from his touch.

  I knock on the door. Then pound. When it opens, I try to focus on what I want to say--but then another woman is standing there.

  “Can I help you?” It’s housekeeping.

  “Is Aiden ... the guest in this room still here?”

  “Yes, he hasn’t checked out. But he isn’t here now.”

  ‘I see, thank you,” I say backing away. I run down the staircase brushing past my relatives who also stayed here after the wedding, only having one goal in mind. Finding Aiden.

  I ask at the front desk, look around the lobby. Nothing.

  Finally, I head outside, and then, down past the lodge. On the dock, stands a man.

  The only man.

  My man.

  I run toward him. Barrel, really. I run as fast as my little legs will carry me.

  “Aiden,” I
cry, as I near the dock, my pace not slowing. Desperate to be in his arms.

  He sacrificed so much to be with me.

  I should never have doubted him.

  “Alice,” he says, his face brightening when he sees me.

  But then my foot catches on a plank of wood. My body flies toward him, knocking him off balance, throwing us both into the water with a splash.

  I’m underwater, my hands waving, my head pushing upward.

  Aiden’s hand is on my waist, pulling me up. We surface, my chest icy, my body frigid. This water is nowhere near as cold as the Alaskan Inlet, but it is far too cold for me without a wetsuit.

  “What the hell, woman?” he says, laughing, pushing me out of the water, helping me get up on a dock for the second time.

  The first time, I didn’t know who the burly Alaskan man pulling me from the water was. I didn’t know if I should be terrified of his strength and size… but Aiden is the least scary man I’ve ever known. I am his and he is mine and I’d fall into the water every day if it meant my man would rescue me.

  I crawl up with his help, and then he pulls himself up after me, his clothes wet and tight on his body, and his biceps easing him onto the dock with a swift movement.

  “Aiden,” I gasp, as he pulls off his wet shirt and shoes. “It’s too much, what you did. The letter. The divorce. The money. And I don’t care that you were married. It’s a technicality. I was upset because I thought you didn’t trust me.”

  He looks at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world. Like he’d do anything in his power to make sure I’d never break.

  We’re both freezing cold, the memory of when we met still fresh in my mind, and he pulls off my sneakers, my sopping wet socks.

  “Alice, I would do anything for you. I should have explained more, sooner, but we happened so fast. I’m so sorry.”

  “Shh,” I say, wrapping my arms around his bare chest. “Don’t apologize. Just promise me.”

  “Promise what? Because Alice, I’ll give you the whole damn world. You already have my heart.”

  “I want you to promise that you’ll always save me when I nearly drown.”