Cloaked

by Shore, Lauren

  “But, we really didn’t do anything.”

  “Please, we’ll meet tomorrow.”

  “Alright, alright. But, I you should consider yourself lucky. I never got to play with big bros credit cards, you lucky duck. At least have lunch with me though so we can talk.”

  Catherine knew Glen wouldn’t be home until late anyway and she liked Lauren a lot, so decided to stay, “You twisted my arm.”

  They went to a little Italian restaurant around the corner and sat down. Lauren quickly made a phone call to the dressmaker and promised to call to make another appointment very soon. They ordered fairly quickly and were brought drinks.

  As soon as they finished Catherine heard the question she knew was inevitable, “So, what exactly happened between my brother and you before the engagement?”

  Catherine knew what she was getting at and figured she might as well tell her because chances were she would know from someone else just as quickly since she was in the country again. On the phone she avoided the topic, but there was no getting around it now. “Well, is has to do with my Uncle, basically he is James Martin.”

  “I see.” Lauren knew precisely what that meant and decided to stop this conversation now because she already heard everything she needed to know. She liked Catherine and if her brother could put it behind him, so could she. “I’m sure whatever it was is alright now, or you wouldn’t be marrying my brother.”

  “True, it is. But, it’s not totally off my mind.”

  “It should be, because obviously it’s off Glen’s.”

  Catherine smiled and was happy for Lauren’s support. After lunch was finished Lauren starting probing Catherine about meeting tomorrow and the dressmaker. “You know, the wedding is not going to plan itself.”

  “Alright, we’ll meet tomorrow and go to the dressmaker.”

  “Alright, but first thing. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop at six, they open early.”

  “Six?!”

  “Alright, seven.”

  “Seven?”

  “Catherine!”

  “Alright, I’ll meet you there at seven.” She said begrudgingly.

  Lauren smiled, they hugged, and Catherine grabbed the nearest taxi to go home.

  When Catherine walked in the house she noticed the limousine idling in the driveway and knew Glen was at the house. It was a surprise because it was only two o’clock. She walked over to him, “What are you doing here honey?”

  He walked over and kissed her, “Waiting for you.”

  “Ooo, I could get used to this.”

  “You better start getting used to it, because you aren’t going to ever get rid of me.”

  “I like that, a lot. But, we need to talk.”

  “Uh-oh. That sounds like I’m in trouble.”

  “It’s about money and the wedding. We never really discussed it.”

  “Let me guess, Lauren gave you the credit cards?”

  “Yes.”

  “I just want everything to be perfect and I want you to have the wedding you always dreamed of. I have the money and I want to use it for this. Accept it as part of my wedding gift.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Now, I don’t want to talk about money.” He said kissing her.

  Catherine sighed, “I can’t say no when you kiss me like that.”

  “So, you’re saying I have leverage with my kisses?”

  “That depends, are you going to kiss me again?” He did and Catherine broke away for a moment to look mysteriously at Glen, “Can we go to bed for the rest of the day and just stay there…dinner in bed?”

  “You don’t know how much I want to do that Catherine, but I have to take a short trip.”

  “Trip?”

  “Yes, I’ll only be gone for about two days,” Glen told her as he smoothed her hair down her back.

  “But, I’m planning the wedding and everything, you’re leaving?”

  He kissed her and stayed close to her face, “I’ll miss you.”

  “But, I can’t do all this without you here,” Catherine started to almost whine.

  Glen tried to soothe her and kissed her temples, “Don’t worry, Lauren will be here and I’m going to be missing you the whole time.”

  “Mmmm, I’ll miss you too. You’ll be back soon, right?”

  “I’ll be back before you’ll know I’m gone.”

  Catherine turned away, “I doubt that.”

  “Oh, Catherine, I love you. This is just something I have to do. I promise, any other trip, you’ll be with me, business or otherwise. I’ll be back in the blink of an eye. Just promise me one thing; that you won’t let my sister go overboard with my bank account. You, I trust. But, Lauren tends to be a little too extravagant.”

  Catherine kissed Glen and teased, “You know you’ll have no control now that you are gone. I might just let her do whatever she wants.”

  They shared a passionate kiss goodbye and on Glen’s way out the door, he added, “Oh, after we get married, I think we should stay here, together. What do you think?”

  “Oh, Glen. I’m so happy you want to, I love this house. I love you.” She said running into his arms. They kissed again more thoroughly this time and Catherine held the door open as she watched Glen leave. She knew she should be expecting business trips from time to time, but not this soon. Catherine already missed him and Glen only left less than a minute ago.

  Since she was meeting Lauren bright and early the next day Catherine decided to take the rest of the day off and soak in a bath and go to bed. She dreamed about her new life and what was to come, but still worried about making amends with her father’s family.

  Beep, beep, beep, beep… Catherine looked at the alarm clock. It was way too early for her to be awake when it wasn’t work a work day. She tugged herself out of bed and thought of everything exciting she would accomplished today for the wedding. An added anticipation sprang to her mind and Catherine got ready to meet with Lauren. An hour later, she arrived at the coffee shop and met with Lauren as promised, even though it was early.

  A few minutes later, they had their coffee and were talking about the early appointment Lauren made at the invitation shop, she wasted no time at all. Catherine was a bundle of nerves, “I can’t believe I’m ordering invitations this late, it is way too short notice. This should have been the first thing I did.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing; we’ll give the out-of-towners a call to let them know and everyone else probably heard by now. So, let’s head over to the invitation shop down the street, I got us an appointment there. I once organized a party for a friend and they have the best invitations.” Lauren eased her mind.

  “Great,” Catherine barely got out while she got quickly up to follow Lauren out the door carrying her coffee.

  They walked into the invitation shop and Lauren told the woman exactly what they were looking for. Within two minutes there were five books of invitations in front of them and within ten minutes of that they had found the perfect one together. The saleswoman told them she had never seen people decide that quickly, but both Catherine and Lauren liked the heavy stock card with tiny flowers on the edges. From there, it wasn’t hard to pick an invitation. Catherine was great with everything until she saw the price, sixty dollars for one invitation; she almost fell back in her chair. “Isn’t that a little much?”

  The saleswoman was happy about the sale and not about to let them escape so she told them in her sweetest voice, “You did pick the best we carry and quality means price.”

  Lauren added, “Come on, you’re using Glen’s credit cards, trust me he has enough money to pay for it.”

  “I didn’t even want to take them and I can’t see spending this much on an invitation.” She worried.

  “Well, Glen said you don’t have to spare any expense and he did go out of town on such short notice so close to the wedding…” Lauren knew exactly which buttons to push and tried to convince her.

  “How do you know?”

  “F
amily, word travels fast. So?”

  Catherine looked at the invitation in front of her and conceded, “It’s so beautiful. Alright, I’ll make an exception.”

  Lauren immediately told the saleswoman that they were in need of two hundred and fifty invitations with the works, thank you cards, reception cards, everything. After fifty minutes of information giving and picking calligraphy they were ready to leave.

  Catherine was exhausted. “I don’t see how most brides do this, I’m exhausted. At least we got something done. I’m ready for bed.”

  Lauren laughed, “But, there is so much more to be done! We at least have to go to the dress appointment I rescheduled for today.”

  “Can we do it tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely not, I already rescheduled yesterday.”

  Catherine and Lauren went to the dressmaker, the balloon store, and the reception hall to try and finalize decisions. After the day was finally over, Catherine was so exhausted she went straight to bed. At least she didn’t have time to think about missing Glen.

  Tears sprang to Catherine’s eyes as Lauren stood next to her, “Don’t cry. You’ll ruin your makeup.” She said as her eyes watered as well.

  “I’m just so happy.” Lauren gave her another look and Catherine put on a strong face and put it in her mind not to cry.

  The limousine that carried Catherine, Glen’s sisters, and Mrs. Upman pulled into the vineyard. Catherine wore the most exquisite white satin and lace dress that fit her perfectly. A small tiara fell lightly over the front of her hair which was up in curls.

  She stepped out of the limousine with her bridesmaids behind her wearing light blue dresses. Catherine decided to end the trend of ugly dresses because these were indeed gorgeous.

  The ceremony was short and sweet, which Catherine liked, and as they both stood in the receiving line two older people she didn’t recognize walked up to her.

  The woman spoke first. “You don’t remember us, do you?”

  Catherine thought they looked familiar but couldn’t imagine where from. She looked at Glen and he just smiled at her. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

  The woman went on, “I believe you used to call us Grams and Gramps.”

  Catherine’s face light up with exhilaration and surprise. She hugged them both at once. Bewildered, she asked, “But, how did you…?”

  Cutting her off by Grams look at Glen, Catherine smiled. “We know you are busy right now, so we are staying here for a little more than a month so we can get to know you after the honeymoon. We’ll see you at the reception. We both hope this is the happiest days of your life, thus far.”

  Both kissed Catherine and hugged her before moving down the line.

  Catherine looked at Glen, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I thought a surprise would be better, wasn’t it?”

  “Thank you. You really are perfect, I love you so much.” She kissed him and finished the reception line full of smiles.

  Catherine was radiating and just as they were getting into the limousine to go to the reception, Lauren told them, now tearing, “Catherine, I’m happy to have you as a new sister. You will have such a wonderful life.” Then she got in the limousine.

  Looking directly at Catherine, Glen added, “You know I’m going to do everything in my power to make it perfect.”

  Smiling at her new husband, she told him, “You already do,” and kissed him. “How did I get so lucky?”

  “I’m the lucky one.”