by April Zyon
“I called her while you were arguing with the doctor. I had the time since you seemed determined to undermine his years of schooling. It was extremely amusing I will say, but I knew I had to use the small break in a productive manner. Brant had already briefed her, though, so she didn’t keep me on long. She will pop by in a couple of days to check on you. Oh, and Eloise says she’s very happy you are alive and well. She did ask about the gown. I had to have Mama pass on the bad news that it had been a goner.”
“Crap. I will have to buy that gown from her, too, won’t I?” she asked with a sigh. “Okay. But really I hated the gown anyway. It just wasn’t right. I still have to find a gown.” She frowned. She needed a dress to wear to their wedding. She refused to think of putting off their wedding. “And that doctor was trying to tell me that I couldn’t go home. That was just not working. At all.”
“I know, love. You did win that one, though I think he gave in so that you’d stop picking on his technique. Don’t worry about the gown either, it’s all good. Eloise isn’t going to bill you for that. Mama did have to tell her she couldn’t bill it to the guy that took you since he was permanently indisposed.” She could practically hear Frank rolling his eyes when he said that. “So Eloise is sticking it on the mayor’s tab, though she knows the likelihood of getting paid is slim.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Eli pulled back so she could look at Frank. “He was behind this. When I first came to, he was there and laughing about what he was going to make sure was done to me. He’s insane or something. Seriously, Frank, he’s lost his mind.”
“I know he is, Eli.” Running his hand up and down her arm, he squeezed her bicep lightly. “But he is no longer your worry. I want you to close your eyes and get some rest. I’m right here if you need me, and I’m not going anywhere for at least a while.”
“Sounds good to me.” She yawned once again and then, with her eyes closed, dropped off and went into a deep sleep.
****
The next morning dawned much too early, and with way too many aches and pains. Frank got her a heating pad from who knows where to help with some of the aches, and the painkillers helped with the others. By lunch time, she wasn’t feeling too badly overall. Then his mother and Eloise invaded her house with many a dress in tow. Apparently, neither one of them was ready to let her miss her wedding day either. The party, on the other hand, according to Theresa, would be pushed off a couple of days to allow for her to be up and about for it.
Eloise and Theresa had cornered her in her bedroom. They had even kicked Frank to the curb. Quite literally. Poor man was sitting on the hood of his truck at the curb twiddling his thumbs. But both women were insistent that tradition be upheld. He’d caved to their wishes, otherwise there was no way in hell he’d have let them shove him out the front door.
Holding up another gown, Eloise raised her brows. “What about this one, dear? Yea, nay, maybe?”
Eli looked at the gown and gasped. “That one.” She reached out to grab it. “This one is perfect.” She let her fingers run over the bodice and nodded. The gown was high-waisted, the beading was hand-sewn. She watched the way that they caught the light and smiled. “Perfect.” The silk of the gown, the sparkling of the beading, all of it.
“Let’s slip it on then. We’ll get you standing for a couple of minutes so I can pin where it’s needed, and then I will whisk it off to get to work. We don’t have a lot of time, and this has to be absolutely perfect!”
“It’s stunning.” She sniffed. She was crying. That’s how she knew that this was definitely the gown. “I can’t wait to be married to the best man alive. This gown is everything that I ever could have wanted.”
“Drop the robe and lift your arms. We’ll slip it over your head slowly. Theresa, get off your ass and come help me so we don’t irritate the poor girl’s injuries any more than necessary.”
“Really, Eloise, there is no reason to be rude,” Theresa grumbled.
“Well, come on, woman, we ain’t got all that much time to ensure she has the most memorable day of her life.”
Eli nodded and dropped the robe. She heard the gasp from Eloise, but ignored her. She focused instead on getting the gown on. “Has Frank said when the wedding will be? I didn’t know if he had pushed it back because of what happened to me or not.”
“The judge is willing to do it on Saturday, so it got pushed until then,” Theresa told her. They eased the gown over her head slowly, letting it fall gently around her torso. “The only spot he had open was at one. He has a golf game at two that he will not miss.”
Eli giggled. “I’m shocked that you didn’t talk to his wife to get him out of that game,” she teased. “But thank you, one on Saturday will be perfect. Whatever it takes, I will do it. I just want to marry that man.” Which was all she had ever wanted.
“We tried, but even she knows not to mess with his biweekly tee time. She said it’s one of the reasons she’s still married to the man. He goes out for a Saturday afternoon of golf and then dinner at the club house. She gets to go to the spa, a movie of her choice, and a leisurely dinner of take-out that he’s not allowed to have. All in all, it works rather well for them and keeps them both very happy in their marriage.”
“Ah, so they have already worked out their marriage. That’s good. Maybe Frank and I will figure life out together like that as well. I hope that we will find those little things that make us happy and keep our marriage smooth and argument free.” Well, semi-argument free at least. Sometimes it was good to argue because they got to make up. Oh yes, make-up sex.
“Frank Sr. and I had something similar. He’d play poker with the boys, either at our place or one of theirs. It was a rotating weekly game so none of the wives wanted to kill them all at any given moment. But during their games, which could last for hours, we’d all go out and meet up for margaritas. There usually were a lot of margaritas,” Theresa said.
That had Eli laughing. “Oh God, that’s priceless. So did you have lots of tequila with a little margarita?” She had never seen this side of Theresa Carver before, and she liked it. She loved the look that Mrs. Carver got in her eyes when she thought of her husband. She hoped that she would have that with Frank as well.
“We started out with the recommended mix. But after a few hours, it became a little heavier on the tequila, and by the end of the night, if one of us wasn’t guzzling out of the bottle then it really wasn’t a good poker night.” Laughing softly, Theresa moved to help Eli to her feet so Eloise could start the pinning. “We always ended up crashing wherever we were, and come morning, our hungover husbands would come collect their equally hungover wives for a joint breakfast at the diner. Lots of greasy food and endless carafes of black coffee before we all slunk to our individual homes for a very long nap. Come Monday morning, we were the respectable individuals everyone expected us to be once more.”
“I never would have believed you if I had heard that when I was a kid. Never,” Eli admitted with her eyes wide. “Seriously. I never thought that you guys would have done that. It just amazes me.” She saw Mrs. Carver in a whole new light now, and she liked the woman all the more now. She was more than the Carver matriarch, she was a woman. An amazing, talented, and scary woman. One that Eli adored, as well as the entire town.
“Yes, well, we didn’t want the kids to know what their parents got up to. But when you have children, especially seven of the little demons in angelic cloaking, you need to have a bit of a break now and again. Don’t you let anyone tell you taking some space for yourself from your kids makes you a bad parent. It doesn’t. It makes you a smart one, because you need to have a healthy headspace to deal with the thousands of little things that kids do, get into, get up to, and then their little friends to boot. You will go insane if you put every second of every day into your kids without a little me time. Whether it’s a long soak in the tub, or an afternoon out with the girls, it doesn’t matter. Take that time. You’ll be a better person and parent for it.”
�
�I think that I will likely beat Frank if we have seven kids,” Eli said without even missing a beat. “And I love you for taking all the time that you did for yourself. It made you a bloody amazing mother, and even better woman.” Eli moved and gave Theresa a hug. “A woman I get to call my mom.”
“I am pretty damn awesome, aren’t I?” she asked. Laughing again, she gave Eli a gentle squeeze. “All right, stand up as straight as you can sweetheart. Eloise needs to pin you quick so we can get you back out of this and into bed before Frank’s patience wears right out.”
“Right, sounds good.” She looked at Eloise and took a deep breath. “Just please don’t pin me? I’ve had more than enough things put into my body, if you wouldn’t mind.” She then realized what she said and felt her cheeks getting hot. “Crap, that so didn’t come out the way that I had intended.”
“Right, we’ll blame that slip of the tongue on the drugs,” Eloise said. The woman was snickering, though, and seconds later, burst out in laughter. “Oh dear, that was too funny. The things you young folk spout off about and then get embarrassed over. Silly really. You only live once. Go all in or get the hell out, I’ve always said.”
“You are so right.” Eli shook her head. She did get embarrassed at a great deal of things, but it was the way that she had been raised. She had been raised with very strict Christian parents that demanded she be beyond perfect, something that had nearly broken her when she was growing up.
“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Theresa said. “Frank will help loosen you up.” Then the woman threw her a wink and wiggled her eyebrows. Both she and Eloise dissolved into laughter while Eli’s face started to warm up.
They were so bad, but, God, Eli ate it up. “He does rather help me loosen up. He’s good for me.” And not just because he was hers, but because the man had the stamina of a wild animal and was hung like a horse, so she was very loose when Frank made sure she was and Eli wouldn’t have it any other way.
Theresa snorted. “Eloise, sober up, woman. You’re going to have Eli thinking you’ve been drinking, and not your tea either. I’m very glad you and Frank finally got it together and realized how perfect you are for one another. The love you have for one another is obvious even to the most obtuse in this town. There will be ups and downs. No marriage out there hasn’t had at least a couple. But the love you have for one another will keep you going even on your worst of days. Lean on one another and always hang on tight.”
“All done,” Eloise announced. “Theresa, help lift the skirt up front. We’ll sit her down, and then ease it up over her head. We need to go slow this time. I have a couple of pins in tricky places.”
“Roger that,” Theresa said.
When they finally got the gown off of her, Eli was very grateful that they had her sitting because her knees were weak and she felt a fine sheen of sweat on her skin. “Goodness, that was far more exhausting than I ever would have thought it would be.”
“You should lie down and have a nap,” Theresa said. “Once Eloise has this all bagged up along with the others, I’ll send Frank back in.” She walked to the window and looked out. “He looks ready to break down the door to get to you. He’s pacing around like a caged animal.”
“I do believe that sleep is a wonderful thing,” she said with a yawn, and then grinned at what Theresa said. “I love that man. Go ahead and let him up, please?”
“I’ll get you settled before I let him in. He’ll come racing up here to check on you, and if you are not safely tucked in looking ready to sleep, he’ll flip his proverbial wig. He has a very limited sense of humor, and when it comes to those he loves who are unwell, he’s got nothing,” Theresa said. Walking toward Eli, the older woman helped her move around the bed and slip under the blankets.
“This is very true.” She was learning firsthand just how protective Frank Carver could be when it came to her. “It’s just one of those things that I love about him. He’s one of a kind. I’m blessed to have him in my life, that much is for sure.”
“Very true.” She nodded. Adjusting the blankets, Theresa tucked them around Eli’s legs. “You lay back, relax, and I’ll release the beast.” Laughing softly, she headed for the door with Eloise, taking a couple of the dress bags from the other woman.
“Rest well, dear,” Eloise called over her shoulder. She gave Eli a little finger wave and a grin.
Chapter Nine
Eli looked out the window once more. Massey was settling in for the winter. The wreaths were hung all around the town and the shopping was in full swing. She was missing her husband more than she could possibly express. She gave a sad smile as she looked down at the ring that he had placed on her finger.
She took a deep breath and turned. Grabbing the coffee pot, she made the rounds in the diner once more. She wished she would at least hear from him. That was the hardest part. It had been nearly three weeks and she hadn’t heard a word from him, which was killing her slightly inside.
After she had refilled all of the cups in the diner, she went back to the kitchen once more. She began to help fill the orders, doing what she loved in cooking. Maybe today she would hear from Frank, or so she hoped.
“Eli, someone here to see you!” one of the waitresses called out a moment before she stuck her head around the door. Her expression was serious and a little worried. “I think it’s important,” she added in a lower tone.
“Crap.” Eli finished up with the dish she had been creating off the cuff and put it up on the shelf. “Here, guys, try that and let me know what you think?” she asked her staff. “If you like it, I will see if we can sell it or not.”
At the door, the waitress blocked her path. “Is there anything we need to know about, Eli?” she asked. Her voice was pitched to a very soft volume. “No troubles or anything like that, is there?”
“No, nothing at all. Why?” Eli asked with a frown and put her hand on the waitress’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Bobby Jean. Really. Whatever it is, we will be okay. If you need to have a moment, you can. If you need to, call the sheriff over. He will come and have a cup of coffee.” She smiled. “You like him. He’s a good man.” Now that Eli had gotten into office and cleaned up the town that was. “Now, I need for you to move so that I can go and see who this is. Please?”
Nodding, the woman stepped aside. After giving Eli’s hand a squeeze, Bobby Jean went into the kitchen once Eli slipped by her.
“Can I help you?” she asked the man that was waiting there with his back to her. The man was massive and wore a long duster-style coat. He also had a hat on, so there was no way to tell who he might be. He was—holy crap, was he holding a giant bouquet of snow white roses? “Sir?” She frowned.
“Really? You don’t see me for a couple of weeks and we are now resorting to sirs?” Frank turned to face her, the bouquet cradled in one arm. “Hello, love. Come give me a hug and a kiss, would you?” He held his other arm out wide, moving the bouquet slightly to give her some room to jump him.
Eli’s eyes went wide and she laughed. Tears streamed down her face as she did just that. She jumped into Frank’s arms and held onto him tightly. She peppered him with kisses and then finally pulled back to look down at him. “Please tell me that you are staying this time. No more going back, no more leaving me?” She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t recognized her husband! But with the way that he had been turned, his head to the side and hat on, she hadn’t been able to see enough of him to ascertain who he was. She was so going to kill her waitresses. They had to have known that he was trying to surprise her.
“No more going anywhere,” he said. “I did what I needed to do, and the others will handle the last steps. You have me for the rest of time since I turned in my resignation letter as soon as I’d seen my portion through. I may have to fly to the capitol for a hearing when it all concludes, but it would be two days tops if that became necessary. Did you miss me?”
“Thank God,” Eli said with a smile as she hugged him tightly once more. “I love you, Frank. I’
m never letting you go again. When you have to fly back, I will be with you. I mean it.” Once she had kissed him again, she pulled back, grinning. “Yes, I missed you so much. Did you miss me?”
“Oh babe, you have no idea,” he said with a groan. Squeezing her closer, he kissed her hard. “Now, as much as I love giving the townsfolk of Massey a show, why don’t you tell the staff you’re taking the rest of the day off so you can come home with me? I think we need to do a little more than some kissing.”
“I think you are so right. I’m taking off for the next few days. Make sure that you guys lock up, please,” she called over her shoulder without leaving Frank’s arms. “Now, take me home, husband? Take me home so that we can rekindle our affair.”
“Damn straight, woman,” he said. Passing her the bouquet, Frank moved her so she was cradled in his arms, and headed for the door. Someone leapt up from his seat to hold the door for them so they didn’t even need to pause. There were several hoots, some whistling, and a bunch of raunchy suggestions as they left.
Eli just grinned. She couldn’t help herself. It was too funny that the people of Massey were ready to be there to lend them a hand, so to speak. When they made it to his truck, she pulled him down, kissing him once more.
He let her feet drop and slowly lowered her to the ground. “God, I missed you, Elizabeth.” Holding her close, he kissed her again, and again, and again. “All right, into the truck, woman. We need to get home, and naked, very quickly.”
She nodded. Giving him one last squeeze, she slipped into the truck and buckled up. Once he was in, she shifted so she could see him. “Why didn’t you call? It’s been three weeks and I’ve missed you so much. Why didn’t you at least call me?”
“I was going to, but by the time I clued into where I was, we were already most of the way home. I had been so lost in my own head that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was. And truly, I wanted to surprise you face to face instead of talking long distance over a shoddy line that could drop at any moment. It was tough, though, sticking it out and waiting until I got here. I was tempted a dozen times at least to put in a call, and had to restrain myself.”