Take a Gamble

by Rachael Brownell

  “That’s a great idea. Let me start packing and you distract our parents while we sneak out the window.” I keep my voice as serious as possible. His face lights up and then he furrows his brow at me.

  “Don’t get me excited like that. I thought you were serious for a second.”

  “Roe, I love you to death, but if you tried to elope with me again I think my dad might actually hunt you down and kill you. He wants to walk me down the aisle. We robbed him of that last time. I know it wasn’t planned, but he felt robbed. We have to do this for him. For everyone. Plus, we get an actual honeymoon out of the deal. You should be a little excited.”

  “I am excited. For the honeymoon, anyway. I can’t wait to get you alone for seven days.”

  “You have me all to yourself all the time. What’s the difference?”

  “Well, my beautiful wife, I’m turning our phones off for the entire week and locking you away in our hotel room. I have plans for you.”

  He takes a few slow steps towards me and my breathing picks up. By the time he’s standing in front of me I want to rip all his clothes off and I don’t care if my dad sees my wild sex hair. I need him and I need him now.

  He bends down and kisses the spot behind my ear that makes me weak in the knees. I let out a sigh as he whispers in my ear. “I love you, MacKenna Grace Gamble.”

  “I love you too, Monroe Lynn Gamble.”

  I reach up and grasp the nape of his neck before pulling his lips to mine. He deepens the kiss before pulling back completely. I see the need in those beautiful, sandy brown eyes that I fell in love with so long ago.

  “Are you two planning on joining us in the living room or should we come back later?” Leave it to Grandma to bust in on us. Roe’s body stiffens like we’re sixteen and have been caught necking in the backseat of his car.

  “We’re on our way our right now, Grams.” I look over Roe’s shoulder and make eye contact with her. She winks before she saunters off. I love that woman so much. I have to remember to get her alone for a minute to ask for her help.

  “Let’s go entertain our families so we can send them away and entertain each other.” I wiggle out of his embrace and move around him. Roe doesn’t say anything as I leave him in the bathroom. I have a feeling he needs to collect himself before joining us.

  Dinner goes over smoothly. It’s the first time in a while that both families have been able to visit. Our parents get along great and for that I’m glad. I volunteer Grandma to help with dessert so I can get her alone for a minute. I explain to her the situation with Roe and his nightmares and she promises to talk to him tonight. Hopefully she will be able to convince him to talk to me.

  I watch as she pulls him out on the porch after everyone has finished their dessert. They stay out there for over an hour while I keep everyone else entertained. No one seems to notice that they’ve disappeared. At least no one comments on it.

  Grandma comes walking back in and announces that its time to leave. The conversation dies as everyone looks up at Grandma with a questioning stare.

  “Now. It’s time to leave now. Get your lazy asses up so I can get back to my room and get my beauty rest.” Grandma has always been one to speak her mind yet I can’t help but laugh. She was kicking everyone out of our house.

  As soon as I shut the door behind our families I turn to find Roe leaning against the wall, arms crossed, anger plastered all over his face. Shit!

  “You sicked Grandma on me. That was low, Mac. You know that woman doesn’t take no for an answer.”

  “I didn’t sic her on you. I asked for her opinion and apparently she shared it with you.”

  “Of course she did. That’s what she does. Only, it’s not her ‘sharing’ her opinion with anyone. It’s her telling me what I should do.” I can hear his anger dissipate but it’s not gone completely. I mentally cross my fingers that Grandma was able to get through his thick skull.

  “So…What did she have to say?” I move past him and out onto the patio. I know he’ll follow me. His favorite part of living here is watching as the sky changes color at sunrise and sunset.

  He takes the seat next to me and I can hear him bracing himself for the conversation we are about to have. He’s taking deep breaths and tapping his fingers on his knee. He’s nervous. Grandma definitely got through to him.

  “She thinks we need to talk about what happened after you were shot. She thinks you have a right to know so we can close the door on that part of our life.” He’s avoiding looking at me and I can tell how hard this is for him. I don’t respond. I want him to continue. It takes a few minutes but he finally starts talking. I listen intently as he tells me everything that happened after I blacked out.

  “As soon as I heard him fire the first shot I went into protection mode, I guess. I made eye contact with him and then felt your hand slip away. When I looked down, I saw the red stain on the front of your dress and it was getting bigger. By the time I snapped out of it, the stain was covering your entire stomach. Alexa was screaming and the pastor was running. Then I heard him fire another shot. Alexa’s screams stopped.”

  He pauses and takes a deep breath. I have to close my eyes for a second and come to plus he and Alexa were both shot, too.

  “I’m not sure why I did it, but I ran towards him. It seems like it took forever to get to him. He shot me in the shoulder and I felt it but it didn’t stop me. I pulled back and hit him square in the jaw, knocking him on his ass. He recovered quickly but not quick enough. I was on top of him the second he hit the floor. I pulled back to punch him in the face again when I saw the gun out of the corner of my eye. I reached for it, we struggled and then it went off. It scared the shit out of me and I let go. The gun fell to the ground and when I looked down, I realized it had been pointed at Wes when it had been fired.”

  I don’t know what to say. I want to ask where the gun had been pointed. I want to know if Wes was dead at this point or just stunned because he had been shot. I open my mouth to ask but nothing comes out.

  “I kicked the gun away and ran back to you. I tore my shirt off and put pressure on your stomach. I couldn’t tell exactly where you were bleeding from but I knew it was in that general area. A few minutes later the police ran in, guns drawn. They rushed you and Alexa to the hospital and I was treated by a paramedic. I got to you as soon as I could. You were in surgery by the time I arrived. I called your parents, told them what happened and by the time you woke up, they were on their way to Vegas.”

  We sit in silence for a while. I let it all sink in. Roe risked his life to save mine. I knew that. He hadn’t told me as much but I knew. I wouldn’t be alive if he hadn’t been there to rescue me from Wes in the first place. I owe him and Alexa my life. Had I known Wes was hiding a gun from me, things may have turned out differently. Wes might still be alive.

  ROE

  I wish she would say something, anything, right now. I want to know what she’s thinking. I need to know that she understands what happened and that if I had to do it all over again, I would risk my life for hers in a heartbeat.

  “Thank you, Roe.”

  Damn. I can hear how sincere she is. I don’t want her to thank me. It’s not something I need her to thank me for.

  “I love you, Mac. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you when we first met here. I’ll love you as long as you let me and probably even after you don’t want me to anymore. I gave you my heart that summer and I wasn’t about to let some douchebag steal you away from me.”

  “I love you, too. I have to ask you something, though.”

  I knew this was coming. I knew she would want answers after I told her everything. That’s part of why I never wanted her to know any of this. Answers lead to more questions and those questions lead to answers which she probably won’t want to hear.

  “Where was he shot?”

  I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I can see his eyes staring at me, empty. I remember the feel of his body going lifeless while I straddle
d him, ready to fight.

  “The bullet struck him in the side of his neck and went through a vertebrae. He died instantly.” I try to keep the emotion of out my voice. I don’t want her to know how this all affects me. I don’t want her to know how responsible I feel for taking his life, even if I think he deserved to die.

  She doesn’t say anything. We sit there in silence until I finally see her eyelids start to get heavy. I pick her up and carry her off to bed. She’s asleep in my arms before I even reach our bedroom. I’m a little disappointed since I was planning on making love to her but I understand how emotionally tiring all of this probably is on her. I hope, for her sake, that she doesn’t dream about it like I have for the past few years.

  The guests are starting to arrive. I watch as Matthew and Mark begin to show the guests to their seats. I wear a path in the sand as I pace back and forth off to the side, waiting for the ceremony to begin. I’m not sure why I’m nervous. I know Mac is going to show up. We are already married. I have no reason to be nervous.

  My dad comes up behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder before speaking. “She’s your wife, Monroe. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

  “I know, Dad. I just want this day to be perfect for her. Our first wedding didn’t exactly end well.”

  “Trust me, son. With as much time and energy every single woman in the family has put into this wedding, it’s going to go perfectly. All you have to do is show up.”

  I know he’s right. I shouldn’t be nervous. Mac made sure every detail was the way she wanted it. She’s about to have her dream wedding, even if it is her second one. What she doesn’t know is that I have a little surprise for her. I have something for her that she should have been given a long time ago.

  I make my way up to the front. The preacher is waiting for us under the trellis we had built in the sand. As I step foot on the makeshift stage, the music changes and I know it’s time for the ceremony to begin. Matthew and Mark take their places beside me, then Hailey appears.

  She slowly makes her way up the aisle between all the chairs, a huge smile on her face. I watch as her eyes scan the crowd for her boyfriend. He’s looking at her like a man in love. I know that look.

  Hailey takes her place on the last step of the stage and then Alexa appears. We make eye contact as she walks up the aisle; she smiles at me but it doesn’t reach her eyes. We haven’t talked much since her release from the hospital. I’m pretty sure she holds me responsible for everything that happened but she won’t say it out loud. She has never said it to me, but I can tell. Things between us are not even close to the way they were that day we left for Vegas.

  She takes her place next to Hailey and the music changes. Everyone stands in anticipation of what happens next. The music plays for a few seconds before my beautiful wife comes into sight on her father’s arm. Her face lights up as soon as she sees me through the crowd.

  She’s walking too slowly for my taste so I head down the stage and make my way towards her. Her father gives me a warning glare but I ignore him. I meet them halfway up the aisle and take my wife’s hand. Her father follows behind us the rest of the way. I am going to hear about this, I’m sure.

  The preacher begins the ceremony and I impatiently tap my leg. I want to get through all this nonsense and get to the good part. I want to kiss my wife. She looks stunning today. Her hair is pinned up and her neck is exposed. I want to reach over and nibble on her shoulder.

  Her dress is strapless and her breasts look amazing. I’ve never seen her breasts look this great. She must be wearing something special underneath her dress which is pushing them up because they look plump and fill out her dress perfectly.

  I hear the preacher clear his throat and realize he just caught me staring down Mac’s dress. I don’t care. Mac smiles at me and I reward her with my grin that I know she loves so much. She must have read my mind because her eyes start to sparkle with desire. I want to rip her dress off but the preacher continues. I figure I better let him finish before Mac’s father really has a reason to hate me.

  When the time finally arrives to exchange rings Matthew hands me the box. Our new wedding bands are supposed to be inside it. What Mac doesn’t know is that I never bought the band she picked out. We didn’t have rings at our first wedding, it was an afterthought. A far afterthought since Mac was in the hospital for almost a month.

  I pop the lid and remove Mac’s ring before handing her the box. She removes my ring and hands the box to Alexa who, when I look up, doesn’t even smile at me. We are going to have to sort this shit out but now is not the time.

  Mac repeats her vows after the pastor and slides my new band on my finger. I grab her hand before she can pull back and place it over my heart. I smile at her and see the second she realizes that I’m up to something.

  The pastor knows what I’m doing so he takes a step back. I hold her hand to my chest and start the speech that I’ve been planning for months now.

  “MacKenna, I’ve loved you since the second I laid eyes on you. We spent an incredible month together which changed me in a way that I will never be able to put into words. You captured my heart and held it hostage before I even realized I was in love with you. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t have done for you then and there is nothing that I won’t do for you now. I fell hard and I’m still falling more and more in love with you every day.

  “I know the first time around things were sudden and as much as I would like to apologize for that, I won’t. I don’t regret marrying you in Vegas. I always knew that I would marry you, that I wanted to marry you, it was just a matter of when and that moment seemed right.”

  I see the first tears begin to form in her eyes. I know she’s going to cry more by the time I’m done.

  “You are the one who my grandma always told me I would meet. She told me that I would have to fight for you, that it would be hard, but that it would also be worth it. She’s a wise woman and she was right. I fought for you while you fought for your life. It was a battle and it was hard but we both won. When I found you again, I finally felt like I could breathe again for the first time in years. It was worth the fight. You were worth the fight.”

  I pause and wipe the tears from her cheeks before pulling her hand away from my heart. I slowly slide the ring on her finger, hiding it from her for just another moment.

  “I took a gamble on us and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I love you MacKenna Grace Gamble. I always will.”

  I move my hand out of the way and Mac’s eyes focus on the ring for a moment before she leaps into my arms and kisses me fiercely. I hear the pastor clear his throat but I don’t pull away. Mac finally pulls back and whispers in my ear. I feel the tears begin to build but I push them down.

  I turn to the pastor and pull Mac into my side. He finishes the ceremony and allows me to kiss my bride. Once I start, I don’t want to stop. I hear the cat calls and whistles. I finally let her go and she smiles up at me.

  “I love you, Roe. So much more than you’ll ever know.”

  MAC

  The ceremony was beautiful. Roe’s words were beautiful. My ring is beautiful. It all went perfectly and as planned. Alexa was even able to hold her tongue after I told her our big news. She had to act angry with Roe to keep her excitement in check but once she told him why she gave him the evil eye, he understood.

  Grandma was still in tears when we arrived at the reception. Roe’s heartfelt vows really got to her. Then, the sight of her ring on my finger caused her to tear up again and bawl like a baby. I didn’t help the situation when I hugged her and started to cry myself. We had an entire conversation while we were both in a fit of tears. Roe said he didn’t understand a word either of us said but that we seemed to understand each other so he didn’t want to interrupt.

  Roe sliding back into bed next to me brings me out of my daydream. It’s almost noon and we haven’t left our hotel room yet. Yesterday he kept me prisoner in here all day. He said he planned to keep me locked
up our entire honeymoon and I’m starting to believe him.

  “Hey baby,” Roe says as he grazes kisses over my stomach.

  “I’m up here, you know. I want kisses, too.” I can’t help but pout. Ever since our ceremony when I told Roe we were pregnant, he’s been kissing or touching my belly non-stop. I love it almost as much as I love him.

  “I know, but I can’t help myself. There’s a little mini-me in there.” He’s smiling up at me and the light in his eyes almost causes me to cry. Damn hormones.

  “You don’t know it’s a boy, Roe.”

  “I never said it was. I said it was a mini-me. It could be a boy or a girl but I have a feeling we are going to get stuck with a little me the first time around.”

  “The first time?” I ask. How many does he want? We haven’t even told our families about this one yet and he’s planning our next one. The only people who know are Alexa and Grandma. I told Alexa and Grandma told me. That woman may actually be a little physic.

  She cornered me before we left the reception and point blank told me that I was pregnant. She asked me if I knew yet and I’m pretty sure my jaw hit the floor. Then, she walked away with a huge smile on her face without saying another word. There was a basket of fresh fruit and sparkling grape juice waiting for us when we arrived in our room. The only thing the note said was ‘Congratulations.’

  He doesn’t answer me. He slides up my body instead and forces my legs apart. I feel my body begin to warm up to his the second he hits the spot behind my ear. I can’t help but moan. The effect he has on my body is amazing. I know that I’ll never get tired of it. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world.