“It does not, just your imagination at work, woman,” Daniel muttered from across the room.
“Really? Then do you want to tell me how it is you decided to spice up our love life right after he showed up? Don’t be lying to me either, Daniel Ryan, I always know when you lie. Your nose turns red.”
“Fine, I don’t like him flirting with you. You’re a married woman now, you made your choice a long time ago and he should respect it.”
“If you paid attention, you’d notice he flirts with all the ladies at the dinners. Harmless fun to make us smile while you men BS and slap each other on the back. The doctor said I need to take better care of myself, get more rest, eat better and . . . well, get more rest at night. From now on, Daniel, you’ll get your own coffee or tea, unless I happen to be standing there or getting myself some. And you’ll start helping with the inside chores. It wouldn’t kill you to run the vacuum once in a while. As for the sex, well, we can discuss it at home, but not seven days a week, man. And if you can’t live by these new rules, I’m out of here. I’ll go live with Cherry and Tucker.”
What? Live with who?
“Cherry, what do you got there?” Her grandfather nodded toward the bouquets. “Who are the flowers from?”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She handed the cellophane-wrapped bunch to her gram. “These are from me. And this gorgeous vase, I don’t know. The nurse asked me to bring them in.” She pulled the card out and handed it to her gram.
“You read it, honey. I don’t have my glasses on.”
Cherry sat the vase on the rollaway table and pulled the card out of the envelope. After reading the short and sweet message, she stuck it back inside and prepared for the shitstorm. “Um, they’re from Tawny.”
Her grandfather narrowed his eyes, snapped his fingers, and held out his hand. Cherry shuffled across the room and handed the card over. She turned and mouthed “sorry” to her gram.
The man quietly read the card, saying nothing. He looked up at her grandmother. Shook his head. Crumpling the card, he threw it at her feet and walked out.
“Let me guess. They were from Lou. Damn that man. I know he meant well, but I wish he’d take a hint.”
“Gram, you’re not serious about leaving Gramps, are you?” she asked cautiously.
Her grandmother plopped down next to her on the bed, hands folded in her lap, studying them. “Of course not. If I could ever have left that man, I would have done so a long time ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you’re married and things get tough, you just can’t walk out the door. You have to think twice before making that decision. Besides, fifty years is a long time to be with one person, I’m not going to throw it all away. But I figure it’s my turn to shake things up a bit.”
Cherry kicked the card toward the trash. “Don’t shake it up too much. I’m not sure I can take it.”
“You know, at some point you either stop being two individuals and become one or you drift so far apart you never have a hope of uniting fully. I always thought we were one, a fully formed couple that nothing could rip apart.”
Silence took over, growing heavy between them. In the distance, machines beeped and hushed conversations floated by. A nurse popped in for a moment to let Kitty know her discharge paperwork was almost ready.
Kitty covered Cherry’s hand with hers. “When your parents disappeared, I knew for sure we’d made that final step and become one unit. Your grandpa took care of everything to get us legal custody of you. We never discussed it, he simply knew what I wanted and he wanted the same thing. Just like we never had a funeral for your dad, we both felt until there was proof stating otherwise, there was always hope. To make it through such a horrendous ordeal and still come out together, only to have it all fall apart for such a silly thing as an old mistake . . . It’d be a shame. One I’d regret to my last breath. The decision is your grandfather’s now.”
The carefully constructed walls around Cherry’s reality were still standing. With one swing, one push, one word, they’d all come crashing down.
She had no doubt what her grandfather would say, no doubt he loved his wife more than life and would do anything to prove it. She did doubt old habits could easily be broken, and the man had lived a very long life of being treated like a king by his wife. The two of them were about to step onto a bumpy path to the land of compromise, which we all know is not an easy journey, but to start at such a late point in life—oh boy.
Something her gram had said sat heavy on Cherry’s heart. If it hadn’t been for her marriage certificate, she might’ve walked. Which was basically what Jason had said, that once they got tired of each other, they’d call it over. He’d just walk away. Not even fight for them.
Was that what she really wanted?
What she’d really dreamed of her whole life?
Chapter Twenty-three
Cherry tugged on Tucker’s leash as he dawdled, taking his sweet time to stop and smell every blade of grass on the way to Jason’s. “Come on, Tuck, it smells the same as it did yesterday and the day before and the day before that. Your girlfriend’s waiting for you.” Jeez, couldn’t he see she was in a hurry? Didn’t the toe tapping every time he stopped mean anything in doggy language?
For the past four days, Cherry had been on a virtual roller coaster, between her grandparents and preparing for the changes she intended to make in her life. Her grandmother had actually packed up twice in as many days and left her house to stay with Cherry for the night. Thankfully, for the past two days her grandfather had been the ideal husband, getting up before his wife, making coffee and eggs (even if they were fried to resemble rubber disks), and helping out around the house.
Life wasn’t perfect, they still had a long way to go, but as her gram said, life really was a bed of roses, you just had to watch out for the pricks while smelling the flowers.
Watching her grandparents struggle through this new phase of their lives for the last few days had really hit home for Cherry. The knowledge that her grandmother had cheated still floored her. She didn’t blame her. Everyone made mistakes at some point, which Cherry knew from firsthand experience, and she doubted her grandmother had planned it. Most people didn’t. As the saying goes, “shit happens.” Oh, sure, some people wouldn’t know how to be faithful if monogamy walked up, introduced itself, slapped them upside the head, and handcuffed itself to them. They would simply get excited and think they’d been invited to a night of BDSM and look for a third to join the party.
Lessons learned. Seeing her gram standing up for herself, voicing her opinions and demands for once—talk about empowerment—and her gramps compromising and meeting those needs filled her with faith. Love was worth fighting for.
Some of those “aha” moments weighed heavily on her heart and conscience, sending her straight to the store for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a package of chocolate chip cookie dough. Her hips were still bitching her out for that move.
Super-sniffer finally stopped inspecting every piece of foliage en route to Jason’s and they slipped through the back gate. Bam ran over to greet them, woofing and dancing in circles. Squatting down, Cherry gave her a good ear rub.
“Hello, Bam. How are you, girl? Yes, yes, I missed you too. No, I don’t need a bath. You can stop licking me to death now. I promise, I showered this morning. That’s a good girl.” She unlatched Tucker’s leash and the dogs raced each other to the door. Typical guy, the closer Tucker got to food and play, the faster he moved.
Glancing down as she reached for the back door, Cherry stared at the dog bowl. No, dog bowls. Last time there had been one bowl, a pink one with white skulls. Now it had a friend; black with white skulls. Both sat on a black mat with “Bam” and “Tucker” in white lettering.
Guy code for what? I’m serious about my offer? I’m stealing your dog? Guess I’ll find out soon enough.
Opening the door, she found Jason sprawled out asleep on the couch, the remote clutched in his hand resting on
his stomach, the game on TV with the sound muted. Stepping farther into the room, Cherry gently closed the door and laid the leash on the table. The dogs had stayed outside to play, leaving the humans alone.
She curled up in the recliner, gathering her thoughts. Jason looked peaceful sleeping, all of his stress from work—and goodness knows there’d been enough of it lately—just gone. This conversation, the one she’d been putting off for days, wouldn’t help his stress level. If anything, it might send it shooting through the roof like Willy Wonka’s elevator, or simply destroy what was between them.
Happy to postpone “the talk” for even a few minutes more, she kicked back in the chair, watching the dogs play tag outside the giant picture window. If she went along with Jason’s idea, there could be many days or even years of this: relaxing evenings with the puppies playing, Jason napping, and her doing whatever she wanted, probably homework. Okay, she could think of more enjoyable pastimes than writing research papers, like tweezing her eyebrows, but it was a necessary evil to reach her goal.
What he was asking for went against everything she’d been raised to believe in. You met the right person. You fell in love. You got married.
She didn’t want to date him for the rest of her life.
A warm hand wrapped around her ankle, and her gaze met his. “Hello, gorgeous. When did you get here?”
“Hours ago. Been listening to you snore like a big old grizzly bear. How have I never noticed before?”
He set the remote on the coffee table before standing up so he could lean over Cherry, trapping her in the chair between his strong arms. “You haven’t noticed because you’re exhausted from my lovemaking, and I don’t snore.” He brushed his lips gently across hers before taking the kiss deeper, more decadent, darker.
Breaking it off, he pulled back and studied her face.
“Ha, how do you know? Do you listen to yourself sleep? Record yourself? Trust me, buddy, you snore. Loudly.”
Jason sat on the edge of the couch, lacing his fingers through Cherry’s. “How are your grandparents today?”
A deep sigh. “Thankfully, both are home—theirs. Good. I think they’ve gotten over the bumpiest part of this new path and will be . . . my grandparents. A little crazy, off-their-rockers strange, but madly in love with each other, and happy.”
“And Gram is feeling fine? No more fainting or tired spells?”
“She’s positively glowing these days. I think she’s even gained a few pounds from all the pampering Gramps is doing. Won’t let her lift a finger. His cooking is awful, but he stops off at the bakery and gets her treats every day. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to make their marriage work. Nothing means more to them, so I know they’ll be okay.”
“Speaking of cooking, I forgot to take anything out. We can either call out for delivery or go out for dinner. Which would you prefer?” Jason asked.
Cherry jumped up from the chair and walked over to the window. Outside the sun still rode high in the sky, the dogs ran and tumbled and played like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there wasn’t.
“Jason, we need to talk about us. About your offer.”
He had walked up behind her and now wrapped his arms around her waist and settled his head against hers. “The offer stands. I want you and Tucker to move in here with Bam and me. I know you might have to wait until your lease is up. That’s fine.”
“There is that to consider, and more. Do you really think you’ll never get married, or is it you don’t want to get married to me? Wait. Hear me out. There have been lots of people who’ve said they’d never get married. Look at George Clooney. America’s favorite bachelor is no more.” She turned around to find him shaking his head.
“Marriage isn’t for me. I thought I could do it with Stephanie, and while she burned me, she also did me a favor and opened my eyes. Every marriage I know, except your grandparents’, is a complete fucking mess.”
He returned to the arm of the couch and sat. “My parents should never have gotten married. It’s what you did back then when you knocked up your girlfriend, though. And they paid for it, and so did us kids. They spent every waking moment drunk off their asses, fighting. Dave’s parents as individuals are great people. Together? Not so much. Brody’s dad spent every living moment making his wife’s life pure hell, not to mention his son’s. Mrs. Nichols should have left that SOB the first time he hit her, but she couldn’t because he could have taken Brody away and the cost for a divorce was too high. So instead, she played personal punching bag for years. Marriage is a fucked-up institution that traps people together who hate each other. I won’t live my life in a cage, not for anyone.”
“Wow, didn’t know I was the old ball and chain.”
His head dropped to his chest. He rubbed the back of his neck, and all she could think was Yep, get the elevator ready, Mr. Wonka.
“Cherry, honey. Don’t you see, you’re not, and neither were they before they got married. My dad loved my mom and vice versa at one point. So did Dave’s parents and Brody’s mom. Pretty sure his dad didn’t love anyone ever. But marriage ruined it for them. I don’t want that to happen to us. That’s why I refuse to let it.” He held his hand out to her. “Come here, sweetheart.”
Together they sat on the couch, snuggled up next to each other as they would any other night. “Jase, you can’t blame the demise of their relationships on the institute of marriage, but on the people themselves. Sometimes, like in Dave’s parents’ case, people just aren’t meant to be together. With your parents, I think the situation overwhelmed them. They were young and didn’t know how to handle the stress of being parents when they were barely more than kids themselves. Having that piece of paper has saved thousands of relationships too, because you do have to think twice before you can walk out the door and end things.”
She turned to him, taking his big, calloused hands in hers. “For me, that piece of paper is a promise. It’s a promise you know your heart and mean it when you say you want to spend the rest of your life with me. It’s a promise that when the going gets tough, you’ll stay and fight for me, for us. Your offer is tempting. But I’m looking for someone who can say to me that he wants to wake up next to me for the rest of his life and that I’m worth slaying the dragons of life over, no matter how difficult they may be to defeat. Can you say that? Can you make that promise to me?”
Long, heavy minutes slipped by without a response. “I could lie to you, but I won’t. I want you here with me. I want to wake up to you every day, but I can’t promise you forever.”
“And when things get rocky, what then?”
“I know what you want to hear, but life has taught me that’s a sign to end things before you end up hating each other.”
“So you’ll walk, even if we’ve been together for ten, twenty, thirty years?”
“Yeah.”
Cherry slid from the couch and stood, gathering her words and fighting the tears threatening her fragile composure. “I learned a few things this past week from my grandparents. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves to be forgiven. You should always stand up for what you really want. Life is short, so go after what you want now, don’t wait.” She picked up Tucker’s leash and walked over to the window. The dogs had exhausted themselves. “Maybe we need to take a step back, put this discussion aside for when things settle down. There’s so much going on right now.”
“Like what?”
She turned back to face Jason. “The center, for one. I’ve stepped down as co-chair on the committee. It’s time the others pulled their weight. Tawny will be responsible for the weekly inspections.”
He hooked his thumbs on the belt loops of his jeans. “I don’t understand. Why would you step down now? Your classes don’t start until fall.”
Crud. How did she explain this next part? “They don’t. I’ve been offered a pretty great, well, not great, but important opportunity. The producers of Finding Mr. Right have invited me to participate in their new show, Love in Shangri
-La.”
“When?”
“When what?”
“When did they invite you?”
“Oh, I don’t know, a couple of weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you mention the invitation before?”
“Because it wasn’t important.”
“What the fu—” He stopped himself, dragging his hands through his hair before cupping them at the back of his neck. “You didn’t think it was important to tell your boyfriend you’d been invited to participate on a dating show? Yet it was important enough to you not to give them a flat-out no? What happened to no more secrets? Or doesn’t that apply to you?”
She sat on the edge of the coffee table before her legs gave out. This so wasn’t going the way she had planned. “I didn’t tell you when it first came in because at that time they were asking me to be a participant. You know, looking for love, and I thought I’d found it—”
“And now that things aren’t going your way, you’ve reconsidered? Is Ari going to be there?” he asked tightly.
“No and yes, that’s part of the reason I’m going.”
He swore under his breath, shaking his head. “To get back with your ex now that he’s a famous and rich country star? Frickin’ should have known.”
She jumped up at his accusation. “Jason, it’s not like that.”
Before she could say anything else, the doorbell rang and Jason stormed off to answer it. Cherry dropped back down on the table. Her hand knocked off a stack of papers and she bent to pick them up. As she was straightening them out, the words caught and held her attention. She hadn’t meant to read them, but words like “plaintiff,” “v. Jason Valentine,” and “fraud” all stuck out. Her heart sank as she scanned the pages and read the charges.
Everyone in Providence knew of Blake Bronson. The man contributed to more local causes and charities than Cherry could count. Not only was he generous, he was one of the nicest men she’d ever dealt with. He’d been a major contributor to the rec center for years. According to the lawsuit, Bronson was accusing Jason of charging for work not done, extra supplies that weren’t needed, missing equipment, and damaging property that was in perfect condition at the beginning of the project so that Valentine Rehab could charge him more to fix it.
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