by Lane Hart
“I want you to quit your jobs and live with me, either while you go to school or raise our family, whatever you want.”
“Tom, no. I can’t do that,” I told him.
“Yes, you can. Let me take care of you. You don’t have to decide today.”
“Okay, how about we get on the road, and talk about it on the way to the beach?” I asked with a smile, to try and postpone this particular discussion.
“Hey, you caused the delay, remember? But I didn’t mind the hold-up at all.”
“Come on,” I told him, climbing off the bed.
“Elizabeth?”
“Yeah?” I asked as I started looking for my long lost clothes.
“I’ve been married before.”
That sure as hell got my attention.
“Oh?” I asked sitting down on the bed and looking up at him. He was still naked, and I was momentarily distracted from our conversation by his tall muscular body. Wait, he said he'd been married before?
“It wasn’t for long, and I knew I didn’t love her, but I still went through with it for whatever reason. Probably to make everyone happy, because I didn't know what I wanted for myself. I just wanted to be honest with you, and I'm sorry I hadn't told you this before now.”
He looked so sad and regretful and even worried. Did he think I’d care that he’d been married and it didn’t work out?
“I’m glad you told me, and I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but you know that doesn’t bother me, right?”
“Good,” he said with a sigh as he leaned down to kiss me then started putting his clothes back on.
…
Tom
Elizabeth and I had been on the road for three hours. I couldn’t stop looking over at her. She was smiling and seemed so happy, so unlike the woman I’d met just a few weeks ago.
I loved being with her, and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. The idea of having a child with Vanessa had scared the shit out of me. Thinking about some poor child growing up with her as its mother was not something I wanted to be a part of. Especially since I couldn’t stand to be around the woman. She reminded me too much of my uncaring, unhappy, and extremely judgmental mother.
But with Elizabeth…I wanted a family with her. She was so loving and gentle. I knew without a doubt she’d be a wonderful mother. I couldn’t wait to start our life together, and hoped like hell the annulment would go through quickly. Once it was done and over I'd tell Elizabeth about the mistake I'd made, and then corrected, so I could be with her.
During our road trip we talked about anything and everything, learning all the little things about each other while we listened to the radio.
It didn’t seem like it was long before we finally reached the salty air of the coast. I’d made reservations for us at an oceanfront hotel earlier in the week. I knew Elizabeth was going to love the beach, and I wanted her to see as much of it as possible.
The small North Carolina beach town of Emerald Isle was abandoned, since it was the end of December and Christmas week. I liked that it was so peaceful, and the beaches would be mostly empty. The weather was nice and sunny, even if it was chilly. It was supposed to be a great weekend with highs in the fifties and lows in the forties.
As soon as we parked I took Elizabeth’s hand to walk with her down to the beach. We could check into the hotel later, although I was ready to get her to our room, too.
We could hear the waves crashing on the shore before we could see them. Finally there was a clearing in the dunes, and the sand flattened out leading down to the surf. There was nothing but the wide empty beach leading to the ocean, which continued on as far as the eye could see. The sun was starting to set, painting the Carolina blue sky with shades of orange, pink and purple.
“Wow,” Elizabeth gasped as she stood still, taking in the amazing scene while squeezing my hand.
The wind was blowing through her long auburn hair and she looked breathtakingly beautiful. My other hand went to my pocket, feeling the small box I’d bought this morning, for this moment. I opened it and slid only the ring out. Kissing the knuckles of Elizabeth's left hand which was still in mine, I slid the ring onto her finger. She was so mesmerized by the sight of seeing the ocean for the first time that she didn’t even notice.
“Elizabeth?”
“This is so incredibly beautiful.”
“So are you. Will you marry me?”
She inhaled sharply before she finally looked first up at me and then down at her hand.
“Yes, oh my God, yes,” she said, throwing her arms around my neck.
Our lips frantically came together, our tongues caressing each other's eagerly. We stood there in each other’s arms until the sun set, leaving us in darkness.
“I love you so much,” I told her.
“I love you too, and you have no idea how happy you make me.”
“Are you ready to head to our room?” I asked as my hands slid down and up under her shirt.
“Yes, or here,” she said smiling as she unzipped my pants.
“Here. Oh God, please here,” I begged as I covered her mouth again with mine. Not that I'd really been paying attention, but I was pretty sure there hadn’t seen a single soul out here with us. Now it was completely dark, other than the glow of the hotel’s lights, and the night was getting cooler, but I knew we’d keep each other warm.
I picked Elizabeth up and carried her away from the steps of the hotel’s walkway. Laying her down between two of the higher sand dunes I unzipped her jeans, pulling them and her panties down as far as they’d go. I wanted my mouth on her, tasting her before I could take her. I plunged my tongue between her legs, making her moan and squirm under me. I teased and licked her core while her hips rose and fell until she came, screaming my name. I hoped no one had decided to walk the beach because they’d hear her from yards away.
Before she could recover I freed my erection from my boxers then climbed up her, kissing her while she still panted. When I thrust into her we both cried out, before holding onto each other for dear life as we made love in the sand. I only stopped long enough to ask her in case she’d changed her mind.
“Elizabeth, do you want me to stop?”
“No,” she moaned. “From now on, always no.”
She wanted a family with me and I wanted to give her one.
“I love you,” I told her.
“I love you too."
While we recovered I pushed up her shirt and jacket, then kissed down her chest until my lips reached her stomach.
“I hope I give you a baby. I won't give up, even if it takes years,” I told her with a smile.
“Last night I dreamed we had a beautiful girl and named her Kate,” she said quietly, and I raised up to look at her. Her expression was so wistful.
“Really?” I asked with a smile. Imagining having a little girl with Elizabeth warmed me like nothing I'd ever felt before.
“Yeah,” she sighed, and even in the darkness I could see the moisture beginning to glisten in her eyes
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“She was perfect and healthy. She even had my eyes, but then I woke up missing her and you.”
“Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m not going anywhere, and maybe you’ll see her one day. Even if we can't have a baby, we could always adopt.”
“I dreamed my mother died a few weeks before her wreck, and I dreamed of you before I met you that day at the restaurant.”
“You did?” Was it possible she could see the future in her dreams? She was a witch after all.
“Yeah. I felt so sad and alone, then I saw you standing in the rain outside of my house.”
“Do witches have premonitions?”
“I don’t know. My mom never talked about it. In our house the rule was to pretend like you're normal and never shed blood.”
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how scary it must be to constantly live in fear. But I'm not going to let anything happen to you, or our children."
"We better get dressed and head in before someone sees us," Elizabeth said, ending the conversation that she seemed uncomfortable having.
“Sure sweetheart, let's go find our room."
Chapter Thirteen
Elizabeth
I'd only been asleep for a few hours when I felt Tom's hands gliding over me, waking me up. I didn't mind the interruption of my sleep one bit. I reached to pull his lips to mine. We both slept naked, so there wouldn't be any clothes in our way.
“How do you want me? Stomach, back, or on you?" I asked between kisses. Tom laughed and pulled away out of reach. "What?" I asked when I opened my eyes and noticed he was dressed and standing beside the bed.
"That's not why I was waking you up, but you're about to change my mind."
"Oh. So why were you waking me up? It's only," I raised up and looked at the hotel clock on the nightstand. "It's only seven a.m. What is wrong with you? We're supposed to be on vacation, so get back in this bed, and answer my question," I told him with a smile.
"Come on sweetheart. There's something I want you to see and we only have about fifteen minutes to get there or we'll miss it."
"I only need ten," I joked and he froze in hesitation. "Just kidding, I'm getting up."
"Put on something warm," he said grinning.
Five minutes later we were heading to the dark beach with a thick, warm blanket.
"Sunrise?" I guessed with a smile.
"Sunrise. If you thought the sunset was beautiful, just wait," he said as we found a spot in the sand and sat down.
I cuddled up to Tom and he wrapped the blanket around us as we waited. A few minutes later it started. A bright, orange glowing orb looked like it was slowly rising from the middle of the ocean. The higher it went the more the water shimmered and glowed, reflecting its light.
"Wow," was the only word I could find to describe it. "Thank you for waking me up."
"I knew you'd like seeing it. We can come back a few more mornings, if you want."
"Definitely. Just wake me up a little earlier so we'll have time for what I'd assumed you wanted to do this morning."
Tom laughed. "I will. Are you warm enough?"
"Yes, I'm fine. More than fine."
"Good," he said as he leaned down to kiss me. "You know, I think of you as my very own sunrise. Beautiful and warm, letting me start all over again."
"I love you, Tom," I told him as I snuggled into his arms.
…
“Here’s the key. Why don’t you go get undressed and I’ll be up as soon as I check for faxes and messages at the front desk,” Tom said after we pulled back up to his hotel in Greensboro.
“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you,” I told him with a kiss and a smile. The past week with him had been beyond amazing, and I was sort of sad to have to get back to the reality of work and school.
I grabbed my bag from the trunk to take it in with me so I could get ready for work in the morning, and bounced up the stairs to the second floor. When I opened Tom's hotel room door I thought it was odd that all the lights were on. I knew we’d turned everything off before we left, but maybe housekeeping had left them on one day after they cleaned.
Then I saw my shattered vase of flowers, petals and glass lying all across the floor. I started backing out of the room, but didn't make it to the door before I heard a woman’s voice.
“Are you the slut that’s fucking my husband?” she demanded.
Oh shit. I looked up and saw a woman standing in Tom’s room, heading toward me. She was beautiful, with long wavy blonde hair, and she looked really pissed off.
“I’m sorry. I don't know how you got in here, but you’re in the wrong room,” I told her, suddenly afraid that she would turn violent, by the look on her face and the mess in the floor.
She laughed without humor. “I’m in the right room, and I’ve been here for days waiting for my husband, since he didn't come home for Christmas. I guess he was too busy fucking you to be with his family.”
“You’ve made a mistake. I haven't been with your husband.”
Suddenly the expression on her face went blank, the anger slipping away. “He didn’t tell you, did he? That he was married?" she barked out a laugh. "Then I guess Tom’s fucked us both over.”
Oh no. I sucked in a breath and had to hold myself up with the wall behind me.
“That answers that question.”
“He-he said he was divorced,” I stuttered, feeling like a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown on me, washing the last few weeks away. Didn't he say he was divorced? No, now that I thought about it, he just said he'd been married before.
“We just got married in October.”
He’d only been married for two freaking months?
The door I’d left partially open moved, and Tom stepped into the room. He froze when he saw me leaning against the wall, then looked up at the woman.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snapped at her. So she was telling the truth. He was married, and this was his freaking wife.
“Your mistress and I were just talking about you. What? A man's wife can’t show up and surprise him on Christmas when he's out of town?"
"You won't be my wife for much longer, and our marriage was nothing more than a fucking piece of paper."
So it was true. He wasn't divorced yet.
"Yeah, about that, I got the annulment papers last week and have been waiting here for days to discuss them with you. But now that I know you're having an affair you'll have to get a divorce and pay me alimony, you cheating son of a bitch.”
“I don't give a shit about alimony. I'll pay whatever I have to in order to get rid of you.”
“You don’t want to even try and save our marriage? Well, I can’t say I do either after meeting her, who you've apparently fucked over too. You couldn't wait even a few weeks before leaving me to start fucking someone else?”
“Vanessa, just leave. I’ll call and have the police throw you out if I have too. Elizabeth, I’m so sorry-” Tom started to say to me, before she interrupted.
“Oh, but I’m your wife, so I have every right to be in my husband’s fucking room!”
Suddenly I had a horrible thought. "It was you that called early that morning?" I asked his wife.
"Damn it Tom, how dare you! You left me Monday and started fucking her on Wednesday?"
"It was actually Tuesday night, and unlike you, she actually wants to fuck me and doesn't complain the whole goddamn time."
This couldn't be happening. I'd slept with a married man. A newly married man, just one day after he left his wife at home.
"Thank God I'm not pregnant," she said, and suddenly I felt even sicker with the thought that there was a small chance I could be.
"If you were it'd be because you stopped taking your fucking pills behind my back again, you conniving bitch!"
I’d heard enough. I finally pushed myself off the wall and started toward the door. Tom moved in front of me, blocking the only exit.
“Elizabeth, wait, please,” he said, his voice softening.
“No. Get the hell out of my way,” I told him as the tears ran down my face. “Oh, and here’s your ring. It would’ve been hard for you to marry me since you’re still married to her,” I told him, taking it off and throwing it at him.
Tom let the ring fall to the ground as his arms reached out and tried to go around me.
“No! Don’t you dare touch me! How could you?” I cried as I shoved him away. With my luggage in hand I rushed out the door.
Everything was hazy though the tears, but I made it to my car and started it. Tom was suddenly there, opening my door before I could put it in gear.
“Elizabeth, don’t leave. Please. I am begging you. I love you more than anything, and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I only want to be with you. I hate that bitch and I’ve never cared about her,” he said as he held the door. I was so hurt I couldn’t even look at him.
“You lied to me, and if you cheated on her
, then you’ll cheat on me too, so just stop,” I told him as I put the car in gear, driving away, so he had to let the door close.
How could I have been so stupid? Now there was a chance I could be pregnant by that bastard. I couldn't believe I'd fallen so easily for his lies. I was so upset I wasn't able to see through the tears, so I pulled my car over a few miles up the road and sat and cried.
Chapter Fourteen
By noon on Monday morning I'd pulled myself out of bed and headed to work. After my mother's death I couldn't sleep, and now that's all I wanted to do in my post-Tom depression. I clocked in, and nausea rolled through me when I noticed the flowers sitting on the customer service desk. Oh no.
Karen walked up to me smiling. "Hey Liz, another delivery for you."
"Do you want them?" I asked her.
"What? No, they're yours," she answered, confused. I went over and picked them up, then threw them in the trash.
Sending flowers is what I'd heard men did for their mistresses. Something that they didn't do for their wives.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
"Long story that I really don't want to talk about."
A few hours later he came in. The tears and ache in my chest started just at the sight of his perfect, lying face. I tried to ignore him and just ring up the customers without having a breakdown.
Tom stood and waited in my line, buying I don't even know what, so I had no choice but to ring him up like everyone else.
"Elizabeth I wish you'd let me explain."
"There's nothing for you to explain. You're an asshole. I trusted you and you lied to me, and you cheated on your wife."
"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I knew you wouldn't see me if I’d told you about her. I swear our marriage was a joke. God, I miss you so damn much. Did you throw away the flowers I sent you?"
"Yes."
"I'll still keep sending them."