“Yes. It’s over.” I paused. “Are you alright? Should I come to you?”
“No, Cole. I’m fine. I told you. Our happiness… our revenge. But to tell you the truth, I don’t even feel that. I just feel relieved.”
“Are you sure.”
“No more worrying, Cole. No more looking over our shoulders. We can breathe again.”
“I love you, so much.” I closed my eyes.
“If it’s even possible, I love you more.” She giggled.
“I can’t wait to see you. What are you wearing under your dress?” I thought I might as well make it interesting.
“Are you alone?”
“Nico’s standing behind me.” I looked over my shoulder but he was keeping a respectful distance.
“You’ll like what I’m wearing underneath… did you remember your gift?”
“It’s in my pocket. Do you want me to open it now?”
“What time is it?”
I looked at the phone then put it back to my ear. “We have ten minutes. Are you going to be one of those fashionably late brides?”
“No, Cole. I’m about to bust through this wall like the Hulk to get to you. But I like my dress and I want you to see it so I’m going to wait the ten minutes. Leave your phone on.”
“Okay. I love you, Anika. Can’t say it enough.”
“Me too, baby. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
It was almost one of those, You hang up. No, you hang up. Moments, but we both had things to do, or I did. I turned around to see Nico had a tentative smile. “Hey Cole.”
“How are you, Nico?”
He didn’t answer. Who knows what kind of shit he just witnessed but I couldn’t think about that. “Listen, when you guys get back, I’d like to do something for you both. You think you could give me call and let me know when? I’m going to close the shop that night. I’ll have my regular guy, Jonny and my dad. My mom’ll be there too.”
“Uh, sure, you want to give me a hint? I trust you, but I know Anika doesn’t exactly like surprises.”
“I promise, Cole. She won’t mind this surprise.” He smiled. Something I’d never seen him do. He was the opposite of me physically: solid, blonde hair and a very dark tan (I was pretty tan but his hair made the contrast more noticeable). I was about to say something else but my dad threw the door open and bounded into the room stunning everyone from an already awkward silence to an even more awkward silence if possible.
“It’s time!” He smiled. Everyone just kind of stood there not sure who should go first maybe? But my dad took care of that. “David, Gus, Olaf, Cole… in that order. John, you’re with me. Tattoo man (Nico), Red (Rusty), Abe, Anthony get your asses in some chairs. Let’s go.”
David Parker turned to me, “Your dad is kind of a bad-ass isn’t he?”
“Kind of.” I smirked.
“All ready for the big night, Cole?” Olaf asked as I followed him out the door.
“You wish it was you going to that cabin in the woods with me, don’t you Olaf?” Yeah, we were going to beat this joke to death.
“I’ll be sobbing into my pillow while I bite it, remembering your giant co-”
“Olaf, are you insinuating my son has had his di-”
“Do you guys always talk like this?” David asked.
Olaf and I were laughing so hard we had tears coming out our eyes. “No.” I was able to get out.
Just as my dad was about to open a door to what was a small mission-style chapel, he turned to all of us. “You walk in there, everything else is in the past. This is your future. You don’t worry about anything else, understood?” He addressed me.
My smile faltered but was soon replaced by a new one, “Yes Dad, understood.”
“Good. After you, gentlemen.”
Cole 30
Anika
I leaned against the window, holding my phone against my chest and my hand flat against the window. Serena and I had had our moment and it was done.
I was free.
I had already shed my past with the painting I created for Cole and me. It would stay there, in our cabin. I couldn’t wait for him to see it. Then he would know I had healed completely. I only had two more things to do: one, call my future husband and two, marry him.
I watched the car pull away and wondered if she was happy. I felt this enormous pull to reach out to her, call her, maybe invite her over for drinks, but I doubted our paths were ever going to cross again. I had never been a particularly religious person. I read a book about that Bear Grills guy who was saying he’d never met an atheist at the top of Mt. Everest. I understood his point. Whatever or whoever had been looking after Cole and me, I was thankful. So I took that opportunity to close my eyes and send up a simple prayer of thanks. I had a lot to be thankful for, that was for sure.
“Anika, dear?” Trish approached me along with Jeannie. “Jeannie has a little something for you.”
“I wore this garter when I married your dad. It was my mother’s so it’s vintage. It can be your something borrowed and blue, but I would like you to have it.”
She presented me with the most beautiful and ornate garter I’d ever seen. There was nothing remotely cheesy about this thing. I had never even thought about wearing one. “It would be an absolute honor, Jeannie. Thank you.” I gave her a light hug, careful not to scrunch the beautiful floral corsage on her lapel.
“And this is from Rachel and me.”
“Rachel? You mean from the Bridal shop?” I took the bouquet in my hands and saw that the stems were encased in an intricately detailed cuff that matched my dress perfectly. It laced up the back through little grommets and reminded me of a corset. I almost wished I had lingerie that matched. “Oh, this is so beautiful.”
“I don’t think you knew this before, but Rachel is the mother of Nico.” Oh my God, I should have known that. Her tattoo. Now that I thought about it I could totally see Nico in her. They had the same mouth and eyes. “There’s a girl who lives above the tattoo shop in one of those darling cottages. She makes them. She suggested you wear it on your anniversary each year. Apparently they used to do that, but with the wedding dress, it was worn on the anniversary.” Trish said this to Jeannie.
“I love it. I love them both. Thank you!” I looked around. “Where’s Aimes?” Just then, she appeared.
Somehow her hair had been transformed into beautiful big curls atop her head. She was stunning. “Oh, Aimes you look so pretty.”
“Fuck. You.”
Yeah. I wasn’t expecting that either. “Huh?” I asked.
“If I say anything else that doesn’t sound mean and bitchy I am going to cry like a little bitch. Now, let’s get this party started, you ugly… truck stop… try hard… dollar shop bride.”
“I love you too, Aimes.”
I gave her the biggest smile I could and she spun on her foot and out the door. “I hate you.” She sang as she exited. Jeannie and Trish just laughed. I was pleased they had a sense of humor about it.
“I’m ready.” I stood before Trish and Jeannie went to the door where my dad stood waiting.
“Anika…” She began.
“Don’t, Trish.” I smiled and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “We’re free.”
She nodded and motioned for my dad to take my arm. “Here,” I handed him my phone.
“You’ll need a cell phone? Are you expecting someone to call? He asked with concern.
“No, I need to make one. Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.” He offered me his elbow and we began to leave the room, until he stopped suddenly.
“Ankia.”
“Yes?” I replied quickly. I mean, I had some fairly pressing things going on at the moment, but whatever he was going to say was important, urgent, and honestly this was something I never imagined would happen. My dad was going to walk me down the aisle.
“I’m sure by now you’ve figured out that I pretty left and began a…” He hesitated, searching for the right words, I thi
nk.
“Relationship with Jeannie. I wanted to forget, honey. Not replace you. I didn’t know about David until late in the pregnancy. I still struggled, three years until I decided to focus on the child I had instead of the one I lost. Jeannie and I were married when David was two. He stayed with his grandparents when we went on our honeymoon, but he was three then and that’s when I finally let you go. But I never forgot your birthday. Every year, I…” His breath caught and I knew, I knew he felt the loss as much as I did.
“I know, Daddy.” I said gently, remembering how he called me honey when I was a little girl. “Cole told me. We’ll have more chocolate cake.” I somehow managed to keep it together, but much like Aimes, if I started now, I wouldn’t be able to stop the tears and that wasn’t what I wanted to remember on my wedding day. “We better get going. I have somewhere I need to be.”
At the back of the hall, I heard the music begin. I heard the string quartet and turned to John Parker, my dad. “Is it everything you hoped it would be?” I asked.
“Doesn’t even come close, sweetie. My sun and my moon.” His eyes were wet, but he was truly happy.
“Phone.” I requested.
I put it to my ear and what sounded like a million voices echoing in the room started at once and ended with Aimes, “Who in the hell do you think you’re calling right now. Oh and you are so ugly it hurts to look at you. Seriously, you are burning my retinas out of my skull with your hideousness.”
“I love you too, Aimes. I’m calling Cole. Everyone be quiet so I can hear.”
I swiped the screen and heard, “Shot through the heart…..shot through the heart….”
It was a small chapel and the echo was incredible so I could hear him perfectly without even holding the phone to my ear. I couldn’t see him though. The string quartet stopped completely and I even heard gasps.
“Anika.” He chuckled and the beautiful sound made me close my eyes in happiness.
“Cole. Take the box out of your jacket. You can put me on speakerphone if you want. Have Olaf hold it.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t open it yet!” I wanted to make sure he didn’t jump the gun. Ha!
“I won’t. Alright. Everybody say hello to Anika.” He laughed again and much to my surprise, everyone did say, “Hello, Anika.” But they were also laughing which was fantastic. “I’m holding the box in my hands and Olaf is holding the phone.
“Hi Olaf.” I said.
“Anika.” I could tell he was barely keeping himself from a rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.
“Will you hurry the hell up you, you… gah!” Poor Aimes.
“Aimes getting antsy?” Cole asked.
“A little. She said I look ugly.” The entire room laughed.
“I’m sure she didn’t mean it. I would like to see for myself though.”
“Okay.” Here goes nothin’. “Untie the ribbon.”
“Done.”
“I love you, Cole.”
“Me too, baby, but you’re kind of killing me here.”
“I know. Open the box.”
“The tissue?”
I took a deep breath.
“Open it.”
I heard him gasp. “Really?”
“Really.” I brushed the happy tear that seemed to somehow escape me away.
“Come to me, my beautiful girl.”
The doors opened and Cole stood there, and watched me walk to him. I forgot about the dress, the flowers, the people… all I saw was my destination… Cole. The man who sang to me, who gave me what I needed to heal, who saved me.
When I got to the end, Cole led me up the three carpeted steps. My dress was arranged behind me and for a moment, I couldn’t tell if he was happy or sad. Whatever emotion Cole was having, I’d never seen it. I started to get nervous, my breathing began to quicken and suddenly Cole dropped to his knees, took my hips in each hand and laid the gentlest kiss on my stomach.
He rose, taking each of my hands and kissed my fingers. I could hear the celebrant talk but I didn’t hear any of the words. I answered “yes” when asked and so did Cole and before I knew it, his lips were on mine, our future sealed in a beautiful kiss to the sound of laughing and crying all around us.
His forehead leaned against mine and he asked, “Are you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Are other people this happy?” He asked.
“I hope so.”
“I love you so much, Anika.”
“I love you too.” I whispered.
***
The rest of the day flew by. We ate, we danced, I had a token sip of champagne and before I knew it, we were on our way to the car. It looked like the car Mr. Big always came to see Carrie in which I would guess was a town car.
I totally married Mr. Big. Except, the reality was better than the TV show.
Olaf stopped Cole just as he was about to get in, “I thought you might want this. You know, sentimental reasons.” He handed Cole the box that held the pregnancy test. That stick with the plus sign had been around every table and in every hand at the wedding. People didn’t seem bothered by the fact I had peed on it at some point.
Olaf was yanked away and Aimes appeared. “Okay.” She said in a small voice that told me the waterworks were coming. Cole held my hand. “I love you, Ink. I’m your girl and no matter where you are or where I am, I’m still your girl. You are so pretty, and I am so… just… so happy.” She sobbed.
“I love you too.” I choked out. She started to move away into the waiting arms of Gus. “Aimes?”
“Yeah.” She sniffed.
“Thank you.”
“Fuck. You.” She smiled through her tears and walked away with a chuckling Gus who gave me a wink.
The door closed and I tucked myself into the arms of my husband. “Sleep now, Anika. It’ll take us a couple of hours to get there. We’ll have to stop and put the chains on too.”
“Snow?”
“Snow, my beautiful girl. Mrs. Anika Carlyle.” He brushed my cheek with his thumb.
“I love the way that sounds.” I said sleepily.
“It suits you.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “How long did you know?” He asked.
“The final dress fitting. I hated not telling you, but I thought you would appreciate the surprise.”
“No one will ever forget today, least of all me. Happiest day of my life was the one when I met you and each day since, it just keeps getting better, Anika.”
“Sleeping now.” I was exhausted. Cole slipped my silvery Manolo’s off and began to rub my feet. “Heaven.” I sighed.
“That comes later.”
***
I’m not sure how long it was before we arrived but when I woke up, I felt refreshed.
Mrs. Cole Carlyle. Mrs. Anika Carlyle.
I was still being held in his arms. “I love my new name.” I said, eyes still closed.
“Not as much as I love you.”
“Maybe…” I said lifting up to look at his handsome face. “Maybe we can just agree that we both love the name and each other. How does that sound?”
“That sounds perfect.” He looked out the window, “We’re here.”
I turned to see the entire place was lit beautifully. I knew instantly I was going to love this place. The car came to a complete stop and the engine cut.
“I’ll get out first. The driver will open the door, put the bags inside and then we’ll go in. Okay?”
Okay? Okay? Everything was more than okay. “Uh…”
“Is something wrong?” He asked, concern shadowing his features.
“Can we hurry it up? I need to pee. Again.” He laughed at me. It had been hours and this was a record. I was also confined to layers of fabric, tulle and lingerie.
“Of course.”
Less than a minute later, he was carrying me through crunching snow, a sharp biting air hit my face and was met (carried under the traditional threshold no less) with a delicious warmth.
; He set me to my feet and pointed to a doorway, “Just through there. I’ll be waiting right where I stand.”
I bolted in that direction quickly did my business which, you know, was not easy in a dress with a long train, and returned to see Cole standing in front of the open fire place with tears running down his face.
I went to him, freaking out that something was wrong. A million things went through my mind in that moment: I wondered if he had gone to his dark place which hadn’t happened in… well, I couldn’t even remember the last time. Maybe there was something about this place that held a bad memory for him. Maybe whoever had set the cabin up had screwed up… but then, he held his arms straight out to me gesturing for my hand and pulled me to him when I gave it. My painting. Our painting. It was my other gift to him. His tears were not ones of sadness, they were ones of joy.
The large piece hung above the fireplace pride of place and there it was… the same tree that had been the symbol of my pain was now my salvation from it. It was a simple creamy background, a giant black silhouette, the leaves… my painful past on the ground with full foliage gracing the branches. I added a swing and on the left was a script letter A, the right a script letter C.
“This is why you didn’t need music. There wasn’t any pain to get out. Anika…”
He began with his hands at each shoulder, pulling me to him, his lips softly kissing my neck while long fingers trailed down my sides, gliding across the satiny fabric. He dropped to his knees and lifted the many layers, making quick work of the garter and tossed it somewhere. Then he pushed the waist up as much as he could and kissed my naked belly again. My many layers were returned. Cole again stood before me and spoke, “That was for our child. Now though, now I’m going to make love to my wife.”
His hand scooped under my knees, the other under my arms as he carried me to the bed in the open plan room. The thick curtains were all closed, tea-lights were lit all around and we were bathed in the glow of firelight. The shadows danced off of sketches, so beautiful….people, faces, nature… just incredible, all done by Cole. Released from my dress and undergarments, Cole again stood and draped the gown across a couch. Naked before me stood my husband. Every chiseled muscle, every delicious inch was mine to savor. Before I could make a move to him, he was over me, a deep plunging kiss, magnificent and sweet all at the same time heightening every touch. Wrapping my arms around him, I felt him sink into me in a deep, slow thrust. Oh, God. This is what I now had to look forward to for the rest of my life… no words, so wonderful. The gradual build and intensity, my body completely in tune with his, in wasn’t long before his rhythm increased and we both rose together, finding our grand finale of climax at the same instant. He slowed but didn’t stop, kissing and licking every inch he could reach and never, ever stopping.
Cole (The Leaves) Page 24