Chef Charming

by Ellerbe, Lyn

  She shrugged her shoulders slightly. He was desperate to get through to her.

  “You are so different from me that it makes me crazy with envy sometimes. I wish I could just go with the flow and enjoy life like you do. You are going to have to help me loosen up and you have my permission to wallop me when I get on one of my rampages.”

  “You’re jealous of me?” Marcus caught his breath as she lifted her head. Her breath against his neck was very distracting.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry I messed up your kitchen. I’m just a big dummy. I forget that you want everything to stay neat and orderly. I don’t know if I can do that. So it is okay if you want to change your mind. I will understand.”

  “If you don’t marry me I think I will go insane.” Marcus stated his case succinctly. “Aurora, I need to know that you forgive me,” Marcus whispered, his lips against her ear. “I am a fool. I love you more than life itself.”

  “I forgive you,” Rori sighed and snuggled against him.

  “We better go back in now,” Marcus lifted her onto her feet. “Carla about beat me to death when you ran out the door. I think I’ll have bruises all over my back. We need to let her know you’re okay before she finds a bigger weapon.”

  He needed to get some space between them too as the resolve he had promised himself when she agreed to marry him was rapidly slipping away. He was finding it more and more difficult to maintain his distance and self-control. The physical attraction he felt for her was only deepening as he learned about her inner beauty. Still, he was terrified of scaring her.

  Carla was glad to see they had worked through this crisis, but vowed to keep a close eye on Rori. Having a fun night planned with Jessica would help, she hoped. Tomorrow would be filled with the plans both Mrs. Sinclair and Mrs. MacRae had mapped out. Marcus and Jake both had duties at the college so they would be out of the way, not that they were sad about missing the shopping trip.

  Pastor Sam and his wife met with the young couple on Saturday evening over dinner. They shared some of the pitfalls that they had encountered early in their marriage, counseling Marcus and Rori to spend as much time as they could talking and communicating since they had the added burden of so short a courtship. They needed to spend purposeful time talking to get to know each other before they committed themselves forever.

  It was a sobering meeting and both Rori and Marcus were quiet on the way back to Jake’s house.

  “I know that was kind of scary, Aurora,” Marcus turned to her and took both her hands in his after he parked behind Carla’s car. “But I promise we will do this right. We both know that God brought us together, no matter how unusual our courtship was. We need to keep trusting that there won’t be anything that we face that is not conquerable.”

  “I still have to remind myself that this is real sometimes,” Rori tried to concentrate on her words but was distracted watching Marcus as he toyed with her fingers. She didn’t think he realized how just that little motion affected her thinking.

  “Oh, it’s real, Princess,” he leaned his forehead against hers. He would have kissed her, but Jake’s porch light flashed on and off suddenly.

  “Dad says we have to go in,” Marcus grumbled. “I don’t want to be on restriction for our wedding week.”

  Rori giggled but her heart was still troubled. Marcus seemed eager to not be alone with her. She faked sleep on the trip home the next day. She did not want to answer any questions from the two insightful ladies.

  The next week was spent packing up her belongings and considering the job opportunities she had been offered. It was a little more difficult since she would be out of the country for three weeks. Thankfully, there was a gallery assistant position in a smaller gallery in town, just around the corner from the Downtown Gallery, and it offered free studio space as a benefit. They were very interested in Rori and were not concerned about the timing of her European trip.

  Ten days before the wedding, Rori and her mom were at the bridal shop to pick up the dress. Her gown was a lace-covered vintage halter-top dress that Rori had fallen in love with immediately. She and her mom had visited just three shops and the gown needed very little alteration. It was last year’s model and so was less than half what she had thought she would have to spend.

  “Almost as if this was meant to be,” her mom said mischievously. Rori was still having a hard time accepting that this good fortune was really hers. “You need to relax and let God shower you with this happiness, sweetheart. He is a loving God and you are His daughter. I think He knows that you need all these things to fall into place like this otherwise you would continue to doubt, am I right?” She knew her daughter well.

  “Yes,” Rori admitted, then got to the real heart of the matter, tears welling in her eyes, “And I miss Marcus.”

  A quick hug from her mom after the seamstress finished her markings helped tremendously.

  “You’ll see him in a little over a week,” her mom reminded her, “and you two talk several times a day, from what I’ve observed.”

  “It’s not the same,” Rori said, “but you’re right. It will be okay as soon as I’m back there.” Maybe then I can start believing this is all true again, she thought.

  -------------------------

  Their phone calls usually involved details for the wedding, reception, or honeymoon. What Rori didn’t know was that Marcus often invented excuses for their daily calls just to hear her voice. Definitely addicted, he told himself.

  Their computer conversations were more playful.

  Marcus, did you know that our adventure at Jose’s restaurant was actually our first and only date?

  Yes, Aurora, I have realized that. We will have to make up for our unconventional courtship by having lots of post wedding date nights.

  You know, there are lots and lots of questions that are normally answered on dates that we haven’t covered yet.

  Like?

  Dogs or cats?

  Dogs.

  Good.

  Really? Would the wedding be called off if I had answered ‘Cats’?

  Distinct possibility. I’m highly allergic.

  Good to know. My turn. Country or Classic Rock?

  Yes.

  Yes? Both?

  What can I say? I have eclectic tastes. You’d also have to add disco, pop, and classical. Leave opera and rap off the list, though.

  Oh, well. Guess I’ll have to return those Italian opera box seat tickets.

  What?!

  Joking. Your turn.

  Football or baseball?

  Soccer – or ‘real’ football as it should properly be called. And you?

  Football – Professional, not college.

  Really?

  Yes – the whole family are avid fans, Mom especially. Trying hard to picture the demur Mrs. Sinclair rooting loudly for a professional football team, Marcus laughed. He continued the interrogation.

  Your turn.

  Children?

  He was tempted to respond, Yes, but I want you all to myself for at least a year’ he thought he’d better not and typed instead, Yes. How many?

  3, 4, 5...? Rori replied.

  Yes! Marcus knew she would sense his obvious enthusiasm. Names?

  Yes, I think we should name them. Numbers would be silly.

  You are tired, Aurora. Go to sleep. I love you. Ten days.

  I love you, too, Marcus. Rori smiled as she added, Nine days, actually, look at the clock.

  -------------------------

  She returned to town on Sunday, a week before the wedding. Her car was packed to the roof. Since Marcus had previously hijacked most of her belongings, there was no need for her dad to rent another moving trailer. The rest of her things would fit in the family van that they would bring over on Thursday.

  Marcus tried to insist that she stay at the apartment while he bunked with Jake and Carla.

  “I would never do that to poor little Zoe,” Rori teased him. Despite her continuing doubts, she loved
this man so deeply that she had vowed to work on her optimism. She promised herself to choose cheerfulness over questions and humor over seriousness.

  “Funny,” Marcus retorted.

  “I’m staying with Jess until Friday night,” she explained. Her parents and sister would be coming into town on Thursday and had rented a suite of rooms at the fancy hotel in town, which was thankfully close to the church. The Saturday evening wedding that had seemed light years away was now almost here.

  “We’re all set, aren’t we?” Marcus interpreted her concerned look as worry over the wedding details.

  “Like they say,” she smiled at him, “I have the groom and the dress, everything else is gravy.”

  He laughed and playfully pulled her into a quick hug.

  “You are delightful and adorable.” He kissed her nose. He remembered his news and pulled back to watch her reaction. “All the culinary and art professors have compiled an itinerary for us. Some have even contacted friends along our route and we have reservations at some of the best and some of the little known hidden culinary treasures throughout Europe. You also have a private guided tour scheduled at three very prestigious museums.”

  He watched as her eyes filled with tears. His dismay was evident.

  “Why are you crying? That was supposed to be good news!”

  “It is,” she sniffed, “these are happy tears.” He pulled her close and held her while she regained a little composure. He knew that she was emotionally exhausted and was hoping this week did not stress her out any more than was necessary.

  After their final meeting with Pastor Sam, mainly to go over the ceremony and vows, Rori actually saw very little of Marcus that week. Her favorite times were the evenings he spent grading papers and writing out lesson plans for the fall. Being gone for three weeks before you start a new teaching position wasn’t ideal, but he was prepared. She sat on the floor in front of his couch working on wedding favors. Just being able to lean against his legs or rest her head on his knee when he took a break was heavenly. She relished this time because she had realized to her dismay that his displays of affection were now becoming more and more infrequent. She struggled anew with doubts about his feelings.

  Happily Ever After

  As the wedding day approached, Marcus tried to insist again that she move into the condominium and let him rent a hotel room.

  “Or I can just sleep on the couch at Jake’s house,” he said.

  “Nope,” she had teased, “I have no guarantee that you wouldn’t sneak in and look at the wedding gown.” Nagging doubts still plagued her, too, and she felt like moving into his territory was too bold a move. What if he wanted to change his mind? He would never feel the freedom to do so if she was already entrenched at his house.

  Both Carla and Jake grew concerned about Rori as the week went on. They had watched her grow quieter and quieter, especially around Marcus. Her eyes followed him when he wasn’t looking, but had a haunted, questioning look. Marcus, on the other hand, could hide his feelings for Rori about as well as a two-year-old trying to keep a secret. His eyes, too, followed his fiancée when she wasn’t looking. Only Jake knew how difficult this week had been.

  “I’m afraid to even hold her hand,” he was painfully honest. “I don’t trust myself to not sling her over my shoulder and lock her in the bedroom, marriage certificate or not.”

  Keeping very little from his wife, Jake shared Marcus’s sentiments the night before the rehearsal.

  “That’s it!” Carla exclaimed. “I know what’s wrong with Rori!”

  “I’m lost.” Jake tried to follow her logic as she explained.

  “I think she is interpreting his lack of...how can I put this delicately...physical affection, with disinterest.” Jake had just taken a drink of soda and almost choked.

  “Disinterest?! I don’t think the guy has used any hot water in his showers in three weeks.” Carla playfully knocked her husband on the head with a pillow.

  “Behave!” Carla laughed, and then gave her husband strict instructions. “You’ve got to talk to him before the cook out.”

  The rehearsal was hectic as most usually were. Carla was astutely aware of Rori’s withdrawal. Others most likely were attributing her quietness to exhaustion.

  “What’s wrong, Rori?” Carla pulled her aside before they headed back to Marcus’s for a cookout.

  They had picked good old-fashioned American fare since the newlyweds would be immersed in European cuisine for the next three weeks. As a wedding gift, the culinary staff, along with some of their former professors at the culinary institute, had contacted chefs and restaurateurs all along the couple’s itinerary. They had reservations, and usually pre-paid meals, at some of Europe’s’ finest establishments awaiting their arrival.

  “Nothing, just tired,” Rori said. Tears were forming and she wanted to get away from this very perceptive young wife.

  “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Carla mimicked her daughter’s singsong voice.

  “Is it that obvious?” Rori brushed away tears. As Carla nodded, she continued. “I’m afraid. I think Marcus has changed his mind and now that all these plans are made, he’s afraid to tell me.”

  Carla struggled not to smile. She was pleased with herself that she had ‘accurately diagnosed the patient’ as Jake would tease her later.

  “What makes you think that?” Carla pushed Rori to talk about her concerns. The two walked slightly behind the rest of the crowd making its way up the parking lot.

  “He seems to be annoyed whenever I get too close to him,” Rori’s voice was distressed as she played the last few days over in her mind. “When I got back on Sunday, I practically threw myself at him. He twirled me around once, and then suddenly put me down. It was as if he didn’t even like me anymore.”

  “So, no holding hands, no goodnight kisses?” Carla needed to know the depths of Marcus’s depravity. She was going to shake him until his teeth rattled. What was he thinking?

  “He does hold my hand, sometimes,” Rori admitted, “and kisses me good night, but they’re not like….” She hesitated.

  “Not like a man desperately in love that can’t wait for his honeymoon?” Carla finished the sentence for her.

  “Exactly,” a blushing Rori nodded, head bowed.

  “I think you need to talk to him,” Carla said as she drove to the condominium. Jake had taken Zoe with him, as they had pre-arranged. He hoped to find a time to set Marcus straight at the cookout.

  “I’m afraid he’s going to say I’m right,” Rori said. “But I guess that’s better than forcing him to marry someone he doesn’t want anymore.”

  Rori put on a cheerful front for the group at the rehearsal cookout. Gwen was her maid of honor. Carla and Jess were bridesmaids, and Zoe was the flower girl. Part of her evening was spent sorting out Marcus’s brothers James and Collin, along with Saundra, Collin’s wife and their five-year-old son, Isaac. Both sets of parents had become good friends, her dad and Marcus’s sharing the same dry sense of humor. The laughter from their corner of the patio was interrupted several times with one or the other wife’s admonition, “Oh grow up, you two!”

  Marcus had given Rori a quick kiss as she came into the kitchen when she and Carla arrived. He had even gently pushed her onto a stool and brushed her hair from her eyes.

  “I know you’re tired. We can wrap the burgers up and make everyone go home early if you like,” he offered.

  “You’re sweet, but I’m okay,” Rori smiled, trying to take encouragement from his tenderness. She leaned toward him, relishing his nearness and attentiveness, but Zoe and Isaac chose that moment to race into the room.

  “Aunt Wa-ree!” Zoe tugged on her Rori’s ankle length pink sundress, “I-sick says he’s the ring bear. What’s a Ring Bear?”

  Marcus and Rori both laughed, each grabbing a child and swinging them back into the living room. The moment of tenderness was gone.

  Rori was so touched from the heart-felt toasts before the meal that s
he had a hard time keeping the tears from showing. She obediently filled a plate and told Marcus she was going to go out onto the deck, thinking he would join her. Unfortunately, James waylaid him to tend to a minor food mishap. Carla watched the forlorn bride put her plate on a side table and lean on the rail of the deck.

  “Do something, now!” Carla whispered frantically to Jake. “Rori is out on the deck, and I’m sure she is crying.”

  Jake scrambled and grabbed his friend mid-sentence from the kitchen, “Sorry, best man duties,” he explained to Rori’s mom who was helping Marcus fill more drink glasses. Jake pushed Marcus into the master bedroom and quickly closed the door.

  “You, my friend, are a thick-headed clod,” Jake folded his arms and dove right into his tirade. “Your wife-to-be is at this moment on the deck, all alone, probably crying, and you want to know why?”

  Marcus made for the door, ready to rescue Rori. Jake blocked his way.

  “Don’t you want to know why?” Jake continued, ignoring the anger he saw rising in his friend’s green eyes.

  “Why?”

  “Because she thinks you don’t want her.” Jake laid it out as bluntly as he could, knowing time was an issue here.

  “Don’t want her? What do you mean?”

  “Do you need me to draw you a picture?” Jake was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary to go into a lot of detail. He knew Marcus was trying desperately to maintain self-control around Rori, and now he was being asked to let go of that control.

  “She thinks you don’t find her attractive anymore and that you’re just going through with the wedding because you’re too afraid of hurting her feelings if you called it off.” Jake knew he might be embellishing a little, but Marcus needed an urgent wake-up call.

  Marcus paled and stared at Jake as if he had grown an extra head.

  “Don’t find her attractive? Does she have any idea of the agony I’ve gone through the last six weeks and especially the last week? If I live until our wedding night it will be a miracle!” Thankful he could be as blunt and honest as ever with Jake, Marcus shook his head and pushed past him.