by Madyson Grey
On another framed award, she saw her dad’s name with the title “President” after his name. She supposed that would be her title now. Then Rafael could be the CEO. That was what he had suggested earlier that day. So now the issue was decided. And without having to quiz him about it. Tomorrow she’d run back over to the office supply store and order the nameplate. And she just may go back into the men’s store and buy a gold pocketknife she had looked at. Maybe she could get his name engraved on it, too.
“All done,” Rafael said, standing up and moving from behind his desk. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Oh, no!” Victoria exclaimed as she slapped her forehead.
“What? Did you forget something?”
“I sure did! What an airhead I am. I meant to go to the grocery store this afternoon, and I got so involved shopping for shoes that I completely forgot. It was so nice to just relax and shop that I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. Nuts! I was going to cook us a nice supper tonight, but I needed a few things. Now, by the time we go to the hospital and visit Lena and Mother, it will take too long to get groceries and cook, too. Oh, boy. We’re not even married yet, and I’m already a failure.”
Rafael chuckled as he took Victoria in his arms.
“You’re not a failure, honey,” he said sympathetically. “You’re on overload. You deserved to have a fun, relaxing afternoon. Listen, we’ll just grab something on the way home from the hospital and you can cook your special dinner tomorrow. How’s that? Besides, it can double as a welcome home dinner for Lena.”
Victoria looked up into the dearest eyes she’d ever seen, other than her daddy’s. She was loving this man more and more every minute of every day.
“Thanks, babe,” she said. “You’re so sweet. That’s a great idea about having a special dinner for Lena’s first day back home. I’ll do the grocery shopping in the morning before I go get Lena from the hospital.”
“That’s just fine. Now, whose car do you want to take to the hospital? No use in taking both of them.”
“Yours. You drive,” she said.
“Hi, Lena,” they both said as they walked into her hospital room.
“Hi, kids,” she responded.
“How’re you feeling today?” Rafael asked.
“A lot better,” Lena answered.
Her voice was much stronger than it had been just the day before.
“I’m so glad,” Victoria said, patting her arm.
“How are you two? I hope you had a better day today than yesterday was.”
“Oh, yeah, much better,” Victoria said with a smile. “I went shopping today for a wedding dress. Well, not an actual wedding dress, but a dress to wear to our wedding. I found an absolutely fabulous dress and some awesome shoes to go with it.”
“Cool! I can’t wait to see them,” Lena said, her eyes shining. “I’ll be glad to go home tomorrow. This really isn’t the kind of vacation that I would like to have.”
“What has the doctor said today?” Rafael asked.
“He still says I can go home tomorrow,” Lena said. “No complications.”
“Do you know what time you’ll be discharged so I can be here to pick you up?” Victoria wanted to know.
“No, I don’t know. But I can call you, can’t I? When I find out, I’ll let you know. OK?”
“Sure, that works,” Victoria said.
They visited for about thirty minutes, until Lena’s supper tray arrived. That was a good time to leave, so they said their goodbyes, and left. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor where Marian’s room was located. After getting permission to visit her from the nurse at the nurses’ station, they walked on down to her room. Rafael stayed outside of the room and chatted with Officer Adams, the police officer who was guarding the room.
Victoria entered the room with trepidation. She didn’t know what her mother’s condition would be today. Marian opened her eyes when Victoria approached her bedside.
“Hello, Mother,” she said.
“Victoria,” Marian said.
She sounded groggy, but not as much as she had the day previous.
Beyond that, Victoria couldn’t think of a thing to say. Marian had trouble keeping her eyes open. Victoria picked up her mother’s hand and held it for a moment. She felt the slightest pressure from her mother’s hand, which rather surprised her.
“Home,” Marian murmured.
“You are fine here,” Victoria said. “You are safe.”
Despite everything, she didn’t want her mother to feel frightened or abandoned. She felt nothing but pity for this woman who had everything and threw it all away for greed. She couldn’t understand why people did such things.
“Lena?” Marian managed to say.
“She is in the hospital, Mother,” Victoria said. “You hurt her, but she will be all right. She will go home tomorrow.”
“Sorry. Lena.”
That was all she could muster through the heavy sedation. On impulse, Victoria risked asking her mother a question. She had no idea what kind of answer or reaction she’d get, but she was going to ask anyway.
“Mother, did you kill Daddy?”
Silence. Marian’s face twisted into a bit of a scowl.
“David … sold … my … company … divorce … me … no … money… house … he … must … be … stopped.”
Marian spoke each word separately and with great difficulty. Victoria could see rage in her drug-clouded eyes.
“Did you kill him?” she repeated.
“Make … him … stop … gun … went … off.”
What was she saying? That she tried to threaten him to stop the divorce and the gun accidentally went off? Victoria wished that Officer Adams stationed outside the door had been in here to hear what Marian had just said.
“Was it an accident?” Victoria pressed.
“Yes … accident,” Marian said.
Chapter Nine
Well, it doesn’t bring Daddy back, Victoria thought to herself, but at least now I know that my mother isn’t a cold-blooded murderer. If what she is saying is true.
“I have to go now, Mother,” Victoria said, “but I’ll be back to see you again.”
“O … K.”
Victoria gently released her mother’s hand and walked quietly from the room. When the door was closed, she told Officer Adams and Rafael what Marian had just said.
“I wish you had been in there to hear her say it. It would be more credible coming from you than from me,” she said.
“If she said it once, she may say it again,” the officer told her. “The next time you come, I’ll go in with you and you can try again.”
“That sounds good. As far as I know, I’ll come again tomorrow,” she said. “Do you have any idea how long she’ll be held here and so heavily sedated?”
“No, I don’t know, although I heard a couple of doctors talking this morning about lessening the sedation and letting her come out of it somewhat to see how she reacts,” he said. “But that’s not an official statement.”
“OK, thanks,” Victoria said.
On the way home, Victoria spotted a diner up ahead and suggested stopping there for supper. Rafael agreed, but only after asking her if she wouldn’t prefer a little nicer restaurant. When they got to the diner, and Victoria took a good look at it, she decided it did look a little less desirable than she had thought at first.
So they kept driving until Rafael saw a place that he was familiar with and he turned into the parking lot. They went in and ordered a good meal. While they ate, they talked about the upcoming trip to Seattle.
“That reminds me,” Rafael said. “I’ve got to get our plane tickets tomorrow. I’ll have Karen get them for us.”
“OK, that’s great. I keep forgetting about them, too. There’s just been so much to wrap my head around this week that I’m lucky I know my own name,” Victoria said with a short laugh.
“Victoria,” Rafael said.
“Huh?”
“Victoria. That’s your name,
” he said with a teasing grin.
“I knew there was a reason I let you hang around me,” she teased back. “That’s so I have someone to tell me who I am.”
They both chuckled at their own wit. Victoria’s face glowed with love as she looked into Rafael’s eyes. His own eyes reflected her love back to her. Yes, it was short, but their love was growing moment by moment.
“Hey, you know what I just realized?” Rafael said after finishing the last bite of his meal.
“What’s that?”
“We chose the Fourth of July to get married on. Now you know that the courthouse won’t be open that day. What say we hire someone else to do the ceremony and get married at some other location?”
“Oh, you’re right,” she said. “Who and where do you have in mind?”
“We can find someone in the phone book, probably,” he said. “As for the location, I don’t know. What about your house? It’s very nice there. It would be rather ironic, too, because of your mother’s attitude towards me. Or one of the parks around town? Or down on the beach? Nah, on second thought, the beach will be a madhouse on the Fourth.”
“That’s true,” Victoria agreed. “I know, how about the Wee Kirk O’ the Heather at Forest Lawn?”
“Get married in a cemetery?” Rafael asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Why not? It’s a beautiful place,” Victoria said. “I’ve been to a couple of weddings there in the past. It’s a darling church.”
“I’d just rather not get married in a cemetery,” he said, wrinkling his nose.
“OK, it was just a thought. I actually like the idea of getting married at home. Not that I feel like I need any, but it would be a bit of revenge on my mother to marry the man right in her own living room that she wanted to exact revenge on for ‘stealing’ Daddy’s business,” Victoria said.
“It definitely would be,” Rafael agreed. “I just hope she’s still in custody by Monday. And I hope we can get someone to marry us on that day. Otherwise, we’ll have to put it off a day.”
“I suppose one more day won’t kill us, but it would be nice to do it on the Fourth. Then we can make our own fireworks,” Victoria said, smiling suggestively at him.
“This is true,” Rafael replied.
He had to will his mind to change the subject as fireworks began to smolder at Victoria’s mere suggestion.
“If you’re through, let’s get out of here,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m through. Let’s get something on the way home for dessert and eat it there.”
“OK, that sounds good.”
They left the restaurant and headed toward home. On the way, they stopped at a grocery store and went in to get some dessert.
“What do you want?” Victoria asked. “Pie? Cake? Ice cream?”
“All the above,” Rafael said with a grin.
“OK, all the above,” she said, returning his grin.
They went to the store’s bakery first and examined all the choices. They finally came away with a blueberry pie and a chocolate cake. Then they went to the freezer section and picked out two kinds of ice cream and some ice cream bars.
“Didn’t you say you needed a few things here?” Rafael asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Might as well get them now and save a trip in the morning.”
She dug her list out of her purse and went around picking up the few necessary items, plus a few more things that she saw that she just wanted. Then they checked out and headed for home.
When they deposited the groceries on the kitchen counter, she saw the cake she’d made early that morning.
“Oh, look! I forgot all about having made this upside down cake this morning,” she said. “Oh, well, now we’ll really be sweet with all this dessert to eat. Maybe I’ll put something in the freezer to have for later.”
“Save the chocolate cake for our wedding,” suggested Rafael. “It doesn’t have to be white. After all, it’s just gonna be us two and Lena.”
“Why didn’t you think of that in the store?” Victoria demanded. “We could have had our names written on the cake.”
“Just get a tube of icing and do it yourself,” Rafael said. “That’s what my mom always does.”
“Oh, no! I forgot! I am so sorry,” Victoria said suddenly.
“What?”
“Your mom! She should come to our wedding. Why didn’t you say something sooner? I’ve never even met her yet. Well, I know she was at Daddy’s funeral and she probably spoke to me, but that doesn’t count. And your brother. Would he come?”
“Hoo-boy! I’ve been so wrapped up in your issues, too, that I completely forgot about my mom,” Rafael admitted. “I usually only call her about once every week or so, and I haven’t talked to her at all this week. Haven’t even told her about you—us. Guess I’d better do that, huh?”
“Yeah, I’d say!” Victoria said, lightly smacking his shoulder. “That’s from your mom for neglecting her,” she teased.
“Yeah, well she’s gonna smack me harder than that when she sees me,” he said woefully.
Victoria laughed. “You go call her right now while I put the groceries away.”
“Guess I’d better.”
Rafael went into the family room, which adjoined the kitchen and eating areas. There was a formal dining room between the kitchen and David’s home office, but it was rarely used. Victoria could hear Rafael’s side of the conversation as she put stuff away.
“Hi, Mom,” he said.
Pause.
“I’ve got some good news for you.”
Pause.
“I’m getting married next Monday.”
Pause.
“Victoria Thornton. David’s daughter.”
Pause.
“Yes, Mom, I know I haven’t known her very long, but she’s the one. David always told me she was right for me, and I found out he was right.”
Pause.
“Yes, we know Monday is the Fourth. We have to do some checking, but I think it will work.”
Pause.
“Here at Victoria’s house.”
Pause.
“Just the two of us and the Thornton’s housekeeper. And you, if you’ll come. And Mateo.”
Pause.
“Her mother is in the hospital. It’s a long story, Mom. I’ll tell you some other time.”
Pause.
“I’ll call you and let you know what time when I know, OK?”
Pause.
“OK. Love you, Mom.”
Pause.
“Talk to you later. Bye.”
Victoria had nearly finished putting things away when Rafael walked back into the kitchen.
“Well, that sounded painless,” she said.
“Yeah, pretty much. My mom’s pretty easy. I hope you’ll like her,” he said.
“I’m sure I will. Any woman who could turn out a guy like you has to be pretty special. So, what do you want for dessert tonight? I think I’ll save the upside down cake for tomorrow’s supper. Lena is especially fond of it.”
“I’m all geared up for blueberry pie,” he replied. “I just about ordered some at the restaurant, until you came up with this idea. Which I like, I might add.”
“Blueberry pie it is. Ice cream on it?”
“Of course.”
“What kind? There’s butter pecan and chocolate brownie fudge. Not too good of a match for blueberry pie, in my opinion.”
“Butter pecan is fine,” he said.
Victoria dished up two generous slices of blueberry pie and put ice cream on Rafael’s piece. She put her ice cream in a separate bowl.
“What? No ice cream on your pie?” Rafael questioned.
“No. I don’t like ice cream on fruit pie,” Victoria explained.
“You’re weird,” he said.
“You’re the one who’s weird,” she countered.
They grinned at each other and settled down on the love seat in the family room. Victoria picked up the TV remote and clicked on the TV. She
flipped through the channels until she found a movie that was just coming on. It was an old John Wayne western.
“You’d better like John Wayne movies,” Victoria said, glancing sideways at Rafael.
“You bet, I do,” he replied around a mouthful of pie.
“Good. Daddy loved them and I always watched them with him.”
During a long commercial break, Victoria took their empty dishes into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. It was close to full, so she put soap in it and started it up. Then she went back into the family room and snuggled up to Rafael to watch the movie. They spent as much time indulging in long, passionate kisses as they did in watching TV.
Rafael was grateful that they would be married in less than a week. He wasn’t sure he could hold out any longer than that. Had he been able to read Victoria’s mind, he’d have seen that she was thinking the same thing. When the movie was over, they made sure all the doors were locked and the alarm was set, turned out the downstairs lights, and went up to bed—in their own separate rooms.
Victoria was undressed and in her sleepwear when she suddenly remembered that they had forgotten something critically important that day. She threw on a bathrobe and padded across the hallway. She knocked on Rafael’s bedroom door. He called for her to come in. He was already in bed, but still had the bedside lamp on.
“You know what else we forgot today?” she said, hands on hips.
“What’s that?” he asked, wondering what she had on under that robe.
“Our marriage license,” she said in an exasperated tone. “Can you believe it? Our marriage license!”
Rafael sat up in bed, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed. “I never thought a thing about it all day. In the office I was so wrapped up in work that it never crossed my mind. Then while I was with you …”
His words trailed off into silence. They just looked at each other in disbelief until Victoria started to giggle. She tried to stop, but the more she tried to stop the harder she giggled. Rafael started laughing then, too, and they both laughed until the tears ran.
“Don’t we make a pair,” he finally gasped. “If we’re this bad now, what will we be like when we’re in our eighties?”
“No kidding!” Victoria said, wiping her eyes. “Oh, man! I think my brain went on vacation and forgot to take me with it."