Suddenly a Bride

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Chapter Twenty

  Caitlyn was halfway through her shift when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID and groaned before she turned her phone off and continued her work. Whatever her mom wanted could wait. When the dinner crowd left, she grabbed a snack and sat down to eat. Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, she looked at who called while it was off. With a roll of her eyes, she deleted her call history list and the messages. Whatever made her mom call her twenty times and flood her inbox could wait.

  Sandy came up to her and motioned to the salad and side of fruit on her plate. “What happened to the three cheeseburgers and mountain of french fries followed by a pint of ice cream or a couple slices of pie?”

  Caitlyn slipped the phone back into her pocket and smiled. “The craving to eat all the time has passed. Chris says I’ll probably go through another two cycles before I give birth.”

  Eyeing Caitlyn’s small baby bump, Sandy wiped her forehead and joked, “Good because if you kept eating through the entire pregnancy, we’d have to designate your own zip code.”

  “Ha ha.” She sat back and rubbed her abdomen. “I think I felt the baby move while I was serving the lunch rush earlier today.”

  “No kidding?”

  “I think. It happened so fast, I’m not sure.”

  Sandy cheered and hugged her. “I’m so excited for you!”

  “I’m excited too. When Randy died, I thought my chances of being a mother were over.”

  “You’re so lucky a guy fell down from outer space and married you. Where can I find one?”

  “Well, he did come with a friend.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. His name is Mark. You know, Lexie’s engagement party is coming up in a couple of weeks. Why don’t I talk to Chris about arranging for you and Mark to go together?”

  Sandy bit her lower lip and sat next to her. “I don’t know. I haven’t been on a blind date in ages.”

  “Then let’s not set it up as a date. How about I introduce you to him and we’ll see what happens from there?”

  “That could be exciting.”

  “We’ll do that!”

  “Caitlyn,” Sandy slowly began, “you know those tickets your mom gave us to watch the concert?”

  Caitlyn’s phone rang. Groaning, she pulled out her phone and saw that it was, once again, her mom. “I have to deal with this, Sandy.” She left the diner and stood far enough from it so no one would overhear her in case she had to yell at her mom to stop calling while she was at work. Praying for patience, she asked, “What’s up, Mom?”

  “It’s about time you picked up,” her mother snapped.

  “I’m at work. I can’t answer the phone just because you call.”

  “What I have to ask is extremely important.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah? What?”

  “Were you married before you got pregnant or did you elope once you found out?”

  Caitlyn’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Don’t deny it, Caitlyn. Your husband told me all about it.” While Caitlyn struggled to reply, her mother continued, “I thought I raised you better than this. Your father will be so disappointed. I can’t believe you’ve disgraced the family this way. Just what are we supposed to tell our relatives and friends? This is the kind of thing that happens to other people, not us.”

  Her face warm, she said, “I’m thirty-two, Mom. I’m allowed to be pregnant.”

  “Are you showing?”

  “That’s none of your business!”

  “Of course, it is. I had a dress made especially for you.”

  “What dress?”

  “The dress for your wedding.”

  “For my what?” Realizing she was shrieking, she lowered her voice so the customers leaving the diner would stop staring at her. She turned her back to them and hissed, “What wedding?”

  “The one I was supposed to surprise you with.”

  “No. There will be no wedding. Chris and I are already married.”

  “I know. Because of the baby.”

  “No, not because of the baby. We got married before I got pregnant.”

  “So then you’re not showing?”

  Caitlyn gritted her teeth and counted backwards from ten, hoping it would cool her anger, but it didn’t work. If anything, she was angrier than before. “You know what, Mom? I’m sick and tired of you butting into my life all the time. What I do and who I do it with is none of your business. So stop. Just stop!”

  She gasped. “May I remind you that you are talking to the woman who gave you life? If it weren’t for me—”

  “I wouldn’t be miserable. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be miserable. I can’t take it anymore. You’re not going to guilt trip me about this child, and you’re not going to talk Chris into going through with a wedding.”

  “He already agreed to it.”

  “What?”

  “He was at the rehearsal today. Who do you think told me about the baby?”

  Caitlyn had the urge to throw the phone down and stomp on it until it was smashed into pieces, but she held back because she didn’t want to buy a new phone. Digging her nails into the palm of her hand, she hoped to alleviate enough anger so she wouldn’t come off sounding like a lunatic to whoever passed by. “There will be no wedding,” she said in a harsh whisper. “In fact, if you don’t stop minding your own business, then you won’t be seeing me, Chris or the baby. I won’t have you bossing Chris around like you bossed Randy.”

  “Well, that’s gratitude for you! I did everything to help you out, and this is the thanks I get?”

  “You meddled. You made me and Randy miserable. We fought all the time because of you. I won’t have you taking advantage of Chris like you took advantage of Randy.”

  “Take advantage?”

  “Yes. Take advantage. You’re doing things behind my back with Chris like you did with Randy, and it’s pissing me off.”

  Her mother let out a bewildered laugh. “I was only trying to be nice. I even had him pick out a lovely wedding ring and necklace set for you.”

  Caitlyn gasped. “No. No, you didn’t!” Knowing her mother’s expensive tastes and the $5000 ring her mother talked Randy into buying made her shudder in dread.

  “When you see it, you’ll be glad I went.”

  “When I see it, I’ll return it. I’m not wearing the ring, the necklace, or the wedding dress. Yes, I’m showing. No, I don’t care if you have to hide your head under a paper bag in shame. No, you won’t be dictating my life anymore. It stops here and it stops now. Until you can let Chris and I live our own lives, we aren’t talking to you.”

  Then she hung up. She pressed the end call button ten times before she felt confident that her mother was truly off the line.

  She stormed into the diner and flung open the kitchen door where a startled Jack almost dropped his spatula as he flipped a burger.

  “A warning would be nice,” he muttered.

  “My mom is making my life impossible again, Jack.”

  “Just throw her out of here.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not like she approves of my cooking.”

  “She’s not here. I just got off the phone with her. Look, I need to go home.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No, I’m not. I need to get there before she wiggles her way into Chris’ good graces like she did with Randy.”

  This was the only time she wished she hadn’t married two very sweet men who only wanted to make other people happy. Randy grew up on this world and couldn’t put his foot down with her mother, and Chris was so awed by women, in general, that he was too naïve to understand some of them couldn’t be trusted.

  “One would swear you’re not in your thirties, Caitlyn.”

  She groaned. “Whatever, Jack. I have a family emergency that needs tending to. Fire me if you want, but I’m not letting my mother make my second marriage as miserable as my first.”

  “I won’t fire you. You’re quitting soon any
way.”

  After she gave him a quick nod of thanks, she grabbed her purse from under the counter and headed for the exit. Sandy excused herself from a booth where she’d been taking orders from three people and rushed over to Caitlyn.

  “Where are you going?” she asked before Caitlyn could open the door.

  Lowering her voice, Caitlyn hissed, “My meddling mother is trying to manipulate Chris like she manipulated Randy. Do you know what those tickets are really for?”

  Sandy winced. “Well, I didn’t at first, but then your mom called a few days ago and told me why she gave them to you.”

  “I can’t believe this.” Caitlyn rubbed her forehead and groaned. “I thought my mom didn’t want to acknowledge my marriage when she gave me those tickets. I didn’t know it was a ploy to get me to her fancy, smancy wedding.”

  “I’m sorry. I was about to tell you about it.”

  She sighed. “It’s okay, Sandy. I’m not mad at you. I just don’t want my mother to sink her claws into Chris. Once she does, I’m doomed.”

  “Yeah. My brother was a pushover.”

  “And I’m afraid Chris will be the same way if I don’t put a stop to it. I want this marriage to be better than my first. I loved Randy. You know that.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “But my mom is like a…a…”

  “Does the word start with a ‘b’?”

  Caitlyn groaned. “She’s like a leech that sucks the joy out of everything. I don’t know how my dad’s handled being with her all these years.” Glancing at the impatient customers, she sighed. “I’ll call you later. Go on back to that table. I probably cost you a dollar in tips.”

  Sandy rolled her eyes. “Like they would have left more than two bucks anyway. I don’t know why people assume we’re rich and don’t need the tips to help pay our bills.”

  “It’s the outfits.” Caitlyn motioned to their dresses. “It says we’re the Rockefellers.”

  “Thanks for not being mad at me.”

  She offered her friend a smile and headed on out of the diner.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chris had just drifted off to sleep as he watched TV when the phone rang. He stirred on the couch and sighed. Should he answer it or not? He glanced at the phone and decided he’d let the voice mail pick it up. Settling back into a comfortable position, he closed his eyes and was about to drift back off to sleep when the phone rang again.

  Groaning, he sat up and stretched before he got up to answer it. “Hello?” He yawned.

  “Thank goodness you’re there.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “Mrs. Rogers?”

  “Have you talked to Caitlyn?”

  Surprised, he stiffened. “No. Is something wrong? Is she hurt?”

  “No, she’s not hurt.”

  Relieved, he exhaled and sat down on a nearby recliner. “So why are you calling?”

  “Caitlyn found out about the wedding we were supposed to surprise her with.”

  He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard her sniffle. With a shrug, he said, “That might be for the best.”

  “Oh, Chris, it’s not. The surprise is all ruined, and she doesn’t want to renew your wedding vows.”

  “Renew my wedding vows?”

  “You did marry my daughter, didn’t you?”

  “Of course, I did. That’s how she became my life mate.”

  After a pause from the other end, she said, “I’ll never catch onto the lingo you young people use today, but that sounds a lot like you were shacking up with her for some time.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean by shacking up.”

  “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Caitlyn’s upset, and she’s bound to blame me. You wanted to publicly declare your love for my daughter, didn’t you? I mean, you do love her enough to do that in front of family and friends, right?”

  “Yes, I love her.”

  “Good because if you don’t acknowledge your love for her in a public ceremony in front of her family and friends, people are apt to believe you don’t.”

  “Really? Is that how you do it on Earth?”

  She paused for a moment and chuckled. “As much as I enjoy your humor, this is a serious issue. A wedding is the most important event in a couple’s life. Weddings are romantic. They make the woman feel secure and loved. You do want Caitlyn to feel secure and loved, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you can see how important this wedding is. It’s just as important to you, if you think about it?”

  “It is?”

  “Why, yes. I mean, it shows you that she loves you enough to publicly acknowledge you in front of her family and friends. It says that she’s happy to be with you and have your children. It’ll give you security as well.”

  “It will?”

  “Think about it. The fact that Caitlyn didn’t insist on a wedding like the one I’m putting together implies she’s embarrassed to be with you.”

  He shifted in the chair and winced. “To be fair, it wasn’t like she had a choice.” He was the one who initiated the process for them to be life mates, and the bonding of their lives didn’t depend on a wedding ceremony. The rules were so different on this world. It was hard to figure out what was right and what was wrong on Earth. Clearing his throat, he added, “I’m sure she would have wanted a wedding if I gave her the choice.”

  She sighed. “I hope so, Chris. For your sake, I hope so, but people might think she married you because of the baby. She never once mentioned you to me or her dad or anyone else we know until that day at the barbeque and by then, she was pregnant, wasn’t she?”

  He swallowed the lump in his throat and rubbed his chest. How much should he tell her? Caitlyn didn’t want him to tell anyone about the pregnancy that day.

  “Your silence speaks volumes, Chris. I’m afraid she settled for you because she had no choice, but that doesn’t mean all is lost.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to make things right. We’ll start over with a new slate. I’m here for you, Chris. I want to see you and Caitlyn stay married for life. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “We are bonded for life.”

  “And with any luck, you’ll be able to say that thirty to forty or even fifty years from now. I sure wouldn’t want you to end up as another sad statistic. There are too many divorces this day and age.”

  He recalled what Mark said about women divorcing their husbands because they no longer loved them. Something like that couldn’t happen between him and Caitlyn, could it? But she didn’t choose to marry me. I sent out the hormone that made her go through with the bonding process that made us life mates. If she was given the choice, she would have married him, wouldn’t she?

  “I’m here for you,” her mother continued in a comforting tone. “This wedding is the best thing you can do for you, Caitlyn, and your child.”

  The front door burst open and an angry Caitlyn stormed up to him and pointed to the phone. “Is that my mother?” Before he could answer, she grabbed the phone from him and asked, “Who is this?”

  He had no idea what her mother said, but Caitlyn yelled, “There will be no wedding!” And then she slammed the phone—not once, but three times—until she let it fall into the cradle. “I can’t believe her! She’ll stop at nothing to control my life!”

  Standing up, he asked, “You don’t want to have a wedding?”

  “No, I don’t. Look, I’m not mad at you. I know how she is, but please stop listening to her. She made life miserable for me and Randy.”

  “But you married him,” he argued, his face flushing with a mixture of fear and anger. “I saw the picture of you in a wedding dress. You had a wedding with him. Why won’t you have one with me?”

  “It’s unnecessary, Chris. We’re already married. That life mate whatever-you-call-it thing married us. The state of Florida recognizes our marriage, and my mom will just have to recognize it too.”

&nb
sp; “But what about publicly saying you want to be with me in front of family and friends?”

  “That doesn’t matter. I don’t need to stand in front of anyone to know how I feel about you.” She glanced at the open door, grunted and shut it. “Great. I bet the neighbors are loving this.”

  Pushing aside the discomfort in his chest, he said, “I’d like a wedding, Caitlyn.”

  She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “No. If I agree to this, then I’ll end up having to do everything else she wants or fight you over every little thing. We have to put our foot down on this. Don’t cave, Chris. She’ll make our lives impossible if we do this.”

  “Don’t you love me?”

  “Love has nothing to do with this. This is all about her and what she wants. She needs to butt out of our lives. Don’t you see what she’s doing?”

  His lower lip trembled and he fought the tears that stung his eyes. So she loved him but not enough to tell anyone else about it. He rubbed his chest and tried not to think of how painful it was to discover this. The morning had started out so well. He’d been happier than he’d ever been, and now…

  “Where’s the ring and necklace she made you buy?” Caitlyn demanded, turning back to him. She pulled the cell phone out of her purse and dialed a number.

  “What?”

  “She told me she had you buy some jewelry. I’m guessing this was at my uncle’s store?”

  “Uh…yes,” he softly admitted.

  “Great. It’ll be easy to return the items.” She put the phone up to her ear and asked him, “Where are they?”

  She really didn’t want to go through with the wedding, and now she didn’t want to wear the ring and necklace he’d bought for her?

  “Hi, Uncle Gerald. This is Caitlyn.” She rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Yeah, she’s at it again.” Groaning, she put her hand down. “Why didn’t you stop her?” After a moment, she said, “But he doesn’t know any better. He—” She glanced at Chris. “He’s not from here. The area, I mean.”

  Chris frowned. “I’m not a moron, Caitlyn.”

  Holding her hand over the mouthpiece, she whispered, “That’s not what I meant.” Removing her hand, she asked, “I’m not paying another $5000 for a ring. I kept the one she made Randy get, but I won’t keep this one.”