“Baby doll,” she cooed as she stumbled up the walkway. “Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married?”
Everyone turned to stare, and Madison’s blood froze. She tried to speak, but all that choked out was a single word. “Mother?”
Chapter 21
A sudden rage filled Jared, and an urge to protect Madison. He took a step in front of her. “Veronica, you have no right to be here. Take that woman and leave.” Veronica folded her arms and smirked.
Madison’s mother staggered closer. “I can’t believe my baby is getting married!”
Jared held up his hands. “Sorry, folks, for the interruption. I’ll be back in a minute.” He stormed down the aisle, grabbed both women by the arm, and dragged them into the house. When he rounded on them, he found Madison had followed him. She slid the door shut.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” For a moment, something changed in Madison’s eyes. Vulnerability emerged. The pain from years of abuse crumbled away, and all that was left was a young child yearning for the love of her mother. But then her gaze hardened, and that girl vanished. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“Baby, I wouldn’t miss your wedding day.” The woman held her arms out again, but Madison backed away. The smell of booze and cigarette smoke hung on the woman’s breath like a thick fog.
Jared moved in between them. “Don’t touch her.”
Veronica’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t do that. Annie is her mother. She has a right to be here.”
Madison raised her chin. “She signed away all rights to me. I owe her nothing.”
And then all three women started shouting at once, Annie insisting on her parental rights, Madison urging her mother to leave, and Veronica demanding they allow Annie to stay.
Jared held up his arms. “Hold it. Everyone be quiet.” When he had their attention, he said, “Veronica, you and Annie need to go. Now.”
A wicked smile played on Veronica’s lips. “I think we can come to some kind of arrangement.”
Annie stuck out her bottom lip. “I came all this way, and this is the thanks I get? I don’t even have any gas money to go anywhere. Maybe if I had gas money…”
The tears in Madison’s eyes were what fueled Jared’s anger to the breaking point. How dare her mother come crash the wedding to panhandle? He clenched his fists. “You will leave here now, or I will call the police.”
“Whoa, dude, we don’t want no police.” At the sound of the male voice, everyone turned to see a man standing in the walkway to the kitchen. He wore a leather jacket, and his hair hung in long scraggly waves. “What’s taking you guys so long? I thought we were just going to pick up some quick cash and head out.”
Madison’s cheeks flushed. “Really, Mom? You left your boyfriend in the car while you came to my wedding to hustle the groom? I think that’s a new low for you.”
Annie instantly melted into tears. “See how she treats me? See what I’ve got to go through? I have nothing, while you…” Annie pointed an accusing finger at Madison and glanced around the room. “Just look at you. Marrying into wealth. While you live in a mansion, I’m lifting seat cushions scrounging for spare change.”
“And why is that, Mother? You’ve never worked a day in your life. All you care about is the next party. The next drink. And you’d do anything to get it.”
Annie’s tears dried up faster than spit on a summer sidewalk. “How dare you speak to me that way? I gave you life. I’m your mother.”
“You may have given me life, but you were never my mother.”
Annie picked up a porcelain vase and hurled it at the wall. It broke into several pieces and left a dent. “I sacrificed for you! Do you think I wanted to have a baby? I could have—”
“Stop!” Jared picked up the phone. “I’m calling the police.”
Just as he suspected, Annie and her boyfriend paled and took several steps back. Veronica lunged for the phone, which he raised, and her momentum carried her past him. She landed on the glass coffee table, which shattered on impact.
Veronica screamed and jumped up and down, trying to get the tiny shards of glass off her. A thin line of blood appeared on her right hand, and she screamed again when she saw it. “You assaulted me! You threw me into that table! Now I’m bleeding. Did you see it, Annie?” Her wild eyes darted around the room until they connected with their target. Annie backed up even more.
“I don’t want no trouble.” The man held up his hands and sprinted out of the room, probably to get his stash out of the area before the police showed up.
“Wait, don’t leave me!” Annie stumbled after him.
“Traitor!” Veronica screeched. Then she turned to Jared. “You pushed me, and I have the blood to prove it. I’m going to press criminal charges and sue you!”
Madison fisted her hands. “I saw the whole thing. It was your fault. I’m an eye-witness.”
Veronica’s face turned three shades of red. “It’s your word against mine.”
A smirk crossed Madison’s face. “And their word as well.” She pointed to the sliding glass window behind her. Most of the people from the backyard wedding were there, a collage of faces pressed to the glass, over a dozen pairs of eyeballs staring at the scene.
Veronica swore and stormed out.
Madison once again stood under the flowering trellis in front of everyone, staring into Jared’s eyes. Jimmy was done with his speech, which was mostly a montage of movie lines about love and honor strung together, and now everyone waited for Jared to recite his wedding vows. Madison hoped he hadn’t forgotten to prepare at least a little something.
Jared pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it, and peered at it. After a moment, he folded it up again and stuffed it into his pocket. “You know, I had something stuffy prepared for this, but at this moment, it doesn’t seem to fit. So I think I’ll just wing it.”
He took her hands in his, the warmth of his skin sending sparks through her.
“Madison, when I first met you, I thought you were a nut case.” A smattering of giggles erupted from the audience. “You exasperated me. You said things that made me want to toss you into the wood chipper.” More laughter.
Madison shot him a warning glare.
Jared kept his face blank, but his eyes smiled. “But then I got to know you. You’re amazingly witty. You think quickly on your feet. You have this way of disarming everyone around you, putting others at ease, and making them like you. And as I spent more time with you, I fell more deeply in love. It’s hard to be without you. When I’m not with you, I miss the way your laughter bubbles up from your toes. I even miss your crazy horoscope obsession. Can you believe I checked mine this morning?” He paused while the audience laughed, and she struggled to swallow the lump forming in her throat. “Madison, I promise to love you, honor you, care for you, and be faithful to you from this day forward for the rest of our lives. I want to grow old with you.”
For a split second, everything around them melted away, all of the people and wedding decorations vanished, and she was left alone with Jared. For the briefest moment, his words were real, and looking into the depths of his eyes, she could see a man baring his soul, opening himself up to her. In that moment, the love they shared was legitimate, and today was the beginning of the rest of their lives. But then he blinked, and the world came back into view. He was once again just playing a part for his sick aunt. And tears blurred her vision.
The crowd responded with a collective sigh. They’d bought it, hook, line and sinker. And now everyone waited for her to speak.
A sudden anger flared up in her. How could he stand there and tell her those things without meaning them? What kind of cruel joke was this, anyway?
She squared her shoulders. “Jared, our romance has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced. From the moment you ran into me
in the women’s bathroom, to the time you tried to tell me you loved me in Spanish, but instead called me a lonely chicken head…I’ve known you were something special. And now, here we are, on our wedding day, and you confess in front of God and these witnesses, that you once contemplated throwing me into a wood chipper.” Laughter floated through the backyard.
“And through it all, even the time you set my apartment on fire trying to cook me a romantic dinner, I’ve loved you.”
She didn’t mean for those words to slip out. She was going to make a joke out of her vows, instead of saying her rehearsed part. The vows she truly felt. But once the confession of love came out, she couldn’t turn back. She slipped into her practiced lines.
“I love the way your lip twitches when you’re trying not to smile. I love the way you protect me from all the ugliness of the world. I love how you believe in me. When you hold me in your arms, it feels like I can do anything. Jared, I promise to share my life with you. All my ups and downs. I promise to love, cherish and honor you, forever more.”
A few of the women in the yard sniffed and dabbed at their eyes. Madison stole a glance at Shelly. A bright smile lit up her face, and she exchanged a glance with Irene. Then Jared pulled her attention back to him as he slipped her wedding ring on her finger, and repeated the lines Jimmy said. It fit perfectly with the engagement ring, creating a beautiful swirl of diamonds on each side.
She slid a ring on his finger, her hands shaking, and her voice barely above a whisper as she told him how the ring was a symbol of her love.
Jimmy cleared his throat. “Madison, do you take Jared to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”
Madison stared at Jared’s strong jaw line, chiseled features, and his steel grey eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest. “I do.”
Jimmy’s voice faded into the background as he spoke the same words to Jared. She stood, waiting breathlessly for Jared to speak. She knew the wedding wasn’t real. But she waited for it anyway. When he squeezed her hand and said in a clear, strong voice, “I do,” it shattered her heart. How she wished he really did.
Chapter 22
Jared took Madison’s hand and pulled her close, breathing in the smell of her light floral perfume. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows. They began to sway to the music. Patricia and Zachary shared the dance floor with them.
The song was popular and sappy, probably one he’d agreed to while not paying attention. The singer crooned about love lasting forever, and he glanced down at Madison. Her face masked her thoughts.
“What are you thinking about, Mrs. Jameson?” He meant it to be a joke, lighthearted and teasing, however his voice deepened, and it came out more serious than he’d intended.
Her eyes focused on him. “Don’t call me that,” she snapped. Her lips pressed together in a thin line.
“Sorry. I was just joking.”
“It’s not funny.”
He exhaled slowly. The day had been like a rollercoaster. With her mother showing up uninvited, making a big scene, and Veronica’s ugliness, it hadn’t started out too well. Then things had gotten better as they made it through the ceremony. When Jimmy said, “You may kiss the bride,” he’d given her the kiss of a lifetime. She’d smiled at him afterward, but it hadn’t reached her eyes.
She’d seemed happier when she tossed the bouquet, giggling while Carrie tackled Patricia’s friends in order to catch it. Through dinner she’d been quiet, more sullen. But when they cut the cake, she’d hammed it up, smearing frosting on his face and getting cake up his nose, her laughter pealing through the air.
Now, she was angry again. If he lived to be a hundred, he’d never understand women.
Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be short with you. You’ve been wonderful today. Thank you for helping me deal with my mother.”
He squeezed her hand. “I can’t believe she showed up.”
“Veronica tracked her down, I’m sure. Promised her who-knows-what to come crash the wedding.”
“I think that’s the last we’ll see of Veronica.” Jared laughed as the image of her sprawled out on the floor after shattering the coffee table flitted through his mind.
Madison smiled. “Yeah, I hope so. Maybe the embarrassment of it all will force her to leave town.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
They danced in silence for the last part of the song, and she seemed to be in a better mood. As soon as the dance ended, Jimmy waved Madison over. She crossed the yard, and Jared searched for an excuse he could use to see her after today.
Madison followed Jimmy down the garden path, to the gazebo. The small pond bubbled, and the bright orange fish darted around under the water. Even though the gazebo had twinkle lights, it wasn’t dark enough yet to see them very well.
She glanced around to make sure they were alone. “What is it, Jimmy?”
He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar. “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
Jimmy studied her face. “I know this is fake, but you and Jared, you’re pretty serious, aren’t you? I mean, you love him, right?”
Pain stabbed at her chest. Were her feelings that transparent? But nothing was going on between them, no matter how deep her feelings ran. “We’re not a couple, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not? But you look like you’re more than friends.”
Frustration welled in her. “What’s this about, Jimmy? I should be getting back…”
A bead of sweat formed on his brow, and he swiped at it. “It’s just that, well, I did something.”
Why was he so nervous? She glared at him. “What do you mean, you did something? What did you do?”
He shifted his weight and wouldn’t look her in the eye.
“Jimmy?” Her voice rose. “What did you do?”
The buzz of the cicadas and crickets seemed to catch his attention, because he looked everywhere except at her. “It wasn’t my idea.”
“What wasn’t your idea?” If he didn’t tell her soon, she would have to beat it out of him.
“Irene said you were in love. And when I saw you—”
“Wait, Irene? When did you talk to Irene?”
His gaze fell to his feet as he shuffled them some more. “She called me.”
“When?” Her heart pounded, and she had to resist the urge to shake him. This was not good.
“Last week.”
“Why? What did she want?”
He bit his lip. “She found out, okay? She told me she knew about the fake wedding, and that I was an actor.”
Panic rose in her, and her throat closed. “What?” she choked. “She couldn’t have.”
He glanced around, then met her gaze. “She did. She said they all know. Every single one of them.”
Oh, no. This was bad. This was really, really bad. “I don’t understand. Why did they let us go through with the charade? To make fools of us? Why would they do that?”
Jimmy grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “Madison, stop. It’s okay. They understand why you were pretending. They think you and Jared really are in love, but they know Jared has commitment issues, so they…”
She stared at him, waiting for him to finish. “So they what?”
Jimmy swallowed, making his Adams apple bob. “They wanted me to go online and get ordained as a minister, so the marriage would be real.”
As his words sunk in, the garden began to swirl around them. Jimmy’s face blurred. He grabbed her once again, but everything went black.
Time stop
ped for a moment, then someone patted her cheeks. Cicadas roared around her. “Madison, you okay?”
She blinked, and Jimmy’s face came into focus. “What happened?”
“You fainted. I…I’m so sorry.”
Jimmy looked like he was going to pass out himself. She was about to tell him so, when she remembered what he’d said. Jared’s family knew about the fake engagement. And they had schemed with Jimmy to…no. He couldn’t have. Could he?
Madison scrambled to her feet. “Jimmy, did you?” Her voice barely came out above a whisper. “Did you go online?”
His eyes widened, and he appeared to be having trouble breathing. “Yeah.” He nodded.
She placed her hands on his cheeks. “Are you saying I’m really married to Jared?”
He nodded again.
Warmth radiated over her, and she threw her arms around him, letting out a squeal. “I can’t believe it! I’m married to Jared!”
Jimmy stepped back. “You’re not angry?”
“Angry? I’m so happy, I could kiss you.” She hugged him once more before picking up her skirts and rushing toward the garden gate, her shoes clicking along the stone path. She couldn’t wait to tell—
“Wait, is Jared going to be happy about this?”
The question stopped her in her tracks. Would he? Would Jared feel the same about being married as she did? Her thoughts flew back to the vows he spoke. Did he mean them? What if he didn’t feel the same?
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