The Escape Clause

by Bernadette Marie

  Avery moved to her mother and held her tightly. “I made my own mistakes,” she sighed. “Oh, did I make them.”

  Pete scrubbed his hands over his face, and then remembered the bruise that had formed where the asshole had hit him. “So you foiled his plans. Now what?”

  Avery turned to him. “Now we have to make him go away.”

  “He flew all the way here to find you.”

  “I left without word.”

  “So you just need to tell him you’re not going back?” Pete chuckled. “Why do I think he’s not going to take that for an answer?” He touched his cheek. “Oh, that’s why. The son of a bitch punches people who stand in his way.”

  “I don’t have to marry him. No one can make me do that.”

  “Marriage or not, he’s looking for the heir.”

  Pete watched as Avery’s face lost color. Her mother took her hands in hers.

  “There’s no reason you’d be pregnant would there be?”

  Pete looked away. “I should go.” There was no way he could stand there and listen to Avery admit that there was some kind of chance that she might be pregnant with that monster’s baby.

  “Pete…”

  “Don’t.” He held up a hand to stop her. “I’m glad you’re home. I won’t let anything happen to you. But you’re safe here.”

  Without another word, Pete walked out of the house.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It wasn’t even one o’clock in the afternoon and Pete had already had three beers. Before the day was over, he’d make sure he’d had enough to forget the day all together.

  His stomach churned at the thought that not only had Avery slept with that maniac, but maybe she was pregnant. The thought made him absolutely sick.

  “Are you drowning your sorrows?” Jill stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips.

  “What is it when that woman is around, then my day goes to hell?”

  “Another Avery conflict?”

  He chuckled. “That’s all it is with her. Conflict. Drama.”

  “And you didn’t know this before you asked her to marry you?”

  “It wasn’t as bad before,” he scoffed as he drank down the last of his beer and reached for another.

  Jill moved in and stopped him from opening the next one. “Why don’t we go for a walk? Get some take out? Anything. You don’t need to drown your sorrows like this.”

  Pete narrowed his eyes on her. “Why did she drag me into this?”

  Jill laughed. “Because she loves you. She trusts you. You love her.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “It’s true.”

  “And what about you and me?”

  Jill smiled sweetly as she sat down next to him. She gently brushed her fingers over his bruise. “You and I are neighbors who have shared a whole lot of wonderful kisses.”

  “You’re dumping me.”

  “I never had you. You’ve loved that woman since you were seven. How do you expect to just let that go away?”

  “It needs to go away. It’s a disease,” he said as the backdoor opened and Avery walked through the kitchen and into the living room. “Just in case you forgot,” he slurred. “You don’t live here anymore. Why do you just walk in like—like you can?”

  “Are you drunk?”

  “Not as much as I want to be.” He nodded his head toward Jill. “She took away my next one.”

  “Good,” Avery scolded. “Here.” She threw a small paper bag at him.

  “A gift? For me?”

  He let out a deep breath. The beer and anger had settled right into his stomach and he certainly wasn’t feeling any better.

  Pete opened the bag and pulled out a pregnancy test stick.

  He noticed that Jill moved back from him and suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

  “Avery, what is this?”

  “It’s a pregnancy test, moron.”

  “I see that,” he said slowly.

  Jill moved back in slightly. “It’s a negative test.”

  Pete looked at it, unable to read it, and then looked up at Avery for verification.

  “She’s right. It’s negative. I’m not pregnant.”

  With Jill sitting that close, he didn’t want to seem relieved. But he was.

  “You’re not having the goon’s baby?”

  Avery stood with her hands on her hips. “No. But see, they were worried I was pregnant. If I had been, it would have thrown off their plans.”

  Pete’s head was swimming in cheap beer, but he was trying to piece together this conversation with the one they’d had at her mother’s.

  “So had you gone to France pregnant it would have ruined all their plans to marry you off to the idiot who punches people.”

  She smiled. “Right.”

  “And that’s what happened with your mother?”

  Avery nodded. “My grandfather failed at setting her up with Marcus’s uncle, it turns out. Instead, she ran off with my father and had me.”

  “Great. I’m very relieved you’re not pregnant, by either of us.”

  Jill rested her hand on his thigh. “Pete…”

  He backed off, but he could continue to argue with Avery. It felt better being mad at her than it did to be hurt.

  Jill looked up at Avery. “Since I’m knee deep into this, let me see if I understand this. Your grandfather was trying to set you up with that man?”

  Avery nodded. “It seems as though they are trying to marry the families together.”

  “Don’t forget they want an heir so they want you knocked up by the right guy.” His words slurred again.

  Jill watched him and he tried to smile, but he simply didn’t care that much.

  She looked back at Avery. “You’re your grandfather’s only other heir? Aside from your mother?”

  “Yes, and he disowned her when I was born.”

  “Lovely man.”

  Avery chuckled. “Right.”

  Jill threw her hands into the air. “You know what this means don’t you?” She turned toward Pete.

  “Her grandfather is a psychopath?”

  “Yes, but you need to knock her up.”

  The room went silent as both Avery and Pete stared at her and she laughed. “C’mon. You didn’t see that coming? If Avery’s married and having a baby, she can’t marry that other guy.”

  “You didn’t mention married,” Pete reminded her.

  “I didn’t. But why don’t you get married?”

  There was no doubt his face mirrored Avery’s. Her eyes were wide and her mouth had fallen open.

  “You’re telling us to get married?” Pete stared at Jill until she looked at him.

  “Well, yeah. You were going to get married anyway. So get married now and when he comes looking for her she’ll be taken.”

  The air simply expelled from his lungs. It was a stupid idea. Absolutely dumb—and yet perfect all at the same time.

  Avery shook her head. “Jill, that’s a sweet offer, but…”

  “Offer?”

  “Yes. I’m the one who walked away. I’m not going to take your boyfriend and marry him just to…”

  “She dumped me three minutes before you came throwing pregnancy tests at me,” Pete interrupted.

  Avery’s shoulders dropped. “Because of me?”

  Jill stood. “What Pete and I had was fun. I was pretty sure it was never going to get too serious. Avery, he’s in love with you. It’s not like I’m giving him back. I never had him.”

  “Now, wait,” Pete slurred as he struggled to stand. “You’re dumping me and giving me back to her?”

  Jill turned with her radiant smile. “Yeah. She needs you, Pete.”

  “Where was she when I needed her?”

  Jill reached up and touched the cheek, which wasn’t bruised. “She was finding herself. Women need to do that sometimes.”

  Pete looked at Avery, whose eyes said she was deep in thought. “Do you think this would work?”

  “What?” Pe
te snapped.

  “If we got married. We could annul it later. If you don’t want to be married to me.”

  “That’s an idea,” Jill retorted.

  Pete dropped his shoulders. “I think the two of you are freaking crazy. She left me. Now you’re dumping me. I’m serious, this day sucks.”

  “It’ll suck more if that man comes back for her, Pete. Protect her. You love her,” Jill said as she kissed him gently and walked back to her own apartment leaving him and Avery alone.

  Avery’s hands were shaking. She clenched them tightly as Pete simply stood there staring at her.

  “I get it. I cost you Jill. I wasn’t here for you. I left when I should have stayed. There is no reason for you to…”

  “Why did you tell me you loved me on the phone?”

  Avery’s eyes widened. “You heard that?”

  “Oh, I heard it.”

  Avery looked down at the floor. “I said it because it’s true. I never had any intentions of getting involved with someone else.”

  “Intentions or not, you did.”

  Avery shrugged. “I did. I don’t know how, but…”

  “What do you mean you don’t know how? It’s not that hard to remember when you moved on.”

  “That’s the problem. I don’t really remember it at all,” she said and her voice trailed off.

  Pete’s eyes grew wide as he moved to her and grabbed her arms. “Avery, you slept with the man.”

  She nodded, but it hurt to admit it.

  “Did you consent to it?”

  His eyes had softened and she could feel his gentle touch on her skin.

  “I don’t know. We were drinking wine with friends. We went back to his room and kissed. Then…”

  “Oh, Avery,” he pulled her to him. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “Pete, you can’t say that. I was there. I let him kiss me—touch me. I…”

  “You’re going to marry me.”

  She pulled back and stared at him. “You don’t want to do that.”

  “I do. I think it’s the right thing to do. Like you said, if we need to we can annul it.”

  She nodded. “Right.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “Pete, I do still love you and I don’t expect after all of this for that to be enough. But, as your best friend, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

  “It’s not the first time I’ve been your escape clause to get you out of something you didn’t want to do. Let’s see where it goes.”

  Chapter Twenty

  There had always been one great thing about Peter Grant being Avery’s best friend, he was great with making plans.

  The fact that it was already mid-day on Saturday, they’d need to wait to get a marriage license. However, if they caught the next flight to Vegas, they could obtain a marriage license the moment they got there.

  It seemed cheap and cheesy, but Clara and Warner had eloped in Las Vegas.

  She shook the thought from her head. This marriage wasn’t real. It was convenient. Pete sat next to her on the plane with his arms crossed over his chest. It certainly wasn’t going to be a romantic wedding.

  Their plans were to return seven hours later to Nashville and then—well, who knew what would be next.

  They hadn’t told a soul where they were going, except Jill.

  Of course, Avery had already decided she needed to buy a dress when they arrived. She couldn’t just get married in her yoga pants. She didn’t need anything fancy, just something that made Pete look at her as he once had. Once, before they’d fallen in love. She’d settle for that.

  The moment the plane landed they stood to disembark. Without any luggage, they were able to just move from the plane and out to catch a cab.

  Pete pulled his phone from his pocket and turned it back on. “You should check in with your parents.”

  “I’ll have to use your phone.”

  “Where’s yours?”

  “Mine is in the ocean.” She looked down. “The one Marcus bought me I left there.”

  He nodded. “We’ll get you a new one,” he said with a near smile. “Here.” He handed her his phone. “Just call them and let them know you and I are hanging out, but you’re safe.”

  Avery nodded and made the call.

  “You’re with Pete?” Her father asked.

  “Yes. We’re spending some time together. But I’m okay. I’m safe.”

  “Where are you? I don’t want that man coming after you.”

  Avery winced as she lied to her own father. “We’re just going to hang out at Pete’s and then go downtown. But I wanted you to know where I was.”

  “Okay,” he said and she sighed. “I know you’re safe.”

  As she said her goodbyes Pete secured a cab. She turned off the phone and handed it back to him.

  “You know, that’s the worst lie I’ve heard you tell since our junior year,” he said helping her into the cab and then following her.

  “What lie was that?”

  “When we all drove to Kentucky to camp at the lake.”

  The lake. She closed her eyes and remembered the weekend he was talking about.

  “I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.”

  Pete nodded, again crossing his arms over his chest as if it were his way of keeping them tied up and away from her.

  “I think about it a lot. Technically it was the first time we slept together.”

  She laughed as she nudged him with her elbow. “Right, because I went up with…what was his name?”

  “Troy,” he said as if it were on the tip of his tongue.

  “Right. I went up with Troy and he had other ideas about what that weekend was about.”

  “You didn’t want to so you slept in my tent.”

  “Has there ever been a day you weren’t there for me?” The moment she said it she regretted it. “I’m sorry. I know you’re the better friend.”

  “It’s not a contest, Avery.”

  But she felt as though she owed him.

  The driver took them straight to the county clerk’s office.

  The moment they walked through the door Avery gasped. “Do you suppose all these people are in a rush to get married tonight?”

  “Looks like it,” Pete chuckled. “Maybe they all have some mad man chasing them,” he said as he took a number and waited for them to call them up.

  With that, Avery sat silently next to him. It was an obvious reminder of why he was there with her at all.

  “Is there anywhere specific you want to stop to look for a dress?” Pete asked as they finally left the clerk’s office, marriage license in hand.

  Avery shrugged. “I don’t know this town very well.”

  Pete managed a cab and as they drove away he asked the driver to take them somewhere she could go shopping. Fifteen minutes later the driver dropped them off at the shops at Caesar’s Palace.

  “This place is wild,” Avery said as she looked around.

  “I’d take lower Broadway any day,” Pete replied blandly.

  Avery looked at the shops as they passed through the eclectic mall. “You don’t have to shop with me. I’ll try not to be long. I’m sure there is somewhere you can wait.”

  Pete stopped walking. “I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”

  “Right.” She hadn’t thought about that.

  As they passed by statues and the ceiling changed colors, she found a small shop with nice dresses hanging in the window.

  “This looks nice. I think I’d like to go in and look.”

  Pete gave her a nod and followed.

  She searched the racks for dresses that weren’t too fancy, but would be useful in another situation someday.

  “What about this one?”

  She turned when Pete held up an elegant sundress. “It’s simple, but you’ll look radiant in it during the picnic season.”

  Her heart nearly stopped. He’d picked a dress and not just one off the rack to get it over with. Pete had given it some though
t.

  Avery reached for it and held it in her hands. “I’ll try it on.”

  Pete gave her a nod and walked toward a chair in the corner to wait.

  The moment Avery slipped on the dress, she knew it was the one. It was gorgeous and only made even better because Pete had picked it out for her. She’d take her small victories.

  He was standing at the register when she emerged from the dressing room, the dress in hand.

  “I found a shirt and a tie. You get me in my jeans and boots, but…”

  “I think that’s wonderful,” she said, hoping her smile conveyed how special it was.

  Their time was running short. They had clothes and the license. Now they needed to find a chapel. “There’s one just down the strip that has an opening,” Pete said. “This is just a formality, so really it doesn’t matter which one, right?”

  “Right. We just need to get it over with,” she clenched her teeth as she said it. When she’d thought about marrying Pete, it had never come with the bad feelings she was having now.

  The chapel was tacky, but as Pete had said, it was just a formality. Avery changed into the dress and tucked her travel clothes into her purse. She pulled a brush from her purse and gave her hair a quick fix, added some lipstick, and even a spritz from her travel atomizer she kept in her makeup bag. If this were a real wedding, she’d certainly have gone all out. But for spur of the moment, she thought she looked pretty good.

  When she walked out into the lobby, Pete stood there waiting for her. His new shirt still had the fold marks in it, but the tie matched her dress and she thought he had to be the most handsome groom she’d ever seen.

  “Avery, you look amazing.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. You do too.”

  “What, this old thing?” he joked and she felt the relief that they could have a normal moment. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded and took his arm as they walked into the chapel together.

  There were miscellaneous guests seated in the pews. Witnesses, she reminded herself. These would be the people who would sign off on this real wedding, which would lead to their sham of a marriage.

  The man dressed as a minister, with large Elvis- like sideburns, began the short and sweet ceremony, but Avery didn’t hear the words. Pete was standing next to her, his hands clasped in front of him. This was all just a promise to help a friend. It seemed cold and calculated.