The Reluctant Bride

by Anne Marie Duquette

  “Just because I haven’t said anything doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” Karinne said, her voice hoarse with emotion. “Of course I’m angry. And sad. And confused. My own mother left me, had another child, loved him, stayed with him and only came back to me because that child’s sick. What am I supposed to do, Max? Tell her I hate her as much as I love her?”

  “No.” He laid his hand softly on her thigh as she drove. “Understand that she’s flawed. Understand that you’re on the bottom of Margot’s list. Know that she looks out for her own interests first—and maybe her son’s—and act accordingly.”

  “And I guess that goes for my father, as well.”

  “At times, yes. But don’t judge them too harshly. Love them all you can. Just stand up and fight for what you want, like they do.”

  “I know what I want. You,” Karinne said quietly. “But I haven’t fought for you, not for a long time. Not until yesterday, when I knew I had to get the raft. I couldn’t let anything happen to any of the people I care about. I especially couldn’t let you down. And I won’t,” she vowed. “You’ll see.”

  Max said nothing.

  Karinne wondered if he really believed her capable of doing what she’d said. She felt certain deep down that she was but, all the same, was glad Max had come with her. The meeting between Margot and Jeff would be a war zone, and there was still the transplant issue to settle for Jon.

  The Phoenix sun shone brightly as Karinne pulled off the interstate. She drove toward her apartment, everyone awake now, alert and nervous. Max and Jon were to stay at Karinne’s place and have lunch, while Karinne and Margot would continue on to Jeff’s house.

  “I’ll see you later,” Karinne said softly, kissing Max on the cheek.

  Margot hugged her son, told him to behave and reentered the car with her daughter.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to have some lunch first?” Karinne asked as she pulled away from the curb.

  Margot shook her head. “No, I’m too nervous. Does your father know we’re coming?”

  “I called him.”

  “I hope he doesn’t have the police waiting for me. Or any other nasty surprises.”

  “No, Mom. It’ll just be the three of us. Or just the two of you, if you’d like privacy.”

  “I want you there,” Margot said. “I imagine we’ll need a referee. Your father never had much patience.”

  “What do you expect?” Karinne asked bluntly. “You walked out on him and me. You faked your own death. Dad isn’t going to tamely hold out an olive branch and welcome you with open arms. That would be asking too much.”

  Margot said nothing during the rest of the drive. Fifteen minutes later Karinne turned into the driveway, parking behind her father’s vehicle. She climbed out, gazing at the outside of her childhood home, imagining how her mother would see it. The beige of the Arizona-style stucco walls on either side of the front door. The green of a cactus garden, complete with a rusted iron wagon wheel that broke up the monotone of the beige and added color to the front yard. Various succulents, including aloe plants and agaves, grew at the foot of the walls, and a yellow mailbox added the finishing touch.

  “It seems older,” Margot whispered, coming up beside her. “Yet still the same.”

  Karinne didn’t respond. She went up to the front door and, for once, didn’t enter as she’d been doing all her life. She rang the doorbell and waited for her father to answer. Margot twisted the strap of her purse with both hands, her head bowed.

  The door opened. “Hi, Dad,” Karinne said. “We’re here.” The words sounded silly after all the years Margot had been missing.

  Jeff stood back and motioned them in. Karinne suddenly realized how old and worn her father looked. The deep lines in his face seemed deeper as he stared at his wife.

  “Aren’t you going to say hello, Jeff?” Margot asked hesitantly as Jeff closed the door and gestured the two women to the couch.

  “Why? You never said goodbye.”

  Margot flinched at the bitterness in his voice. Karinne curled her fingers around her mother’s forearm.

  “Max has already filled me in on your actions,” Jeff said. “We might as well take care of business first.” He crossed the room to his desk, removing a pen and manila envelope from a drawer. “These are the divorce papers. Under the circumstances, there’s no alimony. I’m asking for a divorce on the grounds of spousal desertion. Feel free to read them over, but I want them signed before you leave this house.”

  Margot’s face paled, but she took her reading glasses out of her purse and then accepted the papers. After a few minutes, she said, “These seem to be in order.”

  “Then sign in the appropriate places. They’re all marked with Post-its.”

  Margot’s hand trembled just a moment, then she wrote her signature where required. She slid the papers back in the envelope and handed it to Jeff.

  “Is there anything you’d like to ask me, Jeff?”

  “No. Yes.” His eyes blazed. “It’s bad enough that you walked out on me. Why did you walk out on our daughter?”

  “I never planned to leave her behind,” Margot said. “I wanted to take her with me. I had her clothes packed, a passport, a plane ticket for her, everything.”

  “What stopped you?” Jeff asked.

  Margot faced her daughter. “You were at Max and Cory’s house. I went to bring you home, and Max lied. Said you weren’t there. I looked all over, but finally I couldn’t wait any longer. So I left without you.”

  “My God. You would actually have taken Karinne away from me?”

  Margot lifted her chin. “Yes. I’m not proud of it, but yes. I loved her. I didn’t want to leave her behind.”

  “And you would’ve pretended…what? That my daughter was dead, too?”

  Silence. Karinne might have bolted from the couch if her legs hadn’t felt like jelly. “Mom, how could you have done that to Dad? To me?”

  “I loved you!”

  For the first time, Karinne understood what Max meant when he said love alone wasn’t enough. Actions counted, as well, and Margot’s actions had destroyed a lot of her husband’s and daughter’s happiness. If Margot had kidnapped her, Jeff’s life would’ve been ruined forever.

  Tears filled Jeff’s eyes and ran down his cheeks. He brusquely wiped them away, his fist clenched on the envelope with his divorce papers. Karinne went to him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders for reassurance.

  “Can you forgive me, Jeff?” Margot asked, her own eyes wet. “After all these years?”

  “I could have forgiven you for the gambling, for the money, even for staying away without a word. But abandoning our daughter, risking the house—her home—and then showing up again only because of your son? No, Margot, I won’t forgive you for that. And if anything happens to Karinne, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in jail. After the divorce, I hope I never see you again. I wish you’d stayed dead, Margot. I really do.”

  Margot broke down entirely. She clutched her purse and rushed to the front door, managing to gulp out, “I’ll wait in the car.”

  “You aren’t going after her?” Jeff asked.

  “You’re the parent who raised me, not her.” Karinne hugged her father tightly. “Dad, I’m so sorry.”

  “Thank God for Max,” Jeff whispered, his chin on her shoulder. “If Margot had taken you, if I’d lost you both, I don’t know what I would have done. Gone crazy. Why didn’t she tell me about the gambling?”

  “I don’t know, Dad.”

  “I would’ve been angry, but the three of us could still have had a future. You would’ve had a mother.”

  Karinne gently broke away from him and pulled the envelope out of his hand to place on the desk. All this drama couldn’t be good for his heart. She sat down on the couch again and took both his hands in hers.

  “I wish I could stay with you right now, but I’ll come back later.”

  “Stay as long as you want. Margot can sit in the damn car
and wait.”

  “Max and Jon are at my apartment. I thought I’d leave Margot and Jon there, and Max and I could come back here.”

  Her father nodded. “He’s a good man. Don’t let him get away, Karinne.”

  “I don’t intend to. Are you going to be all right while I’m gone? Is there anyone you want me to call?”

  “No, I’ll be fine.”

  “You sure?” Karinne suspected her father needed a few minutes alone.

  “Uh-huh. Drive carefully,” he warned, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  “I’ll pick us up some dinner. Chicken okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “I love you, Dad,” she said, her eyes teary again. “Later.”

  Margot was still crying when Karinne got back in her car. Karinne said nothing. She checked her cell phone—no messages from Max—and started the car. She carefully looked for traffic, then pulled out into the street. Margot didn’t settle down until about three miles later, when she swiped at her eyes and nose one last time, then put the tissue back inside her purse. Karinne didn’t feel sympathetic. All in all, she felt her mother had gotten off rather lightly.

  “So do you think your father will have me jailed for insurance fraud?” Margot asked.

  “I don’t think that’s up to Dad. It’s up to the insurance company you defrauded.”

  “Maybe Jon and I should go back to Mexico. You can come with us and be tested for donor status there. Surely you can get some time off work.”

  Karinne braked for a red light and faced her mother. “I’m not going to Mexico. I’m not going anywhere that takes me away from Max.”

  “But if I get arrested…”

  Legally, it’s what you deserve, she thought.

  “And what about Jon? He needs a transplant!”

  “So you’ve told me, Mother.”

  “What happened to Mom? What about your brother?”

  “I’ve agreed to be tested for donor compatibility, and I will. Here. In Phoenix.”

  “And you’ll give Jon your kidney if he needs it?”

  She shook her head, then pressed the gas as the light changed to green. “I’ll consider giving Jon my kidney, depending on the circumstances.”

  “What?”

  “You never told me if you placed Jon on the list. Max said to ask.”

  Margot didn’t deny it. “Everyone knows a family donor is better than a stranger donor.”

  “But, Mom, you didn’t even try.”

  “There’s still a chance you’re compatible.”

  “As I’ve said, I’m willing to step in if I’m a match and no one else is, when—if—he ever reaches the critical stage. But you need to explore all other options first.”

  “Your father put you up to this, didn’t he? And Max!”

  “No. But Max and Dad have to be my first priority. Especially Max. Have you told Jon he could live a long life without my help? Does his father know?”

  “Stephan knows Jon’s sick, but—”

  “Did he approve of your coming to me? Answer the question, Mother.”

  “This was all my idea.”

  “Does he even know you’re here?”

  Margot flushed. “He’s working. I could hardly ask him to drop everything, could I?”

  “No, but you asked me.”

  “Jon’s my son! You’re my daughter!”

  “I haven’t been your daughter for a long time, Mother. What I said stands. Put Jon on the donor list.”

  “But he might only have months!” Margot insisted.

  “And he might have a lot longer. Jon’s traveled cross-country. He’s traveled, ridden mules, hiked. I believe you lied to me about how sick he really is.”

  “Months, years, who knows? Doctors aren’t perfect! I can’t take that chance.”

  “Max warned me,” Karinne murmured. “I should have listened. He was right.”

  “Darling…”

  “Enough.” Karinne lifted her head and met her mother’s gaze head-on. “If Jon’s health starts to fail before they find him a match, then come to me.”

  Margot rummaged inside her purse for a tissue and started crying again. “You want revenge because I left you.”

  “No, Mom.”

  “I swear, I wanted to take you with me!”

  Thank God you didn’t. Dad was right. Thank God Max stopped her. I would never have had a normal life.

  Back at Karinne’s apartment, Max told her Jeff had called and decided he didn’t want company after all. Margot, with Jon in tow, elected to go to a hotel, leaving Karinne and Max alone.

  “You look like hell,” Max said. “Can I fix you a drink?”

  “No, thanks.” She flopped down on the couch.

  “Want to talk?” he asked, joining her.

  “There’s not much to say that you don’t already know. Mom told Dad she wanted to take me with her. She was going to pretend we were both dead. You were right not to tell her where I was that day. Dad took the news pretty hard. I’m worried about him.”

  “He sounded calm when I talked to him on the phone,” Max informed her.

  “Thank heaven for that. Dad had divorce papers waiting. Mom walked in, he told her to sign them, and it went downhill from there. I stayed a while to talk to Dad, then came the drive home.”

  “Another emotional scene?”

  “Yes. Mom asked me to go to Mexico.”

  “Why?”

  “So I could have my lab work done in a country where Mom wouldn’t worry about getting arrested. I refused.”

  “I imagine Margot wasn’t pleased about that.”

  “She thought I was doing it for revenge.” Karinne wrinkled her nose with disgust. “It’s not that at all. I’m still willing to be tested, but I told her I was a last resort. She hasn’t even bothered to put Jon on the donor list. And his father doesn’t even know where they are. Jon should be their priority. Instead, she takes the easy way out—asks me. I guess that shows where I stand on her list.”

  “I think she really did want to see you, Karinne.”

  “For Jon.”

  “You’re forgetting one thing. Margot could have avoided trouble, avoided being charged with insurance fraud, by staying home. She took a risk coming here.”

  “Thank you for reminding me of that.” Karinne willed herself not to cry. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. But I am glad to know she’s not dead. Glad she’s had some happiness in her life. Thrilled to know I have a brother. I’ll do the donor compatibility tests. But that’s not going to change my plans. I’m quitting my job at the end of the month. After that, I’m moving up to the Grand Canyon. I’ll find a new job somewhere—maybe with Flagstaff college sports.”

  Max took her in his arms. “You can’t just walk away from your mother and brother.”

  “I think Mom’s going to disappear again as soon as she can get two plane tickets.”

  “Then stop her,” Max said. “You love your mother. Lord knows how long it’ll be before you see her again. And Jon. Don’t let her leave yet, Karinne. Ask her to stay.”

  She sat up straight on the couch, slipping out of his loving embrace. “This is a sudden change of heart.”

  He twisted a strand of her hair. “I’ve been wrong, too. One of the reasons I love you so much is your loyalty to your family. Despite Margot’s treatment of you and your father, you care. And you offered to help a boy you’ve only known a few days. You’re a strong woman, the kind of woman I admire. I can’t disapprove of your actions when I want those same things, that same strength, for our family.”

  Karinne took a deep breath. “Are you willing to marry me?”

  Max exhaled, gently touched her face, and laid her cheek against his chest. “Yes.”

  He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. “You should call your mother.”

  “No. In my life, you come first.”

  Their lovemaking chased away the harshness of the past and renewed their connection. They fell asleep in each other’
s arms. Only when Karinne woke later, refreshed in heart and soul, did she pick up the phone. The front desk of the hotel had a message for her.

  “I’m sorry. Mrs. Lazar asked us to tell you that she’ll wait to hear from you by phone regarding your donor status. She and her son have flown home to Mexico—she said they wanted to avoid any potential problems. Mrs. Lazar said you’d understand.”

  In other words, Margot had skipped bail and run away again. Max held Karinne in his arms again as she cried all the tears she’d held back as a child. After that she vowed she’d never cry over Margot again.

  MAX DIDN’T LEAVE Karinne’s side during the next few days, although she assured him she was fine.

  “Don’t you have to get back to work?” she asked him as she helped Anita pack up her belongings for the move north. Anita had found a job as an accountant at one of the banks just outside Grand Canyon Village. Cory had rented an apartment for them topside, and he was busy moving his things out of the place he and Max had shared for so long.

  “We’ll go back there together,” Max said, “as soon as you’re done with your business in Phoenix. I’ve hired a temporary worker to help Cory with the week’s scheduled raft trips. I’ve also talked with Jeff, and we’ve met with my lawyer. We’re going to see what he can do to have embezzlement charges against your mother dropped due to family hardship. At least that way she’d be able to travel back and forth from Mexico to Arizona to see you. Plus she’ll need to show up in court for your father to get his divorce. And to attend our wedding, which, by the way, isn’t going to be in November. We’ll get married as soon as possible at the Grand Canyon. Margot will want to be there.”

  Privately, Karinne thought Margot would never be coming back, but she said, “Thank you, Max. Dad deserves some closure.”

  Max frowned, as if he knew what she was thinking, but he said nothing on that topic. “I’ve also made an appointment with a Realtor, like you asked.”