by Maddie James
Cheris turned astonished eyes to Geoff who stared stonily ahead. “Astrology?”
Janie shook her head at Cheris and whispered through her bright smile. “Don’t even bother correcting the woman. She’s in tsunami mode.”
“…and I told Chip, can this night get any more perfect, but our son has demonstrated I was mistaken. It seems Dr. Geoff Arrowood will be teaching at the high school right here in town beginning in the next school year and in June he’s going to be the dynamic professor at the Winfield Space Museum.”
At the word dynamic, Geoff pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses while a murmur of delight arose from the crowd.
“Our Geoff is coming home,” Monnie announced. “Wait now. That’s not the toast. You all just quit sipping from your glasses. I’m not nearly finished.”
Monnie grasped Cheris’ hand. “This is Cheris, a dear friend of Janie’s.”
Geoff leaned toward his sister. “I am going to kill you,” he whispered.
“Oh, hush, Geoff, my son. Nobody’s killing anybody tonight.”
Some of the onlookers laughed in response to Monnie’s public reproach. “Cheris accompanied Geoff over here tonight which in and of itself is a coup d’état as he’s never brought a girl home. Well, you know how young people are. They disappeared almost as soon as they got here.”
Snickers from the audience.
“We old fogies know it as pitching woo,” Chip supplied. The snickers became outright chortles.
“We call it making whoopee,” a voice called out.
“How about playing footsie?” another suggested.
Cheris smoothed her loose hair back with a shaky hand.
“That’s enough.” Monnie held her hand up to quiet the crowd. “My son would never do such a thing to embarrass us. But lawzy, that boy is stubborn. I’d say to him, ‘Aren’t there any girls down in Georgia worth dating? Are you going to be a bachelor all your life? Why can’t you settle down, get married, and give us some grandchildren?’” She grinned up at her husband. “Didn’t I say all of those things, Chip?”
“Every word.”
“Well, finally! Geoff decided he had found the right woman.”
Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.
“And up and eloped with her last night. Can you believe it?”
Cheris stopped breathing. Her skin burned from her neck to her scalp. From the step behind her, Geoff lay a steadying hand on her waist.
“Geoff is coming back home to Culsbaier and bringing a new bride with him. Cheris.” Monnie turned to her and hugged her fiercely. She whispered. “Thank you, my darling, for loving my son.”
Shock bolted through Cheris.
When Monnie pulled back, Cheris was astonished to see tears in her eyes. She nodded and smiled. “You two have made me so happy.”
Chip raised his glass. “Lots of reasons to celebrate tonight. Let us drink to thirty-five years of marriage, five of which weren’t all that bad,” he said jovially. “Ah, I’m kidding. Seriously.” Gathering Monnie to him, he gazed into her face. “Monnie, I love you more today than I did the day we married. I’d like to raise a toast to you, my beautiful bride. May the next thirty-five years be as good as the last thirty-five years. And to Geoff and Cheris, may you know the love and joy in your marriage that we’ve had in ours.”
Everyone raised their glasses at the family then sipped champagne.
Chip handed his glass to Janie then swooped down and kissed his wife soundly among cheers of the gathered people.
“Now the newlyweds!” Someone in the crowd yelled.
“Oh, no,” Geoff responded. “You all have had enough fun at our expense.”
“They way they’re acting, you’d think they were the old fogies, and Chip and Monnie were the newlyweds.” This from an elderly woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Monnie.
“Whose side are you on, Grandma?” Geoff called to her.
“Yours. Now give that gal a big ol’ sloppy wet kiss that’ll put your mom and dad to shame.”
“Sorry, Grandma. You’ll have to be satisfied with Mom and Dad’s sloppy wet kiss.”
The crowd booed. They actually booed!
Cheris sighed and rolled her eyes. “‘Youth is wasted on all the wrong people,’” she quipped. Stepping up one stair, she stood next to Geoff. Pecking him on the lips, she then glared at all of the jerks below her. Ignoring the tingling on her mouth, she said to them, “There. Happy?”
“No!” came several responses.
“You call that a kiss? You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”
I do not know you people, but I hate you all.
She handed her champagne flute to her mother-in-law, the old bag. “Hurry up,” she growled as she plucked his glasses from his face and tilted her head to him. “Let’s get it over with before they lynch us.”
“Are you sure?” He asked even as he cradled her jaw in his hands and moved closer to her.
Cheris closed her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. Be quick about it.”
The first touch of his lips on hers was tentative, light. But Cheris felt a zap of electricity shoot through her body. Geoff’s hands moved from her head to wrap around her waist, nudging her closer, closer. His mouth moved, and oh boy, he deepened the kiss.
Oh, my gosh. He’s French kissing me in front of his parents. In front of the elite of Cullsbaeir, Kentucky.
And, he’s pretty darn good at it.
Cheris kissed him back and moved her arms to return his embrace. Earlier the heat she felt had been from embarrassment, but the flames licking her body now was nothing but pure bred lust from the pit of her stomach to her toes. Too soon, Geoff raised his head though he still held her. With effort Cheris opened her heavy eyelids and found him gazing at her.
He winked.
Cheris’ foot went backwards nearly off the stair, and Geoff steadied her.
“Was that quick enough?” he whispered.
Was it…? What was he talking about? The kiss had lasted eons, not nearly long enough. Cheris became aware of catcalls and clapping.
Ugh! Public Display of Affection! So tacky. So unlike me.
Cheris covered her face with her hands and wished the wood beneath her would open up so she could escape the humiliation.
“That’s what I’m talking about. Don’t hide your face, honey. In fact, plant another one on my grandson,” the elderly woman yelled.
Cheris lowered her hands but couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. She shrugged out of Geoff’s arms and held up his glasses in the vicinity of his face. Maybe he wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t see them. In a second, they were gone.
Chip squeezed her shoulder and patted his son on the back. “And may we be here one year from tonight drinking a toast to my grandson.”
“Or granddaughter,” Monnie added sipping champagne.
“Twins, then. Better get busy, Geoff, my boy.” Chip laughed.
****
“This is a nightmare,” Cheris said to her reflection. Her friend and sister-in-law met her eyes in the bathroom mirror. Soon after the spectacle on the stairs Cheris had grabbed Janie and retreated to the upstairs bathroom.
“Poor thing,” Janie sympathized. “I don’t know how Mom found out. I promise when she came to me, she already knew about it. The only thing I told her was when, and that was under much duress.”
“How are we supposed to get a quiet divorce when half the town just got that fairy tale out there?”
“I don’t know. But you better pull yourself together. Mom’s got it in her head to have some kind of after-the-fact wedding reception ASAP.”
“Are you serious? We have to stop her!”
“Good luck.” Janie snorted. “Tsunami Monnie is my nickname for her. When she makes up her mind about something, there’s no hope.”
“But you. She’s not that way with you, is she?”
“No, but it has taken years of disappointment and shattered dreams to lower her expectations of me.” Janie tapped her finger ag
ainst her chin as she studied her friend’s mirrored image. “Unfortunately, you’re the epitome of the daughter she’s always wanted. Little Miss Goody Goody. I’m afraid she’s going to sink her teeth into you and not let go.”
“Oh, great. Just great.”
A brisk knock sounded on the bathroom door. Cheris didn’t move or speak. She wasn’t ready to go back out there and undergo the gauntlet of well wishes.
“Cheris, dear. It’s Annie Hill,” came the voice from the hallway.
“Oh, please don’t tell me Annie witnessed what happened out there.” Cheris sagged against the sink.
“Buck up,” Janie counseled before turning the knob and pulling it open.
There stood the original Hip Granny smiling reproachfully. She rapped her cane on the floor twice. “Come out of there, please. I know you don’t like being the center of attention but that’s what happens when you get married. Everyone wants to make a fuss over you.”
Cheris’ feet refused to move. Annie rapped the cane against the hard wood floor again and arched an eyebrow.
Oh, help me. I’m being bullied by old women!
She lurched out of the bathroom feeling about as graceful as Igor. “Annie, it’s not what you think.”
“Did you get married to Geoff Arrowood the third at some time last night or this morning?”
“Yes, that’s true, but—”
“Then it is what I think.”
“But, Annie. I didn’t…what I mean is…” Cheris looked around for some help from Janie and saw her walking down the stairs. “Janie!” she cried.
“See you later, Sister.”
The jerk.
Annie chuckled. “If you didn’t want this spectacle then why didn’t you wait until after the party to tell everyone?”
“It was supposed to be a secret,” Cheris mumbled.
Annie clucked her tongue. “You ought to know better than that. Secrets have a way of getting out.”
“This one was best left untold.”
Annie placed her arms around Cheris’ shoulders and guided her toward a settee in the hall. She pushed her down gently and sat down next to her. “Sweetheart, after that kiss on the stairs…” She shook her head. “For goodness’ sake, you took his glasses off. That simple gesture demonstrates a deliberate willingness to show your deep affection very publicly. My Gerald wore glasses, you know.”
She nodded and sighed in contentment, a far off look in her eyes. “How I love that man. Even though he’s been dead fourteen years, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. And thank God for the time we had together.” She turned to Cheris. “I am so happy for you and Geoff. You know, I worried so that you were here by yourself with no family. Well, anyway, there’s no more worrying, is there? Because you’ve married into one of the most respected families in Cullsbaeir. Even with Janie, but we love her, too. Because she’s…” Annie dropped her voice to a whisper. “…an artist. And she’s talented enough that she can get by with it.” Her voice returned to a normal tone. “Now then. Milton Stewart is downstairs.”
The owner of Web Enterprises!
“He, his wife Ellie, and I want to have a dinner party when you get back from your honeymoon. You know, sort of a shower, but more formal with a sit-down meal.”
“Honeymoon! Geoff and I aren’t going on a honeymoon.”
“Well, sure you are. Milton said to take two weeks off.”
“I can’t take two weeks off. I need to work.”
“Honey, this isn’t Bill who you can distract with pretty trinkets; this is Milton, the CEO of all of the Web Enterprises. No one says no to him. Not even me. Now I don’t want to hear this I need to work. It’s a paid vacation. But don’t get any ideas about being a happy homemaker. I’ve invested too much time in you to lose you to the bliss of housework and babies.”
The bliss of housework and babies?
Cheris’ stomach rolled uneasily.
With some effort, Annie stood up leaning heavily on her cane. “Now then. I labored all the way up that staircase to have this little heart-to-heart. I hope you will help me get back down.”
Chapter Five
The sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly, and Dorothy did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.
—The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Cheris sat in Geoff’s car as he went around to the driver’s side. When he sat down in the seat and closed the door, he sighed heavily. Staring for a moment through the darkened windshield, he finally turned the key in the ignition and started the engine.
What was he thinking?
Cheris stole a glance at him. His morose expression reflected her mood.
After she had accompanied Annie downstairs, Monnie had put her and Geoff together then proceeded to introduce them to every person at the party.
Every single person.
Cheris was pretty sure Monnie had dragged in a few hobos off the street to introduce them to as well. Cheris’ face hurt from smiling so much, and her head hurt from the stress of acting like a fraud. Without any verbal communication between them, both she and Geoff had played the happy newlyweds the entire night. Cheris realized it was useless to attempt to explain the truth to anyone. Not only had Hip Granny embraced the romantic story, but Geoff’s new boss had as well.
What could she say, really?
Thank you for your good wishes, but I was under the influence of Wonderland potion last night and can’t even remember getting married.
It had been horrible. The lie. The great, big, disgusting lie.
Geoff turned the car into the parking lot of her apartment. Pulling into a space, he cut the engine and released his seatbelt.
“I guess, there’s only one thing to say,” he announced.
“What?”
“Well, Stanley, here’s yet another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”
A giggle bubbled up from Cheris’ throat and escaped from her mouth. She opened the door and left the vehicle. The giggle grew until waves of laughter overcame her at the absurdity of every single moment since she had awoken this morning. She caught sight of Geoff who now stood with hands in pockets watching her, and she laughed some more. Holding her side to quell the stitches, Cheris staggered toward the walkway and her apartment. Her mirth echoed in the still night air, and though she didn’t know exactly why, but it was funny.
Really funny.
Tears streamed down her face, and she wiped her cheek then dug into her purse for her keys. When she unlocked her door and threw it open Geoff followed her as far as the threshold. Cheris collapsed on her rocking chair and gulped in a couple of breaths.
Her gaze focused on the man who waited silently for her to do what, she didn’t know. Though they had spent the last six hours together, she knew little more than she did this morning when he stood in roughly the same spot with undershirt and tuxedo pants. Tonight was supposed to be dinner and conversation. She was supposed to interrogate Geoff and gather evidence on his character.
Instead they had gone further into this upside down world inviting all of Geoff’s family to join them not to mention Annie Hill and Milton Stewart.
And if Mr. Stewart knew that meant Bill Connor, her boss, would find out, and within an hour he’d figure out a way to capitalize on it and make more money for Mr. Stewart. It would get on Hip Granny and her mom would find out.
Cheris buried her face in her hands and groaned.
“Are you ready?” Geoff asked.
For whatever it was, no she wasn’t.
Her front door clicked shut. But he was still here. She didn’t have to see him to know. Like the sound of air parting when someone enters a room though their footsteps are silent, she knew. The very molecules of the room shifted at his presence. And her own molecules, well, they didn’t shift so much as they…err…vibrated.
Not too long ago, she had be
en talking to someone at the party. Geoff had been somewhere else, but Cheris had known the second he had entered the room.
How?
Some crazy feeling—awareness—those molecules…or something. She had turned her head, and there he had been, those beautiful eyes behind his glasses meeting and holding her gaze.
The recognition of it made her uneasy because it hinted at a history with him, and the only history she had was what she couldn’t remember.
She lowered her hands, but didn’t make eye contact. “For what?”
“To ask me questions. I told you earlier I’d answer as many as you wanted to ask.”
Cheris leaned her head back against the wooden chair. “It’s late.”
“Really? Nothing you want to know?”
“Did you…know who I was last night at the exhibit?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
Geoff meandered into the room. He paused at a framed photograph of her and Janie. “It didn’t come up. Not then.”
Cheris’ throat closed up. Again with the lost time. Had she lived an eternity after the punch and cake?
“When did it? Before or after we got married?”
“Before. We talked about having Janie as a witness.” He sat down on her couch and leaning forward, he clasped his hands between his knees.
Her troubled gaze met his. “Why didn’t we?”
“You sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
“You said it would take too long.”
“Why was I in such a hurry?”
“The courthouse closed at nine. We were pushing it.”
“Yes. We were.”
Geoff didn’t reply, only leaned back against the couch cushion and stretched his arms across its length.
“What are we going to do?”
“We could go to bed. Everything looks better in the morning.” He yawned as if to punctuate his statement.
“Go to bed? Go to bed?” Cheris exclaimed as she jumped out of the chair. “Don’t you care that half the town knows we’re married?”
Geoff followed suit. “Now, Cheris—”
“Don’t you Now, Cheris me. We’ve got to figure out a way to get out of this marriage gracefully before my boss gets a hold of it and broadcasts it on the World Wide Web.” What a nightmare it would be if her mom found out.