Dreaming in Dairyland

by Kirsten Osbourne

  "And you went through with it anyway? What were you thinking?" She didn't wait for a response. Instead, she jumped to her feet and grabbed her purse from the table next to the front door. "I'll be back later." She left slamming the door behind her. Never in her life had she felt quite so betrayed.

  *****

  Bob stared at the door for a moment, before burying his face in his hands. He'd screwed up by telling her so soon. But when he'd slipped, he knew he needed to tell her everything. He sat in total silence for a while, having no idea how much time had passed. He knew he needed to do something to get her back, but what could he do? He didn't even know where she'd gone!

  Finally, he grabbed his phone and called Lachele. "Lachele, this is Bob."

  "So how's my favorite newlywed? Still as madly in love as you were a couple of months ago?"

  Bob sighed heavily. "I am. But I messed up. I let it slip that I'd been to karaoke, and had to tell her everything. Let's just say she's not happy. She left." He quietly explained about the argument they'd had and how it had all come out.

  "Left? You mean she left you? Or that she left for a little while to calm down?"

  "She said she'd be back later." He just wished he knew if she was coming back simply to get her things or to continue on as man and wife. He said a prayer of thanks for the contract they'd signed, promising to stay together for a full year.

  "Well, good. I'm sure I'll need to talk to her then. Girl's got a temper when she's betrayed, and she's got to feel betrayed." Lachele paused for a moment. "I'll call her in the morning."

  "What should I do?" Bob felt like an idiot for having to ask, but he didn't know what else to do. He thought about calling Cindy, but he had a feeling Cindy was either dealing with Cissie right then, or about to be dealing with her.

  "Back off for a bit. Let her remember what she likes about you. You two were a stronger match than I've ever seen. She'll get over it. Maybe not as quickly as you'd like, and she'll be wary for a while, but she will get over it."

  Bob rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks." He hung up the phone, wishing he had a better answer. He didn't want to back off. He loved Cissie, and he wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

  *****

  Cissie pulled into the driveway of Cindy's B&B, still so angry she wanted to strangle someone. The first thing she needed to do was make sure Cindy hadn't been involved. If she was, she knew the feelings of betrayal would be much worse. Already she wanted to give in to the emotions and yell and cry, but she couldn't until she knew everything.

  She ran up to the door and pounded her fist a couple of times, waiting for her friend to answer. When Cindy came to the door, her hair was tousled, as if Cissie had interrupted some marital fun. For once, Cissie didn't care. She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her out of the house. "We need to talk."

  "You know I hate conversations that start that way." Cindy looked a bit frightened. "Why are you so upset? Did you and Bob have a fight?"

  Cissie walked away from the house, toward the open field next to it that in a month would be filled with snow and the snowmobiles Cindy and Bob had been fixing up for months. "Bob just told me something that has me really pissed off, and I need to ask you about it. Did you have any idea that Trey gave Bob Lachele's number so she could set us up?" Cissie watched Cindy's face carefully as she asked the question, knowing Cindy would never be able to lie to her.

  "He did what?" Cindy stopped walking and turned to Cissie. "Tell me you're kidding, because I don't want to have to kill my husband."

  Cissie sighed. "Bob said you weren't involved, but I was afraid to believe him." She knew Cindy couldn't lie to save her life so she believed her, finally feeling like she had an ally. She didn't know how she'd have handled it if she'd found out Cindy had been part of the duplicity. Cindy had always been on her side in everything.

  Cindy hugged Cissie tight. "You know me better than that. I'm not involved. Now, you need to tell me everything we know, so we can go and tell my husband the reasons for his execution."

  With a glare toward the house, Cissie explained everything to Cindy, watching as her friend's face got redder and redder. When she was finished, she asked, "What do you think?"

  "I think, if it wouldn't hurt me so much, we'd need to go cut off the man's tallywacker." Cindy shook her head, obviously upset. "Let's go talk to him. See what he has to say for himself." Cindy linked arms with Cissie and began walking toward the house, anger visible on her face.

  She opened the front door and wandered through the house to his office. Trey looked back and forth between the two of them, his eyes widening.

  Cindy threw him a lap quilt to cover up with, because he was wearing only his boxers as usual. "You need to cover yourself. Your tallywacker is in danger." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

  Trey covered himself up, making certain there was a double layer over his private parts. "What did I do this time?"

  Cissie glared at him. "When did you first meet Bob, Trey?" She needed to know if he'd admit the truth or if he was a lying piece of scum. If he was a lying piece of scum, then he wasn't good enough for Cindy, whether they were already married or not.

  Trey closed his eyes, obviously worried about where the conversation was going. "July. Less than a week after I married Cindy."

  Cindy took a couple of steps forward. "How long had you known him before you gave him Lachele's number? Without ever once mentioning to me you were helping him deceive me and my best friend?"

  Trey had real fear in his eyes as he looked up at Cindy. "A week."

  "A week? Have you lost your ever loving mind?" Cindy's hands were clenched at her sides. "Do you really think that's an appropriate amount of time to know someone before you betray your wife for him? I would have thought you'd wait at least a month."

  "I didn't look at it as betraying either of you." He took a deep breath, obviously trying to come up with the right words. "I knew Cissie was looking for love, and I knew Lachele had the ability to weed out anyone she shouldn't be with. So I gave him a leg up by giving him Lachele's number. That's all. I didn't call Lachele and put in a good word for him or anything!"

  "And that makes it better?" Cissie asked, her voice loud and angry. "Do you really think that makes it okay?"

  Trey sighed. "I don't know if it makes it better, but I wasn't trying to hurt you or deceive you. I just wanted you to be happy, and I could see from the way Bob looked at you, he'd be a good loving husband."

  "You didn't think calling a matchmaker just to set us up was a bit stalkery? I'm half afraid to go home!" Cissie exclaimed, knowing it was a lie even as the words crossed her lips. Yes, she was angry, and yes, she wanted Trey to feel everything she was feeling, but Bob wouldn't hurt her. He cared for her. She had no doubts about that.

  "Are you really afraid to go home?" Trey asked. "Because I can tell you, that man would do anything for you. He's not a stalker. He took one look at you and knew he was in love. Period."

  "Without ever speaking to me? That's stalkery. But no, I'm not really afraid to go home." Cissie sighed, collapsing on the couch in the office. "I do feel very betrayed by you and Lachele though. I'll talk to her tomorrow." She looked at Cindy. "I think your wife is even angrier than I am."

  "I am," Cindy confirmed, her eyes on Trey. "How could you?"

  Trey looked down at his hands. "I wasn't thinking about how you would feel about it. Have you never met someone and wanted to help them? Wanted to do something nice for them?"

  Cindy frowned. "Well, sure I have, but not at the expense of my friends."

  "And is it at her expense? Really?" Trey looked at Cissie. "Are you happy? Or were you before you found out you'd been—manipulated for lack of a better word?"

  Cissie nodded. "I was. I'm not sure how I feel now, but I was."

  "Then you can be again." He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Look, I know you're mad at me now. And you're mad at Bob and Lachele, and I understand why. But if Bob is the man who
is going to make you happy, don't you think you can look past all that and forgive us all?"

  Cissie looked at Cindy, who was still looking angry, but contemplative at the same time. "I'm going to drive around a little more and think. Cindy? You deal with him. If you need to borrow handcuffs and a nightstick, Bob has them at home." She glared at Trey one more time, letting him know he still wasn't totally off the hook. She'd let Cindy deal with him, though. It was her job.

  At Cindy's yelp of laughter, she got up and walked to the door. Cindy hurried along behind her. "Are you going to be okay?"

  "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just weird to realize that the world is different than I thought it was. Bob has never been anything but kind, affectionate, and loving. I need to figure out how to go forward is all."

  Cindy hugged Cissie. "You'll figure things out while I deal with Trey." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry about his part in all this."

  "You did nothing wrong. It's that man Lachele chose for you. We'll blame Lachele. That woman is going to get a piece of my mind when I call her tomorrow!"

  Cindy grinned. "Glad I'm not in her shoes."

  Cissie laughed, surprised to hear the sound. An hour before, she'd thought laughing wouldn't happen for a while.

  *****

  Cissie drove around for a few hours, admiring the changing leaves. She loved fall in Wisconsin, even though it meant winter would soon be upon them. Wisconsin was breathtaking in every season, but to her, fall was the best. She loved to drive through the hilly regions just being mesmerized by the scenery.

  When she finally turned toward home, it was dark. The game had been on at noon, so she knew she'd been gone far longer than she should have been. She'd forgotten her phone, so she'd heard from no one, which was both good and bad. Good, because she'd truly needed the time to think, but bad, because she knew Bob would be worried. No matter how angry she was with the man, she didn't want him worrying about her.

  She pulled into the driveway of their house and got out of her car. Before she even made it to the front door, Bob was rushing out to greet her, grabbing her close and burying his face in her hair. "Are you all right?"

  Cissie nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Sorry to worry you." She was surprised to hear herself say the words, but even more surprised when she realized she truly felt them.

  He took her arm and led her toward the house. "I made a big pot of soup, so you could eat whenever you got home." He was officially off cooking duty, but he'd do it forever if it kept her anger at bay.

  "Thank you." She sat at the table in the kitchen while he ladled soup into bowls for each of them.

  "I called Trey, and he said you'd left hours ago. I knew you were angry, and all I could see was your car wrapped around a tree. I was afraid to go out looking for you, but I was on the phone repeatedly with the state patrol, having them check for wrecks."

  Cissie felt terrible. Her anger aside, she shouldn't have caused him worry like that, not knowing how worried he was about losing people. "I'm sorry."

  Bob shook his head. "I understand. I really do. Did you sort things out in your mind?" That was at the heart of everything for him. No matter how much he'd worried, if the time away had allowed her to wrap her brain around the circumstances behind their wedding, then it was all worth it.

  She nodded. "You know, as angry as I was, I do understand why you did it."

  His eyes met hers, and he took her hand in his. "Really?"

  "Yeah, really. I wish you'd just approached me like a normal human being, but I can understand why you didn't." She took a bite of the soup, closing her eyes as the flavors exploded on her tongue. He was an excellent cook. "Promise you won't hide things from me again."

  He nodded slowly. "I won't." He thought of Chaynade and what had happened in Chicago, but that had all happened before he knew who she was. Cissie wasn't asking for full disclosure of everything that had ever happened to him, was she?

  "I left Cindy to deal with Trey, and I'll be calling Lachele tomorrow. She's the one I feel the most betrayed by."

  Bob took her hand in his. "Don't. She argued with me for hours before she'd agree to even talk to me. Her exact words were, 'Good gravy, boy! I don't do that!'" He hoped hearing the older woman's words would soothe Cissie a bit.

  Cissie grinned. She could just hear Lachele saying that to him. "But you convinced her."

  "Seriously, Cissie. It took four hours. And I went through every test known to man. She knows about every speeding ticket I've ever had. The woman was fanatical in her quest. I bet you could call her and find out the name of every teacher I've had since kindergarten! She really went overboard." He had been annoyed by all the extra testing and questioning at the time, but now that he could defend the matchmaker with everything she'd done, he was pleased.

  "Good! She needed to do something to make it right." Cissie took a sip of water. "Did you feel violated before she was done?"

  He nodded slowly. "In a lot of ways, yes. It was weird giving someone permission to find out every single detail of my life." He shook his head. "She even talked to my doctor to find out if I'd ever had a STD."

  Cissie laughed. "And have you?"

  He shook his head. "Nope."

  She took another bite of soup. "So Lachele knows all about past relationships too, I guess."

  "Yeah. I bet Lachele could give you the date of my conception, circumcision, and the day I lost my virginity in the backseat of my car in high school." He had almost felt mind-raped by the time she was done. He couldn't help but wonder which parts of her inquisition had been normal and which had been just for him.

  "What was her name?" Cissie asked, a gleam in her eye.

  "Whose name?" Bob wasn't following. Cissie knew Lachele's name.

  "The girl you lost your virginity to in the back seat of your car. What was her name?" Did men remember things like that?

  Bob grinned. "I should have known you'd focus on that." He shook his head at her, feeling amused all of a sudden.

  "Do you even remember her name?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Of course, I do. Almost as well as I remember her breasts." He gazed off into space as if remembering something. "Her name was Lola Riggs." She'd been his steady girlfriend for his last year of high school and his first semester of college. They were Facebook friends, and he was always amused by the pictures of her children.

  Cissie glared. "And her breasts were somehow more memorable than mine, I take it?" Was he insulting her breasts in some way? She'd never had complaints about them before.

  "Only in that they were the first I ever touched with no bra on. There were other girls, but I had to stay over the shirt with them." He shrugged. "I'm sure you understand." He thought about all the dating rules different girls had given him in high school and almost laughed out loud. He was glad he'd met Cissie as his wife and hadn't had to go through the dating nonsense with her.

  "So, how many girls were there before me? I saved myself for our wedding night. Sounds like you weren't quite so pure." She pierced him with her eyes waiting for an answer.

  Bob sighed. "There were only two...Umm, Lola was the only girl in high school. Tanya was college, and then we lived together for a few years after. We were engaged and almost married. We split about three years ago. There hasn't been anyone else." He'd been too busy picking up the pieces for there to be someone else. He'd been lost after he and Tanya split up, but it had nothing to do with his former fiancée.

  "So you split not long before you moved here? Because you were moving here? Or did you move here because you split?" How much had Tanya affected him? Was she the real love of his life?

  "Neither one really. They were totally separate things." He didn't really want to talk about Tanya or the circumstances behind his move. He reached out and took her hand. "Are we okay?"

  She nodded slowly, feeling like she was letting him off the hook too easily, but her anger was gone. "Yeah, we're okay."

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I was worried I'd
ruined everything earlier."

  "I was too. I realized that we care about each other, though, and it's just not right to throw it all away for nothing." No matter how angry Cissie became, she didn't burn bridges. She may slowly drift away from someone, but if they were a good person, she tried to mend fences.

  "You care for me?" he asked, a bit surprised.

  "Of course I do. I don't sleep with just anyone you know..." she teased, getting up and walking around the table to him. "I'm not like you."

  "Hey! Three girls is not a lot, you know!"

  She sank into his lap, kissing him. "I guess not. Seems like a lot to me, though!"

  He sighed. "And you wonder why I never tell you anything..."

  Chapter Six

  Cissie woke from a sound sleep, hearing Bob mumble. She turned to him. "Bob? What's wrong?" The sounds he made sounded anguished. She wanted to help him, but had no idea how.

  "No! Don't go in there!" He sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping off his body. He reached out as if to grab someone to stop them. "No! Stop!"

  Cissie sat beside him, her hand touching his arm, shocked by how cold he felt. "Are you all right?"

  Bob nodded. "Yeah, just a bad dream. Happens sometimes." He threw his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm going to shower."

  "Do you want company?" she asked softly, worried about him.

  "No, I'm fine. Go back to sleep." He wandered away toward the bathroom, and Cissie got up to strip the sheets from the bed. His side of the bed was soaked.

  Cissie waited for him in the dark, wondering how often he had dreams like this. She had a feeling he was used to them, though why she thought that, she wasn't sure. Maybe it was the way he automatically showered.

  When he came back from his shower, he slipped into bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark. Cissie moved closer to him, her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

  "About what?" he asked. There was no way he'd talk about his dreams with Cissie. She would leave him, just like Tanya had.