The Wrong Wedding

by Maggie Rivers

  CHAPTER THREE

  Jack’s eyes widened. “He’s a what?”

  “A minister, you know, like a reverend, a preacher.”

  “Yeah, I know the term. It’s just that you definitely don’t look like a preacher’s wife.”

  “What’s wrong with the way I look?” Claire felt her insecurities fly to the surface. “And just what are preachers’ wives supposed to look like?”

  Jack hesitated a moment before answering. This question definitely had ‘foot in mouth’ potential.

  “Nothing’s wrong with the way you look. I like the way you look. It’s just that . . .,” Jack ran his hand through his hair, “well, preachers’ wives are supposed to be kind of, uh, well, kind of frumpy.”

  “Frumpy?” Claire looked down at her clothing. “What the heck is frumpy supposed to mean?”

  “You know, a little too much, uh, well, pleasingly plump, with their hair in a knot on top of their heads. That kind of look.”

  Claire’s hand pushed her long chestnut curls back from her eyes.

  “Like a grandma, in other words,” she replied.

  “Yeah, that’s the look.”

  “Well, sorry I don’t look the part of Moses’ wife but I’m marrying Ralph on Saturday, frumpy or not.”

  “What a waste!” Jack flashed a smile at her.

  Something inside Claire stirred. An odd sensation shot straight from her breasts to her sexual center. Jack’s smile was doing that to her.

  She didn’t like it one bit either. How dare he make her feel those naughty sensations! And why was she allowing him to do that to her?

  Ralph never caused such stirrings. She controlled herself with Ralph – or did she? Had she ever had that type of feeling with Ralph? Not that she could remember.

  Why did Jack make her feel sexy and sensual while Ralph made her feel, well, feel just as Jack had said, frumpy?

  That was a question she would have to think on later.

  Claire sighed. “What do we do now? I can’t just sit here. I have to do something.”

  “How about some breakfast? I’m a great cook if I do say so myself.” Jack stood up and headed for the kitchen.

  “I meant what do we do about getting out of here?” Claire motioned around the room.

  “Honey, there’s not a thing we can do about getting out of here until the roads get plowed. That’s probably not going to happen for a day or two at least. Maybe even three or four. Just depends on when the road crew can get here. If my neighbor is driving the plow then he’ll plow out my driveway, too. Otherwise, all we can do is wait it out. I’m fixin’ breakfast, do you want some?”

  Reluctantly, Claire nodded her head in agreement.

  “I am a little hungry,” Claire rose from her seat. “I suppose I should call Ralph and try to explain.”

  “You can use the bedroom for some privacy if you want and I’ll start breakfast.”

  “Okay.”

  Claire trudged to the bedroom carrying an extra hundred pounds of weight on her shoulders.

  How am I ever going to explain this to Ralph? Stuck in a cabin with another man. Naked, in bed with another man! And Jack Wakefield, the Third no less!

  Tears formed in her eyes. She felt her lower lip beginning to quiver as she sat down on the side of the bed she had shared with Jack. Did she have sex with him last night?

  Again that sensation prickled the nerve endings throughout her body. Sex with Jack. Not an unpleasant thought.

  Without thinking, Claire began to run her hand over the sheets where he had slept. Picking up his pillow, Claire snuggled it against her face, catching his musky scent.

  She jolted as she came to her senses and realized what she was doing. Quickly, she tossed the pillow down and jumped up from the bed.

  Damn it, damn it!

  She wiped her hand on her sweater, trying to get the feeling off her fingers. Flipping open her phone she dialed Ralph’s number and hit the send button. Nothing happened.

  No signal. Well isn’t this just great.

  She walked around the room trying to get a tower signal for her cell phone but there wasn’t one. Her mind raced to thoughts of Ralph.

  What am I going to tell him? How do I explain this mess? If I slept with Jack last night, Ralph is going to call off the wedding for sure.

  Tears welled up in her eyes and began to stream down her face. What a fine mess she had gotten herself into.

  After a few moments, Claire regained some of her composure and walked back toward the kitchen still watching her signal indicator. Still nothing.

  “I can’t get a signal.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. We’re pretty far from a cell tower.” Jack laid strips of bacon in the frying pan. “Sometimes it’s hard to get enough of a signal to call out. You’ll get through eventually. Just keep trying every once in a while.”

  “Well this is a fine mess!” Claire looked around the room.” Where’s your land phone?”

  “Don’t have one.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t want to be bothered. I like the peace and quiet up here.” Retrieving a bowl from the cupboard, Jack cracked the eggs into it.

  “Oh God, Ralph will be furious with me.”

  The scent of bacon sizzling in the pan began to fill the air.

  “Ralphie boy seems a tad bit possessive to me.”

  “No, he just likes to know I’m safe. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “You known him long?” Jack broke the eggs into the frying pan.

  “All our lives. He was the boy next door.”

  “So how long you been engaged?”

  “All our lives, I guess. But officially seven years.”

  “Wow, you really believe in long engagements.”

  “Yeah, seems that way, doesn’t it.” Claire thought for a moment. It wasn’t as if she really cared how long they were engaged. Marriage was a final step and something you really needed to be sure would last. It was good they waited.

  Jack stirred the eggs.

  Claire noticed him watching her out of the corner of his eye as she seated herself at the breakfast bar.

  There came those feelings again. She had to stop them.

  “Ralph had to finish seminary first. What about you?”

  “Met Priscilla a year and a half ago and decided to get married.”

  “Just like that,” Claire asked, watching the easy way he moved around the kitchen.

  “Yep, just like that.”

  “She the girl of your dreams?”

  “Don’t allow any girls in my dreams. Here you go, breakfast’s served.” He placed the plates of food on the counter in front of her. “Bacon, eggs, toast. You want coffee, milk or orange juice?”

  “Orange juice sounds great and this looks wonderful,” she said, smiling as she picked up her silverware.

  “Orange juice coming right up.” Jack took two glasses from the cupboard and poured.

  After breakfast, Claire stood up, picked up her plate and began to clear the dishes.

  “If you don’t mind finishing up in here,” said Jack, “I’ll get started on making a path to the wood pile so we can at least have a fire until the plows get here.”

  “There’s no furnace?” Claire asked, surprise registering in her voice.

  “Now a furnace would be way too easy. Besides, there’s nothing like a roaring fire on a cold winter’s night.”

  “If you say so,” said Claire as she put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher.

  Jack disappeared into the bedroom. Minutes later he returned dressed in winter jeans, boots and heavy coat.

  “Okay maw, I’m gonna go kill me a barr!”

  Claire laughed. “You look like a bear in that get up!”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll smell like one when I come back in.”

  Jack headed outside and began to dig the snow away from the cabin door.

  Claire finished her cleaning and put a couple more logs on the fire before
walking over to the window to see if she could spot Jack.

  Jack shoveled for an hour before returning inside to warm up. Claire was dressed and ready to pick up shoveling where he had left off.

  Standing inside at the window drinking a cup of hot chocolate Claire had made, Jack watched as she took her turn using the one snow shovel to continue digging the pathway to the woodpile.

  Try as he might, he could not convince her to stay in and let him do all the shoveling. She was a real trooper. Definitely not the Prissy type.

  Prissy would have fainted at the sight of her own sweat. He felt a surge of testosterone overload as he watched Claire’s backside each time she bent over to scoop a shovel full of snow.

  Jack couldn’t stand it any longer. Quietly, so as not to disturb her, he opened the cabin door and snuck outside. The air was crisp and steam rose from his nostrils as he breathed. Silently, he picked up snow from around his feet and quickly crunched it into large snowballs.

  Claire was continuing to shovel, seemingly oblivious to what was taking place behind her.

  Jack formed snowball after snowball until he had a stash of them.

  Then he dug a hole in the snow just deep enough to hide behind before picking up one of the snowballs.

  Quietly he waited for Claire to bend over again. The moment she did, he let the snowball fly straight for her oh-so-sexy derriere.

  The snowball hit its target with a plop.

  Claire screamed, dropped the shovel and grabbed her butt cheek. Whirling around, she saw Jack standing, snowball in hand, ready to fire another round.

  A smile stretched across his face.

  “Oh, you wouldn’t!” she exclaimed.

  “Oh, wouldn’t I?” Jack replied as he again let the snowball go.

  Claire dodged. Grabbing a handful of snow, she formed a quick snowball and let it fly. Catching Jack off guard as he bent down to grab another one, Claire’s snowball smashed against the top of his head.

  “Ouch, woman, that hurt!” Jack popped back up holding his head with one hand and letting another snowball fly with the other.

  Claire dodged again. This time she let go with two snowballs, one from each hand. One missed him completely; the other looked as if it caught him in the family jewels. Jack fell to the ground, groaning in feigned pain. Claire’s hand covered her mouth in disbelief.

  “Oh Jack.” Claire rushed over to him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, ah, I didn’t, I’m so--”

  Jack grabbed her by the legs and pulled her off balance causing her to fall backwards into the snow. Within seconds Jack was astride her, grabbing snow and smashing it into her face. Claire flung her arms wildly as her laughter came in sobs, her face flinging from side to side.

  “I’ll make you pay.” Jack laughed, grabbing her hands and holding them above her head with one hand. Grabbing a handful of snow, he shoved it down inside the front of her coat and underneath the neck of her sweater.

  “Oh, Jack,” she gasped, “that’s c-c-cold! Oh, stop, please stop!”

  “Not until you say I’m a Monkey’s Uncle.”

  “What?” A confused look crossed her face.

  Jack picked up another handful of snow.

  “No, Jack, don’t you dare!” she flailed her legs and tried to roll him off.

  “Say it then.”

  “Say what?” she asked quizzically as though she’d never played the childhood game.

  Jack reached down to the top of her jeans and shoved the snow as far down as he could reach. Claire squirmed and wiggled as hard as she could, trying to get away but Jack held her tight.

  “Okay, okay, you’re a monkey’s uncle!” Claire screamed as she laughed.

  “That won’t do.” Jack laughed maniacally as he picked up another handful of snow. “Now where do I put this?” Jack’s eyes traveled over Claire’s body. “Say it or I’ll find some place delicious to rub this into.” Jack wriggled his eyebrows in Groucho Marx style.

  “I give, I give, let me up, Jack, let me up.”

  “Not until you say I’m a monkey’s uncle.”

  “Never,” she screamed kicking her feet and trying to buck him off.

  “Nope, you’re in for it now.”

  “Enough, enough, I’m freezing!”

  He took the handful of snow and shoving it up underneath her coat and sweater, he rubbed it all over her belly.

  “There, that ought to cool you down a bit.”

  “Jack, that’s cold! Let me up, let me up! I’m freezing, please Jack!”

  “You know the password.” He grinned.

  “Okay, okay, I’m a monkey’s uncle. Now let me up! I’m freezing, please,” she begged still laughing.

  Jack’s eyes met Claire’s. A jolt of lustful desire shot through him as he sat straddling her hips. Her lips, a deep candy apple red from the cold and exertion, looked so delicious. He wanted a small taste, and without thinking he bent and placed his lips gently against hers.

  Jack could feel his arousal and wanted to feel it inside her. Stretching his legs out, he lay atop her. He knew she could feel his hardness.

  As he pressed into her, Claire groaned. Deepening his kiss, Jack slipped his tongue inside her hot, moist mouth. It took him to the brink of lustful insanity.

  He couldn’t think. He only knew he wanted her. Right there, right then.

  Claire’s pulse quickened and beat rapidly in her ears. All she could feel at that moment was the weight of Jack on top of her – and he felt as though he belonged there. She felt excitement. She felt danger.

  A trickle of melted snow traveled down between her legs. It didn’t matter. She wanted what Jack was doing to her. She shouldn’t be kissing him but she wanted more and it filled her with a mixture of excitement and a quiver of fear at the same time. An angel sat on one shoulder while a devil sat on the other playing with her emotions.

  Only three days from marrying Ralph and she was already cheating on him, kissing another man. She was a true brazen hussy!

  But it felt so good. Jack’s lips were so soft and warm and his body felt delicious against hers. She liked the sensation. She had never felt this way with Ralph.

  But she shouldn’t be feeling this way with Jack either. Ralph should be lying on top of her making her feel like this. Ralph had never even come close to making her feel such wonderful sensations. Just where was Ralph when she really needed him?

  Ralph! She had to get hold of herself before this went too far. She tried to raise her hands to push Jack away, but they didn’t seem to want to cooperate with her. Maybe just one minute more. His tongue darted inside her mouth and danced with hers.

  This was heaven. Heaven, oh my Lord, Ralph, Ralph I’ve got to stop this! She lifted her hands and pushed at Jack’s chest.

  Jack reluctantly lifted his head. He slid off Claire and pulled her to her feet. He carefully brushed the snow off her clothes. Reaching her derriere, he paused.

  If I grab it, she’s gonna be pissed. If I don’t grab it, I’ll regret it.

  And with that thought, he grabbed a handful of her cute little butt cheeks and squeezed hard.

  “Nice butt,” he said.

  Claire shrieked. Jack dodged around her and took off running back down the shoveled path toward the cabin with Claire in hot pursuit, both laughing uncontrollably.

  Reaching the cabin door first, Jack waited for Claire then held it open for her.

  “After you, Ms. Frumpy.”

  “Frumpy, I am not,” she said as she pushed passed him.

  “That’s the first thing we’ve agreed on!”

  * * *

  After they’d showered and changed into dry clothes, Claire settled into an overstuffed armchair.

  “Well, don’t you look all cozy there.”

  “Thanks for the clothes. They don’t exactly fit but …”

  “Looks kind of like you could make two pair of pants out of those.”

  “Yeah, they are a little long. But they’ll do.”

  She settle
d back in the armchair and watched while Jack threw more wood onto the fire.

  “Listen, Claire, I’m sorry about …” He placed another log on the fire.

  “Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

  “Good, that’s fine with me.” Jack felt a twinge of something but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

  Jack seemed a natural in the rustic surroundings of his cabin. He built a fire this morning with the wood already in the house and once they uncovered the woodshed door, he restocked the wood box next to the fireplace.

  But she had trudged back and forth right along with him carrying as much wood as she could hold and still keep herself upright. Now she watched the muscles underneath Jack’s shirt ripple as he added a few more logs on the fire.

  “You’ve done this before.”

  Jack, in his squatted position, turned slightly towards Claire, “You mean put logs on a fire or kiss a girl in the snow?”

  “You’re supposed to forget that part, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he grinned. “Guess I had a momentary lapse of memory there.”

  “See that it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I meant this whole cabin thing, in the wilderness – you know, ‘lions and tigers and bears, oh my,’ kinda thing.”

  “I’ve camped out a few times in my life,” said Jack. “When I first bought this land years ago, I camped out on this very spot in a tent. Did that until I got tired of trying to sleep in tents where my feet hung out the door. I was camping out one summer and had a bear stroll into my campsite to check things out.”

  Claire watched Jack’s eyes light up as he talked.

  “The darn thing tore through everything. Even stuck its head inside my tent. I was still sleeping. When it stuck its head inside, I thought it was somebody and sat up. I think I scared it just about as bad as it scared me.”

  “Oh my goodness! What happened?”

  “I guess I startled it so bad it turned and took off. I packed up and left, too. Wasn’t going to hang around to see if it returned. After that I decided to build this cabin instead.”

  The fire blazed and Claire could feel the heat settling into her bones.

  “How long did it take the contractors to get it built?” Claire asked.

  “No contractors. Just me.”