He continued, “See the Good Lord knew you needed physical attention as well as spiritual attention and that’s why He sent me. I can take care of both your needs.” Ralph gently kissed her cheek. “The good Lord provides.”
Ralph continued, “I know what’s best for you, you sweet woman. You’re a beautiful woman Phyllis Hatfield. You’re gorgeous and I appreciate you sharing your beauty with me.”
“My, my Reverend but you do know how to sweet talk a girl. I think I need a little nourishment to help keep my energy level up. How about you?”
“Splendid idea. I brought supplies earlier today. There’s some cold cuts, some cheese and a couple bottles of wine.”
“Great. After all that counseling, I’m famished.”
* * *
Jason dropped to his knees beside Mayor Hatfield. Quickly he began to pound on Dean’s chest.
“Oh, wake up darling, wake up. Don’t leave me.” The water from the shower filled his mouth and mingled with his tears. Reaching up Jason turned off the lever and continued pounding on Dean’s chest. Finally, realizing Dean was already gone, Jason sat back on his heels and sobbed. His body shook with raw emotion.
What am I gonna do now, Dean? What am I gonna do without you?
Jason sat for a long time, his back propped against the shower wall, his head supported in his hands. Eventually, he noticed he was cold and his teeth were chattering.
“Dean, I have to go now. I can’t stay here with you love. There would be such a scandal. I don’t want your sweet memory poisoned with a scandal, Dean. I have to go. Tell me to go, Dean. Tell me to go. I can’t do this by myself.” At that moment the thought “room service” popped into his mind.
“Oh my God, Dean, that’s right. You ordered room service. They’ll be here any minute. Thank you, Dean, thank you. I understand. I love you sweetheart. Rest in peace.”
Jason leaned down and kissed Dean on the lips before standing up and grabbing a towel to dry himself off. Hastily throwing on his clothes, he looked around the suite to be sure he had not left anything behind which would suggest anyone else had been in the room except Mayor Hatfield. Then he hurried towards the door. At that moment the door buzzer rang.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Morning came early for Claire. She opened her eyes to see Jack propped on his elbow watching her. A warm sensation crept through her.
“Mornin’ sleeping beauty.”
“Is it morning already?” she asked. He felt warm lying beside her, and his warmth was as comforting as his scent. A physical need sprang to life inside her and she wanted him in a way that frightened her. She had to stop having those feelings.
“Afraid so, but we could stay here and cuddle forever if you want.”
“I’m afraid cuddling isn’t on today’s agenda. You seem to forget that I’m engaged. And for that matter, so are you!” she replied pulling the covers tighter around her neck as if doing so would keep not only Jack out but also the unwanted emotions that flooded through her.
“We could pretend.”
“Pretend? Pretend we aren’t engaged to other people?”
Claire fought with her own emotions.
Wicked. I’ve turned into a Jezebel! I’m in bed with another man! What in the world would Ralph think! Think of Ralph. Try harder and think only of Ralph.
“If that means we can stay under the covers awhile longer,” said Jack.
“And what would Priscilla think about that?” Oh but I want to stay here. It’s warm. It feels so nice. And he smells so good. I don’t want to move. I don’t want this to end. Not just yet. Ralph, help me.
“She trusts me.”
“Well, obviously she shouldn’t.” And Ralph trusts me. I’m trying Ralph, I really am. Why do I feel this way? God, Ralph, you never told me it could feel like this.
“Now don’t go and get your panties all in a bunch. I meant for warmth. It’s cold out from under these covers and we could cuddle for warmth.” He smiled that sexy mischievous little boy smile.
Claire could see the danger in his eyes. Run girl, run as fast and far as you can.
He did have a point though, the cabin was cold.
“Okay, the cabin is cold. Maybe for just a minute more. But only until the room gets warm.”
“I’ll start a fire but it’ll take a little bit to get the place warmed up again.”
Claire snuggled farther down into the soft, warm down comforter. She liked sleeping in a cold room with warm covers pulled up to her chin.
A few minutes later Jack returned and jumped back into bed. He tangled his feet with Claire’s.
“Your feet are like a block of ice, get them off me!”
“No, get them warm, get me warm,” he said.
Oh, mercy, I’m such a slut! Ralph help me, damn it. Where are you when I really need you!
“Go sit in front of the fireplace.”
“Now that’s no way to talk to the man who just saved your life.”
“Saved my life! Get a grip.”
“Now, if I hadn’t started a fire, you could have frozen to death.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” She grinned. “Alright, I guess there’s no harm in you scrunching up to me until the house gets warm enough for us to get up.”
“Deal.”
Jack scooted his body as close to Claire’s backside as he could get and draped his arm over her waist. She could feel his hot breath on her neck. It sent tingles down her spine. Her skin flushed and her lower region grew warm. She wondered if he felt the extra heat.
She could smell his musky male scent. It stirred a primal instinct deep down inside and she found herself with thoughts of wanting to feel him inside her. It was strange that she’d really never had those thoughts about Ralph. There was just something about Jack that made her feel things. Naughty things.
She wasn’t sure what it was but whatever it was it seemed to make her feel more alive. Everything seemed more alive with Jack. Jack nuzzled against her neck. A ringing of a cell phone jarred her back to reality.
“Jack! Stop that. I’ve got to answer my cell.”
“Yeah, just tell Ralphie boy you’re busy,” Jack whispered as he nuzzled at her ear.
“Now stop that!” Claire said pushing him away. Actually I don’t want you to stop that, it feels too good. Oh my God, what am I thinking? Stop that. Ralph, think about Ralph. She pushed again. “I’ve got to get this call.”
“Great. I’ll go put on a pot of coffee then.”
Once Jack was out of the room, Claire flipped open her phone.
“Hello.”
“Claire, Claire, is that you?” Ralph paced the floor of the bedroom of his own cabin while Phyllis took a hot shower.
“Yes, Ralph, it’s me.”
“Where are you? What happened? You didn’t meet me yesterday. Are you alright?”
“Slow down, Ralph. I’m just fine. I’m snowed in with my friend and I couldn’t get there.” She didn’t want to have this conversation.
“Well, why didn’t you call to let me know? I’ve been so worried!”
“There’s no phone service here and my cell phone only works some of the time. I guess the cell tower isn’t very close or something. Anyway, I’m fine.” She looked around the room.
“What kind of a place is that? No phone service.”
“It’s a little bit outside of town and like I said there aren’t any cell towers close by and the weather’s bad, too. Don’t worry though, I’m okay.”
Phyllis took that moment to walk out of the shower.
“Hey Big Boy,” she called out, as she walked out into the bedroom.
Ralph, standing in his bedroom naked except for the ass chaps Phyllis had worn the evening before, motioned for her to kneel down in front of him. He then placed his already hard penis into her mouth. Phyllis began sucking and caressing it with her tongue.
“Ralph, I hear a voice. Is there someone there? Do I need to let you go?” asked Claire.
“Now Claire dea
r, who on earth would be here with me at this time of the morning? It’s just the television my dear.”
Watching as Phyllis continued her loving labors over his penis, he rubbed at the top of her head. Not able to stand still, he shoved it into her mouth and moaned slightly.
“Ralph, I do have a slight problem.”
“What’s that darling?” he asked as he thrust his hips forward shoving his hard cock deep into Phyllis’ hot mouth.
“I won’t be able to make the wedding on Saturday.”
There was silence on Ralph’s end of the line.
Dead silence.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Claire checked her phone and the signal was gone.
“Well, ain’t that just ducky.” Claire said out loud.
Jack walked back in with two cups of coffee. Claire laid her cell phone on the bedside table.
“Ol’ Ralphie boy not taking the news too well?”
“I don’t know. I told him I wouldn’t be able to make the wedding on Saturday and the phone went dead.”
Claire felt a tidal wave of guilt pour over her. She didn’t know if the guilt was because she was missing the wedding or because she was the tiniest bit glad she was missing the wedding.
“Well, guess you’ll find out later how he took the news.”
“He shouldn’t mind too much.” He’s certainly postponed it enough times.
“Here. Here’s a nice warm cup of coffee. That’ll wake you up and make you feel better, too.”
“Thank you. I’ve never had anyone bring me coffee in bed before.”
“Well, glad I was your first. Prop your pillow up and scoot back so you don’t spill this on yourself.”
Claire scooted herself back, adjusted her pillow and gratefully took the cup and felt its warmth on her hands.
“Hold on now while I get back in bed.” Jack eased himself down on the bed and covered his legs with the comforter. “Now this is the life,” he said as he sipped from his steaming hot coffee.
“Yeah, it is kinda nice.” Claire took a sip from her cup.
“Did you ever think you’d be sitting in bed having coffee with a guy you didn’t know?”
“Well, it had crossed my mind once or twice. You know, it’s just one of those things that grabs your brain and says what if you get drunk, through no fault of your own, mind you, and you wind up in some strange guy’s cabin having coffee in bed with him. And to top it all off, just three days before your wedding to another guy. Yeah, that was right up there in my fantasies, let me tell ya.” Claire glanced sideways at Jack with a ‘Give me a break!’ frown on her face.
“It was on the top of my to-do list, too.” Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “So what would you like to do today?”
“I have a choice?”
“Sure. Let’s see, there’s snow shoveling, or snow shoveling or we could shovel some snow. Then we could go snow shoveling and later on, we could do some snow shoveling.”
“Well, just great. It’s frickin’ cold outside and you want to shovel snow.”
“You know, for a preacher’s intended, you sure do use some questionable language.”
“I do not.”
“I don’t know of too many preachers’ wives that use the word frickin’.”
“Oh gawd, did I say that again? Sometimes I think maybe I’m just not as goody a goody-two-shoes as I’m supposed to be.”
“Yeah, Ralphie boy may just have to rethink this virgin bride thing of his. After all, you’ve already slept with another man.”
“I only slept with you! We didn’t have sex.” Claire felt a blush creep up her face. She only hoped her face wasn’t as flushed as she felt.
“Oh yeah, right. I just forgot. I’ll try to remember that when I meet Ralphie.” Jack grinned all the way up to his eyes.
“You are such a, such a …”
“Fantastic lover!” Jack supplied.
“Absolutely not. Cut it out.” Claire roughly ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation.
“Okay, okay. Truce. You finish your coffee. I’ll take a quick shower and then while I start breakfast, you can take a shower and get dressed. Oh, but you don’t have to get dressed on account of me,” Jack said as he quickly threw the covers back and jumped out of Claire’s reach.
“Yeah, you better move, boy!”
“Watch who you’re calling boy,” said Jack glancing back over his shoulder as he walked into the bathroom.
Yeah, I’ve already seen the package you carry around and there’s nothing ‘boy’ about that! Oh my gawd, Claire Marie, stop that!
* * *
Claire finished her shower, dried her hair and dressed. She walked out into the living area just as Jack was placing glasses of orange juice on the breakfast counter.
“Breakfast’s ready, m’lady,” said Jack as he bowed at the waist.
“Well, aren’t you the best! Coffee in bed, breakfast on the table. What else do you do?”
Claire caught the twinkle in Jack’s eyes.
“I withdraw that question, your Honor.”
Jack held the stool for her as she sat. He leaned over just enough to catch the scent of her hair before walking back around to his stool.
“Since we’re stuck here, what’s really on the agenda for today?” Claire asked.
“Ever been skiing?”
“No,” she replied shaking her head.
“Snowshoeing?”
“Nope.”
“Sledding?”
“No, Ralph’s just not the outdoorsy type.”
“Prissy isn’t the …” Jack stopped in mid-sentence as Claire began laughing. “What’s so funny?”
Claire laughed harder as tears began to slide from the corner of her eyes.
“Nothing really. It’s just the Prissy thing. I’d hate to be called Prissy.”
“Me, too,” Jack laughed, “but she seems to like it. It fits.” Jack reached over and with his thumb gently wiped a tear from the corner of Claire’s eye. He could hear the quick intake of Claire’s breath. Or was it his own? Her skin was so soft and silky. If women only knew the power their softness possessed.
“Anyway, Priscilla, was going to come and spend a weekend here when we first met until she learned we’d be sort of roughing it in the wilderness.”
“I don’t call this roughing it. This is like living at home. Just a slight minor inconvenience with no electricity this morning but that happens at home, too.”
“Yeah. But a generator comes in handy around here more times than she’d like.”
“I see.”
“Her biggest complaint is no shopping.”
“Ah-h-h.”
“I swear that girl has more shoes than Imelda Marcos! I think she had something like over three thousand pair and I’ll bet Prissy has more.”
“Well, when you’re the prime minister’s wife I guess you can afford them.” Claire laughed. “This really is a beautiful place. And where on earth did you find this beautiful wooden rose?” Claire asked as she fingered the rose in its wooden vase which sat on the counter. “It looks almost hand-carved.”
“It is hand-carved out of Hem-Fir.”
“What is that?”
“It’s a cross between Western Hemlock and Fir. That’s what gives it that lavender cast.”
“It’s the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you. That’s my creation. I carved it myself.”
“Oh my gosh, Jack, that’s incredible. The detail is just astounding.”
“Thank you. I carved it when I was a kid. Must’ve been about seven or eight, I think.”
“Oh my goodness. What else have you carved?” Claire asked as she looked around.
“That was it. Did you know lavender roses mean love at first sight?”
“I had no idea.”
“I’d just seen the movie about the glass slipper. You know the one. My nanny had taken me to see it and she had this notion about falling in love with somebody the
first moment you laid eyes on them. I think she was just trying to show me that some people really did experience it. From that very first moment of meeting someone they just knew they were meant to be together.”
“So, did she convince you?”
“At first. That’s why I carved the rose. I was going to give it to the girl I fell in love with at first sight.”
“But you still have it.”
“I never found her,” he looked away.
“So you’re settling.”
“Aren’t you?”
CHAPTER NINE
The Reverend Ralph Waldo Wolfe kissed Phyllis Hatfield on the cheek, patted her bottom, and scooted her out the door. He waited until he heard the engine from her automobile spring to life.
Walking over to his bedroom wall, the one with the picture of the naked lady hanging in the center looking directly at the bed, he pushed on the wall. It swung open and he walked inside. He hurried inside to his computer and downloaded the night’s entertainment onto a DVD.
Picking up a permanent marker, he labeled it “The Mayor’s Boobs”. Placing it in a case, he filed it away beside the one marked “The Principal’s Whip”. Later he would make still photos to add to his photo albums.
Closing the wall, he took a quick look around to be sure Phyllis had not accidentally or on purpose left anything behind that would get noticed by his next lady in distress.
It would be nightfall before the Sheriff’s wife arrived. Sometimes he felt a slight pang of guilt over servicing the Sheriff’s wife. Mary McCoy was quiet, shy and lonely. And, she had been a challenge. Most of the women Ralph ‘anointed’ flung themselves at him. They were the easy ones. But Mary was different. Or was it just that he was different with Mary.
He liked Mary. Actually liked her. Mary was intelligent, fun to talk to and fun to be with. If it wasn’t for the fact she was married to his half-brother, Matt, he would marry her instead of Claire.
He still had trouble at times getting her to meet him but he just had to be with her. She wasn’t like the rest of them. She was in his blood. He couldn’t give her up. He couldn’t quite figure out what to do about Mary.
The Wrong Wedding Page 6