Chapter Five

OUR PREDICAMENT

 

I COULD ALMOST HEAR THE snare drum in my head beating a march like we were walking to the gallows, its beat picking up in pace as my hand reached out to slide my key into the slot.

My heart stopped as the door flung open, my mother standing there with wide eyes, worry etched into her features.

“There you are! Thank God!” She pulled me in for a hug, then stepped back to let us in. “I tried to call, but it went to voicemail. I didn’t think you’d be out all night.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

She glanced at Weston and looked to me, her worry melting away.

“Did you two have fun?” she asked with a smile and a wink.

I wanted to facepalm myself from her one-eighty change in reaction. My mom was actually hoping I had sex with him? I hoped that wasn’t it.

“I’m surprised to see you, Weston,” she said, smiling at him. “Well, hurry up. Checkout is in two hours, and I want to get another few minutes in at the casino before we head out.”

“Actually, Karen, we have something to tell you before that,” Weston started before announcing, “We got married last night.”

The smile fell from her face, and she looked at us with eyes what were almost bugging out of her head.

“Don’t worry, Mom, we’re going to get an annulment,” I said hurriedly.

“Why?” my mother asked. Her brow was scrunched, and she seemed genuinely confused.

What the hell?!

Only my mother. Rational people knew why.

Weston stepped forward. “Because, this was a mistake. We just drank too much champagne. She’s only eighteen, Karen.”

“So. You’re married now. Why not give it a try?” Her tone implying it was the most obvious answer.

I couldn’t even form words. Be married, become a wife, to a stranger?

Weston stared at her, his jaw slack, his brain unable to comprehend my mother’s words. “She’s eighteen and still in high school! We live in different states.”

Mom put her hand on her hip. “Weston, do you like her?”

He held up his hands to stop her. “That’s irrelevant.”

She quirked her brow at him. “Just answer, please.”

Weston’s eyes widened. “Well . . . yes.”

“Good. She’ll go home with you, and I’ll send her things.”

“What?” Weston and I cried at the same time.

“Mom?” Tears stung my eyes as I stared at her, my chest tightening. Was she trying to get rid of me?

“Oh, Wren, sweetheart,” she said and wrapped her arms around me.

“Why?” I asked softly, my voice quivering.

“I see your why and raise you a how. How do you two know this wasn’t meant to be? Maybe this was destiny hitting you both over the head,” she said, then turned to Weston. “Is that really your only concern, Weston, her age?”

“I . . . ummm . . . she’s in her senior year.”

“It’s only the fall semester. She can easily enroll in classes where you live.” She looked between us, then let out a sigh. “Look, Weston, there must have been something about her that interested you, otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked her to marry you. You bought a ring and said ‘I do.’”

“I meant it.”

I snapped up to stare at him. Meant it?

There was a knot in my chest. We were both a bit hungover, but that’s not what I saw in his eyes.

“It was a drunken mistake.” Wasn’t it? We were practically strangers with an attraction. Nothing more, right?

“It doesn’t matter how much you had to drink, that was what you did. Drinking is not an excuse to wipe everything away in the morning.”

Mom and her lessons—drinking doesn’t absolve actions. Though, the situation was a little extreme for a lesson, in my view.

“This . . . Mom, I’ve known him for two days.” Did she really want me to go with an unknown man?

“You two are married. Deal with it.”

“Mom!” I cried, choking back the tears I felt pricking my eyes. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Weston and I had decided to wipe the slate clean, and here my mother was trying to push us back together.

“Oh, no. You said ‘I do,’ young lady. You’re the same age I was when I married your father. These things happen for a reason. You have a connection, explore it. Don’t end this, because you can’t have a re-do. You’ll be left with ‘what ifs.’”

“Weston?” my voice beseeched him, but achingly, while his expression remained deep in thought.

He rubbed his hands across his face.

“You do realize I’m closer to your age than hers.”

“As much as I realize she is closer to your maturity level than I’ll ever be. Physical age isn’t always relevant. Age is just a number. Wren will always be more mature than me. Much more responsible.”

Why did it suddenly feel like ancient times and I was just traded for two sheep?

A drunken conversation flooded back to me.

“You!” I shrieked, my heart pounding in my chest. “You’re the one who bet we could stay married longer than my parents!”

He grimaced and actually hung his head.

Was that it? Just a bet?

I sunk down to sit on the edge of the bed, my arms wrapped around my waist. My stomach dropped.

“I’m not a gamble.” The words that came were soft and as filled with crushed emotions as I felt.

His eyes widened in disbelief before he stepped forward and crouched down in front of me. Reaching out, he took my hands in his. “I didn’t propose because I thought you were a gamble . . . well, not in that sense.”

“Was it a sense of pride? To see if you could get the girl to say ‘yes’?” My anger rose again, and I pulled away from him. “Did you bet with yourself?”

I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but it hurt, in an unbelievable way, to even think that was all the previous night was about.

“Of course not!” he yelled. “I asked you to marry me because I wanted you to marry me!”

My mom lit up, her smile taking up most of her face, while I just stared at him, guilt flooding in that I was getting so upset.

“See!” Mom stood and clapped her hands together. “Oh, this is so exciting!”

Moving to the closet, she pulled out her suitcase to begin packing up, leaving Weston and me there, wondering how our lives were just flipped upside down in five minutes.

“Are you sure?” I asked as I looked up at Weston.

Weston tentatively placed his hands on my knees. “Wren, I’m not going to force you to do anything, but I want to try.”

I swallowed hard and stared into his eyes, somewhat hoping they held all the answers. My stomach turned with the fear of what was about to happen. Going home with Weston, remaining his wife. We were married.

I was married to a man I didn’t even know. People didn’t get married to strangers, at least not in modern day society.

Were we to return to his home, where he would bed me and hang the sheet out the window to prove my innocence and that I was his property?

My innocence . . . crap. I hadn’t told him yet, not that we really had reached that conversation anyway. He didn’t know I was untouched goods, that I remained intact. I’d fooled around with guys, sure, but it had never gone that far. Now, I was going to be shacked up with an older man who was sure to be much more oriented in that area, and might very well be expecting me to be as well once we were alone.

“Are you okay?” Weston asked, shaking me from my inner turmoil.

“I think I was just sold to you for two sheep,” I replied with a sigh.

He tried not to laugh, but a chuckle came out anyway.

“You’ll need this back, Mrs. Lockwood,” he said with a smile. It was shy, but full of joy. He pulled the ring out from his pocket. “Not quite two sheep. Actually, quite a bit more.”

He took my hand in his, much like I was certain he did the night before, and slid the ring onto my finger.

Weston left a moment later to give us time to talk and pack, but we agreed to meet up at eleven in the lobby.

“Mom, are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked once he was gone.

My nerves were shot, and I wasn’t sure I could leave. Could I really go with a stranger, to a strange place, thousands of miles away from the only home I’ve ever known? Leave everything behind from my life?

Just thinking about it put me on the edge of a panic attack.

“Yes and no. If you had come to me and said you wanted to get married, I would have tried to talk you out of it. But this spur of the moment behavior is so unlike you that I have to believe it’s fate!” Her face lit up again as she spoke.

“But I don’t even know him!” A tear leaked out and slid down my cheek.

“Oh, baby. You’ll get to know him. I see the spark between you two.”

“I can’t believe we let you talk us into this.” I shook my head as another tear trickled slowly down my cheek.

Her arms wrapped around me and hugged me tight. “Wren, it was only too easy, because you both want it. If you didn’t, you’d be coming home with me. Give it a try, an honest try, and if things don’t work out, you can be on the first flight back to Indianapolis. You’ll always have a home with me. Please know that, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” I was shaking with fear, scared out of my mind of the unknown.

Pulling back, I looked into my mother’s pretty face. She saw the tears running down my cheeks and smiled softly before wiping them away with a gentle brush of her fingers like she always did.

Leaving my mom, my school, my friends, and my home. It was all too much.

“Aw, honey, it will be okay, you’ll see. Just remember, I love you.”

I packed up my suitcase and backpack after taking a much-needed, calming shower, and we headed down to the lobby to meet my . . . husband. Weston was waiting for us, suitcases in tow, smiling as we approached. I hugged my mother tight, whispering that I loved her and to make sure Mike fed my beta fish.

“Call me for anything,” she said as she cupped my face in her hands. I nodded and gave her a small smile.

We waved goodbye as she headed down to the casino before leaving for home. I could tell she was trying not to cry as she walked away.

We stood there for a moment watching her go, realizing this was it. We were going to his home together, leaving Vegas as husband and wife. What the hell was I going to tell my friends?

“So . . .” He reached out and slid his hand into mine. “Are we ready?”

I turned and smiled up at him as best I could. “As we’ll ever be.”

He linked his fingers with mine as our bags were loaded onto a luggage cart. Pulling me to him, he wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Let’s go home,” he said, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

Leaving the hotel, we headed out to embark on our new life together.