Blossom Street Brides (29 page)

“Katie has her own path to follow.”

“I know, I know … Garry has reminded me of that any number of times.” She rested her hands on top of the display
case and shook her head as though dispelling an image of Katie living so far away. “You wouldn’t believe the house my daughter is expected to make into a home. I wouldn’t let our dog inside there, let alone my daughter. It’s a shack, a tumbled-down old shack. Lauren, you can’t imagine the condition it was in,” Elisa continued. “From what I was told, a foreman who’d worked for the family for years lived there. A bachelor, it seemed. He must have been. I can’t believe a woman would ever let her home deteriorate to the condition the place is in now.”

“It’s outdated?” In her mind, Lauren pictured a small house with faded linoleum floors and checkered curtains hanging over the window by the kitchen sink. Perhaps there was a braided rug or two.

Elisa waved her arms as if to say that wasn’t the half of it. “The appliances are from the 1950s.”

So she wasn’t off by much, Lauren mused, grinning.

“The wallpaper is ghastly. It’s so old and worn I could hardly make out the pattern, and when I did I could barely believe my eyes. It was flamingos, and that was in the living room.”

Lauren’s smile widened despite her determination to remain sympathetic. “I bet Katie wasn’t upset about it, was she?”

“Oh, no. You’d think Dietrich had moved her into a castle. She’s so excited that she couldn’t dig into cleaning it up fast enough. Her father and I refused to let her paint, which is one of the reasons we stayed as long as we did.”

From what she knew, both families had worked hard to make the small house livable for the young couple.

“We did what we could for her,” Elisa murmured, working as she spoke. “I filled up her cupboards with groceries and …” She hesitated, and it seemed as if she was about to break into tears. After a moment, she released what sounded like a pent-up breath and continued. “The thing is, Katie didn’t really want us there. She didn’t come right out and say it, but trust me, I got the message loud and clear.” Tears might not have made it to her eyes, but her voice was full of emotion.

Lauren waited a heartbeat before she said, “As it happens I have a bit of news myself.”

“Oh?” Elisa turned to face Lauren, her look expectant.

In retrospect, Lauren wondered if she had a premonition, a sense of foreboding. All at once she found herself hesitant to mention her marriage to Rooster.

“I’m married,” she announced.

Elisa extended her chin as if to lean closer … as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “You’re
what
?”

“Married,” Lauren said, with forced cheerfulness. It’d been easier telling her family than it was her friend.

“You and Todd?” she asked, frowning.

Lauren shook her head. “No, it’s over with Todd, you know that.”

“Well, yes, but …” Then, as if the realization hit her, Elisa’s eyes grew as round as Italian meatballs. “Rooster? But you barely know him … You mean to say you actually married … Rooster?”

Lauren nodded.

Elisa laughed it off. “This isn’t funny, Lauren. I’m in no mood for a joke.”

“It’s no joke. He showed up unexpectedly in Vegas and—”

Elisa held up her hand, stopping her. “I thought you said he was in New Zealand.”

“That was his original plan, but he flew back early.”

“To marry you?”

“Well, no, that just happened … Neither of us planned it.”

Elisa shook her head as if unable to assimilate what she was hearing. “People don’t accidentally get married, Lauren.”

“No, no, it wasn’t an accident. He showed up in Vegas after you left, and we realized we wanted to be together. Once we came to that conclusion, we couldn’t see any reason to wait. After all, we aren’t teenagers.”

Elisa reacted as if she’d been slapped, taking a step back.

Lauren was quick to apologize. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that.” She hadn’t meant to compare her situation with Elisa’s daughter’s. Katie was a teenager, although technically an adult. Lauren was mature and well over thirty. Rooster, too.

“I was hoping to take a few days off,” Lauren continued, refusing to let her friend’s disapproval influence her feelings for Rooster or the choices they’d made.

“A few days?” Elisa repeated, almost as if she were in a trance.

“Yes. We flew back to Seattle together because I knew you needed me here. I’ve worked all week, waiting for your return. Now Rooster and I would like some time alone before he heads back to California.”

This, too, seemed to shake her friend. “Does this marriage mean you’ll be moving away now?” she asked, clearly concerned she was about to lose Lauren as an employee.

“I … I don’t know yet. We haven’t had much of an opportunity to decide that.”

“You’re actually married?” she asked again, and then, as if she suddenly needed to sit down, Elisa lowered herself onto the stool by the diamond-ring counter. Then, making light of the fact, she emitted a short laugh. “It must be something in the water.”

“It must be,” Lauren said, forcing a smile.

Elisa grew serious once more. “Does Todd know?”

Lauren wasn’t sure how her marriage involved Todd, but she answered anyway. “As it happens, Rooster and I ran into him earlier in the week.”

“So he knows?”

“Yes, we told him.”

“And what did he say?”

It was hard to understand why Elisa remained focused on Todd. This wasn’t a conversation Lauren was especially eager to share. “He was surprised.”

Elisa snickered. “I bet. My guess is he was as shocked as I am.”

That pretty much explained it. Todd, however, being Todd, hadn’t been willing to leave it at that. He accused
Lauren of being so desperate that she’d married the first man who came along after their breakup. On the outside it might look that way, but in her heart, she knew differently. She loved Rooster, and he loved her. They were right for each other. Right together.

“I’ve never met him,” Elisa reminded her.

“I know … we only had that one weekend together before … but remember, we talked every day. He’s a good man, Elisa, and I love him. I know this seems sudden, especially on the heels of Katie and Dietrich, but I feel Rooster was the right choice for me.”

Elisa looked at her as though she didn’t recognize the woman standing in front of her.

“He’s thoughtful and tender,” Lauren continued, wanting to defend Rooster and her decision to marry him.

“You saw him only the one time?”

“No, it was more than that.”

“One weekend, then?”

“Yes, but even when he was eight thousand miles away we talked every single day.”

“But, Lauren, you can’t really know a person after such a short acquaintance.”

“I realize how this looks, I really do,” she said, and she was sincere. “If it was anyone but Rooster, I’d agree with you, but he’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a husband. We share so much in common. My parents met him—”

“Your family knows?”

“Of course. They flew in for the ceremony. My parents were concerned, too, seeing that we’d only known each
other a short while. Dad insisted on having a background check done on Rooster.”

This tidbit seemed to rattle Elisa all the more. “And did you read the report?”

“No, there wasn’t time. But my father did, and he couldn’t find anything about Rooster that raised a red flag.”

“What about his family?” Elisa challenged.

Her friend was stretching, looking for something, anything, to prove what a terrible mistake Lauren had made, almost as if she was talking about Katie rather than Lauren. Patiently, not wanting to upset Elisa, Lauren explained, “Rooster is an only child, and both his parents are dead. Bethanne’s husband, Max, stood up for him as best man. Max and Bethanne are his family.”

Elisa continued to look shaken and unsure.

“Would it be all right if I took the rest of the week off?” Lauren pressed. The shop was due to open in a few minutes; Friday mornings generally had light customer traffic. If Elisa needed to call in someone else, she could.

“Oh, of course. I apologize if I’m being less than gracious over your news.”

“I understand; it’s a shock.”

“What I can’t understand is why you didn’t mention it much earlier.”

It wouldn’t do any good to explain. “You and Garry were busy with Katie,” she explained, hoping that would suffice.

“But to hit me with it now …”

“I’ll be away today and Saturday,” Lauren repeated,
growing impatient. “I still have several days available to use as vacation days.”

“Oh sure … the time off is no problem.”

“Thank you.” She reached for her cell and sent Rooster a quick text. She would be ready to leave in a few minutes, and he could pick her up at the jewelry shop.

“Before you leave, would you do me a favor first?” Elisa asked.

“Of course.” They’d been good friends for a long time, and Lauren was willing to help in any way she could.

“I don’t mean to offend you.”

“I know.”

“It’s just that I’d feel better if you read that background check your father had done on Rooster. Oh, for the love of heaven, doesn’t he have another name? I refuse to believe his parents named him after a chicken.”

“It’s John. John Jerome Wayne. His father’s name was Jerome.”

“John Wayne,” Elisa repeated.

“I believe he picked up the name Rooster after one of the characters John Wayne played in the movies. Rooster Cogburn.” In fact, Lauren and Rooster had watched the western featuring John Wayne along with Katharine Hepburn earlier that week. Lauren had loved every minute and made Rooster promise they would never argue the way these two characters had.

“Okay, just promise me one thing.”

“I said I would.”

“Read that report. Please, Lauren.”

“What could it possibly say that would come as a surprise?” she demanded.

“I don’t know,” Elisa cried. “Do you know how many times he’s been married?”

“Yes, once. To me.”

“And this story about his family. Isn’t that a tad convenient? Everyone is dead and he has no siblings. Doesn’t he keep in touch with his aunts and uncles? Surely there’s someone?”

“None that he’s mentioned.”

“That doesn’t tell you anything?”

“No. You’re starting to sound paranoid. Don’t you trust my judgment?” Lauren asked her friend.

“Yes, of course I do, but you know
Dateline
and
48 Hours
are my favorite television shows. It always starts out well in these quick marriages, and then some shocking revelation comes out later.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll read the report.”

“Do it now.”

“Now?”

“Yes, before you go away, please.”

“Elisa!”

Perhaps her friend was right and she was being foolish and blinded by love. Her father had sent her the file, but if he hadn’t seen anything in Rooster’s background that alarmed him, then she sincerely doubted that she would, either.

While Elisa opened the store for business, Lauren sat in the back office with her cellphone. It took only a minute or so to bring up the forwarded email from her father.

Lauren breezed through the first few pages of the report. It showed nothing out of the ordinary. Rooster had gotten a number of speeding tickets in his twenties, she noticed. He seemed to have a need to drive fast even now, a habit he was working hard to break.

It wasn’t until she reached the second-to-last page that she saw it. Her eyes widened as shock rippled through her.

She needed a few minutes to digest what she’d read.

How was this possible?

How could Rooster not have mentioned something this important? Surely this was information she should know.

In an instant, everything that had felt so beautiful and so wonderfully right seemed terribly, terribly wrong.

“Lauren.” Elisa came into the back room.

Lauren looked up and blinked, trying desperately to hide her shock and distress.

“There’s a man out front asking for you.”

“A man?”

“He looks like he might be a biker or something.”

Lauren slid off the chair and stood. It took a couple of minutes before she felt she could speak normally. “I think that might be Rooster … my husband.”

“Your husband? That’s … Rooster?” Elisa shook her head several times as if she found the news too shocking for words. “Lauren, no. It can’t possibly be. Not him.”

Lauren nodded. “Yes, him.”

“But … the two of you. Lauren, you can’t be serious. Can’t you see how different the two of you are?” she asked in a pleading tone.

Then Elisa, her closest friend, closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to watch this train wreck happening right in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” Rooster asked, as soon as Lauren was outside John Michael Jewelers.

In order to avoid answering him, she started walking toward the car he’d parked on Blossom Street. “I want to go back to my condo,” she said emphatically.

“Did you forget something?”

“No.”

“Then why are we going back?” He looked at his watch as if to remind her the ferry to Victoria that he’d booked left within the hour.

“Please, Rooster, I’ll explain everything once I’m home.” She needed to get someplace private where they could talk undisturbed. Her head buzzed and her mouth felt dry, but not from thirst.

He gave her an odd look and seemed utterly perplexed. Well, he shouldn’t be. Lauren was badly shaken. Her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, and her stomach roiled in one huge knot.

They rode in silence so loud it hurt her eardrums.

As he drove, Rooster glanced her way once or twice, as if he was at a complete loss as to what had upset her. He should have known that she’d find out this information about him sooner or later. Elisa was right. She’d been naive and foolish, and stupid. Just plain stupid. She’d been caught up in this romantic fantasy that should be reserved for fairy tales. It took all the restraint she possessed not to press her forehead against the dashboard and close her eyes and pretend none of this was real.

Rooster parked the car in the proper slot in her parking garage. They climbed out and didn’t speak until they reached her condo.