Forever Wife (15 page)

“Poor misguided woman,” Vidar agreed. 

It was a beautiful spring morning as they drove into White Hall to the nearest furniture store.  The kind of morning that made one just happy to be alive.  The sky was clear and brilliant blue.  The air was filled with birdsong as the returning snowbirds began their mating rituals in preparation for a new batch of eggs.  A gentle breeze set the budding tree branches aquiver in the never-ending dance of life. Liz felt herself grinning and she couldn’t explain why.  It just felt good.

Furniture shopping with Vidar was a new experience.  He was not one to prevaricate.  He strode to the bedroom furniture section and selected three styles he approved, then let Liz chose from between the three.  All of them were four-poster beds, she realized, already wondering what sort of activities he had in mind for that.  All were made of solid wood, although there was some difference in style.  One was ornately carved with a grape leaf motif that while gorgeous in the store, Liz figured that it would be a nuisance to keep it dusted.  The second was Spartan in design.  Straight, smooth lines, no detail, flat polish and minimalist.  The third was the one she chose.  A smooth cherry finish, a simple yet elegant design, and of course, the stately posts at the four corners to stand guard over them while they slept.  Then Vidar ordered the entire set – two nightstands, a tall chest of drawers and a shorter, wider one with mirror, and matching hope chest.  He paid extra to have it delivered later that day. 

Next they went to a white-goods store to purchase sheets.  That too, was dispatched with amazing ease.  Vidar asked her on the way over what her favorite colors were.  “Blue,” she had told him.

“What shade of blue?”

“All blues.  I love sky blue and navy blue, aquamarine, cobalt, indigo and sapphire.  I don’t think you could find a shade of blue that I don’t like.”

“Fair enough,” he remarked.  “What’s your second favorite color?  What goes best with blue?”

“Peach.  I love blue and peach together.  And big cabbage roses.  I know it’s sort of Victorian in style, and so totally un-cool, but I like it.”

And when they walked into the store, he went straight to the bedding area and picked up a set of steel blue sheets, handing them to her.  Next he grabbed a “bed in a box” package that was complete with comforter, dust ruffle, pillow shams and whatnots, all in steel blue with peach cabbage roses.  Liz couldn’t believe the good luck they had!  The entire shopping trip had taken less time that it took to drive there. 

They were just loading their purchases into his SUV when she bumped into Tracy, of all people.  “Hi, Tracy,” Liz bubbled enthusiastically.  “What brings you to town today?”

“Soliciting signatures for our cause.  Liz, what are you doing with the enemy!”

Vidar rudely ignored her friend, taking the sheets from Liz’s hands to tuck them into the back of the SUV.  “Come along, Liz.  Let’s get some lunch.”

Liz stared at her girlfriend, wondering where the animosity had come from.  “Tracy, this is Vidar Gulbrandt,
don’t you remember him?  My former godfather?”

“He is also the creep who has been the evil mastermind behind the casino!  Liz!  What are you doing!” Tracy was livid.

Liz turned slowly to stare at Vidar, who did nothing to defend himself.  He folded his arms across his chest and glared at Tracy as though she were an annoying bug beneath his boot. 

“Vidar, tell her it’s not true,” Liz said clearly.

He didn’t open his mouth.

“Tell her!  Tell me!  Tell me you’re not the one planning to bulldoze Camp Birches!  You’re not going to destroy the only home I have, to put up an obscene casino in one of the last pristine areas of the country, and for what!  For making a few bucks when you’re already as rich as God himself!  Vidar!  Tell me!”

He straightened, uncrossing his arms slowly as he took her elbow and tried to turn her towards the passenger side door.  “Come, Beth.  Don’t make a scene. We will discuss this at home.”

“We will do nothing of the sort!  You tell me right now, this minute, that you are not involved in this. I’m not going anywhere with you until you do!”

Vidar drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  His palm itched to spank someone, but Tracy was the one who deserved it, not his Beth.  However, if she didn’t obey him at ounce, he’d have good reason for another lesson in obedience.  “I cannot tell you that, Beth, as it would be a lie.  However, you do not understand the intricacies of this program.  I will be happy to share them with you at home.  In private.  Now I will not tell you again to get in the car.”

Liz yanked her arm free from his grasp.  “Good! Because you’d be wasting your breath.  I can’t go anywhere with you right now, because I’m too damn angry!  I can’t believe you would do this to me… to us!  Go, just go!”

She whirled around, seeking comfort in Tracy’s arms, where she burst into tears. 

He could force her to his will.  He could manhandle her into the car so he could explain that they hadn’t even been a “couple” when the casino deal began.  He could whisk them all home to the privacy of the cabin with a bit of magic, but he did not want her to learn about him while in a fit of rage. 
No, his best action at the moment seemed to be a strategic retreat. 

“You have a spanking to look forward to when you get home,” he said firmly.  “For disobedience.  And when you’ve calmed down, we will discuss this.” Then he got into the SUV and waited for them to get out of the way before he backed up carefully, and slowly exited the parking lot.

He should have turned Tracy into a frog when he had the chance.

“So you didn’t know,” Tracy said, patting Liz’s back. 

“No!” Liz wailed.  “He just showed up… I hadn’t seen him in years, not since college… and all of a sudden, he’s back in my life.  I thought he loved me!  He told me he loved me….”

Liz was miserable.  She felt another anxiety attack coming on, but recognized it in time.  She cupped her hands over her mouth and nose and forced herself to slow her breathing.  Tracy guided her out of the parking lot to the relative safety of the walk in front of the store.  There she stood guard, patting Liz’s shoulder until she was in control again. 

Tracy growled exasperatedly.  “Well then, that’s it.  We don’t need to bother getting those signs printed or trying to get more people to come down to the site and support us on the sixth.”

“Of course we do!  Why not?”

“Can’t you see what he’s doing?  He’s trying to manipulate you.  You’re the head and the heart of this protest.  If he can get you to lie down for him, so to speak, then he decapitates the entire resistance and we fall apart, allowing him to do as he pleases and ruin our little town.”

“No, it’s not like that.  He said he’s loved me for a long time . . .”

“Please tell me that at least you’re not sleeping with him.”

She couldn’t, without lying to her best friend.
  Liz nodded, shook her head, and nodded again.  “Yea, we… we did,” she muttered.  She hated the pitying look Tracy gave her. 

“What am I going to do?” she asked plaintively when she could find her voice.

Tracy pushed a stack of petitions in front of her.  “You’re going to help me gather signatures today.  One step at a time, Lizzy girl.  We’ll figure the rest of it out eventually. One step at a time.”

* * * * *

Rules.  The woman desperately needed rules. She was going to stubborn herself to death if someone didn’t take her in hand, and he was just the man for the job.  If she had only obeyed him and gotten into the car, he could have explained.  She couldn’t hold him accountable for actions he’d made before they were together!  And he was doing all of this for them.  To unload that cabin, with all its bittersweet memories, so they could make new ones.  He could give her a cabin anywhere!  A Swiss chalet near the Alpine ski hills?  And a summer home in the Caribbean plastered with floor-to-ceiling windows?  And one more in Kenya, right on the elephant preserve.  She’d love that, wouldn’t she?

But no, she had to put up a wall between them, running to her girlfriend for comfort from the assumed slight, instead of waiting to get all the facts!  That called for more than a simple spanking.  She had worked her way up to good paddling, that girl. He was going to add a swat for every ten minutes she kept him waiting.

Two hours later, he felt his resolve weakening.  What if she didn’t come back?  That was unacceptable!  He could force her to return, but what kind of relationship would they have then?  Was this a test?  Wasn’t it too soon in their relationship to test the waters this way?  If only he could conjure up a crystal ball that would show him the outcome of any decision he were to make, but his magic did not work that way.  He could create simple things.  He could transport himself and others, if he had a close bond with them.  And he had limited ability to heal. That was about it.  Divining the future was a different sort of magic all together, a darker sort, the type of black art that he had never practiced and wasn’t about to now.

He had known a lot of women over the years, although he’d never taken a wife before.  He should have had the skills necessary to understand them as well as any man ever could understand a woman, but Liz was beyond his bailiwick.  Maybe it was time to try a different tactic.  He prepared a romantic feast, complete with candlelight and music.  Then he sat down to wait for her, sending her a mental push to join him.

Liz simply could not bear to look at another petition as long as she lived.  She was exhausted.  Worn out.  No good to anyone.  Tracy took her home, offering her a place to stay indefinitely.  It was tempting.  Tracy’s place was modest, but adequate, and there were no signs of Vidar anywhere.  He had never stepped foot inside of it, so there were not mountains of memories to come toppling out of nowhere to blind side her when she least expected it.  She fully intended to stay, she realized as she sipped a cup of chamomile tea Tracy set in front of her. But as the tea cooled, so did her temper.

“Maybe I acted t
oo hasty,” she admitted.

“Okay.  Go ahead and explain to me how it is.  How you haven’t seen or heard from this guy in what – eight years? And as soon as you launch the “Save the Lake” campaign, he’s suddenly back in your life with promises of undying love? If you don’t see the problem here, then you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

Liz had opened her mouth to refute whatever allegations Tracy threw at her, but she really couldn’t.  She closed her mouth again, tight.

“Then tell me that he’s not the one who’s been sending offers to buy everyone’s places?” she continued.

Now that definitely sounded like Vidar.

“I know that the McKenzies are seriously considering it.”

They were a retired couple who could definitely use the money.  But one out of a handful wasn’t too bad.

“And so is Sue.  You know she’s got money problems just as bad as you do.”  Tracy looked at her with disdain and said sarcastically, “Or did.”

Could Vidar only be seducing her so that she would drop her objection to his plans?  No.  She couldn’t think of it that way.  She wouldn’t.  All of those loving, wonderful things he had said to her… it couldn’t be that it was all just a means to an end. Could it?

She had to find out if Vidar had sought her out just because of her position against the casino.  She had to know if he could stoop that low.  If so, then she would not waste another moment thinking about him!  But if not, then they had a lot to discuss.  Just as she was thinking about that, she felt the urge to go home. 

It was so strong, and so strange, that it startled her.  It was almost as though Vidar spoke to her, but in her mind where no one else could hear.  “Come home.”  There it was again.  It certainly felt like him, with his deep-as-sin voice and the not-so-subtle command.  She quickly glanced at Tracy, but her friend had not seemed to hear it.  Then accompanying the command, she had an image of a romantic dinner for two, complete with candles.  It was so out of character for Vidar.  He was far more likely to spank her senseless when he saw her, than to woo her with flowers, food and chocolates. 

“Tracy, thank you,” she said, coming to a decision.  “But I need to go home, if only to pack.  I need to give him a chance to explain.”

“You mean, hoodwink you, don’t you?  If you go back there, the campaign is off.”

“That’s not fair, and you know it,” Liz said quietly.  “I still believe in preserving the lake.  If not for you, or me, then for the loons, and all the creatures that call Scrimshaw Lake home.  But I’m a big girl.  I don’t need to hide from my problems.  I can face them head on.”

Tracy gave her an impulsive hug.  “I don’t agree with you, Liz, but I can respect your decision.  I know you’ll do the right thing, eventually.  You’ll always be welcome here if things don’t work out between you two. Just let me get my car keys and I’ll take you there.”

“Thanks.  I’m so sorry I let our friendship thin after the accident.  I’ll never let that happen again, Tracy.  Thanks for being there for me, when I needed you.”

“What else are friends for?”  Tracy forced a smile, as she and Liz stepped out into the encroaching darkness. 

Moments later she was dropping her off.  “Sure you don’t want me to wait for you?” she asked.