Going to the Chapel (8 page)

“
Don’t worry.” Julie looped
in arm through Caroline’s and then one through Sherry’s and started
toward the pool hall. “Caroline’s a doctor. If that baby decides to
make an early appearance, you’re covered.”

“
I told you I’m not having
this baby until Sonny gets home,” Sherry insisted.

“
Do they still make the
absolute best cheeseburgers?” Caroline asked, her mouth already
watering.

“
They do indeed.” Julie
leaned close and added, “the music’s better and the beefcakes are
beefier.”

Caroline smiled. There were
some things about home she was glad to see, and Julie was
definitely one of them.

~*~

Three hours later, both
Julie and Caroline were well into their fourth beers. Or maybe it
was five. Caroline had called Henri and told her she wouldn’t make
supper. Henri had sounded so disappointed that Caroline couldn’t
suppress a twinge of guilt. But she forgot all about it as the time
passed and the ale flowed.

“
I swear,” Julie said in
answer to Sherry’s wide-eyed question.

Caroline shook her head in
utter disbelief. “You’re telling me that you’ve been engaged to Rob
for almost two years and not once...”

“
Not once.” Julie chugged
another deep swallow from her beer. “He said he wanted to wait
until our wedding night.”

“
How come you never told me
this before?” Sherry demanded. “Girl, this is not
natural.”

“
That’s why I never told
you.” Julie shrugged. “I didn’t want you to know that I wasn’t
getting what you obviously were.”

Sherry giggled and sipped
her cola. “You are too funny, Julie.”

“
Actually,” Julie began, a
solemn expression capturing her features. “It isn’t funny at all.”
She stared at her beer can as if she expected it to refill itself.
“I don’t mean just the sex. It’s everything.”

Caroline placed her hand
over her friend’s. “What kind of things?” She wondered if Rob had
cheated on Julie the way Tristan had on her.

Julie let go a big sigh.
“He’s just so...so anal. Everything has to be just so.” She shook
her head as if not believing what she was about to tell. “Last week
he took me through his whole house and explained to me exactly what
he would expect of me once we were married.”

“
What do you mean?”
Caroline wasn’t so sure she really wanted to know. But this was
Julie, her best friend from kindergarten through college. Another
of those unpleasant realities broadsided her. She’d turned her back
on a lot more than Chase. For the first time since she’d left it
felt wrong.

Julie leaned forward.
Sherry and Caroline did the same. “He showed me how his mother
ironed his boxer shorts.”

“
You’re
kidding?”

Sherry’s mouth formed a
perfect O.

“
Nope. The whole house is
like some kind of shrine to the obsessive-compulsive. Everything is
just where it’s supposed to be. Nothing—” she made a wide sweep
with her hands “—is out of place. The whole time he’s showing me
what he expects, I’m thinking, do I really know this
man?”

Sherry dragged an extra
chair over and propped up her feet. “It’s probably just pre-wedding
jitters.”

Julie shook her head. “No,
it’s more than that.” She shrugged. “I’ve been having second
thoughts for months.”

There was more. Caroline
was sure of it. “Then why go through with the wedding?”

Julie closed her eyes and
sighed. “Because it’s all planned. My mother would die if I
canceled.”

“
Listen to me, Julie,”
Caroline said, suddenly feeling a little too righteous, whether
from the subject matter or the beer she couldn’t say. “This is the
rest of your life we’re talking about.” Caroline glanced from side
to side to make sure no one was listening. “Think what a mistake it
would be to marry the wrong man. I would just have died if I’d
married Tristan and then found out what kind of guy he really
was.”

Julie and Sherry looked
properly horrified. Caroline had already related the Tristan tale
in its entirety.

“
I have to marry him,”
Julie said soberly. “I can’t let my mother down, and I can’t hurt
Rob that way. I do care about him even if I don’t ever love him
like—”

She stopped abruptly.
Caroline raised a speculative brow. “Like?”

“
Like I think I should,”
Julie answered quickly.

Too quickly.

Sherry and Caroline only
nodded.

“
Let’s have a toast,” Julie
announced lifting her basically empty glass. “To weddings gone
awry.”

Caroline clinked glasses
with Julie, then Sherry. “To wedding nights spent at the pool
hall.” Laughter bubbled up inside her. It had to be the beer. There
was absolutely nothing funny about any of this.

“
To never being quite that
cynical,” Sherry added with a dip of her glass.

They drained their glasses.
“So when is Sonny supposed to be back?” Caroline turned the focus
of the conversation to Sherry.

“
Next week.” She let go a
mighty breath. “And not a minute too soon.” She patted her
protruding belly. “Eight months ago when the Army sent my Sonny on
that peace keeping mission neither of us knew we were expecting.
He’d already asked me to marry him. We just didn’t realize we
should have done it before he left.”

Julie inclined her head in
Sherry’s direction. “She’s determined that this baby isn’t going to
be born out of wedlock.”

“
You got that right,”
Sherry confirmed. “Kids in school can be cruel. I don’t want my
baby taking that kind of crap.”

Sounded as if Sherry had
some personal experience on the subject. “Sometimes nature has a
mind of its own,” Caroline warned.

Sherry rubbed her tummy.
“Don’t worry, Doc, I’ve got a good feeling about all this. I’m
going to have my wedding first.”

Caroline lifted her glass
once more. “To babies.”

Julie chimed in. “May we
teach our daughters what we didn’t know until it was too
late.”

Caroline drank to the
toast. So, she wasn’t the only bride who wanted to
runaway.

~*~

Chase paced the length of
the kitchen once more. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, he peeked
out the window to check the driveway again.

He swore hotly. What was he
doing? What was it to him if Caroline stayed out all night long? He
wasn’t her keeper. And he sure as hell wasn’t her husband. That
last thought sent a wave of yearning so strong through him that he
had to grit his teeth until it passed. He was nuts, that’s what he
was. He looked at the clock for the hundredth time. Eleven-thirty.
What was she doing still out at this hour?

Henri had said that
Caroline and a couple of friends had gone to the pool hall for
burgers. Ire roared through Chase all over again at the notion. He
strode back across the room. What friends? Who had she kept in
touch with around here? Julie, maybe? But Julie and her family were
neck deep in wedding arrangements...or rearrangements. Caroline’s
dramatic return had waylaid Julie and Rob’s big day.

Ironic, Chase mused, that
Caroline had run away from her own wedding only to literally crash
her used-to-be best friend’s. An image of Tristan Rodgers formed in
Chase’s mind. He’d never met the guy, of course. But he could
imagine the type Caroline would go for. Everything Chase
wasn’t.

Enough,
Garrett
. Why was he doing this to himself?
Chase jerked the refrigerator door open and peered inside. No beer.
Just tea and milk. Tonight he needed something stronger than what
Henri kept on hand for Shane. Maybe Chase would just drop by the
pool hall and have himself a beer. After all, he did it once in a
while anyway just to keep tabs on the local hotheads. It wasn’t
like it would be all that unusual. He loved the burgers they served
there as well as the next resident of Lucy’s Branch. Lots of guys
went there for the burgers and BS.

Guys
. There would be a lot of guys there on a Saturday night. Guys
looking to pick up a woman. Chase’s gut twisted with tension.
Especially a woman who looked like Caroline. He suddenly wondered
what she had worn. Would it be another hot little number like the
black dress she’d been wearing this morning?

Chase was out the door and
swinging into his Jeep before he had time to consider the answer to
his question. Caroline had no business out this time of night.
Things were different now than they used to be. There were guys
around here who would take advantage of an attractive, vulnerable
woman. He floored the accelerator as he pulled out onto the road.
Caroline was staying with him this weekend. That made her his
responsibility, he rationalized.

Anybody else would do the
same thing.

Henri would expect him to
be sure Caroline arrived home safe and sound.

He was the sheriff. Taking
care of the townsfolk, visitors included, was his job. He was still
trying to convince himself ten minutes later when he arrived at The
Q-Ball.

Chase was greeted by half
dozen or so good old boys as he made his way between the pool
tables and headed toward the bar.

“
Hey, Sheriff,” Sully, the
bartender shouted to be heard above the music and overall hubbub of
the place. “What can I get you?”

“
I’m good. Thanks, Sully,”
Chase answered, his gaze searching every table and darkened corner
of the place.

“
Let me know if you change
your mind. You need to relax every now and then,
Sheriff.”

Chase ignored Sully’s
comment. His gaze jerked back to a table occupied by two females.
Julie and Sherry. Chase frowned. No Caroline. Suddenly a couple
moved into his line of vision. The man had his arm around the woman
in red’s waist. They’d been dancing and he led the woman to Julie’s
table as the song ended. Long black hair flowed down the woman’s
back. The guy kissed her cheek and backed away, clearly reluctant
to go. Chase knew before the woman turned around that it was
Caroline. The sleek curves outlined by the slinky red dress, the
long, long legs, the raven colored mane; he would know her
anywhere.

A red mist swam before
Chase’s eyes. He blinked. Told himself that it was the dress, but
that was a lie. He had the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to
break something. Specifically the neck of the guy who’d kissed
Caroline. He watched, his anger growing, as she settled into a
chair and crossed those unbelievably long legs. Another guy stopped
by the table. Caroline shook her head in answer to whatever he
said.

Chase slowly closed the
distance that lay between them. When she looked up and smiled, then
frowned when she recognized him, he came unglued.

“
What the hell are you
doing here?”

He wanted to snatch the
words back as soon as they were out of his mouth. But he was so mad
he couldn’t think straight. And he’d said just exactly what he
didn’t want to say in a way he hadn’t meant to say it.

“
What did you say?”
Caroline looked at him as if he’d spoken in a foreign
language.

He had to think of an
excuse...fast. “Henri was worried,” he said in a rush. “She
expected you home hours ago. She’s not as young as she used to be.
She doesn’t need to be up half the night worrying.”

Caroline looked aghast. “I
called Henri. I told her I didn’t know when I’d be in.
She
told me to have a good
time, and that she’d leave the back door unlocked.”

“
Sit down, Sheriff,” Julie
piped up. “Have a beer on us. We’re celebrating the scum of the
earth—
men
.”

Chase wondered briefly how
many times they’d toasted the subject already. From Julie’s
slightly slurred speech, he’d bet several.

“
Come on, Sheriff,” Sherry
added. “Caroline can’t go home now.”

“
Are you checking up on
me?”

He wanted to say no.
Dammit. He wished he hadn’t come. But it was too late
now.

“
It’s late. We don’t
usually keep the door unlocked at this hour. I figured I’d better
come let you know.” Good one. Chase gave himself a mental pat on
the back.

Julie threw up her hands to
garner everyone’s attention. “She could always come home with me.
Lord knows I’ll be sleeping alone tonight.” She hiccupped, then
giggled. “Lord knows I’ve slept alone every night.”

It was Chase’s turn to
frown. “You’re not driving, are you, Julie?”

“
Don’t worry, lawman,”
Sherry interjected. “I’m taking the bride home.” She patted her
ripe belly. “No drinking allowed while under
construction.”

Caroline, her face
impassive, stood. She smiled, but it was brittle to say the least.
“Good night, girls. I had a blast. We’ll have to do it again before
I leave.”

Julie smiled, a lopsided
gesture that spoke of one too many cold ones. “How about tomorrow
night?”

Sherry waved them off. “Run
along, I’ll take care of Julie.”