On The Dotted Line (6 page)

The
suspense built as she thumbed through the pages and counted something off on
her fingers, and he held his breath.

She
tilted her head and bit her lip.

“May
I?” Unable to wait another second, he held his hand out.

“You
want to see?” She pressed her financial record to her chest.

“Well,
we are married.”

While
he thought he would be met with much more resistance, she surrendered the book.

“I
made my last payment here for half.” She pointed to an entry.

“Well,
you have very neat handwriting.” At least she kept a record. He took in the
date and completed a quick calculation in his head. Her situation was more dire
than he imagined.

Rather
than meeting his eyes, she gathered up her belongings.

“Let’s
get back to LA and when we go pack up you and Nan, maybe Jade will be at the
gallery. We’ll go get you current.” He went to tuck the checkbook in his
pocket, but realized he still wore the robe.

“We
don’t have to do that.” Her voice lowered.

Maybe
she didn’t want to face her landlord after her financial fiasco. “Would you
like me to go fix the rent situation myself?” She shook her head.

“Would
you like me to give you the check and you can pay?” Then again, maybe she
wanted to do it herself.

Once
more, she took her head.

“I
promised I would get you paid.” He leaned down to try to see her face. “In
fact, if you like, we can go to the gallery. I’ll slip Jade the check and maybe
we can take them out for drinks or something. Then we can tell them how we
managed to fix each other.”

She
didn’t react, only continued to stare down at the bed.

“Willow,
tell me.”

“Do
you think we can
not
tell Slate or Jade about what we did last night?”

“We’re
married. I think last night was a given, but I have no reason to make everyone
jealous.” No matter the circumstance he could charm with the best of them, plus
he only stated the facts.

“Not
the sex.” She pressed her hand to chest. “The marriage.”

“So
you don’t mind if I go on and on about my awesome conquest, but you don’t want
me to tell them I made a legal woman out of you?” He didn’t understand.

She
answered by not answering.

“May
I ask why?”

At
last she lifted her head. “Well, your mother may not know the truth about your
nuptials, but our friends do, and I would rather them not think that I am the
girl who helped you gain all your material possessions.”

“Is
it that, or do you not want them to know that I am the guy who helped you gain
all your material possessions?” He pointed at her.

Her
jaw tightened.

“Don’t
you think it’s going to be hard to hide it?” To prove his point he glanced down
at his family’s ring on her finger.

“Don’t
tell me you don’t have any secrets?” She crossed her arms, hiding the ring. “Maybe
we should keep our work and personal life separate.”

“That
sounds like something you would say.” Peter laughed.

The
silence that took over the room was saved by a knock at the door.

“All
right Mrs. Van Ayers, we’ll do it your way.” He bowed his head. Yes, he had his
secrets, none of which she would guess. In fact, his secrets needed to take a
hiatus while he dealt with his marriage. Afterward, without any bindings on him
or his life, he could be himself.

* * * *

Randolph
opened his car door, smoothed down his suit jacket, and slipped into the driver’s
seat. “Would you like to stop somewhere and pick up some new clothes? My treat,
of course.” While Willow may not want to admit they were married, the matching
sweat pants and hotel t-shirts they wore during the trip back to Los Angeles definitely
told the world they were together. One thing was certain, the clothes were not
at all suitable for bringing home his new bride.

“I
have clothes at my place.” She held out the oversized bright red shirt and
shrugged.

“Okay.”
He continued his ride down Wilshire. After they landed and made their way back
to the city, he finally had to admit there would be no time to finish his work
and his homecoming. Instead, they went with Peter to his office where he snuck in,
changed into a spare suit, grabbed some files to take home and left his
assistant behind to fix the shambles of his schedule.

They
neared Rodeo Drive and passed one of the high-end department stores where he
knew many of the managers. “I just thought you might want something different.”

“Different
than what?” Her voice became tight, her words terse.

“Just
different.” He pointed to the store. “You will be meeting my parents for the
first time in just a little bit.” His mother would have fainted at the sight of
him in the tacky hotel attire, and like it or not he wanted Willow to make a
good impression. It would make the impending scene much easier.

“I’m
sure I can find something at my place that will be suitable.”

“Is
it a suit?” Only semi-serious, he forced out a chuckle. Most women would have
died to go on an all-expense paid trip to the land of the designers, but not
his wife. Intriguing.

“It
will be whatever I decide to put on.” She crossed her legs and stared out the
window.

They
didn’t say much as they drove the rest of the way to Los Angeles. The moment
they turned down what Randolph wanted to dub proposal alley toward her shop,
Willow wrapped her arms around her shoulders and fidgeted in her seat.

“What’s
the matter?” He peeked at her and then down the small passageway. Slate and Jade
stood together down the alley. “Did you want to say hello?”

“We
need to figure this out.” She combed her fingers through her hair. “Can you
park by my place? Look at us.”

“I
really wouldn’t worry about that.” He clutched the steering wheel. While Slate
donned some sort of white fedora and a billowing white shirt, Jade wore a dress
of blue ribbons. He doubted they would notice a t-shirt. Willow’s plan of
hiding their relationship seemed a bit out of character for her. “Remember, I
was more than happy to fix your clothing.”

“I
won’t be put in one of your expensive uniforms. I would rather be in this.” She
exhaled. “And we discussed what we are not discussing already.”

“Again,
I ask how do you plan on hiding us for 364 more days?” He pulled up next to her
store.

“May
I go in and talk to Nan first and then I’ll get you?” She grabbed the door
handle.

“Is
she allowed to know we’re married, or should we just tell her we’re living
together in sin?”

“Can
you please wait here while I talk to Nan?” She got the words out through
clenched teeth.

“I’ll
sit here like a good husband.” He saluted her and put one finger over his lips.
“Oops, I said the H word.”

She
gave him a glare and left.

He
watched her go inside her store and sat back taking a moment to stare out the
windshield. Jade kissed Slate. Her ribbons blew in the light breeze and Slate
took off his hat and bowed to her.

The
two were truly in love. A real connection was something that always seemed to elude
him to the point where he had to find a woman as desperate as himself and then
pay her off.

After
another two kisses, Jade turned and entered the gallery. Slate spun on his
heel, returned his hat to his head, and charged straight for his car.

He
pressed the button to roll down the car window, his ring catching a ray of
light and hitting the corner of his eye.

Slate
came over and bent down. “Jade wants to know what you’re doing with Willow.”

To
hide the evidence, he lowered his hand and slid his fingers under his leg. “I’m
dropping her off at her shop.”

“You
left your party, she left your party, and you were seen leaving said party
together. She wasn’t home all night and now you drive up with her almost twenty-four
hours later.” Slate slapped the top of his car. “You look tired and terrible, so
you must have had a great time.”

“That
is quite an assessment for someone dressed as a bleached pirate.” He pulled his
lower lip.

“Jade
is the sky and I am a cloud, I float around her encompassed in her essence.” Slate
narrowed his eyes. “Also, even though I am nothing but part of the atmosphere,
my essence wanted me to tell you that if you hurt Willow because you’re licking
some wound at your inheritance or whatever, she will get even with you.” Slate
narrowed his eyes.

“I
never even implied I was licking wounds.” Fine, he stooped to the sex card, but
Willow didn’t want the marriage mentioned.

Slate
chuckled and they both nodded speaking the universal language of men. “So, what
are you licking?”

He
looked up to the ceiling of the car.

“Oh,
man.” Slate hit him in the arm. “So, exactly how natural is she?”

He
motioned for Slate to come closer.

Slate
turned his ear in his direction.

“Just
like in nature, there are always unexpected surprises.”

Slate
rubbed his chin. “Interesting.”

The
door to Willow’s shop opened and she appeared in what seemed to be some sort of
gypsy costume complete with a long maroon flowing skirt, a huge belt cinching
in her waist and a ruffled shirt topped off with a blue velvet vest. While the
outfit did wonders to show off her shape, somehow he didn’t think she changed
to look nice for him. In fact, quite the opposite. He rolled down the passenger
side window.

She
stopped the second she spotted Slate. “Hi.”

“Maybe
the four of us will go out soon. Jade would like that.” In keeping with his
character, Slate bowed to her. “I have to run. We’re going to a performance and
to check out a new artist. I want to create some buzz for the co-op as well.”

Once
Slate was out of earshot, Willow opened the car door. “Why does he think we can
go out together? I thought we weren’t going to say anything.”

“I
didn’t, he only thinks we had sex.” He tilted his head. “When you show up with
their money you can explain how you earned it so quickly. Then again, maybe I
can open up a secondary business.”

“I
guess I’m bought and paid for anyway.”

“You
put yourself up for sale, but at your prices you should really be on Rodeo.”

Caught
in a standoff, they stared at each other. He played the game every day in his
work, and didn’t flinch. In contrast to his absolute control, she opened her
mouth, closed it and bit her lip.

He
remained perfectly still.

Like
a fine vase in a 5.0 earthquake, she cracked. “Nan wants to meet you. If you
avoid calling me a prostitute in front of her, she may not put a hex on you.”

“What
you call a prostitute, I call my wife.”

“I
thought we needed to get to your place.”

“That
we do.” He stepped out of the car. “Time to meet the family.”

Willow’s
outfit jingled as she turned. He rushed over and opened the door for her, and
stepped inside her store. The soft fluttering of bells rang throughout the
space and he was accosted by mass quantities of knick-knacks, fabrics and various
other things he barely recognized.

Having
never ventured into her shop before, he blinked to bring everything into focus.
“If I breathe, I’m still going to be able to drive us home without getting a
DUI right?” The scent of herbs, spices and flowers wafted all around him.

“It’s
incense, try inhaling, it may do you some good.” She guided them through a set
of deep violet drapes into the main store.

More
colors committed assault and battery on his senses. Every wall was painted a
different deep hue, purple, green, blue and covered in everything from mirrors
and crystals to shelves chock full of her yarn creations. The urge to create overtook
him and he wondered if she would eventually allow him to make some alterations.
“This is quite impressive.”

“Is
that your way of telling me you’re not impressed?”

Ignoring
her comment, he stepped over to an entire wall devoted to jars and bottles of
different types. “Willow’s Wonders?” He picked up one tall bottle. “Lavender
and chamomile salve?”

“Those
are the holistic and therapeutic products Nan and I create.” She joined him, returned
the bottle to its spot and pointed to the front of the shop. “Over there is where
I make my teas.”

“I’ve
heard people discuss them.” He nodded. “You have an awful lot of different
things here. Maybe you need to streamline.”

“Our
process is not made to be efficient, it’s made to heal and calm.”

At
an intruder’s voice, he turned.

“Not
everyone is the same, so we need to offer many solutions.” A short, round older
woman in a purple floral
muumuu
approached.