Trapped Under Ice (33 page)

“Mom, save it for the honeymoon!” Cassie shouted.

“Oh yeah,” Beth mumbled, coming up for air. “My daughter’s here, ahem...” She scooted back to a more proper position. Throughout the short ceremony, the bride and groom never took their eyes off each other. Chad’s hands circled her waist.

“You may kiss the bride,” the priest finally announced.

As they kissed, ten-foot flames shot up on either side of them. “Nice touch,” she murmured, her forehead resting against her new husband’s.

“I thought you’d like that.”

“Like those two need any more fireworks,” Roger muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“No doubt,” Cali responded.

He eyed her. “I like you. What are you doing after the reception?”

“If you’re lucky,” Cali answered with a wink, “you.”

“I
really
like you.” He trailed after her like a puppy.

***              

Weeks later, Chad was back in Bloomington for a few days. Beth crawled out of bed, leaving him sleeping, to see Cassie off to school. She had just begun her workout DVD when he came down the stairs. Without saying anything, he sat on the couch, arms crossed, a grin on his face.

Beth, dressed in spandex shorts and a sports bra, eyed him skeptically over her shoulder. “What are you doing?” she asked with feigned annoyance. Because their schedules were so different from one another, she was secretly glad he was up; this would be the first day off she was able to spend with him.

“I’m just watching you workout.” Latin music was playing and an overly smiley instructor named Carrie was counting off numbers as she sashayed across the screen. She didn’t seem to sweat at all.

“Why-y-y?”

“I just wanted to see what you and Carrie had planned. Uuummm.” He moaned as if in pain, watching Beth samba. “So it’s Carrie I have to thank for the way you move.”

She turned to face him, dipping and moving her hips in an extremely inviting way. “I like to think I have a few moves of my own.”

He sucked in his breath. “Uuum-hum.” He dove over the coffee table to grab his wife, but she dodged. She whirled around and continued to follow Carrie’s lead, but cast a teasing smile over her shoulder from time to time. He bolted up and came around the coffee table, standing behind her.

“What are you doing now?”

“I want you to teach me how to samba.” He stood directly behind her and ran his hands down her arms, and then grabbed her hands. He bent the left arm at the elbow and placed a hand on her bare stomach, just below her belly button, his large hand covering it. He left the right arm extended, bending his arm to compensate for her smaller arms. He bent his knees a little, to bring their hips more in line and pulled her in strongly against his body. “So teach me,” he whispered in her ear, letting his facial hair graze her skin.

They both knew this workout was going to end up in the bedroom, but they had to tempt each other first. She turned her head to the right to peer up at him, her lips parted, her eyes liquid. He bent in to kiss her, but she turned her head forward again at the last minute. He gave a throaty chuckle. She began to move her hips sensually, still keeping them a little distant from his.

After a few minutes she moved closer to him, so they flowed together, her hips moving backward and forward, up and down, left and right. She released his right hand, stretching her arm to bring it behind his neck, tightening her grip on him until they melted into one. He ran his hand slowly down her arm and across her right breast, before letting it join his other hand around her waist.

“I think I can give you a better work out than Denise,” he growled in her ear. “One that will get”—he punctuated each part of his sentence with a kiss and nuzzle on her neck—“your lungs going…and your heart beating…and will be good for a…number…of different parts…of your body.” He used a hand to turn her head and kissed her hungrily. “Last one in bed is a rotten egg,” he challenged, and tore off upstairs. She laughed. No one could leave her hanging better than he did.

But, in the end, he was as good as his word.

***              

Later in the day, after Cassie got home from school, Chad was busy writing a song. He set down his pen as Beth entered the living room. “Heeey, what’s wrong with my girl?”

She came over and sat in his lap, crying.

“Sh-sh-sh, come on now, Beth, what could be so wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” she remarked, sniffling. “You know that guy who was supposed to take Cassie to prom? Well some other girl asked him to go, so he dumped Cassie.”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“Cassie’s just devastated. She’s been up in her room crying for an hour.”

“What’s the scum’s name? Do you want me to go beat the shit out of him?”

“Well, yes.” He made a move to get off the couch, but she held him back with her arm, looking at him with severity.

“Oh yeah,” he mumbled contritely, looking unhappy. “This is supposed to be the new peace-loving Chad.” He was referring to his visits to the therapist to deal with his scarred upbringing. “Peace, love, and rock and roll, see?” He held his fingers up in a peace sign.

She laughed. “Oh sure, right. I can just see
you
playing The Grateful Dead. I’d forgotten how much it sounds like ‘Rip Your Heart Out,’” she joked, referring to one of Trapped Under Ice’s singles, and bent his fingers back.

“Ouch, woman! That’s not very peace-loving.” Chad started nuzzling her and she giggled.

Cassie came around the corner. “Don’t you two ever stop?” She shook her head at them.

Beth straightened up. “Hey,
Cas. Are you feeling a little better?”

“Yeah,” the teen replied, flopping down on the couch next to Chad, her eyes still red. “Jason was a jerk, anyway.” She blew her nose.

“Jason, huh? What’s his last name?” he asked, putting his arm around Cassie confidentially.

Beth elbowed him. “Oh, you. Stop.”

“Ouch! Your mom is violent.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Don’t you two gang up on me!” she cried, but she smiled, seeing the two of them together made her feel good.

“Mom…you know what this calls for...”

“ICE CREAM!” they yelled in unison.

Beth jumped off the couch. “I’ll get the spoons.”

“I’ll get the bowls,” Cassie seconded, right behind her.

“We don’t need bowls. We’ll just eat out of the carton.”

Chad heard their voices fade as they entered the kitchen. “What kind of weird ritual is this?” he asked no one in particular. He jumped up and followed them. “Wait for me.”

***              

A month later, Chad stood leaning against the mantle, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for Beth and Cassie to come down. It was prom night, and they had been upstairs for hours, or so it seemed to him. The TV was on, but hearing footsteps on the stairs, he grabbed the remote to turn it off. He looked up as Cassie came into the room. “Wowww, Cas! You look beautiful.”

She blushed. “Yeah, right.” Before he could object, she asked, “What were you watching?”

“Oh, um…a documentary on the Great Wall of China. Very interesting stuff.”

“You were watching your own concert DVD again, weren’t you? You’re so weird.”

He hugged her, kissing her forehead. “You look just like your mother did on the night I proposed to her.” Cassie did, in fact, have the same kind of glow. He gave her another squeeze.

“Uh, Chad. The ‘do.” The teen pointed to the mounds of curls cascading from a bun at the back of her head.

“Ohhh. Not the ‘do. How crass of me.”

“Indeed,” she returned regally, grinning at him. She decided to go to the dance with a girlfriend of hers who was similarly without a date, but he could tell she was nervous.

They both looked up as Beth descended the stairs. She wore a simple, flowing dress made out of a silky material. She told Chad she hated how some of the other mothers tried to show up the girls. “It is supposed to be their night, after all,” she declared. But, with silver jewelry accenting her attire, she still looked stunning.

“Oh, honey,” she scolded. “Watch the ‘do.”

He shuffled away from Cassie wearing a guilty expression. “That’s already been covered.”

“No, get back over there. I want to take your picture, just watch the ‘do.”

“Ah, Mom. I don’t want any pictures.” Cassie argued at the same time Chad protested, “But I just have jeans and a t-shirt on.”

“
Cas, this is your prom night,” she ordered sternly. “You are going to want pictures. And you, you look hot in jeans and a t-shirt.”

“
Ick!” Cassie squealed in mock-disgust. After the picture was taken, she rushed off. “I’m going to go get my purse.”

“I still wish you signed me up as a chaperone, too,” Chad sulked.

“Honey, I said I was sorry. I didn’t know you would want to.”

“Not want to be at Cassie’s senior prom with you?”

“I just thought it would be a mess with fans.”

“All of her friends know we’re married, but they haven’t caused any problems.”

“You’re right. But Pete said it would be impossible to secure—” she stopped abruptly.

“You asked Pete about this?”

She sighed. “He didn’t think it would be safe.”

“What? Am I supposed to miss out on all the important things in yours and Cassie’s lives because it ‘may not be safe’? Give me a break!” He turned his back to her and stalked over to the fireplace, leaning on the mantle.

She crossed to him, laying a hand on his back. “I’m sorry, Chad. I really am,” she implored him. “It may take us some time to figure out how this whole being-married-to-a-celebrity thing works.” She waited, but he didn’t respond. “I should have asked you, though.”

He could hear in her voice how badly she felt. This was a difficult transition for her, too. Being married to a rock star had some definite drawbacks.

He sighed. “No, Beth. It’s all right. You were just trying to do what was best for all of us.” He drew her into his arms. “We’ll get it all figured out.” He kissed the top of her head.

Cassie came down the stairs. “Are you ready, Mom?”

She glanced up again to see if he was okay. He gave her a small smile and a kiss. “Have fun.” He turned to Cassie. “And you, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“And what, exactly, does that eliminate?”

“Oh, go on and get out of here before I mess up your ‘do.”

“All right. I’m out of here,” the excited teen announced. Cassie acted as if she was running out, but then she turned around and came back and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

With one last long look, the two women in his life were gone.

***              

At first Beth smiled and chitchatted with people at the dance. The teens’ enthusiasm was contagious. But after a while she drifted off by herself, thinking about Chad, and again scolding herself for leaving him out. She scanned the room for a sign of Cassie. She saw her at a table with Jessica. As she watched, a young man came up and appeared to ask Jessica to dance. Cassie smiled at them as they left, but then she could see a shadow cross her face even from across the room. Or maybe it was just the expert eye of a mother who knew her daughter well. Her heart ached. This was one of the hardest parts of being a mother, watching your child in pain. Cassie fiddled with a napkin, turning it over in her hand, and then folding and unfolding it.

Should she cross the room and try to cheer her up? Or would Cassie prefer to handle this on her own? For the millionth time, she wished God provided her with a manual so she knew exactly what to do for her daughter. She decided to move closer and try to pick up on some kind of signal from Cassie, when Mrs. Van Zandt accosted her.

“Beth. How are you?” She gave her one of those air kisses and stiff hugs that said, “I don’t want you to wrinkle my dress” ever so politely. “I haven’t seen you since your newest wedding—”

Like I’ve had five
?

“—how are things?”

“Wonderful. Thank you for asking.” The doctor’s wife wore a lime-green mermaid dress Beth would like to think seemed too young for her, but in reality, Botox and plastic surgery had her looking fantastic. Mrs. Van Zandt was one of the women she thought didn’t mind stealing a little of her daughter’s thunder on prom night.

“I saw your Cassie sitting by herself over there. Poor thing.” Coming from anyone else, the comment might have seemed sympathetic, but the tone with which it was issued implied no such kindness. She stared at the woman with a blank expression for a second, but then her eyes automatically searched out Cassie again. Her daughter had just risen from the table with a very tall man dressed in black.

Her companion followed Beth’s gaze. “Isn’t that your husband?” the good doctor’s wife was saying to her.

She beamed. “Yes. Yes, it is.” As she watched, Chad steered Cassie out onto the floor and began to dance with her to a slower song. There was a ripple of recognition around the room as people started to watch the pair dance.