No Ordinary Romance (30 page)

When everyone looked at her expectedly, she
just blurted it out. "Kimmie Creswell."

"Kimmie Creswell! She and I attended the same
high school; she was always so shy, practically a wallflower."

Joanie couldn't stop laughing, "No wonder I
haven't seen Rachel lately, she probably hiding in her house. I'll
have to call her next week to check on her."

"I'll have you ladies know that Kimmie is an
enterprising young woman, and I have a feeling she will double the
net sales at the store."

Mabel was pulling out the contents of her
party bag when Linda arrived with Mack in tow. Mack's eyeballs got
three sizes big when he saw the cock ring and anal beads. "Linda
come on in and grab a margarita. Mack, is there anything in
particular you want me to add to Linda's party favor bag?"

Mack could feel the heat of embarrassment in
his face. He pointed to Mabel, "I like what she has in her bag,
some lube would be nice too. Linda I'll pick you up in a couple of
hours, I'm going to see what the guys are doing. I bet that Thomas
won't be passing around sex toys." Mack made a quick exit as the
women started booing him.

Beth approached Connie in the kitchen, "well
Connie I'm getting ready to leave."

"Are you sure? You didn't really eat
anything, are you feeling alright?" Connie had a feeling that not
all was perfect in Beth's world. Ever since the kidnapping, she had
become quiet and reserve. "Beth do you want to talk about what's
troubling you?"

Beth gave Connie the brightest smile she
could muster. "Connie I'm just going through some personal stuff,
and I just need time to work it out."

Connie gave Beth a comforting hug. "You're
having trouble dealing with the aftermath of the kidnapping aren't
you?"

Beth felt so stupid even bring this up on the
day before Connie's wedding. "I don't feel safe anymore. I don't
sleep at night."

Samantha came in search of Connie, only to
find Connie and Beth huddled up in a serious conversation. "Hey you
two what's going on in here?"

Beth wiped the tears from her face. "Nothing,
I'm just being silly."

"Connie would you leave Beth and me alone for
a minute, you're needed in the living room. Your Aunt Mabel is
getting out of control." Connie hesitated at first, but she thought
better of it and left them alone. "Now Beth you just don't seem
like the silly type. I was in your position not too long ago,
kidnapped from my own home. When I made it back home with my
fiancé, things didn't automatically fall into place."

Beth nodded her head in agreement, "Chad has
been terrific. He's so understanding and thoughtful. There are
times when I actually blame him for the kidnapping."

"Beth I don't know you that well, but I think
you could benefit from seeing a professional."

"A shrink! There's nothing wrong with me that
time can't cure."

"Oh Beth I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to
upset you. Just think about it that all I'm saying if you need a
place to stay one of the condominiums on our floor is vacant.
Connie stayed there a while back when she and Thomas had problems.
Just answer one question for me and I promise not to bother you
again. Are you afraid to come out at night? Do you rush home before
it gets dark and refuse to leave?"

"That's two questions Samantha. To answer to
your questions is yes. I'm afraid to be alone in my own apartment,
and I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it because they
don't understand."

"We don't have to try and figure it all out
tonight. I've been in your shoes, and I wanted to help." She
grabbed a couple of paper towels and blotted the tears on Beth's
face. "The offer of the condominium is available whenever you want.
Let's go back in there and help our bride bring two horny old women
back in line."

Beth laughed and followed Samantha back into
the living room. This is the best she's felt since being kidnapped
more than a month ago.

***

Thomas heard the doorbell ring, but chose to
ignore it, this was the best hand he had all night. Whoever was
outside would just have to wait. Allen played Poker as if he were
some kind of machine; he won the last five games without cracking a
smile or blinking. "Allen I think you gamble for a living, you're
taking this friendly game of poker way too serious."

"Poker is just like running a business, I
scoped out the competition, and they are severely lacking. Mike is
more interested in the chicken wings on his plate than his hand.
Your best friend Aaron is doing everything in his power to help you
lose. Chad's head hasn't been in the game since the first round.
You're a grouchy groom who's pissed because you're entertaining
when you want to spend time with your bride."

"Crap!" Thomas threw is losing cards on the
table and conceded once again to Allen. "Okay I'm through playing
Poker; it's time to play Blackjack." He got up from the table,
answered the door, and wasn't surprised to see Mike's partner Mack.
"Shit! Just what I needed, another practical joker."

Mack walked into the house with his arms
raised. "Hey I come in peace, I just dropped Linda off at Connie's
house. When I came in, they were drinking margaritas and passing
around sexy party favors. The only thing you duds have going for
you is food." Mack marched into the kitchen to fix a plate and snag
a beer.

Allen read the text from Sam and gave a
speaking look towards Chad. "How's things going between you and
Beth?"

Chad stopped pretending to study his cards he
just threw them on the table. "Women are damn hard to understand
and I'm sick of trying. Beth was all over me before the kidnapping,
now she can barely stand the sight of me."

Mack came back to the table and made a place
between Thomas and Chad. "Mike filled me in on the particulars,
being a kidnapping victim isn't something you can get over
quickly."

Chad ran his fingers through his hair; it was
times like this that he missed his grandfather. "At work she seems
fine, even cordial most of the time. For the past month, I've tried
to get our relationship back to where it was before the kidnapping
and she just blocks me out. She won't come out after dark, and we
don't talk anymore."

"How old are you son?"

"I just turned twenty-one a few months
back."

Mack shook his head making eye contact with
the rest of the men at the table. "Is Beth special to you or just
another woman you're burning through?"

"Hey I'm not like that..."

"Easy son, I wasn't trying to insult you.
When I was twenty-one, I was a major stud on campus. The last thing
I was thinking about was settling for just one woman. I didn't
marry Linda until I was twenty-seven. Mike was over thirty when he
married Jenna. Allen is pushing forty. It took them a long time to
find "the one". I'm just warning you that Beth may be dealing with
posttraumatic stress. You might want to cool the relationship for
now until she finds her way."

"I'm the most patience man in the world; it
took me a while to decide to be in a relationship with Beth. We're
good together, I tried to talk to her about the kidnapping and she
bit my head off."

"Something happened. I just received a text
from Sam. She invited Beth to stay at one of the condominiums on
our floor. Evidently she's too scared to stay at home."

"Why didn't she say something to me?" Chad
was exasperated, he had half a mind to go over to Connie's house
and talk to Beth right now.

Mike polished off his potato salad before
weighing in on the discussion. He saw Chad's expression skyrocket
to hope, anger, and then despair. "Chad I know what you're
thinking, and running over Connie's house to have a come-to-Jesus
talk with Beth is a waste of time. Those women will be all of you
like stink on shit. Trust me, the fact that you're Connie's brother
won't save you."

Chad watched the other men shake their heads
in agreement. "So what am I supposed to do?"

Thomas shuffled the cards and started
dealing. "Give her some space. I'm sure that our women will help
Beth with this situation."

Allen looked at his hand and smiled like a
tiger assessing his prey. "Thomas is right, give Beth some time to
deal with the trauma of being kidnapped. Samantha went through a
similar situation: crying jags, fear, and nightmares. She made
contact with a therapist, and she was able to put the kidnapping
episode behind her. Blackjack!" Allen laughed at the incredulous
look on Thomas's face.

"You cheating son of a bitch!"

"I don't have to cheat I have real skills. On
that note, it's time for me to pick up my wife."

Mike stood up and prepared
to leave. "I need to get my family home
too;
we have a wedding to celebrate tomorrow. I'll see you guys at
the church tomorrow."

Aaron was kind of put out, he would have
given everything he owned to be at a strip club right now. "Are
they serious, they've been here less than three hours?"

Thomas was dealing the
second hand as Allen and Mike departed. "Well Allen is still in the
honeymoon stage, and Mike just became a new father. If I had
my
druthers,
I would be going to bed with
my woman. She has it in her head that it's rotten luck for the
groom to see the bride the night before the wedding. So are you
going to play or are you going to whine for the rest of the
night."

"I tell you one
thing;
I'm never going to fall in
love."

"Love has a way of sneaking up on the best of
us. Read them and weep. Blackjack!"

Aaron swallowed hard, he
thought about Johana and the way she made him feel. Is it possibly
to fall in love with someone after knowing he
r only one day. "Like I said, I'm never going to fall in love.
I refused to become so whipped that I would leave a perfectly good
bachelor party to run after some woman." He didn't like the way
that Thomas was deliberately baiting him. "Shut up and
deal!"

***

Connie woke up on her wedding day to her
ringing cell phone. She was thinking she should have selected the
civil ceremony. "Hello"

"Good morning baby. I take it that you and
the ladies didn't get out of hand last night."

"Good morning husband, your mother and Aunt
Mabel got a little carried away, but we weathered the storm. I did
manage to surprise them with a bag of goodies."

"Please tell me that you did not give my
mother a bag of sex toys as prizes."

Connie laughed, Thomas was such a manly man,
but the last thing he wanted to know about was his mother's sex
life. "Okay so I won't tell you."

"Well I played cards with the guys last
night, and all they did was give me grieve about being away from
their wives. Please, that was only one night; I haven't been in
your bed all week. I love your Aunt Mabel, but there was absolutely
no reason for us to sleep apart."

With her Aunt Mabel visiting, she felt weird
having Thomas spend the night. It may seem old fashioned, but
nothing dried up the mood for sex faster than having an elderly
aunt just down the hall. Thomas was trying to be understanding, but
he didn't like it at all. "Baby I promise to make it up to you
tonight." They were honeymooning at Thomas's cabin in northeastern
Nebraska about twenty miles from the old Santee Sioux
reservation.

"I can't wait to get you alone."

Before Connie could respond her door banged
open, there stood Samantha and Jenna with determined looks on their
faces. "Love you Thomas I have to go, the wedding Nazi and her
sidekick just entered my bedroom.

"See you at the church in about three
hours."

"Three hours! Oh shit!" The last thing she
heard was Thomas's laugh before she hung up the phone.

Samantha was frowning, standing there in a
robe with her hands on her hips. "Now, which one am I, the Nazi or
the sidekick?"

Jenna brought a can of Seven Up and crackers
setting them down on Connie's bedside table. "I think you make a
better Nazi Sam. Hurry up Connie you need to get into the shower,
all the girls are here and most of us our dressed. Johana, Aunt
Mabel, and Tati are finishing breakfast. The hair stylist is here
with her crew, and so is the makeup artist. We don't want to be
late to the church like we were at the courthouse because of Sam's
hold-ups. Not get your ass out of the bed!"

Connie and Samantha watched Jenna leave the
bedroom in a huff. "I apologize Sam, Jenna is definitely the
Nazi."

"Yeah, people tell me that I'm bossy. Eat the
crackers; they will settle your stomach. I'm so excited for you
Connie." Samantha gave her a quick hug before leaving the
bedroom.

Connie got out of bed, grabbed the satin and
lace bra and panty set that Thomas gave her before heading towards
the bathroom to take her shower. Her dress and veil was hanging
outside the closet door in a protective covering. She didn't dare
dally, or she would get an ear full from her aunt.

She let the warm water rain
down on her as she thought about the last few weeks. Thomas wasn't
kidding about marrying within a
month;
he
took care of most of the arrangements to ensure the timeline. She
didn't stop to think about how crazy for marrying him so
quickly.
Would the circumstance
s change if she waited six months or a yea
r, probably
not?
She waited a lifetime to find a man like
Thomas, and she was ready to be his wife right now.

She thought about her friends and their place
in the wedding. It was a given that Jenna, Samantha, Johana, Beth,
and Thomas's younger sister Kimberly would be bridesmaids. His
other sister Charlene was on a fellowship in London and didn't know
if she would be able to make the wedding. Tatiana, of course, would
hold the coveted position of flower girl.