Seduced by Moonlight (24 page)

He paused, taking a deep breath. “Okay. You want to know what I begged Harry to keep his mouth shut about? One night, a long time ago, when we were still playing ball we wound up at the same house party in Philly. And the owner of the house, a big-time sports agent, hired prostitutes to keep the guests, mostly professional football players, happy. But I was there for the high-stakes poker. Not the prostitutes. And Harry left once he found out that there were prostitutes servicing guys in the back rooms. He left and I should have left but I had a great hand and I wanted to play it out.”

Cherisse's legs suddenly felt weak. She sat down at the table.

Looking at Harry, she said, “And you didn't want me to know because you figured I wouldn't understand?”

“I was embarrassed,” said Harry simply. “No, I didn't want you to know any more than Charlie did. If some reporter had caught us there it could have ruined our careers. Our families would have gone through the embarrassment right alongside us. I started being very careful about whom I associated with after that.”

“If either of you macho men had thought for a second you would have realized that football wives, any woman married to a celebrity, know what kind of things go on at parties! I'm not shocked. I'm disappointed that neither of you thought you could confide in me. It makes me wonder about other things that haven't been said.”

She regarded Charlie. “I do forgive you for everything. I'm tired of carrying around the anger. You're Danielle's father and therefore you're a part of this family. But you've got to admit that you really didn't want me back, Charlie. You were simply afraid of starting over, afraid of being alone.”

Charlie hung his head. “You're wrong. I do love you, Cheri. I'll always love you.” He met her gaze. “But I guess you're right about one thing. I was afraid of being alone and, maybe, I saw you, Danielle and me being a family again as the perfect solution to that loneliness. I do want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted. You don't know how much the divorce affected me. I felt like such a loser. I thought getting you back would make me a winner again.”

“Things are never that simple, Charlie. Like I've told you, I've moved on. And no matter how hard you tried, I would never feel the longing for you that I used to. That part's over with. But, yes, I will always have a soft spot for you somewhere deep in my heart. Just not close to the surface because, after all, you were my first love and you're the father of my child. So, can we bury the past here and now? Can we go forward and be friends? Be the parents that Danielle needs now that she's practically a grown-up? She must have been terribly upset by what happened here tonight!”

Charlie smiled. “Yeah, I did make an ass of myself.” He looked over at Harry.

“I'm sorry for slugging you.”

Harry hesitated. “I'm sorry for knocking you on your ass, too.”

Cherisse got up and went to Harry. He pulled her into his arms. Looking at Charlie, she said, “You want to make this up to me, Charlie?”

“How?” asked Charlie with real sincerity.

“You're going to give me away at our wedding next Thursday,” Cherisse shocked both of them by saying.

“What?!” both of them cried at once.

Cherisse smiled. “That's right. To demonstrate your willingness to move on with your life, and your happiness at our union, you're going to give me away to Harry. After that, no one can say there is any animosity left between the three of us.”

Charlie sighed. “My friends will think I'm a punk!”

“Do you care more about what your friends think or what your
family
thinks?” asked Cherisse, eyes narrowed.

Charlie gave up. He had rarely been able to win an argument with her when he had been married to her, he didn't see why things had to change now. “Okay, okay, I'll do it.”

Cherisse peered up at Harry. “Is that satisfactory with you?”

Harry just wanted to get married. “I can live with it.”

The three of them returned to the party to find Danielle and Echo dancing, Jo and Mildred chatting up their gentlemen friends, Sandrene, Sage and Kendall, Jr. also dancing, and Susanne and Kendall in the corner kissing under the mistletoe.

Cherisse was immediately set upon by Sonia and Mary, who wanted to know if she was all right. She assured them that everything was all right, and that Charlie had agreed to give her away at the wedding on Thursday. Whereupon Sonia placed her hand on Cherisse's forehead and said, “She doesn't have a fever, Mary. Something else must be making her talk crazy.”

Later, after everyone had gone home except for Harry and his family they all sat in the family room quietly drinking coffee and eating what was left of the ice-cream pound cake.

“You all certainly know how to show your guests a good time,” Susanne joked. “I haven't had this much fun in years.”

Harry laughed. “Wait until the wedding. I'm sure we can come up with something to keep you entertained.”

Cherisse hoped his words were not prophetic.

Christmas fell on a Thursday. And Cherisse had to work the next day plus the following week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. David was kind enough to let her leave early on Wednesday.

 

On the day of the wedding, it snowed in Vail, thankfully not so heavy that the roads were impassable. The two families had spent the previous night at the resort, occupying two of the new condominiums.

Cherisse and Harry hadn't gotten the chance to be alone in days. In fact they had not had a chance to make love since their night in the Hotel Teatro. A memory Harry thought of fondly, and Cherisse felt had been a dream at this point.

So they looked forward to their wedding night in Harry's suite with great expectation.

The wedding was to take place in the ballroom. The high-ceilinged room had been furnished with a hundred gold straight-back chairs with beige striped seats. Down the aisle ran a red carpet. Orchids, rare at this time of the year, were in the centerpiece on the stage where the minister's podium stood ready.

The bride wore a simple sleeveless white tea-length gown by Carolina Herrera that complemented her lovely arms and legs. The groom wore a Hugo Boss tuxedo with a red cummerbund. Cherisse chose Sonia as her maid of honor. Harry asked Kendall to be his best man.

Danielle, Sandrene and Sage made lovely bridesmaids.

The guests sighed when Charlie escorted Cherisse down the aisle. And when Reverend McLeod asked, “Who gives this woman to this man?” Charlie said in a clear voice, “I do.”

He then placed Cherisse's hand in Harry's and went and sat down in the front row beside Jo, who was silently weeping. She took his hand in hers.

Reverend McLeod cleared his throat. “We are gathered here today in the sight of God to unite this man and this woman in holy matrimony.” On Harry and Cherisse's advice, he skipped the part where he might have asked if anyone objected to the union. “Do you, Harrison Walker Payne, take this woman, Cherisse Patterson, as your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her until death do you part?”

Harry gave an emphatic, “Yes, I definitely do!”

“And do you, Cherisse Patterson, take this man, Harrison Walker Payne, to be your lawfully wedded husband. Do you promise to love and cherish him until death do you part?”

“Yes, I do!” said Cherisse, smiling up at Harry.

“Wonderful!” intoned Reverend McLeod. “Then with the power vested in me by the Lord God above and the state of Colorado, I now pronounce that you are husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, Harry!”

Harry did so with a great deal of enthusiasm, so much so that the guests started clapping loudly and two minutes later started laughing because it didn't appear as if he was going to let go of her anytime soon.

As it turned out, it was a three-minute kiss, after which Harry picked up his bride and carried her back up the aisle to the song “Bring It On Home to Me” by Sam Cooke, the very song that Cherisse had sung in his ear the night of the red-and-white ball.

The song selection was a surprise to Cherisse. She smiled into the face of her new husband and whispered in his ear while he swept her up the aisle, “You actually remembered that song?”

“Baby, how could I forget?” Harry asked, grinning.

The wedding photographer snapped photos of them as they passed him. The guests were on their feet applauding the happy couple, and when they disappeared out the entrance, they began filing out of the room and making their way to Solomon's, where the reception would be held.

Harry and Cherisse were applauded by guests of the resort as they moved through the lobby to the elevators. “Are you going to put me down anytime soon?”

“Not until I carry you over the threshold of our suite,” Harry said.

Cherisse held a small bouquet of white orchids in her right hand and was grateful that the length of the dress afforded her a modicum of modesty since Harry was adamant about not putting her down.

A couple was standing in front of the bank of elevators when they reached it.

“Where're you taking her, Harry?” the middle-aged black woman dressed in bright blue ski togs teasingly asked.

Her husband laughed. “Where did I take you the moment we got married, Bernice?”

Bernice suddenly laughed and clasped her cheeks as though they'd grown hot with embarrassment. “Oh, my, then we must not hold you up!”

“Jack, Bernice, meet my new wife, Cherisse,” Harry said.

“Delighted to meet you,” said Bernice.

“Likewise,” said Cherisse feeling kind of awkward sitting in Harry's arms.

When the elevator arrived, Bernice and her husband stepped aside. “Go for it, Harry,” said Jack, gesturing toward the open elevator doors. “Bernice and I will wait.”

“Thanks, Jack, Bernice,” Harry said as he stepped into the empty conveyance.

Cherisse pressed the button for Harry's floor, and the elevator doors slowly slid closed. Alone at last, she kissed Harry's mouth softly and looking deeply in his eyes said, “I love you so much, Harry Payne.”

“I hope so,” Harry said, smiling, “because you're stuck with me now. I don't ever plan to let you go.”

In the suite, Harry put her down and kissed her again. Raising his head, he said, “The staff has instructions to begin serving even if we don't show up for a while.”

Cherisse was way ahead of him. She had already put her flowers down and was unbuttoning his shirt. “Listen, Harry, we can save time if we don't talk, just make love.”

Harry liked the sound of that, and turned her around and unzipped her dress. In less than two minutes they were both completely nude, and falling onto the bed in each other's arms.

 

In Solomon's the wedding guests were being entertained by jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson. Her deep, soulful voice was in fine form this evening, and the audience sat rapt. With her signature dreadlocks she was also a physical presence to be reckoned with.

Echo couldn't take his eyes off her. Sitting across from him, Danielle wondered what it was that Cassandra Wilson had that made her so magnetic to him. “Echo,” she said softly.

He didn't seem to hear her.

“Echo!” she said in a louder voice.

Echo turned to look at her. “Did you say something?”

Irritated, Danielle asked, “Why are you staring at her?”

“It's her sound,” Echo said. “I never knew jazz could be that good. I'm going to have to sample more jazz artists.”

Danielle smiled. It was true. Echo was a diehard fan of rap and hip-hop music. He would tease her because she liked a wide range of musical styles. She guessed it was because when she was a kid her mother exposed her to so many kinds of music. She had grown up listening to Motown, opera, jazz and the blues. She loved some of today's hip-hop artists, as well, but she had to admit that some of her favorite musicians—like Nina Simone, Fats Waller and Carmen McRae, who had the smoothest voice she'd ever heard—were long dead.

“You can borrow all the CDs you want from me,” she said.

Echo smiled at her. “You wanna dance?”

Danielle grinned. Usually, Echo didn't like to dance. But maybe he was trying to compromise. He'd danced with her on Christmas Eve and, now, he wanted to dance with her again.

“Sure,” she said.

As they rose their eyes met and held. “You're the prettiest woman here,” he told her.

Danielle blushed. He'd called her a woman!

At the bar in the front of the restaurant, Charlie had ordered his second gin and tonic.

He was trying to stop thinking about where Cherisse and Harry were. Okay, he'd agreed to give Cherisse away at their wedding but only under duress. His participation didn't mean he had stopped loving her or that he didn't harbor ill feelings toward Harry Payne. Maybe one day he would be able to look at him and not wish he'd step in front of a speeding bus, but not today.