Suddenly a Bride (15 page)

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you,” Andy said, bringing Chris’ attention back to him.

“Really?  What about?”

Andy stood up and shoved his hands in his pocket
s
.  With
a shrug, he said, “Oh, I wanted to say hi.  Caitlyn and I grew up together, so she’s like a sister, you know?”

Since Chris had no idea what having a sister was like, he didn’t respond.

“Anyway, I
wanted to congratulate you on your marriage,” Andy continued.

“Okay.  Thanks.” After receiving congratulations from the others, Chris surmised the congratulatory process was
a
tradition on this planet.  He’d have to remember that for when he and Caitlyn attended Lexie’s wedding.

As Chris made a move to pass Andy, Andy stepped in front of him.
  “You know, Caitlyn and I grew up together.”

“You already mentioned that.”

“Well, you see those pictures?”

Chris glanced at the wall down the hallway from where he’d just walked.  “Yeah.”

“Want to see what Caitlyn looked like when she was younger?”

Curiosity piqued, he nodded.

Andy led him down the hall and motioned to one of the pictures.  “This is her baby picture.”

Chris took note of the baby with soft auburn curls and wide smile.  It was fascinating to see a baby picture, but much more so that it was her picture.  They didn’t take baby pictures on his world.  In fact, he couldn’t recall them taking pictures at all of people unless someone made some honorable distinction to society.  He felt a grin cross his face as he mentally memorized Caitlyn’s baby picture.  Would
their baby look similar to her
?

“Over here,” Andy continued, “is her high school senior picture.”

Chris turned his attention to the other picture and recognized the younger version of Caitlyn.  She had another warm smile.  She did a lot of smiling.  Once again, he wondered what her father meant when he made that comment about her finally being happy again.  It seemed that she was always happy.

“And over here is the picture of her wedding to my brother,” Andy said, tapping the photo.

Chris felt his smile falter as he recalled her mother going on and on about how romantic weddings were.  All the fancy stuff about sending doves into the air seemed excessive, but he had to admit seeing Caitlyn in a white gown t
ook his breath away.  Seeing her
next to another man, however, did not.  He recalled seeing a picture of her with Randy in her apartment.  She had since taken it down, but then he recalled the comment
she made the night of their bonding ceremony.  She said just because someone died, it didn’t mean you stopped loving them.  It hadn’t bothered him at the tim
e when she said it, but now
he was taking a careful look at how she
looked next to Randy.  Did she smile like that when she was with him?

“She and my brother were in love for ages,” Andy continued, pulling Chris’ attention to him.  “I mean, if you happened to be in the same room with them, it was a ‘three’s a crowd’ type of situation, you know?”

Actually, Chris didn’t know what he meant
,
but he nodded as if he did.

“Yeah.  They were the perfect couple.  They got married right ou
t of high school.  It was so 50s
of the
m to do, but since he died at twenty-nine
, I guess it was good they didn’t wait.”

“
I guess,” Chris said, not so sure he agreed.

“That’s why we were all shocked to learn she got married again.  It’s so weird, you know.  It’s like you just fell out of the
sky or something.”

Chris offered a weak laugh.  Andy had no idea how close to the truth he was.

“With Randy, she couldn’t talk about anything else. 
It was Randy this and Randy that all the time.  But she didn’t even mention you until right before today.
”

Shifting from one foot to the other, he shrugged.  “We didn’t…” What was the word again?  “Date for long.”

“It was love at first sight, huh?”

No, n
ot exactly
, Chris thought
.  The bonding ceremony had nothing to do with love.  It was a matter of preserving the genetic line from one generation to another.

Andy’s eyebrows rose.  “Or maybe not.  I guess Caitlyn felt her biological clock ticking and decided it was time to act on it.”

“I
don’t understand what you mean.
”

“What?  By a biological clock or the fact that she settled for you
to have children?  One thing she regretted when Randy died was not having a child with him
.  She probably decided even if she couldn’t have Randy’s child, you
rs was
better than nothing.”

“That’s not how it happened.”

“Oh?  Then how did it happen?”

“Well, I—” Chris stopped and thought over what he was about to say.  He couldn’t tell Andy he was from another planet and cam
e here for the
life mate the agency chose for him.

“Look, I
’ve known Caitlyn ever since we were little kids.  Randy was her true love.
  I just don’t see how anyone else will ever come close to her like he was, especially since she’s only known you for…how long?”

“I don’t see what
length of time has to do with anything
.”

Andy shrugged.  “Yeah, y
ou’re probably right.” He patted Chris on the shoulder.  “Congratulations.  Again.”

Chris watched as Andy headed toward the patio.  With another look at the pictures, he noted Caitlyn and members of her family on the wall.  His gaze fell on her wedding picture with Randy
,
and
he
recalled what she had told him when he saw the picture with her and Randy in her apartment. 
Just because someone dies, it doesn’t mean you don’t ch
erish their memory.

But she’d taken down that picture, which meant she was moving forward with her new life—the one she was sharing with him.  Randy might have been an important part of her past, but he was an important part of her present and future.  Nodding, he decided it was time to go back to Caitlyn.

Chapter Twelve

C
aitlyn rolled
her eyes and fought the urge to groan.  “It’s nothing, Mom.  They’re just rings.  They don’t mean anything.”

Her mother gasped and inspected Caitlyn’s hand. 
“Nothing.” She turned to Lexie.  “Let’s see your engagement ring again.”

“No, Mom,” Lexie argued.  “This isn’t fair.
 
You can’
t compare Chris to Nick.”

“This is outrageous, Caitlyn,” her mother said with a shake of her head.  “A man who doesn’t fork over a significant portion of his wages doesn’t love you as much as one who does.  At least Randy gave you something, even if it was a small diamond.”

Caitlyn rubbed her forehead.  She needed a pain killer or a dose of chocolate in the worst possible way.

“Oh, Chris,” Lexie said.

Caitlyn looked up from the picnic table where her mother practically held her hostage and breathed a sigh of relief.  Good!  Standing up, she hurried over to him and smiled.  “I heard you wiped the floor with everyone at pool.”

Chris frowned.  “Wiped the floor?”

Ignoring her mother’s curious expression, she laughed and slipped her arm around his.  “Yeah.  You know.  You won every
game.” Her mother opened her mouth to speak, so she added, “Well, it’s been fun, everyone, but Chris and I have to go.  We have a house to look at in about a half hour.”

“You made plans to
look at a house during my barbeque
?” her mother asked.

“Oh, let them look at houses,” Caitlyn’s father said, sitting next to her mother.  “They’ll have fun.  Knowing Chris, he’ll be able to cut a good deal on a place.”

“Not like the kind the doctor’s getting for Lexie,” her mom said under her breath.  “The doctor’s going to live right on the beach.”

Lexie groaned.

“Apples to oranges, Rachel
,” her dad told her mom.

Caitlyn sighed. 
And her mother wondered why she intentionally made an appointment wi
th the realtor during this get-together
?  Caitlyn
didn’t know why she thought coming
while others were here
would stop her mom from getting too much
in her business.
“I’ll see you later.”
Much, much later.

“Before you leave,” her mother began as she got up, “you might as well pick up your wedding present.”

“You didn’t have to get us anything,” Caitlyn said.

“Nonsense.  When people get married, you’re
supposed to get them a gift.
”

“It’s custom to give gifts and congratulate couples when they get
married?” Chris asked.

“Well, it’s custom for the wife to pick out the gift, but the husband gets full credit for it,” Caitlyn’s dad joked.

“Really?” Chris asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Her dad nodded.  “Trust me on this one.  Nothing a man will pick will ever meet up to the expectations of the bride.”

“Oh,” Chris replied.

By the look on Chris’
face, she could tel
l Chris was cataloging this in
his brain, just like he catalogued everything else.  In many ways, she thought it was cute.

“I got you something too,” Sandy said as she approached them with a soda in her hand.  “But wait until t
onight to open it,” she whispered with a wink.

Now that was some
thing Chris was going to love.

“We chipped in and got you all something too,” Lexie added, motioning to Blake and her.

Blake
sighed from where he
and Andy were
set
ting
out the remaining hamburgers and hot dogs to save for leftovers.  “I tried to get you a grill, but Lexie wouldn’t have it.”

“That’s because Caitlyn’s been talking about needing a microwave,” Lexie replied.

“But a grill makes everything taste better,” Blake argued.

“A microwave is much better,” Caitlyn said.  “I don’t have to put charcoal in it to get it started.” Making a show of checking her watch, she added, “Well, we better go.  Thanks for the gifts, but I meant it when I said you didn’t have to get them.”

Sandy smiled.  “We wanted to.  I’ll join you guys on
the way
out.  I have to get to work soon anyway.”

After they said good-bye, Caitlyn joined Chris and Sandy as they walked to the living room to pick up the gifts.  As they passed through the hallway, Caitlyn caught sight of the wedding picture of her and Randy and nearly tripped.

“It’s a good thing you don’t do that at work,” Sandy joked.

She stopped and glanced at the patio doors where her parents were talking at the picnic table.

“Is something wrong?” Chris asked.

“I forgot to tell my parents something,” Caitlyn said.  “Chris, why don’t you wait for me in the car, okay?”

“Come on, Chris,” Sandy began.  “I’ll help you carry your gifts to the car.”

Caitlyn waited until they left the hallway before she pulled the picture off the wall and headed back to the patio.  She approached her mom and showed her the wedding picture of her and Randy.  “Why is this still hanging up on the wall?”

Her mom turned from her dad and looked at the picture.  “Because it’s the only wedding picture I have of you.  If you’d had a wedding with Chris, I would have one of you and him up there.”

Caitlyn had dealt with as much as she could handle.  “You want to know why I didn’t want to have a wedding or bring Chris over right away?  It’s because of things like this.” She pointed to the picture.  “How do you think Chris would feel if he saw this up on the wall?”