“Lunch?”
“Absolutely.” She grinned and waved to Tony, her lawyer, and gripped his hand, and together they hurriedout of the courthouse and down the steps. Halfway down they burst out laughing.
“Oops,” they said at the same time and burst out laughing again. They hurried down the steps and across the street to a restaurant that a lot of the lawyers from the courthouse used. They spent two hours there then Wanda walked him to his SUV, and before he climbed in, she hugged him and kissed him long, hard, and deep.
“If you need anything, call me,” Christopher said as he broke away from her.
“You too. But we should continue on as we were. This was a fabulous weekend, and I don’t regret anything that we’ve done. But I’m going to tell you now that I probably won’t be calling you, but I do wish you’d call me to let me know when you arrive home. I don’t want to have to worry about you driving all that way.”
“Okay, I can do that. But if something happens that you have a gallery showing anywhere in New York, and I’m talking the state, not just the city. Let me know, and I’ll be there.”
“Like that’s going to happen. But okay, I’ll personally send you an engraved invitation.”
“See that you do.” He laughed and kissed her again. As much as he wanted to go back to her place, he knew he had to break it off now and cleanly. “Be good, Wanda. I wish you well.”
“Thanks, Christopher. And I wish you well also. Call me when you get home.” She kissed him quickly and stepped back as he climbed into his SUV. She watched until he disappeared down the road in the late afternoon traffic.
Chapter 17
“Yes, Dear. No, Dear. I’m sorry, Dear.” Christopher laughed into his cell phone. “But in my defense, it was almost three when I got in, that would have been midnight your time, and I didn’t want to wake you.” He paused as he listened to the person on the other end of his cell phone. What he didn’t see was his partner staring at him like he had two heads. “Yes, I’m at work now, I made it home safely, so I did my husbandly duty, now get to work, woman.” He laughed and hung up. “What?” He stared at the shocked expression on Sean Brown’s face.
“What or who was that?”
Christopher grinned. “My wife.”
“Bullshit. You’re not married. I would have been your best man at the wedding.” When he saw Christopher’s facial expression, he stared in shock. “Spill.”
“Only if you get me a coffee.” Christopher grinned as he passed his cup over to Sean and watched as he practically ran to the coffee pot. Once he was back, he said. “Okay, we have twenty minutes before we have to get to work. Spill.”
“Remember when I came in here and told you Amber’s and my wedding was off, and you immediately showed me the file you had on her?”
“Yes, then you went away for six weeks. Then you’ve been gone this last week.”
“And I thank you for taking up for my slack. But everything’s good now, and I’m here to stay. I didn’t break off the wedding with Amber because she wassleeping around. When you showed me that file, it was the first I heard about it. I left here and went back to my place and kicked her out. No, the day the wedding was called off, we went to apply for our license down at the courthouse. We filled out the paperwork, and the clerk put it in. After she entered my info, she asked if I had divorce papers.”
“For what?”
“Shocked the hell out of me, but there was a marriage certificate on file that I was already married. I left here and went to my parents’ house to talk to them about it. It was the most innocent thing, but somehow someone in the church got my dad and the bride’s mom to sign the paperwork. They were the best man and matron of honor. Because they were our legal parents, and we were underage, their signatures basically gave their permission that they agreed.”
“So, how long have you been married?”
“Twenty years, three months and three weeks.” Christopher grinned as Sean actually dropped his coffee cup and had to jump back and rush to clean up the mess.
“No freaking way. You’re only what, twenty-six? You would have been five fucking years old?”
“Yep.” Christopher laughed and then sobered as he opened his desk and pulled out a wedding photo. “This is a picture of the wedding, but I don’t want you to freak out.” He passed it over and studied Sean’s face when he turned it over and looked at it. He looked up in shock. “Yes, she was sick and given only two weeks to live.” Christopher went on and told Sean about the whole wedding and how he’d left. And what happenedin the spring and then this last week. “We have a year before an annulment can be granted.”
“Damn. Do you happen to have a current picture?”
“I do.” Christopher grinned as he accessed the pictures he’d taken of Wanda when she hadn’t been aware of him snapping them.
“Damn, man, she’s absolutely gorgeous. And you’re going to divorce her?”
“Maybe.” He grinned at Sean’s shocked expression, but before he could ask anything the phone rang and they got down to business.
*****
“Knock! Knock! Willow!” Gypsy called out to get the artist’s attention. She didn’t want to get sprayed with a hose or have goop thrown on her. Not that it would make a difference after the shitty day she’d had. Ten years she worked at her job, and today she was laid off. Downsizing. She snorted and looked up when she saw Willow across the room.
