I smiled and shook my head. “I can’t wait any longer.”
I could tell the promise of a lusty evening was getting into Dan’s head, overtaking his rational thought. And feeling his desire for me made me want to do it even more.
But he stood up taller, straightened his shirt and said, “No. This isn’t right. I want to make love to my wife.”
I pushed my lip out into a pout. But then I lit up. “So do.”
“So do what?”
“Make love to your wife.”
He paused.
“Let’s go get married right now. At the courthouse.”
He shook his head. “This thing with your family will blow over before you know it, and you’ll always regret not having them at your wedding.”
“I’ll always regret not spending every possible second as your wife.”
We kissed again, and Dan took my hand and squeezed it. “I want you to have the exact wedding you want.”
“I have the exact man I want,” I said. “And that’s all that matters.”
I learned later that the wedding night is nothing like all those girls described it. It wasn’t scary or painful. And, like Katie Jo had said, I wasn’t nervous one bit. This was my Dan. And it was perfect. Giving my body to the man I’d pledged my heart to fifteen years earlier was the best feeling I had ever had. I was finally a woman with the confidence to prove it. And this life, this man, was going to be my forever. Love was grand indeed.
Annabelle
Mad Game
Lovey always says that the right outfit can totally change your outlook. No matter what her financial situation when she was younger, she always made sure to buy one new, fabulous outfit every season, complete with shoes, hat and bag.
I had never been much of a shopper but had definitely inherited Lovey’s taste for the finer things. Like her, I would rather have one gorgeous designer outfit than ten from the mall. But, looking through my closet, nothing seemed quite gorgeous enough to be Spring Fling worthy.
It was the first time in my life I wanted to buy a dress to impress another woman. But, upon occasion, you know you are the amateur at the Masters, so, instead of looking like a total rookie, you get the same putter Tiger’s using.
The thing about Laura Anne was that she was sort of like one of the saints. I heard about her all the time, and I believed that she existed. But I had never actually seen her. You would think thatwould have been difficult, given that we co-chaired the same event. But, somehow, we managed to coordinate the entire thing via e-mail and never actually made it to a meeting together.
It gave me plenty of time to build up Salisbury’s star quarterback—and my husband’s ex—in my mind. I had her pictured as tall, at least five eight or so, with those blue eyes so rich you think they must be colored contacts, and long, naturally blond hair that perfect shade that is luscious and stunning without looking like a floozy. She also, of course, had a perfect body in my mind and, for better or worse, she did my physique a lot of good. In the weeks leading up to that event and our first meeting, I became quite the runner and yoga goddess.
I told myself it was because I didn’t want to come face-to-face with my husband’s ex without him thinking that I looked better. But, in all honesty, I think it had less to do with what Ben thought and more to do with what everyone else thought. I was so tired of hearing about this perfect, infamous Laura Anne that I needed to prove I wasn’t the consolation prize.
My paycheck seemed to go as quickly as it came, and I certainly wasn’t going to ask my new husband for the kind of money I was planning on dropping on my attire. So I did something that I had always been too proud to do until that moment: I called Lovey.
“Hello, my darling Annabelle,” she said when she answered. I loved that my eighty-seven-year-old grandmother read her caller ID.
“Well hello, my darling Lovey.”
“How’s life in Food Lion country?” It was a special question from my grandmother because she and D-daddy had made a good part of the fortune they had amassed on the grocery store’s stock.
“All is well, Lovey. I just wanted to tell you that I am chairing the biggest gala of the year next weekend.”
Lovey gasped. “You need to get here immediately. I must buyyou a new dress for your formal introduction to Salisbury society.” She sighed. “I know all you young people have gotten casual, but in Salisbury theydress.”
I smiled. I don’t know if she instinctively knew that’s why I was calling or if the offer was her own idea. I said, “Oh, Lovey, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Darling, I insist.” I could hear her flipping through the pages of her calendar. “I have bridge on Monday, book club on Tuesday, D-daddy has a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday... How about Wednesday afternoon? Thursday I’m having my hair done.”
“Do you think that’s enough time before the party?”
