Marriage (Red, White &) Blues (Unexpectedly Married #2)

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

J uly first. I flipped the calendar page and stared at the blank month ahead of me. Two things occurred to me at once. The first being, it had been four years this month since my dad died. The second was that it’d been three months since I’d heard from Blake.

More than that happened. My mother officially moved in with Carl. She’d left this place to me to do with what I wanted. Pen, Sierra, and I made time to see each other once a week. And I got a crappy call center job to bring in some income while I continued to search for my dream job, whatever that might be. I’d know it when I saw it. What it wouldn’t be was HR at the Social Security Administration.

The best part of this job was that I worked from home. At this point in my life, not peopling more than I had to on the phone seemed like the best scenario. But it being Saturday, I didn’t have to worry about people at all. Pen and Ant had a date night planned and Sierra, a friend from work set her up on a blind date.

I flopped down on the sofa and picked up the remote to turn on the TV, just clicking on Netflix to re-watch seasons of Great British Baking Show when my phone rang, which, let’s face it, at this point surprised me. It could’ve only been my mom, maybe, or Sierra needing a rescue from a bad date because all calls from unknown numbers got the block.

Right. I picked up my phone to look at the screen and my heart just about leapt out of my chest when I saw Blake’s name at the top. Blake was calling now? Why?

Answer the damn phone and you can find out why, Gloria . Yeah. I chided myself as I hit the answer button and put the phone to my ear.

“Glory,” he said into the line, but he didn’t get to Glory me. Not anymore.

“It’s Gloria. What can I do for you, Blake?”

“Are you angry with me?”

Did he just have the nerve to ask that? “Why would you think that? How could I be angry at the man who abandoned me in Africa and hasn’t contacted me in three months? I’m not angry. I moved past angry a while ago. Now I’m just indifferent. So again, what do you need?”

“Shit, Glory. I’m sorry. You have to know I was thinking about you every?—”

“Going to have to stop you right there. Not even a text , Blake. You thought about me but couldn’t take the time to drop me a freaking text? Tell me what prompted this call or I’ll have to assume it’s nothing, in which case you’re wasting my time.”

“Ouch.”

“I’m not sure what you want from me.”

“This sounds like anger. I don’t think you’re as indifferent as you claim to be.”

“Sue me.”

“I don’t want to sue you. I have plenty of money. I want to see you. We have some things to discuss.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve spent these months coming to terms with the fact that I was stupid enough to let your pretty face and your pretty words cloud my usually sound judgment and that I was nothing more than a vacation fling.”

“Don’t. Don’t you say that. You were never just a vacation fling, Gloria.”

“Right—because I didn’t sleep with you. Hard to be a fling when the clothes aren’t flinging, am I right?”

“Dammit— stop . I told you the truth. My family is horrible at the best of times but I can’t simply cut ties with them. It’s complicated. I miss you, though, and I need to see you. I need to see… my wife .”

“You went home to your wife?” My voice grew thick with his betrayal. “What? She away now? You like the challenge?”

“Glory, Jesus —I wasn’t married. I’m not that kind of man.”

“You weren’t married… but you are now.” My stomach dropped, no plummeted , out of my body, through the floorboards of the living room to parts unknown. Letting out a breath, I squared my shoulders to finish this nightmare up. “Congratulations. I hope she’s everything I never could be.”

“Gloria—I married you .”

What? He married me?

“Excuse me?” I whispered, lacking the ability to raise the volume of my voice any higher.

“You’ll never guess who I ran into. Moses.”

“You ran into Moses. Our safari guide… in Vermont ?”

“He came to visit his brother, Michael, who happened to be one of the lawyers overseeing my grandfather’s estate. I knew his brother worked in America but what are the chances? And Glory, he had a whole lot to say.”

“I feel like this is where you tell me to sit down.”

“Sweetheart, if you’re not already sitting, do it.”

“I’m sitting.” I waited.

“Do you remember when Mingati asked if we were married or brother and sister?”

“Yes. I thought it was weird.”

“Well, in their culture, men and women don’t travel alone together unless they’re married or siblings or whatever. The men who sat in the circle with us were on the hunt to prove they’d be good providers for their new families.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re married.”

“Remember the body paint and those beautiful shawls draped around us?”

“Parts of it.”

“What parts, exactly?”

“I definitely remember the shawls and the paint, and that first drink of bitter alcohol.”

“And that’s where they got us. Mingati spoke to the people. There were dancers. The alcohol. All of that was our wedding ceremony.”

“ What ? Why didn’t Moses warn us?” I sort of shouted, and by sort of , I meant I totally shouted his ear off with that one.

“I asked the same thing. He thought we should be married, too.”

“It’s not legal. We never signed any papers. So, it didn’t happen.”

“Except remember I said Moses was there visiting his brother, Michael, the executor of my grandfather’s will?”

“ Ugh… why do I suddenly feel like I’m stuck in a bad comedy movie?”

“My family is a nightmare, but I was close with my grandfather. He always said he didn’t know where he went wrong with my father.”

“Still doesn’t mean we’re married,” I protested.

“I’m getting to that. See, Glory, I love numbers. I love finance. I understand it. My father also agreed with my penchant for numbers because I made him a lot of them. That’s why Paris was my first vacation in five years. My grandfather worried I’d turn into my father, more caught up in making money than living my life.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He left me the bulk of his estate, but he made it contingent on me getting married.”

“Let me get this straight, you can only inherit your grandfather’s money if you get married?”

“Yes. Technically, I get until I’m thirty or it gets donated to the NRA.”

“National Road Authority? Like in Ireland?” I asked, hopeful.

“National Rifle Association. He knows I don’t support them. He never supported them. The old man thought it incentive for me to meet the right girl.”

“You want me to agree that we’re married for money?”

“Not for me. I mean, I don’t want that much going to the NRA, but I want it for you.”

Gut punch. “I’m not?—”

“Michael and Moses say we’re married, so it’s mine.”

“You’ve got your money, then? Why call? What’s in it for me?’

“Half.”

I started choke-coughing. “I’m sorry?”

“Half the money is yours so long as we don’t divorce. If I’m named in a divorce there’s a freeze on the account. It all goes away.”

“You’re trying to buy me for money?”

“You have no idea how much money, but no. I have more than I’ll ever use already. I hope this is incentive to get you out here.”

“Get me out there?” I asked.

“I want you to come to Vermont. I want you to meet Michael and I want to kiss you again. Gloria Kowalski, I miss you. Please, please say you’ll come to Vermont.”

“Can I have some time to think about this? You really hurt me going no contact.”

“I know. It hurt me too. Please understand, I thought I was doing right by you—so you never had to meet my family. Being away from you gave me perspective. I didn’t want their ugly to ever touch you and I knew if I made this call, I’d never let you go, not ever again.”

I gasped. If I made this call… Never let you go again…

Back on the boat to Africa, he’d asked me what I’d do if he made a mistake. This was a doozy, but as far as apologies went… Could I do it? Did I want to? “I’ll come to Vermont.” The words tumbled out of their own accord.

Blake sighed. “Give me your email. I’ll send the ticket right out. This is good, Glory. I promise.”

After rattling off my email, I let him go so I could start packing. The whole thing left me in a daze. Given we were getting close again, I knew I had to tell Pen and Sierra, but they were both on dates and I didn’t know if I should interrupt them or not. In the end, I decided to send a group text to explain.

Me: Whelp… Blake called tonight and guess what? It turns out we got married in Africa. He’s sending me a plane ticket. I’ll give more details when you have time.

Not five minutes later, my phone buzzed with a group FaceTime call from Sierra and Pen.

“Hello?”

“ Married ?” Sierra asked. Well, it sounded more like she demanded an explanation with that one word.

“There was this ceremony with the tribe. I told you about that.”

“But you didn’t say it was a marriage ceremony, Gloria,” Pen said, exasperated.

“I didn’t know it was.”

“Are you sure he’s not trying to set you up for something?” Si asked.

“Set me up for what? He’s the one with all the money. Trafficking? We spent loads of time alone. If that was going to happen, it already would have.”

“Why the radio silence?” Pen asked and that was a very good question and harder to answer.

“He really was dealing with his family.”

“And he couldn’t pick up a damn phone?” Sierra asked or demanded to know again.

“He said being away from me gave perspective—that he didn’t want his family’s ugly to ever touch me. He said he knew if he made the call, he’d never let me go again.”

“You don’t have to go,” Pen said. “I’m worried.”

“What if this had been Ant? What would you do?”

“I’d go out to Vermont,” she admitted.

“You really are in love with this guy. Not falling. You fell, didn’t you?” Sierra asked, and this time, it wasn’t a demand to know. More like a softly spoken question that she already held the answer to.

“I fell,” I admitted. “I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened.”

“Then go get your man,” Pen stated boldly. “I’ll be here if you need me. Ant and I can catch a plane day or night if you need us. Not many people want to square off against the Von Duttons or McCains.”

“I appreciate that. But I promise it’ll be good.”

“Do you need a ride to the airport?” Sierra asked.

“Aren’t you on a date?” I asked.

“Like I care about that. One of my best friends is leaving to meet her husband. My date can kick rocks—he certainly has the personality of one,” she added that last under her breath.

“Do you have a ticket yet?” Pen wanted to know.

“He sent it to my email just a few minutes ago. It’s a red eye.”

“Ant and I will be there. Finish packing and we’ll come grab you.”

“Pen—”

That was as much as I got out before Sierra said, “Not before you grab me. We’re both taking Gloria to the airport. I’m not doing that again. You left without a goodbye for Europe. I’m getting my hugs, dammit.”

“I love you guys. I hope you know that,” I said.

We wrapped up the call and I finished packing. It wasn’t too long before I had Pen, Ant, and Sierra filling my living room waiting on me.

“I’ve got perishables. My fridge will?—”

“I’ll clean it for you,” Sierra said. “You’ve got nothing to worry about here.”

Nope. Not here.

Vermont. Now that was a different story.

On the drive to the airport, Ant asked, “What’s Blake’s last name?”

“Why? You want to hire a hitman?”

Ant chuckled. “No. I just want to know the name of the man who won the heart of one of the best women I know.”

God, I loved Ant.

“Parker. His name is Blake Parker.”

“Blake… Parker ? Of the Vermont Parkers? Is his father Robert Parker?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Because, girl, that family…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“What? You can’t do that. You can’t start to say something and then not finish. That’s like a doctor asking about a family history of cancer when you’ve gotten a lump biopsied and not telling you the results. Are they fascists or something?”

“I wouldn’t call them fascists, but they’re conservative enough to make the Von Duttons and McCains look downright liberal.”

“Are you serious? I can’t have married into a family like that. Pen, your family hated me. My in-laws are going to hate me.”

“That’s not possible,” she said sweetly. “Not if Blake loves you. You might have to find your groove with them in the beginning, but you’re Gloria Kowalski. People can’t help loving you.”

I appreciated what she was trying to do, but it did not work. I felt sick.

They got me to the airport. Everyone received their hugs and the next thing I knew my butt was boarding a plane for Vermont. First class . Blake sent me a ticket for first class. I inwardly squeed. Then I got comfortable and tried to sleep for the duration of the flight, which admittedly wasn’t very long. Less than two hours nonstop if I were landing in say, Burlington. But Blake had me flying into Lebanon Municipal Airport in New Hampshire. Still, I couldn’t really complain about a three-hour flight.

Nerves started getting to me the closer to New Hampshire we flew. When the captain announced we were preparing for landing, I thought I might’ve been invaded by a colony of butterflies. After three months apart, how would he react to seeing me? How awkward was it going to get? Why did I agree to come here?

The plane touched down and rolled to a stop. Then the seatbelt sign went off and we were invited to depart the aircraft. I slung my purse around my body and my backpack over one shoulder then disembarked with the rest of the travelers. I felt tired. I felt anxious. My heart beat so rapidly, it hurt my chest. Given it was the middle of the night, not many people waited to greet us.

I scanned the room and my eyes fell on the most handsome man in the place. He wore jeans and a lavender button-down, along with brown, soft, leather loafers. His black bangs hung just a little bit shaggy as if he’d run his fingers through them a few times. His dimple took my breath away.

“ Glory .” He smiled my name once reaching me. The man wrapped me in his arms and I melted. I didn’t mean to. Honestly? I’d planned to make him work for it, but the moment those arms hugged me, all my plans went out the metaphorical window. Then he pressed his lips to mine. A romance novel kiss— again . In an airport, no less.

“Hey, husband,” I finally managed to get out.

“Missed you more than you know. C’mon. Let’s get your bag and head home.”

Let’s get my bag…

…and head home.

Wow.

Okay.

I could do this.