Chapter Five
CALEB
What the fuck just happened? I watch Cora walk out the door. Everything inside me wants me to go after her. Tell her to stop and talk to me, but I have to face Miss May, who is staring at me.
"We don't normally suggest our Brides take an assignment with someone they know. Particularly if there is any form of indecision from the Bride." Miss May stands in front of me with her hands on her hips. My lips turn up in the corner, she looks like my tiny mom when she's trying to give me advice.
"I appreciate that, but she did agree to do it."
"Reluctantly, I know she needs the cash. We will make this happen, but if at any stage she wants to leave, you have to let her."
"Agreed, I'd never do anything to hurt her. She was the one that got away, you guessed that already. So, getting a second chance is something that I will treasure." I move into her office as she moves toward her desk. "Let me sign the paperwork and I can pay the first payment today."
We spend the next half an hour working on the paperwork and arranging payment. When I walk out of her office, I feel lighter. Something good could come out of this, if I only get her to like me and understand why I did what I did.
Standing, I shake Miss May's hand and leave with a big smile on my face. Now I just have to get Cora to hear me out. We need to iron out any problems before the wedding, although that is not my priority right now. I want Cora back. I now know why no other woman was right for me, because I was subconsciously comparing them to Cora without realizing it. Now it all makes sense.
I look over to the bar across the road and I am convinced I see Cora sitting with another woman. I want to go over and talk to her, but I have to give her the time and space to come to terms with what is going to happen from Monday. It's operation ‘get Cora back’ for me. I just hope she's on board too.
I make my way over to my mom's house. Sunday dinner is really important in our family and I know that this is going to be the last Sunday where I attend on my own. I need to explain to them all about Cora. When I left her my family were not happy, they all loved her and thought that I wasn’t very fair in not explaining why I left.
Walking through the door, I shout out, “Hey, I’m here.” This is something we have done for years and it’s a habit I can’t shake. My parents live a thirty minute drive from me. I like the drive out of the city limits because it gives me time to think and I’ve had a lot to think about over the last two days. After I left Miss May’s I went back to the office and called Marion, my housekeeper, and told her to prepare the room next to mine for Cora. She will be there when Cora arrives and will talk to her about any dietary requirements, anything she needs to know when she’s cooking and preparing the apartment. I own a penthouse apartment, with an outside area overlooking the cityscape. It’s my space, I like it quiet, empty and clean. Everything has a home and I know that I might need to compromise when Cora moves in. I just hope I’ve made the right decision.
When I walk out of the back of the house, my mom comes over and hugs me. “Hey, darling, good to see you. Have you been busy this week?”
She asks me this every week. “Not too bad at all this week.” I look around to see who is there and I smile when I see my brother, Nick, my sister, June and her husband, Stefan, and my dad. Everybody is here. Walking over to my brother and sister, I give them both a hug.
I take a seat next to my dad who offers me his hand for shaking. He’s not a big hugger. “Everything good, son?” he asks.
“Everything is great, thanks.”
My mom gives me a cup of coffee and then takes her seat. “So, we were just talking about Nick’s women problems.”
“Mom, do we really have to discuss this? I’m not ready to settle down yet, you should be talking to Caleb, he’s older than me. He should be married by now and have a tribe of kids.” My brother looks at me and sticks his tongue out. He may be the younger brother, the prankster and the playboy, but he’s tough in business. I know that he wants to make a name for himself before he settles down.
“Well, actually, I do have something to discuss with you all. I was going to wait until we had eaten, but seeing as you want the heat off you, Nick, I’ll take it all.” I look around at my family who have all seemed to move to the front of their chairs and lean in to hear me.
“Yes, son,” my father says.
“Are we talking about grandchildren?” mom asks, there’s a hint of excitement in her voice..
I laugh. “No, we are not. So, I know you all remember Tillie.” I take a breath while they all take in her name.
“Yes, she wasn’t nice. She was mean to mom.” June says her voice filled with anger as she glances over at mom.
“What? I didn't know that.” I look at Mom, my brow raised in question. Why didn’t she tell me?
She shakes her head. “She tried to be rude, but I shot her down. I couldn’t believe it when you got engaged, but I thought if you love her then we will too. So what about her? Are you getting back with her?”
“No way, she sent me an invitation to her wedding to Daly Foster.” I let that sink in for a moment.
“Oh god, I know how much you hate him and have done since he pushed Cora in Kindergarten.” Mom says, smiling at me.
“I have always hated him, so when I got the invite I wanted to throw it in the bin. But Sheila told me about an agency where you can hire a bride.” I look up at them and hold my hands in the air. “I know it sounds seedy, but it’s not. They move into your house, you get to know them, they get to know you and then they move out a few days after the event. When I heard about it I thought that’s stupid, but then I thought what a way to get back at Tillie for inviting me to her wedding. By bringing my bride with me.”
“Are you mental? You could take any woman with you, you don’t have to pay someone to go with you.” Nick laughs. “Unless you don’t know any women who want to spend the day with you at your ex’s wedding.” He starts laughing and I clip him around the side of his head. “Ow, what the fuck was that for?”
I laugh. “For being an idiot.”
Mom looks at me. “I know he’s being stupid, but he’s right, why do you need to hire a woman and why would someone pretend to be your bride?”
“I want to go to the wedding with someone who knows a bit about me and we will be working on that for the first week and then we can spend the weekend at the wedding and then she can leave after a few days at home. She gets paid and I get the best revenge on the woman who wanted to marry a rich man and cheated on me.”
“If you think it’s the right thing to do, then I guess it is,” mom says. She looks e over. “I think there’s more to this story, right?”
I nod my head. “Do you guys remember Cora Miller?”
My mom sits up in her seat. “Of course we remember Cora, she’s the one that got away, or should I say she’s the one who’s heart you broke. You didn’t just break hers, you broke yours too.”
“Oh I remember Cora, she was pretty and you just broke her heart. I wonder if she’s seeing anyone. I might have a chance.” Nick looks at me. He’s pushing my buttons and he knows it.
“Not going to happen, Nick.” I growl at him.
“I loved Cora, she was like a sister to me,” June says.
They are all looking at me, waiting for me to continue talking. “You need to finish that statement, Caleb,” Dad doesn’t say much but when he does it’s straight to the point.
“Well the lady who owns the Bride for Hire agency, Miss May, called me and told me she had someone for the job and wanted to set up a meeting for Monday. I was in the locality so I popped into the office. She was still interviewing her candidate and when she came out to see me, Cora walked out behind her. She had matched me with Cora.”
No one says anything, they sit there staring at me with their mouths open.
“What happened? I’m sure it didn’t go as smoothly as Miss May would have liked,” Mom says.
“Cora tried to walk out of the door, but I offered Miss May to double the money and I wanted her for two months, not one week.”
“Two months? What the hell were you thinking?” Mom shouts at me. Okay so I thought she would be on my side.
“I panicked and didn’t want her to get away from me. I owe her so much and the chance to explain and apologize was there right in front of me. So I did the only thing I could, I threw money at the problem.”
“Women don’t like to be bought, Caleb,” my sister snaps at me.
“Wow.” I hold my hands up in front of me. “I know. I haven’t paid her for sex. That won’t be happening. She looked like she needs money. She obviously does if she was interviewing with Miss May. I reacted because I saw her and I owe her. I owe her big time.”
“Yes, you do. You broke her heart. She really must be desperate if she takes the job with you. I’d say she hates you.” My sister takes a sip of her drink and her husband reaches out and touches her leg.
“I know and I will whatever it takes for her to understand why I did it. I will make it up to her for however long it takes for her to be able to look at me without the hatred she had in her eyes on Friday. It broke me.”
Mom stands up and walks over to me. She hugs me. “I think you’ve never stopped loving her and I think you need this as much as she does.” She kisses me on the cheek and walks back inside to the kitchen.
My mom loves to cook, their house is big enough for the two of them, with a couple of extra bedrooms for grandchildren whenever they come along. She has never wanted any help in the house, even though the three of us could afford to pay it for her. They have no mortgage and a good pension to live on, so we don’t interfere.
“Dinner’s ready,” she calls and we walk inside, grabbing a dish each to put on the table.
“So, the other thing is that this will be the last Sunday dinner with me on my own, I’ll be bringing Cora with me from next week.”
My mom’s mouth is open but no words come out. I just serve myself and eat my dinner.
Who knows what next week is going to bring.