Ton of Bricks
SLADE
The rest of the family dinner goes peacefully.
Over half a dozen appetizers and cuts of filet mignon and many a glass of red wine and whiskey, my family gets the story out of Lila.
Growing up in Newport, Rhode Island, going to design school, bouncing around the country before settling in Marble Falls.
“It’s just a magical place,” Lila explains about her decision to settle here. “Maybe this sounds hokey, but some places just have that good energy to them, and this is one of them.”
Rafe, who’s been mostly quiet, pipes up, much to my surprise. “I agree. As the only other non-native here, I’ll say I felt it too, from the second I came here. Been all around the world but there’s no place like Marble Falls. And especially no place like Wild Rose.”
“Here here,” my dad says. He lifts his glass in a toast. “To Wild Rose. To family, old and new. And to the future bride and groom, and the matrimonial adventure you two have awaiting you.”
Dad winks at me.
There’s a chorus of cheers and glasses clinking. I take a sip of my whiskey, then let myself glance over at Lila. I’ve been rationing my glances at her all night. One every few minutes. Any more than that and I’d never look away.
She’s laughing at something Tanner said, her whole face open and glowing, and before I can stop myself I lean close, tap her on the shoulder. I jealously want her attention on me.
She turns. Those pretty brown eyes of hers remind me of my favorite whiskey, just as warm and rich. Her skin seems to glow from within in the candlelight.
For a moment I’m just stunned speechless once again. This woman is going to be my wife.
As I gaze at her, she gives me a small smile, one that’s different from the ones she’s been giving my family all night. Softer. Just for me.
“What is it?” she asks.
I honestly forgot what I was going to say.
The words tumble out of me, unbidden. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her cheeks flush. “Thank you. You, um. You look very handsome too.”
The conversation goes on around us and I don’t hear any of it.
I can’t keep my eyes off my fiancée. My gaze lingers on the delicate jewelry sparkling at her throat.
I’ve been sitting next to her all night trying not to look at the curve of her graceful neck.
Trying not to imagine putting my mouth there.
I let myself look now.
I want to lick beneath the gems resting atop her skin.
Gemstones. That reminds me of the small box that’s been sitting in my jacket pocket for a week now. I bought it four days after she said yes. It’s just practical. She’s going to need a ring if this is going to look real.
I’ve been carrying it around for days because I haven’t found the right moment.
A man is supposed to propose marriage with a ring in hand. Instead I blurted my proposal out empty-handed. Obviously the circumstances are unusual. But in retrospect I should have planned the whole thing better. Same deal, just with some actual forethought going into it.
It doesn’t sit right with me that we’re engaged, yet she’s not wearing an engagement ring.
In fact, there are a lot of things that aren’t quite sitting right, now that I’m living through them.
Like the fact that she’s moving in after the wedding because she needs time to go through her stuff and figure out what to take and what to put in storage.
I don’t love the idea of my wife having a storage unit full of her belongings, staged and ready to collect the day our marriage ends.
It just feels wrong. But that’s the deal.
As dinner ends and we all file out, Lila gets drawn into a conversation with Dad, Sadie, and Walker up ahead while Rafe herds Jonah through the restaurant.
Dad’s got both baby girls in his arms, pulling faces and making both girls giggle helplessly.
Walker’s got his arm around his wife and he’s smiling with true warmth at Lila now, apparently satisfied that she’s not a crazy con artist.
Tanner claps me on my good shoulder, eyes brimming with sly humor. “Sneaky bastard, ain’t ya? Just getting your house decorated, my ass. Making us think some sweet grandma was putting doilies on your dining table.”
“Not my fault you assumed whatever you want to,” I say, as if that wasn’t exactly my goal.
Tanner knows it too, and he just grins. “Hey. I get it.”
“Get what?”
“C’mon, man, don’t play dumb. You got your pretty pink princess in your bed and now you’ll do anything to keep her happy and riding your d—”
“You’re talking about my future wife,” I warn him. “And we’re not hooking up. So don’t go saying shit like that around her.”
“Wait, seriously? You two aren’t…” He examines me. “Ohhh. Okay. I get it. You just desperately want to fuck her.”
I glare at Tanner.
He grips my shoulder. “Hey, that’s a time-honored reason to put a ring on it. Respect. But I’m happy for you. Really. Figures that when you fell, it’d be like a ton of bricks.”
I open my mouth to tell him he’s wrong, but Tanner’s already moving on, scooping up Jonah into his arms and flipping him upside down while our nephew cackles.
Outside, everyone gives Lila a hug, just like they do to me. But Jonah, now restored to an upright position on the ground but with his hair mussed and glasses askew, stares up at her for one more second. “Can I touch your hair?”
“Sure,” she says.
He takes a strand between his fingers. “So cool,” he whispers. Then, to Sadie and Walker, he asks, “Dad, Mom, can I have pink hair?”
A long discussion ensues as their little family heads back to Walker’s truck. Lila points in the opposite direction. “I’m that way,” she says.
“I’ll walk you.”
As we stroll, she asks, “That seemed to go smoothly, don’t you think?”
“They love you,” I say. “I wasn’t worried about that part.”
She glances at me. “What were you worried about, then?”
“That the situation would feel off. A fake marriage… it’s a strange thing to explain to your family.”
“And did it? Feel strange?”
I look at her. The moonlight catching the pink of her hair, her heels on the pavement, the ring box still in my pocket.
“No,” I say. “It felt easy.”
She smiles. “Despite the weirdness of it all, everyone was so kind. I couldn’t have imagined a warmer welcome if I were your actual girlfriend.”
Something about the way she says it, melancholy, almost, makes me admit, “You’re the first girl I’ve ever brought home to meet my family.”
She ducks her head, and even in the dim light from the restaurant windows I can see the color in her cheeks. “The Rhodes’s are wonderful. You’re a lucky man, Slade.”
She’s looking at the ground when she says it, still a little overcome, pink hair falling forward over one shoulder.
I can’t fix what her people did or didn’t give her. But I can give her this: one loud, imperfect, warm-hearted family around a table who wants her there.
“I’m a very lucky man,” I agree.
But I’m not thinking about my family when I say it. I’m thinking about how lucky I am that she’s agreed to be my wife. Temporarily. It will be a new experience. An adventure.
I ask, “You ready to get our marriage license tomorrow?”
Her eyebrows raise up. “So soon?”
“I took the first available appointment.” Damn it, could I sound more eager? “But, uh, we can reschedule. If you’re busy.”
“No, no, tomorrow’s fine.”
She comes to a halt by her car. “This is me. Thanks for a wonderful evening.”
“Didn’t lock your keys in, did you?” I tease.
Her eyes narrow, but she’s smiling. “That was one time. I’ll never live it down, huh?”
I nudge her arm gently with my elbow. “You just need a newer car that doesn’t let that happen. Something safer. With airbags from this century, preferably.”
“I’ve got student loans and a hefty small business loan. The last thing I need is a big car payment.”
I lean close. “You know, I’ve heard a rumor you’re coming into some money soon.”
She laughs. “I’m not spending a dime of that on myself, no way. That money is going to people who need it.”
As I open the driver’s side door for her, we stand there in the empty road, watching each other.
The night is cold and clear, pocked with stars.
Lila’s looking up at me with those brown eyes, and even in the moonlight she just seems to sparkle.
I want to touch every one of the half-dozen jewels she has sparkling on her ears again.
Let my fingertips trail across the shell, down her neck, across the tantalizing swell of her breasts.
She holds my gaze for a moment, like she’s waiting for something.
If she were really mine, this is where I’d kiss her. I’d put my hand on her jaw and tip her face up and kiss her until we were both breathless.
No sex, we agreed. No complications.
I’m trying to remember why that’s for the best right now.
“Goodnight, Lila,” I say instead.
“Goodnight, Slade.” Before she gets in, she pauses with one hand on the frame. “For what it’s worth, I think we’re going to be okay at this.”
I watch her taillights until they disappear.