Chapter 3 #2
Beth’s fork clatters against the plate. Her cheeks flush red, and she ducks her head lower. “He doesn’t want to do it. Please, Mrs. Patchett, I think this is making things worse.”
My mother presses her point, like I knew that she would. “Beth needs someone strong. A man no one would dare challenge. You being a member of that MC means no one will dare touch her. Use their reputation to your advantage, just this once.”
My father quietly agrees. “You’ve got wealth, status as a physician, and are part of an outlaw biker club. Who in their right mind would challenge you?”
My mom turns to look at me. “This poor girl has a target on her back. If we keep her here with us, we can’t offer her any of those things and if those men are as dangerous as I think they are, then your father and I stand no chance.”
I let out a long sigh as my mother’s manipulation starts to hit home. “Strange how being a biker suddenly became an advantage, when you need me to do something out of pocket.”
My mother relaxes, settling back in her seat with a cup of coffee in her hand. From the look of satisfaction on her face, she clearly thinks this is a done deal. “Don’t be petty, dear. Everyone knows when your back is against the wall, you use whatever you have to your advantage.”
Beth finally speaks up again, “Look, I don’t want to cause trouble or force you to do something you don’t want to do. I’ll find another way.”
Her words tear away what little resolve I have left. She’s nineteen, still grieving her mother’s death and scared about being trafficked, yet the only thing she can think about is apologizing for causing trouble. It breaks my fucking heart.
My father’s voice becomes gruff. “No, you won’t.
If there was another way we would have found it.
” Turning his ire on me, he lays it out, “This is about a girl’s life we’re talking about.
I don’t think even God himself would begrudge us telling a little white lie to save her from such a horrible fate. ”
I drag a hand over my face. “Okay, okay. You won the battle. There’s no need to be sanctimonious. It’s not a good look for a guy who has to be dragged to church every week by his overly enthusiastic wife.”
He shoots my mother a sheepish look and she tells him her truth, “You’ve had that one coming for a long time, and you know it, sweetheart.”
He rolls his eyes and goes back to eating his mostly cold breakfast. He’s in good humor because they got their way with me.
I sigh again, trying not to be dramatic, but losing.
“Alright, It’s settled then. I’m all in.
” Looking at Beth, I see she’s tuned out of the conversation.
She’s staring down at her hands, looking pale as can be.
I can’t imagine what’s gone on in her home.
All these years, she’s been trapped between a religiously preoccupied mother and a stepfather who, as we’re now realizing, is a deranged lunatic.
“I want to talk to Beth in private,” I say, glancing at my mom.
She freezes for a second and then takes her napkin out of her lap and comes to her feet.
“Call us when you’re finished chatting.” They both head out of the room, and I hear the front door open and close.
As I take a sip of my coffee, I hear them unwinding the water hose outside.
They’re clearly getting ready to water my mother’s enormous flower beds.
I soften my voice when I speak to Beth. “Look at me, please.”
Her eyes slowly lift to mine and she immediately apologizes. “I’m sorry your parents are hell-bent on wrangling you up in my mess. I didn’t ask for this.”
“I want you to know that my mother clearly adores you. She’s angling for any marriage we make to stick. She’s already said she thinks you would be the perfect wife for me. If you were a few years older, I might agree with her. But you aren’t.”
Her eyes glance away and she murmurs, “I’m mature for my age. Everyone says so.”
I’ve seen the way she looks at me when she thinks no one is looking.
At first, I thought she only saw me in a big brother kind of way, but as she hit her late teens, it became apparent that there was some romantic interest. I could tell because of the longing gazes she cast in my direction.
“I don’t doubt that you’re mature for your age but you’re still only nineteen.
I’ll be thirty-three in a few months. That makes me thirteen, soon to be fourteen years older than you. ”
Her eyes fly open in surprise. “That’s how long it took you to become a doctor, right?”
I nod, admiring how astute she is. “Four years of pre-med, four years of medical school, three years for an internal medicine residency and another three for my fellowship. I’ve busted my ass to earn my right to practice medicine and I’m not going to let anything distract me from growing my practice. ”
She gives me a halfhearted smile. “I won’t be a distraction. I promise.”
You know I’ve always ridden my Harley. What you might not have realized until now is that I’m prospecting for the Savage Legion MC.
Although my parents see it as a terrifying outlaw biker club, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
None of us are outlaws. We’re just men who like to ride and enjoy being part of a brotherhood.
Most of the brothers were wounded warriors at one time. Now, they’re just friends.”
“That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure about the whole idea of being an outlaw’s wife.”
“You need to understand that if and when you become my wife, many people in our community will see you as the wife of a dirty biker.”
“Your life seems to be one big contradiction. You’re a respected doctor, a lapsed Catholic, and an outlaw biker with the Savage Legion MC.”
My eyes narrow on her. “You don’t sound like a nineteen-year-old sometimes. You know that, right?”
“Seeing as people misjudge you, why would you assume I’m naive and clueless just because I’m nineteen?”
I’m honestly taken aback by how reasoned her arguments are, but I don’t let it distract me from this boundary I’m intent upon setting.
“Point taken. However, what I’m trying to say is regardless of how much my mother wants you for her daughter-in-law, I’ve already decided I don’t want you for my wife. ”
I can tell that stung her pride, so I quickly add, “It’s nothing to do with you personally.
I’ve always thought you were a nice, kindhearted person.
From my perspective, our ages make us incompatible.
No matter how well we get to know each other or if we find things in common, we’re at different places in our lives and nothing will ever change that. ”
“That’s fine. You’re probably right about us being too different,” she responds tightly.
“Well, I don’t believe I put it quite that way. But what I want to do is offer you an arrangement, just one that doesn’t involve a romantic relationship or sex.”
“Go on,” she says flatly.
“Like my mom said, we can get married at the courthouse but not in church. I know Father Michael won’t be very happy about that, but you can just tell him I’m questioning my faith and you’re trying to lead me back to salvation.”
“He’ll want to schedule a meeting. You know how he is about letting members of the flock stray.”
So,” I continue, “If you agree to be my wife temporarily, I’ll do everything within my power to make sure that your stepfather drops whatever crazy ass plan he has to use you to settle his debts and that he stays the hell away from you.
Once he understands you’re off limits, then we can get the marriage annulled for whatever reason. Non-consummation, something like that.”
“If I understand this correctly, we’d be married on paper only.”
“Naturally we’ll be living in the same house and in order to protect you, you’d need to stay by my side. That means I’ll give you a job at my office. This would be a good opportunity for you to learn a skill. Then when our time together is over, you’d have a means of supporting yourself.”
“No friendship or anything like that. Just co-workers that happen to be married,” she says, and if I’m not mistaken, she looks a bit disappointed. Which is crazy because she clearly doesn’t want to get dragged into a fake marriage either.
I shake my head. “You and I are already friends. That doesn’t need to change. It’ll be more like a little sister, big brother vibe when we’re alone but in public we need to sell the illusion that we’re married.”
“Then when things blow over with my stepdad, we just annul the marriage. We’ll both move on with our lives, no strings attached, right?” she asks.
“Yep. That’s the general idea. You’ll thank me later for not trying to keep you. If you think about it, my mom’s solution makes perfect sense. If you marry me, you get protection and I guess I get to be a big ass hero.”
She finally smiles. I don’t know if it’s because of my sad attempt at humor or because she accepts this is a temporary arrangement and she’s not gonna be stuck with a grumpy-ass doctor with a poor taste in jokes as an old man.
“I agree to be your temporary wife on paper for protection. I don’t like lying to Father Michael, but I’ll do what I have to do in order to stay safe. ”
“Okay then, let’s go see what we’ve got to do to get fake married on paper in the state of California.”
“We just need to keep things friendly without catching feelings for each other,” she says.
I just nod because there is no way I’m gonna catch feelings, even if she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. On paper and in real life, we just wouldn’t work together.
She glances over her shoulder at the closed door and whispers. “Your mother is gonna be pretty disappointed when we annul our marriage.”
“She’ll just have to manage,” I say, meaning every word of it.