Chapter 53 Willow #2
“There’s a lot to unpack there,” Kiara whispers my way.
Someone right behind me taps my shoulder. “Did you actually have an Elvis impersonator?”
“Ya forgot to say ya get a big piece of the cake if the marriage’s not real!” the same person from before shouts in the back.
“That’s right!” someone else bellows.
Gail ignores them and continues. “I have testimonials that neither Noah Callaway Junior—”
“You mean The Seventh,” Noah interrupts her.
She looks at him, seeming at a loss.
“Not Junior. Noah Callaway The Seventh. My ancestor founded this town. He made the rules for the managing of our estate. And I’d like to think he would have approved of my wife.
” He leans into the mic and whispers into it as if he’s speaking just to Gail.
“Would love to have that picture of her, by the way.” Then he adds in a normal voice, “But please, continue.”
“I have testimonials that their relationship is totally fake.” She clicks, but nothing happens. “It’s uh… it’s a recording of someone who wants to remain anonymous.”
Murmurs ripple through the crowd, then the screen crackles and the picture is replaced by a black rectangle for a beat before shapes appear. A door opens, and… puppies bark. That sounds like our puppies, and... That’s Lilyvale’s front door, captured from the inside. From the staircase?
“That’s not… that’s not,” Gail stammers, waving the clicker at the screen.
The door opens on Noah carrying me through the threshold. My voice comes out, totally sultry. “There’s too much happening!” I’m licking my bottom lip, my hand on Noah’s chest, looking totally turned on by my husband.
“There’s not enough happening,” on-screen Noah answers as he kicks the door shut.
I widen my eyes, wondering who took this and where this stops. It can’t be the vacuum robots—we didn’t have them at the time this was recorded. Thankfully, the shot doesn’t follow us to the bedroom.
The screen crackles again and another shot appears. This time it’s Noah carrying a piping hot cup of coffee to our bedroom. His voice comes out clear when he mumbles, “Never thought one of the best parts of married life would be to bring her coffee in bed every morning.”
A few whistles sound through town hall. Meanwhile, I’m just… flabbergasted as to who took these videos and how.
Gail seems to be with me on this, because her voice gets louder and louder. “Stop it! Who’s doing this?”
“Just take out the USB!” Owen shouts.
Gail waves a small object in the air. “I did! Stop that thing!” she yells at the high schoolers.
“We can’t!” they say as they look at the screen, where a third clip is now playing.
I’m coming down the staircase, wrapped in a robe, sex hair and puffy lips. The shot is taken from above… Ohmygod. It’s them. How is that even possible?
I don’t have time to think on that because on the screen, Noah comes into view, holding a takeout bag from Chloe’s Nook. He puts the bag down and… oh no they didn’t. I put a hand on my mouth, my eyes glued to the screen as Noah wraps me in his arms.
Thank god the angle doesn’t show my hand sliding down between us… but the shot is sensuous as hell, our kiss deepening as Noah bends to kiss my neck. Our speech comes out unclear this time, but there’s no mistaking the heat between us.
Lights flicker in town hall, then get brutally bright for a second before settling on their normal intensity.
My gaze locks on Ms. Angela. She’s beaming at Noah, then glances my way, and I blow her a kiss. This was so much better than I ever expected. I’m having trouble containing my nervous laughter.
“Thank you for your presentation, Mrs. Callaway,” Colton says, poker-faced. “Are there any questions?”
Gail snaps, “Someone tampered with my presentation!”
Owen comes to her rescue. “Who did you give the flash drive to?”
She spreads her hands. “No one!”
“Must be the ghosts, right, Gail?” Noah teases her.
“Seeing no questions,” Colton thunders, “meeting adjourned! Enjoy the food.” His gavel rap is nearly drowned out by the sound of exploding conversations, unrestrained laughter, chairs being moved around.
Noah leaps out of his chair and lifts me in his arms, placing a kiss on my lips, while Colton links his arm around Kiara, looking at us with a big smile.
Griff and Beck take advantage of the commotion to rush outside unnoticed, while Lane stays inside, arms wrapped around her.
“Free first round of drinks on me!” Justin says in the mic. “Let’s bring this party to Lazy’s.”
Twenty people dutifully volunteer to straighten out the room. The rest grab the dishes, and a happy procession forms from Town Hall to Lazy’s. We share food, drink a little too much, and then my husband shouts across the room, “Karaoke!”
Everyone cheers and claps, Justin takes out his karaoke machine, four big guys move the furniture around and set up the small stage, and before I know it Noah says, “My wife deserves to open!”
I take an ultimate gulp of liquid courage and grab the mic. “You asked for this, Callaway. I don’t think there’s a karaoke version of this, so this’ll be a capella.”
A few whistles sound. “Here we go.”
And I start belting “More” by Phish. Whistles and friendly catcalls die down.
Halfway through the first verse, someone connects the instrumental to the sound system, and Noah joins me on stage.
We fumble some of the lyrics, but mostly we sound awesome, if my tipsy self may say so.
When we’re done, Kiara yells, “Damn! My girl can sing!”