Ginny
2002, North Carolina
The next couple of days flew by as we prepared for what could best be described as a shotgun wedding without the actual shotgun. Micah wasn’t forcing us to get married, but we knew it was important to him that we did so he could personally perform the ceremony.
We only included one family member whose wrath we didn’t want to incur when she eventually found out. And it turned out Aunt Tillie was a blessing in disguise. Micah had held on to Margaret Mae’s ivory wedding gown, and Aunt Tillie expertly tailored it to fit me perfectly. Micah handled the paperwork with a well-placed relative in the county clerk’s office to help expedite things.
The kids had been invited by some cousins to go zip lining. I was standing on a stool in Micah’s bedroom while Aunt Tillie made adjustments to Margaret Mae’s dress. She insisted that we be given privacy because the groom wasn’t supposed to see the bride in her gown before the wedding. Grizz and Micah’s voices floated in from where they were in the kitchen.
“I just think an outdoor wedding might be something special,” I heard Grizz tell his father.
“I think your bride might disagree with you,” Micah countered.
“Maybe not.”
“What’s this all about, son?”
Aunt Tillie caught my eye and stopped what she was doing. We both listened.
“Just don’t know about getting married in a church, is all.”
“Why is that?”
“Don’t really know. Thinking it might not feel right for someone like me. You know what I mean.”
“You afraid you’re going to burst into flames if you go into God’s house?” Even though it was a serious discussion, I could hear the teasing in Micah’s tone.
“Maybe.”
The conversation faded as they walked outside, and I never asked either one about their talk. I knew whatever Micah had told Grizz must have offered some form of consolation, because we were married by Micah in his church, and Grizz didn’t burst into flames.
Before we got married, we had some ring shopping to do and Grizz took me off the mountain that day to pick out wedding bands and have Francis’s engagement ring adjusted to fit my finger better. Walking hand in hand with him in the next town felt so right it was scary. I was on edge at first, waiting for someone to take in his appearance—his massive size, long hair, and tattoos—and run the other way, but other than a few curious glances, we were barely noticed.
I’d continued to wear my wide gold wedding band from Tommy as a way to hide the ring tattoo. I couldn’t remember a time I’d left my finger uncovered for anybody to notice it, including my children. I especially didn’t want Jason to see the name Grizz tattooed there, and Grizz agreed. I would select another wide band to cover it. Many years later, we vowed, we would tell Jason the rest of our story, but for now, he was still too young.
We were driving back up the mountain and making our way down a lonely side road when Grizz pulled off into a grassy area. He shifted the car into park and reached over me, unhooking my seatbelt with his left hand.
“I don’t know how much longer I can wait, Kit,” he growled. “These past months have been fucking torture.”
He pulled me over the console and into his lap, my back up against his door and my feet resting in the seat I’d just vacated. We’d somehow slipped back into calling each other Grizz and Kit when we were alone. Maybe we would always be Grizz and Kit.
I was resting in the crook of his arm and looking up into his eyes when I asked him, “Why haven’t you tried to do more than kiss me? Why did you walk away from me that night in the kitchen?”
He nibbled on my bottom lip before answering.
“Because I’m trying my damnedest to do it your way. I want to do right by you. I want to marry you before I make love to you, Kitten. And you have to know now that after we take our vows, you’re going to be busy. Real busy. I have fifteen years to make up for.”
He lightly caressed my cheek with the back of his hand never breaking from my gaze.
“I know you wanted me that night. I wanted you too, Grizz. I was ready to go downstairs with you. You didn’t have to propose.”
“Yes, I did, baby.” He kissed me then. It was a deep, exploring kiss, and just like that night in the kitchen I felt his erection and became instantly aware of my immediate dampness. His right hand started to make its way down to my breasts, and I felt my nipples stiffen in anticipation.
I arched into his hand, urging him to go further.
He stopped the kiss then and practically tossed me back in my seat.
Before starting up the car I heard him grumble under his breath, “I’ve been aching for you for so fucking long, honey, I’m afraid my dick’s going to fall off before I get a chance to use it.”