Chapter Seven
The day has finally arrived – our wedding day. It still makes me giggle to think about it. My mother arrived two days ago and has been underfoot ever since. But Justin is thrilled to have her around, of course, and she really hit it off with Caleb. Much to my chagrin. Now it feels like I have two of them ganging up on me.
The day is overcast, there's a chance of rain, and there is a cool breeze blowing. If I were a superstitious woman, I might consider it a bad omen, given that it's my wedding day.
Caleb set up a small gazebo on the beach just outside his house. A red carpet leads from his deck to the gazebo and there are half a dozen chairs on either side of the carpet. When my mother expressed her dismay about the size of the wedding, I reminded her that this was my day and I wanted to keep it small and intimate.
She grumbled about it, of course, but I just laugh it off. It's not like this is real anyway – not that she's ever going to know that.
“How are you holding up, soon to be Mrs. Graham?”
“Fake Mrs. Graham,” I say and smile.
“Right,” he says. “Fake Mrs. Graham.”
I laugh and look up at Caleb. Dressed in a dark suit, he cuts a very handsome figure. Once again, I'm overwhelmed by the emotions swirling around inside of me. As I've done ever since the day we had sex in his kitchen, I try to stuff all of those feelings back down into the box I keep in the back of my mind – the box of thoughts and feelings I dare not entertain.
Something in Caleb's eyes – and in the tone of his voice – makes me pause though. I see something in his expression – something I can't quite put my finger on. It's almost as if he's disappointed that this is all a sham we're putting on just to appease my mother.
But that's crazy – right? Surely, he couldn't seriously want to marry me?
We stand in silence, just staring at each other for several long moments, an air of anticipation between us. I'm no closer to being able to interpret his expression or intuit his thoughts though. It feels like he wants to say something – but is choosing to hold his tongue.
“Well,” I say, “shall we go and get this fake show on the road?”
I start to turn away when Caleb puts his hand on me. I stop and turn back to him, cocking my head.
“Listen, Veronica,” he says. “We haven't ever talked about what happened between us that day in the kitchen.”
“You mean, when we had sex on your counter?”
Color flares in his cheeks and he smile. “Y – yeah, exactly,” he stammers.
“I wasn't sure you thought there was anything to talk about,” I say. “We had some fun together.”
“Is that all it was to you?”
My head is spinning and my heart is thundering. The way he's looking at me tells me that it was more to him. A lot more. And I find that I feel elated knowing that.
“Honestly?” I say. “No. It wasn't.”
He nods and gives me a sheepish grin. “It feels like something changed between us that day.”
“Like the chemistry we were missing all those years ago was suddenly there.”
“Exactly,” he says, growing more excited. “It's like – a missing piece of a puzzle finally fell into place. And that everything is suddenly – right. Like we'd been waiting for this moment – for the two of us to finally be ready for one another.”
I smile and feel my heart speed up even more – worrying me that it might just pop out of my chest entirely.
“That's how I feel too, Caleb,” I say.
“I'm so glad to hear you say that.”
I stand rooted to my spot, clamping my hand over my mouth when he drops to his knee before me. Looking up at me, a nervous – almost terrified – expression on his face, Caleb slips a small box out of his pocket and opens it, revealing an amazing diamond and white gold ring.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice little more than a whisper.
“I'm asking if you'd do me the honor of being my wife, Veronica,” he says. “And not my fake wife, but my real wife. I love you and want today's ceremony to be real.”
I stand perfectly still, not trusting myself to speak for a long moment. I just stand there and stare at him like an idiot.
“Veronica?” he finally asks.
His voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I nod as tears well in my eyes.
“Yes, Caleb,” I say. “Yes.”
He stands up and I throw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. I can't believe this is happening. It's surreal. And yet, it makes me happier than few things in this life can.
“Well then,” he says. “Shall we go get married?”
I take his arm and let him lead me to the sliding glass doors that lead to the gazebo beyond. And as the wedding march begins to play over the small stereo system we have set up, all eyes turn to us. My stomach is in knots and I'm about to burst – but I'm happy.
With Justin preceding us down the aisle, the ring sitting on a red cushion Caleb had given them, we step out of the house and onto the red carpet, taking our first steps toward building our life together.