After Rhett dropped me off last night, I came in and took a long, hot shower, then went to bed. I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I was also afraid I would call him and beg him to come back. I shouldn’t have let him kiss me, but my strength to resist him is nonexistent at this point. When he referred to me as his wife, my freaking ovaries exploded. It makes me wonder, what would it be like to really be his? To be married to a man like Rhett? He’s got this hard exterior, but when he lets you in, he’s all soft and cuddly. He’s the full package.
My phone vibrates across the small kitchen table.
Molly: You up?
Me: Yep.
Molly: I’m on my way over.
Me: K
I was expecting this. I’m sure she wants to know how the trip was. I’m fairly certain she doesn’t know about my predicament, or she would have mentioned it. Looking at the diamond band on my hand, I know I should take it off, and I will. I’m going to see how long it takes her to notice first. Might as well have a little fun from this bizarre situation.
“Come in!” I yell when she knocks on the door.
“Hey, girl, how was the trip?” she asks, kicking off her boots and tossing her coat on the small bench by the door.
“It was good.”
“I need more than that. What all did you do? See any shows?”
I nod. “Yeah, we went to a burlesque show, which was pretty wild. We watched the fountain/light show at the Bellagio both nights. The first night we got there after the last show had started. I wanted to see it again,” I explain.
“I’ve heard it’s amazing.” She sighs. “I’ll get there one day.”
“How have you been? How did the meeting go with the wedding planner?” Flashes of my wedding roll through my mind.
“Meh, there’s a lot to this wedding business. We might just do something small like Gatlinburg, or somewhere tropical, maybe even Vegas.” She laughs.
If she only knew. “What do you want, Molly? Don’t let the stress of planning the wedding keep you from having the wedding of your dreams.”
“You know, I always thought I wanted a big wedding, but as I get older, and now that I’m engaged, I’m not so sure. I think it was just a fantasized dream of a little girl, you know? What about you?”
“I’ve never really planned on having a big wedding. Honestly, I think weddings are overrated,” I tell her. Not just because I recently married the sexy Rhett Baxter while intoxicated in Vegas either.
“How so?” she asks.
“Think about all the money you could potentially spend on a huge wedding. All the food, the venue to house everyone, and the decorations. Me personally, I think a wedding should be just for the bride and groom. You’re pledging your life to someone, and that someone is all that matters in that moment. I’ve just always felt weddings were frivolous. Think of the honeymoon or even down payment on a house you could have using that money differently.”
“You make a good point,” she agrees.
“Don’t let me influence you. Hell, maybe it’s because I’ve never really had family or a father to walk me down the aisle? All I know is that it’s never been something I’ve dreamed about. For me, it was more the union, the binding myself to someone for life. Creating a family, somewhere for me to belong,” I explain.
“Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it like that. I can see the appeal for sure, especially after our meeting. I just want to be married to Jake.”
“Nothing else really matters.”
“Yeah,” she sighs. “I mean, now that I think about it, we’ve been wanting to remodel the rest of the house anyway. We could use that money and still be married. It’s genius, really.” She laughs.
I pull up my arm to look at my watch. “Therapy’s over. I’ll see you the same time next week.” I laugh.
“What is that?” she asks, grabbing my hand.
“What does it look like?” I counter.
“It looks like a wedding band, a very expensive wedding band,” she says, pulling my hand closer to get a better look.
“Ding, ding, ding,” I sing.
“From the looks of this thing, it’s new. It’s all shiny and shit. Not an heirloom.” With a tight grip on my hand, she looks up at me. “Are you married?”
I can see her trying to process this. “Yeah, but not for long.”
“Explain,” she says, dropping my hand and pulling her feet under her on the couch. I assume to settle in for the story.
“It was Saturday night,” I say as I begin to tell her the details about my weekend that I’m sure she would have much rather have heard as soon as she got here. “So yeah,” I say once I’ve finished. “Grandpa Rhett is calling his attorney and taking care of the divorce. He was pretty adamant that he would handle it.”
“You’re married?” she asks to clarify.
“Yep.”
“To Rhett? Rhett Baxter?”
“Yep,” I say again.
“Did you… I mean, have you—” I stop her there.
“Yep.”
“Holy fucking shit! I need details,” she says, wiggling around in excitement.
My mouth drops open. “Really, Molly?”
“Hell yes, that man is fine.” She wags her eyebrows.
“That man is my husband,” I say, laughing. “I tried to say it with a straight face,” I tell her.
“Being under that is no laughing matter,” she quips with a smile.
“Gah!”
“So you’re married, but getting a divorce?”
“Yep,” seems to be my answer of choice for this conversation.
“Are you dating?”
“No. It was a one-time thing—well, the first night, and then after the wedding, but that was the alcohol,” I say in a rush.
“Wait, hold up,” she says, doing just that and holding up her hands to stop me.
“You slept with him before you were married?”
This time all I can do is nod.
“And you’re not dating.”
“Nope. It was a Vegas thing, the lights, the shows, the atmosphere. It was supposed to have been left in Vegas, but we sort of brought it home with us.”
“Did you discuss that specifically?”
I stop and think. “No,” I say cautiously. “We’re on the same page, trust me.”
“Uh-huh, so when do you see your sexy husband again?” she asks. “Damn, I didn’t think you would beat me down the aisle.” She giggles when I smack her arm.
“Not funny,” I say, trying not to laugh. I have to laugh about it; crying all day isn’t an option. So we drank too much and got married. Gramps will get his guys on it and that will be that.
“Fine,” she says with an exaggerated sigh. “What do you have planned for the rest of the day?”
“Nothing. I need to run to the grocery store, but other than that, a whole lot of nothing.”
“I need to go too, want to ride together? We can grab lunch and make an afternoon of it,” she suggests.
“Sure.”
“Be ready at noon,” she chirps, jumping up from the couch and heading toward the door. “Is this top secret? I mean, obviously the sex I’ll keep to myself, but the marriage, can I tell Jake?”
I nod. “I don’t see why not. They’re friends. We didn’t really discuss trying to keep it under wraps. I guess we need to have that conversation.”
“It’s going to get out, Saylor. You know that, right? Rhett is a good-looking guy, comes from money, his family is legend in this town. Besides, it’s public record and will be reported in the local paper.”
“Do people still read those?”
She smirks. “See you in a few.” She waves and walks out the door.
I start to worry that Rhett will be upset that I told her and that I told her she could tell Jake. Grabbing my phone, I send him a message.
Me: Hey, I told Molly. She asked if she could tell Jake, and I told her yes.
It’s mere seconds before his reply comes through.
Rhett: What exactly did you tell her?
Me: That we’re married, but getting a divorce.
Not the complete truth, but the part I was feeling guilty about.
Rhett: It’s cool. I’m not trying to hide it.
Rhett: I’m not ashamed to be married to you.
Rhett: Are you?
Rhett: I mean, are you ashamed to be married to me?
He fires off a round of texts.
Me: Not that we did it, but how. It was irresponsible.
Rhett: Yeah…
I wait for more, but it never comes. Tossing my phone on the couch, I head to the bedroom. It’s time for a long, hot shower before trudging around in the cold to get groceries. What an exciting life I lead. You know, except for the drunken Vegas marriage.