A few early birds sat in the white chairs that filled the
elegant ballroom, so Nick took a seat in the back to wait for the start of the
ceremony. He wanted to be near the door so he could make a quick exit once the
wedding ended. He sat at the inside end of the row. The disdain on Mrs.
Vernon’s face was burned into his mind. Not long ago, he had been one of her
favorite people. Now she despised him for breaking up with Cher the way he had.
If there had been some other way to handle this, he would’ve done it, but her
daughter had completely shut him out after the last night they had been
together. The memory of what he’d done to cause their break-up put an ache in
his chest every time he replayed it in his mind.
“Do you realize
we’ve been together for more than two years?” she’d asked him after they
finished their dinner of homemade smothered chicken, rice, sautéed spinach and
biscuits.
Cherilyn was a
superb cook. She wasn’t one of those girls who agonized over every bite she put
into her mouth for fear of gaining an ounce.
“Right. We met in
January at Ryan’s New Year’s Eve party. I hadn’t been out anywhere in ages,
because I was studying for the second phase of my licensing exam.”
“Are you happy
with our relationship the way it is?” she asked, studying him intently.
“Sure I am. Aren’t
you? I don’t think there are two people more compatible than we are.”
“That’s true, and
it’s why I feel like we should be thinking about going to the next level.”
His eyes widened.
Did she mean what he thought she meant? They were already sexually involved, so
she obviously wasn’t talking about that. “Right now, we should stay right where
we are. With school and all, this is not the time for me to make any major
moves.”
She clasped her
hands together and stared at them, lowering her lashes quickly. When she lifted
her gaze, pain flickered there. “How long do you plan for us to stay where we
are?”
“I don’t know,
baby. Does it matter? I thought we were happy together. I am.” He smiled. She
returned a blank stare.
Cherilyn spoke
calmly, with no lighting of her eyes, no smile of tenderness. “Nick, you know I
want to get married. I never made any secret about that. How would it change
anything?”
“That’s what I
want to know. How would getting married change an already great relationship?”
An expression of
tired sadness passed over her features, and she sighed. “It would show me that
you are serious about us. I’m not just a place to stop when you want to do your
laundry or get a home-cooked meal, or get your rocks off.”
He hadn’t meant to
hurt her, but the damage was already done. “I don’t think of you that way,
Cher. You’re the only woman in my life, and I like it that way.”
“But I’m still not
good enough for you to marry?”
“You aren’t the
problem. It’s my life at the moment. School is about to kill me, and I still
have years of residency facing me.”
“And you don’t
think having a wife to help you would make your life easier?”
This time he was
the one with the blank stare.
She rose from the
sofa and clicked off the television. “My mother was so right. What reason would
a man have to commit to a woman who’s already giving him everything? You should
go now.”
“Baby, come on.
I’m just trying to be realistic about where I’m at right now.”
“Right.” She stood
with her hands on her voluptuous hips. “You’re going home, and I’m not playing
wifey anymore. Lock the door on your way out.”
He gaped at her
retreating back as she carried the dishes into the kitchen. “Cher…”
“Good night,
Nick.”
Looking back on that night, Nick
realized everything she’d said was true. Being with her had become so
comfortable that he’d taken it for granted. Her sweet nature and sense of
humor calmed him after he’d had a
grueling day. And she’d been there for him with the pleasure of her incredible
body and her culinary skills. He was ashamed for lying to his family and
telling them he and Cherilyn split because she thought he was getting too
serious. He would’ve looked like a fool for letting such a wonderful woman get
away.
Soft music began to play, and it
played for a good twenty-five minutes with no appearance of anyone in the
bridal party. The low hum of whispers gradually rose as the guests started
giving restless glances over their shoulders. Everyone seemed to realize this
delay was more than a bride being fashionably late, and their speculation was
confirmed when the groom appeared at the front of the room with the best man at
his side.
He looked visibly shaken. Nick
held his breath as Derrick’s words came haltingly. “I’m sorry…but…but there’s
not going to be a wedding today. Please enjoy the food and drink…and please
return your gifts. I’m sorry.” The best man escorted him through a side door
with his arm around the groom’s back as though he were holding him up.
Nick rushed out of the doors
before he was detected by any guests who might know him. Little did they know
he was as shocked by the turn of events, as they were. Cherilyn hadn’t given
him any indication that she was having second thoughts. He’d needed to get away
before the groomsmen or Cherilyn’s father spotted him. Mr. Vernon liked him
when he and Cherilyn were dating, but their breakup had surely changed his
opinion. He strode out of the ballroom as fast as he could without drawing
attention to himself. Once he closed himself in the car, he took out his phone
and sent a text to Cherilyn before he passed through the front fountain garden
and left the property. Can I come by your
place? We need to talk ASAP.
Contemporary women’s fiction/romance author Chicki Brown has
been featured twice in USAToday. She was the 2014 B.R.A.B. (Building
Relationships Around Books) Inspirational Fiction Author and also the 2011 SORMAG (Shades of Romance Magazine) Author of the Year.
Chicki was also a contributing author to the Gumbo for the Soul: Men of
Honor (Special Cancer Awareness Edition).
A transplanted New Jersey native who lives in Atlanta,
Georgia, Brown still misses the Jersey shore, the pizza and the hot dogs.
Nia Forrester, Beverly Jenkins, Iris Bolling, Lisa Kleypas,
and J.R. Ward are among her favorite authors.
Online
contacts:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/@Chicki663
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chicki.brown
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/chicki663/
Amazon Central Author Page: http://amzn.to/l2kjXQ
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/qcsiMD