Between Octobers Bk 1, Savor The Days Series (25 page)

A lump lodged in my throat. “Marcus might be
there, that’s one.”

He smiled. “And Noah. He secretly prefers
me, you know.”

That might be true. Noah was very supportive
of my relationship with Evan. “There’s two.”

A screeching voice greeted us through the
speaker. I gave our order and pulled forward. Evan threw on a hat
under his hood. When the drive-thru window opened, we were greeted
with an ear-splitting squeal. I searched for the emergency, but all
I found was a waify brunette with a very young face. Her gaping
grin was streaked with fluorescent braces as she screamed into a
green headset.

“Rhys! Is it true? You married Rhys
Matthews!”

I looked to him and he looked back as she
continued to ramble.

“Oh my gawd, you did! Oh my gawd!
I’m—it—this is crazy! You’re here! Is it true how much the ring
cost? Oh my gawd, oh my gawd!”

She kept screaming at us and I could not
focus enough to understand why. Then, Evan’s demeanor changed,
switching on the persona, Rhys, for yet another obvious fan.

All at once, I deflated. He tensed, his
posture became erect, and he nudged me, giving a ‘snap-out-of-it’
look as he stretched towards the girl outside the window and shook
her hand. I noticed the money was still folded inside mine.

He flashed an unnatural grin. “When did you
see this latest story, out of curiosity?”

“Oh! Rhys! I’ve seen all your movies! She’s
so pretty!”

“Thank you,” I acknowledged, remembering how
I handled the waitress at the museum. “If it isn’t too much
trouble, could you get our things? We’re sort of pressed for time.”
I was instantly repelled by her gawking and had to get away from
it.

It took a minute for her to calm down. Evan
asked her, again, to carry on with her duties. She finally opened
her hand and as I passed the payment, the jewels in my ring
captured the sunlight and her attention. When she walked away the
window closed, giving us a little privacy.

“I want to go home.”

“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag.”
Evan’s nervous tic surfaced—he plucked at his eyebrow.

“Was I rude?” I knew I’d have to get used to
these kinds of things. Still, my foot nudged the gas pedal.

“No, Gracie, you were fine.” The corners of
his eyes pulled down. He looked as upset as I felt.

“I can’t kiss you now, can I?”

“I’ll kiss you for the rest of the day and
night, once we get into the house.” He worked up a weak smile as
the drive-thru window opened.

I turned to take our goods and found—besides
the expected drinks and scones—a group of employees had gathered.
They were pressed together just inside the restaurant window. Six
sets of eyes raked greedily over us, mostly him, making comments,
asking questions, and offering their congratulations. I took the
bag, set it in my lap, the drinks, handing them off to Evan, and
then stomped my foot on the gas. The engine sputtered as we took
off with a screech.

“Keep the change!” Evan yelled out my window
as the restaurant turned to scenery in the rearview. “You almost
left her a stump!”

“Aw, geez, should I go back and apologize?”
He laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re a perfect mess.”

He spent the rest of the drive telling me
how wonderful I am and how he was positive that I could handle
anything as long as I remembered to stay calm. When we came to the
entry gate for my neighborhood, it was rolled wide open so I didn’t
have to stop and type in the pass code.

Coming around the last bend on my street,
right away we noticed several vehicles parked in front of the
neighbors’ houses around the dead end street on both sides. Marcus’
car was on the driveway and Lily’s was in the usual spot.

“Stupid gate.”

“Don’t be nervous. Drive in like you usually
do, only park inside from now on.” He patted my thigh. “You can do
this.”

I gave a quick, determined nod and proceeded
slowly up the lane with my stomach in convulsing knots. I tried to
clear my head, ignoring the pounding fear that made me want to
punch the gas. About twenty feet from the driveway, I hit the
button to open the outside gate. As it rolled slowly open, Arnold
started barking. He was out of the dog walk, roaming through the
front and back yards with the hackles on his neck standing at full
attention.

It was a swarm, a sea of heads half-covered
by cameras with sporadic lights and nonsensical chattering. I
couldn’t tell them apart through the blinding flashes that left
burning white spots in my vision. It was all shrill voices
demanding answers, making assumptions, and shouting
instructions.

“Over here!” “Rhys, how did you
propose?”

“Does Gretchen know?” “Rhys! How was the
wedding?”

“Rhys! Show us the ring!” “Rhys! Left!”
“Rhys! Rhys!”

It was beyond weird and unprecedented—a new
level of strange. They asked if he dumped Gretchen for me and how
long ago. They told us to kiss. They wanted us to stop the car and
pose, to get out and speak with them before we even saw our
families. They wanted to see our rings. They offered money for
wedding photos and honeymoon details. They were rude, noisy, and
everywhere. In every window, blocking my path and blinding me. It
was sensory overload. Everything was too bright, too noisy, and
moving in different directions all at once. They were too nosey and
couldn’t care less how we felt about the intrusion. Never mind the
fact that I could’ve easily killed one of them. Accidentally, of
course.

I wanted to throw the car in reverse, but
they were behind us now, too. I squinted, trying to see my
destination beyond their barrier, but it was too bright. I eased my
foot off the gas.

“Don’t stop, you’ll never get through,” Evan
instructed. “Here, put this on. Keep going, they’ll move, just keep
going.” The flashes came more rapidly when he took off his hat and
set it on my head. There was a collective “aw!”

The visor from his ball cap helped a little.
I could see well enough to know that the sea of people was not as
deep as it seemed. The garage was just beyond them and they were
moving, inching along the borders of the car. I could get through
it.

The throng stayed at the property line as we
crossed over. So they had at least one physical limitation. The
banging against the outside of the car gradually stopped as we
rolled from the street up the drive and into the open garage. We
waited for the door to shut behind us.

“Thank you, God. I didn’t kill anybody.” I
closed my spotting eyes. “That was scary.”

“I’m hiring you a driver. I don’t want you
dealing with this any more than you have to.” His arms encircled me
as he kissed my neck. I was on his lap in a flash. He held my face
between his hands, reminding me he planned to make good on his
earlier promise.

My controlled smile broke free as I thought
of how wonderful it would feel to kiss him all night long. I
scrambled from the car. “Let’s go show off my ring!”

Making my way up the hall, the voices of
Maria and Lily floated, expressing distaste for the scene outside.
Maria, to my great astonishment, was defending me, telling Lily to
take it easy on me. I scurried into view to avoid overhearing any
more.

Caleb leapt from the table the second he saw
me, barreling into my waiting arms.

Maria was in the final stages of making her
pozole and it smelled wonderful. On the kitchen island she’d laid
out several bowls of garnish. I spied several varieties of salsa
near a mass of finely chopped and seasoned cabbage. My mouth
watered.

Evan came from the hall with Noah behind
him, slapping him on the back. I gave my boy a big hug and kissed
his cheek. Noah smiled and wiped it off, giving me a huge smile and
his congratulations. Lily didn’t say much, aside from gushing over
my ring. And I had to agree, it was gorgeous. Caleb was glued to my
leg, hugging on me like I’d been gone for a year. I asked him about
Halloween and trick-or-treating and got the behavior report from
Maria. Gold stars for everyone, even Marcus.

As Evan settled in at the table, I moved off
to the hall with Lily for a chat. Caleb turned immediately to Evan,
who was very pleased with the attention. His little arms clung to
Evan’s neck the same way they did my leg.

As soon as we reached the shadow of the hall
I said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, coolly. And I knew to
tread carefully.

“I didn’t call, but you would have tried to
talk me out of it.” My poor explanation made her face pucker. “I
wanted you there.”

“You didn’t even call me!” She started to
scream, then composed herself. “I really don’t want to talk about
this now.” She pushed passed me.

“Shoot! Lily!”

Her glowering eyes turned on me, tears
pooling in them.

“How can I make this up to you?”

She took a step back. “You have two major
problems, Grace. Three, if you count the fact that you’re
compulsively naive. First: you can’t make this up to me. But what’s
done is done. I’ll get over it. Will you? Which brings me to your
second self-inflicted problem: you just stepped into a world of
shit! The stink of it is affecting everyone around you.” She
stalked off to the dining table to take her fury out on the bowls
and spoons.

“Well . . . you’re a butthead!” She didn’t
bother to acknowledge my weak retort. I was not angry, but knew I
would be once her words had time to sink in.

I was not the only one who loved Evan. Noah
took an immediate liking to him. They talked comfortably about
things I had to pry out of him. Evan called him before he proposed.
Noah gave him permission! Caleb seemed sure he was the greatest
thing since sliced bread. Maria fawned over him. His charms had
purchased the hearts of everyone. Lily remained the only
un-beguiled one among us.

Part of me wanted to wonder about her
growing aversion, but I pushed the unpleasant thoughts aside and
made my way back to the dining room in time to see Maria
congratulate Evan with a kiss. He flushed as she wiped a splotch of
ruby lipstick from his forehead. I sat down beside him, filled with
wonder. She welcomed him so easily, I was almost jealous.

In a moment of unexplained generosity, Maria
invited, then guided Evan from his usual spot next to me, to the
head seat at the end of the table. The very place Sol used to sit.
Physically, the move was small—only one chair—but the meaning spoke
volumes. The transition was so smooth I wondered if she realized
what she was doing. But Solomon was her only son, how could she
give the sign without realizing the importance of it?

Lily’s jaw dropped open. Marcus reached over
and clamped it shut for her. A move that obviously irritated her,
but she kept quiet. I needed to learn a few tricks from him. The
kids seemed to take no notice. They sat in their usual spots as
Maria served everyone, one at a time, starting with Evan and ending
with me.

Evan took my hand under the table. “We
forgot to turn our ringers back up after the ceremony.” My eyes
widened. “And Sheri’s on her way over.”

My phone showed thirty-seven texts and
fourteen voicemails. All from Lily. No wonder she didn’t pick up
when I called last night. She thought I was avoiding her the whole
weekend. I scrolled through the texts first. They’d reflect the
same meaning as the voicemails without my having to sit through the
verbal thrashing, and hopefully, without too many insults. The
first few were to be expected, short sentences full of
importance:

-I just called and it went straight to
voicemail. They said you checked out?

-I know you’re partying, but call me
anyway.

-Hello??

-In case you haven’t noticed I need to speak
with you!

-WTH? The next thing I ring will be your
neck! Call me!

-ANSWER THE PHONE!

After that, they lost all courtesy. I looked
across the table at her. “Sorry, Lil. I would’ve called if I
realized—”

“I know.” Her tone was sullen, pliable, but
she was still pissed.

Maria offered the blessing and then we all
started eating. Evan had never had pozole before. I showed him how
to properly garnish the soup with cabbage and salsa to help
extinguish the burn, but he declined, eating several spoonfuls
before the heat kicked in. When his mouth was fully ablaze, he took
a few lemon wedges. I guessed that wasn’t enough because he
snatched Noah’s milk.

Little Caleb possessed an innate ability to
tolerate the spice and didn’t notice the heat.

“I tried to warn you.”

“A simple, ‘it’s hot as hell’ might’ve
sufficed.” He breathed through his mouth, trying to cool his
tongue.

When the front door
opened, the black night erupted with flashes. I’d made
several calls about the security gate at the bottom of the hill,
but the guards never had to deal with this kind of intrusion before
and were having trouble rounding up everyone. I couldn’t make out
the shadowy figures behind the flash bulbs as they popped off in
rapid succession. Some were just a continuous light hanging over
the top of the wall that surrounded the front yard. Evan appeared
unfazed while I cowered behind the open door. Arnold came running
from the side and shooed the trespassers with his intimidating
stature. A few continuous lights shifted, but that was it. Evan
waved them off, ignoring all questions. Maria seemed overwhelmed by
the scene, covering her face with her jacket. Evan walked out with
her; taking one arm while Lily grabbed the other, helping Maria
onto the high step of the SUV. She tenderly patted his cheek in
gratitude. Her eyes held such unwarranted affection for him, it was
difficult to believe she was ever anything but kind, though my
memories of the past sixteen years told me different.

The shouting grew more intense the closer
Evan came to the front door. When he walked back inside, Caleb was
looking out the front window, his eyes filled with wonder and
fascination.