In Her Mind (Mountain High Valley Low ) (20 page)

I rolled off of my husband for the third time since we’d come home from our wedding late the night before. Our white wooden blinds filtered beams of morning sunlight into our bedroom, painting stripes across Brian’s face as we lay wrapped in the afterglow of our lovemaking. It seemed as though once we had been bonded in marriage, we just couldn’t get enough of each other. All during the reception, Brian kept trying to get me to sneak off to one of the empty bridal suites in the reception hall for a quick romp.

Despite Lori’s unexpected outburst, the rest of our wedding day went exceptionally well. It took me a moment to get myself together after the hideous scene, and it saddened me to no end that the disgraceful display would forever be a part of the story of our life together. But as usual, Brian, my husband, kissed the pain away.

“Babe, if we don’t get up and get dressed, we are going to miss our flight,” I told him.
“I can’t move. I already had a bum leg. After doing all of these gymnastics in bed with you, I don’t think I will be able to walk through the airport anyway,” Brian teased. I bopped him with a pillow.
“You better come on. I know you don’t want your money to go down the drain. You paid for this honeymoon, remember?” Not being one to waste money, Brian sat up quickly. “Yeah, I thought that would get you going.”
“No, I just want to hurry up and get there so I can do you in the ocean,” he said, then squeezed my butt.
“Brian!” I hit him in the head. “Let’s go, boy!”
The two of us lifted our naked bodies from the comfortable, overworked bed and were heading for the shower when the doorbell rang. We stopped in our tracks, looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and laughed.
“Shh! Stay quiet. Maybe they will go away,” Brian joked, making no attempt to answer the door.
“Brian, are you serious?”
“As cancer,” he laughed, and continued toward the bathroom.
The knocks continued, growing more urgent by the minute.
“Brian, I think one of us should answer that. It doesn’t sound like they are going to go away. It’s probably somebody who knows we are here. As hard as they are knocking, it’s probably Jeff.”
“Damn!” Brian cursed. “I’ll get it,” he decided and headed toward the door, naked.
“Brian!” I yelled. “Put some clothes on before I choke you like Brooke choked Lori yesterday!” Both of us fell out laughing. The knocking grew more urgent. “Just a minute,” I called out and slapped Brian on the behind. “Man, go put some clothes on and get the door, will you? I’m going to jump into the shower. Remember, we need to be out of here in less than two hours. Brooke will be here to take us to the airport by noon.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Brian waved me off and turned back toward the bedroom for a pair of shorts.
Just as the spray of hot water began to caress my body, washing away the sticky residue of our lovemaking, Brian pulled open the bathroom door.
“Close the door. It’s cold!” I yelled from inside the shower.
“Um…Lex. You need to come out of the shower, now.” His tone and the urgency in his voice sent chills down my spine. I shivered despite the hot water beating down on me.
I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower without having washed. The only sign of Brian was the half-open door. I grabbed my towel and began to dry off when Brian reappeared with a pair of my sweats and a T-shirt for me to put on. My stomach lurched. Something was definitely wrong. Speedily, I pulled on my sweats and T-shirt, and went in search of Brian. When I arrived in the living room, there were two strange men— one distinguished-looking older man and one who looked to be about my age—along with a very pretty and refined-looking older woman. The woman was holding Brice in her lap. A marooncolored bruise sat upon Brice’s forehead and another rested under his right eye. I looked over at Brian then back at Brice.
“You must be Lexie.” The poised woman stood and reached for my hand. She appraised me from head to toe. “I’m Mrs. Winston. It’s a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances.”
“Hello, Mrs. Winston,” I replied respectfully, still questioning Brian with my eyes. I could have sworn I saw water gather in the corners of his eyes. The men introduced themselves as well. First Shelly’s father, then her husband. “Glad to meet you. Is everything okay?” At my question, everyone’s head lowered as if on cue.
“Lexie,” Brian said as he crossed the room and stood before me. He placed his hands on my arms and looked me in the eye. This close to him, I was able to confirm that there were indeed tears in Brian’s eyes. What could possibly make him cry? As if he read my thoughts, he began, “Shelly and Brice were in a bad accident yesterday afternoon.”
A rush of air escaped my lungs and I clutched my chest. I looked toward Brice and reached for him instinctively. Mrs. Winston handed him right over.
“Is she going to be alright? What hospital is she in?” I asked, holding Brice closely. He was obviously tired because he rested his head on my shoulder.
“She didn’t make it, Lex. They said had she been wearing her seat belt, she might have had a chance,” Brian said solemnly. “Oh my God!” I gasped again, this time losing my breath completely. I held Brice even tighter. I felt as if someone had kicked me in the stomach. No matter who it was, I’d never wish death on anyone. Poor Brice would grow up without his mother. Mrs. Winston began crying softly. I could only imagine how many times she had broken down since finding out the fate of her only daughter. Mr. Winston went to his wife and caressed her. Brandon lifted his chin and tried to blink away his tears, only to send them streaming down the sides of his face.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Winston. And Brandon, you have my deepest sympathy. I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.
The silence gave way to soft sniffles for a few minutes, as everyone took a moment to mourn their respective loss. Brice had fallen fast asleep on my shoulder.
“Lexie,” Brandon called my name softly, breaking the mournful silence. “The reason we are here is to bring Brice to his…father.” Brandon choked, on the verge of another breakdown. “I love that kid and, until recently, I’d been the only father he’d known. But I also knew he wasn’t mine. I felt that it was only right to bring him to his biological father now that he’s lost his mother.” Brandon stumbled over the word lost. “I knew my wife well and, though I loved her very much, I knew she wasn’t happy. I couldn’t make her happy. I only ask that I can somehow continue to be part of his life.”
“He’s our grandson and the only connection we have to our daughter. If you are not interested in having him live with you, we will gladly keep him.” Mr. Winston said. Mrs. Winston was still sobbing softly in his embrace. “We felt it necessary to give you this opportunity since he is your son, and we know that you made attempts to find him in the past.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Brandon,” Brian said, nodding at him. “Mr. Winston,” he continued before shaking both gentlemen’s hands, “but I will gladly accept responsibility for my son.”
I was proud of Brian, yet I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It all seemed surreal. Shelly was dead and now Brice was going to be living with Brian and me.
“I really wanted to meet you, Lexie,” Brandon said, “and now that I have, I feel completely confident that Brice is in good hands. Feel free to call on me at any time. We are all family now.”
“Thank you.” It came out more like a question than a statement.
Within twenty-four hours, I had become a wife and a full-time mother. For the next hour or so, Brian, Brandon, the Winstons, and I talked about our collective efforts with regard to raising Brice. I finally laid Brice on the bed to sleep soundly as the adults continued to talk and map out the particulars. I had completely forgotten about the time until my boisterous and spirited best friend, Brooke, arrived, ready to cart us off to the airport for our honeymoon. I knew that upon my return, my life would be changed forever. In a matter of twenty-four hours I became both a wife and a mother.

1. Which character did you find most interesting, intriguing?
2. Do you think Brian misled Shelly at any point trough out the story?
3. How do you think Brian handled being a father under the circumstances?
4. If you were Lexie, how would you have handled the situation with Shelly?
5. What did you think of Sheila Winston, Shelly’s mother?
6. Shelly could have given up on Brian a long time ago. What do you think kept her going in her pursuit to get him back?
7. What do you think caused Shelly to believe that she could get Brian back?
8. How would you feel about raising another woman’s child, especially a woman of Shelly’s nature?
9. What are your thoughts on Lori’s role?
10. Did you sense along the way that Lori could have been the person feeding Shelly information about Brian and Lexie?