Soft Serve Sweetie (Plus Size Romance 2) (5 page)

This woman was giving Zane a headache.  He was beginning to think her father wasn’t the only one in her family who was loco.  “I appreciate your efforts, Miss Vega, but there was no wedding.  And I’m damn sure there will be no child.  I—”

“Fine,” she said, sounding defensive.  “The two of you have not been wed, yet.  But my dreams are never wrong.  Tell me, Mr. Barrett, did you sheath your manhood before taking my friend to bed?”

All the color drained from his face.  “No.”

“And why not?”

Zane stood and began pacing.  Several good reasons or, more accurately, rationalizations for not using protection ran through his mind.  First, their consummation had been spontaneous.  He had only intended to talk some sense into her that day.  His plan was to bring her back here and make love to her in his home.  His intention had been to stop her from making a colossal mistake with that rat-bastard Pete.  But when he saw her standing there, sweet and wide-eyed, thinking he didn’t want her, he had to remove any doubt.  He wanted to show her how very much he did desire her.  From a purely animalistic standpoint, he needed to lay claim to her.  To possess her.  To show her, if only for that moment, she belonged to him.  Selfishly, he hadn’t wanted any barriers between them when he took her, not even a condom.  But he wasn’t about to say that to Gabriela Vega.

He cleared his throat.  “I didn’t think protection was warranted.  Cherry was anxious and determined to lose her virginity.  Given that, I assumed she was on the pill.  And not that it’s any of your business, but I’m clean.  I’ve not been in a romantic or sexual relationship with anyone for a quite a long time.  There was no cause for either of us to worry about sexually transmitted diseases.” 

He stopped pacing and blew out a deep breath.  “I don’t believe in your dreams, Miss Vega.  If Cherry were pregnant, she would have come to me by now.  So, if we’re done here, I need to get going.”

Zane was shocked when she suddenly jumped to her feet, placed her hands on her hips and stared at him with an intensity he had never seen in anyone’s eyes before.

“We most certainly are not done.  Sit.  You will hear what I have to say now.”

Zane sat and gave her his full attention.

He watched her features soften as she spoke.  “Cherry is smart and funny and beautiful.”

“Yes, I know,” he said, smiling.

“What you do not know is she carries great sadness and fear inside her.  She has rejection and abandonment issues that run deeper than the Rio Grande.”

Zane furrowed his brow.  “Cherry’s only twenty-one.  At that age nobody has experienced enough of life to have the issues you’re talking about. What is this? More dream analysis?”

She huffed.  “It most certainly is not.  You will feel foolish once I have explained, Señor.”

Despite his skepticism, Zane nodded.  “I’m listening.”

“Bueno, for what I have to tell you is importante—
important. 
When Cherry was but an infant, her mother left her on a church step.  A priest took her to the orphanage where she stayed until she was six years old.  Usually babies are the first to be adopted, but Cherry was sickly early on, and people only wanted hearty, healthy babies.”

Zane groaned. “My God, how horrible for her.”

“Sí. But on her sixth birthday, she got the best present of all.  A nice, older couple—Charles and Anna Mercer—visited the orphanage, looking for a little girl to adopt.  They chose Cherry and, with time, she blossomed under their care.  They were sweet, loving, patient and nurturing people.”

“
Were
?” 

She nodded.  “They died in a tragic accident during Cherry’s freshman year at Erskine.”

“What happened?”

“After Cherry left for college, the Mercers decided it was time to take a second honeymoon.  For over thirty years, they had been saving and planning for a cruise to Hawaii.  Shortly after their ship docked in Honolulu, they chartered a helicopter.  They wanted to view Hawaii from the air before deciding which islands to explore. There was a mechanical malfunction in the turbine engine, and the aircraft crashed into the highest side of the Mauna Kea Mountain.  In Hawaiian mythology, the peaks of the island of Hawaii are sacred, and Mauna Kea, meaning White Mountain is one of the most sacred. An ancient law allowed only high-ranking tribal chiefs to visit its peak.  The Mercers’ demise was tragic but somehow, fitting. Cherry’s adoptive parents were among the highest-ranking human beings on earth.  Their hearts were pure and, within their hearts and home, they made room for my best friend.” 

Zane was speechless.  All he could do was shake his head as Gabriela pressed on.

“Shortly before their deaths, a guy in Cherry’s biology class had taken an interest in her.  She really liked him.  I think she was falling in love with him.  But after her parents’ fatal accident, he dumped her. As it turned out, he had only been using her.  She had been doing his schoolwork for him.  Through her grief, she could barely do her own work.  When she was no longer useful to him, he moved on to some other gullible girl.”

Zane growled, “What a bastard.”

Gabriela placed a hand on his arm.  “Now you have a better understanding of Cherry.  Yes, she is only twenty-one but has suffered a lifetime of rejection and loss.  I am sure that is why she has not opened herself up to you.  She is afraid of the pain that always comes with loving someone.  She has survived much heartbreak.  She is so strong, yet so fragile.  I want her to be happy and loved.  You are her destino—
destiny
.  Tell me where she is, Señor.  I will go to her and convince her to come home to you.”

Zane closed his hand over Gabriela’s.  “I appreciate the offer, but it’s my place to go get my woman.  Please make yourself at home while I’m gone.  I know Cherry will be thrilled to see you.”

“Sí, I will wait for both of you here.”

AS HE HAD A month ago, Zane careened into the parking lot of Pete’s Ice Cream Parlor.  He jumped out of the car, leaving the door open and the engine running.  When he burst through the door, Pete threw his hands in the air. “God! Not you again! Cherry’s in the can, puking her guts up.  She’s the reason you’re here, right?”

“You better know it,” he said, making his way to the restroom. 

Zane knew he should wait for her to come out, but he knocked on the door anyway.

He heard the toilet flush and a weak, feminine voice say, “For God’s sake, Pete.  Give me a minute.”

“Cherry, it’s Zane.”

She didn’t answer.  There was the sound of running water and a paper towel being torn from a dispenser.  When the door finally opened, he sucked in a breath of concern.  Cherry looked pale and tired.

She wobbled a little, and he reached out to steady her.  “Are you okay, honey?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her waist.

She offered him a weak smile.  “I’m fine.  I think I must have caught the stomach bug that’s been going around.  You know, the one Knox had.”

Remembering Gabriela’s dream, Zane cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think it’s possible for him to have had the kind of sickness you’re having.”

“And what kind would that be?”

“I don’t know.  A baby-Barrett virus, maybe?”

“Oh, Zane,” she cried, crumpling against his chest in a puddle of tears.  “It’s true.  I’m pregnant.  What are we going to do?”

He kissed the top of her head and soothingly caressed her back. 

When she had cried herself out, he gently held her away from him so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes.  “You’ve made me the happiest man on earth, Cherry.  I want this baby.  Hell, I want to make a half-dozen babies with you.”

“You do?”

“Sure.  But I have one condition.”

“You always do.”

He tenderly cupped her cheek.  “I want our children to have my name.  Marry me, Cherry.  I love you.”

Her smile was bittersweet and tugged at his heart.  “Zane, there’s so much you don’t know about me.  I’m afraid.  I—I—”

“I know more than you think I do, sweetheart.”

“What do you know?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears again.

“I know there are no guarantees in life.  Loving always involves the risk of losing, but it shouldn’t keep us from doing it.  I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.  My dad was a cop.  He was shot and killed in the line of duty when I was a senior in high school.  After his funeral, I told my mom I was going to join the force.  She said she couldn’t bear to stay here and watch her son die as her husband had.  She moved to Colorado to live with my Aunt Ida and hasn’t spoken to me since.  So, in a way, I lost both of my parents, too.”

“I’m sorry about your folks, Zane.  But I have to ask: how do you know about mine? Did you do a background check on me?”

He chuckled.  “No.  I never even filed our damn accident report.”

She smiled.  “I was wondering why my car insurance hadn’t gone up.”

“I’m hoping one day soon it’ll be
our
car insurance.  You didn’t answer my question, Cherry.  Will you marry me?”

She grinned mischievously.  “You didn’t answer my question either.”

“Very well.  I heard about your parents from a little Hispanic bird who flew all the way from Mexico to see you.”

Cherry squealed.  “Gabriela’s here?”

“At the house, waiting for us.”

“She believes you’re my destiny.”

Pulling her against his chest, he warmly embraced his little soft serve sweetie. “We’re each other’s destiny.”

She smiled up at him, and this time there was no reluctance.  “I love you, Zane.  I want to be your wife, have your babies and grow old with you.”

He kissed her passionately, showing her all that was in his heart.

Tearing his lips away from hers was pure torture, but he was more than ready to leave the ice cream parlor and Pete’s prying eyes.

Cherry moaned in protest.  “More.  I want you to kiss me some more.”

He laughed out loud.  “Oh, when I get you home young lady, I’m going to kiss you good.”

As they turned to leave, Zane called back over his shoulder.  “You can mail her last paycheck to 677 Oakgrove Avenue, asshole.”

WHEN THEY PULLED INTO the drive, they gave each other a questioning look.  There were several vehicles lined up on the side closest to the house.

Cherry sighed.  “What in the world is Gabriela up to now?”

Zane shook his head.  “Your guess is as good as mine.  Let’s go in and see what it’s all about.”

The moment they stepped over the threshold, both of them gasped.  In the foyer was a lovely arched trellis covered in beautiful, pink roses.  Underneath it stood a priest, wearing a white robe.  His vestments were complete with cincture and crosier.

Zane turned to Cherry.  “Are you Catholic?”

“No.  Are you?”

“No.”

The priest smiled.  “All of us are God’s children.”

Gabriela came running out of the kitchen before they could respond to the priest.  She nodded at Zane and embraced Cherry.  “Hola! Welcome to your wedding!”

Cherry returned her hug before asking,
“Are you loco?”

“I see your Spanish is improving, mi amigo.”

Cherry rolled her eyes.  “Not hardly.  Crazy is universal in every language.  What were you thinking? You do realize we aren’t Catholic, right?”

“Do not worry.  He was ordained online.  He probably is not Catholic either.”

Zane spoke up.  “As comforting a thought as that is, perhaps Cherry would have preferred to plan her own wedding.”

Gabriela waved away his words.  “Nonsense.  You have food, flowers and friends in your home.  What more do two people need to tie the knot?”

Cherry glanced at Zane before whispering, “Maybe my groom would have liked to have invited his mother or, at the least, chosen a best man.”

Her thoughtfulness warmed Zane’s heart.

“Cherry, I don’t care where we get married or how few or how many people attend.  It doesn’t matter to me who performs the ceremony.  I just want to make you my wife as soon as possible,” he said, bending to kiss her softly on the lips.

As if on cue, several people filed in from the living room.  First, Knox bounded over and clapped Zane on the shoulder.  “I guess your Miss Right found you after all.  Congratulations, partner!”

Zane pulled him in for a hug.  “Glad my best man could make it.”

Knox was followed by his wife Sadie who offered her heartfelt congratulations to the bride and groom.  When she took her place beside her husband, Zane gasped loudly.  Previously concealed by Sadie’s height was Sandra Barrett—Zane’s mother.

He slowly moved toward her as if she were a ghost.  He was afraid any sudden movement on his part might make her disappear again.  “Mom?”

She reached out and clasped his hands.  “Oh, son, can you ever forgive a foolish old woman? I was so afraid of losing you to a bullet—something I have no control over—that I pushed you away, thinking it would somehow make an inevitable loss easier to bear.  But, I realize now, none of us can control what happens.  We can’t protect ourselves from the possibility of pain. I’ve already lost so much time with you, and I’m tired of living in fear.”