Away From the Spotlight (66 page)

“
I
didn’t.”

“You probably couldn’t
see what everyone else could.”

“What?”

“How much he loves you.”

“He broke up with
me
though.”

“We figured he’d eventually get over his stupidity.”

I never thought of my sister as particularly insightful and I was astonished as a result.
  “
You were right.  Anyway, we
got married over the weekend.”

There
was silence for a few moments.

“Now
that
surprised me.  Seriously?”

“Yes.  In Vegas.”

“T
hat doesn’t sound like you.  You haven’t got an impulsive bone in your body.”

“It wasn’t so impulsive.
  Had it not been for our break
up, we might have been married already.  So when we got back together, we didn’t want to waste any more time.  Plus, if we did it before the press realized we were back together
, we could have privacy.”

“Did you have privacy?”

“Yes.  We got married
Saturday night
in our suite at the Four Seasons in Vegas
overlooking the
Strip
, just the two of us, a
m
inister, a wedding planner and a photographer.  We wore what we did when we were en
gaged in England.  Will
had my wedding ring
already
s
o it was just a matter of getting a license and getting him a ring.  The wedding planner took care of all the other details.  There were beautiful flowers and all the other traditions, you know, some
thing old, something new . . .”

Then she had to
interrupt with
the question that would make everything sound impulsive. 
“W
hen did you get back together?”

“Saturday morning.”  I knew
how ridiculous it all sounded.

“He
got it all together that fast?”

“Will always manages.  His name probabl
y helps and so does his money.”

“Wow
!
  Well, I hope you
’
ll be happy.  You go
t what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Do we get
to have a party of some kind?”

“Mom’s going to start planning a reception here in L.A. for just after the New Year and Will’s mom is planning
one at Christmastime in England
.  I hope you can come. 
Also
,
Rachael
is planning what is likely to be a raunchy
bachelorette party
.  I don’t know about a shower yet.  I suspect that something along th
ose lines will happen as well.”

“I’ll be there.  It’s not quite busy season yet, although getting too far into January might be tough
, but I promise you I won’t miss any of it
.”

“Good.  Well, I better let you go
.
”

“K.  Congratulations.”

I tried to get down to work.  I only paid
partial
attention though.  I was going to have to review everything
again
tomorrow before
any document
was transmitted.

It was well after
my
normal lunchtime when I ventured out
of
my office to grab something to eat
at the café in the building
.  I learned quickly that word had spread throughout the firm as I was stopped repeatedly so that congratulations could be provided and my wedding ring admired.  I tried to keep it quiet and to pull people out of the hallways into more private areas so
that
John didn’t have to hear
any of it
.  It made my trek to get som
ething to eat that much longer.

I finally made it back to the office, lunch in hand, to work while I ate.  As
was the case
before
lunch
, my concentration wasn’t great.  I stuck it out for the entire day, leaving at normal close of business time for people in most professions, but early for those in mine.  I hoped that anyone who noticed I was gone would understand in light of the fact tha
t I had been married less than forty-eight
hours.

I arrived at Will’s house just before seven.  As I thought about it, I realized that it was now my house too and I was going to have trouble getting used to that
.  Things had changed so fast.

As I entered the house, I wondered what I had in store for me.  I couldn’t imagine that Will was going to allow a normal evening at home.  I was right.
 
Will, Stephen, Colin, Kate and Gemma were waiting for me out on the patio.  Despite the fact that it was December, it was Los Angeles so it was dry and wasn’t too cold.
 
We had a little dinner party, ju
st the six of us, to celebrate. 
It was fun having our li
ttle group back together again.

I noticed at one point that Gemma was
smiling and giggling a little.

“What is it?” I leaned over and asked while everyone else was still talking.

“Nothing.  I was just thinking.
Well, I know you know a little about it so I can say this. 
Rachael
called this evening about your
hen party
.”

“Man, she’s fast.”  I shouldn’t have been so surprised. 
Rachael
was
going to enjoy this I was sure.

“She wants to have it this Friday. 
I’m sorry. 
I can’t help, but laugh
.
”

“Oh, no!
  This is going
to be embarrassing, isn’t it?”

“
Absolutely
.”

“Okay, we have to have a pact to keep this a secret.  You know, like
‘
what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas
’
?  Same idea here.  Promise?  No
t a word to Will and the guys.”

“Promise.  I
imagine
that it will be embarrassing for all of us.  I doubt
I’ll want Colin to know either.

“Good.”

When Will and I returned to his room after dinner, I told him, “I
understand
I
might be busy on Friday night.”

“I heard.  I couldn’t get any details from Kate and Gemma, but there was a lot of giggling involved.  I assume
Rachael
has planned your
h
en
n
ight.”

“I think so although
Rachael
hasn’t told me yet.  I
’m sure
she’ll tell me tomorrow.  She was probably trying to get everyone’s availability today since it’s on such short notice.  So much for me calling my friends and telling them I’m married.
I’m guessing the word is out.”

“I’m sure the word will be out with my
friends
soon as well.  I think Stephen and Colin are getting my
mates
together tha
t
night
as well
for a
s
tag
p
arty of sorts.  I made them promise that it would be tamer than your party probably will be
, especially since I am already a married man
.”

“We’ll see about that.  There are plenty of Gentlemen’s Clubs in L.A. where you can get into trouble.  My
bachelorette party
will be a little more makeshift and probably involve e
mbarrassing lingerie and toys.”

“Sounds good to me. 
This
weekend should be fun for us.”  He leered
at me
.  “In fact, why don’t we get a
head
start on that now?”

“You think we can mu
ltitask and plan a few things?”

“Yes, bu
t not right this second, okay?”

He kissed me.  I could tell that it would be a while before we would
be in a position to multitask.

It was a quiet time for Will
on the career front
as nothing much happened in his industry from mid-December
until
after the New Year.  He wasn’t scheduled to start
The Ludlow Conspiracy
until
mid-January.  Consequently, Will had time on
his hands while I was at work.

On Tuesday
morning
, Will asked me if I had thought about replacing my car.  I said that I had meant to
do so
, but had
been
too busy with work.  He then asked me what I
wanted
if I could have anything
and,
that night
, I found
a black
Lexus SUV hybrid, with all the bells and whistles I wouldn’t have
purchased
for myself,
sitting in the driveway.

My reaction was one of shock though I should have known better, considering Will.

“You know you don’t have to bribe me
?
  I already married you.”

“It’s not a bribe.  It’s just concern for your safety.  Your car is a little on the old side.  I don’t want you breaking down in traffic.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t insult my car
before
we were married or you might be standing here by yourself.”

“Sorry.  I didn’t mean to slag off your car.  It was
a
very hot car –
back when
you were in high school.”  He winked and smiled
,
and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hmm.  So do I get to take a test drive in our new car?”

On Wednesday night,
Will
was waiting for me with
information on houses for me to consider.  Based upon what I had seen and how happy we were in the Palisades, I told him that I would like to stay in the general area if at all possible.  He
seconded that decision
and made arrangements for us to go looking at sp
ecific houses over the weekend.

On Thursday night, I found that Will already had plane tickets for us to spend the week bet
w
een Christmas and New Year’s in London
, leaving the next Wednesday night
.  Our reception was to be held
on
the S
unday
between Christmas and New Year’s.  He had also arranged travel for my family and for our roommates.  He told me that he also arranged for Pam to go as well because Niall wanted to see her again. 
It sounded like a conversation with Pam was in order about that one.
 
When I asked about the details
of the reception
,
Will
ask
ed if I minded being surprised.

“Do
es my mother know the details?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t count on m
y
being surprised for long.  We call my mother ‘the Town Crier’ for a reason.”
  I laughed.

“She promised my mum so
I hope she keeps her promise.”

“We’ll see.  Is there anything I need to do to get ready like, ma
ybe, get a dress or something?”

“No.  Emma’s got it sorted.”

“Oh, yes.  I forgot.  She’s now my personal wardrobe consultant.”
  I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but I probably did.

“Let her
have her fun unless you mind.”

“I don’t.  S
he has better taste than I do.”

“It’s settled then.”

My
bachelorette party
took place on Friday night.  A limo
usine
came to pick me up when I
returned
home from work at around seven.  I changed quickly into my usual black and headed out with about a dozen of my school friends,
Kelly,
Kate and Gemma.  We drove around
town
drinking in the limo and doing a little bar hopping in Santa Monica before ending
up at the
Royalist
, where
the private room
in which
Will and I had our first date had been reserved for us.
  I thought
for a moment
about
how surreal it was that here I was
married only
nine months later.