Beautiful Abyss (California Dreamers #3) (12 page)

His eyes meet mine. “Are you sure you want to marry Abby? This is a very big step. And you’re making a big commitment. Not just to Abby, but to Sadie too.”

“I know. When my step-dad married my mom they had only been together for a few weeks. He knew my mom needed help raising me and he stepped up to the plate. That’s what I want to do for Abby and Sadie.”

“Raising a child isn’t easy,” he warns.

“I know,” I tell him. “I read the book.”

He frowns. “What book?”

“
The Big Fat Everything Baby Book
. I read all of it. Every word. And that’s saying a lot because I never read books. But I know how important that book is.”

After a moment Abby’s uncle finally opens the door all the way. I quickly enter the house before he changes his mind.

“Who was at the door?” I hear Abby’s aunt say as she enters the room. She stops dead in her tracks when she lays eyes on me.

“What are you doing here?” Her eyes land on the ring box in my hand.

“Chris is here to propose to Abby,” Mr. Sullivan tells his wife.

Her mouth forms an O but no sound comes out.

“Abby is in her bedroom with Sadie,” he tells me.

I take that as my cue to exit the living room. I make the assumption that her bedroom is the only one with the door closed.

I knock as quietly as I can. If Sadie is asleep I don’t want to wake her up.

Abby’s jaw drops when she opens the door and sees me. She grabs my arm and pulls me into her room.

“My uncle let you in?”

“He did.”

“How did you manage that?”

Abby’s eyes are still really red from crying. I hope my proposal will cheer her up, even just a little. She looks like she’s been to a funeral.

I open the box and show the engagement ring to her.

She doesn’t react at all. She just stares at it like it’s from some alien planet.

“It’s an engagement ring,” I explain. “If we get married then Dex can’t say anything about us being together.”

She laughs. That’s definitely not the reaction I was expecting. “That’s your solution to the problem? For us to get married?”

I gulp. Maybe the idea is much stupider than I thought.

“I want us to be together,” I explain. “I’m not going to let Dex and his father come between us. I want you and me and Sadie to be a family.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever get married.” She looks down at the ring again.

“Why not?”

“I guess deep down I knew Dex would never marry me. I didn’t think anyone else would want me because I had Sadie.”

“I want you and Sadie.”

I remove the ring from the box and slip it on her finger. I wait for several moments, but she doesn’t remove it.

I realize I never actually asked her to marry me, and she never actually accepted or denied my proposal. I don’t want to press my luck so I just leave things as they are.

“Nellie and Roscoe are willing to take us to Las Vegas,” I hint.

She laughs. “You want to get hitched at one of those Elvis Chapels?”

“Something like that.”

“When?” Her eyes meet mine and I can see a slight spark has returned.

“Tonight?”

“That’s crazy. This whole idea is insane.” She looks down at her ring again. I expect her to take it off and hand it back to me, but she doesn’t.

“I’ll admit that things are moving a little bit fast.”

“I feel like we’re just getting to know each other.”

“We can get to know each other as husband and wife,” I offer.

She shakes her head. “That’s not normal.”

“It is in places like India where they have deranged marriages. Sometimes they don’t even meet each other until their wedding day. I saw it in a documentary.”

She grins. “I think you mean
arranged marriages
. And we’re not in India.”

I take her hand in mine. “I want us to be together. You could use help with Sadie, and I want to help you. I know it won’t be easy, but nothing good is ever easy. Look how hard I worked to finally get a steady acting job.”

“I’m sorry I forgot. How was your callback?”

“I nailed it. I’ll be surprised if I don’t get it. I’ll know in a few days.”

“If you get the part you’ll be so busy. You don’t want the burden of me and Sadie.”

She starts to slip the ring from her finger, but I stop her. “That’s why I want to go tonight. If I do get the part I may not have time to get to Las Vegas once we start shooting.”

“I don’t know what to say. I feel really overwhelmed right now.”

“Can you picture yourself spending the rest of your life with me?” I ask. Then I hold my breath waiting for her to respond.

Luckily her reply comes quickly. “I can’t imagine you not being in my life. Is that weird? We haven’t known each other that long. You and I just seem to fit together.”

“Exactly,” I agree. “I feel the same way.”

“I can’t believe I’m seriously considering going to Las Vegas to marry you tonight.”

I kiss her. “What can I do to convince you?”

“That’s definitely swaying me.”

“How about this?” I pull her close and give her another more passionate kiss.

“Okay,” she says dreamily.

“You’re agreeing?” I ask, just to make sure we’re on the same page.

“Yes.”

“To which part?”

“All of it.”

I lift her off the ground and swing her around I’m so happy. The girl of my dreams is going to be my wife. How lucky can a guy get?

I quickly take the question back because I don’t want to jinx my good fortune.

Six

Abby’s aunt and uncle were so happy about Abby and I getting married that they offered to let us take their car to Las Vegas. They also offered to watch Sadie overnight so we could stay at a hotel once we tied the knot.

So far Nellie and Roscoe have been bickering for the entire trip. It took me almost fifty miles of listening to their nitpicking and arguing before it dawned on me that it’s actually their version of foreplay.

Roscoe has been trying to talk Nellie into marrying him while we’re in Vegas. I know he loves her and wants to spend his life with her, but I also know how competitive he is. I don’t think he can stand the idea of me getting married before he does.

Nellie will not agree to the idea no matter how hard he tries to convince her.

“I’ve always wanted a wedding on the beach,” she tells him. “Las Vegas is nowhere near the ocean.”

“You don’t even like the beach,” Roscoe counters. “You hate going out in the sun and you don’t like touching sand.”

“But think about the wedding photos. The sun won’t be that bad if we go for a wedding at dusk. Sunset pictures will be fabulous.”

When I glance at Roscoe in the rearview mirror I can tell he isn’t happy that he couldn’t convince her. But I know when all is said and done he’ll give her what she wants.

Abby has been quiet. I think she might be intimidated by how loud and opinionated Nellie and Roscoe are. I just hope she isn’t getting cold feet.

I stroke her hand. “Do you still want to do this?”

“I still want to do this,” she assures me.

As the lights of the Vegas Strip get closer I actually start to calm down a little. But I’ll feel a lot better once we make it to our hotel and get checked in and settled.

I asked Abby to go online and pick out the hotel and the place for our wedding. The little chapel she selected had a wedding package that includes everything, even tuxedo and gown rental.

The Bellagio is the hotel she finally settled on after I told her to pick the one she loved no matter the price. Even though it’s one of the most expensive on The Strip, it will be worth it for one of the most important nights of our life. We were lucky that Nellie and Roscoe could book a room right next to ours even as a last minute rental.

Once we park the car in the hotel garage, and gather all of our bags, the four of us head for the lobby.

To say the place is amazing would be an understatement. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Abby is looking around like a kid who just entered the world’s largest candy store.

Nellie is wearing a similar expression.

“There’s nothing like this in Kansas,” Nellie states. That’s where she grew up. Just like Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz.

“Great choice,” Roscoe tells Abby. “This place is spectacular.”

“And pricey,” I remind him.

He shrugs. “You only get married once. If you’re lucky.”

Roscoe pushes ahead of me when we walk up to the front desk to check in.

“I’ve got this,” he tells me.

“What?”

“I’m paying for your room.”

I elbow him. “You can’t do that.”

“It’s a wedding present. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

“You don’t have to…”

“I want to.”

“Thanks, man.”

Once we get the key cards to our rooms Roscoe and I grab all of the bags and we escort Nellie and Abby upstairs.

“Oh. My. God.” Abby’s eyes are wide as she surveys the large suite. “I don’t think this is the room I reserved.”

“You’re right. But it’s the room Roscoe paid for. Our wedding present.”

“This is amazing.”

She’s right. The suite is amazing. It’s easily half the size or her aunt and uncle’s house.

“We don’t have a lot of time to get ready. We’ve got to get to the chapel in about an hour.”

I pull her into my arms and give her a kiss. I’d like to do a lot more than that in our very private room, but I also want to wait until she’s my wife.

***

Our chapel package included a limo which picked us up in front of the Bellagio. Luckily we weren’t too far from the chapel so there wasn’t a lot of time for me to get anxious on the way.

But now I’m so nervous my arms are actually shaking. That’s never happened to me before.

“Dude, are you going to be alright?” Roscoe places a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m not sure,” I admit.

There’s a full length mirror in the dressing room where we rented the tuxedos. When I glance at myself my face is white like a ghost.

“Abby and I are actually getting married.” As soon as the words leave my mouth I realize how stupid they sound. That’s what we’re here for.

“Everything is happening really fast,” he reminds me.

I nod. “I know.”

“You’re sure you still want to go through with this? I don’t think anyone would blame you if you decided to give yourselves more time.”

“I definitely want to marry Abby,” I tell him. “I guess I’m just thinking about what happens after that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Abby and Sadie aren’t going to move into my room at your place. And I don’t think her aunt and uncle will want me living at their house for too long. I’ll be a husband and father. I’ll have to get a place for my new family. I’m not even sure I’ve got a steady job yet.”

“If you need money,” Roscoe offers, “you know I have plenty.”

He does have more money than he’ll probably ever spend, but that’s not the point. “Abby and Sadie are my responsibility now. I’ll do what I have to do to take care of them.”

“You know if you ever need anything…”

“I know, man. You’ll always be my brother from another mother.”

He pats my shoulder. “You know it.”

When Roscoe and I finally make it into the chapel the woman who runs the place starts some music.

I still haven’t decided if the chapel is cute or tacky. But it doesn’t matter when my eyes land on Abby walking down the aisle in her wedding gown.

She’s more beautiful than a fairytale princess in any children’s book.

And she’s actually marrying me.

How could a guy like me get so lucky?

My chest tightens and I pray that I don’t pass out.

When I glance over at Abby she’s doesn’t look nervous at all. She looks happy, happier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s actually glowing.

The short ceremony is a blur. My mind is in absolute chaos. I force myself not to think about everything I need to do when we get back to LA and try to enjoy the moment.

Once we both say
I do
I’m shocked when Abby slips a wedding band on my finger. When did she have time to get it?

Then when I’m finally able to kiss my bride, my brain calms down a little bit.  

“Where did you get my ring?” I whisper to Abby as we head over to the area they have decorated with flowers for photos.

“You’re not the only one with a few surprises,” she whispers back.

Abby and I take lots of photos with Nellie and Roscoe. Then we take a bunch by ourselves. The director of the chapel tells us the pictures will be online for us to download.

She hands us a bottle of champagne and wishes us a “happy life as husband and wife.”

By the time the limo drops us back off at the hotel it’s really late. Even though Roscoe offers to take us out for a drink to celebrate, none of us take the offer seriously.

“Raincheck?” Abby asks. “Maybe in a couple of years when I turn twenty-one?”

We all laugh. She’s so mature it’s easy to forget she’s still only nineteen.

As soon as we make it back to the room Abby and I both crash on the bed.

“Can you believe we did it?” I ask. “I’m your husband and you’re my wife.”

“It’s surreal,” she replies.

No need to remind her that she married someone who isn’t that smart by telling her I have no idea what that means. I decide to do what I do best instead.

I pull her close and give her a kiss.   

I’ll only have one shot at making love to my wife for the first time. I’m going to make sure I do it right.