MAKE ME A MATCH (Running Wild) (23 page)

Chaste makes waste

Fantastic orgasms just weren’t enough, Tessa decided.

Probably all the other women who’d fallen for him thought the same as she had in the beginning, they could take him or leave him, no big deal. Wrong, wrong. She loved him. She wanted so much more from him than orgasms. It might not even bother her so much if people didn’t keep getting married.

Her father had phoned at eleven last evening. “We wanted you to know we’re in Reno. Your mother and I just tied the knot.”

Tessa’s heart thumped, and her voice was so quavery she wondered who the heck was talking. “Congratulations.” She’d been half expecting it, but it was still an awful shock. What should she say?

“I hope you and Mom sell that damned motorcycle and live happily ever after, Dad.” That was dumb, but she didn’t exactly have a script prepared.

“Thanks, honey. Your mom’s here, she wants to talk to you.”

“Tessa?” Maria sounded breathless and fluttery. “Oh, Tessa, it was the nicest wedding. I wish you could have been here. They have the cutest little chapel, and they supply flowers and everything. You’re not upset with us, are you, honey? I know you had some misgivings, but we’re older now, we know what we want. And Tessa?”

She hadn’t meant to cry, but she was. “Yeah, Mom?”

“Tessa, we’re so much in love.” Maria was crying, too.

“I’m really happy for you, Mom. For both of you.”

And just like that, she knew it was true. She knew that this time, she wanted her folks to make it. She wanted it so much she’d been afraid to admit there was a possibility, but what the heck had there been to hang her hopes on? Certainly not their past performance, or her own marital track record. But somebody deserved a happy ever after, and it might as well be her parents.

Eric mumbled, “You okay, Tess?”

Her head was on his shoulder, his leg across her thighs.

“Your headache better? Is there anything you want? Something to drink, maybe?”

Just a little glass of commitment, big guy.

“My mom and dad got married last night. They say they’ve fallen back in love again. You ever been in love, Eric?”

Time passed and he didn’t answer, so after awhile she gave up, slid away and sat up. She kept expecting more. She had to stop that.

“My headache’s totally gone, you should patent this cure of yours. Let’s go out and celebrate your new car and my new parents. I’ve got this summer dress I’ve never had a chance to wear yet.”

“You sure you’re okay with that?”

“The dress? Absolutely, you’ll like it, it’s almost sheer. The car? I’m boondoggled and hornswoggled that you’d break with tradition and buy a new vehicle. What color is it?”

As for commitment, if you think you’re riding out of Dodge in a new car without a gunfight, you’ve got a news flash coming.

“Red. And I didn’t mean the car, I was talking about your parents.”

“You bought a red car? But I love red cars.”

“I know, you told me once. What about your parents?”

“I love them, too. They’re over eighteen and Mom’s not pregnant this time, so I’m pretty optimistic about it. C’mon and have a shower with me.”

It took a long, long time to get clean, and when they finally made it to the car, Tessa took one look and fell in lust.

“You can drive if you want.” Eric tossed her the keys, and when she climbed in, the new leather smelled so good she wanted to lick the seats.

A guy can change, he’d said. Nothing’s written in stone.

Maybe there was an opening here. Maybe all she needed was a foolproof plan.

Wednesday morning, Anna sat at her kitchen table with her laptop, charted her horoscope, and tried to plan her life for the rest of the week.

Sudden and unexpected change, thanks to Uranus. That was obvious; Sophie was due to arrive in a couple minutes with the boys. Jupiter in retrograde, so spiritual progress would be limited. How could anybody be expected to make progress with two small boys around? And Pluto aspecting heavily, indicating massive upheaval.

That was happening already. She’d just had yet another blowup with Bruno. Her stomach hurt and she couldn’t even finish her yogurt because of it. And all she’d done was point out the things she didn’t want the boys to touch while they were here.

“It cost a lot to have the house and yard feng shui’d. The aquarium and the jade plant and the pond in the garden are guaranteed to bring harmony to our relationship, so please tell the boys they’re to stay away from all of them.”

He’d looked at her as if she was some loonie he’d happened to stumble across sitting at his kitchen table. “Anna, you taught kids for eleven years, for cripes’ sake. What’s the big deal with your own nephews spending a couple weeks here?”

“You really need to get a handle on your emotions, Bruno, I’ve told you a zillion times you should learn to meditate. And teaching teenagers art and social studies isn’t the same as having a five-year-old and a three-year-old living with us. My pupils went home at the end of the day.”

And it had taken her eleven years to figure out teaching wasn’t what she was cut out to do. She wasn’t that good with kids. Astrology was her mission in this life.

“It’s good practice for when our own kids come,” he said in that exasperated tone he was using on her these days. “A person would think you didn’t even like kids, the way you go on about Simon and Ian.”

“I love them. I just don’t want to live with them.” He was mentioning their own kids more and more lately, and each time she’d get this same sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sure, she wanted kids, she’d told him that before they were married. She just hadn’t added maybe, someday, later. Much later.

It was too bad, but Bruno just wasn’t keeping up with her spiritual growth, and it was causing problems between them. She told him so, and he shoved his breakfast aside and stomped out into the yard.

She went to the window. He was putting up a basketball hoop on the side of the garage, dangerously close to her lilies. She tried to see cleansing light around him, but she couldn’t get it past the tension in her gut.

Two weeks. Two whole weeks with Simon and Ian.

Sophie’s car had just pulled into the driveway. She heard Bruno call to the boys, and then Sophie opened the back door and came in.

“Anna? How’s it going? Got any coffee?”

Coffee wasn’t good for the central nervous system, Anna knew that, but she’d just brewed a second pot. She’d have to do a deep tissue cleanse when this was finally over, to get rid of the negative emotional residue in her cells.

“Isn’t it a glorious morning?” Sophie was practically singing. ‘There’s nothing like Vancouver when the sun shines.” She sat down, looking as if she was bursting with well being, blue eyes shining, skin creamy and glowing, lips—were Sophie’s lips always that swollen?

“What’s up with you, Soph? You look sort of, well…..enlightened.”

Which was hard to fathom, because the last time Anna talked to her, sometime last week, Sophie had almost lost her famous cool. The boys had knocked over a display of spaghetti sauce in the supermarket. Not cans, eighteen glass jars, which had sprayed over Sophie, the boys, three customers and a clerk. Apparently the manager had asked if Sophie would please not patronize his store again.

Maybe Sophie was so happy because it was a huge relief to be getting rid of the kids? Two weeks. Apprehension gripped Anna by the throat.

“I’m over the moon, Anna. You’ll never guess what’s happened.” Sophie’s voice was lyrical. “Rocky finally caved.”

It took a moment to process that. “Rocky? He finally took you out?”

“Not exactly. Apart from taking the kids places, we’ve been staying home and going to bed early. Thank heavens little kids sleep a lot.” Sophie leaped to her feet and threw her arms around Anna. “Oh, God, Anna, last night he proposed. ”

“In bed?”

“Of course in bed, it’s the only place we’ve been alone.”

“You think he meant it?”

Sophie gave her a withering look. “Of course he meant it. He’s finally come to his senses. We’ve known each other forever, it’s stupid to waste any more time.” She did a whirling dance around the kitchen table. “I’m so happy I can’t stand it.”

“Well, it’s just that men will say anything after sex, it opens all their chakras.” She and Bruno used to open their chakras that way. They used to be good at it, until Anna decided too much sex wasn’t good for spiritual development.

“I’m telling you he meant it, Anna. We’re getting married. A week from Saturday, civil ceremony, down at City Hall. That’s the earliest I can get time off work.”

“So fast?”

“Like Rocky says, why wait? Once he gets with the program, the man’s a mover.”

“Soph, that’s fantastic.” For a moment, happiness for her sister overcame everything. Anna got up and wrapped her arms around Sophie. “But don’t you want a wedding? City Hall, it’s so impersonal.” Sophie was her sister; there were things sisters did, no matter what. “Why not have it here, in the living room?” With the jade plant and the aquarium and all that harmony. “I met this neat woman at yoga class. She’s a justice of the peace; I’ll bet we could get her to do the ceremony. Nothing fancy, just family. I also know a caterer, she’s the one who gives me shiatsu massage. She’ll give us a good price on food for the lunch.”

Lordie, how could she handle the kids and a wedding? She couldn’t handle the kids, she knew that already. The wedding, she could do as long as Bruno was here, every minute. He’d promised.

Sophie shook her head. “But you’ve got the kids; you’re taking them camping.”

“We could put it off.” That didn’t exactly break her heart, tenting wasn’t her favorite spiritual practice.

“Well—only if you’re sure,” Sophie said. Then she clapped her hands like a kid herself. “Oh, wow, it would be so fantastic, getting married here. But shouldn’t you talk it over with Bruno first?”

“Bruno will be upset if you don’t do it here, you know how he is about family.” It was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him, that magnanimous generosity when it came to those he cared for. Funny how she forgot that when he’d offered to keep the boys. “It’s settled. I’ll call everybody, get it lined up.”

“Anna,
thank you
!” Sophie leaped to her feet and grabbed Anna in a hug that almost cracked her ribs. “I’m going shopping right after work today for something exquisite. I’ll look for a dress for you, too; I know what you like and what looks good. It’ll be my gift to you, for doing this for me.”

“Don’t forget I’ve gained about ten pounds in the last year.” Bruno loved her plump. He swore she was sexier this way. When had he last said that, anyhow?

Sophie was flicking things off on her fingers. “Rocky wants Eric to be his best man. I want you to stand up for me. Oh, I wish Karen were here, you could both stand up for me. I’m calling her tonight. Flowers, what should we do about flowers?”

“The backyard is full of lilies and roses, we’ll use them.”

“And I’m really glad the boys will be at my wedding.”

Pure terror nipped at Anna’s heart. She had a week to arrange a wedding. She could not take care of Simon and Ian as well. Bruno would understand that. He’d volunteered to have them; he’d just have to do all the childcare, this cinched it.

Sophie left, almost skipping down the walk, and Bruno came in with Simon and Ian.

“Uncle Bruno’s taking us to the store, we’re gonna get a basketball,” Simon announced.

“And Auntie Sophereeno is gonna marry Rocky,” Ian announced in a disgusted tone. “Why can’t he marry our mommy and live with us?”

Bruno was as thrilled over Sophie’s news as Anna had been. He’d forgotten about their quarrel, and he came over and kissed her, full on the lips. “Of course the wedding has to be here. What should we get them for a gift?”

Anna remembered again why she’d fallen in love with him. He was the most generous man she’d ever met and he never held a grudge. She was feeling better, making them tomato soup and tuna sandwiches when the phone rang.

Bruno answered, and she knew right away by the conversation and the expression on his face when he hung up.

“You promised,” she said as panic started to set in. “You said you’d be here every minute, that we’d do this together, you promised.”

He couldn’t meet her eyes. “I have to go, Anna. It’s one of my best customers over on the island, a surprise audit by the tax department. They want the last four years’ records. I’ve got to see him through this. I’ll be back by Friday. Saturday morning at the latest.”

Two entire days alone with Simon and Ian.

She knew that only by setting your partner free were you ever free yourself. She knew all the spiritual rules about relationships.

She did hysteria, heavy guilt, tears, and she finally ended up begging. But by one in the afternoon Bruno had packed up his laptop, thrown a clean shirt and underwear in a bag, and driven off to catch the ferry.

“You are not allowed to touch the aquarium or the jade plant in the living room,” she told Simon and Ian, her voice trembling. “Don’t go near the pond in the backyard or touch the flowers. Go in your bedroom and put away your things in the dresser. If you’re good boys for the next couple of days, I’ll take you out for ice cream.”