Taming Theresa (2 page)

"Divorce wasn’t common back then. Maybe Nanna
was ashamed,” suggested Theresa.

Vicky took a deep breath as she nestled into
another wicker chair. "After Mom and Dad were killed in that car
crash in Pennsylvania, I went to live with Nanna. That’s when I
realized she’d started losing her memory. I knew nothing about her
early life in this little town until I got a phone call from her
lawyer, Fred Douglas, last spring,"

“You were so devoted to her. I don’t know how
you did it, taking care of her all those years,” she said.

“You just take it one day at a time,” Vicky
answered. “You’re just like me. What about all the time you’ve
spent managing your family’s restaurants? Now they’re some of the
most successful places in Jersey and it's because of all your hard
work.”

“But I wasn’t alone like you were. Mom and
Dad were always around." She sighed, looking out at the splashes of
color on the mountainsides. "Of course Mom and Dad were the ones
that insisted on hiring Tony. They wanted to fix me up with ‘a nice
Italian boy’, their best friend’s son.”

“And now you’re planning a beautiful June
wedding.” Vicky smiled at her cousin. Theresa didn't resemble her
much. Entirely Italian, her olive complexion, dark eyes and hair
were unlike Vicky’s own auburn locks and hazel eyes. Theresa was
tiny with shapely hips and ample breasts. Her cousin was tall and
slender with small even features.

Vicky looked at her cousin. “In a few months,
we'll both be married. Who would have thought?”

“Life’s full of surprises.” Theresa drained
her coffee and sat silently staring into the empty mug for a
minute. “Anyway, Tony gave me a big surprise a few weeks ago.” Then
her head came up and she looked at her cousin with a pained
expression. “Nice Italian boy, my ass! I walked in on that no good
bastard and my best friend, Maryanne.”

Vicky froze. “And they were...?”

Theresa suddenly unburdened herself in a rush
of words. “There they were, naked, twisted around each other like
pretzels, screwing right in front of me. Tony is a no good
son-of-a-bitch! Excuse me. I'm sorry Vicky. I wasn’t going to tell
you. I don't want to ruin your wedding with my problems.” She
sniffed, brushing tears from her cheeks before changing the
subject. "I'm really happy for you, Vicky and I can't wait to meet
Jack. You two are so lucky to have each other."

“Terry, I can’t believe it! How could anybody
cheat on you? You’re so beautiful," she said, shocked. “You don't
deserve to be treated like that! I hope you dumped his ass!

Her magnificent eyes flashed like a pair of
glittering black opals in the sunlight. “You bet I did. The
bastard's been cheating on me the whole time. I never want to see
him again”

“I guess you told your mom and dad?”

“Yeah. There's no engagement, no wedding, no
nothing. It's off!" The hard expression softened, her chin
quivered, and Theresa dabbed at her tears. “Mom and Dad know that I
called the engagement off, but I couldn't tell them about Tony
cheating on me.”

“No, that wouldn’t be easy. Maybe it’s better
they don't know,” said Vicky.

“I wanted to warn you guys. I wanted you to
understand, I might be a little down, but I’m really, really happy
for you.”

"Oh, Honey, it’s okay. I don't blame you."
She hugged her cousin, and then reached for a box of tissues as the
tears came in a sudden stream.

"Thanks.” She plucked a handful of tissues
from the box and wiped her eyes. We were pretty close when we were
kids.”

"We’re still close Terry.”

“Remember how the family would always be
together on Christmas or Thanksgiving or whatever, and we'd have
sleepovers, just you and me. We'd play princess, dress up, and talk
about our handsome prince coming along some day? Well, I'm here to
tell you, girl, there's no such thing. At least Tony was no prince.
The bastard turned out to be a big ugly friggin' toad instead.”

“I’m sorry we haven't spent much time
together for a few years. What with taking care of Nanna, and you
working twenty-four-seven at the restaurant, but I never thought we
weren't still best friends, best cousins. Soooo. Tell me what
happened. Tony is a son-of-a-bitch? Go ahead and tell me
everything."

She nodded and sniffed. "He was cheating on
me the whole time!” A mirthless grin spread over her face, but was
gone again in an instant. “After I caught that bastard banging my
best friend, I asked him why. Tony said he had to cheat because I
had no time for him, and I was no good in bed anyway. Can you
believe it?”

“Oh no! Honey you know he’s lying. He's
probably just saying that to get back at you for catching him in
the act.”

“Maybe,” sighing, Theresa continued, “I’d
been trying to call him. It was important. I needed to talk to him
about scheduling the restaurant wait staff for an event. There was
no answer on his cell, so I figured maybe he left it somewhere or
had it turned off. Who knows? So, I stopped by his place on my way
home." She paused, plucked more tissues from the box, and blew into
them.

"Oh Terry, this doesn't sound good,” said
Vicky leaning forward, her brow creased in sympathy.

"No, it wasn't good at all.” She looked down
at the hands twisting in her lap. “There was loud music on, so when
he didn’t answer the door, I let myself in. I couldn't believe it.
For a minute I just stood there staring, like an idiot, until they
saw me."

Vicky sat quietly waiting for her to continue
murmuring a weak, "How awful."

"So, I didn't say anything, just turned and
walked out. I never want to see him again. A few minutes later, I
said plenty. On my way home, I called his cell and left a message.
Told him he was a rotten son-of-a-bitch and I fired him. Told him I
was going to sell the ring. At least that way I'll come out of it
with something.” She wiped away a tear. “Know what I mean?”

“Of course I do.” Vicky reached for her
hands.

“He was no good from the start. I think he
wanted a partnership in the restaurants, more than he wanted me. I
should’ve known, should have seen it coming. There's something else
too, besides his cheating on me. Vicky, I think Tony's involved in
something illegal, something kind of shady, but I have no idea
what."

She leaned back in the big comfortable wicker
chair and for a minute watched the leaves falling and dancing in
the gusting wind. "Terry, you could never ruin my wedding. If you
can, I want you to forget all about Tony and enjoy being my maid of
honor. I'm sure it's not going to be easy..."

“Tony was my first.” Terry confessed. “It was
so humiliating finding out that I wasn’t good enough for him as a
woman. Screw him. The whole sex thing is so over rated anyway.
What’s the big deal?”

“Vicky’s head jerked up. “What do you
mean?”

“I don’t know.” Lifting her shoulders in an
elaborate shrug, she let them drop again. “It was nice, but not
like all those silly unrealistic romance books talk about. You
know, women falling in love big time, having incredible sex.”

“Maybe Tony was the problem?” said Vicky
sounding worried.

“Well, from what I’ve heard since we broke
up…he’s pretty popular with women.” She stood up, walked over to
the railing, and leaned against it and sighed. “I feel a little
better now that you know. Thanks for listening.”

For the moment there seemed to be little else
for either of them to say. They watched the wind blow the fallen
leaves across the lawn from one pile to another, drifting against
the tall oaks lining the driveway.

Vicky looked away nervously. No one knew,
except for Jack and her literary agent, Marsha Chandler, that she
authored a popular series of erotic romances under the pen name,
Tori Baxter. She'd carefully kept that part of her life hidden, but
Jack had discovered it before proposing that summer. He'd kept her
secret, letting on to no one in Pippin's Grove. Maybe, given her
comments about silly romance novels, this wouldn't be a good time
to let her cousin in on that secret.

Theresa's change in relationship status gave
her an idea. “I’m so sorry that Tony hurt you, but I did have a
thought,” she said, breaking the silence. “Now be honest with me.
Will it upset you if I’ve paired you with one of the
groomsmen?”

Theresa shook her head. “I'm not going to be
a drag on your party okay?”

“John’s a nice guy and he’s not seeing anyone
just now, so he has no date for the wedding. I’ll change my plans
if it bothers you.”

“One or two days with some friend of Jack’s
won’t kill me. I'm sure he's a nice guy.” Theresa came back and
perched on the end of the chair next to her. “Listen, I know you've
got a lot of friends and family staying here, so don’t be upset
with me. I've booked the coolest room in that awesome little B
& B in town. You know, the Scarlet Pippin. Their web site looks
super nice. It's just around the corner from Paulding's Rest, so
it'll be convenient.”

“But why? I thought you’d stay here.”

“Please don't argue with me, because I've
made up my mind. I just need some time to myself. There’s a bottle
of wine and a huge Jacuzzi calling my name.”

“Are you sure?” Vicky asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“Well, all right. If that’s what you want.
You’ll like it there. The guys who own it now put a lot of money
into it and it's really very charming. They bought it maybe two
years ago and I'm told it was pretty run down before they restored
it."

“I’ll love it. It’ll be better if I stay in
town anyway because I need to spend time with Ralph, the guy who
owns the tavern, planning your reception and decorating the room.”
She looked at Vicky. “I really love the historic old building where
his restaurant is.”

"Ralph Spangenberg is a sweetheart. I'm sure
you won't have any trouble dealing with him on the food. We can
talk about the menu details tomorrow. Paulding's Rest does have
some history attached to it. Legend has it that it's called
Paulding's Rest because the local hero, John Paulding, stayed there
during The Revolution. Everyone says it's a nice story, but not
actually true. Jack's friend, John, is kind of a history buff. He
goes to re-enactments and that sort of thing. I’m sure he could
tell you about it."

“That’s nice. Listen. I don’t want you to
worry about the reception. I’m doing this for you. The event is
totally arranged. I have flowers, tablecloths, and the candles you
chose coming. Ralph has agreed to the menu, still subject to your
approval of course, and he’s going to let me in during the week to
decorate and set up. It's your day. Anything you want changed you
let me know, girl. Remember, this is what I do all the time. I’ll
take care of everything."

"That’s so nice. I really appreciate all
you’re doing. Jack and I haven't given anybody much time to plan,
but we just didn't want to wait. By the way, I want to reimburse
you for what you’ve spent. Give me a total so I can write you a
check."

Theresa smiled at her cousin. “No, that won’t
be necessary. Dad's taking care of everything. He insists on paying
for the reception and didn't even want me to tell you ahead of
time."

Vicky was shocked. "That's so incredibly nice
of Uncle Dom. He doesn't have to...."

“Don't argue. Daddy says he wants to do this
for you.”

“That’s so nice. He shouldn’t have to...”

Theresa held up a hand to silence her. "Dad
says no arguing. You know what he's like when he makes his mind up
about something. Now, we've got a bachelorette party tonight. I'm
going to party with you and forget about that bastard, Tony. That
reminds me, speaking of bastards, yesterday some idiot at the
tavern thought I was a puttana!”

“What!” cried Vicky.

“Well, not in so many words, but the
son-of-a-bitch announced to the whole restaurant, that I was the
stripper for the bachelor party.”

“Oh my god! Who said that?”

“I don't know who he was, but he just walked
up and told everyone I was there to strip for their party.”
Giggling, she shrugged. “Then…I had a little meltdown. The whole
Tony thing was on my mind and I was in no mood, know what I mean? I
admit I lost it and went ballistic. Afterwards, I felt a little
embarrassed.”

“Oh my god. Terry, I can’t believe it. I’m so
sorry.” Then her chin shot up. “They’re hiring a stripper?”

“I don’t know what they’re doing. Men! You
never know what kind of crazy bullshit their going to do. They're
all the same except for, I guess, your Jack, right?” She opened the
front door and called over her shoulder, “I’ll be down in a few
minutes. I just want to pack my things.”

While Theresa was upstairs, Vicky took the
opportunity to straighten up the kitchen and wash their breakfast
dishes. She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee, wondering how
soon Jack would return from picking up his younger brother in Penn
Yan for the bachelor party. How would her Italian cousins from
Jersey mix with their friends in Pippin's Grove?

There's so much we still have to do, even
with Terry handling everything for the reception. I have to look
through the invitation responses and come up with numbers for her.
Tonight though, we'll just have fun, a girl’s party while the men
have their bachelor party downtown. I guess they’re going to have
it at Paulding's Rest. And what’s this about hiring a stripper? I
hope the party doesn’t get too wild.

Leaning against the counter she surveyed her
big country kitchen, mentally reviewing her remodeling plans. The
scarred red Formica counter tops and metal cabinets were easily
fifty years old if they were a day. There was no dishwasher and the
ancient faded light green refrigerator groaned and strained as
though it were giving up its death rattle. Running the entire width
of the back of the farmhouse, the room was easily thirty feet long
and fourteen or fifteen wide. A stone fireplace dominated one wall,
between wide doorways that led into the spacious living and dining
rooms. Maybe a new oak mantle would lend character to the room.