When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) (19 page)

"Well hello, hot stuff," she drawled, "I think I ought
to let you buy me a drink."

"Shannon? Shannon Becker?"

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"Sean Murphy. We went to high school together."

"Oh yeah. How’s it going?"

"Fine. Can’t complain."

"Sweetie, it’s winter in Minnesota. You can always
complain."

"Naw. Complainers are boring. What would you like to
drink?"

So he’d tried. He and Shannon had talked, and danced, and
eventually she’d led him into a corner of the room and plastered her body
against his, kissing him for all she was worth.

His first reaction had been revulsion. She smoked. She had smoker
mouth. Added to her daiquiri, it was a very unpleasant taste. And she smelled
wrong too. The curves squashed against him were too big. She was too tall. She
felt aggressive, pushy, almost...slutty. No. This felt all wrong.

It had taken several long minutes to disentangle himself from her
embrace, but when he did, when he opened his eyes after his first kiss in over
a year, and saw someone that was not a pretty, delicate brunette, he was done.

"I’m sorry, Shannon. I can’t do this," he
said gently, apologetically.

"Yes, I know," she replied. Her voice was wry and so was
her expression.

"You do?"

"Hon, I can see it. Why are you here alone instead of with her?"

"We broke up."

"Go fix it."

"I can’t."

"Then you’d better stay the hell out of bars, hon.
You’re too fine to avoid attracting attention you don’t
want."

"Thank you. I’m sorry."

"Me too. Oh well. If you get over her, let me know."

"It’s unlikely, but I’ll remember."

He’d kissed her cheek, said goodbye to Jason and Lisa, who
were seated at a table now, eating a late snack, and gone home.

After that, there had been girls, dates. He’d tried to force
himself to get out there. But he couldn’t do it. No one had been able to
compare. To this day no one could. And last night, holding Erin, his Erin, had only confirmed what he’d known all along. She was the one. And they were
getting married in a couple of hours. It was perfect.

Sean considered calling his parents. Their relationship had been
kept too much a secret already. The reckoning would be terrible. But he decided
against it. They might try to talk him out of it, and that just wouldn’t
do. Better to let them know when it was done.

******

            At
four o’clock exactly the bride and groom and their guest arrived at the
office of Rick Williams, wedding officiator. Sean was freshly showered and
looked quite nice in his Sunday clothes. Erin had found a lovely knee length
silver dress in a touchably soft velour fabric that clung sweetly to her body. Sheridan had talked her into getting a makeover at the makeup counter too, so she looked
her best. She was a little concerned that no matter what, this bride would
always be outshone by her best friend. Sheridan looked radiant no matter what
she wore. Still, Sean was looking at her, Erin, with love and desire in his
eyes, and that was what mattered. They entered the room nervously.

            "Hello
there," boomed a loud voice from behind the desk. Rick turned out to be a
heavyset man of middle years with a pleasant face and sparkling eyes. The very
sight of him made Erin smile. He looked like everyone’s favorite uncle.

            "Okay,
ladies, which of you is Erin?"

            "I
am."

            "Nice
to meet you. I take it this is your intended."

            "Yes.
This is Sean." The men shook hands. "And this is my best friend,
Sheridan."

            "Well,
I’m glad to be able to help you today. Do you have that paperwork?"

            They
handed him the stack and he examined it carefully."

            "Looks
good. So, did you two have any requests?"

            "To
get it done? This has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait another
minute." Erin told him seriously.

            "So,
just a no frills legal wedding?"

            "Yes."

            "Forgive
me, but something about you all says Catholic. Are you sure this is what you
want? Would it really be so bad to wait for a church wedding?"

            "This
is exactly what we want," Sean said firmly, "I’m sure my
mother will drag us to the church later."

            "Ah.
Well, all right then. Let’s get you two married."

            Monday
evening, after work, Sean sought out his parents at home. It was not unusual
for him to eat dinner with them a couple of times a week, so they didn’t
think anything of it. He, however, was rather nervous. He had no idea how they
would take what he was about to tell them. Still, it had naturally been a
wonderful weekend. He had never felt so content and satisfied in his life. His
only regret was that, having slept five nights with Erin in his arms, last
night he had been alone again. The knowledge that she would come to him at
Christmas so they could spend the month-long break together helped some, but he
still missed his wife. Wife. That sounded so good.

            Sean
deliberately arrived a little early and met Ellen and Roger in the kitchen.

            "Hi,
Dad. Hi, Mom, how are you?"

            "I’m
well, dear," Ellen said, "how are you? Did you have a nice visit
with your sister? How is she doing?"

            "Danny
is doing so much better, I can’t even believe it. She’s practically
back to her old self. I’ve never been so happy to be teased in my life.
As for me, well, I’m great. I have something I need to talk to you about
though. Would you please take a seat?"

            Roger
sat, but Ellen, sensing something was up with her son, gave him a long look.

            "Sean,
what on earth are you wearing? That looks like a wedding ring!"

            He
pulled out a chair for his mother and gently slid it up to the table.

            "Mom,
Dad, the reason this looks like a wedding ring is that… it’s a
wedding ring."

            Roger
nodded, as though this didn’t surprise him in the least. Ellen, however,
was aghast.

            "Why
exactly are you wearing a wedding ring?"

            "There’s
no exotic and mysterious reason for it. The reason I’m wearing a wedding
ring is that, well, I’m married."

            "Married!?
When did you get married?"

            Sean
considered for a moment. "Wednesday."

            Ellen’s
eyebrows came together.

            "But
you were down visiting your sister on Wednesday."

            "Yes."

            "So,
whom did you marry?"

            "Ellen,
isn’t it obvious?" Roger asked his wife, "He’s married
Erin James."

            "Erin? Sheridan’s Erin? Is that right, son?"

            "Yes,
although I think it’s safe to say she’s more mine than
Danny’s now."

            "Why?"

            "It
wasn’t a spur of the moment thing…or rather the timing was, but Erin and I have been together for four years and we just didn’t want to wait anymore."

            "I
beg your pardon? You’ve been together four months?"

            "No,
Mom. Four years. Erin has been my girlfriend since her senior year of high
school."

            Ellen
gave her son a very hard look. Then she turned to her husband.

            "Did
you know about this?"

            "I
suspected. Since we work together, we talk a lot. I was aware that he was
seeing someone, even though he didn’t ever really say who. But he asked a
couple of pointed questions about age differences that got me thinking, and
since Erin was pretty much a constant part of our lives, she seemed a likely
candidate." Roger turned to his son.

            "She’s
a lovely girl. Congratulations."

            "Thank
you, Dad."

            "But,
son, why didn’t you ever say anything?" Ellen wanted to know.

            "Well,
we got together at homecoming. I don’t have to remind you what a dark
time that was. With poor Danny and everything that happened to her, we
didn’t want to add to the upset by flaunting our rather controversial
relationship. Honestly, even though Erin was young at the time, her nature is
so mature that it was like dating someone my own age. It has never been an
issue between us." There was an edge to Sean’s voice

            "Don’t
be defensive, son," Roger admonished. "It’s years past."

            "I
know, but at the time, would you have approved of us being together?"

            "Probably
not."

            "And
that’s another reason we didn’t say anything. Erin absolutely needed
me in order to get through that year. I couldn’t risk her losing my
support. She was on the brink most of the time already."

            "Why
is that?"

            "Well
apart from the fact that she appointed herself Danny’s champion and
shield, and took as many of her problems on herself as she could, her own
parents were going through a divorce right then. It was a hard year for both of
them."

            "Well,
all right. But what about after? There was no need to keep it a secret so
long."

            "You’re
right. Well, for one thing we decided to take it easy for a while, so she could
concentrate on college. Remember, Dad, you told me not to let her give up her
dreams for me?" He and Erin had discussed how they wanted to describe
their ill-advised separation, and that was the best description they could come
up with, since neither of their feelings had wavered for a moment. He
continued. "Maybe we also just got into the habit of keeping our
relationship private. I regret that because it kind of made Erin think I
wasn’t proud to be her boyfriend, which I absolutely was. That’s
why I’m telling you now. I love my wife. I’m so thankful to have
her. Oh, and there’s something else."

            "What?"

            "She’s
coming up for Christmas, naturally. I know you two haven’t seen her in a
while. The thing is, Erin has never had a loving family. You know what her
parents are like. I absolutely intend for the Murphy family to embrace her with
open arms and make her one of us. She deserves it after all she’s done
for us and I won’t accept anything less."

            "Of
course, Sean." Roger told his son, "She’s your wife. She
already is one of us. Besides, Erin has been a member of this family for
years."

            "I
think so too."

            "Well,"
Ellen said a little stiffly, "There really isn’t anything to be
said to that, is there? It’s done. But I have a couple of questions that
need to be cleared up first."

            "I’ll
answer any question you ask, Mom. Be sure you really want the answers."

            "Oh,
I do." Ellen’s eyes were very narrow. "Just before the girls
left for college, Erin took off to spend the night with her boyfriend. She was
very blunt with me about what she was doing. Was that you then?"

            "What’s
worse, Mom? To think she was sleeping with me, or with someone else while she
was dating me? Yes, of course it was me."

            "And
she also told me that wasn’t the first time. That she gave her virginity
to her boyfriend a long time ago."

            "Yes."

            "Why?"

            "Just
so we could be as close as possible. Erin and I knew we would only ever love
each other. She’s never been with anyone else. Since I got together with
her, I haven’t either. I don’t think that’s so bad. But are
you sure you need this information? How does it benefit you to know?"

            "I’m
trying to understand exactly what kind of girl you’re bringing into the
family."

            "Ellen,"
Roger said sharply, "Don’t say anything more. I know you’re
upset by the surprise of this. But we already know what kind of person Erin is. She’s the best, most loving, most selfless person any of us has ever known.
She gave unselfishly to our family for years, almost to the point of damaging
herself. If what she wants in exchange is a place at our table, it’s a
small enough thing to ask."

            "I
didn’t think the cost of that help would be our firstborn son."

            "Don’t
be melodramatic Mother. She’s hardly going to take me away from you. You
know she has no family. If you could get past being upset, you would see that Erin will make you a very fine daughter. You’re going to need one. Sheridan’s
never coming back. She’s going to graduate school, and she wants to stay
at the university and teach. So if you want to continue having a daughter in
your life, it’s going to have to be Erin. I suggest you make peace with
it. She wants to be part of the family, so the only person who can take me away
from this is you, if you refuse to accept my wife."