Wishing in Wisconsin (At the Altar Book 3) (9 page)

Breakfast was set up buffet style, but Cindy handled refilling drinks if people asked.  There was coffee on the counter, and most people got their own, but she wasn't surprised that Penny was demanding.

"Excuse me," Cindy said sweetly as she took the pot of coffee and refilled Penny's drink with a smile.  "Is there anything else I can get for you?" 

Penny frowned, obviously wanting to get a rise out of Cindy by treating her like a servant.  "Yes, would you get me another plate of eggs and some orange juice please?"

"Certainly."  Thankfully there wasn't a huge crowd most Thursday mornings, because she was just serving scrambled eggs and bacon with French toast.  People liked muffin Tuesdays and scone Fridays.  They were the days when she had a real breakfast crowd.

She filled a plate with eggs and poured a glass of juice, carrying them over to Penny.  "Anything else?"  She wasn't really supposed to serve the plates of food, but she wanted to annoy Penny by not refusing to do anything. 

"Not right now."  Penny glared down at her eggs. 

"Jean, do you need anything else?" Cindy asked, her voice softening as she talked to the simple girl.

"Would you mind getting me some more French toast?  With syrup?"

"I'd be happy to."  Cindy hurried off to get the food.  She really didn't mind serving Jean's breakfast, because she felt bad for the girl, traveling all that way to marry a man who was already married.

By the time the dining room had completely emptied for the morning, and it was time to do dishes, Cindy was already exhausted.  Keeping a smile on her face as she served Penny had been hard. 

She had promised a picnic lunch for Trey, Penny and Jean, so she did the dishes and immediately fried some chicken and whipped up a potato salad.  She made a pitcher of lemonade as well as a jug of iced tea, putting it all together into a large picnic hamper along with some brownies frosted with a cream cheese icing.  At eleven thirty, she walked out behind the shed to deliver the food. 

Just as she turned the corner around the side of the shed, she saw Penny push Jean so that she fell onto Trey.  It was obvious what had happened, so she didn't say a word, simply setting the basket down.  There was no doubt in Cindy's mind Penny had been watching for her, and had timed the push perfectly.

"Have a good lunch," Cindy said sweetly, walking off without another word.

Penny stared after her with her mouth hanging open.  Just before she was out of earshot, Cindy heard Penny say, "I told you she doesn't care about you, Trey.  If she did, she would have wanted to scratch Jean's eyes out."

Cindy just kept walking.  Hopefully Trey didn't believe his snake of a sister, and even if he did, they could sort it out later.  She hadn't been happy to see Jean lying atop Trey, but knowing she'd been pushed, and poor Trey had been an innocent bystander certainly helped.

When she got to the bowling alley, she went to her regular booth and sat down, waiting for Cissie to bring on the cheese curds.  It would take several root beers to drown out the nonsense of the past couple of days.

Cissie dropped off drinks and food a minute later, ran back to the kitchen, and came back to slip in across from her.  "I need to hear everything about that witch of a sister Trey has.  What the heck?  Who brings a potential bride to her brother just days after he marries?  Seriously?"

Cindy groaned, grabbing her root beer and drinking half of it down.  "She's such an idiot."  She told her friend about what she'd just witnessed while dropping off the picnic hamper.  "And the worst part is, it really got to me a little.  You know, seeing another woman lying on top of your husband is just weird!"

"It would be."  Cissie shook her head.  "Did you have that talk with Trey?  'Cuz you two seemed great last night!"

"We did have that talk, and he didn't like it, but we're working through it.  We're giving it a week to get to know each other better, and then resuming all newlywed boinkage." 

"Boinkage?  Tell me about boinkage."  Cissie leaned in and stared at Cindy, waiting for a response.

"It's fun.  That's all you're getting from me."  Cindy popped a cheese curd in her mouth.  "What is it about these things that keeps me going?"

"No idea.  I guess because they're so good?"

"Probably."  Cindy took a big swig of root beer.  "Anyway if Penny is true to her word, she and Jean will take off tomorrow and life will get back to normal."

"What is normal?  You haven't even been married a week.  You have no normal yet!"

"Well, that's true.  Did you realize some guy approached Trey last night for your phone number?"  Cindy asked, trying to keep the subject off her marriage.

Cissie shrugged.  "He heard me sing.  They all want my number, and none of them ever call me."

"What would you do if one of them did?"

"I really have no idea.  Probably tell them that I can't sing all the time, because I have a bowling alley to manage, but they're welcome to come for karaoke every Wednesday night.  We make good money on food on karaoke night."

Cindy grinned.  "I know you do!  Any word from Lachele?  Has she found you the perfect man yet?"

Cissie sighed and shook her head.  "Not yet.  I'll have to live vicariously through you.  You have enough tallywackers and boinkage in your life for both of us."

"Not this week."  Cindy couldn't believe how quickly she'd become used to making love.  It had only been two days, and she felt like it was a month. 

"That's your own fault.  What kind of married woman feels guilty about sexing her husband?  From what I've heard, most feel guilty for not doing it enough!"

"Oh, hush."  Cindy pushed her glass toward Cissie.  "I need a refill.  Or six.  I'm going to drown my sorrows in beer."

"Root beer, of course."

"Well, yeah.  What goes better with cheese curd?"

*****

Cindy wasn't certain what to expect when she got back to the B&B, but it certainly wasn't what she saw.  Penny was running toward the house with liquid dripping down her face, and Jean was hurrying after her.  "I'm sorry, Penny!"

Penny spun around and faced her friend.  "What were you thinking?"

"Well, you said that if I was sweet and did everything that Trey asked, he'd forget all about Cindy."  Jean waved to Cindy, who wasn't hiding the fact that she was listening intently.  "Hi, Cindy!  He told me that if you pushed me into him one more time, I should dump the pitcher of lemonade over your head.  So I did.  You were right.  It made him happy."

Cindy sighed, knowing she needed to help whether she wanted to or not.  She looked Penny up and down.  "My clothes will be a little big on you, but they'll work to get you back to your hotel so you can pack up and go back to Texas.  You can use my shower."

Penny looked like she wanted to refuse, but she nodded, accepting the offer.  "Fine.  Where is it?"

Cindy led the other women through the halls to the bedroom she shared with Trey down off the kitchen.  "Bathroom's through here.  Feel free to use whatever you need.  Let me get you some clothes."  She picked out some shorts with an elastic waist and a tank top for her sister-in-law before leading Jean off to the kitchen.  "Do you want to help me bake some cookies?"

Jean nodded. "I love baking cookies."

Cindy always kept a fresh supply of cookies on the front desk for people to grab as they walked through.  She made cookies at least twice a week. 

"When are you guys leaving to go home?" she asked.

Jean shrugged.  "Penny said we're not leaving until I have a ring on my finger, but Trey loves you.  I think we should go tomorrow."

"Did you tell Penny that you were going to leave tomorrow?"

"No.  Penny's kind of scary sometimes."  Jean whispered the words as if she was afraid Penny would hear them over the sound of the shower.

Cindy sighed.  "How would you like it if Trey drove you to the airport tomorrow and made sure you got on a plane to go home?  Is there someone there who would pick you up at the airport?"

"Yes, my boyfriend would."

Cindy blinked a few times.  "Your boyfriend?  If you have a boyfriend, why do you want to marry Trey?"

"I don't!  Penny wants me to marry Trey and says I'm supposed to marry him.  I just want to go home to Nathan."

Cindy did her best not to laugh.  "Did you tell Penny about Nathan?"

Jean shook her head.  "No, she'd get mad at me."

"She might.  Okay, we'll talk to Trey after we bake cookies, and I'll get him to drive you to Madison.  Then you can go home to Nathan."

"Nathan loves me.  He's going to buy me a ring.  Just as soon as he has enough money."

"I'm so happy to hear that, Jean.  Do you want to have a big wedding?"

"Yes, I do.  Would you be my maid of honor?  I like you."  Jean frowned.  "Penny might get mad if I ask you and not her, but you're nice to me, and Penny isn't."

Cindy hugged Jean.  "I'd be happy to be your maid of honor, and we won't tell Penny.  It'll be fine."  She didn't really want to take a trip to Texas, but maybe the other woman would forget about her promise.  If not, she could certainly go.

Trey popped his head in the kitchen then.  "Oh, cookies?"

Cindy laughed.  "Yes, cookies.  Why don't you run upstairs and shower the filth off of you?  Your sister is trying to get lemonade out of her hair in my shower.  Room four is still empty."

Trey winked at her.  "I'll get the key from behind the counter."

"You do that.  We need to make plans for Jean to get back to her boyfriend in Texas anyway."

Trey gave her a baffled look before he walked away.  His sister was something else.

Chapter Nine

The following evening, Trey walked into the house and sank into one of the chairs in the kitchen, watching Cindy finish fixing supper for him.  "Jean is on a plane to DFW airport.  She chattered non-stop about how much she loves Nathan the whole way to Madison."  He looked tired.

Cindy rolled her eyes.  "What about Penny?"  Jean had spent the night at the B&B because she'd been afraid to be alone with Penny after she'd admitted she had a boyfriend.

"She's on her way back to Texas as well, but she's driving. Alone. I called my dad, and he's going to get her in to see a counselor.  He agrees with me that there's got to be something wrong with her.  No one is that mean and twisted without a reason.  Although, Penny has always been an odd duck."  He wasn't sure if he should detest his sister, feel sorry for her, or just be glad she was gone.  He was glad she was finally going to get help, though.

"I'm glad he's going to find some help for her.  When I talked to Nathan, he seemed thrilled to find out Jean was on her way back.  She hadn't explained the situation well."

Trey sighed.  "How could she?  She doesn't seem to really understand why she was here anyway."  He shook his head.  "I'm glad Dad is going to take Penny in hand.  Mom is still denying Penny would deliberately do anything mean, but that girl is a piece of work!"

Cindy put the last of the food on the table and sat down across from Trey.  "I'm just glad that's over.  It's amazing what a nice feeling it is to have them gone."

"It is!  What are we going to do tonight?  Stay in?"  He liked to stay in, but he knew women liked to dress up and go out.

"Well, we live in a small town.  We can either stay in, or go listen to a new band at the bowling alley.  Cissie brings in live entertainment on Friday nights."

He shrugged.  "That's up to you.  I will say though, I never thought I'd live in a place where the center of entertainment was a bowling alley."

"I thought it was like this everywhere.  When Cissie and I got to college, one of the first questions we asked was, 'Where's the bowling alley?'  We got some laughs."  She grinned at how naive she'd been when they'd first graduated.  At least she wasn't the only one, though.  Cissie had been just as backward as she had.

He grinned.  "I'm sure you did!"  He took her hand in his.  "So do you want to do the bowling alley, or do you want to stay in?"

She thought about it for a moment.  If they went to the bowling alley, it would be loud, and they wouldn't have as easy of a time talking to each other, but if they stayed in, she would have a hard time keeping her hands off him.  "Let's go to the bowling alley if you don't mind."

"Not at all."  Truthfully, he'd been hoping she would be willing to stay in, hoping he'd be able to talk her into bed.  Of course, if they were in public, he would have an easier time doing as she'd asked and behaving himself.

"Thank you.  After dinner, I'll put on some girl clothes, and we'll go."

He frowned.  "We have to dress up for this?  Can I just put on some jeans and cowboy boots?"

She nodded.  "I like the cowboy look."

*****

An hour later they walked into the bowling alley hand-in-hand.  Cindy had texted Cissie to save them a spot, and they wandered over to the booth where her friend had taken up residence.  "Busy tonight!" she said, slipping into the booth across from Cissie and sliding all the way in, so Trey could sit beside her.

Cissie nodded.  "There's a wait for all the lanes, and the kitchen is backed up.  New band is good."

Cindy listened for a moment.  "They are.  Country."  Cindy grinned at her friend.  "You going to do a song with them?"

Cissie sighed.  "They asked me to sing 'Fancy.'  I'm not sure, though."

Trey saw the man who had asked for Cissie's number on Wednesday evening watching them from another booth.  He was alone this time.  "I'll be right back.  Going to go talk to someone."

Cindy watched him go.  "Who does he know to talk to?  He hasn't lived in this town for a week."

"No idea!"  Cissie shrugged.  "I think I am going to go sing."

"Do it!"

Cindy watched Trey talking to the cop from the other night.  What was he up to?  When Trey wrote something down for the man, she frowned.  He hadn't given Cissie's number out, had he?  Did he even have Cissie's number?  He was up to something, and she didn't like being in the dark.

When Trey came back a minute later, he slid back in beside Cindy.   "What was that about?"

Trey shrugged.  "I talked to him the other night.  He's a nice guy."

Cindy decided not to press him.  He'd tell her what he wanted to tell her when he was ready.  "So about yesterday.  I saw you lying on the ground with a girl on top of you.  What was up with that?"

Trey looked at her with wide eyes.  When she'd said nothing about it the night before, he'd thought he was off the hook.  "Penny pushed her!"

"I realize that.  It doesn't mean I liked seeing another girl on top of you."

"Oh really?  Were you jealous?"

Cindy took his question seriously.  "Yes, I really was.  Even knowing that she'd been pushed, and you had no interest in her, it hit me right in the gut.  Did you like it?"

Trey didn't know how to answer that.  Of course he liked having a girl on top of him, but it was Jean, and she seemed like a child to him.  "Not much."

"I didn't either!"

He grinned.  "Does that mean you like me?  At least a little?"

Cindy laughed.  "I like you a lot more than a little."  She knew it wasn't the time or the place, but she felt the need to say what was on her heart.  "I think I'm falling in love with you."

He just stared at her for a moment, as if afraid to believe what he was hearing.  "Really?"

She nodded solemnly.  "Really.  I had no idea it could happen so fast, though."

He cupped her cheek in his hand, leaning down to kiss her.  "I think I'm falling for you, too.  You're an awfully special woman."

She rested her head contentedly on his shoulder for a moment, lifting it only when the band started to play 'Fancy.'  "Oh, I think Cissie's about to sing."  She looked toward the stage, and Trey looked toward the man he'd just talked to.

"Every time she sings it's like seeing a new piece of her.  I'm amazed at how good she is.  Did she consider a career in singing?" he asked, listening attentively. 

Cindy nodded.  "She has a minor in music with a voice concentration."  She shrugged.  "But she majored in management.  She thought she was going to have time to try to sing professionally, but her dad decided to retire just as we graduated.  I think it was my grandfather that spurred that decision on."

"How so?"  It didn't make sense to him that her grandfather had gotten Cissie's dad to retire. 

"Well, Grandpa died without seeing his dream come true.  He wanted to buy an RV and travel around the US.  But it never happened.  So when Grandpa died, Cissie's dad said he was going to live his dream and not die before he had the chance."

Trey frowned.  "That makes sense, but it keeps Cissie from living her dream."  Cissie was really good.  She had the kind of voice he expected to hear on the radio, not in a bowling alley in the middle of nowhere.

"I think Cissie's happy right where she is.  She sings a couple of times per week and is something of a local legend.  She's got a good life."  She sighed.  "I just hope Lachele finds her a husband soon."

"I don't know that Cissie needs Lachele to find her a man.  There are so many here who admire her."

"Yeah, but none of them will approach her.  It's weird.  It's obvious they have feelings for her.  Every man in the place watches her, but none will actually ask her out.  I think if they did, she wouldn't know what to do.  Cissie's never really dated."  She shrugged.  "No, I think she needs Lachele."

Cissie had sweat standing out on her forehead when she came back.  "I'm getting a gross Coke and some cheese curds.  You guys want anything?"  She seemed to be full of life in a way she wasn't usually.

"Root beer, and I'll share your curds," Cindy responded.

"I'll have a Coke."

Cissie hurried off to the kitchen, knowing they'd get their food faster if she put the order in herself. 

"What's a gross Coke?" Trey asked.

"Oh, that's what Cissie calls Diet Coke.  Her dad started it years ago, so she just went with it."

Shortly after Cissie came back with drinks for them, the band started playing a slow song.  Trey wasn't much of a dancer, but he could certainly sway back and forth.  There were couples everywhere dancing, so he slid out of the booth, holding his hand out for Cindy.  "Dance with me."

Cindy looked at Cissie, not wanting to leave her friend alone.  "You mind?"

"Go dance with your husband.  You're newlyweds.  Enjoy!"  Cissie took a sip of her drink, watching them.

Cindy followed Trey to the middle of the floor, going into his arms.  They swayed slowly back and forth to the music.  "This is the first time we've danced," he said, a little surprised.

She smiled.  "Well, we haven't even known each other a week yet."

He shook his head.  "What did I do before you were in my life?"

"Wept copiously," she responded quickly, feeling his laugh against her. 

*****

Every spare minute of their weekend, Trey and Cindy worked on the snowmobiles.  "I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to help with these," she told him on Sunday afternoon.  "I don't mind working on them, but I hate being away from the guests so much."

Trey nodded.  "You know, I think it's been good for us, though."

Cindy laughed.  "I had a teacher in college say that you never really knew the person you were married to until you built a piece of furniture together.  I think this qualifies."  The teacher had been one she truly admired.

"It does!  You've now heard me cuss as I dropped heavy things on my feet, and you've seen me get frustrated with things not going together like they should.  So, what do you think?  Are you going to throw me back like a fish that's too small to keep?"

"Oh, definitely.  You've been a real pill."  Truthfully, he'd kept it together really well throughout.  They'd snapped at each other a couple of times, but that was to be expected.  "I do think I know you a lot better through this."

He looked up at her with a grin.  "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

She rested her fingers against his cheek, loving his beard as much today as she had when she'd first seen it.  "Oh, I think it's a very good thing."  She wiped her hands on her jeans.  "I'm going to head back to the house and shower before I make dinner."

"Try and miss me!"

She laughed.  "I don't even have to try!"

After her shower, she put on a pair of shorts and a tank top.  She realized that she'd accomplished her goal in a much shorter time than she'd thought it would take.  Once he'd gotten over being hurt, they had been able to move forward well, getting to know each other.  Several times a day they would each ask difficult questions of the other in an effort to get to know each other better.

He still did things that made her crazy, but she was slowly training him out of them.  If the trash was full, he felt the need to put any trash onto the counter instead of emptying the trash and taking it out.  And the man apparently didn't know what a laundry hamper was used for.  She found more clothes on the floor every day than she did in the hamper.  Running a B&B meant she always had a load of laundry going, and if he could just get his things into the hamper, her life would be so much easier.  She'd teach him, though.

She was just happy he was a loving man who was so financially responsible.  He still hadn't let her reimburse him for the snowmobiles.  He paid anytime they went anywhere.  She was glad she'd found such a good man.  She'd known women who had married just to have everything they owned taken from them.  No, she'd really come out ahead of the game with Trey.

He was using his spare time to fix up snowmobiles to help her with her winter tourist business, and she couldn't complain about that at all.  No, he was working hard to show her that they were going to be a team in everything, and she had to appreciate that.

After dinner, they sat on the swing as usual, and she snuggled close to him.  "Thanks for working so hard to make the business better.  I know you have your own business you could be working on."

He smiled.  "The B&B is something we'll leave to our children.  How could I not help out with it?"  Every day he liked the idea of having children with her a little more.  He wanted to give them the kind of childhood he hadn't dreamed of having.

She smiled, pressing a kiss into his shoulder.  "I still appreciate it.  Grandma would be really proud of how it's progressing."

"She should be.  You work hard to make this place a retreat for people.  The only people I know of who have left unhappy are that old woman who ignored the sign and my sister.  And I don't think my sister has ever been happy about anything."

"Is it mean of me to say I'm glad she's gone?"  She didn't want to upset him by talking badly about his sister, but that woman had been a piece of work.