Abby Gaines – Married by Mistake (страница 7)
“That’s not so good,” Adam admitted. “They also talked to my stepmother. Seems she told them we’ve been secretly engaged for months.”
“Why would she say that?”
Adam shrugged. “My guess is she didn’t want to be caught not knowing about something as important as my wedding.” Casey gathered from the careful neutrality of his expression that he didn’t much like his stepmother. “Still, she’s probably helped confuse the press, which can’t hurt.”
“Any word from the lawyer?” Casey asked.
“I’ve had a few calls.” He gestured to the cell phone on the table between them. “But not from Sam.”
His phone trilled again.
“Hello, Eloise,” he said with resigned patience. “Did you like the show?”
Who was Eloise? His stepmother? His girlfriend?
Whoever she was, Adam was obviously enjoying her reaction to their wedding. Not his girlfriend, then. He grinned and held the phone away from his ear—Casey heard a spate of words pouring out. “Sorry, Eloise, I have another call coming through. I’ll get back to you.”
That set the pattern for the next few minutes, with Adam receiving one call after another, mostly, she gathered, from family, all anxious to know how his marriage might affect their interests. His reticence must have infuriated them.
Bored with waiting, Casey turned on her own cell phone. Almost immediately, it beeped with a text message from the answering service to say she had twenty-one new messages.
She dialed the service and scrolled through the worried communications from her father (five messages), her sister (six) and her brother (one). There was also one from Brodie-Ann, and several from people who were concerned her wedding might make Casey unavailable to help them. People like the church choir director (did the wedding mean she wouldn’t be singing her solo this Sunday?) and the head of the Parkvale Children’s Trust (Casey was still okay to bake two cakes and a batch of cookies for next week’s open day, wasn’t she?).
No and no. She couldn’t help smiling. She’d figured getting married would give her the perfect out, but not like this. Still, she wouldn’t call anyone back just yet. Not until she and Adam had talked. His phone rang again, and she sighed. Whenever that might be. She realized she hadn’t touched her food yet, and took a mouthful of yogurt-smothered melon.
Then her own phone rang, chirping “You Are My Sunshine.” By the time she’d convinced the Parkvale librarian she wasn’t available to fill in during children’s story hour that afternoon, Adam was off the phone and regarding her quizzically.
“Did your phone just play ‘You Are My Sunshine’?” he asked.
“Uh-huh. It’s a personalized ring tone. It’s affirming.”
He laughed, until the dignified raising of her eyebrows told him she was serious.
“Affirmations are good for your self-esteem,” she told him. “Every time my phone tells me I’m its sunshine, it makes me feel good.” Though at this precise moment it didn’t seem to be working. Still, she gave Adam a sunny smile as she popped another piece of melon into her mouth.
“You really believe that?”
She nodded. “You have to find an affirmation that works for you, of course. ‘You Are My Sunshine’ gives me confidence.” Casey thought about that furrow that had made a permanent home in Adam’s brow. “Whereas you might want to look in your mirror each morning and tell yourself you won’t get stressed today.”
He frowned, and the furrow deepened. “I hope you didn’t pay good money to learn that psychobabble.”
“That comes direct from my community college lecturer,” she protested.
“I’ll bet he didn’t tell you to get affirmation from your cell phone.”
“No,
Adam tackled his bacon and eggs, which must surely be cold after all those phone calls, with renewed energy. “So why are you studying psychology? To overcome childhood trauma?”
“I’m not in therapy,” she said with exaggerated patience. “I study psychology because it helps with characterization in my writing.” Her phone warbled again and she looked at the display. “It’s my dad.”
Her father took a moment to remind her he loved her, then launched into a monologue about how much her family needed her and how she’d better sort out this confusion and get back home as soon as possible. He ended with a plaintive query: “How am I supposed to get to physical therapy on Tuesday?”
“Just a moment, Dad, I have another call.” She switched to the other line.
Her sister. Casey straightened in her seat. “Yes, Karen, I did just get married. No, I’m not crazy—” she hoped that wasn’t a lie “—and no, I’m not coming back to Parkvale.” She hoped that wasn’t a lie, either. “I’d like you and Dad to— Hello?”
When she got back to the other line, her father wasn’t there.
“Bad connection,” she explained to Adam. She put her phone on the gilded, glass-topped table between them and looked hard at her plate so he wouldn’t see the hurt she knew must show in her face. “Now that we’re both free—”
“Free being a relative term,” he interrupted. “We’re still married.”
“—let’s have that chat you mentioned.” Her phone rang again, but after a glance at the display she ignored it.
“You could always turn that thing off,” Adam said. His own phone rang, and he answered it. Which at least gave Casey a chance to regain her fighting spirit.
“You were saying?” she asked sweetly, when he’d finished.
He frowned. “I’m expecting a call from Sam. I don’t want to miss it.”
“And I need to talk to my family,” she said. “Even though I don’t know what to tell them.”
There was a moment’s silence. Then Casey’s phone chirped “You Are My Sunshine” again.
“Karen, please, honey, don’t cry.” Casey’s voice wobbled. “I’m sorry, I know you wanted me there, but this is for your own good, sweetie.”
Adam realized Casey was blinking in an effort to hold back tears. Rising hysteria emanated from her cell phone, audible even to him, several feet away.
He checked his watch. If she was going to spend the whole morning arguing with her family, they’d never get this mess sorted out. From what he could see, her folks were as bad as his own relatives. There was only one way to deal with people like that. Get tough.
One look at Casey told him that wasn’t going to happen. In two seconds, Adam had moved around the table and slipped the phone from her grasp—easily done, since she wasn’t expecting it.
“Karen? I don’t know who you are, but you’re not helping Casey right now.” He crossed the room, aware of Casey’s startled expression. Karen sputtered on the other end of the phone.
“My
With Karen still squawking, he dropped the phone—right into the vase.
Casey yelped. “Have you gone crazy?”
“You’re not prepared to turn that thing off, and it’s upsetting you. I’m dealing with the problem.” He dusted his hands together. “Doesn’t that feel better?”
“No! How could you…” She stopped. “Actually,” she said slowly, “it does.” She ventured a small smile.
From across the room they heard the sound of his phone.
“Allow me to deal with that.” Casey moved toward it.
“It’s okay.” He followed her. “I’ll take it.”
She’d picked it up already and was reading the display. “It’s Eloise.”
“My stepmother again.” He rolled his eyes. “Pass it here.”
“I said I’d deal with it,” Casey reminded him. She stepped back and moved around the other side of the sofa.
Adam wasn’t quite sure what happened next. But somehow, he went one way and she went the other, toward the open window.
“Casey, don’t—”
Too late.
She dropped the phone just as he reached her.
Adam looked so shocked, Casey wondered if she’d gone too far. She held her breath as he stuck his head out the window. When he turned back into the room, his face was grave. “You just killed an Elvis impersonator.”
Casey clapped a hand to her mouth. “No! I looked, there was no one—” Then she caught the grin he was trying to hide.
And they were laughing, clinging to each other in helpless hilarity that for a moment made the whole mess go away.
Adam looked into Casey’s eyes, where tears of merriment glistened. On automatic pilot, he wiped the corner of her eye with his thumb. And found himself robbed of all sensation except the pressing desire to feel her mouth beneath his.
CHAPTER FOUR
THAT TOUCH OF HIS THUMB seemed to wipe away Casey’s mirth. Her gray eyes widened and her teeth caught her bottom lip. After the tiniest of hesitations she swayed against him.