A Wife by Accident (13 page)

•

The members in charge of the local Chamber of Commerce took their places at the front of the room. Someone repeatedly
clinked
the edge of a butter knife against one of the crystal pitchers until the guests settled back into their seats. With the attention directed toward him, the president pulled the microphone up higher as he stood.

He said, “Before we start the awards ceremony, I think we have some special news to announce. It seems while we weren’t looking, someone near and dear to us, a favorite past Chamber president no less, went off and got himself hitched.
Gary and
Hayely
, why don’t you stand up?”

Gary stood, pulled
Hayely’s
chair back and helped her proudly from her seat.
Here you go, Nevada—my wife
, he thought. The more he thought the word, the more intimidating it sounded to him. Then an entire lifetime with
Hayely
stretched out ahead of him for just the blink of an eye, and the thought startled him.

Together they smiled and nodded to the room.

“Ladies and gentleman, I’d like to present Mr. and Mrs. Gary Tarleton!”

His heart filled his chest to capacity.
The announcement.
Those words.
They felt perfectly right somehow.

•

The room erupted in applause and whistles before the evening became a complete blur for
Hayely
. Everything happened happily and fast in the ballroom. All the awards were given out before she knew it, and she could hardly smile enough when Gary’s firm walked away with Business of the Year.

True to form, his acceptance speech was brief and humble, but
Hayely
could have wept when his appreciative gaze never once strayed from her as he spoke. She didn’t see how anyone else in the room could have missed it either.

With the golden plaques distributed, everyone moved to the dance floor and the bar. She encountered people of all motivations as she mingled through the crowd with Gary, once again giving her best impersonation of a wife. Some people shot her looks of open jealousy. Others seemed genuinely pleased about their marriage. But most assessed Gary as if he were a commodity. She thought he deserved so much more.

When they neared the edge of the crowd, Gary let go of her hand and his fingertips slid down
Hayely’s
palm as they lost contact. Yet something else connected in that moment and Gary turned to look down at
Hayely
. There was a gleam in his eyes that told her volumes when she met his gaze.

For a minute, the crowd seemed to fade and all that was left was the realization of the very real, heated fascination that passed between her and this beautiful man who didn’t look at all as if he were pretending.

“
Hayely
—” he began and then didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Let’s go home,” she whispered into his ear. “Haven’t we put in enough of an appearance?”

If it weren’t for his keen instincts where character was concerned,
Hayely
couldn’t imagine how Gary could exist in such an assemblage. Would they have gravitated toward him so if he were only a middleclass construction worker? She knew she would. With one look at him, she knew she would. The blatant desire in his eyes sent a ripple through her.

For the time that passed during that look,
Hayely
and Gary shoved the world away. He took her hand again as they made their way to the exit.

On their way out the door, Charlie took on an impish look. “I can’t resist,” he warned his companions. He leaned slightly out of his way to catch Kathy’s attention as she gossiped with a friend near the door. “Please see that Mrs. Tarleton’s final paycheck is sent to the house,” he said brightly to her, loving the emphasis he placed on the two words that would undoubtedly set Kathy’s teeth on edge.

Without waiting for a response,
Hayely
, Gary, and Charlie headed home.

Chapter Seven

When they arrived at the mansion the night before,
Hayely
had been exhausted in the utterly complete way only wrought emotions can bring.

Her entire life was changing from week to week, and her situation had improved slightly in her estimation. At least now she’d gotten rid of the thing she didn’t want—a job she loathed. Only now she was left missing what she wanted, and that wasn’t simply a career calling anymore. Her pretend marriage to Gary weighed heavily on her. The night before, their interaction had felt so comfortable, so vibrantly real that it was easy sometimes to forget the nature of their six-month relationship.

After the banquet,
Hayely
had fallen into bed exhausted. If only she could erase her recollection of him asking her to stay on as an employee after the six months were up. He’d been honest about his expectations all along. Was it too late to want more? She doubted a little shared time alone would take his original intentions and flip them one-hundred-and-eighty degrees.

Well into mid-morning,
Hayely
opened her eyes and knew she was alone in the big house. Gary was always awake with the dawn and gone to work before her own internal body clock stirred her. As she sat up, the entire Chamber of Commerce Banquet sprung to mind all in one quick memory. She moaned and then laughed out loud at the same time. There was no hiding it now—her secret was out. At least with no job to speak of, she didn’t have to awaken to the ring of an annoying alarm clock.

Hayely
padded downstairs in a pair of slippers that resembled stuffed teddy bears and picked yesterday’s mail up from the table in the foyer. When had Gary added her name to everything? From bills to the newspaper, her name joined his on the label. Curious, she walked around the house surveying rooms. Just as she’d suspected, someone had hung up still more pictures of the two of them together—a large one in the living room and another in the unfinished library. The decorative frame stood out awkwardly beside the columns of empty bookshelves.

When the telephone rang,
Hayely
nearly jumped out of her slippers and her heart thudded wildly against her thick blue terrycloth robe. In all the time she’d spent in the house, never once had she heard the phone ring.

“Hello?” she answered cautiously. Was she or wasn’t she entitled to answer the phone in what the rest of the world thought was her own home? What was the correct protocol?

“
Hayely
, it’s me.” Gary’s voice rolled to her from across the line, caressing her all the way down to her toes just by speaking her name.

She breathed in to still the flutters in her chest. “You surprised me, Gary.” She’d almost called him something like “honey” in return and thought the better of it.

“Should I come home for an early lunch?”

Hayely
held the phone silently to her ear for just a moment. “Yes.”

“I’ll be there.”

Hayely
ran to the kitchen as fast as her teddy bear feet would allow. What could she find? Bacon and tomato sandwiches, French fries and a side salad would have to do on such short notice. She measured a scoop of lush smelling grounds into a filter and turned on the coffeemaker.

Hayely
scrambled to find the drawer in which she’d accidentally put the tomatoes inside the massive refrigerator. With bacon sizzling in the frying pan and sourdough bread in the toaster oven, she’d have lunch ready in no time. But she’d witnessed Gary’s lead foot and knew the office wasn’t too far down the freeway from home. Quickly, she pulled the French fries out of the deep fryer before they turned one too many shades of golden brown.

Just as Gary walked into the kitchen,
Hayely
plunked down a plate full of food on the table. “Ta
da
!” she announced with a smile and a grand gesture.

She drew in a breath and looked up at him. His dark hair was styled neatly and barely a trace of stubble covered his chin, but the telltale signs of construction dust hung in his hair and on his shirt. Her heart made an out of synch thud just from the mere sight of him and the sensation stopped her in her tracks.

Gary approached the table slowly and without even glancing down at his food, growled, “I think I might have to make it a to-go order. We need to talk.”

Hayely
blushed furiously as the reason for his visit home came to her. Last night. He remembered that look just as vividly as she did. She tugged the belt to her robe a little tighter around her and sat down. She was in the middle of the kitchen in broad daylight wearing nothing but a robe and a pair of not-so-attractive slippers.

“I should have gotten dressed, but I was in a hurry.”

“So was I.”

•

Gary slid his chair closer to
Hayely
until he could see every tiny thing about her face. With her disheveled hair and eyes still bright from sleep, she looked more attractive to him than ever. That she had settled into this home so easily brought him a joy he hadn’t noticed before. She just seemed to fit.

“
Hayely
,” he said as he toyed with the ends of her bathrobe belt and pulled her closer to him.
“My pretty
Hayely
.”
He bent nearer, the look in his eyes telling her that the kiss he intended to give her would be nothing like the harmless ones he’d given before.

•

Hayely
senses spun. She wanted the kiss. She did. But for the first time, the term “marriage of convenience” rang true on an entirely different level to her and that level troubled her. Oh, but she wanted that kiss.

Hayely
put her hand against Gary’s chest. Should she push him away? Try to go back to the way things were before? Just as she had decided, the noise of the front door opening took the need for action away from her.

Charlie sauntered into the kitchen with a newspaper curled under his arm. “Nice bear feet,” said as he tossed the paper onto the table. “I tried to call, but you had your cell phone off. What gives?”

Gary growled, “You’d think that would be a hint.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and crossly sat down in front of his lunch.

“Look at this.” Charlie looked from Gary to
Hayely
, shrugged as if some great meaning had been lost on him, and feigned that he had noticed nothing. He opened the newspaper to the society section and tapped the pictures there for emphasis.

Hayely
leaned slightly over Gary’s shoulder.
“Oh my.”
Her hand fluttered to her mouth as she read.

There, on the first page of the section, were pictures of her dancing with Gary, standing with Gary as the Chamber of Commerce president announced their marriage, and a larger professional shot of the two of them that looked suspiciously like one the photographer they’d hired must have taken in the garden.

Gary scanned through the accompanying article. “They didn’t waste any time, did they? Sure did their research.”

“How did they find out my parents’ names?” she asked in bewilderment. “They even have my age and where I’m from.”

“Reporters,” Charlie answered. “It doesn’t take a lot of effort for them to dig up a person’s background. Lucky you’re not a criminal or they’d be all over that, too.” He winked at
Hayely
playfully.

“We need to talk to your parents,” Gary said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting my new contract in-laws anyway. No time like the present.”

Charlie closed the newspaper and handed it to
Hayely
. “I imagine you’ll want to keep this.” He wondered if fifty years down the road, they would look at that newspaper and treasure it.

Hayely’s
throat choked shut. What would her father say?
And her poor mother?
At least the chances of them finding out about the nature of the business arrangement were slim. They’d just believe she’d gotten married.
Straightforward as that.
But the thought of facing them so soon—maybe they didn’t know. Maybe they hadn’t seen anything in the media. Maybe she could stay happily in her cocoon of denial and put off talking to them just a while longer.

Charlie turned to Gary. “The real reason I wanted to reach you on your cell was that you got a call at the office a little while ago.
Just after you took off in such a hurry.”

Gary stuffed several fries in his mouth and chewed, raising his eyebrows questioningly in response.
“And?”

“Mr.
Bellmark
says he and his wife are coming to town. Tonight,” Charlie stated with emphasis. “I haven’t seen them in so long,” he added with a wisp of nostalgia in his voice.

“Tonight?”
Hayely
asked. She’d barely had time to consider breaking the controversial news of their marriage to her parents and now this? She’d have to work fast to get their guest bedroom ready. The rest of the place was looking respectable enough for visitors. She wouldn’t have time to cook, though. Maybe they could all go out to a restaurant. Being a pretend wife sure carried with it enough of the responsibilities of a real marriage.