Unpredictable Love (20 page)

“
What can we serve?” Jory
asked.

“
Hmm. Chicken marsala works real well
with a large crowd. Easy to serve and eat too.”

Laura went on to mention several other
dishes and had Jory’s mouth watering before the young woman climbed
back into her car and headed for Route 55.

Nan had piled half a dozen bridal magazines
in the backseat. The bride had strict instructions to go through
all of them and pick a design so Hattie could get started. She
arrived home in the late afternoon. After mixing a vodka and tonic,
she took three magazines and went out on the deck to watch the
birds.

Her cell rang. It was Trent.

“
Whatcha doin’?”

“
Looking through bridal
magazines.”

“
Picked a date yet?”

“
September 15th. Can you make
it?”

He laughed. “You’re kidding, right? I’ll be
there, baby, tux and all.”

“
Nan’s telling Dan, and he can get you
the right duds.”

“
Got good news today.”

“
Oh? What?”

“
Armstrong and Lee Advertising offered
me a full-time job.”

“
Oh my God! Really? That’s fabulous,
Trent. Wonderful news.”

“
So, I’m moving to Oak
Bend.”

“
Perfect!”

“
I’ve been working out of Dan’s
place.”

“
So, you’ll be moving in with me,
right?”

“
If that’s okay. Or we could get a new
place.”

“
No, no. You move in here. The birds
are already set up. I’ll clean out a couple of drawers and buy a
few hangers.”

“
Don’t clean out too many. I don’t
have much.”

“
You’ll need some new clothes if
you’re going to go to work every day.”

“
Probably. Can I take you shopping
with me?”

“
I’d love it. When do you start? When
do you want to move in?”

They chatted for an hour. Jory couldn’t stop
smiling. Trent had been spending weekends at her place, but she
missed him terribly during the week. Now, they’d be together all
the time. Her heart sang. Luck was breaking her way.

Jory sat back and watched the chickadees and
juncos as they pecked away at the seed in the feeders. She’d never
imagined she’d have the life she’d always pictured. After her folks
had passed, getting from week to week had been a struggle.

She sighed, melancholy mixing with
happiness. She wished her parents could have been there to see her
get married. She knew she’d cry at not having her father give her
away. But Nan would have to do. She rubbed her eyes and turned her
thoughts to the good things happening. She opened another magazine,
took a sip of her drink, and thumbed through the pictures of
gorgeous, white gowns, each one more stunning than the previous
one.

Before she had gotten through three
magazines, her cell started to ding with text messages. George
Hanson at the feed store—
hope I’m on your
wedding list.
Essie Parker, her high school
teacher—
I know I only had you for one
year, but coming to your wedding would mean a lot.
Homer Thompson, owner of
Homer’s
Restaurant—if you have your wedding here, I’ll give you a discount,
especially if you invite me.

Wondering how everybody had gotten her
number, she guessed they must have passed it around. She shook her
head and smiled.

Jory picked up her phone.

“
Nan? Remember the guest list? We’d
better make it seventy-five.”

September 13, two days before the
wedding

Amber slipped out of the house early, with
Troy. They got behind the wheel of his car.

“
Where to, baby?”

“
Oak Bend.”

He headed for Route 55. Amber’s nerves
kicked up. She chewed a nail as she stared out the window. Opening
her purse, she checked her wallet for the twentieth time. Yes, the
five hundred dollars in cash was still there.

Ever since she’d gotten word that Jory was
getting married, Amber had started to save her money. Troy had come
upon her stash and questioned her about it.

“
You’re not buying drugs,
are you?”

“
Of course
not.”

“
Not selling them,
either?”

“
Troy! Don’t be
ridiculous. I need five-hundred dollars before Jory’s
wedding.”

He had pushed her for an explanation, and
she couldn’t hold out on him. She had done a bad thing—a very bad
thing, she explained. It had been years ago. When her parents were
killed, the coroner had turned over their mother’s wedding band.
Her aunt had put it away for safekeeping. Amber knew she had
intended for Jory to have the band on her wedding day.

Amber began to sweat. She didn’t remember
why she needed money that day so long ago, maybe to go away with
her friends on a forbidden weekend trip? Of course, Amber had not
learned to save. After all, she had only been eighteen. She’d
searched the house, turned Nan’s room upside down, until she’d
found the ring, tucked away in the attic.

She had hitched a ride with a friend. They
had gone to the pawnshop in Oak Bend where Amber had pawned her
mother’s wedding band for two-hundred and fifty dollars. She
remembered feeling a little guilty at the time, but wiped it away
by declaring no one should make a girl like her stay cooped up in a
small town every weekend.

Her other justification had been that Jory
was lightyears away from getting married anyway. The ring was just
sitting in a box in another box, gathering dust. Why shouldn’t she
use it? Why should Jory get everything? Recklessly, she had
snatched the ring from its hiding place and turned it into
cash.

After she had realized what she’d done,
shame filled her. Driven by guilt, she’d been back a couple of
times to check on the piece of jewelry. There it stood, proudly in
the window. Amber had panicked when she’d first seen it there. What
if the Florentine engraving caught someone’s eye? She had entered
the store and, using major flirting, persuaded the owner to put it
in a cabinet inside.

Every year, she’d returned, and it was still
there. Now, she had saved up the money. She was going to offer the
man up to twice what he’d originally given her to get the ring
back. As Troy drove, she uttered silent prayers that it would still
be there.

If the owner refused to sell, she’d convince
Troy to scare him into complying. She had to have that band back.
Jory deserved it. Their mother would have wanted it that way. Her
stomach knotted as they drew nearer to the small town of five
thousand that dwarfed tiny Pine Grove.

“
Are you sure this place’s still
there?” Troy asked, stopping for a red light.

“
It had better be.”

“
Is this a wild goose chase?” He
looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“
No, no. I swear. I called. The store
is still there, or was before we left Orlando.”

“
Okay, just checking.” When the light
turned green, he depressed the gas pedal.

Amber was grateful her husband was such a
good driver. No way could she be calm enough to man the wheel
today. Her pulse thudded in her ear as they approached Main Street.
There were only a couple of days left ’til the wedding. She had to
get that ring today.

She directed him to a parking space near the
store. She fairly ran up the block. There was a “Be back in ten
minutes” sign hanging on the door.

“
Shit! It’s closed.”

“
It’ll be open in ten minutes. Let’s
go across the street for coffee, baby.” Troy took her arm and
escorted her.

Amber sat in a booth by the window. She
ordered coffee, but barely touched it, keeping her eyes glued to
the window.

“
What would happen if you didn’t get
the ring?” Troy sat back, savoring his beverage.

“
Don’t say that.”

“
No, I mean it. Really. Would Jory not
get married? Would the world stop revolving on its axis? Would we
all blow up and die?”

“
You don’t get it. I stole something.
I’m a thief. And it’s my dead mother’s ring. And it’s supposed to
go to my sister. My sister who did everything for me. Who put her
life on hold at seventeen and took my mom’s place. And did that for
fifteen years. I’ll go straight to Hell for this, and Jory’ll hate
me. She’ll know I’m just a selfish baby with no morals.”

“
I doubt all that’s true.”

“
Yeah? Well, what if you’re wrong?
She’s the only family I have.”

“
What about Nan?”

“
She’ll hate me too.”

“
No one’s going to hate you, Amber.
From what I’ve heard from Jory, you’ve done some pretty crazy
things in your life, and she still seems to care about
you.”

“
But nothing this bad. Nothing
directed at her.” Tears welled in Amber’s eyes. “What was I
thinking? I’d never do anything to hurt Jory. If I can’t fix it,
she’ll never forgive me.”

“
Yes, she will. You’re being
melodramatic.”

“
I don’t expect you to understand. You
have a normal family.”

He laughed. “If any family can ever be
called normal.”

Amber jumped. “Look! There he is.”

“
The pawn shop guy?”

“
Get the check. Let’s go.”

Amber was out of the booth before Troy could
answer. He chuckled, shook his head, and smiled at her. She
couldn’t stand still, waiting for traffic to slow to cross Main
Street. She danced in place, whispering a mantra, “Please let it be
there, please let it be there, please let it be there.”

Two cars with young men behind the wheels
stopped to let her pass. They ogled her body as she walked. One was
even bold enough to whistle. Troy, right behind, scowling, raised
his fist.

“
Guys are pigs,” he muttered,
accompanying his wife.

She opened the door. “Hey, Mr. Groman,
remember me?”

“
You? Yes, yes, the young woman with
the ring.”

“
I’m back and ready to buy it. Where
is it?”

Amber perused each case, anxiety growing in
her belly when she didn’t find it.

“
Oh, that ring? The one with the nice
markings?”

“
Yes, yes, that one. You know which
one I mean. The wedding band.”

“
Oh, that’s gone. That one’s been gone
for a couple of weeks now.”

“
What? No, no! You told me you
wouldn’t sell it. You said you’d wait until I got the money. I’ve
got twice what you gave me. I’ll give you five hundred bucks for
it! Please, please, Mr. Groman, you’ve got to give me that
ring.”

“
I’m so sorry, my dear. Times are
hard, you know. Someone offered me three hundred for it, and I took
it. I need the money. Gotta pay my rent.”

“
Who? Who? Did you get the person’s
name?”

“
You know I never ask for
names.”

“
Did they pay by credit
card?”

“
I only take cash, my dear.” The older
gentleman patted her arm.

Amber collapsed, sobbing, against her
husband’s chest. “No, please. I need that ring.”

The pawnbroker handed Troy a box of
tissues.

The young man shrugged. “Thanks, Mr. Groman.
We won’t bother you anymore.” He plucked a couple of tissues from
the box, gave it back to the man, and, with his arm around his
wife, steered her toward the door.

Once they were back in the car, Amber hid
her face in her hands. Troy put the vehicle in gear and drove his
distraught wife back to Pine Grove.

“
No, keep going. We can’t go to the
wedding.”

“
What do you mean? You’re skipping out
on your sister’s wedding?”

“
That’s exactly what I mean. I can’t
face her.”

“
That’s a lousy thing to do. It’s only
a Goddamn ring. Get over it. They will.”

“
No, we’re going back to Orlando.” She
crossed her arms over her chest.

Troy pulled over onto a side road and
stopped. “This is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done,
Amber.”

“
You don’t understand.”

“
You think I don’t? I did plenty of
crazy stuff to my parents. Broke the window in my dad’s office with
a BB gun I wasn’t supposed to have.”

“
Really? You did that? I always
thought you were such a goodie-goodie.”

“
Me? Hah!” He laughed. “Dad had to
pick me up at the police station plenty. First time when I was
fourteen.”

Amber uncrossed her arms and faced her
husband. “How come you never told me that before?”

“
When you’re trying to impress a girl,
you don’t tell her you were a juvenile delinquent.”

“
I suppose not.” She took his
hand.

“
I know about messing up. People who
love you forgive you.”

“
I don’t know. This was…this
was…especially bad.”

“
I agree. You were a totally selfish,
asshole pig. There, now do you feel better?”

“
Thanks a lot!”

He stroked her arm. “Baby, you know I
don’t mean it. I love you. But you messed up. Everyone does. Come
on. You have to be at the wedding. Hell, you’re
in
the wedding. You’ll really hurt Jory if you
don’t show up.”