A Wife by Accident (15 page)

“No, dear,” Mrs.
Bellmark
said. “I think we’d just enjoy sleeping in late, walking through that enormous garden I saw, and getting reacquainted. The horses sound nice. A little shopping couldn’t hurt either.” She gave
Hayely
a conspiratorial wink.

“I’d like a tour of your company,” Mr.
Bellmark
added.

So would I,
Hayely
thought. Why hadn’t she asked Gary to show her around his office before? She would have looked much more prepared that way, and it seemed as if she would need all her wits about her to help Gary through the next few days. He had grown so tense beside her that she could almost feel his nervous anxiety soaking through her skin.

Charlie stood up slowly and stretched the kinks out of his back. “I hate to leave so soon, but I have to get up early for work tomorrow so that I can leave early.”

Gary raised an eyebrow at his friend.

Charlie grinned. “I’ve got a date.”

Hayely
stood and clapped her hands together. “She said yes? Way to go, Charlie!”

Gary looked confused. “When did all this happen?”

Hayely
rested her hand on Gary’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll catch you up on everything.”

Mr.
Bellmark
rose to his feet and helped his wife stand. “Better watch it,” he said to Gary. “If you’re lucky, she’ll be running circles around your life in no time.”

Gary gazed with admiration at
Hayely
. “I hope so.”

Hayely
knew she looked startled and composed herself quickly. Sometimes he was too good of an actor and she couldn’t tell where make-believe ended and reality began.

As Gary finished up some business with Charlie out in the driveway,
Hayely
escorted their tired guests upstairs and shut the bedroom door softly behind them for the night. She walked back to the room she would have to share with Gary and unbuttoned her shirt carefully. Too bad she’d wasted one outfit for an hour’s
visit,
she mused and arranged the mint green fabric carefully on its hanger.

•

Gary groaned when he walked into his bedroom and saw
Hayely
standing with her heavy bathrobe wrapped all the way around her up to the neck. He hadn’t considered their sleeping arrangements with the
Bellmarks
in the house. He’d been too busy feeling so proud to have her on his arm in front of his guests. She’d been nothing short of loving toward the older couple. He couldn’t wait to buy the boys’ home, and now he was even curious to meet her possibly furious parents.

Hayely
crossed her arms over her chest. “You should knock,” she whispered adamantly.

“On my own bedroom door?” he whispered back huskily. His gaze shifted from
Hayely
to the bed and back again.

When he didn’t take a step toward her, she asked, “You’re going somewhere, aren’t you?”

“Do you want me to stay?” Gary tilted his head to the side and ran his hand along his scruffy chin.

“I—” she stammered.

“Don’t worry. But this is going to make me look like a terrible husband in front of the
Bellmarks
. I’ve got to head back into the office for a few hours. Since I’m taking the next couple days off to be with our guests, I’ve got to take care of some things tonight. You and I still need to talk.”

“When will you be home?”

He didn’t know if she felt disappointment or relief in the realization that she’d probably be asleep long before he returned from the office.

“Late.
Much later than I’d like.
You shouldn’t wait for me. I’m sorry. Time will be on our side soon enough.”

•

As Gary left the room,
Hayely
sank down into the heavy feather-filled comforter alone on the big bed.
Time on their side?
Did he think she’d agree to keep up the charade longer now that she was unemployed? No - from the way she saw their situation, time was definitely against them. With only a couple months of security stretching ahead of her, a sense of dread was creeping over her a little more each day. In a matter of weeks, she’d have to leave Gary and this temporary home. If he felt the same stirrings she was feeling for him, he would have made it clear. And he hadn’t.

Hayely
was utterly and completely miserable by the time she drifted off into sleep.

•

As soon as they were firmly seated in their saddles, Mr. and Mrs.
Bellmark
grabbed the reins and took off atop their horses at a gallop. The powerful animals were
Quarterhorses
, and much too high strung for an elderly couple to be riding in Gary’s opinion. Mrs.
Bellmark’s
white ponytail whipped out behind her, bouncing along as her husband laughed at the sight and tried to catch up to her.

“Doesn’t look like they’re going to need any lessons,”
Hayely
said. “Think we’ll ever see them again? They’ll be in California by tonight at that rate.”

He smiled. “We’re going to have to get more than two good riding horses,” Gary observed.
“Might even trade those two in.
Never seemed like a priority until now.”

“There’s one more horse in the stables. At least I think I saw a big black one in one of the stalls this morning.”

“The Friesian?
I suppose we could ride him together if you felt like it.”

“Why don’t we just wait for the
Bellmarks
?”

“Coward,” Gary whispered. “You know, these horses were bred as war horses, big enough to carry both a knight and his armor into battle after traveling for weeks.”

“But if he’s too big for most people to ride easily, why did you want him?

“He fits me just fine in case you haven’t noticed. Besides, once I see something I like, I generally don’t let it go.”

The
Bellmarks
circled back and stopped in front of Gary and
Hayely
. Mr.
Bellmark
called out, “Do you two want a turn? I think we’re hogging the horses.” His cheeks were stained a happy red from the brisk ride in the cool spring air.

Gary wrapped his arms around
Hayely
and squeezed her shockingly close against his body. “No, you two take all the time you want. Have fun. There’s a trail that runs up the hills off the back of the property. See the gate there?”

“You’re sure it’s alright?” Mrs.
Bellmark
asked with just a hint of breathlessness in her voice.

“Come on, Hilda,” Mr.
Bellmark
said with a chuckle, “Can’t you see they’d rather be doing exactly what they’re doing right now?”

“Ah, honeymooners,” she sighed. “Remember those days, dear?”

“We’ll just be inside fixing lunch,”
Hayely
quickly clarified as she squirmed away from his embrace. “The man at the stables will take care of the horses, won’t he Gary?”

Gary nodded. “Just drop them off and come inside when you’re ready.”

With a hearty laugh of understanding, the older couple turned their horses at a more leisurely pace than before in the direction Gary had pointed.

Hayely’s
nearness to him affected him more than he’d like to admit, and he hadn’t missed her kindness toward the
Bellmarks
. He checked himself mentally. She was just doing her job. He held her hand anyway as they walked into the house together.

•

Hayely
had almost finished cooking lunch by the time the
Bellmarks
walked inside after their horseback adventure. She would have had the meal prepared several minutes sooner if it hadn’t been for Gary’s meddling. Every time she turned around, she had to slap his hand away some ingredient on the counter. His energy was impossible to repress whenever he seemed happy or determined.

She smiled up at him. Without his usual stern manner and scowl of seriousness, he looked like the strikingly handsome, energetic thirty-something man he truly was.
When Mr.
Bellmark
finally came to the table after showering away a great deal of horse hair, Gary finally left
Hayely’s
side and sat next to him.
Hayely
sighed and set the table around them.

Mrs.
Bellmark
came into the dining room with a book in her hands, its pages yellowing with age and held together by a large rubber band. Carefully, she removed the band and set the book down on the wide table in front of
Hayely
.

“I thought you two might like to look at pictures while we eat,” she explained. “We kept regular pictures of Gary and Charlie for about seven years. Couldn’t keep up with those two monkeys after that.”

Hayely
placed several hot dishes full of food onto potholders to avoid singeing the expensive and well-polished table she’d recently purchased for the dining room. In spite of the lesser accommodations, she realized that Gary and Charlie always seemed to wind up sitting with her at the tiny kitchen table. It was nice to have an excuse to use the big dining room table for once. She looked over Mrs.
Bellmark’s
shoulder and recognized a picture on the first page.

“We have that one hanging up in the den,”
Hayely
pointed out.

“That’s the first one we ever took of Gary. It was right after he came to live with us.”

Mr.
Bellmark
added, “He and Charlie were like two peas in a pod. Inseparable.”

“Right through college,” Mrs.
Bellmark
said. “They went to the same school only a year or so apart.
Moved to the same town after that.”

“He became my brother,” Gary said. “I was lucky in the sense that I got to choose my family. Living with the two of you in the boys’ home gave me chances at life that most kids in my position only dreamed of.”

Mr.
Bellmark
put his gnarled hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “I know you want to pass that gift along, Gary. I admire you for that.”

“No business talk at the table,” Mrs.
Bellmark
chastised.

Gary grimaced. “I remember that tone well.”

For a while they ate and stayed safely in the realm of small talk until Mrs.
Bellmark
turned the page of the photo album again. “See this group picture? We took this right after we opened our doors. What year was that anyway? I can’t recall now.
So many of them were just babies when they came to us.”

Hayely
saw loneliness and open fright in the eyes of the tiniest children, and a front of bravery in the picture of a ten-year-old Gary. He was one of the oldest there.

“I can’t imagine growing up without my parents. They weren’t always easy to live with but still—”

“Well, as soon as you and Gary have children, they’ll have the best of lives.
All the advantages.
Have you thought about babies yet?” Mrs.
Bellmark
stopped talking and looked expectantly at
Hayely
for an answer.

Hayely
looked fleetingly at Gary. He had stopped eating with his fork full of food suspended in mid-air as if her next words would chart the future of the universe. What would he have wanted her to say? They hadn’t discussed the subject, so
Hayely
blurted out what was in her heart.

“I want children. I do. If I could plan out my life perfectly, I’d pick a career I could control, so that I can work out of the house and raise my babies. No daycare nightmares. No nannies with values that might not be like ours. Do you know what I mean?”

Where in the world had that answer come from? If she had looked up, she would have seen Gary beaming with an arrogantly pleased smile that threatened to split his handsome face.

Mrs.
Bellmark
nodded in deep agreement. “Gary, my boy, you have a wise young wife.
Hayely
, you’re right. There’s no more joy in the entire world than a good marriage and a bunch of fat healthy babies to call your own.” She winked at her husband and tossed her white ponytail back over her shoulder.

“Did you ever have children? Other than the boys in the boys’ home I mean?”
Hayely
asked with more interest than she now felt.

Mr.
Bellmark
nodded. “We started very young. Had two daughters almost fully grown by the time we opened the home.”

Gary still hadn’t stopped smiling as he silently lifted his fork to his mouth again. He shook his head and looked pleased if not bewildered.

Mr.
Bellmark
dabbed his chin with a napkin and set it down on the table. “Well, Hilda.
About ready to take off?”

Hayely
looked at Mr.
Bellmark
with an expression of dull surprise. “You’re going somewhere?”

“We’ll have a hot time on the old town tonight,” the elderly couple both sang out in unison as if they’d practiced the line a hundred times before.
Hayely
looked with envy at their joy after so many decades together. That’s what I want, she thought suddenly.
That and nothing less.