Lined With Silver (5 page)

What had she agreed to?

Sondra’s ringing alarm woke her at 6:30 a.m.
The phone had switched to the new time zone. Sondra’s body didn’t
switch so easily. It was still 4:30 as far as it was concerned.

She shut off the insistent alarm and buried
herself in her warm bedding. She wasn’t ready to move. After a few
minutes, she rolled out of bed and opened the heavy drapes.

The sun hadn’t yet risen, but the glow of
city lights sparkled in the falling snow. The city was a
wonderland. Despite her experience with the muggers the night
before, the world looked like a new, vibrant place, and she was
anxious to start the day.

She’d picked out a white cashmere sweater to
go with a simple winter white suit she’d bought the night before.
Even though the ceremony wasn’t meant to be a lasting one, she
couldn’t bring herself to treat the occasion with indifference.

When she was showered and dressed, she called
the number she’d added the day before. A groggy male voice
answered. “Whassup?”

“It’s our wedding day. I thought it should
start early.”

“Can’t it wait until a more reasonable hour?”
Irritated. He definitely sounded irritated.

Sondra swallowed a nervous chuckle. “It’s
nearly 7:00. I’ve already found the closest county clerk’s
office.”

He was silent a moment, and then growled.
“All right. All right. Give me a few minutes.”

“I’ll order breakfast. Was there anything you
wanted?”

The mention of food woke him up. “Bacon,
eggs, and pancakes sound good. I’d like orange juice as well. Bill
it to the room. I have an account.”

Sondra shut the phone without saying
good-bye. This time, she was paying, and he wouldn’t be there to
argue.

When breakfast arrived, Sondra paid for the
food and included a generous tip. This trip was meant to be on her
dime. The whole marriage thing had been her idea. She didn’t want
to add the guilt of the trip expenses to the package.

Zack knocked on her door a couple of minutes
after breakfast arrived, his hair still wet from a shower. The
swelling around his eye was down, but the surrounding tissue was
definitely the wrong color. His lip looked almost normal.

Like her, he’d dressed for the occasion. The
suit he was wearing looked different from the one he’d worn the day
before, and Sondra wondered how he’d kept it immaculate in the
suitcase he’d carried.

“Did I pass?” Zack’s voice broke into her
thoughts.

“Was I obvious?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“I was thinking you look remarkably undamaged
for taking out three thugs last night.”

“Practice makes perfect.” He drawled.

She shuddered. “Let’s not get any more
practice.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t planning on it.” He
reached for the tray and lifted the cover. “Perfect. How’d you know
I like my eggs sunny side up?”

Sondra wished her face would quit betraying
her. Her warm cheeks could’ve cooked his whole meal. “You liked it
during Trek.”

Zack’s brows rose in surprise. “That was a
long time ago.”

She lowered her gaze to her own plate, which
blurred suspiciously. Her practice in court kept her voice steady.
“The years have flown by.”

“They have.” He stared at her a moment, and
then turned to his plate.

The worn and tattered picture of their Trek
family had been relegated to her junior high scrap book. But her
memories were as fresh as the strawberries decorating her breakfast
tray.

As they left her room, Zack detoured to his
own room and came out with a bouquet of white roses. “I had just
been down to order them at the shop downstairs when I saw you load
onto the elevator last night. I hope you like roses. I didn’t think
to ask.”

Sondra breathed in the heady scent. “They’re
beautiful. I love them.” She hoped he wouldn’t notice her shaking
hands as she balanced the bouquet during their elevator trip and
short walk to the front where they met the valet with their
car.

They drove in silence to the Virginia
courthouse. Sondra occasionally peeked at Zack to see if he was
having second thoughts, but his jaw was set and she couldn’t read
his expression. Zack stepped around to open the door, and she had a
sudden desire to run screaming down the street. This wasn’t at all
what she’d planned for her own wedding. What was she doing?

As they walked up the steps to the glass
doors, Sondra’s stomach twisted in a knot, and she fought to
control her emotions. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned her marriage
with Zack. The steps she’d wanted to walk up led to temple
doors.

She couldn’t stop the tremor in her fingers,
and Zack squeezed them slightly in what she assumed was some sort
of sign of reassurance. How could she feel reassured when this
wasn’t really what she wanted? She gripped her bouquet with her
other hand. She was glad the roses were thornless. As it was, the
stems cut painfully into her hand.

The line to the clerk wasn’t long. When they
reached the counter, Sondra released her death grip on the roses
and carefully laid them on the counter. She fished through her
purse for her identification and the prenuptial agreement she’d
printed the night before.

“Beautiful flowers,” the clerk admired.

Sondra managed to smile. “Thanks…” she paused
a moment to read her nametag, “Olivia.”

“You can call me Livvy.” Her bright voice
almost dispelled Sondra’s gloom. “Here is the license. Where are
you getting married?”

It was a good thing Zack took over because
Sondra was having a hard time talking past the lump that had
formed. “We were hoping you had a Justice of the Peace here who can
handle it this morning.”

“This morning?” She stared at him a moment,
as if to make sure he wasn’t joking. “Let me check.” She squinted
at her computer screen, and then looked up with a relieved smile.
“It looks like Justice Turly is available this morning.”

As they were signing the papers for the
license, Sondra asked the clerk, “Could you also notarize these for
me?” She pulled out the prenuptial agreements.

Before the clerk could reach for them, Zack
drew them off the counter and quickly read over the one-page
agreement. “How did you know my legal name?”

Not wanting to confess her youthful
infatuation, she quickly ad-libbed. “I looked you up on-line. You
have several pages of information on Google.” She crossed her
fingers behind her back.

Zack narrowed his eyes and stared at her a
moment. “You don’t say…” he drawled and then handed the papers back
to the clerk, who watched both of them sign the two copies and then
notarized them.

A few minutes later, they had the license and
the agreement in hand and headed down the hall to see Justice
Turly. The door was open. He stood to greet them. White hair was
evidence of his age and of his life experience. A couple of stray
clerks had been rounded up to act as witnesses. The women stood at
the side of his desk.

He grinned as he shook Zack’s hand. “So she
had to knock you around to get you to propose, did she?”

Zack caught Sondra’s eyes and flashed one of
his half smiles. “Yep. That’s exactly how it happened.”

Sondra was too nervous to laugh. She wasn’t
sure if Justice Turly felt the deception in their marriage. She was
sure he’d met with other nervous couples before, but she doubted if
he’d ever officiated over what was meant to be a very temporary
arrangement.

She couldn’t concentrate on Justice Turly’s
discussion about the importance of family and keeping each other’s
interest as their primary focus. Their arrangement was so far from
that ideal Sondra had to bite back hysterical laughter. By the time
he had finished his speech, she was on the verge of tears. She was
an emotional mess. And she wasn’t even pregnant yet.

Zack seemed to sense her emotional upheaval
and kept her hand gently cupped in his. As the ceremony commenced,
Sondra couldn’t stop the tears from flowing over.

Zack reached up to gently gather the first
couple of tears off her cheek with his thumb and then rescued her
with some tissues from the box handy on the Justice’s desk.

After the ceremony was over and the Justice
said they could kiss, Zack bent down and offered a whisper of a
kiss that barely touched her lips. His sweet tenderness nearly had
her unloading another barrel of tears. Instead, she sent a watery
smile in the direction of Justice Turly. They had already signed
the necessary paperwork.

Sondra asked one of the clerks to take a
couple of pictures with the Justice and then some with just her and
Zack.

After the photography session, Sondra asked
if the clerks wanted to participate in a bouquet-tossing ceremony.
They giggled and gathered a few other single employees. Sondra
hadn’t inspected the group before she tossed the bouquet behind
her. Zack was handling the video portion during the event. To her
delight, Livvy caught the bouquet. Her bubbly personality had
helped Sondra through a rough spot. She hoped Livvy would have more
luck in love than she had.

Zack hadn’t even commented about her desire
for pictures. She wondered how he was feeling about the whole
event. She couldn’t read his expression.

She hadn’t known what to expect during the
ceremony. This heavy weight like she was carrying the world on her
shoulders wasn’t something she planned on. She wondered if it had
something to do with the fact their marriage was a sham. She
shuddered. Perjury was a crime. She never pictured herself on the
lying end of a legal document, but didn’t they both have good
reasons for this temporary arrangement?

* * *

They stopped at a quaint restaurant not too
far from the courthouse to enjoy their wedding luncheon. Sondra
tried in vain to block out the thought her family should be there
celebrating with her. She swished her food around the plate and
tried to eat.

After Zack finished, he noticed her full
plate. “Aren’t you hungry?”

She could only shake her head. He narrowed
his eyes thoughtfully but didn’t comment. She appreciated his
silence. Any word might have brought out another flood, and she
already felt humiliated. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d
cried, and it seemed to be all she was doing this weekend.
You’d
think I was already pregnant.

He interrupted her thoughts. “If you don’t
mind, I’d like to see my dad, but we have a stop to make
first.”

Sondra nodded. She didn’t trust her
voice.

When they parked in front of a well-known
jewelry store, she couldn’t remain silent. “No. I won’t let you.
You’ve already gone above and beyond what you need to do. I don’t
want a ring.”

“My dad would notice. You need to have one.”
He wasn’t going to budge.

Sondra took a deep breath. “Fine. But please
make it cubic zirconia. I don’t need a diamond, and your dad would
never know the difference.”

“Your job is to pick the design you like.
I’ll take care of the rest.” His no-nonsense tone had her
tightening her eyes. She had a feeling Zack would do exactly as he
pleased, but at least she’d made an effort to keep the costs
down.

As they sat down to look over the ring sets,
her eyes widened. She’d never been ring shopping, and seeing so
many diamonds sparkling at her lightened her mood. How could she
feel down when there was beauty like this in the world?

There was one particular setting which called
to her, and when she tried it on, it felt exactly right. She held
her hand out to admire the flashing stones. “This is perfect.”

He smiled and told the hovering salesman,
“We’ll take it.”

“And get him a matching ring.” She caught
Zack’s eyes. “A plain gold band?” He nodded. If they were going to
pull this off, he needed a ring as much as she did. She pulled the
rings off and handed them back to the man. She’d asked Zack for the
cubic zirconia. She liked the setting, but she assumed Zack would
honor her wishes.

She watched as they walked to the back of the
room to talk. The salesman disappeared into the back of the store,
then reappeared a few minutes later. After ringing up the sale, he
handed Zack two ring boxes.

Zack tucked the white box into his suit
pocket, stepped to Sondra, opened the black velvet box and
wordlessly indicated a desire for her hand. She extended her
fingers. “Thanks for agreeing to be my wife,” he whispered as he
slid the rings on. To her surprise, he kissed her fingers before he
released them. She blinked, wondering how this fit into their
plans.

Since her recent response to worry was tears,
she clamped her thoughts tight and refused to think about it.

As they walked out to the car, he slid his
own ring on. She was grateful he’d performed the act himself. Any
more ceremonies reminding her of what she desperately wished was an
eternal reality would have been more than she could handle.

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, they turned into a
neighborhood of elegant homes. Tucked inside a large yard, the
one-story red brick building was surrounded by naked trees and
snow-covered shrubs.

The front walk had been shoveled. A cheery
wreath hung at the door. The oak double door opened into a large
room, where the polished wood floor glowed warmly. Colored lights
twinkled on a tree next to a gas fireplace. Upholstered chairs were
positioned around the fireplace. A gray-haired gentleman snoozed in
one, the footrest holding his feet a comfortable distance from the
gas flame.

An open dining area housed a long oak table.
Its sides were lined with carefully carved wooden chairs, sentinels
ready for the next meal. Beyond the table was a long hallway dotted
with doors—some open and some closed. As they stepped down the
hall, Sondra read a name plate posted on each door. Sadness echoed
down the hall. Each name was a person. Someone waiting to die.