Who Loves Them? (Who--? Series) (4 page)

Her mother was telling everyone about Chris’ engagement, and Christine sullenly followed her around, smiling when she was supposed to, and hugging great aunts who probably didn’t even know her name
.  She felt like a slave and wished she could jump on a steamboat that would carry her down the Mississippi and away from her chaotic life.  She imagined finding a flat in the Quarter and creating a whole new identity for herself.  Her parents would never look for her there.  They’d search up and down the streets of the Garden District, believing she’d take counsel with her “friends” who had been invited to the party.  And by the time they reached the Quarter, she would have already moved into her campus room at Loyola, away from her family.  She sighed.  Her plan would never work.  Of course her parents would know she had enrolled.  And even if she moved away, they would still know.  She knew her mother would contact every school in the state, and every school in the country, if she had to.  She wouldn’t stop looking until she found her, and Chris would be forced to marry regardless.  She frowned.  What she wouldn’t give to be able to get away from it all.  It wasn’t fair.

Turks and Caicos, 2012

The balmy island breeze felt magnificent on Chris’s face as she sipped her margarita, the third she’d had so far that afternoon
.  It was pleasant to be able to drink in public at last.  The bartender hadn’t carded her, but she’d flashed her shiny new identification at him anyway, updated shortly before the impromptu birthday trip on which her best friend, Kate, had whisked her away.

Her
twenty-first birthday had been a typical celebration, a black-tie formal dinner where wine and champagne had flown freely and her mother had dressed her, as usual.  The color had been wonderful, a deep emerald green, but it had been strapless, with a wide A-line skirt, the typical princess-y style dress that her mother loved.  There were times she felt like her mother’s doll--there to be dressed and coiffed, while she just stood there, staring into her reflection in the mirror.  Christina would have preferred something sleek, made of silk instead of taffeta.  She had worn the earrings that her father had given her on her eighteenth birthday to irk her mother, instead of the cascading diamond earrings her mother had tried to loan her from her own collection, and the beautiful token from Lilly which she had clasped onto a silver chain.  She missed Lilly, and wondered what she was doing.  Was she still an ineligible bachelorette?  Or had she finally married?  She wished Lilly could have come with her, but her mother forbid it, saying:  “You are in no way, shape or form, to continue your association with that girl.  It’s time to act like the woman you need to be!”
Still, Christina missed her, and the infrequent letters she received from her friend were not the same as seeing her in person. 

She tried to shrug off the annoyance
.  Kate had quickly intervened, telling Christina the next day to pack for a beach vacation.  Kate had inherited a chunk of her trust fund on her own twenty-first birthday, and she had used a sizeable amount to take herself and Christina to this gorgeous resort, far away from parents, grandfathers, and arranged marriages.  Her mother approved of Kate over Lilly, which of course, Christina knew she would.  Kate’s family was like her own--elegant, poised, and rich.  She even had the same snobbish-type mother who only cared about her family’s appearance.  Half of this extravagant vacation was probably a result of Christina finally telling Kate about her engagement, she mused.  Kate, whose parents were more forward-thinking and were sending her to the university instead of dooming her to eternal servitude, had been horrified.  It felt really good to have someone on Chris’s side who felt outrage for her.

Kate
had gone over a dozen escape plans until Chris had finally held a tired hand up and said grimly, “It’s happening, Kate.  So be prepared to put on a hideous dress of my mother’s choosing and stand next to me as my maid of honor and force a smile, because there’s no way out of this.  Not without alienating my entire family.  I’ve spoken to Lilly about it and there’s nothing we can do.  She even thought of hiring people to kidnap me!  But it’s no use.” Chris knew that was something she would never do.  She could never run away and hide from her family.

“To tell you the truth, I was surprised you named me maid of
honour, since I knew you and Lilly are such good friends,” Kate told Chris.

Chris shrugged
.  “It’s not up to me.  But don’t worry – I am really happy that you are.  I am sure you will make the day bearable.  I don’t even know if Lilly and her family are going to be invited.”

Kate smiled
.  “Of course they will be.  Your mother couldn’t stand another scandal!”

Chris smiled
.  No matter how independent she liked to think she was, she had been raised in luxury, and she was used to privilege.  The thought of striking out on her own, penniless and without the structure of the tight-knit society she had grown up in, was terrifying.  She knew that she was not cut out for it.  If her fate was to marry this Gordon, then she would resign herself to it--after another margarita, or two.

Kate was in the process of trying to flag down the bartender, brazenly adjusting her skimpy bikini top as she did so, when she suddenly stopped dead
.  “Oh my God, Chris.”

Christina looked up from her margarita
.  “What?”

“Look over there
.  That guy, underneath the umbrella.  With the ice queen.”

Christina glanced over in the direction that Kate was looking and swallowed hastily
.  Sitting under an umbrella two tables away from the bar was the most devastatingly handsome man she had ever seen.  He was wearing cargo shorts and a short-sleeved button-down shirt, half undone, revealing a swath of tanned, muscular chest.  He had thick black hair and full lips, and his arms…Chris felt a little dizzy.  She’d studiously avoided all contact with men, even playfully, for the last two years.  It was not fair to her or them since she was already “sold.”  She felt a little overwhelmed just by looking at him.

He was sitting with a beautiful blonde, a rail-thin model type wearing a skimpy white bikini and bright blue sarong
.  She was drawing more than a few admiring stares from the men who were around them when their wives and girlfriends weren’t looking, but she ignored them all. The ice queen looked annoyed at something the handsome guy had said, and waved a delicate hand toward the bar.  He shrugged nonchalantly and stood up, frowning at her.

“Oh my God, he’s coming over here.”
Kate squealed, adjusting her top again.  “Gosh, he’s beautiful.”

“
Mmmm,” Chris mumbled noncommittally, staring into her drink.  She could feel her face flushing already, not a pretty look on a redhead.  The closer he got, the more awkward Chris felt.

He approached the bar where they were sitting
.  Chris glanced up just long enough to see that his eyes were the most startling shade of blue she had ever seen, before she returned to focusing on the glass in her hand.  Even though he was still standing about six inches away, she felt as though he were looming over her.  His presence was palpable.

Kate, ever the oblivious flirt, chirped hello at him
.  He smiled politely, motioning to the bartender.  “A beer for me and another strawberry margarita for Mindy.” His voice was smooth and cultured, with just the slightest undertone of an old Southern accent.  He turned to face Kate, the polite smile still on his face.  “Enjoying the sun?”

Kate nodded
.  “It’s beautiful out today.  I’m Kate, and this is my friend, Christina.” She waved her hand at a still red-faced Chris.  “It’s her birthday.”

He smiled a bit more authentically
.  “Well then, happy birthday.  I’m Gordon.  Gordon Buck.  My friends call me Gordy.”

Christina jerked upwards in her seat and choked on her margarita, coughing until her face turned a very unpleasant shade of purple
.  Kate had gone a flat, paper white.  “Then you’re….”

Christina cut her off, trying to speak once she had finished choking
.  “You’re very nice to wish me a happy birthday.  Are you on vacation?”

Kate looked blankly at her friend, but Gordon answered Christina directly
.  “Yes, with my fiancée, Mindy.”

“Fiancée?” Kate squeaked
.  Christina shot her a warning look.

Gordon smiled quizzically
.  “Yes.  We haven’t told our families yet, we wanted to enjoy a vacation; just the two of us before we break the news.  My mother is a bit controlling and will not be very pleased.” He accepted the drinks from the bartender.  “I hope you enjoy your birthday, Christina.” He walked away to re-join the blonde, leaving Kate with her mouth half open and Christina’s hands trembling.  Christina was so shocked she couldn’t seem to get a deep breath.

Kate grabbed Chris’s hand and pulled her away from the bar and inside the nearest ladies
’ room.  “What the hell, Christina?  That’s
him
.  That is your fiancé!  Unless there’s another man with a Southern accent named Gordon Buck whose nickname happens to be Gordy!  And he’s
engaged
.  What are you going to tell your mother?”

“He said their parents don’t know,” Christina said weakly
.  “And Kate,
he
doesn’t know.  My grandfather told me two years ago they were keeping it a secret from him so he could enjoy being in college without the burden of knowing he had a fiancée at home.  I thought they would have told him by now, though!  He seems old enough!”

Kate’s eyes widened
.  “So he’s been allowed to be the rich playboy all over campus and who knows where else, while you’ve had to be miss prim and proper until your wedding?  He can do whatever he wants with ‘Mindy.’ and you’re expected to save yourself for him?  If that is not a gender double standard, I don’t know what is.” Kate was outraged, and getting really worked up.  “That is ridiculous!  He should have been expected to do the same thing!”

Christina nodded
.  There was little to argue with there.

“Well, we should tell him, shouldn’t we
?  He cannot be enjoying a romantic vacation with his fake fiancée while his real one is here.” Kate eyed Christina.  “They’ve probably been holed up in some suite with rose petals and candles and…” she trailed off as she caught a glimpse of Chris’s face.  “Sorry.”

“I
cannot…I cannot marry
him.
” Chris breathed.  “Did you see him?  He looks like a movie star.  And I look like….” She broke off as she realized she would never be able to hold his interest.

“You look beautiful,” Kate said firmly
.  “A little tipsy right now, but beautiful nonetheless.  He will be delighted to find out that he’s going to marry you.” She tried to sound certain of that, but Chris didn’t miss the slight quiver in her voice.  “Just think how jealous all the other girls will be.”

Yeah, and how available he will likely make himself,
Chris thought.  She nodded mutely.

Just then, the door to the ladies’ room opened, and the thin blonde sitting with Gordon came in
.  Chris turned white and started to head for the door.  Kate grabbed her elbow and steered her towards the mirror, pretending to mess with Chris’s hair while she looked at the blonde out of the corner of her eye.

She looked even more like a model up close
.  She was perfectly toned and tan, with perky C-cup breasts and a heart-shaped face with bright blue eyes.  She fluffed her hair in the mirror and re-applied her lip gloss, glancing over at the two girls carelessly.  Somehow, even in the damp heat, her hair looked perfect.  “You should really put something in your hair, dear,” she said to Chris.  “The salt in the air will make those curls impossible.”

Chris smiled weakly
.  “Thanks.” She noticed the giant ring on the blonde’s finger; a three-carat princess cut stone with diamonds trailing down either side of the band.  “You’re engaged?”

The blonde smiled brilliantly, displaying perfect white teeth
.  “Just last week!  Gordy and I came here to celebrate before we tell his parents.  His mother is such an uptight little thing.  She cannot stand me.  I cannot imagine why, I’m perfect for Gordy.  Really, she should consider him lucky to have found me.  Just imagine, he could have wound up with one of those stuck-up society girls that he grew up with.  They are all like that down South.  I’m going to convince him to come home to California with me after we get married.  I’m sure if I can get him away from his parents long enough, he’ll see reason.  He’ll do it of course; he’s wrapped around my little finger.” She smiled conspiratorially, and then swept out the door, leaving a puff of expensive perfume behind her.

Kate scowled
.  “What a bitch.  I cannot imagine what he sees in her.”

Chris’s lips twitched
.  “I imagine he doesn’t see much past the two balloons attached to her chest.” She glanced down at her own minimal cleavage.  “He’s going to have to trade that for me, Kate.  I might be smarter than she is, but obviously that is not what attracts him.  I’m not a trophy wife.  He will not want me at all.”

Kate huffed
.  “Well, neither is she, obviously.  His mother is going to have a cow, arranged marriage or not.  She’s just a silly bimbo with big breasts and most likely an uncanny ability to do the splits.  Don’t worry, Chris.  He might be caught off guard at first, but he’ll be glad he had to marry you instead.”

“
That is just the thing though, Kate,” Chris said grimly.  “I’ve have yet to meet a man who is happy to be
made
to do anything.”

****

They spent the night at the local karaoke bar.  Phazed Karaoke Bar was located on the first floor of the Andromeda Hills Hotel.  With a fairly sizable dance floor below a small stage, the room was jazzed up with colored flashing lights around the lyric screen and along the bottom of the stage.  Christina wore a sparkly yellow sequined dress, while Kate wore her little black dress and pearls.  “I’ll snag me a man!” she laughed.  Christina wanted to think she had the opportunity to meet someone, but the thought of having to marry Gordon made her a little weak at the knees.  She felt she was already his wife.  Well, bugger that, she told herself.  He has Mindy.  You are not his possession!  Yet…