That about sums it up.
I think youre leaving a few things out, he said dryly. I can picture Jack deciding to get married at five oclock and tying the knot at midnight, but you arent exactly the impetuous type.
If you think thats funny, try thisit was more or less my idea.
He dragged his foot on the porch, stopping the swing. Youre kidding.
She shrugged. I was the one who mentioned rings. I just didnt expect him to jump on the idea. Annie had always found it easier to talk to Charlie than to Ben, but she couldnt imagine explaining exactly how the subject of marriage had come upwith Jacks hand on her breast and her mouth wet from his. I wasnt myself. I was still shaken
from the assault, Id just turned in my resignation, and when Jack showed up I was packing.
Thats another thing I dont understand. Why arent you teaching?
How could she explain what she didnt understand herself? I am teaching. The evening classes at the community college are enough while I figure out what I want to do. I dont want to make another mistake.
Soyou were confused when Jack showed up, and being confused naturally made you propose?
She had to smile. Not exactly. I indulged myself with the idea of fate. The timing seemed soI mean, Jack wasnt supposed to be back in the country for another two or three weeks, but suddenly, on almost my last day in the city, there he was. And there I was, newly unemployed. She shook her head. Fate seemed like a reasonable explanation at the time.
Seems like youre still leaving out something pretty important. Like your feelings, and why you would jump to the conclusion that Jack Merriman was your fate.
Sheer, unadulterated stupidity?
You were infatuated with him when you were fifteen.
Im not fifteen anymore.
No, youre old enough to know the difference between infatuation and love. Which is it you feel for Jack?
She didnt want to say it. Not to Charlie, not to herself. So she pushed against the wooden floor of the porch with her toes, getting the swing moving again, and didnt answer directly. Did I mention that we were married by an Elvis impersonator?
Charlie gave a bark of laughter. An Elvis impersonator? Was he wearing one of those glittery costumes?
Complete with a cape and jet-black hair falling in a little curl on his forehead. And a potbelly.
How did you wind up getting married by Elvis?
It was Jacks idea, of course. We landed in Vegas about nine, and it took a while to get the license. Long enough for Annies common sense to wake from the sensual daze caused by Jacks kisses, but every time shed been about to change her mind, hed kissed her again. Jack had swept her to the altaror in front of a caped Elvison a tide of hormones, humor and muddled misgivings. We drove around a long time, arguing about where to do the deed. It was nearly midnight when he spotted the Elvis chapel and that was it for himthe perfect place to tie the knot.
It had been so tacky. And so much fun. In spite of the nerves that had made her half-sick by the time they spoke their vows, shed giggled when the Kings look-alike had drawled out the ceremony. My favorite part was when Elvis crooned, Do you promise to love this man tender, love him true, in sickness and in health She grinned, remembering.
But you stopped laughing at some point.
Not long after the promises shed made that midnight, in fact. Annie looked away, turning her face into the wind. The cold air made her eyes sting. We were in the hotel elevator on our way up to the honeymoon suite when I found the courage to ask what I should have asked before we left Denver.
What was that?
I asked him if he loved me. She closed her eyes. She could see the expression on his face as clearly as if it had happened only seconds ago. He looked at me as if Id suddenly started speaking Martian. Then he gave me one of those lopsided grins and said, Sure. Of course I do.
Thats when Annie had known herself for a fool. It would have hurt less if he had been upset or angry, because then she would have known that the words meant something to him. Instead, it had been painfully obvious that hed said what he thought she wanted to hear.
Charlie spoke quietly. A man couldnt ask for a better friend than Jack. But for a womanwell, he doesnt mean to be hard on the women in his life, but he often is. He paused. Do you remember his senior prom? He had three dates that year.
She sighed. He ended up going with Ellen Baxter.
The weird thing is that none of them hated him afterward.
Weird, but not surprising. Part of Jacks charm was his kindness. He could be impulsive, thickheaded, careless enough to end up with three dates to the senior promyet he hated to 1 hurt a womans feelings. Hed taken Ellen because hed known that the other two girls would be able to replace him easilyand they had. But Ellen had been new in town, and shy. Jack had worried aloud to Annie that Ellen would end up staying home if he didnt take her. That was why hed asked her, in spite of the fact that he was slightly overbooked for the occasion. He hadnt treated Ellen like a pity date that night, either. Hed done everything he could to make her feel special.