Rachel Dyken - The Wager

Mouth agape, Char stared and then felt her cheeks heat. “We’ll, uh, see what we can do.” Only Grandma would think ahead to plan such a thing.

“Good girl.” Grandma stepped back. “I’ve been praying for your womb to be fertile, you know.” She smiled to herself. “Now take off your clothes.” So many wrong words in that sentence that Char fidgeted a bit before turning around so Grandma could unzip the travesty that was her dress.

Once it was off, it dropped to the floor. Char stepped out of it and squinted. The dress was white, her lingerie was black.

“Oh, almost forgot.” Grandma held up her hand and went to a Nordstrom bag on the floor, pulling out a white corset, matching thong, and thigh highs. Good Lord, how did she even know Char’s size?

“Asked Jake.” Grandma offered. “He seemed to know the exact size of your hips, imagine that? And your breasts—well, let’s just say I had to blow my whistle several times before he was able to focus again. That boy is truly distracted too easily. It’s my fault. His grandfather was always a breast man.” Grandma thrust her chest forward a bit. “At any rate, go ahead and put this on and I’ll help you with your dress.”

Char paused. Did Grandma really want her to get naked?

“If you go any slower I may be dead before I see my grandchildren. Believe me, you don’t possess anything I’ve never seen before. Well, maybe I haven’t seen it in a while; my mirror points south a bit these days.”

Laughing, Char took the lingerie from Grandma and put it on the bed, then stripped down to what God gave her.

Grandma sighed.

“What?” Char paused as she grabbed the corset.

“Nothing.” Grandma waved. “It’s just that, I don’t believe Jake will make it through the ceremony. Don’t you dare allow him to ravish you early, Char! You hear me? God frowns on those things.”

“Uh.” Char put on the corset. “What? Married people ravishing each other?”

“ ’Course not.” Grandma gave her a scolding look. “God just don’t like to see pretty things go to waste is all, and you my dear, will be spectacular. So, let him take his fill, before you give him his drink, you understand?”

Char’s grin was huge. “Completely.”

Grandma grunted.

Ten minutes later, Char was dressed in the most beautiful silk gown she’d ever seen in her entire life. Grandma hadn’t stopped at the lingerie. Nope, she’d also bought Char tall crystal heels that made Char look like a supermodel. Bless Grandma’s manipulative little heart.

Char turned and examined herself in the mirror.

Grandma stood behind her beaming. “Give him hell.” 

Jake took a long sip of his whiskey on the rocks and winced as the liquid poured down his throat. The heat was intense; it didn’t help that he was wearing a black suit, with suspenders. At least his suit wasn’t as bad as Char’s dress. The poor thing had looked miserable when she went off to get dressed with Kacey and the rest of the girls.

He took another slow swallow and grimaced when Jace made his way toward him.

“So.” Jace ordered a tequila shot and downed it with a wince. “How are things?”

“Ah, small talk.” Jake laughed. “Great. How’s your eye?”

“It feels like hell, thanks.” Jace shook his head.

Jake looked beyond him for Char. Where was she? They were supposed to meet a half hour ago. He grabbed Travis’s arm as he walked by. “Have you seen my wife?”

“Nope.” Travis shrugged and then laughed. “Wife, Shit, I never thought I’d see the day.”

Petunia walked by just as Travis cursed, earning him a smack in the back of the head and a scolding. He put his arm around Petunia, apologized, and ordered two shots of whiskey behind her back. Ah, it seemed all the apples from Grandma’s tree were firmly planted side by side.

“Wife?” Jace said. “You have a wife? What about Char?”

Jake couldn’t hide his smile. “Long story, but Grandma accidentally married us.” He held up fake quotations.

“Lucky bastard.”

Jake grinned wider. “Guilty.” His eyes scanned the outdoor patio one last time and then fell on a girl in a white dress. He kept scanning, and then looked back at the girl.

It was his wife.

It was Char.

She was wearing the dress from the store. He couldn’t pull his eyes away; heat seared every part of his body.

“Fight you for her?” Jace whispered.

“Already won.” Jake moved past him and stalked toward his bride—his wife. He wanted to kiss her so bad, but it would ruin the perfect picture he was staring at. Her hair was pulled back into a low bun with pieces falling around her face. And she was taller, somehow, maybe high heels; he couldn’t really think at the moment. With a bright smile, she only had eyes for him.

Thank God.

“I can’t kiss you.” He said once he reached her. “It will ruin your makeup.”

“It’s okay.” Char leaned in closer, allowing him access to her hips as his hands slid over the slick silk of the dress. “A wise woman once told me that you needed a good ruin… maybe it can be me.”

Jake could have sworn he heard Grandma chuckling somewhere; instead, he kissed his wife, his bride and lifted her into the air, twirling her around.

“You’re married!” Someone screamed.

Jake placed Char back onto her feet and turned. A young woman with curly blond hair was running toward them, arms flailing. It was Beth, Char’s sister.

Char squealed and clapped her hands as Beth flung herself into Char’s arms and cried. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe you’re married. When Grandma called me a few days ago—”

“A few days ago?” Jake asked, and then turned to his guilty grandmother. “That confident, huh?”

She merely lifted her shoulder. “What can I say? I know my boys.”

“Good guess.”

Beth pinched Char in the arm. “How dare you not invite me!”

“It was…” Char looked to Jake for help.

“Sudden.” He put his arm around Char. “Very, very sudden, you could almost say we didn’t even know it was going to happen.”

At that point Grandma had meandered closer and was now looping her arm with Beth’s. “Now dear, let’s get you a drink. I heard you’re single…”

Beth threw back her head and laughed. “I’m married to my job.”

“Oh dear, your job can’t do what a man can, believe me.” She steered Beth closer to the bar, where Jace was sitting, and held up two fingers to the bartender.

“Is she—” Char folded her arms.

“She’s not happy unless she’s meddling.” Jake held Char closer. “Case in point.” He nodded in Grandma’s direction as she left both Jace and Beth alone with their drinks. Hopefully they were both Benadryl-free. But it was hard to tell with Grandma. She did favor over the counter drugs.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” Jake whispered in Char’s ear. “What do you say we go back upstairs and—”

Char stepped out of his reach. “I’m under strict instructions to make you suffer until after the wedding. So there.”

“By who?”

“Grandma.” Char giggled. “I think I owe her, all things considered.”

Jake frowned.

“Just think of all the hidden things you can look forward to…” And then Char whispered into his ear exactly what she was wearing, piece by piece, ending the little erotic conversation with a tug on his ear.

Knees week, he almost collapsed.

Damn Grandma, she never was happy unless someone was suffering. 

In two hours she was going to be married. Cocktail hour had gone great, but now it was time. Kacey had chosen an eggshell dress with a plunging neck and back. It was a bit racy for her taste, which was exactly why she’d picked it. It made her feel daring and beautiful. Plus she’d worked hard doing that stupid wedding workout; she deserved to wear a sexy dress on her wedding day.

Tiny beaded straps formed a halter around her neck before trailing down the back and connecting to the dress. It was form fitting all the way to her hips and then slowly flowed out in fluffy chiffon layers. The lace and crystal overlay that went from her breasts all the way down the dress was her favorite part. She turned and smiled in the mirror. The three-foot train was perfectly pooled around her. She sighed.

She was perfect.

So how was it possible that she was still nervous? Her hands clenched the sides of her dress, then she remembered that would make it wrinkle, so she let go and began to pace in front of the mirror.

“Nervous, dear?” a soft feminine voice said.

Kacey looked up. Petunia was standing in the doorway, wringing her hands.

“Uh, a bit.” Kacey admitted.

Petunia nodded. “I can understand. After all, it’s only natural to worry about what goes on in the marriage bed.”

“Oh.” Kacey swallowed. “It’s not—”

“Oh, I know. It’s terribly fragile talk, bedroom talk. And I’m not the one to have such a discussion with. I’d probably bring a bat or some sort of other object just in case he got too frisky. Give him a good beating; that’ll teach him.”

“A bat?” Kacey pressed her lips together. “I don’t think that will be necessary and it’s not that I’m nervous about the marriage bed.”

“Oh.” Petunia waved at Kacey and laughed. “It’s okay to be nervous, my dear. Tell you what. You just give your Aunt Petunia a call if that nephew of mine gets too…” Petunia blushed and looked away. “Oh, you know what I mean. If he, if he…” Petunia pressed her hands together. “If he hurts you, you just tell him no.”

“I don’t think Travis would hurt me.” Kacey said in a calm voice, though she was trying desperately not to burst out laughing. “After all, he’s a gentle… man.”

“Ah, a gentle lover.” Petunia nodded. “I see, and you know this, how?”

Kacey hoped her face didn’t look guilty.

Petunia’s eyes widened.

And then Grandma burst through the door. “Petunia! You aren’t supposed to be in here.”

“I was giving much needed advice.”

“About staying a virgin, no doubt.” Grandma snorted. “Now go change into your wedding attire.”

“I refuse.” Petunia lifted her chin. “You know how I feel about bright colors.”

Grandma closed her eyes for a brief moment and pinched the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes again, even Kacey took a step back. “You will wear the damn dress and you’ll smile. Now go put it on, or so help me God, I’ll drug every last one of your cats!”

Petunia gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Tell me, how is Garfield? My, my, he is getting up there in age. Pity to see him take a tumble down the stairs, or accidently eat something he shouldn’t.”

With a huff and stomp, Petunia quit the room.

Grandma shut the door behind her and dusted her hands off into the air. Straightening her gold jacket, her eyes fell to Kacey. “Sweet pea, what’s wrong?”

The tears Kacey had been holding in streamed down her face. She collapsed into Grandma’s arms in soft sobs.

“Oh dear, oh dearie, don’t cry. Grandma’s here, she’s here. Now, if you’re scared that’s perfectly normal. Well, men can be absolute beasts! They make noises no human should make in public. They find themselves funnier than hell, and don’t understand the concept of doing dishes—”

Kacey hiccupped.

“Oh, but honey dear, they are wonderful. They were created for us you know, specifically made to be strong where we are weak, to be able where we are not able, and to share such a magical union that you won’t ever want to remember what it was like before that ring was put on your finger. Honey.” Grandma pulled back and offered Kacey a handkerchief. “Love is magic. And you, my dear, are so in love; why, it shows in your every action, in your every breath.”

Kacey dabbed at her eyes and gained control of her breathing. “It’s not him.” Kacey shook her head. “Travis is a godsend. He’s incredible. It’s not him. It’s me.”

Grandma was silent as she patted Kacey’s hand.

“I love him so much, I just wish—”

“What?” Grandma said.

“I wish,” Kacey’s lips trembled, “that Dad could walk me down the aisle. That my mom was sitting in the front row smiling, I don’t know… I just wish they could see me.”

“Oh.” Grandma pulled Kacey into her arms. “But Sweet Pea, they can! They can see you! Didn’t I say love is magic? Well, I imagine the love you and Travis have for one another is only created by God himself, and if God himself is paying attention, how could it not gain the attention of your parents? I’m sure they have front row seats tonight. Love is bright. It’s like a star in the night sky. You can’t help but see it. It’s like the very sun; you can’t help but feel it. It’s like breathing; you can’t help but breathe it. Oh, honey, the least of your worries is your parents knowing exactly how incredible your wedding day is—they’re here.” Grandma touched Kacey’s chest. “And dearie, they’re here, too.” Grandma pulled out a small box from her satchel and set it in Kacey’s hands. “Go on, open it.”