An Untitled Love Read online

  “So you expect me to give up my life to move to the bottom of Georgia to be June Cleaver?”

  “No, I expect you to give up whatever you call yourself trying to accomplish here, with no success, to come share my life as we build something together as Jacquetta Flynn, wife, mother, artist,” he told her. “Jacquetta, you understand what you and I have. We love each other, but we also like each other. I like spending time with you. I enjoy your company and you enjoy mine.” he asserted.

  She couldn’t argue with that portion of his logic.

  He moved in close. “‘Quetta, you will never have to worry again about paying rent, a car note, or stocking the fridge. I’m not rich, but the store does well, and we will be okay. I bought the house from a foreclosure at the bank. I did the repairs myself and it is paid for...our home is paid for – there is no mortgage,” he said.

  Jacquetta half leaned upwards on her elbow. “You didn’t expect me to say yes, because you don’t even have a ring,” she said as she exhaled.

  Orlando reached for his pants on the floor. His fingers dug around the jeans pocket and brought out a small box. On one knee he knelt before her as his brown eyes stared into hers, “Jacquetta Lynette Mason, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  It was so sincere and the ring was so pretty that she found herself grinning and saying, “Yes, I will.”

  Well, that wasn’t much of a fight.

  He jumped to his feet clapping his hands together after slipping the princess cut diamond onto her finger. “Great! I am starving, let’s get the blood test done, grab something to eat and take a look at the storage unit, so I can know what size truck to rent,” he told her.

  “I have a lot to close out in a week,” she said absently as she eyed the ring. It wasn’t too big. The diamond wasn’t too small. The detail work on the setting was damned near artistic as she eyed the craftsmanship. It was a very nice ring.

  I love it.

  Orlando was putting his pants on. “And I hate needles. Can we do the blood test first?” he wanted to know.

  “Sure, Orlando.” She watched him get dressed as she took a good look at him.

  Husband.

  Father.

  Lover...

  What am I getting myself into?

  We have so much history together in a relationship that was always untitled.

  Now, he is to be my husband.

  The father of my children.

  My lover.

  “You okay Jacquetta?” he asked with that same boyish charm that earned him free drinks, free lap dances and unbridled trust from every woman he came in contact with.

  Orlando had proven himself trustworthy on many occasions outside of the one in that seedy dark room in Abu Dhabi. There were so many memories between them from the time of her rescue until now. From Abu Dhabi they traveled back to the war zone to connect with his unit. There were a few scrapes they had gotten themselves into trying to get out of Afghanistan and back to Iraq where she had to still fight and save him as well. His team had come under fire and a dirty bomb exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction. Orlando shielded her with his body, earning a butt full of metal shards. The metal pieces she picked out with care using tweezers and a boatload of patience. Both understood that getting her back to safety wasn’t as easy as she had hoped, but somehow, together they made it.

  Even after she returned to her duty station in Italy, he would visit every six months to check on her. Once she completed her contracted tour of duty with NATO, Jacquetta got out of the Army, relocated from Italy and studied art in Paris for a year. Orlando even came to France twice that year to visit her there as well; to make sure she was okay. They talked every two weeks and knew the minutest details of each other’s lives.

  Irony.

  I am already sharing a life with him.

  “Just wrapping my head around being off the market,” she told him.

  “Don’t worry, I’m all the man you will ever need,” he said and winked at her.

  “I have no doubts you are going to keep me busy,” she said as she found her shoes and door keys. “Let’s go and get that bloodtest.”

  Chapter 5- You’re Safe Now

  AFTER THE BLOOD TEST, the weekend sped by. To her utter amazement, her big strong fiancé acted like a four-year-old when he saw the needle. Jacquetta had to hold his hand to keep him still for the blood draw.

  All during lunch, Orlando continuously checked the puncture site on his arm for damage and signs of infection. Jacquetta was over the ridiculous behavior. She thought of a time when he was in control and felt powerful by asking, “Do you remember that evening in Pisa when those three Asian men kept hitting on me? They were martial arts experts and you took them on...taking them out one at time.”

  His eyes left the spot where the tape was around his arm. “Yeah, those guys were jerks,” he told her, his face stern with anger from the memory she invoked.

  “Do you know what you want to eat?” she asked and just like that, the bandage and blood draw was all but forgotten. He ordered a large helping of protein, way too many carbs and washed it down with a sugary sweet soda. The food arrived and his focus went right to the large slab of meat he ordered.

  It was a pleasant meal as he told her all about the town of Venture, Flynn Hardware and the natural sunlight in the backyard. “I know the perfect spot to put your new studio,” he told her with a smile so bright she was drawn in.

  “I was thinking that I may want to paint some images and scenes on the walls of the house,” she mentioned out of curiosity.

  “Like Frescos or something?” he asked as he sucked the meat off the rib bone.

  “Or something...,” she responded.

  “Sure. It is our home, make it as welcoming as you want,” he told her. He continued to eat as if his request to her was as natural as the day was long in summer. It was almost as if a relief had washed over him and now he could breathe.

  “Orlando you seem so sure about this,” she said.

  He stopped masticating the half cow he ordered for lunch. “I know you. I feel lucky to have you in my life. I feel even luckier to have you consent to be my wife,” he said to her. “I mean, I am kind of nervous, but not for the reason you think.”

  “So tonight...were you planning to...you know try to...?” she asked shyly.

  “What are you asking? If I am planning to make love to you tonight?”

  “Yeah, I mean...we are engaged and all,” she said to him.

  To her surprise he said quickly, “No. You are not ready for that yet. How about we take our time, get used to living together... sharing space.”

  “When I get to Venture will I be expected to sleep in the same bed with you as well?”

  He surprised her again when he told her, “You asked that once. My answer is still the same. Yes. You will. We will practice sharing the bed this weekend so it won’t be weird come Friday.”

  Her face was deadpan, when she told him, “Heaven forbid it get weird.”

  He waggled his brows and winked at her again.

  Orlando Flynn was a walking conundrum. As large and as fit as he was, he was squeamish about the oddest things. Some she knew, others she would learn in the weeks to come. The first thing she learned was, even though he liked to be undressed, he didn’t sleep in the nude. The second thing she learned, the man was a very light sleeper.

  Orlando also learned something very important about her he didn’t know; Jacquetta suffered from night terrors. Friday night was uncomfortable for them both in several ways. For him, he had never shared a bed with her and sleeping so close to that tight little warm body pitched his mind into overdrive. The very sexual side of him woke up and wanted to play. His amorous thoughts were smacked out of his head by her scream which bolted him straight up in the bed.

  He cradled her in his arms as he held her close, whispering in her ear, “You are safe, you can sleep now.”

  Jacquetta slept better the following Saturday night than she had
in years. Marriage to Orlando just might be the thing she needed. A reason to look forward to going to bed at night.

  Chapter 6- The Incognito Wife

  ORLANDO WAS ALL SMILES as he began his Monday morning at Flynn Hardware. His brother, Woodson, noticed the pep in his little brother’s step.

  “So what is with the big grin little brother?” Woodson wanted to know.

  “Just thinking about my weekend,” he smiled as he continued to count the bags of seed and feed which arrived that morning.

  Woodson was the oldest of the Flynn boys. He was 42, divorced, somewhat bitter and the father of three kids he rarely saw since his wife moved to Arizona with her new husband. He was thoroughly convinced every woman was a walking vagina with teeth that clamped down on a man’s wallet. His ex-wife was the reason Woodson was a part-time employee of Flynn Hardware instead of the managing owner. Orlando had to buy him out to make certain Woodson’s ex, Susan, didn’t take his share of the company in the divorce.

  The middle brother, Christopher, hated the hardware store: the smell, the nails and every seed in the building. He gave his share to Orlando with the understanding that he would never be asked to work in it, take inventory or even drive by the building. Christopher was a self-proclaimed ladies’ man with expensive tastes, and an eye for nubile flesh. At 40 he had no intention of settling down anytime soon. He made his money by creating an app geared towards dating younger women who required financial sponsorship. Every six months or so, he had a new young thing who needed some help with a car note, text book money or a spring break get away to decompress. The good thing, if one could consider Christopher’s lifestyle a good thing, he was mainly interested in graduated students.

  “The 18-23 year-olds are simply too young for my type of conversation,” Christopher spouted. Yet, no matter what the tasks set before them, the brothers would all be on the same page. That was until now. They had no idea what Orlando was talking about. Well, that wasn’t so unusual either. Their little brother was a different type of animal. He talked very little to either of them and when he did, he spoke in a very flat, monotone voice as if they were all hard of hearing or slightly daft.

  “I need some help this week guys,” he told his brothers. “I have a new shed being delivered this evening, and it is basically a small house. I need some assistance getting the foundation under it and getting it set up to catch the morning sun.”

  “What are you going to do with the shed, make a home gym or something?” Woodson asked.

  “No, it’s my wife’s new studio. I go and pick her up on Friday, so I want to make sure I have all of that in place. I also want to add a fresh coat of paint to the dining room and living room, possibly the bedroom,” he told Christopher. Although he and Jacquetta hadn’t officially gotten married yet, he didn’t want his family to know that detail. It also helped him to get it in his head that come Friday, he was going to be a married man.

  Christopher laughed, “I don’t do manual, but as a gift to you, I will get a couple of the kids from the college to come over and get it done on Wednesday. I will throw a few bucks their way.”

  “Thanks man that means a lot. I am going to go neutral so she has a fresh palette. If she wants the walls any other color, she will change them,” he told his brothers with a huge grin. This was also a side of their little brother they didn’t often see; Orlando smiling.

  Woodson had heard about Becca, but didn’t want to bring up the subject. “So, you ready for her to come to the house?”

  “What do you mean am I ready? I am beyond ready. I am tired of those white walls and two rooms of furniture. I am ready to make that house a home. Who knows...next year this time, I may make you guys Uncles,” he said with his eyes wide.

  Mr. Pendergrast, a customer who came in once a week to buy a single nail or screw, walked into the store before either brother had a chance to respond to what Orlando had said. Christopher whispered, “So you think he is in denial?”

  “I don’t know what he is in...why is he putting a studio in the back yard...isn’t Becca a teacher?”

  “Maybe she is going to give private lessons or something...,” Christopher said. “I mean, you think he is still going to marry her carrying another man’s baby?”

  “Beats the hell out of me...he said he hoped to make us Uncles next year. Becca is due this year. He has to be talking about someone else,” Woodson responded.

  “Who? He is always here at the store or wandering about his house butt damned naked. I’m surprised no one has called the cops on his weird ass,” Christopher said.

  Woodson chuckled, “Let’s stay positive. Maybe he has found a little weird woman that thinks his naked ways are cool and they are going to do naked yoga or Zumba in the studio in the back yard.”

  Christopher shuddered. “Yuck. Naked, hairy body parts doing downward facing dog...I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

  “Well save some of that energy for this evening while we set up her studio...whoever her is,” Woodson said.

  “We get to meet her on Friday, so he says,” Christopher mumbled. “I wonder what she is like?”

  “Probably some petite blond with big boobs... that seems to be his type,” Woodson snorted. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Women are all man eaters.”

  “So, are you planning to go gay or something Woodson?”

  “”I ain’t that damned mad at women to want a stick of wood in my mouth!”

  Christopher started to say, “What if you were the one...”

  Woodson picked up a nail gun. “You don’t want to die on the one day of the year that you actually walked into Flynn Hardware!”

  The laughter continued into the evening as the hardware store was closed early to meet the delivery truck at Orlando’s with the giant prefabricated shed. Her studio had arrived. As much as he was tempted to take a photo to send to Jacquetta, he wanted to wait to get her reaction in person. Harlan Flynn, the patriarch, had no intention of lending a hand, but fired up the grill to cook some burgers and dogs for dinner. It did his old heart good to see his sons in the big back yard working together to get the building at the perfect angle.

  “The morning sun is critical,” Orlando told them. “I pre-measured to make sure I have that window angled just right.” When his calculations were complete, he stood inside the roomy shed and opened the main door and windows. The afternoon light was also perfect as he stood in three different locations to test the lighting.

  “Perfect! She is going to love this,” he told the men of his family. The country cottage shed was 16 x 36 with a loft for storage of canvases and supplies. It was the same color green as the exterior of the home and he had flower boxes added under the shed windows. His father helped cut open a slot in the outer wall to install a small AC unit for the summer time. This building is as cute as my wife. It had two large windows and a farm house style door with lots of floor space for her easel, a modeling sofa or a table for still life. “Yeah, she is going to love this!”

  Harlan also knew about Becca. This worried him a bit, that his son was still interested in being with that woman. “Who is this she you keep talking about?”

  Orlando was excited. “I’m talking about my wife. You guys will get to meet her on Friday. I know you are going to love her as much as I do.” Again, he didn’t want to tell his father that he was getting married on Friday. Knowing his family as he did, if it was something they would comment on and try to change in his life, they would. He spoke of Jacquetta in the present tense as his wife to give them a few days to get used to the idea.

  Harlan dropped his burger, the spatula and the cold beer he held in his hand. When did his son have time to get married? He was always at the store or at home walking around his house butt naked. “Son, have you found another nudist?”

  “What?” Orlando asked. “I’m not a nudist!”

  “You like to walk around with your twig and berries dangling in nature. That makes you a nudist!” Harlan said.

  “No Dad, nudi
sts like to be out in public with other nude people. I like to be in the privacy of my house, in a comfortable state...there is a difference,” he told his father.

  Harlan peered over at Woodson who chimed in, “Nudists!”

  Christopher muttered under his breath, “Weirdo!”

  Orlando walked over and threw his arm around his brother. “I’m your weirdo little brother and you wouldn’t trade me for the world. Seriously guys, you are going to love my wife!”

  Harlan asked, “Is she a nudist too? ‘Cause if she is, I am never coming over here again! I am not eating dinner with body parts flopping all over the damned place.”

  “No, she is an artist,” he told them with pride.

  All three of the Flynn men said in unison, “Yep. She’s a weirdo too!”

  Chapter 7 –Weirdo Number 2

  JACQUETTA FELT LIKE a weirdo. There were so many things she had purchased for her home that had been placed in the storage unit, along with the tons of wedding presents she had received two years ago. They were hers and she had no intention of returning any of the gifts. She knew at some point she would actually get married versus showing up at the church to have no groom as it had transpired two years ago.

  Nothing inside of her could make her hate Sebastian. He was a good guy, but she was simply not mentally healthy at the time. She wasn’t really certain she was healthy now, but Saturday night, she had slept well knowing Orlando was at her side. Nothing was going to change the five days of her life which had been taken away from her by men who wanted to sell her like a piece of meat. The number of times she had been examined, fondled or probed with fingers and other items, she didn’t even want to think about in her waking hours. In her sleep and subconscious was a different container of fish. Those events caused her night terrors. Even when she managed to catch a few hours of sleep, she always woke up the same way, screaming.