Page 13 of Suddenly Single

It occurred to me that this restaurant, a place we used to love, had changed, and it would never be the same again. What had once been charming, and sweet, was now cheap and tawdry. No, the better word was decayed. This place was dying a slow death, like our relationship.

“Fuck it.” I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the letter from Colorado. Maybe the only way to save our relationship was to ignore Mom, and be upfront and honest about this whole mess. My hand trembled as I handed it to him.“A courier delivered this to my office.”

Asher’s face lost all color.

“Read it.”

Chapter 7

Asher

Why hadn’t my mother and I realized the state of Colorado would send Carter the same notice they’d sent me? We were supposedly the top law firm in the entire state, and we’d been stupidly naïve. Actually, I hadn’t been naïve, I’d been self-centered, only thinking of myself. Of course they’d sent him the notice.

“Go on, read it, Asher.” Carter’s hands shook as he held out the letter. Reluctantly, I slid it out of his fingers and scanned the page. It was the exact same notice they’d sent me, except for our names.

“Um, well…”

“I can’t believe this!” Carter yelled, and the hippy waitress ran outside.

“Are you guys cool?” She asked, her straight gray hair now held back in a ponytail.

“Booze.” Carter said. “We need lots of booze.”

“Do you have a wine menu?” I asked, and the woman looked at me as if I’d just asked for a plate of freshly poached infants.

“We’ve got beer, and, oh yeah. There’s that bottle of chianti we…”

“We’ll take the wine, thanks.” Carter waved his hand dismissively toward her and she left.

“Carter, this isn’t a total disaster. We were having a new ceremony, and instead of just repeating our vows, we’ll get a marriage license and make it legal.” My hands were in my lap, and I crossed my fingers, hoping he wouldn’t freak out too badly. Carter opened his mouth to speak, but I held a hand up. “Baby, you can go hog wild with the ceremony, and I won’t say a word. Anything you want, is yours. New Dior suits, the caterers of your choice, and we’ll throw the biggest wedding reception the Country Club has ever seen.”

Carter glanced up to the darkening sky. “Are you being serious? Because if you’re saying this to…”

“Here’s your chianti.” The waitress interrupted, placing an enormous jug of red wine between us. “Do you know what you’d like to eat?”

“You haven’t given us menus yet.” Carter smiled sweetly at her. “Nor wine glasses.”

“Oh, dude, sorry.” The woman raced back inside.

“Carter, I love you so much. All I want is for you to be happy, and if that means an enormous wedding, then so be it.” I sighed, forcing myself not to think of the expense. Most folks thought wealthy people spent their money. My parents taught me the opposite. In order to build wealth, you were frugal, made the right investments, and were fortunate enough to be born to rich parents.

“Here you are fellas.” The waitress placed the menus and glasses in front of us. “I’ll give you a few minutes to look things over.” She drawled, then slunk back inside.

Carter opened the menu, then shut it and pulled out his phone. A moment later he handed it to me, a huge grin spreading across his cheeks. “Here are the suits. I found them on the Dior website. You will look so handsome wearing it.”

The suit was perfect, if you were Elton John, that was. Glitter, feathers, and matching black felt hats. But, Carter had exceptional taste and must have seen something in these garish outfits that I didn’t.

“Honey, when I got that letter from Colorado, I was terrified you’d have a meltdown.” I reached across the table and laid my hand on Carter’s. “But you see, everything is turning out for the best. You wanted to have a proper wedding, and now we’re having one. And these suits are, well, indescribable.”

Carter eyed me for a moment, then snatched his hand back from mine. “Wait. You got one of these awful letters too?”

“Well…”

“When were you going to tell me about it?” Carter crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me.

“I um..”

“Just as I thought. You were pretending like everything was just peachy, hoping I’d never find out. And I know why, too.” Carter’s eyes narrowed. “You never wanted to be married in the first place, and this…” He jabbed his finger onto the open letter between us. “...was your dream come true.” Carter got to his feet, and my heart missed a beat. What the hell was wrong now? He was getting everything he wanted, but for some reason was shifting blame to me. Carter swiped at his eyes. “So this is it, huh? Now we’re suddenly single. At least we don’t have to bother with a messy divorce.” He spun around and raced across the street to the parking lot.

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