CARMEN“That’s good for you.” I nodded at Kate, swallowing all of the unbelievably nasty words that I felt the urge to spew at her for fear that I was probably reading into it too much and she really didn’t know what was happening between me and Dave.“And you,” Nova said as she turned to me. “How’s Jasper? Do we need to sabotage your wedding to stop it because he’s not good in bed or what?”“You’re seventeen, I’m not relaying my sex life to you,” I told her, shoving my face behind my phone and texting Dave as fast and as sneakily as I could.Me: We need to talk.“I’m not telling you to give me all the details,” Nova said, scrunching her nose in disgust at the thought of it. “Just tell us if he’s good or not. It’s bad enough that I have to be here at this boring bachelorette party anyway.”“Nova!” Kate scolded, turning towards me and shaking her head to apologize quietly.“It’s fine; I think it’s boring, too,” I admitted before sighing and deciding to play along and confess. “I have n
CARMENI gasped when I was given the chance as he wrapped his arms around my waist, and I managed to pull away to get a chance to speak.“Dave,” I breathed, looking around in fear and suspicion. “Dave, what are you doing?”He sighed, stepping back and away from me. He shook his head, and I could see the regret on his face.“I’m sorry, Carmen. I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.”“Maybe?” I scoffed. “How’s this for a maybe, Dave; maybe you shouldn’t have ignored me for weeks just to drag me into a room and kiss me after we just got married?!”“I know,” he agreed with an apologetic tone. “I was lost, Carmen. I thought that maybe if I pretended that this was the life I wanted, I would come to terms with it. I thought that I could find something to give Kate while you find something to give Jasper, and that would be it, but I can’t do it. This is hard for me, Carmen. I want you, and I can’t help it.”My heart pumped and popped like a balloon, and I placed my h
CARMENMy eyes only widened for one second, but I reined my shock back in.“What are you talking about?” I inquired, and I immediately wished I had not said that. It felt like an admission of guilt, especially because she knew about me being in Dave’s room.“Please, Carmen!” She waved my feigned confusion away. “I was going there first, but I saw him pulling you into his suite. What was so important for you two to talk about?”She walked up to me, her eyes narrowed. Anyone who looked at us could easily find out that we were not having the friendliest conversation, so I backed away and took a deep breath.“Kate, I know what you must be thinking, but it’s really not it. There’s this… He’s planning something, and I can’t reveal it to you. It’s a surprise. He wanted my opinion on it since we’re friends,” I lied. My heart was thundering hard and fast beneath my chest as I hoped that she would believe me.“Planning something?” She raised her brow at me, her doubt still evident on her face.
CARMENI took slow steps towards Jasper’s mother, a faint smile on my face as I bent in front of her and placed my hands on hers.“Can you see me?” I questioned, but her eyes were no longer focused on me as they had been when I was standing a few feet away. They were focused on the spot where I was standing earlier.“I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m sure you already know who I am by now. I’m Carmen, your daughter-in-law. I don’t really know what Jasper’s like – we didn’t exactly fall in love the way people normally do,” I laughed.I looked around, not sure why I was about to say what I wanted to say next.“If you can hear me, respond by squeezing my hands if you can,” I whispered.It wasn’t fair to suspect that she was pretending to be disabled, but it could be if she had something to be afraid of or someone to spy on. Frank, perhaps.I waited in silence, my eyes filled with expectation and curiosity as I waited for her to squeeze my hand
CARMENI placed the glass of water on the bedside table as I raised my brows at him.“You didn’t tell me your mom lives here,” I told him, a little upset that he made me wait until now to tell me that there was a chance that his mother had heard us have sex.“She’s not here right now,” he told me with a soft smile on his face. “I just wanted to tell you before she would return. She’ll be spending a day or two at my dad’s place, but this is where she prefers to stay. When I’m out, I’m sure she will make good company when you both get used to each other.”I nodded at him, wondering what it would be like with her at home and nobody else. She couldn’t speak, so it would just be me talking to myself.That night, I slept in Jasper’s arms, blocking every thought of Dave that tried to seep into my mind.The next morning, I found Jasper getting ready for work as soon as I woke up
CARMENI had watched Terri put Jasper’s mom to bed and tuck her in. Now, she was sitting in front of me, in her wheelchair and staring at me.“What…” I hurried towards her and pushed the chair into my bedroom. “How did you get out of bed? How did you make it out here? Is Terri back?”As I asked the last question, I opened the door and scanned the hallway to see if Terri was standing there and waiting for me to find out about her little prank, but there was nobody there.I closed the door and turned around, heading back to the woman who was still staring at me.“You wanted to tell me something?” I asked, bending to meet her eyes.I took her hands and squeezed, urging her to squeeze back and show me any sign that she was still there and she knew what she was doing, but she only kept her mouth open, taking in short breaths as if trying hard to propel words from her mouth but couldn’t muster enough strength.Finally, she settled for mouthing the words instead of trying to say them, and I
CARMENFor the rest of the day, Terri and I barely spoke to each other. She had walked away from the kitchen after her warning, and the next time I saw her was when she went back into the kitchen to get water for Mariah.Jasper arrived later that evening, finding me in the bedroom.“You look gloomy. Are you okay?” he questioned with his brows raised and a smirk on his face.“I’m fine,” I told him, standing up and walking towards him to bury myself in his hug. I took deep breaths as I felt his heart beating against my chest. I didn’t know what to believe or think of him, but I knew that it would be bad to act suspiciously just one day after I started living with him.“We’ll have to go see the family tomorrow night. We’re having a family dinner. They say it’s one more get-together now that we’re married.”My heart was deflated at the thought of seeing the family one more time, especially if Dave was going to be there. If he addressed the letter, I didn’t know how to tell him that it had
CARMENI turned my phone face down against the table as I glanced at Jasper. He seemed to have noticed that I was out of it, and he wrapped an arm around me.“Is something wrong?” he inquired.“No.” I shook my head. “I’m just a little hungry. Let’s eat.”He nodded in approval, taking his hand off my shoulder and digging into his food as everyone around the table continued their small talks with each other, unaware of the panic brewing in my head.I figured that nobody at the table had sent that text, because they were all too busy and nobody was with their phones.“So, Carmen,” Nova started, smiling at me as if she had something to say that she knew I would not like. “How’s marriage treating you? You’re happy, right?”“Yes. It’s been great, thanks for asking,” I answered, my lips spread in a thin smile.“That’s great,” Kate chipped in. “Have you two talked about your honeymoon yet? Dave and I were thinking that we could have a double honeymoon if you two haven’t decided yet. We’ll lea