Read Online Dream & Dare by Susan Fanetti - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Susan Fanetti
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first, even when you think you shouldn’t. I think I fell in love with you when you first got on my bike that night. You trusted me to take you home. I could see in your eyes—these huge, beautiful brown eyes—that you knew it wasn’t the ‘smart’ thing, but you did it anyway. I live in a world full of suspicious, cynical people. Feeling that trust from you—I don’t have words for how it made me feel, or for how I feel about you.”
Moved nearly to tears, Bibi cupped Hoosier’s cheek in her palm. “Those are pretty good words. I think you did okay.”
He turned his head and kissed her palm. “Am I enough for you? Till death do us part?”
Six weeks had passed since that first night. All she knew about his history was that he’d grown up on a farm in Indiana. He’d had two older brothers, but both had died in Vietnam. He’d been distant from his parents since he’d rebuffed the idea of taking over the farm. She knew he was a mechanic, and that he was a member of the Desert Blades, but he refused to go into even basic details about that part of his life, and, other than Blue, his best friend, she hadn’t met anyone else he knew. He’d come into her life, not the other way around.
If she married him, she guessed that wouldn’t be the case anymore. And honestly, she was taking a big leap of faith to marry a man who was so unknown.
But she did know him. She knew him . And he was right: she trusted him implicitly. It was like she could tell. She knew, she was certain, despite the voice in her head that insisted she couldn’t possibly, that he was worthy of her trust.
“Yes.”
A grin smoothed his brow and opened his face, and he stood. “Then let’s get hitched.”
~oOo~
They were married in a little chapel on the strip. Nothing special, but not too tacky, either. Considering all the ways her wedding was nothing like the one she thought about when she was in high school, with Joel, the ceremony was traditional. Jerome Andrew Elliott and Bedelia Beth Ladue vowed their love and commitment, until death did them part.
Hoosier surprised Bibi with a beautiful set of rings—a white-gold claddagh with a big diamond for the heart, and a thin band of diamonds to match it. She didn’t have a ring for him. He’d proposed only a week before, and she was broke. And he already wore five rings on his hands, so she wasn’t sure how he’d wear another, anyway.
At that moment of the little ceremony, Bibi stared at her glittering finger and felt awkward and lost. “Oh, Hooj. They’re beautiful. But I don’t…I didn’t…”
He chuckled and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay, Cheeks. I got a better idea, anyway. That’s next.”
When the minister—she supposed he was a minister—declared them man and wife, Hoosier bent her back over his arm and kissed her breathless, his hand clutching her ass. A couple of people who worked there and served as witnesses threw handfuls of rice over them. Then they took pictures—a few from the 110 camera Bibi had brought with her, and a few with a ‘professional’ setup that they could buy and have sent to them after they were developed.
And she was married.
Holy Moses.
~oOo~
The thing that was next—and, in Hoosier’s estimation, better than a ring—happened at a tattoo shop a ways off the strip. When they went in, Hoosier greeted a couple of the men working there as friends, and introduced her as his wife. There was hugging and backslapping, and Bibi was happy. This was a part of his life. Not the life he lived in L.A., but a part of it nonetheless.
They were there for a couple of hours, and when they left, Bibi felt like she had new friends, too. Garth and Patch, Hoosier’s buddies, who were calling her Beebs by the time they’d said goodbye.
And Hoosier had new ink. On the inside of his left forearm, in elaborate script: Bedelia . The dot on the ‘i’ was a tiny
Moved nearly to tears, Bibi cupped Hoosier’s cheek in her palm. “Those are pretty good words. I think you did okay.”
He turned his head and kissed her palm. “Am I enough for you? Till death do us part?”
Six weeks had passed since that first night. All she knew about his history was that he’d grown up on a farm in Indiana. He’d had two older brothers, but both had died in Vietnam. He’d been distant from his parents since he’d rebuffed the idea of taking over the farm. She knew he was a mechanic, and that he was a member of the Desert Blades, but he refused to go into even basic details about that part of his life, and, other than Blue, his best friend, she hadn’t met anyone else he knew. He’d come into her life, not the other way around.
If she married him, she guessed that wouldn’t be the case anymore. And honestly, she was taking a big leap of faith to marry a man who was so unknown.
But she did know him. She knew him . And he was right: she trusted him implicitly. It was like she could tell. She knew, she was certain, despite the voice in her head that insisted she couldn’t possibly, that he was worthy of her trust.
“Yes.”
A grin smoothed his brow and opened his face, and he stood. “Then let’s get hitched.”
~oOo~
They were married in a little chapel on the strip. Nothing special, but not too tacky, either. Considering all the ways her wedding was nothing like the one she thought about when she was in high school, with Joel, the ceremony was traditional. Jerome Andrew Elliott and Bedelia Beth Ladue vowed their love and commitment, until death did them part.
Hoosier surprised Bibi with a beautiful set of rings—a white-gold claddagh with a big diamond for the heart, and a thin band of diamonds to match it. She didn’t have a ring for him. He’d proposed only a week before, and she was broke. And he already wore five rings on his hands, so she wasn’t sure how he’d wear another, anyway.
At that moment of the little ceremony, Bibi stared at her glittering finger and felt awkward and lost. “Oh, Hooj. They’re beautiful. But I don’t…I didn’t…”
He chuckled and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay, Cheeks. I got a better idea, anyway. That’s next.”
When the minister—she supposed he was a minister—declared them man and wife, Hoosier bent her back over his arm and kissed her breathless, his hand clutching her ass. A couple of people who worked there and served as witnesses threw handfuls of rice over them. Then they took pictures—a few from the 110 camera Bibi had brought with her, and a few with a ‘professional’ setup that they could buy and have sent to them after they were developed.
And she was married.
Holy Moses.
~oOo~
The thing that was next—and, in Hoosier’s estimation, better than a ring—happened at a tattoo shop a ways off the strip. When they went in, Hoosier greeted a couple of the men working there as friends, and introduced her as his wife. There was hugging and backslapping, and Bibi was happy. This was a part of his life. Not the life he lived in L.A., but a part of it nonetheless.
They were there for a couple of hours, and when they left, Bibi felt like she had new friends, too. Garth and Patch, Hoosier’s buddies, who were calling her Beebs by the time they’d said goodbye.
And Hoosier had new ink. On the inside of his left forearm, in elaborate script: Bedelia . The dot on the ‘i’ was a tiny
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