my apologies for taking so long to get this chapter out, but life intervenes...
*
The next month was like a wind-driven fog.
As we left the hotel the next morning and began our long journey back to reality, we almost bumped into Rick and Denny as they entered the lobby.
Denny did his best not to look consumed with awkward guilt; Rick looked stunned to see us.
We didn't know it then, but we learned later that after the rehearsal dinner, he'd gone bar-hopping, and after he'd had three or four too many, he propositioned the wrong woman. Turns out she was an off-duty cop and took it somewhat personally. He refused to pay a fine and is waiting on a court date.
Jen helped Meghan clear her things out of Denny's without too much drama, and as she'd predicted, by the end of the first week, Meghan decided she had to find another job. Jenifer told me that once Meghan moved in with her, it was like she collapsed, all the disappointment of her failed engagement suddenly cascading over her.
Jen also told me Denny quickly found himself ostracized at work. Word of his flagrant infidelity spread like wildfire, and in short order, three harassment claims were rumored to be in the offing.
By the end of the second week, he resigned his position, and there were reports that Rick, too, had started floating his resume.
Trips between cities immediately became an every weekend thing; my apartment one weekend, Jen's the next.
No one wanted to talk about the elephant in the room. Jen's apartment was big enough for two people, but not if one of them was living out of boxes. They were going to have do something.
And then there were our parents. They were the only people who still had no idea what had happened, what was really going on, were our parents. So, what did Jen and I tell them?
When should we tell them?
We had a family reunion scheduled for the Fourth of July, and we figured that was as good a time as any. There's always more family than room at the house, so Jen and I got a hotel room together. Dad either wasn't paying attention or flat didn't care. Mom tried arguing with us that she wasn't going to make her children stay in a hotel, then gave up when Jen told her we'd already paid for the room and that as busy as we'd both been, we needed someplace quiet where we could get some rest. That seemed to satisfy our mother's curiosity, at least for the moment, and since there were more than a dozen other family members around, she let it go at that.
The next day was a little different, though.
Mom noticed when Jen and I arrived together, and we caught her watching us a couple of times during the day, noticing that we were paying more attention to each other than usual. Mom's curiosity finally got the better of her when Jen sat in my lap wearing just her bikini, with a towel wrapped around her waist.
Mom waited until family had thinned a bit, and then she cornered us and asked what was going on.
Jen grabbed at my hand and laced her fingers with mine so tight I thought I was going to lose feeling.
"You know Meghan's wedding was supposed to be a few weeks ago," she said.
Mom nodded. "Barbara called me and told me what happened. That was just awful. But what does that have to do with the two of you being all over each other?"
Dad appeared at mom's side as if out of thin air, and his eyes followed the conversation, jumping from our mother back over to us.
"Mom..."
Jen looked at me and began slowly shaking her head as if trying to play it off.
"... we're not 'all over each other.'"
"Yes, you are," she replied. She looked behind her, satisfying herself that no one was within earshot. "And no one's said anything to me, but I promise you other people have noticed that you showed up together and that you can't keep your hands off one another. Now, what's going on between the two of you?"
Jen looked at me and swallowed hard.
"There's this guy that worked with us," she said. "He and Denny are friends..."
"I tried to tell you that nothing good ever comes from office romances," dad said.
Mom swatted at his arm, shushing him.
"Go on, baby. What about Denny's friend?"
Jen nodded. "Anyway, it's debatable which one of them is worse, Denny or Rick. I could never get Rick to leave me alone, and then..."
My sister looked at me, her eyes searching mine, lost and looking for another way, but finding none.
"A little over a year ago," she said, "I showed him Kyhl's picture and told him and anyone else who'd listen that Kyhl was my boyfriend."
Mom's mouth dropped open and she and dad both looked at me.
"And you went along with this?" dad asked.
I shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
I looked at Jen and her eyes locked with mine. She was doing everything she could to plead without speaking and doing her best not to look desperate.
"And then I met the guy, Dad, and let me tell you, he's a piece of work. In fact, the night of the rehearsal dinner, he got drunk and got picked up for solicitation."
Mom's mouth fell open again. "He what?"
Dad shook his head.
I nodded and shrugged again. "I kind of thought, really, this would be another pat on the back like when we were in high school."
Dad chuckled and mom covered her mouth with her hand.
"That still doesn't explain..."
Jen looked at mom.
Mom licked her lips, looked at dad, and then back at us.
"That still doesn't explain why the two of you are acting like a couple."
"Well,..." Jen looked up at me as her fingers clenched against mine.
"I mean, you show up holding hands; granted, I don't think anyone thought anything about it. And I saw the two of you kiss a little while ago. And you're sharing a hotel room together..."
"One bed or two?" dad asked.
"One."
Jen looked at me and nodded.
"So you're... you're sharing a bed... together?"
Mom looked for a moment like she was going to hyperventilate. She was putting the pieces together.
"We did it," Jen said, "at first, just for appearances. You know, to make the story credible, so I wouldn't have to deal with Rick."
I nodded and felt Jen's other hand lay on top of our laced fingers.
"But then we started spending a lot more time together," she said, "and we discovered we actually like each other."
I nodded again.
"More than like, really," Jen said. "It's like..."
"It's like we're a pair of gloves that just fit each other right."
Jen looked at me, smiled and nodded.
"But... you're brother and sister." Mom's eyes darted back and forth between us; dad seemed at a loss for words.
I nodded again and kissed Jen on the cheek.
"I love my little sister. More now than I ever have."
Dad looked stunned; mom was still shaking her head in disbelief.
"And I love Kyhl. I don't know what I'd do without him."
"Barbara called," mom said, "and told me about how the wedding fell apart at the last minute."
Jen nodded.
"And... she told me how thankful she and Robert were that the two of you were there for Meghan; that you were both so supportive."
Mom looked at dad and then back at me.
"She told me, too, that she really hoped you and Meghan would get back together. The two of you were such a cute couple."
I nodded and took a deep breath. "It's not quite that simple, Mom."
