Fagua

What's a girl to do when she's stuck alone in a hotel suite?

Raid the mini bar?

Watch a movie or two?

Eat as much candy as she can from the mini bar?

Or even call room service?

I'd never had a phone in my room before. We had one in the diner and the house, but one all to myself felt like a luxury. I didn't realize how out of touch, I'd been with everything. My finger traced the silver vermeil on my wrist with so many different colors from blue topaz to orange sapphire. I didn't have jewelry any more, so it felt like such a precious gift. A gift from my husband, passed to him from his dead mother. She'd received it from his grandmother. I wished I could meet them.

Husband!

The thought of him brought a tingle inside of me. I'd left SmallHeath, the place where I'd lived all my life to come to Vegas with a man I'd only known for one week. Yes, it was crazy, but love is love, and Keith had captured my heart in such a small amount of time.

Keith's beat—up car broke down. We could only enter from the boot or we had to manually put the windows down, but it wasn't so bad. It managed to get us here and we'd driven two hundred miles, before the car finally gave up and we had to hitch—hike the rest of the way.

It was the most exciting and thrilling thing I'd ever done in my life. Well, besides driving to Vegas and getting married. Keith said he'd been on the way to Vegas to play in some underground poker game. He charmed me with his tall physique, emerald eyes, and dark hair. Everyone in SmallHeath looked the same, dark hair and matching eyes. I'd never seen green eyes before. They didn't look real, but I knew they were. I'd seen them on pictures and shows, though never in real life. And Keith was different. He was from out—of—town way down in New Orleans. He'd even been to New York, L.A., Chicago, so many cities I'd dreamed of going one day, and he promised to take me.

He drove a beat—up Ford, only possessed two suits, and was on the road all the time. He couldn't carry his whole wardrobe with him. Besides, he looked hot. No one in town wore a suit. Men either wore overalls or jeans. They tended to work in the farms, in the mountains chopping up wood, or making paper at the local factory.

"How about now?" I asked, my stomach clenching that he might just laugh at me. Here I was a stranger asking to go on a road trip with him. My dad would freak out. He'd always kept me stuck at home, but today he was on one of his many business trips. He couldn't stop me from leaving, not that I'd ever tried.

"How old are you?" Keith rubbed the stubble on his chin as he looked me up and down.

"Old enough."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't get me going to jail now, sweetheart."

"Twenty—five. I know I look younger than I am, but I promise I'm legal on all counts." I leaned against his car as he finished changing the tire.

"All right, Fagua." He stood and tossed the tire iron in the trunk. "I'll take you with me to Vegas. On the way, we can get to know each other."

We talked and goofed off the whole way. So when he asked me the truth or dare for the fourth time, I picked dare.

"Have you ever done anything crazy?" he asked.

I didn't want him to think I was a prude. The craziest thing I'd done in my life was jump in the car and get out of this town. "I thought I was doing a dare, not a truth."

"Right." He winked. "I dare you to marry me."

"Seriously?" My breath sped up, thinking I'd gotten more than I'd bargained for. No man had ever looked at me twice. I was Afi's daughter, the woman no man could go near without his permission, which was why I was the only one over twenty—one who had never been married. I went to high school, graduated, and just stayed. I knew no one outside of town, and as much as I was curious to find out what lay beyond the mountains which enclosed our town, I never had the funds to find out.

"Bet you never have done anything even close to this in your life."

Marry a man I just met? No way. But the thought of it thrilled me. Pa would be furious. What did he expect though? I was a grown woman whom he kept practically locked up at home in a small—dink town.

I worked in my parents' diner. This was my fate until Keith had come into town. I would carry on working there until one of the two eligible men in our town would ask for my hand in marriage. One of them was a drunk, and the other, let's just say, every girl he dated back in high school—and there weren't many—had a black eye while dating him.

So, I had the option of a woman beater or a drunk? Ma said beggars couldn't be choosers. I knew she was right, but I didn't want to break her heart and tell her I wanted out. I didn't want to have kids and run a diner, or the local paper factory dad owned, for the rest of my life. I wanted so much more. I needed to see the world before I settled down, and if so be it, one day return to SmallHeath, it would be before knowing what was outside town.

Our first stop was to the chapel to get married. Keith didn't have money to buy an official wedding ring, so we just used the Coke can ring. He said he would buy me one once he had his official win.

Our second stop was to the Moon Casino for him to get his big win. Everything felt so surreal like a dream whirlwind, and I hung on for the ride. Using Keith's phone, I snapped a photo of me and him smiling with a message we were married. Instantly, his phone rang, but I didn't answer.

After we checked into the hotel, Keith gave me a quick kiss.

"Make yourself at home, sweetheart. Whatever you want."

"I want you. It's our honeymoon."

My gaze shifted across the room. I'd never stayed in a hotel before. Everything about this trip had been a new experience. I ran my fingers on the two—seater leather sofas opposite the bed. I'd squealed like a child the moment we'd walked into the room. Everything perfectly matched from the cream walls to the matching carpet which made me want to take my shoes off so I could sink my toes into the deep threads.