Mark My Words Read online

  “Where did you find that? That is exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

  “Right up at the front, by the window. I saw it when I walked in.”

  Philomena began to cry loudly when she saw the dress that Holly had picked out for Sloane. Gloria beamed brightly as she imagined what Sloane would look like wearing it on a beach in St. Thomas as she married the love of her life.

  ***

  “I think we’re done here…” said Sloane.

  The dresses all fit perfectly, and while Philomena pitched a fit about the dress being strapless, she quieted down when Sloane said that she could wear a shawl over top if she wanted to. Fortunately no one needed alterations, because there really wasn’t any time to spare. Alterations could take weeks; by then the wedding would be over. As Holly and Sloane loaded the gowns in the back of Philomena’s car, Brant’s truck pulled up with Marv in tow.

  “Where’s Luke?” asked Sloane with a perplexed look.

  Brant nodded behind him, as a Harley came to a grinding stop. Sloane smirked broadly as she took in Luke. He took off his motorcycle helmet and pulled his hand through his hair.

  “You coming, or what?” Luke said with a sexy smirk on his face.

  “Ooh! Luke! Can I come for a ride?!” yelled Philomena.

  Sloane shook her head in embarassment. Luke smiled but declined her request.

  “Sorry, Philomena… Not tonight. I have plans with that gorgeous daughter of yours…”

  Sloane waved goodbye to everyone as she slid her own helmet on. She grabbed hold of Luke’s waist and they sped off, leaving their friends behind them.

  ***

  “Are you nervous?” asked Luke as he brought the bike to a halt.

  He took them to one of their favorite spots in Penn’s Landing where you could see the beautiful lights of the Ben Franklin Bridge reflect against the water of the Delaware River.

  “Only about the storm. I’m really excited, actually.”

  “And what about your Dad?”

  “I’m sure my mother will work her magic, somehow.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Do you know something that I don’t?”

  “I might. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Do you think this storm is going to ruin our plans?”

  “It will be gone by the time we arrive. Most of these things downgrade before they can cause any real damage.”

  “I hope you’re right. That bitch Amanda is not messing up my dream wedding.”

  Luke smirked as he revved his engine again. In the blink of an eye they were gone, speeding back home, appearing to be nothing more than a shooting star in the night.

  Chapter Seven

  A Woman’s Intuition

  Holly and Brant woke up early the next morning. Holly wanted to make a pancake breakfast for everyone but when she realized her cubbards were running low on just about everything, she decided to treat them to breakfast at Gina’s Diner and then take them to school.

  Brant and Holly weaved through the bright aisles of the supermarket as Holly threw random items into the cart. Brant stayed out of her way mostly, unless he saw a particular item of junk food he really wanted.

  “Another bag of chips? There goes my diet…” Holly complained.

  “Diet? You look great.”

  Holly grabbed a box of spaghetti and threw it in the cart, followed by a tall jar of marinara sauce.

  “Oh, sure I do. I’ve looked like crap for days.”

  “You just seem tired, that’s all. Go to bed early tonight. Take a break from all this wedding chaos.”

  “I’ve barely been able to keep anything down the last couple of days,” said Holly.

  “Are you sick? Do you think you should go see Dr. Weiss?” asked Brant in a concerned tone.

  “No, I have a sneaking suspiscion as to what is causing this nonsense.”

  Holly grabbed a box of cake mix and some chocolate frosting and added it to the growing pile of groceries in the cart. Brant followed Holly into the pharmacy section of the supermarket.

  “I don’t think it was food poisoning… I ate Marv’s cooking and I was fine.”

  “I don’t think it was that either.”

  “Then what is it?” Brant asked, getting worried.

  Holly gave Brant a knowing glance as she pulled a pregnancy test off the shelf and threw it in the cart.

  “Call it a woman’s intuition.”

  Chapter Eight

  Luck of the Draw

  “Okay, ladies! Who’s ready to party?!” yelled Sloane as she bounced down the steps of her apartment building dressed to the nines in a little black dress and stilleto pumps. Gloria and Philomena cheered and called from the back seat. Holly smiled pleasantly from the driver’s side window of her Camry as she waited for Sloane to get in. Sloane had been looking forward to this weekend all week long. It was time to go to Atlantic City and do a little dancing, a little gambling and let off a boat load of steam.

  “Alright, ladies… Strap in. A.C. here we come!” declared Holly as she hit the gas and left the crowded streets of Center City behind them.

  ***

  “You’re late…” griped Arthur as Marv walked into his foyer.

  “No I’m not. I arrived exactly when I was meant to.”

  Artie rolled his eyes as he sat back down in his arm chair while they waited for Brant and Luke to arrive. Suddenly, the commercial for Arthur’s car dealership flashed upon the screen and Marv couldn’t contain his amusement. His face turned a vibrant shade of red, Marv’s bellowing laugh echoed through the house. He clearly found the stark contrast between the jovial fellow on the television set and the grumpy man that stood before him to be downright hysterical.

  “Oh, shut up…” pleaded Arthur.

  “What’s the matter? Hemorrhoids got you in a bad mood?”

  Yeah… and they go by the names of Sloane and Philomena.

  “You better pace yourself… These young guys aren’t going to tolerate any of your grouchiness…” Marv said as he took a good look at his friend. “I hope you packed boots and a warm weather coat…”

  “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” asked Arthur feigning offense.

  Marv looked at Arthur with his black wool trench coat, checkered scarf and loafers.

  “You do realize we’re going ice fishing right?”

  “What?! I thought that was a joke!”

  Marv shook his head and laughed, “We’ll stop at a Cabela’s on the way up…”

  “What on earth is a Cabelas?!”

  ***

  “We can’t thank you enough for watching the kids, Aunt Doris,” said Brant as he led Belle, Chloe and Jake into Holly’s aunt’s living room.

  “Oh! It’s my pleasure! They love it over here!”

  “We do, Dad! You should see all the toys she has,” yelled Jake already digging out trucks and action figures from the toy box.

  “And ice cream!” cosigned Belle.

  “Now you look after my little brother and keep him out of trouble!” Doris urged referring to Marv.

  Brant smirked at Doris. As he kissed the kids goodbye, he smiled and replied, “He’s in good hands.”

  ***

  A truck honked loudly outside of the Markowitz residence as Arthur rolled his eyes profusely.

  “Is it too much to park and knock politely at the door?” asked Arthur.

  “Oh, lighten up. Grab your bag and let’s go…”

  Brant and Luke looked amused as Arthur pulled his leather Samsonite suitcase down the front steps of his town home. Marv, who was following behind him, slung a lightly packed duffel bag over his shoulder.

  Luke leaned over to Brant and said, “It is me, or does Arthur look like he plans to move in…”

  “You got your hands full with that one,” Brant said as he shook his head.

  “Well not everyone hits the father-in-law jackpot like you,” said Luke laughing referring to the quirky but adorable Marv who had no cares in the world
.

  Luke rolled down his window to say hello.

  Arthur addressed him immediately, “I am so pleased to see that you own a sensible vehicle other than your motorcycle!”

  “Of course… Sloane doesn’t like riding on my motorcycle up the mountains because it gets her designer boots dirty,” Luke replied with a smirk on his face.

  Arthur could feel his headache pulse to a deep throb now just at the thought of his daughter riding on the back of Luke’s bike. Marv and Arthur climbed into the back seat of Luke’s truck after they loaded their luggage in the back of the SUV.

  “So who’s ready to leave this concrete jungle behind us?!” Luke asked excitedly.

  Brant hooted and hollered next to him.

  Marv yelled from the back seat, “Turn up the tunes!”

  Arthur looked bug-eyed at his oldest friend acting as if he had never seen him before in his life.

  “Simmer down, party animal!”

  “Hell, no… I’ll have none of that, Arthur…” said Luke as he stepped on the gas pedal.

  “Now you better buckle up because this weekend is all about letting loose and you will have fun!”

  Arthur gulped nervously.

  The things I do for Sloane…

  As he clicked his seat belt into the harness, Brant turned up the radio and the sounds of AC/DC flooded the truck. As Marv began to bang his head to the killer beats, he did his best air guitar. Arthur shook his head and popped an Advil into his mouth hoping the pain would go away.

  This is going to be a long weekend…

  ***

  “Jackpot!” Philomena screamed as the lights of her slot machine blinked wildly above her whirred and wailed loudly on the casino floor. She drew the attention of a group of Japanese tourists who flocked around her clapping and laughing loudly. Gloria ran up to Philomena with a beaming smile on her face. She waded through the crowd that had gathered around her with ease.

  “Girlfriend, you are on fire tonight!” Gloria gushed.

  “Third win tonight!” Philomena declared.

  “You’d better quit while you’re ahead!”

  “Not a chance! I’m hot! Let’s go find the girls and go dancing!”

  “Where’d Sloane and Holly run off to now?”

  “Oh, there they are! Over by the bar…”

  Sloane and Holly were sitting at the bar making fun of the drunk bar flies when they saw Gloria and Philomena sashaying wildly towards them from across the casino floor. The pair waved as they sashayed in their high heels, causing their hair to bounce up and down. Sloane nearly died of embarassment as she watched her mother prance towards her in her leopard print spandex pants, bright red sweater and black pumps.

  “Oh, my God… She must have won again…” Holly said as Sloane hid her face.

  “What are we drinking, girls?” asked Gloria, eager to wet her palette.

  “Cosmo,” said Sloane as she took a sip of the pink, fruity concoction that she held firmly in her grasp.

  “Just a ginger ale for me,” said Holly.

  “What?!” exclaimed Sloane sounding disappointed.

  “Someone has to make sure we all get back to the hotel room safe!” Holly said as she fought off the glaring reactions she was getting from Sloane, Gloria and Philomena.

  “Suit ya’self, honey,” said Philomena. “I’ll have a Tom Collins!”

  “Oh, honey,” said Gloria with an exasperated look on her face. “You’re living in the dark ages. Bartender… Get this woman a mango martini. Make that two!”

  ***

  “How much snow are we supposed to get this weekend?” asked Marv as he admired the peaceful, snow covered landscape outside of his passenger window.

  “Last I heard, 12-14 inches…” replied Luke.

  “Tony Merrento said 3-6,” corrected Artie.

  “In the city… Up here, we’re expected to get over a foot,” corrected Brant.

  “Why the hell are we coming up here then?!” Arthur demanded to know as his lip curled in distaste.

  Luke eyed Arthur in the rearview mirror and said with a smile to his future father-in-law, “I love the snow. Don’t you?”

  Arthur stared at Luke for a minute, unsure as to whether he was joking or not.

  “Are we there yet?! What is taking so long?!”

  “We are only in Plymouth Meeting! We left a half hour ago,” explained Marv feeling as if he was dealing with an overgrown child. “Brant! Max volume on the radio! Arthur’s not having any fun yet!”

  “Don’t worry,” said Luke with a mischevious smile on his face, “His boredom won’t last long.”

  As Billy Idol belted his Rebel Yell, Arthur took his traveling pillow and blocked out the sound.

  ***

  Holly and Sloane pulled Philomena and Gloria out to the middle of the dancefloor in the packed Protégé club inside of the Atlantica Casino and Resort. The music was loud, and as the strobe lights cut through the darkness, the base of the music acted like a heartbeat for the club. Sloane and Holly twirled each other around, ignoring the male attention they were starting to attract.

  A serious man dressed in all black had his eyes on Holly and Sloane. He watched from a balcony above, looking down upon them with no happiness in his eyes. He scrutinized them as he adjusted his gold chain and stretched out his arms showing off his many gold rings and watches. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of the pair of women. Suddenly, a young man dressed in all black approached Holly and Sloane.

  “Please pardon this interruption. Mr. Giancola has requested the delight of your presence in the Velvet Suite.”

  Sloane gave the man a dirty look.

  “Who the hell is Mr. Giancola, and who the hell are you?”

  “My name is D’mitri Romanoff and Mr. Giancola owns this casino.”

  “I have no intentions upon going up to the Velvet Suite. Tell him to recruit some other bar flies.”

  D’mitri grabbed hold on Holly’s arm and Sloane saw red.

  “Relax, Sloane…” Holly urged. “Mr. Romanoff, I recommend you take your hands off of me.”

  “Or what, sugar?”

  “When my husband finds out you put your hands on me, you can be sure that he’ll be here to pay you a visit.”

  “It’s of no consequence to me. Now let’s go!” D’Mitri said as he yanked on Holly and Sloane’s arms.

  “Get off of me!” yelled Holly.

  Holly’s cry caught the attention of Philomena who was doing the hustle in the middle of the dance floor with Gloria.

  “Hey, you!” Philomena yelled, “You there, get your filthy paws off my girls!”

  D’Mitri didn’t even look at Philomena as he pushed Holly and Sloane into an elevator that went straight to the top floor where Mr. Giancola was waiting.

  Gloria and Philomena sped up and just as D’Mitri was about to enter the elevator himself, Philomena pulled off her fire engine red pump and clocked him in the head with it.

  “Crazy old bitch!”

  “You messed with the wrong girls!” Philomena shouted.

  “C’mon girls, let’s go!” Gloria said.

  As Gloria, Sloane and Holly escaped the seedy night club, Philomena continued to flog the owner’s associate with her shoe and she berated him. As security came to lead her out of the building, she yelled at the man, “You’re a disgrace, young man! That is no way to treat ladies! What kind of upbringing did you have?! Your mother must be ashamed of you! Next time you prey on young women, maybe you’ll remember that there’s always a tiger mother right around the corner!”

  D’Mitri rubbed his head as he watched Philomena get escorted out.

  “Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?!” he said to himself.

  “Get off of me! I’m a lady, I will walk myself out!” yelled Philomena to the security.

  She grabbed her shoe off the marble floor, slid it back on… “Can’t forget these. My Minolo Blahniks. Never touch my girls! I’m a tiger mother!”

  Security watched wide-eyed as Ph
ilomena gained her composure and walked to the exit where Gloria, Sloane and Holly waited for her. As she exited the building, Mr. Giancola backed away from the balcony shaking his head in disgust.

  ***

  “Artie! Wake up… We’re here…” Marv said shaking his friend awake.

  “No, Philomena… I don’t want to wake up!”

  “Artie….” Marv said again as his face began to light up in a comical smirk.

  “No, Philomena! Stop using the credit cards!”

  “ARTIE!” Marv yelled, now cracking up laughing.

  “Huh, what?!”

  “We’re here.”

  “Where’s the house?”

  “That’s it,” said Marv.

  “Where’s the rest of it?”

  Luke owned a simple cabin where he and his family retreated to when they needed to escape the big city. While it wasn’t the most modern of places, it was very comfortable.

  “It’s not much, but it’s our home away from home. Sloane loves it up here.”

  It infuriated Arthur everytime he learned something new about his daughter’s involvement with Luke. Why hadn’t she told him sooner about their relationship? Maybe she knew how he would have reacted.

  Brant turned around facing Marv, “You two get your luggage… We’ll get the cooler, the beer and the food.”

  Arthur stepped out of the truck and into the freshly fallen snow. As more snow fell on his head, he was surprised to feel his stress begin to melt away. The land that Luke’s family owned was really quite beautiful and with the white snow, the place had a peaceful feeling. A smile began to creep across his face as he grabbed his suitcase from the back of the truck.

  Luke unlocked the front door and was greeted by the fresh smell of bleach.

  “Oh, nice! Holly cleaned up!”

  “And me…” said Brant sounding left out.

  “You did, too? I’m impressed” said Luke, teasing Brant who had used the cabin last month for his second honeymoon with Holly.