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Stella and Brandy continued their silent staring contest but added a lot of eyebrow wiggling and nodding.
"Tell me why you're making faces. This is bad. Isn't it?"
Finally, Brandy spoke. "I looked into it. I mean, I'm not a lawyer yet, but I checked it out." Brandy had told me she was planning to go to law school after she finished her degree incriminal justice. "In California, if the groom isn't physically there, and someone signs his name without pre-arranging for it, the marriage isn't legally binding. You're technically not married to Gavin." She wiped her palms together like she was brushing off dust, and my marriage to Gavin was dissolved.
Panic bubbled up in my throat, and I pulled my hands away. "Yes, we are. Gavin signed the marriage license, and Mag signed his name at the ceremony."
"Nope," Brandy said. "You're not. Gavin has to be there in person at the courthouse and sign his own name in order for the marriage to be legal."
"I'm not married to Gavin?"
"Not legally. All you'd have to do is tell the court that Gavin didn't really sign it, and the whole marriage isn't valid. You need both parts, the license and the certified ceremony with the justice of the peace." She spoke softly but intelligently, and I believed she was telling me the truth.
"Oh my God. What does this mean?" Chaotic thoughts began to spin in my head like hamsters on a wheel. "Does Magnum know? Wait. Wait. What if Magnum knew this, and he was just using it as an excuse to brush me off?"
"What do you mean?" Stella asked.
"What if all this time Magnum knew the marriage wasn't valid, but he told me it was so he wouldn't have to deal with my crush on him? Oh gosh. This is terrible." I covered my face with my hands and tears started to well in my eyes. "I'm already so stressed about the magic show. Adding this extra rejection onto it would just be too much."
Brandy came over to me and placed an arm over my shoulders. "I don't think he knows, and I don't think he'd lie to you about it."
I looked into her eyes, seeking reassurance. She was so pretty and nice. "He promised me at the ceremony that he wouldn't lie to me."
She stepped back and smiled. "Aww, really? Magnum's full of surprises lately. Well, when he told us the story last Sunday, I got the impression he believed you and Gavin were legally married. At the very least, he believes you're Gavin's girl."
"Mag is a card-carrying manwhore," Stella added, and I gasped at her bluntness. "But he doesn't cheat and he doesn't chase after women that are taken. Gotta give him credit for that."
I brushed off the manwhore comment and focused on what Brandy was implying. "So, even if I'm not legally married to Gavin, he still thinks I'm Gavin's girl?"
"Are you?" Stella asked. "What's the situation with him?"
Ugh. The big question. "I don't know. We'd been dating for a few months. I liked Gavin. He was nice but a little awkward and erratic. Then I suddenly needed him to marry me, and he agreed to do it. He got me a ring." I raised my left hand and they glanced at the ring, but their faces remained impassive. "He'd even said he loved me, but it was all under incredible pressure because of Kenny. Then he didn't show, and we don't know if he got cold feet and left me at the altar or if Kenny has him tied up somewhere or even if he's dead." I took a breath and sighed. "Then Magnum stepped in, andI'm surprised how much I like him, but I really don't think he likes me."
They were both quiet for an infinite second.
"Did Mag give you a nickname?" Stella asked.
Her question seemed out of left field, and I had to think about it. "Actually, he calls me Rebel. And sometimes Little Bird."
She smiled and tapped her lips. "Okay. Here's one suggestion." Stella took my hands again and continued her work on my nails. "You get dolled up tonight for the magic show. Hair, nails, smelling good, looking hot. You accept that it's going to be both awesome and terrifying. You don't talk to Magnum about the marriage legalities or your feelings toward Gavin. It's too much all at once. Just get through this show and let it play out as if you're pretending to be married, which you are. He's basically working a mission right now, so he'll be in warrior mode anyway, so it's best not to distract the little general." She lowered her chin and leveled her gaze on me.
I had to laugh at her calling anything on Magnum little.
"Later, when the dust has settled, you have a heart to heart with Mag about your feelings and see if he wants to move forward with you." She looked through her box of supplies. "Just one suggestion. You do you, girl."
A big lump formed in my throat at the thought of moving forward with Magnum in any way. I liked the idea of not dealing with this now and having some time to think it through before I talked to Mag about it. "Okay. I'm on board with that."
"Oh, this is going to be epic, and you're gonna have a good story to tell us tomorrow." Stella picked up a nail file and started working on my real nails first. "And you better tell us. No more making me drag it out of you."
Nervous laughter tumbled from my lips. "I'll tell you."
"Good. Now, I'm thinking of doing a full set of acrylics on you. Have you ever had them before?"
"No." She started fitting opaque fake nails over my real ones. We couldn't afford things like that, and my grandfather wouldn't have allowed it in the bakery.
"Do you want them? Warning. They're addictive, and they do weaken your real nails underneath. We could also do some temp press-ons just for tonight, but they could break during the event and that would suck."
"Let's go for it."
