At 9:33 Chad Stanton was pulled over for speeding on his way home from the liquor store. Annoyed by the delay he waited for his ticket.

     "What you got there in that box on the floor, sir?" The officer asked him.

     "Oh that’s just some champagne. I’m getting married tonight and I intend for my wife and I to polish off the entire case," Chad said. "Look officer can we please hurry this along? I’m in a hurry."

     "Obviously. Would you step out of the car please sir?"

     "What on earth for?"

     "Just step out of the car sir."

     With a huff Chad stepped out of his Porsche and was horrified when the officer proceeded to give him a sobriety test.

     "I am not drunk!" he snapped. "As you can see the champagne is not even opened!"

     "Sir, there is no need to speak so loudly. You know that is a common sign of inebriation."

     Chad wanted to scream. "Is this your fist day on the job or something?!" he demanded.

     "Sir please recite the alphabet backwards."

     "What?!"

     "Can’t do it, huh? Uh-huh. All right then, will you please write your name with your left hand?"

     "I am right handed you bloody oaf!!"

     The officer shook his head. "I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you in sir. You seem irrational, jumpy and hostile. Your car also matches a vehicle used in the robbery of a bar on Bourbon Street an hour ago, so we’ll need to take you in for some routine questioning."

     "You’re completely insane!" Chad said as he prepared to deck the officer. But the officer eluded the flying punch, grabbed the punching arm, twisted it behind Chad’s back and handcuffed him.

     "Assaulting an officer? Now see sir, you may have just earned yourself a night in the county lock-up."

     "I want my one phone call!" Chad demanded.

     "Sure thing," the officer said reaching for Chad’s car phone and handing it to him. "Make it quick."

     Chad called the Jacks mansion. "Jacks residence," Niles answered the phone.

     "Niles! Listen, it’s me, Chad. The most idiotic thing has just happened to me -- I’ve been stopped by some reject from the police academy. This bloody moron is actually arresting me and I have no idea how long this nonsense will take to clear up. I need to speak to Brenda right away."

     "So sorry. Wrong number," Niles said as with a smile he hung up the phone.

     Chad listened to the dial tone in shock. Wrong number?!! Why that sniveling, interfering, English twit!

     "Look. I need to make another phone call."

     "One phone call," the officer said, as she took the phone away and put a livid Chad into the squad car.

     It was 9:45 p.m. In her room, Brenda scribbled down a duplicate set of details concerning tonight’s wedding and stuffed it loosely in the pocket of her shorts. She gazed over at Juliet who was on the phone with the minister moving the ceremony up half an hour.

     Juliet hung up. "Done!" she said. "Okay what’s next?"

     "Ring," Brenda said.

     "I took care of that. I have Jax’s ring right here," she said patting her pocket.

     "Great. Do you think I should get a ring for me too? In case he doesn’t have time to get one?" Brenda asked.

     "Mmmm….no. I think we should let Jax get the ring for you. If we don’t have time we can just use my grandmother’s wedding ring that I keep in my jewelry box. Okay, we moved up the ceremony, we’ve got the rings...what else?"

     "Ummm. Ooh! I have to talk to Jax," she said popping up off the bed.

     Juliet looked stunned. "You’re going to tell him?"

     Brenda smiled. "Not exactly. But he’s going to find out."

     Brenda left her room, went down the stairs and then over to the kitchen where she entered. "Hi Vince."

     "Hi there doll. What’s cookin’?"

     She inhaled. "Mmmm. Cajun shrimp with coconut sauce?"

     "Give the pretty lady a prize," he said smiling at her.

     "Hey, have you seen Jax?" she asked, stealing a shrimp which was utterly delectable.

     "He was just down here. He went back upstairs to start packing, I think."

     Brenda blinked. "Packing for what?"

     "Oh didn’t you hear? He’s going on a four month Safari next weekend. Means he’s gotta pack a ton of stuff."

     "What?!"

     "Yeah. I guess you’re getting to him," Vince said with a hearty chuckle. "The boy’s all confused, all wound up, all turned on. Can’t take it. He’d rather take his chances in the wilds of the African jungle than give in to you, I’m guessing."

     "He’s leaving because of me?" Brenda asked incredulously.

     Vince nodded. "That’s my opinion."

     "Excuse me," she said flashing Vince a brief smile and then racing up the stairs that lead to Jax’s wing of the house. She had never been here before so she had no idea where all the rooms led to. She walked along the hallway opening doors until she opened one which had the highest ceilings she had ever seen and there was Jax scaling what must be his rock climbing wall that Juliet had spoken of.

     Brenda cleared her throat and got his attention. He was obviously surprised to see her there in his part of the house.

     "Hi," he said.

     "Hi. Can I talk to you for just two seconds please?" she asked.

     He released the harness and quickly slid expertly to the ground below, grabbed a bottle of orange juice and walked over to her. "To what do I owe this intrusion?" he asked her, his soft-spoken voice echoing in the huge room. He was bare-chested, his body glistened, his muscles rippled and she had to really try hard to keep her mind on the plan and not deviate drastically.

     "I just heard this rumor that you’re planning on leaving the country next weekend."

     "It’s not a rumor."

     "You’re really going then?"

     He nodded, grabbing a towel. "Did you come to kiss me good-bye?" he asked, his eyes seductive rivers of varying shades blues.

     Momentarily spellbound by his body, his eyes, his voice and the word kiss, she didn’t say a word. Then she shook her head. "No. I came to tell you that if you’re leaving because of me, you really don’t have to, Jax. And you don’t have to suffer through pretending to date Amber either or anything like that. Things have changed," she told him.

     She had definitely peaked his curiosity as was her intention.

     "Changed how?" he asked making use of the towel and tossing it on a nearby bench. "I mean what exactly has changed . . . exactly?"

     "Well, I can’t really tell you until probably tomorrow sometime," she said being purposefully vague. "But trust me you won’t have to worry about me anymore."

     He gazed into her eyes trying to figure out what the heck she was talking about. "Are you going home?" he asked, grabbing his shirt from behind a chair and slipping it on.

     "No. But I probably won’t be here anymore. I’ll be nearby though so we can still say hello and chat and stuff," she said slugging his shoulder. "No more kissing though," she sighed. "I definitely can’t do anymore of that with you." She gazed at his lips. "Though I’ll definitely miss it."

     He took a step towards her. "I’m sure that you know you have me thoroughly confused at this point. What is going on with you? And can you explain it to me coherently this time, please?"

     She gazed at her watch. "10 O’clock? Oh! Sorry, I need to ah . . . go do some . . .stuff. I just came here to say that if you were leaving because of me you really don’t have to. Okay? Bye, Jax. And thanks for the lessons. I’m sure they’ll come in really handy now," she said blowing him a kiss and walking away merrily. She slid her hands in her pockets when she turned to leave. When she got to the door she took one hand out of her pocket to open it and a piece of paper fell out. Jax watched it fall, saw her not notice it and said nothing.

     When she was gone he walked over and picked up the paper she had dropped and what he saw on it nearly made him choke on his orange juice. Was she out of her mind?!

     "Brenda!" he called after her, but she was already gone down the stairs. He then headed for her wing of the house, note in hand.

     "He’s coming!" Juliet alerted Brenda to Jax’s imminent arrival.

     Brenda held open the door of the walk-in closet so that the wedding gown was in full view as she and Juliet both waited for Jax to come in. Juliet left the door of the room ajar wide enough that Jax would have no reason to knock.

     He didn’t knock. He walked right in and saw a flash of glittering white from Brenda’s closet as the girl scurried to toss something inside and shut the door.

     "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked, approaching her and noticing how she would not budge from her spot in front of the now closed closet door.

     "What are you talking about?" she asked.

     "I’m talking about this," he said producing the paper she had dropped and showing it to her.

     Brenda gasped and tried to snatch it out of his hand, but he was too quick for her. "How did you get that?!" she demanded.

     Juliet bit her lip so as not to giggle at Brenda’s hysterically convincing act of shock.

     "It fell out of your pocket. What is this Brenda?" He gazed at the paper in his hand as he read from it. "Jefferson Parish Cathedral at midnight. Meet Chad by back gate at 11:30 sharp??"

     "It’s just . . . a joke, like you said. It’s a joke! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" she said as unconvincingly as she could.

     "A joke?" he asked as, without warning, he yanked open the closet door exposing not only the wedding gown but also the veil she had been stuffing inside when he walked into the room.

     The expression on Jax’s face was priceless and Brenda winked at Juliet.

     He looked at a loss for words for a moment before he threw his hands up in the air and just said "Explain this."

     Brenda sighed as if he had busted her and she would now have to reveal all. "Okay I will. But you have to promise to keep this a secret."

     "I’ll promise no such thing. What is going on, Brenda? What is the meaning of this note? And why are you going to have a clandestine meeting at the back gate with Chad in 1½ hours?"

     "Because I’m going to marry him tonight, Jax," Brenda said and she saw the disbelief in his blue eyes.

     He spoke in a very controlled, low voice. "You’re going to what?"

     "Marry him. I know it sounds rash but I have to. You see I’m kind of in some trouble . . ."

     Jax jumped to the natural conclusion and his blue eyes were wild with anger. "I’ll kill him," he said turning to leave the room.

     Juliet and Brenda both looked at each other in alarm and grabbed to stop him from tearing Chad’s head off.

     "No, Jax. Not that kind of trouble," Brenda assured him, and then she went on to explain about the dire situation with her stepmother and Chad’s offer to help her gain her freedom.

     Jax thought the entire idea was insane. "Why would you want to do something so drastic as getting married?" He asked her. "If it’s money that you need to be free of her then we can just give you the money."

     "It’s not just the money," Brenda told him. "Legally I can’t get my dad’s money until I’m 25, that’s true. But even if you gave me enough money to move away form her forever, legally she is still my guardian until I’m 21. I want to be free of her, permanently and completely. If I get married both her legal and her monetary control of me will be gone. And that’s all I want. So I think that Chad’s idea actually is a really good one."

     "Doesn’t it bother you that this was his idea? I mean do you actually think he’s doing this to help you?" Jax asked shaking his head at her apparent gullibility.

     "That’s what he said," Brenda responded.

     "And if he said the world was flat would you believe that too?"

     "Oh, Jax, come on . . ."

     "No, you come on, Brenda. Do you really think he’s going to marry you and live with you and never touch you? Is that what you really think?"

     "He promised," Brenda said easily. "And he’s my friend you know, so I’m pretty sure I can trust him."

     Jax looked over at Juliet. "Julie, why didn’t you try to talk her out of this craziness?"

     Juliet shrugged. "I did, Jax. I tried. She wouldn’t listen to me. She’s determined to get married tonight."

     "Jax, please don’t tell anybody about this," Brenda said. "The only other person who knows is Niles and the reason I didn’t tell you was because I knew you’d try to stop me from doing this."

     "You’re damn right I’m going to stop you from doing this because you obviously have no idea what the hell you’re getting yourself into!" he decided.

     "That’s not fair. I did think this over, you know. It’ll only be until I get my money."

     "He’s not going to let you go, Brenda."

     "It won’t be a real marriage, Jax."

     "He’ll make it a real marriage."

     "No he won’t. We have an agreement. We have an understanding . . ."

     "You have a ridiculous fantasy!" he said and she had to smile at how upset he was over this. Surely it meant that he cared? "You’re only 19," he continued, "you’ve never been with a man, have you ever even had a serious boyfriend? You don’t know men Brenda, you don’t understand them. You don’t understand that there is no way in hell he will be able to live up to his so called promises of celibacy with a woman like you. Brenda, trust me, he will never let you go and he will try to consummate this marriage. You can’t do this, all right? So just forget about it."

     Brenda pretended to be a bit worried and then she shrugged. "I think he’ll keep his word, Jax. He’s my friend. Anyway I have to take my chances. Getting out from under my stepmother is my priority right now. She wants to send me away to a convent in Guatemala."

     "Can she do that?"

     "She’s my legal guardian for two more years. She can do anything. This is why I have to get married Jax. Tonight."

     "No. I won’t let you do this."

     "I’ve already made up my mind."

     "Well change your mind," he ordered her.

     "I can’t"

     "You can."

     "I won’t."

     "You will."

     Brenda sighed. "You can’t tell me what to do, Jax."

     They exchanged stubborn glances. "Fine," he said walking out of the room.

     Brenda and Juliet looked at each other in shock. Fine? FINE?!! Oh God, that wasn’t supposed to happen!! Her heart was racing as she went into a panic as she paced. What was she going to do? What was she doing to DO?!!!!

     "Oh my God," Brenda said clutching at her chest. "Oh my God!!"

     "Don’t panic," Juliet said even as she felt herself panicking.

     "But, but . . .he . . left . . !" Brenda stammered, "He wasn’t supposed to do that!" she moaned as she sat down on her bed ready to cry at how everything had backfired and now she would actually have to marry Chad Stanton after all! Egads!

     Just then Jax came back into the room. "All right, look, you can’t do this, Brenda. I won’t let you do this and that’s all there is to it."

     With renewed hope Brenda went back to the plan. "Jax, if you knew my step-mother you would understand my desperation. I have to do this, okay?"

     "You’re telling me that this is the only way? Marriage?!?"

     She nodded.

     "And you would be willing to marry a man you don’t even love and probably can’t even trust just to get away from this woman?"

     "Yes," Brenda said.

     "Brenda, no one can be that bad!"

     "I’ve met her and trust me, she’s that bad, Jax," his sister assured him.

     "Worse." Brenda added.

     "She’s a troll," Juliet said.

     "Even the devil would send her back," said Brenda.

     "Okay, okay I get the pictured," Jax told them.

     Niles strolled by at that moment chuckling strangely to himself. "Pardon me, Miss Barrett, I just thought I should tell you that it appears that your plans for this evening may be severely hampered by the fact that Mr. Stanton is at the moment . . . incarcerated." He chuckled some more. "Good night you three."

     "Incarcerated?" Jax murmured, but this blue eyes twinkled with some secret delight at the news.

     Juliet looked at Brenda in convincing shock. "Incarcerated?!" they both shrieked.

     "Oh no, Brenda, what are you going to do now? It’s almost 10:30!" Juliet said in alarm.

     "The list! Where’s the list?" Brenda said as Jax watched both girls scrambling about the room, tossing things right and left as they searched frantically for something.

     "Found it!" Juliet said triumphantly as she brought a scratch pad over to Brenda and sat next to her on the bed. "Okay, I guess we better scratch Chad for now. What about Richard Kennedy, he’s next in line."

     "Next in line?" Jax repeated incredulously. "Let me see that!" he grabbed the list from his sister’s hands and saw that it was a list of names of all of the men in town who had been inquiring about Brenda from the very first day of her arrival.

     "The two of you can not be serious!" Jax said, ready to burst a blood vessel. "Brenda you don’t know the first thing about any of these people." And he was also wondering why his name wasn’t on her damned list??

     "I know, but Jax I’m in a desperate situation. Even more desperate now that my groom is in the can!"

     Jax laughed at her terminology. "Well if you ask me that’s the one good tiding this night has brought. Now you can just forget about this whole ridiculous scheme."

     "I can’t do that. I will get married tonight, Chad or no Chad. My stepmother is not dragging me back to New York. No way!" She said defiantly as she took the list back from him and began to confer with Juliet once again. "Okay we don’t have a lot of time so let’s just go down the list and see who can make it in time. We’ll start with Richard. Now what did he look like again?"

     "Average height, thin, auburn hair, mustache, 29 years old." Juliet relayed without hesitation as if she was a programmed computer.

     Jax could not believe they would actually phone a list of potential last minute grooms, most of which Brenda couldn’t even remember what they looked like! But when he saw Brenda dialing, he had a scary feeling that she would actually do this. If he didn’t do something she would either marry a complete stranger tonight or probably reschedule the detestable debacle with Chad as soon as he got out of jail. The girl was out of her pretty little skull and he should just let her suffer the consequences of her temporary insanity. But he knew he could never do that.

     The thought of her married to Chad or any one of those names on that damnable list of hers made him want to throw his mother’s Waterford Crystal against the wall.

     "I’ll marry you," he said. He could not believe he had just said that.

     Brenda looked at him and slowly put the phone down while her heart did the dance of joy and blessed relief! "You will?" she asked, unable to conceal her delight. "Are you sure?"

     He nodded. "You’re not really giving me much choice since you insist on doing this absurd, insane, ridiculous, foolish and in my opinion, unnecessary thing."

     "But what about your Safari?"

     "I’ll have to postpone it. My mother didn’t want me to go anyway so I’m sure she’ll be forever in your debt for this unfolding fiasco. She’ll probably throw you a party."

     Brenda smiled and got up and hugged him. "Jax, thank you! You’re saving my life, you know!" She kissed his cheek twice, was tempted to go for his lips but restrained herself. And he was slightly suspicious at how happy she appeared. "And don’t worry it’ll only be until I get my money, then we can just have it annulled and go back to being friends," she promised him, crossing her fingers in back of her.

     "How long do you think that will be?" he asked.

     "Two or three months maybe?" she guessed.

     He looked thoughtful. "That may be endurable."

     She smiled at him. "Oh come on, it won’t be so bad. We’re already living together here so basically it won’t be much of a change, right?" she said.

     That’s what she thought, he said silently to himself. This entire thing was going to drive him to the brink of insanity and be a test of willpower, the effort of which would probably kill him! Why had he agreed to do this again???? He was as insane as she was, he decided.

     "Jax, you’d better go get your tux. The wedding is scheduled for 11:30," Juliet said cheerily. "And you have to get a ring for Brenda too."

     "11:30? I thought it was at midnight?" Jax said.

     "We moved it up a little," Brenda said and then she looked at him. "You’re not going to change your mind on me, are you?" she asked cautiously as she could tell that he was reconsidering his rash decision.

     "No," he said.

     "Promise?"

     "I promise."

     "My absolute hero," she said winking at him and looking far, far too pretty.

     "My bloody migraine," he said returning the wink and getting her to smile. "So, Brenda, when Chad gets out of jail, what exactly are you planning to tell him about your change of heart?" he asked, and she could have sworn she saw traces of a smile on his lips.

     Brenda shrugged. "I’ll just tell him I couldn’t wait."

     "Or you could tell you had a much better offer," Jax said.

     "Well both would be true," she said and their eyes locked in a playful gaze.

     "Okay, you guys, we have to be there in less than an hour, let’s go!" Juliet said shoving her brother out the door and taking out Brenda’s wedding dress. Then she turned to Brenda "Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together, girlfriend?" she said as she and Brenda shared a giggling high five, absolutely incredulous that they had pulled this complex little scheme off.

     "I sure do! Whew! And thank God Jax agreed to marry me. I was positively freaking out at the notion that I would actually end up being Mrs. Stanton after all." she shuddered. "Jax held out a lot longer than I expected."

     "Yes well marriage is something my brother instinctively fights tooth and nail. Just ask Amber," Juliet laughed as she took out Brenda’s veil.

     "Hey how long do you think it’ll take Chad’s lawyer to get him out?" Brenda asked as she slipped out of her clothes and began to get into her dress.

     "Not long. Is that why you moved the wedding up?"

     Brenda nodded. "I just wonder if half an hour is enough?" she said as she slipped on her soft, shimmering white stockings.

     "It better be," Juliet said. "Or else you’ll have two grooms at the alter."

     Brenda finished getting dressed at the speed of light.