The Sauna Part 153

The next morning brought a storm and we decided to skip going very far, opting instead for a local grocery store where we could pick up some supplies. Katie called to ask if we needed her as the weather was pretty bad where she lived and she’d rather not come if it could wait until tomorrow or the next day. Jon assured her that we were fine and that there was no hurry as we’d only been home one day. He decided to let the cats be a surprise.

We jotted down a few items we needed at the store after I did a quick survey of what we had on hand. There was very little in the way of baking or cooking supplies, so I added a number of things to the list. We stopped first at the liquor store and stocked up on wine before heading to the nearby supermarket. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Jon was an impulse buyer and really hadn’t spent much time shopping for groceries.

“Put that away, we don’t need that” I said, seeing him approaching the cart with an armful of baked goods.

“But I love cupcakes and this is on sale and I thought this looked really good and …”he began explaining.

“We’ll never eat all that before it gets stale, love. Just pick out one thing, okay?” I replied as if I was compromising with a small child.

“How about two? Just in case we have company” he said with an engaging smile and I relented.

I looked at the list and sent Jon to the deli, assuming he wouldn’t find as much there that was tempting. I made a mental note never to take him grocery shopping when he was hungry as I made my way down the aisle, adding things to the cart. I wandered over to the deli and saw he was patiently waiting his turn and hurriedly finished gathering the rest of the stuff on the list.

Jon found me in the dairy aisle and I noted he had a number of items that weren’t on the list. He grinned as he held up a container of cocktail shrimp and I rolled my eyes. I could always freeze any extras. We finished up and were waiting in line when it occurred to me that the kids would likely be visiting, so I left Jon in charge of the cart and hurried to find some juice boxes and snacks I thought they would like and a six-pack of diet coke for Stephanie.

As I returned to the line to wait I noticed that Jon’s eyes were riveted on the magazine rack and I followed his gaze, curious as to what had gotten his attention. And then I saw it. There were Richie and Lainie, large as life, on the cover of The Star with a caption that read “Rocker and fiancée announce secret marriage”. We were both too shocked to move as we stood there frozen and staring at the cover.

“It can’t be true” Jon said to himself as much as to me.

“Would Richie …?” I murmured to Jon.

“I can’t believe this” he repeated as I reached for the magazine.

The checkout girl cleared her throat as she waited for us to unload our groceries and that got our attention. Jon was numb as he started to place the items on the conveyor while I held the trash rag in both hands, hesitating to open it. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know.

“I’m calling him as soon as we get home” Jon said flatly as I threw the magazine onto the belt and the girl rang us out.

Out in the car, I grabbed The Star and began to read the article out loud to Jon as we drove home. The article said that they were spending their honeymoon in Hawaii after they had decided to get married secretly after Richie popped the question. Apparently they never went back to California as planned and I wondered how this had happened so fast.

Jon was more hurt that Richie hadn’t even called him and we were both kicking ourselves for not having called him after the show to talk about the engagement. We figured there would have been plenty of time to judge how Lainie behaved before we said anything. Jon was fuming when we got home and went straight for the phone as I unpacked the groceries alone.

“Richie? Where the hell are you?” Jon demanded into the phone.

“Jon? What’s wrong, bro? You sound upset” Richie answered.

“There’s an article in a trash rag here that’s saying you and Elaine ran off to Hawaii and got married. Tell me this is bullshit!” Jon hissed, his irritation quite evident.

“Yeah man, it’s true. After we got to the airport we saw there was a flight to Hawaii and just decided to take a little vacation. When we got here, well, we just sort of thought ‘why not?’ and we got married yesterday” Richie explained.

“Fuck, man! What were you thinking? Are all your brains in your dick?” Jon yelled, making no attempt to hide his feelings.

“Hey, bro, back off! Since when do I need your permission to get married?” I heard Richie say hotly and I grabbed the phone away from Jon before he threw it across the room.

“Richie? It’s Trish. Jon’s a little upset that you didn’t share the news with us first, that’s all. It was a shock to see it in the tabloids this morning” I said, trying to calm things down before Jon said anything he’d regret.

“I’m sorry about that, babe. We didn’t want you to find out like that, really. I was gonna call Jon today” Richie said softly and I could hear Elaine in the background.

I really didn’t want to speak to her right at that moment as I suspected this was all her doing. I was as angry as Jon, but not with Richie. I blamed Elaine and I knew she had manipulated him and I was angry with myself as well. I wished I could have taken back everything I’d said in that hotel room and kept my nose out of it. I couldn’t undo that, but I could keep my opinions to myself now.

“Richie, let me talk to Jon, okay? And let me wish you congratulations, from both of us” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral as I looked at Jon.

“Thanks doll. Do you wanna talk to Lainie? She’s dying to tell you all the details” Richie said, sounding like a happy newlywed.

“No, not right now, okay? I need to put away these groceries and talk to Jon a bit. Please understand and tell Elaine I’ll call her” I said, needing to get off the phone.

I knew the excuse sounded lame, but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her congratulations. In fact, I didn’t think I could hear her voice right now without blowing up and what good would that have done? It was over; they were married and that was that. Richie would have to live with his decision, whatever the outcome, and I hoped for his sake that it was the right one. I hung up the phone and sat down wearily, looking across the table at Jon.

“How could you wish him congratulations?” he spat at me, looking thoroughly disgusted.

“What other choice was there, Jon? It’s done. I’m no happier about it than you are, but what point would there be to arguing about it with him now? He’s in love with her whether we approve or not and you know, we could be wrong about all this” I said without any conviction.

“Do you really think we’re wrong?” he challenged, looking directly at me.

“No, love, I don’t. I’m even more concerned now than I was” I admitted.

None of it felt right. If this had happened without that incident at the Hard Rock and if I hadn’t seen the look on Elaine’s face when she screamed at me in the hotel room. If I thought it was really love and not jealousy and insecurity that motivated her. If I thought she was sincere … maybe then I’d have been happy for both of them. But I didn’t believe it. I picked up the tabloid again and looked at the picture of the two of them on the cover. Elaine was beaming right into the camera and there was no trace of any of the shyness that had characterized her behavior. I just didn’t trust her anymore.

“She sure looks like she got over her fear of the press” Jon observed, looking at the picture too and echoing my thoughts.

“I know. You should read the article. It almost looks as though she gave the interview-they quote her more than they do Richie” I said, feeling sick to my stomach.

“How well do you really know Elaine, babe?” Jon asked.

“I knew her from a website about the band and through email we exchanged. I thought I knew her pretty well, but I’d never met her in person until that visit when she stayed with us” I admitted.

“It’s not your fault, darlin’. Really. I didn’t see it either” Jon said as he reached for my hand.

I felt the tears forming and I was angry with myself. My own arrogance was responsible for all of this. I thought I knew Elaine and I wanted her and Richie to be happy like we were and I wanted to fix things. If only I hadn’t had that conversation with her after the fight between her and Richie.

“Dammit Jon! It is my fault! I should have stayed out of it. I thought I could reason with her and I got so angry that I told her that Richie wanted to marry her just to make her realize how stupid she was being! I never should have said it. I knew something wasn’t right when she screamed at me, but I ignored it because I wanted to make her understand. It might never have gotten this far if I’d kept my mouth shut!” I lamented.

“C’mere, baby” Jon said softly as he patted his lap.

I was supposed to be comforting him and here he was trying to soothe me and make me feel better. But I was miserable and I felt completely helpless. I’d made a mess of things and there was nothing I could do to fix it now. I didn’t trust my own judgment and I still wasn’t sure whether Elaine was just insecure or jealous. I should have stayed out of it.

“Oh Jon” I cried as I settled into his lap and he held me.

“I wish you hadn’t told her too, but I might have done the same thing in your shoes. Neither of us saw this coming and we all make mistakes. Let it go, babe, you’re human” he said as he rubbed my back.

I was still hoping that Elaine had just been insecure and not insincere, but Jon was convinced otherwise. Perhaps he was more objective than I was or maybe he had had more experience with reading this sort of behavior. Maybe he was reacting based on having witnessed Denise’s tendency to woo the press, but regardless, we both had serious misgivings. Only time would tell and I guessed that the upcoming Christmas shows in Jersey would give us ample opportunity to better evaluate the new Mrs. Sambora.