Cocky Choices: Zoe Cocker (Cocker Brothers #30)

17. Zoe

SEVENTEEN

Zoe

" S o that's everything that happened, Nicholas."

We're sitting in a busy coffee shop that I didn't even catch the name of, I was so nervous when we parked and walked in. The place is packed. As a business owner myself I’ve noted they were smart in taking advantage of being one of the few coffee shops open in this area at night, if not the only one. There's obviously a need for it, with so many customers working on their computers or chatting with friends. Family. I think I even heard a business meeting taking place at a table we passed, maybe an interview? They sounded stiff, like it wasn't going well, but I just caught glimpses of it with my ADHD brain. Maybe they were just getting started and needed to warm up!

Now my brother is staring at me like he can't believe my story. I laid the details out exactly as they happened. I'm waiting for him to say something. Anything. "Nicholas? Um…did I shock you too much?"

He clears his throat. “Shocked is an understatement. When were you going to tell us?"

Taking down my messy bun, I finger-comb my hair, gaze sliding around the room for a distraction. "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet."

Nicholas begins laughing, and laughs for a while before rubbing his face and shaking his head like a dog after a bath. "I'm going to assume you were going to tell us at some point. That it would've occurred to you and you would actually have called your family and said hey, I'm engaged. And I might be moving to New York."

To hear him saying that out loud, the New York part, makes my heart hurt. "I might not need to move! He might stay here."

“Yeah right.”

“He said he’d think about it!”

"He works for his Dad's company and it's how he makes his money right? Except for this trust fund that's coming.” Nicolas picks up the cookie that came with his cappuccino and shoves the whole thing in his mouth like it's a Vallium. "If his dad's company is in New York then your betrothed has to live there?—”

Throwing up my arms I interrupt, “There might be offices here! Why else would be they be throwing his ginormous retirement dinner here?"

"Oh right, the retirement dinner. That brings a whole lot of other questions to the table. Is this Caleb going to be taking his father's place in the company?" Nicholas waits for my answer.

After an awkward silence I mutter, “I don’t know.”

“Zoe, you have to tell Mom and Dad now,” Nicholas insists, leaning forward with a serious expression I rarely see on him. “Procrastination is over.”

“But I wanted to tell you the story!”

“And I’m glad you did. Now call them.”

“I know, but it just feels so hard!” I sigh, biting my lip.

“Hard or not, it’s important,” he insists. “They need to know what’s going on.”

I take a deep breath, staring down at my coffee cup. The warm ceramic feels comforting against my palms. “Okay, okay. I’ll call them.”

Nicholas gives me a hurry-up nod, and I pull up our parents’ number from my favorites list. My heart thumps loudly as I hit the call button. The phone rings, and I almost hang up, but Nicholas shakes his head like don’t you dare!

“Zoe! Sweetheart!” Mom’s cheerful voice bursts through, and I can picture her bright smile. The one she’s about to lose.

Forcing my voice to sound normal and failing, I choke, “Hi, Mom!”

Her tone shifts from cheerful to concerned in an instant. “What’s going on? You sound… off.”

I motion to my brother that I want to hang up and he waves at the phone, forcing me to finally mutter, “I have something important to tell you,” nerves doing the jig in my stomach.

I hear Dad’s voice in the background as Mom says, “Okay. Hang on,” and so she pauses to talk to him, “Jeremy, I’m not sure. Something’s wrong with Zoe.” Her voice gets louder. “I’m back, honey, and I put the phone on speaker so your father can listen in. What is it?”

“Um… I’m engaged,” I blurt out.

There’s a long pause on the other end.

“Engaged?!” Dad booms.

Mom whispers, “What in the world?”

Dad speaks over her, “Zoe, when did this happen? Who are you engaged to? Is it Ryder?”

“No…” I glance to Nicholas, filling him in. “They think I’m engaged to Ryder.”

He mutters, “Well that would have been more believable.”

“For you maybe.” I roll my eyes.

“Zoe, who’s with you?” Mom says.

Dad asks, “Is that Nicholas? Are Wyatt and Nate there, too? Who else knows about this? Wait, I’m talking too fast.”

“It’s okay, Jeremy, I can’t get my head around it either. Zoe, honey, please explain what’s going on. And are your brothers all there with you?”

“Just Nicholas is here, but Wyatt and Nathan know about it, too.”

Mom cries out, “Why am I the last to know?!”

“And me,” Dad reminds her before demanding, “Zoe Cocker, who are you engaged to?! And how come we didn’t even know you were dating someone!”

“Is it all these trips we’ve been taking?” Mom worries, crying out, “Did we miss out on our daughter falling in love?!”

“No no no! It’s a marriage of convenience,” I rush to explain, my cheeks hot. “I just met him, you couldn’t have known! Please don’t be so upset, Mom.” I hurry to inform Nicholas, “Mom thinks because they’ve been out of the country so much, she missed out on my getting a… fiancé.”

Nicholas leans toward the phone and raises his voice slightly to be heard by them. “It’s not because of you guys!”

“Zoe! Stop talking to your brother and focus on us now,” Dad grumbles, “Your mother is losing her mind over here, and I need to know what the heck is going on.”

“A marriage of convenience?!” Mom groans in the background.

“I really think it could work! I mean, I’ve been feeling so lonely, and this way, I won’t be alone anymore.”

“Wait, wait,” Mom interjects, her voice rising slightly. “Is this for real? You’re marrying someone you don’t love?”

“Meagan, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Dad reassures Mom before returning to me. “Zoe, why are you… how are you… who is this guy?!”

Trying to sound upbeat, I explain, “It’s just practical. I need a companion, and he needs one, too. It just makes sense!” I share a look with Nicholas at my omission of the trust fund detail from my reasoning. He purses his lips and doesn’t rat me out. At least not yet.

“Who is he?!” Dad demands.

Feeling backed into a corner I stammer, “I’m tired of waiting for someone to like me back! You know how it’s been for me. I’ve been single forever. I’ve never had a boyfriend! I don’t want to wait around for love, in case it never comes. He asked me — he’s a good person, I could tell — so I said yes. I just want to have someone by my side, even if it’s not the fairy tale I dreamed of.”

Silence hangs in the air, worry radiating from the other end of the line.

Mom softly says, “Zoe, sweetie, we want you to be happy, but not like this.”

“Who is this guy?!!!” Dad explodes. “Put Nicholas on the line!”

I hand the phone to my brother. He frowns, but accepts it. “Hey guys, it’s me.” Nicholas pauses to listen and I can hear Dad shouting the same question again. “From what Zoe’s told me he’s very complimentary to her, very good looking, comes from money, and…” He pauses as I violently shake my head, silently telling him not to reveal the trust fund detail. “…and he thinks Zoe will bring light into his life.” He pauses, listening, and hands the phone back. “They want to talk to you.”

“Zoe,” Dad begins, “How long have you known him?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I want to meet him.”

“Well, of course you’ll meet him,” I smile, adding a delusional, “At the wedding.”

Mom whispers, “No way. Uh uh!”

“He’s really nice! I promise!”

“Nice isn’t enough, sweetheart,” Dad says, his tone firm, impatient. “We want to make sure you’re making the right choice before you sign away your life and find this marriage is just your first marriage because all of a sudden you’re in divorce court.”

“Dad!”

Like she’s taken control of the phone, Mom’s volume is suddenly closer, “Zoe, you’re an adult and can do what you want, but you’re also always going to be our little girl. We can’t just show up to your wedding never having met the man and spent time with him! You’re not going to do what Ben did with Shelby! It’s not happening. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Mom.”

Dad grumbles, “He comes from money. Who cares?! Is he good enough for my daughter! Does he know what love is? What it means to commit yourself to marriage? Not just for a friggin’ companion but for a best friend.”

“And a lover,” Mom adds.

“I don’t want to think about that,” Dad barks.

Nicholas starts laughing, and hides it. I shake my head to him, pointing at the phone with a silent plea for help. He holds up his hands smirking that this is all my fault.

“Let us meet him,” Mom insists. “We’ll talk it through, and then you can make your decision. We just want to protect you.”

“Okay, okay,” I relent, feeling deflated. “I’ll arrange it. But I really believe this is going to be great!”

“This is not like you, Zoe,” Dad says. “I would expect this from Nathan!”

“That’s true,” Mom sighs, “He changed careers this way. No more law, I want to fight fires now. Every time I think of him running into a burning building I wish it was a courtroom instead.”

“Soul-sucking job, the Law,” Dad reminds her.

“I love you,” I whisper, catching their attention. “I’ll set it up.”

“We love you, too, Zoe,” Mom returns, but she sounds exasperated.

Dad, too. “Love you, honey. Don’t elope. Promise me!”

“I won’t do what Ben did.”

“That’s too vague. Promise you won’t elope!”

“That’s what I meant. Ben eloped with Shelby.”

“I know what he did,” Dad says, “Promise me by saying the whole thing.”

“I promise you I won’t elope with Caleb.”

“Caleb?” Dad mutters.

Mom mumbles, “That’s a nice name.”

“Bye!” I hang up, accidentally cutting off Dad asking for Caleb’s last name. “Oops,” I whisper, my gaze locking onto Nicholas, who’s turning over his mug to show me there’s none left but a single drop. He downed it like someone gorges on popcorn during a scary part in a movie.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” he says with a teasing grin.

“You expected worse ? This is terrible! They’re worried sick!” I cry out. “This is getting complicated. I didn’t think it all the way through.”

Nicholas loses the smile and reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “No, you didn’t but you’re not alone in this. You have all of us. And not just our immediate family, but all the Cocker clan. Don’t be…”

“…like Ben,” I finish for him. “I won’t.”

Nicholas smiles, “We just want you happy,” and I take a deep breath, feeling the weight of uncertainty hanging over me.

Under the table he doesn’t see that my fingers are crossed, and that I crossed them right before I made that promise to Dad. If I have to run away to marry Caleb then I will!