Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 25

Thursday

Matt

Brooklyn looked down at her phone and then pushed it away from her on the coffee table.

It had been almost a week since we’d found the letters. And there was still no word from her dad. We’d read every single one of the letters.

I didn’t like Mr. Pruitt. I didn’t forgive him for what he’d done to us as teenagers. But my heart had never been as big as Brooklyn’s. I knew these letters changed things for her. It was pretty clear that Mr. Pruitt regretted asking her mom to have an abortion. And it was pretty clear how much he’d loved her mom.

Brooklyn wanted to make things right because of that big heart of hers. I didn’t know what that looked like for our future. Mr. Pruitt coming to Sunday football games? I kind of hoped not. But if she wanted him in our lives, I’d make do. Brooklyn had already forgiven him for everything. And I knew that was hard for her. The least I could do was not be an asshole to him.

“Brooklyn, I’m asking a vital question here,” Justin said and put his hand on his hip.

I hadn’t realized he’d spoken either. I was more focused on Brooklyn’s frowns. I wanted to turn them back into smiles. But I didn’t know how to fix this. What if we couldn’t get a hold of Mr. Pruitt before the wedding? What if he missed it?

“Sorry, what did you say?” Brooklyn asked.

Justin squinted his eyes at her. “The rehearsal dinner. On Thanksgiving. In two freaking weeks! Where? Where the hell could we possibly have it? It’s Thanksgiving, Brooklyn! Thanksgiving!”

“Maybe we can all just calm down…” I started.

“Matthew Caldwell, do not tell a boy to calm down!”

I didn’t. Justin was a grown ass man. But I kept my mouth shut because he seemed extra hyper tonight.

“We’re having it at Master Tanner’s house,” Nigel said.

Brooklyn jumped.

I hadn’t seen him come into the family room either. I needed to add a bell to his door. Or put a collar with a bell on him. I shook my head. No, he’d probably like that too much. “You need to knock, Nigel,” I said. “You keep startling Brooklyn.”

“Ah yes. Mademoiselle, my apologies. I know you’re in a fragile state. I will try to remember to possibly start knocking. For you and you only.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

Brooklyn laughed.

She was always quick to smile when Nigel was here. And I guess if anyone was a good distraction for her father being AWOL, it was a strange little man in lederhosen.

“Master Tanner?” Justin asked. “Say.” He clapped along with the word. “More.” He clapped again.

“He’s my master,” Nigel said. “I told you I was a houseboy. What else do I need to say?”

Justin raised his eyebrow. “More.” He clapped.

“It’s just Tanner,” I said. “Tanner Rhodes. The two of you have met before.”

“Oh. Yes. I know the fine specimen you’re referring to. Tell me, Nigel, does he like being called master in the bedroom?”

“He is a fan of master bedrooms, yes. He has several.”

“Interesting. But that is not what I asked,” Justin said. “I’m asking…”

“Can we get back to the rehearsal dinner thing?” I asked. “Nigel, what did you say about Tanner’s place?”

“We’re having Thanksgiving there. You already told me yes. And you can’t go back once you’ve accepted a formal invitation. It was very formal. I think you may have signed something. Remember?”

“Um…” I definitely hadn’t signed anything. Had Nigel started forging my signature?

“It was earlier this fall. When you were single. You specifically requested an American Thanksgiving.” He put air quotes around American. “We talked about how many people would be attending. I put you down for one because you didn’t need a plus one. But I can add an extra seat for Brooklyn.” He smiled at her.

Oh. I did remember him saying something weird about an American Thanksgiving. And being rude when I asked if Kennedy could come.

“We’d need a lot more seats than just one more though,” Brooklyn said. “Matt’s parents. And the whole bridal party. Jacob of course. All the kids too probably to make it easier for everyone. And maybe my dad?” She glanced at her phone again.

“It definitely won’t be appropriate for children,” Nigel said.

“I always need him to say more,” Justin said. “Why does he never say more?”

I’d never had the problem of Nigel not saying enough. If anything, he always said too much. In way too much detail.

“I’m going to text Tanner,” I said and grabbed my phone.

“But I already have permission,” Nigel said. “I’ll make it good, I promise.”

I shot Tanner a text anyway. “He’s weird about his privacy though,” I said. “He has all those sheets over everything.”

“I’ll remove all the sheets then,” Nigel said. “And the statues and portraits underneath. Since they’re not for you.”

“Who are they for?” Justin asked. “And what are they of? Tanner?”

“Not many by that name, no,” Nigel said.

“That’s a very confusing answer,” Justin said. “Who are they of?”

“I’m not supposed to say the names. It’s against the rules.” He turned back to me. “If you don’t want it at Tanner’s we can have it in my new house!” He pointed to the door into his home.

I did kind of want to see it… But no. It was probably very weird. And I didn’t want our rehearsal dinner to be at Nigel’s. It was strange enough that he was a groomsman.

There was a knock on the door.

“Company?” Justin asked. “We’ve barely gone over anything. Whoever it is better be ready to make some decisions for this rehearsal dinner.”

I walked over to the door. What the hell? Tanner was standing there in a suit and a bushy mustache.

“What’s with the stache dude?” And how had he grown it so quickly? I’d just seen him a few days ago. Or had it been more like a week? Huh. I definitely hadn’t seen him as much as I used to before Brooklyn was back. I think the last time I saw him was when we’d played football in the back yard with Jacob and Mason.

“What?” He touched his upper lip. “Oh.” He ripped it off and concealed his scream with a cough. “Ow. Sorry about that. It was for a sex thing.”

“What sex thing?”

He gave me a funny look. “Mustache rides. What else would it be for?” He patted my chest and walked in. “I’m glad you texted. It’s been forever since we had a proper boys night. I…” his voice trailed off when he saw everyone in the room. “Oh. Yeah, this works too.” But he sounded kind of sad. He cleared his throat and walked past me. “Hey, Brooklyn.” He sounded cheery again as he sat down next to her on the couch where I’d been sitting.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Brooklyn said. “We have a huge favor to ask you.”

Tanner nodded. “If this is about your third, we can…”

“No,” I said firmly.

“You are a fascinating creature, Tanner,” Justin said. “Or…should I call you Master Tanner? If you’re ever needing a third, you can write my name down.”

Tanner laughed. “I appreciate the offer, good lad. But I only partake in dalliances with women. I bet I can find you someone though. Are you only interested in a throuple? Or…”

“Oh my God,” Brooklyn said. “Justin, do you remember Donnelley?”

“Donnelley.” Justin tapped his index finger against his lips. “Donnelley, Donnelley, Donnelley.”

“He’s one of my dad’s bodyguards.”

Justin smiled. “Oh. Yes. That big bear of a man! Yum. Ah, it’s been years. Well, I guess about 16, huh? To be young again...”

“He’s coming to the wedding,” Brooklyn said with a smile.

“Shut the front door! He’s not on the guest list! You can’t just add random hotties without consulting me! Especially bears! You know what they do to me!”

Um…

“I’d really like him to come,” Brooklyn said.

“Me too!” Justin yelled. “Damn it. This changes everything.”

“Does it though?” I asked.

“It definitely changes what I’m doing with my hair.”

Okay, this seemed unimportant to the rehearsal dinner discussion. “Tanner, we were hoping we could have the rehearsal dinner at your place. Since we were planning on having Thanksgiving there anyway. But we’d need a few more place settings.”

“Yeah. Sure. That’s fine. Um…” he looked at Nigel. “We’ll have to move a few things around. But we can make that work. How many people exactly? I’ll have to figure out how many bathrooms to open.”

What was he talking about?

Justin tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to him. “Here is the guest list. And my number just in case. You’re a billionaire, right?”

“I am,” Tanner said as he scanned the list. “Why is Robert on this list?”

I sighed. “Tanner, he’s one of the groomsmen. You know this.”

“I figured you’d change your mind about that decision.”

Did he though? “You can sit at opposite ends of the table.”

“But it’s Thanksgiving and I’m not thankful for him. And it’s my house. And he certainly can’t sit at the head of the table.”

Brooklyn laughed. “Tanner. Please.” She squeezed his arm.

He smiled at her. “Yeah, okay, fine. But he better not go poking around and trying to get in any locked rooms.”

Rob most definitely was going to try to do that.

“How many locked rooms?” Justin asked. “And what’s inside of them?”

“Dozens including the wine cellar,” Nigel said.

“Are any of them sex dungeons?” Justin asked.

“Well if you count…”

“Nigel,” Tanner hissed.

“I can neither confirm nor deny any such rooms exist,” Nigel clarified.

“I think I’m in love with the two of you,” Justin said.

Nigel shook his head. “I will let you down easy, Mr. Justin. I love the boobies.”

Brooklyn laughed.

“Big ones. But only real ones. I need them to jiggle around my face when I do the…” he motorboated the air. “My favorite thing in the world. And I’ve been all over. Every country in lots of decades. I have a rating system…”

Tanner cleared his throat.

“But I do have a rating system,” Nigel said.

“The other thing,” Tanner hissed. “The lots of decades thing.”

“Right. This decade,” Nigel said. “Because I’m a young boy. I went to high school in the 60s.”

That can’t be right.

Justin shook his head. “Math is not my forte, and even I know that’s not right.” He turned back to Brooklyn. “Any word about your father walking you down the aisle?”

Brooklyn shook her head. “No service yet. I just checked with Donnelley again too. No word. I’m worried we won’t be able to reach him in time.”

“Where did Richard go?” Tanner asked.

“No one knows where he’s going,” I said. “He’s on his yacht somewhere.”

“Oh, a fellow yacht man.”

“Wait, you have a yacht?” Why didn’t I know that?

“Of course I have a yacht.” Tanner laughed. “I’m a billionaire. You wouldn’t understand.”

I was pretty sure I could afford a yacht. I just had no need for one. And the upkeep was probably a lot…

“So you’re having trouble getting a hold of him?” Tanner asked.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have service,” Brooklyn said. “I’ve called him a dozen times and left voicemails and texts.”

“Why the change of heart?”

“I found all these old letters he wrote my mom. She never saw them, they were all returned unopened to him. But he loved her so much. And he wanted me. I…” her voice trailed off. “I never knew.”

“I can get a hold of him for you,” Tanner said.

“You can?”

“Of course.”

“How?” I asked.

“It’s a boat thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

“I know stuff about boats.”

“Not as much as us,” Nigel said. “Port and starboard. Stern. Dinghy. Windward and leeward. It’s a billionaire thing.”

Why was Nigel being so savage right now? He wasn’t a billionaire either. Wait. Is he?

“Can you really help?” Brooklyn asked.

Tanner nodded. “He’ll be at the wedding. I promise. As the best man in theory but not in title, I’ve got it covered. And I’ll be hosting the rehearsal dinner. I’m definitely the best man. Definitely at least better than Young Robert.”

I mean, if he could really get Mr. Pruitt to the wedding, that would be better than anything Young Robert was doing. I laughed. Young Robert. All Rob wanted to do was plan the bachelor party. And I didn’t even want one. “We’d really appreciate it,” I said.

“Anything for my best friends,” Tanner said with a smile. But his smile looked a little sad. He cleared his throat and stood up. “I guess I should be going if that’s all. I don’t want to impose. And I have some things to do and such.” He pulled his mustache out of his pocket. “So I guess I’ll be going then.”

Tanner and I used to hang out most nights. Hell, I’d been living with him not that long ago. And I realized that maybe since Brooklyn got back, I’d kind of neglected him. He was an important part of my life. And I wanted him to know that.

“Unless you want to stay for a movie or something?” I said. As soon as everyone left, Brooklyn and I were just going to snuggle up on the couch. We’d gotten in the routine when she decided not to leave the house. I loved our nights just us. But I’d love this too.

“I mean…if you’re sure it wouldn’t be a bother,” Tanner said with a shrug, like he didn’t care. But I could tell he wanted to stay.

“That sounds great to me,” Brooklyn said.

Tanner smiled and put his mustache back in his pocket. “Yeah? I do love a good motion picture.”

Brooklyn grabbed his forearm to pull him back down on the couch.

Well, I didn’t love that he’d be sitting between us. But yeah, I was happy he was here.

“Movie night!” Justin yelled and sat down too.

“The whole gang together,” Nigel said and plopped down, taking up the last seat on the couch.

I needed a bigger couch.

I sat down on the carpet in front of Brooklyn. She lifted her legs and put them over my shoulders like I was her stool.

“Ah much more comfortable,” she said.

I nipped at the inside of her knee and she laughed.

She leaned forward and ran her fingers through my hair.

I tilted my head back and looked up at her from upside down.

“I love you,” she whispered silently as the guys fought over which movie to watch.

“I love you,” I whispered back.

In two weeks, we’d be getting married. I’d be getting everything I’d ever wanted since I was a teenager. Her.