13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Brad
This guy really pisses me off.
One for how he treated Lauren, and now the fact that she’s basically burying herself into my chest to hide from him. He is such an entitled prick who never deserved one second of her attention. I am still glad that I didn’t live in Lupine Valley while they dated. I only came home for visits and managed to see Lauren out with friends. I never had to meet this asshat.
Seeing him up close and in person is bringing back all the feelings of anger towards how he treated her, especially the feeling that has my hand curling into a fist, ready to punch him if the opportunity arises at how scared she is to encounter him.
Lauren leans into me, wrapping her arms around my waist tighter. If anyone else were to see us, they’d think we were just having a romantic moment together at the end of the bar.
“Please don’t let him see me,” she pleads.
“Hey, look at me,” I pull her chin up to look at me with my finger. “Who cares if he sees you? You’re with me. You don’t need him and I won’t let him be an ass to you,” I barely get out between gritted teeth.
She nods but doesn’t turn back toward the bar, choosing to continue hiding.
“It's party time, betches!” Vivian runs over to us, oblivious to the current situation and still feeling the effects of her mimosas from the day.
Ethan tosses out an apologetic smile in our direction. “What’s wrong?” He picks up on his sister’s mood immediately.
I nod to the end of the bar and Ethan sees exactly who we’re pointing to.
“Are you shitting me? Of all the places, why is he here?” Ethan’s nostrils flare and I know he’s on the same level as me. “What the fuck did he say to you?”
“Nothing. Brad just noticed him. But it’s fine. Everything is fine.” Lauren takes a deep breath, as if she’s proving how relaxed she is about it.
“Who is it?” Vivian half shouts, trying to jump up and see over Lauren.
“It’s just my ex. No big deal.” Lauren places her hand on Vivian’s arm to stop her from causing a scene.
“Oh no, not that big old meanie that moved to Spain?” She slams her hand against her mouth.
“Yeah, baby, that one. We’re just going to walk by quietly and hopefully he won’t see us,” Ethan tells her and then looks to us before stepping back so she can walk ahead of him.
“Oooh, right!” Vivian nods and follow’s Ethan’s lead. She pretends to tiptoe past the other bar patrons with her finger up to her lips, as if she needs to remind us to be quiet. Lauren chuckles at the sight as she gets up to follow Ethan.
“I wonder how many mimosas she had in the room while she got ready.”
“Three.” Ethan answers laughing over his shoulder.
Vivian turns around and places her finger to her lips once more. “Shhh.”
Ethan nods his head in agreement and mimics her movement.
We successfully get by Damon without him noticing any of us, but we don’t make it out the door.
“Lauren? Is that you?” Damon’s voice says over the noise of the crowd.
She freezes in place. I reach for her hand and fold mine over hers. With my other hand I loop it around her waist, pulling her back to me.
I lean down to whisper, “Do you want to keep walking and ignore him or stop?”
She starts to shake her head no , but Damon cuts us off, standing directly in front of us.
“Hello, Damon,” she responds stiffly.
“What a crazy thing seeing you here! How are you?” he asks like they’re old best friends, instead of the asshole ex that he is.
“I’m just fine.” I notice that she doesn’t ask how he is doing, she doesn’t care to continue the conversation.
I reach my hand out, “Hi, I’m her boyfriend, Brad. Who are you?”
“Brad, huh?” He raises his brows and stares at her as if to say I knew it. “I’m her ex-fiancé, Damon, and this is my wife, Petra.” He motions toward the woman behind him.
“Oh right. Well it’s been a pleasure, but we need to get going for our reservations.”
“Oh, that's a private party. Rented out by the Marshalls. I’m hoping to run into them actually. It’s why we’re here. They invest in a lot of startups, but it’s impossible to get them in a meeting lately.”
“Probably because their daughter is marrying my brother this week. I wouldn’t suggest trying to talk business.” Lauren finally found her voice since Damon appeared.
As if fate presents us a gift, the Marshalls come through the bar.
“Oh! Lauren, Brad! How wonderful to see you. Have you seen Vivian and Ethan? We were supposed to meet in the lobby,” Mrs. Marshall asks.
“They went out to the pier already,” Lauren replies.
She looks between us and Damon, “Oh I’m terribly sorry I’ve interrupted. How rude of me.” She giggles quietly, obviously a nervous habit.
“No worries, Mrs. Marshall, this is my ex-fiancé, Damon and his wife.” Lauren smiles wide and I wonder what she is planning.
“Oh my.” She leans in to whisper to me and Lauren, “Damon? The one I’ve heard all those awful stories about?”
“That would be him.” Lauren still smiles directly in Damon’s direction.
Damon is now frowning. He knows his chances at an investment are all, but gone.
“You know, Damon was just telling us he was hoping to run into you so he could talk about an investment opportunity.” I add to the conversation, pinching Lauren’s side and she giggles at my attempt to destroy him.
This time Mr. Marshall responds, “I’d say you should probably consider this introduction the only meeting we might have.” He winks at Lauren and guides his wife out to the pier.
“Have a wonderful rest of your time. I hear the restaurant down the street doesn’t require reservations.” Lauren loops her arm through mine and leads me out behind the Marshalls to the pier.
We open the doors and the salty humid air hits our faces. A gust of wind blows her hair around her face when she turns to me, “That was fucking amazing!” She jumps up and wraps her arms around my neck. “God, it felt so good to ruin something for him. Does that make me a bad person?”
“Absolutely not, L.” I crush my lips to hers. She’s so beautiful and proud of herself in this moment, I can’t stop myself.
“Hey, quit kissing my baby girl.” Mr. Bradshaw booms from behind me as he slaps my shoulder.
I snap backwards. “Sorry, sir.”
His deep laugh booms out, “Glad to know I still got it, Maryanne.” They walk off leaving us alone once again.
Laughing at her Dad, we follow behind them to join everyone else for dinner.
We find our table, and I notice that we’re mostly sitting with people from Ethan’s graduating class. I recognize most of the names, but one catches my eye more than anyone else's and makes my blood run cold.
Layla Huxley. Abigail’s best friend.
“Brad Robertson?” A female voice sounds from behind us.
I turn, coming face to face with Layla. “Hey, Layla.”
“Oh, my God! I thought I recognized you, then I saw the name and was shocked to see you here!” She barrels into me for a hug.
Layla moved out of Lupine Valley to Connecticut to be near Abigail after college so we haven’t seen her much. Her parents moved away before her senior year and she chose to live with Abigail for her last year. I’m not surprised she followed her.
She looks down to see my hand attached to Lauren.
“Hi Layla,” Lauren says meekly. They were never big fans of hers, all due to my own stupidity.
I drop Lauren’s hand quickly, too quickly and without thinking. The hurt that flashes across Lauren’s face is too much for me right now.
“Well, I must say, I’m happy for you. At least something good came out of the accident. I’m glad it finally forced you to make that choice.” The way she says it I can’t decide if she’s genuine, or being facetious.
“What choice?” Lauren asks.
Layla takes in my face, wide eyes, tight lips, and covers her comment. “Oh, nothing. Just that Brad and Abigail fought about you a lot. She wanted him to make a choice.” She looks back at me, bouncing her glance between Lauren and I. “I mean, you know, stupid insecure high school stuff. I think I might go grab a drink. Anyone need anything?”
We both shake our heads no, before Lauren pulls me away.
“What did she mean about the accident and what choice?”
I open my mouth to respond, but my attention is pulled away.
“Robertson! Man! So good to see you here!”
My nerves are frazzled and I follow the voice to find a few guys from the football team. They pull me away from Lauren and I don’t get back to her until it’s time for dinner. It seems she’s forgotten the conversation from earlier. And I’m not bringing it up.
That wasn’t how I wanted to bring up the topic with her. But now I have the opportunity and I’m freezing. Unable to find the words, or the courage.
The sun streams through the windows, reflecting off the clear blue ocean into our room.
I shift a little, keeping a sleeping Lauren close to me.
I have to leave Lauren for our first solo adventure since we got to the Keys. Today she has dress fittings and a spa day with the bridesmaids and mothers. That leaves me to go golfing with the fathers and groomsmen.
She scoots back into me, that plump ass landing perfectly in my lap.
“Good morning,” she says sleepily as she wakes up.
She rolls over to face me, oblivious to my morning wood.
“Good morning, gorgeous.” I kiss her forehead.
“Coffee, please,” she mumbles.
I laugh and get out of bed to fulfill her request. I start brewing the coffee for us in the small kitchenette attached to our room.
There’s another knock on our door, so I go to check who it is while the aroma of the brewing coffee fills the room, giving Lauren life.
Another gift bag awaits at the door with a golf Christmas ornament tied to the handles.
Vivian has sent another uniform for us to wear today. A Santa hat with ‘Team Groom’ embroidered on it, and a Christmas themed button down short sleeve shirt. At least we all have to wear the embarrassing shirts. And it’s not a teeny tiny speedo with Vivian’s face on it.
“Oh, my God, have I mentioned how much I love my sister-in-law?” Lauren picks up the shirt and holds it to her body.
I tickle her side. “Don’t tease me too much, I might retaliate again.”
A blush spreads down her cheeks.
I hand her the cup of coffee and walk away to go change into my Santa hat and Rudolph button down. At least I get to wear my own shorts.
The time to leave comes while Lauren is in the shower. I pop in the bathroom and tell her that I’m leaving, but not before I pull her up to me and kiss her goodbye, not caring if I get wet in the process.
I walk into the lobby and find the group of guys over by the breakfast buffet.
“Hey, Brad, you ready to show these old timers how it’s done?” Ethan slaps my shoulder. Mr. Bradshaw and Mr. Marshall are right behind him.
“Sure am. I’m a little rusty since we’ve had snow, but I’ll try my best.” I shake hands with everyone as they join us.
Mr. Bradshaw drops a key in Ethan’s hand for our golf cart along with sets of clubs. I will have to borrow and share with Ethan.
Maybe upping my golf handicap will be worth my while.
By the tenth hole it’s very obvious that those old timers will beat us with blindfolds on.
“Don’t worry boys, we’re semi-retired, so we have more time to golf,” Mr. Marshall jokes with us. “You’ll get better one day.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault. I’ve been distracted with wedding stuff.” Ethan pouts.
“Oh right, your phrase while wedding planning was whatever makes you happy, baby so I don’t want to hear it. You just let Vivian do all the work,” Mr. Bradshaw makes fun of his son.
“Hey, as long as I get her in the end, she can do whatever she wants with the day,” Ethan admits.
“Good job, son. Love to hear it. You treat my girl right and we won’t have any problems.” Mr. Marshall tries to give Ethan an intimidating stare, but they have a good relationship and he knows his daughter is happy.
“This one better treat my girl right. He knows there will be hell to pay if he hurts my baby girl.” Mr. Bradshaw elbows me in the ribs, laughing at his own joke.
“I’ll always make her happy. I can’t let her have a reason to get away.”
The rest of the guys move onto the next hole, and I am in the back of the group with Mr. Bradshaw.
“Listen, you can cut the act with me. Maryanne and I know. Your Mom can’t keep a secret to save her soul.”
I freeze. I stop walking, and drop my bag. “But, the upgraded room? You guys have known all along?” I stumble over my words. I knew my momma knew, but I didn’t think she told the Bradshaws. I had an inkling with Maryanne’s smirk at check-in. The smirk that told me Momma didn’t keep my secret and called her as soon as it left my lips.
“Oh the room was all Maryanne and Miriam’s idea.” He chuckles, “Maryanne thought that Lauren wouldn’t be able to take the guilt. That she would crack and tell the truth to us…and you.”
“I can’t—she didn’t crack—but she’s stressing,” I admit to him.
“Listen, I don’t want her to know we know. I believe you love my girl. I believe she loves you. I believe you’re meant to be together. But, there’s something holding you back. Something eating at you. Figure it out so you can be the man I know you can be. So I’m going to stay quiet. And you’re going to keep dating my daughter. Get her to open up to love again. She deserves to be treated like a Queen. Just like her Mom.” He places his hand on my shoulder to drive his point home.
“I do. Love her that is. I’m going to try my best,” I promise.
“Good. My girl is happy this week. Keep my girl happy, ya hear?” He raises his eyebrows and levels me with a stare.
“She’s mine as far as I’m concerned, but I’m working on getting there to be everything she deserves.”
“I can appreciate that. Just take care of my girl up there in Lupine Valley, since I can’t.” He walks away leaving me shocked.
I can’t believe they have known this whole time. They even fooled Lauren. Now I’m faced with a tough choice. Do I tell her they know? Or do I take Mr. Bradshaw’s advice and just keep making her happy? This is a lot of secret keeping from Lauren. Someone who prides herself on being honest, and surrounding herself with loyal friends.
The answer is simple. I can make her happy. However that looks, making her happy is the only option.
As I walk to the next hole, my head is spinning with options. When we get back to Lupine Valley I need to come clean and tell her everything. I won’t ruin this trip for her.
Ethan and I lose. Horribly. But the Dads buy us beers after kicking our asses, so it isn’t a total loss. And the cold beer was welcomed after a day out in the Southern Florida sunshine.
I can’t wait to see Lauren though. We finally have our first free night together without any family or wedding obligations. I have arranged for the hotel to set up a private cabana on the beach for us. Complete with dinner, chilled white wine, and a waiter for the evening. I can’t wait to show her the Florida sunset.
“L, you here?” I drop my wallet and phone on the dresser at the entrance of the room.
“Yeah, in here getting ready,” she calls from the bathroom.
I slide in behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck. “I missed you today.”
“It was just one day. How could you possibly miss me?” She leans into the mirror to swipe some makeup on her eyelids.
“I wasn’t with you, of course I missed you. How was your day?”
“So good. I had so much fun with all the girls.” She swipes on her lip gloss, and puts all her makeup away. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing tonight?”
“Nope. A surprise. But you can dress comfortably and casually.” I step away from her and strip out of my clothes to shower off the sweat of a golf day.
Her eyes don’t leave my body the whole time, enjoying the striptease I’m providing her.
“Join me?” I wiggle my eyebrows, inviting her to come in with me.
“Uh… I just got my makeup done. Raincheck?”
“Sure.” I slink off into the shower to lick my wounds. She seems off and I can only imagine it has to do with what Layla said last night.
When I’m done showering, Lauren is dressed and scrolling on her phone on the bed. She looks upset, on the verge of tears.
I sit next to her, causing the bed to dip and roll her toward me. I take her hand in mine. “Hey, did something happen today? Everything okay?”
She looks up at me, “No. Nothing. I’m just tired is all. Lots of activities this week. I’ve never had an itinerary for a vacation.” She gives me a weak smile.
“We can just stay in tonight if you’d rather. We don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Nope. I want to see what this surprise is and finally get a minute to relax alone with you.” She sits up on the bed, leaning into me and resting her head on my shoulder.
“Okay. I won’t make it a late night so we can come back here and relax. Promise.”
She nods in response, giving me a weak smile.
I lead her down to the restaurant and tell the hostess my name.
She smiles at Lauren, “You’re a lucky lady.”
Lauren returns the smile and we step into line behind her, following her out the door and down to the beach.
“Where are we going?” she whispers in my ear.
“You’ll see. Don’t you trust me?”
She swallows hard, “I do.”
I pull her closer to me, holding her tight. I want to erase all the worry she has, but I’m just not ready to tell her yet.
We stop at the end of the walkway and remove our shoes to finish the walk to the cabana. The hostess stops at our cabana, and leaves the personalized menu on the bed for us.
Lauren turns to face me once the hostess leaves to go back inside, “You rented a cabana on the beach for me?”
“So we can watch the sunset.” I climb into the cabana and pat the seat for her to join. She climbs in after me.
She picks up the small menu that was left to see all her favorites listed. “And you customized a menu for me?”
“Just want to give you something special, L.”
The unshed tears from earlier start to fall on her cheeks before she can swipe them away.
I reach up and pull her to me. “Hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing. I’m sorry. Let’s just enjoy our night and all that you did for me.” She buries deeper into me, and we don’t talk until the waiter comes with the trays of our food.
Panic rises. What was she doing on her phone earlier? Did she look up the accident after talking to Layla? I want to ask, but she seems like she doesn’t want to talk about it now. She wants to enjoy the night, and that’s what I’m going to make sure happens. I’m on a time limit until we go back to reality in Lupine Valley, and I need to do everything in my power to keep her when she learns the truth.