Eruption - Chapter 9
Friday
I downed another glass of wine. This party was a complete disaster.
James was missing. His parents were always talking to someone, so I couldn't catch them alone.
And Isabella was walking around like she owned the place.
All of James' family members seemed to adore her.
I should have just left with James. I knew he needed me right now.
But I wasn't calm enough to console him.
All I wanted to do was set the house on fire.
"You okay?" Melissa asked as she walked up to me. "You look pissed."
"I'm fine." It was so nice to finally see someone I recognized. I took a deep breath and set my glass down on the bar. I was trying to calm my nerves before I potentially made a scene. I just wished I had the courage to do it without alcohol.
"This place is almost as big as Tyler's apartment building," she said.
I laughed. "Yeah, it's crazy." Maybe a distraction was what I needed. And I could really use someone on my side right now. "Actually, Melissa, I was hoping I could talk to you about Tyler. I just want you to know that if you two are dating, I'm totally okay with it."
"I don't need your permission to date someone, Penny."
"I know, that's not what I meant. I just thought that maybe because of our history, you thought..."
Melissa laughed and placed her glass of wine down on the bar beside mine. "Thought that it would be awkward because you've slept with him? Yeah, well you have nothing to worry about. I would never date Tyler Stevens. I'm sorry, I need to use the bathroom."
"Melissa?"
She was already quickly walking away.
What the hell was that? I glanced over at Tyler. He was staring at us, but he quickly looked away when he caught my gaze and started walking after Melissa.
Not only was I in a room full of people that preferred James' ex wife to me, but now two of my closest friends seemed to be mad at me. Fuck this.
I walked over to Rob who was playing some drinking game with Matt and Mason. Hopefully they weren't taking shots whenever Isabella gave me a death stare, because they'd be totally wasted. And I needed Rob's help.
I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to talk to your parents. Could you go find James so we can leave when I'm done? He said he was going to get some air, but he's not answering his phone. And I..."
"Say no more, gorgeous. I'll find him." Rob downed his shot and stood up. "Don't play without me," he said and disappeared into the crowd of people in the room.
"Are you okay, Penny?" Mason asked. He looked truly concerned and it made me feel a little better. I just needed to remember that James' friends were the true family I was gaining. If his parents weren't going to accept me, then I wasn't going to keep pretending everything was alright.
"Besides for the fact that James' parents want him to get back with Isabella? Yeah, I'm great." I looked over toward his parents. They were talking to a group of people about their age. It didn't really matter if I was rude and interrupted them. They deserved it.
Matt laughed. "You don't have anything to worry about. James is completely addicted to you. You're like the only sustenance he needs. Ow, fuck! What is wrong with you?"
I turned back to them.
Matt was grabbing his shin under the table and giving Mason a dirty look. Had Mason just kicked him?
Mason cleared his throat. "Do you need help getting James' parents alone to tell them off? I think we're both up to the challenge."
"No. I'll do it myself. I'm kind of looking forward to embarrassing them.
Have fun with your game." I walked away from their table toward Mr. and Mrs. Hunter.
They were still talking to the same group of people.
"Excuse me," I said when I reached them.
"I was hoping to have a word alone with Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. "
"Of course, dear," said a woman who I recognized as one of James' aunts who I had met earlier.
James' mother turned toward me reluctantly. "I didn't realize you were still here."
Yeah, fuck you too. "Can the three of us go talk somewhere in private?"
"We're hosting a party. We can't just..."
Mrs. Hunter was cut off by her husband. "Of course, Miss Taylor. We thought you might request a word. Let's discuss this in my office."
I instantly liked Mr. Hunter a little more than Mrs. Hunter.
He didn't seem nearly as cold. They started walking away and I quickly caught up to the them.
It felt like I was about to be scolded as I followed them out of the room and into the main hallway, though.
I wondered what they thought I was about to talk to them about as Mr. Hunter stopped in front of a door.
He pulled out a key from his pocket and put it into the door.
He pushed it open, letting Mrs. Hunter walk in first. He continued to hold the door open and gestured for me to go in as well. Maybe he wasn't so bad.
I stepped in and turned around in a circle.
The room looked more like a small library than an office.
I suddenly felt weird for not knowing what his parents did.
James never talked about them. So I really knew nothing about them at all.
Except that they were hurting James. That was all that I needed to know.
His father cleared his throat and I turned toward him. "Miss Taylor, let me apologize for inviting Isabella to this event."
James' mother crossed her arms in front of her chest and didn't say a word.
"Thank you for saying that." I sighed with relief. I had every intention of yelling at them as soon as we were alone, but I bit my tongue. This whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding. I could still fix this.
"We realize that option should have been presented to James at a different time."
"A different time?" You mean not at all?
"Yes. Once we settle this," he said.
"Settle what?" I asked.
James' mother shook her head. "There's no reason to be formal, Jonathan. We all know why we're here." She stared at me for a second like I was completely dense and walked over to the desk. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a checkbook.
You've got to be kidding me. "I don't want your money. That's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the way you've been treating your son."
She tore a check out of the booklet and stuck her hand out to me.
I bit my lip, trying to prevent myself from crying. How could they think that's why I was dating their son? "I'm in love with James."
"Of course." She sounded disgusted as she pulled out another check. She set them both down on the desk and slid them toward me.
I looked down. Both checks were already made out to me. And they were each for one million dollars. They had already written them. They never had any intention of getting to know me. This had been their plan the whole time. "Don't you want him to be happy?" My voice sounded small and sad.
"That's really no concern of yours," his mother snapped.
"Yes it is. I'm his fiancée. All I care about is his happiness."
"This charade has gone on long enough. I thought it would sizzle out on its own, but now I see that we need to step in before it's too late.
So that's what we're doing. Because we do care about his happiness.
And we won't let him ruin his life over some girl.
It's just a matter of time before he comes to his senses.
We're just helping it along. Now take the money and disappear from his life. That's the offer."
"I don't want your money." I had clenched my hands into fists. "You think this is showing him that you care? Instead of accepting him how he is? Your son is sweet and caring and..."
"And he doesn't know what's best for him. You think marrying a middle class girl is helping him? Pulling him down to your level?" She made the same noise with her throat that Isabella had made earlier. "He's a Hunter." She picked up the checks and threw them at me.
Her words made me shiver. "He may be a Hunter, but he's in love with me."
"He doesn't love you." She looked me up and down. "He's attracted to you for some reason. And I don't even see why. You're quite common. Isabella and him have a real bond. Our families are connected. And they're going to work it out."
"There's nothing to work out. They're divorced."
"Which was a mistake. They both realize that. And they're working on fixing it."
She made it seem like it was already happening. I wasn't going to let her crawl under my skin. That was nonsense. "He doesn't love her."
"Again, that is none of your business. You'll never be one of us. Even if you have conned our son into living in sin with you for the past two years. Enough is enough."
"I don't want to be one of you." I tried to keep my head up high even though all her words seemed to cut through me like a knife. "I'm glad I never will be." I leaned down and picked up the checks off the floor.
James' mother smiled. "What a relief."
"Because James and I want nothing to do with you.
" I tore up the checks and let the pieces flutter to the ground.
"I was hoping that we could come to an understanding, but it's clear that you're not interested in listening to me.
Or your son. So you're officially uninvited to the wedding.
Not that you ever accepted the invitation in the first place.
And you're uninvited to be a part of the rest of our lives as well.
You won't even get to hold your grandchildren.
So congratulations to both of you. You've lost your eldest son. I hope you're happy."
James' father cleared his throat. "Miss Taylor, you seem like a smart girl. We hope that you'll make the right decision. Please let yourself out when you've calmed down." He took a step toward the door.