Chapter 13
Rosa
Am I having a heart attack?
Literal chest palpitations were causing my heart to sputter, stall, then race again as I lived what was pretty much my personal hell. A very public day date with Noah… and about a dozen photographers following us documenting the whole thing.
If I thought last night’s date was bad? It was nothing compared to this .
It was a whole day so far of very public appearances—from a walk around the lake to breakfast at the diner to a picnic in the park with Noah’s mom and sister.
Kristen mostly kept the paparazzi back and away from us. Close enough to get cute photos, but not close enough to hear our conversation. And she had also hired our own personal professional photographer to capture posed and candid shots of the day for us to release to the press ourselves.
It was, quite literally, my absolute nightmare.
“Here, darling,” Noah’s mother said, passing me a bowl of strawberries.
I smiled weakly at her. She was so sweet. So nurturing. So… opposite of my own mother. “Thanks, Marty.”
“You look very pale,” she added. “Some sugar may help.”
I felt Noah’s palm fall gently on my back. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, even though I didn’t feel okay. “It’s just been a long day.”
Callie snorted, sipping her soda through a straw. “It’s only 1:30. I’d say you’ve got a long way to go before the day is over.”
Noah shot his sister a look. “Not helping, Cal.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong. Up next on Kristen’s sadistic schedule was a ride on the carousel at the Maple Grove town fair.
“Shouldn’t this be, I don’t know, a whole family affair?” I asked, waving my hand at the picnic in front of us. Sitting around on the blanket was me, Noah, Marty, Callie, and Lydia. We were missing quite a few people.
“Cam is with Maddie at a soccer practice thing,” Lydia said. “Cam and I drew straws this morning for who got to do what. Trust me. I got the better end of that deal. Watching soccer practice is so boring.” She gave a good-natured chuckle and lifted her champagne flute.
“And obviously,” Marty said, “Ronnie and Lex are on a mini-honeymoon.”
“What about Steve?” Noah asked, a little bite in his voice.
“Steve had to work,” Callie said. “Since he closed the practice yesterday for the wedding, he changed his hours so he’d be open today instead.”
Noah’s expression softened slightly and he nodded. “Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
I knew a little bit about the tumultuous relationship Noah had with his brothers, but not a ton. I didn’t know the details. Just that they’d never really gotten along and he was closer with his sisters.
Without even thinking, I placed my hand on his knee, giving him a gentle, reassuring squeeze the same way that Noah had comforted me moments before. Looking down, he smiled at me and I lowered my head to rest on his chest.
The moment our bodies came in contact with each other, I felt his chest hitch, sucking in a quick breath. His heart thumped, pounding so hard, I could hear every thrumming pulse.
I wasn’t sure what came over me. In all our years of friendship, I’d managed to keep my distance from Noah. And now, in 48-hours, I’d thrown it all out the window.
Beside me from inside my purse, my phone buzzed for what felt like the thousandth time since we’d left for this photoshoot.
It still boggled my mind the fact that Kristen had set this whole thing up so fast. In a matter of hours, she had this whole scene decorated and set with all the photographers ready and waiting.
Literally in the time it took for me to shower and get ready.
She was a force to be reckoned with.
Noah’s brows rose as he looked down at me. “Your parents again?”
I sighed. “Probably.” I had called them as soon as our meeting with Kristen had ended. But it was only about five in the morning in California and they didn’t answer.
Now, they were clearly awake and wanting to talk.
"Maybe you should answer it," he said.
Nodding, I pulled out my phone from my purse and inhaled sharply when I saw the dozens of missed calls from them and a slew of text messages. All of them angry.
Or at least, disappointed.
And I had no one to blame for it but myself. Stupidly, I'd kept putting this conversation off.
"Is everything okay?" Noah's mom asked, concern tilting her blue eyes, so similar to Noah's.
"Um, yeah. I just... I hadn't told my parents about our elopement yet."
Marty's eyes somehow softened even more and she nodded in understanding. "You thought you had more time before they published your name?"
I jerked my gaze to hers. " Yes ." How did she know that?
Callie snorted. "I think we've all made that mistake at least once... underestimating Noah's fame." Then, Callie raised her champagne glass in a mock toast to me. "You're officially a Tripp now."
"Callie," Noah barked, his voice quiet, but gruff.
Only Lydia stayed silent, eyes cast down, not daring to look at either of us.
Marty waved Kristen over. "Kristen," she said, a small hint of a southern accent to her voice despite the fact that I was pretty sure Noah had lived in New England his whole life. "Do you think we could wrap up this little photo shoot?"
Kristen looked down at her iPad. "Oh. We were scheduled for the picnic shoot for another fifteen minutes. But I suppose we could shift to Noah and Rosa's solo shots at the cafe?—"
"Oh, you misunderstand me," Marty said. "I meant, can we wrap this for the whole day?"
"Not a chance?—"
"You see, my sweet daughter-in-law needs to call her own parents and I suspect she wants some privacy for that. Plus I think the newlyweds could use some quality time together without being under a microscope, wouldn't you say?"
"Mom," Noah warned, but there was a good natured smile simmering there, too.
"What? This was supposed to be your vacation. We were supposed to have a full week of uninterrupted Noah time. And now we're forced into a fake picnic for the cameras?"
"I'm afraid that's my fault," I offered, trying to take some of the heat off Noah. "Or... um, our fault. For eloping. It really threw a, er, wrench in Noah's vacation plans."
Noah took my hand, giving it a squeeze and sending me the sweetest smile. "The only thing that us getting married ruined was my wasted heart."
I gasped at his words. And the way he held my eyes. And then as he dipped his mouth toward me, diverting at the last minute, he pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.
"Ugh, fine," Kristen interrupted. "Let's do the other locations on another day. But you better call your parents back," she added, pointing right at me. Then, not waiting for any of us to confirm this, she rushed off toward the photographers to dismiss them.
"Go on," Noah said, giving me a lift of his chin. "Call your parents. We'll give you privacy and make sure none of the reporters are close enough to listen in."
I pulled out my phone and scanned the first few texts from my mother. Her words were stern, to the point, and filled with desperation.
Mama:
There are heinous rumors floating around about you, sweetheart, but don't worry. Your father's people are working to squash them.
They came back saying they're true... did you elope with some boy we've never met?
Please tell us the rumors aren't true.
Rosalina Alvarez, answer your phone!
Taking a deep breath in, I mustered up all my courage before tapping my index finger to my mom's name on my phone. It barely rang once before she answered. "Rosa! Thank God. Victor! It's Rosa! Finally!"
"Hi, Mama. I, um, don't have a lot of time right now, but I did want to call and tell you that it is true."
An eerie silence took hold on her line and if it hadn't been for the long, even breaths, I wouldn't have been sure if she'd hung up on me. "It's true," Mama finally repeated.
Beside her, I heard my father mutter a curse and realized I must be on speaker phone.
"Why?" she asked. "Why would you do this without including us? We didn't even know you were dating anyone."
"It's... it's been kind of a whirlwind," I said. "Besides, you always told me that when you know, you know. You and Apa only dated a few months before you got engaged."
"Well, that's true, Francesca," Apa said in the background.
Another few seconds of silence. Finally Mama said, "We want to meet this boy. This Noah Blue Tripp."
"Of course," I said. "He has a busy filming schedule but we'll come out to see you soon. And we can Facetime. Tonight. We're in Maple Grove for his sister's wedding this weekend."
"We have that charity auction tonight," Apa said and Mama huffed a response.
"This is our daughter we’re talking about here, Victor!
Plus with the time difference, we can make it work.
Although I don’t think soon is soon enough," Mama snapped, then quickly turned her hostility back to me.
"It's unacceptable that you would do this to us.
Deprive your parents of being there the day you got married. "
"I know," and not for the first time in this whole ordeal, I felt guilty. Really guilty. "We'll get something on the calendar when we Facetime, I promise. You just let me know when you're free to chat and meet him."
"Fine."
I exhaled. All things considered, that could have gone way worse. "Okay. I love you."
"We love you, too," my father answered. Mama said nothing.
Then the line went dead.
If I hadn’t been so emotionally exhausted and drained, I could have cried. I buried my face in my hands and heard footsteps on the gazebo.
When I opened my eyes, Noah was there, his face was soft in the midday sunlight, his dark hair falling perfectly across his forehead. Tints of auburn I’d never seen before glistened in his hair. His broad palm fell to my back, circling in reassuring strokes.
"I think I know what you need," he said.
“Really? That’s weird since I don’t even know what I need.”
His hand dragged down my back, landing on the gentle swell of my hip with a tender squeeze that made my breath latch in my throat. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. “That’s a husband’s job, isn’t it?” he asked.
I managed a nod and a half smile. “I guess. I wouldn’t really know since you’re my first.” The warm sun beat down on our skin, filtering in through the open gazebo and a soft breeze caught my hair, blowing it around. “So enlighten me… what do I need?”
He extended his hand forward for me to take. His eyes were filled with a quiet intensity that made my heart throb and I swallowed hard in anticipation. “You’ll just have to trust me,” he said, a playful glimmer in his eyes.
“Trust you to know me better than I know myself?”
There was a glint in his eyes. “That’s right.”
I swallowed and placed my hand in his, the warmth of his palm familiar yet comforting. I smiled, knowing that this time, I wouldn't have to convince myself before taking the leap of faith. “Okay.”
What did I have to lose?