Chapter 15
“W hen were you gonna tell me?” Maisie points the remote control at the TV and turns it off when I step into her living room.
“Tell you what?” I at least try to act innocent, which is pointless because it’s obvious she knows, and when she tilts her head and gives me her sternest face, I give in.
“Okay, I was thinking about telling you today, but you’re kind of delicate right now and Garrett told us in the group chat—”
“Wait up, there's a group chat?” Maisie looks shocked.
“Garrett’s just trying to take care of you all.” I shrug my shoulders awkwardly.
“Well, he must have failed to mention in the group chat that he told me the other night, after you ran out here in tears,” Maisie points out. “I was worried about you.” She frowns.
“I’m sorry I kept it from you, but up until last night I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it, and now…”
“And now?” Maisie struggles to sit herself up a little straighter, with her eager eyes glaring at me.
“Oh. My. God.” I roll my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief as I finally let someone know how I feel, and when Maisie lets out a huge shriek of excitement, Garrett immediately skids into the room by the heel of his boots.
“It’s okay, you just gotta stay calm. We got this. Cole! Wade!” he yells up the stairs, then slams his hand on the kitchen door.
“Garrett.” Maisie smiles at him.
“It’s okay, baby, I’ll call Dr Handly and we’ll head straight to the hospital. Cole…Wade, where the fuck are ya?!” he hollers again frantically, and I manage to stop myself from laughing long enough to get up and go to him.
“Garrett, it’s all good. No babies are coming yet. Maisie just got a little excited over something I said.” I have to chew on my lip to stop myself from smirking. I’ve never in my life seen Garrett Carson look so scared.
“Jesus, ya tryin’ to give me a heart attack?” He looks between us both, unimpressed, before shaking his head and heading back inside his office. When me and Maisie look back at each other, we have to cover our mouths to stifle our giggles as I head over to her.
“You are telling me everything , right now.” Maisie taps the seat beside her.
“Well, we got wasted, and then we ended up in a motel, and it just kinda happened.” I shrug simply.
“I need to head out to the line camp.” Garrett clears his throat to interrupt us, still looking embarrassed when he comes back out of the office with his hat and jacket on. “You gonna be here a while?” he checks.
“I’ll make sure I’m here ‘til you get back,” I tell him, looking forward to having some alone time with my best friend.
“Good, I won't be long.” Garrett heads over and places a kiss on top of Maisie’s head then, reaching his hand over her body, he strokes her stomach affectionately.
“When I get back, I wanna see you in exactly the same spot I left you in.” He points his finger at her before heading out the door.
“Who would have ever thought Garrett could be so cute?” I watch him leave.
“Yeah, it’s cute but it’s also suffocating, he practically had a stroke over me making myself a sandwich yesterday.” Maisie rolls her eyes. “But, enough about my overbearing husband. I wanna know about you and Wade.”
“Jesus, Maisie, I don’t know where it came from, or how it happened. But it did, and oh my god it’s awesome .”
“I can’t understand how you didn’t see it before.” Maisie laughs at me. “But I guess that's not what's important right now, what's important is what you're gonna do about it.”
I don’t want to dump all my problems on her, and I already know she’s not gonna be happy with the plan I’ve got.
Maisie never had a good relationship with her mother, and I don’t think she’s even met her father.
She won’t understand that I have to keep my dad safe.
I’ve got to trust that, between us, Wade and I can figure out what's got him in danger and make it go away.
“I figure we carry on planning the wedding, we keep what's happening between us a secret so the Masons don’t suspect anything, and I find out why this marriage between me and Caleb is so important.” I shrug, it’s a shit plan, but it’s the only one we’ve got for now.
“This just sounds like the ‘Aubrey situation’ all over again.” Maisie looks deflated.
“I never told you this before because I figured you wouldn’t have understood and would have tried to talk me out of it.
But, last year, my dad told me he needed me to marry Caleb.
He had this look in his eyes, a fearful one, and I agreed because it was around the time your mom died and I couldn’t risk anything happening to him.
I know that may seem like a huge commitment and sacrifice to a lot of people, but when I think about everything my dad has sacrificed for me over the years, it didn't seem all that much. My dad has worked his ass off to get to where he is and he’s still got dreams he wants to achieve. ”
“And what about your dreams?” Maisie asks, looking sad for me.
“Before what happened the other night, I didn’t really have any, but…crazy as it sounds, I’m seeing things differently now. What happened triggered something inside me, that makes me wanna be selfish. The way I feel when I’m around Wade…” I try to put it into words for her.
“Leia Walker, are you gushing?” Maisie looks at me in shock.
“I am not gushing… well, maybe just a little bit.” I twist my lips to try and stop them from spreading into a smile.
“I really like him, Maisie, and yeah, it’s brand new and seems overwhelming, right now.
But I already know I could never go back to how things were before.
That’s why we have to make everyone believe everything’s okay with this wedding.
I’ve already slipped up by letting Caleb and my dad know I’ve got cold feet.
Way I see it, I’ve got just under five weeks to figure this out, because I can’t give up Wade and I won’t have my dad lose everything he’s worked for.
” I put it to her, hoping she’s going to at least try and understand.
“And what about Caleb? Surely he’s gonna wanna be… ya know, doing stuff?” Maisie pulls an awkward face at me.
“Caleb kinda thinks I’m a virgin,” I confess, watching Maisie’s mouth uncontrollably drop open. “And I was…up until the other night.”
“Wait, are you telling me that Wade was your first… ever?”
“Okay, Little Miss Experienced, how many guys did you have before Garrett?” I look at her judgingly, knowing all about the three years she spent holding on to her V card for the man who is now her husband.
“I guess, I’m just kinda shocked.” She looks back at me apologetically.
“The Tyler incident totally put me off, before that I’d done some stuff, but I’d never taken it all the way. Caleb wants to, he’s pushing for it, but I’ve been using the whole wedding night thing to hold him off.”
“I get it.” Maisie fidgets on the couch to find a comfortable position.
“You do realize that Wade isn’t gonna let you go through with this wedding, don’t you?
” she warns. “When a Carson man sets his mind on something, there ain’t nothin’ that's gonna stop him getting it.” She’s wearing that excitable smile again, and when I think about that, I rest my head back on the couch, close my eyes, and I can’t help smiling to myself.
“So does this mean I still get to throw you a bachelorette party?” Maisie quickly shakes me out of my daydream.
“You don’t have to at all—”
“I want to, even if it's a pointless one. I’m going crazy in this house, I need to do something productive.”
“You’re growing three humans, that's pretty productive,” I remind her.
“Okay, I’ll give you that. I am pretty awesome.” She smirks at me as her hand strokes over her bump. “But I still need something to do to stop me losing my mind, and I am supposed to be your maid of honor. Even if the whole thing is a complete shambles.”
“Fine, throw the damn party. I guess if you don't, my mother will.” I roll my eyes at her.