Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ridge
“ D id you get the invitation to the wedding?” I asked Rhett as he sat on my kitchen island, downing his second beer, his legs swinging, the backs of his heels hitting the cabinet beneath him.
I wasn’t sure what time he’d left work—or if he’d even come in today—but his suit was long gone, and in its place was a pair of sweatpants, a hoodie, and a baseball hat.
And I also wasn’t sure why he’d decided to stop at my place. Addison and I had been in the middle of dinner when he arrived, and he took a spot on the counter. He hadn’t moved or said much, and now that we’d finished eating and cleaned up, he was still staying quiet.
“What wedding?” he asked.
Addison was refilling her glass of rosé, and I stood between her and Rhett, admiring the view of my gorgeous redhead before I mocked, “What wedding?” Hell, I knew my brother was in a dark place, but to ask that kind of question meant he was fully checked out. “Brady and Lily’s wedding in Edinburgh.”
“Oh,” Rhett sighed. “That.”
My chef had left a container of M he didn’t do much while he was here other than drink beer and stare off into space.
But knowing him, he needed the company.
He needed voices around him so he wasn’t so inside his head—a place that wasn’t good for him.
“You’re going, aren’t you?” I asked my brother.
He took another drink. “I don’t know …”
“Don’t say that,” I shot back. “Brady’s a partner, and things are finally good between you two. Don’t be that guy, Rhett.”
He eyed me down from the other side of the kitchen. “Do me a favor … don’t tell me what the fuck I’m doing.” He raised his beer like he was giving me a cheers.
“You want me to sit back and watch you destroy a relationship that took all this time to build?” I could feel Addison’s eyes on me. “That’s not my style. My style is telling you to be there because I know what’s best for you. Besides, you have no excuse. Our jet is taking us. We’re all staying in our hotel. You just have to show up.”
Rhett adjusted his hat and squeezed the visor. “Fuck. Fuck you and fuck him.”
“Whoa,” Addison whispered.
“Let’s tone it down,” I warned him. I then gave Addison a look, letting her know I would explain everything later—an explanation I hadn’t delved into because it was deep, layered, and it would take a long-ass time to unravel.
“It won’t matter if I’m there,” Rhett said. He nodded at me. “You’re going.” He then nodded at Addison. “And you’re going. They won’t even notice me missing.”
“I’m going?” Addison asked.
Another discussion I hadn’t yet had with her, but it was something we needed to talk about for two reasons—I had to pull Daisy out of school for several days, and unless I confessed what was going on to Jana, I couldn’t use the wedding to launch our relationship.
“We need to talk about that,” I said softly to her.
“Does that mean you’re not bringing her?” Rhett huffed, helping himself to another beer before returning to his spot on the counter.
I glanced from him to Addison. “Jana will be there. She was invited. Besides, she’s doing Lily’s makeup, and Daisy is in the wedding—she and Rayner are flower girls.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t fucking told her,” Rhett barked. “What the hell are you waiting for?”
I didn’t like his tone.
I didn’t like the way he’d worded either statement.
And I didn’t like that he was saying all of this in front of Addison.
“Rhett—”
“I get it,” Addison said, ignoring Rhett’s comments and interrupting me. “Don’t worry about it.”
Her voice was calm, her expression backing up what she’d just said.
But that didn’t make things less complicated or make me feel any better about the situation.
I needed to fucking talk to Jana.
She was in town for the next week or so, so I would find a time to go over to her house and explain this all to her. A confession I wasn’t looking forward to making, but one that would hopefully alleviate all this stress once it was done.
“And I thought my life was a fucking shit show,” Rhett muttered. He took a sip of beer. “It’s time you man up, brother.”
Is he fucking serious?
“This has nothing to do with manning up,” I countered.
“No?” he challenged. “Then, what does it have to do with? You think this is fair to Addison? That she’s some secret?—”
“She’s not a secret. Everyone knows about her, except for Daisy and Jana.” My eyes narrowed at my brother. “Do you just want to fight? Is that what this is about? Because if that’s the case, I can make that happen, but it’s not going to take place in front of Addison.”
His legs stilled from swinging. “I can’t make myself understand why you’ve said nothing to her about it. That shit makes no sense to me.”
I picked up my filthy martini, but I was too worked up to take a drink.
I didn’t know why I wanted to defend myself or why I would even bother, but I still found myself saying, “When Jana’s in town, almost every conversation we have is centered around Daisy—her schooling, her activities, her schedule. What am I supposed to do, drop that bomb while she’s bragging about the way Daisy is advancing? Hell, I want to. I’ve tried. I don’t want to put this off any longer. But?—”
“ I’m dating the teacher aren’t hard words to say, Ridge. You act like you’re going to have to confess to fucking murder.”
Even his expression was goading my anger. “Rhett?—”
“I’m out,” he said, jumping off the counter. He set his empty by the sink, stole a cookie from the container in front of Addison, and walked to the door.
I leaned my back against a cabinet, bringing the liquor up to my lips and swallowing until the glass was empty.
“Should I address the elephant in the room?” Her voice was just above a whisper.
I exhaled the burn the vodka had left on my tongue. “Where would you even start? My brother being a fucking asshole? The situation I’ve gotten us into? The wedding that I want you to attend and …”
She shrugged. “Any of those would work.” She shifted her position so she was fully facing me. “I’m not saying your brother is the unfriendliest person I’ve ever met”—she winced—“but each time I’ve been around him, he kinda ranks up there.”
“He hasn’t always been like that.”
“What brought it on? Age? Your dad’s death? Or I’m not even close?”
I held up a finger, letting her know I needed a second, and I went into the living room to pour myself another drink. Into the mixer, I added vodka and extra olive juice, shaking the shit out of it before I poured the concoction into my glass. As I was heading back into the kitchen, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
It had better be Rhett, apologizing for being such a bastard.
Jana
Ridge, I have horrible news.
Me
What’s wrong? Is Daisy all right?
Jana
Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. I just found out I can’t make it to Taylor’s concert. The opportunity of a lifetime came my way. One I’ve been dreaming about since the start of my career. If I pass it up, I’ll never forgive myself.
Me
I’ll take her. Don’t even worry about it.
Jana
But what about the extra ticket? I don’t want it to go to waste.
Me
I’ll bring Rhett.
Jana
Come on. We both know that isn’t going to happen.
Me
I’ll figure it out. Don’t stress about it.
Jana
I’m sorry …
“Is everything okay?” Addison asked as I slid my phone back into my pocket.
I heard myself exhale, not even realizing I’d been holding in air or that I’d released it so loudly. “That was Jana. Things are fine. Anyway, about all of this”—I moved in front of her and cupped her cheek—“I’m going to solve it. Soon. I promise.”
Her hand went to the back of mine. “It’s okay if it doesn’t happen before Brady’s wedding. You know my only concern is Daisy. I don’t want any of this to affect her. Remember, I was the one who suggested to wait until the end of the school year, so even though Rhett is giving you all this shit about it, I don’t agree with him.”
I focused on her eyes. “You’re so patient, baby.”
She gave me a soft smile. “Honestly, I’m slightly worried too. If Jana gets pissed enough and goes to the school board, I don’t know what would happen.”
“She’d move Daisy out of your class before she went to the school board, but she wouldn’t go as far as discussing your personal life with the administration—I guarantee that.”
“But how do you think it would look if she moved her out of my classroom? What would she say to the administration to make that happen? Because nothing positive would result from that either.” As she filled her lungs, her eyes briefly closed, and the stress appeared—something I hadn’t seen until now. “At our school, it’s not common for kids to be moved unless it’s a student-to-student issue. A teacher-to-student issue would put me under a microscope, and they’d want answers. It’s all equally as messy.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
Should I have said something to Jana on the first day of school?
Had I made this situation even worse than it needed to be?
“That isn’t going to happen either.” But as the words left my mouth, I wasn’t sure if they were true.
When it came to Daisy, Jana was like me, and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for our daughter. If this news set her off … I couldn’t predict the outcome.
“Ridge”—she held my hand tightly—“can we not talk about this anymore?” Her eyes were pleading with mine. “It’s been a perfect night so far—minus the Rhett hiccup. I haven’t seen a single storm cloud, only the sun.” She paused, which silently emphasized those words. “I’d much rather discuss him than get even deeper into this. My anxiety has peaked. I don’t want it to reach a level I can’t come back from.”
I fucking hated that I had caused her to feel this way.
That her body was stiff, and her breathing was off, and her chest was a bundle of damn tension.
I put my drink down to hold her with both hands. “Of course.”
She leaned her chest against me. “Now, tell me why your brother is so grumpy.”