Chapter Seven
Sabrina
I TRIED MY BEST TO walk calmly and naturally into my sister’s over-the-top bridal shower in the ballroom. The decorations might make one think this was the actual wedding reception. It seemed like Lexi’s best friend and maid of honor, Jade, had brought in every peach- and cream-colored rose from this side of the Mississippi for the occasion. The round tables had fancy linens and fine crystal arranged on them. A DJ spun loud country tunes in the corner while several of Lexi’s friends line danced on the dance floor, a professional photographer and videographer catching it all. No doubt my sister would shortly fill her social media accounts with stylized photos in all her wedding colors.
But my focus was on Cash, who was currently in Mama’s grasp near the gift table. It was overflowing with wrapping paper and gift bags, all matching the wedding colors—apparently I’d missed that memo. I looked down at my pink gift bag containing some expensive French perfume and a tasteful negligee. Lexi would probably point out that my bag didn’t coordinate. Oh well. I had bigger problems. Problems like Cash still being able to mix chemical cocktails inside me with barely a touch of his finger. Even more of a problem was the way Mama was wrapping her tentacles around him.
Had my parents not listened to me earlier, shortly after my arrival, when I’d explained to them how he’d left me in France without even a goodbye and had been radio silent for over three years? Where was the loyalty? And where was Mia? I needed her. She and Drew were probably mixing chemical cocktails in the stables. Drew had said he wanted to show her one of the new colts. Likely story.
“Hi, honey,” Daddy said from behind me.
I turned to find him staring wide eyed at the monster bridal shower. It surprised me he’d even come. This wasn’t his sort of thing. Honestly, I thought it was odd that Lexi had invited men to this shindig. Maybe it was sexist, but I guess I was more of a traditionalist when it came to this sort of thing. Where were the silly shower games like making tissue paper wedding dresses to wear?
I furrowed my brow, not exactly happy with Daddy. He’d egged Cash on by asking him to help me with my luggage, and he hadn’t thrown him off the property when I told him what Cash had done. So maybe that was against the law and better business practices, and would have caused a scene, but I needed Cash to leave. Something wasn’t kosher about him or the way I wanted to grab his well-fitted shirt and pull him to me for a heart-stopping kiss.
Daddy chuckled at my obviously perturbed state and put an arm around me. “Sabrina, my love.”
Even though I wasn’t all that happy with him, I rested my head on his shoulder. “Why?” was all I could ask. I knew Daddy would know what I meant.
“Because he brings out a fire in you I’ve never seen.”
“Are you saying I’m dull?”
“Not at all, though you’ve always had a reserved nature, even when it comes to relationships. But take it from your old man: there can be no reservations when it comes to love. And if you don’t bring out a little fire in each other, it’s not a relationship worth having.”
I popped my head off his shoulder. Of course I was a little fired up, even if it made me feel unlike myself, which I didn’t exactly enjoy. “He left me. I don’t think that’s a good man.”
Daddy’s gaze drifted toward Mama and Cash, chumming it up. “Perhaps you’re right, but there is something about him. I’m not saying what he did was right, but I see a good man in there.”
I slowly turned my head toward my father in disbelief. “I’m shocked at you, Daddy.”
Daddy smiled. “Darlin’, I’ll try to hate him if you want me to.”
“I just want him to leave.”
“Hmm. Well, that should probably tell you something.”
“What?” I begged to know.
“I think you’ll figure it out.” He kissed my cheek and walked toward Mama and Cash.
I felt like my life and my grasp on reality were spinning out of control. Daddy was supposed to be my sanity, not adding to the craziness of it all. Here I thought it would only be my sister and Mama bringing on the drama, but I was adding some of my own. I supposed I could just let well enough alone and ignore Cash, just like he’d ignored me. That sounded like the thing to do, except ... there was the matter of all the strange things that happened around him and then his sudden reappearance. Which reminded me—I needed a picture of him.
Slyly, I slipped my phone out of my dress pocket, and when I was sure Cash was in deep conversation with my parents, I snapped a few pictures of him. Dang, did he look good. He’d changed into a classic plaid shirt with a brown jacket to go with his I’m-a-demigod jeans.
“Sabrina,” Soren said my name, startling me.
I clumsily shoved my phone in my pocket as if he’d caught me doing something wrong. “Soren,” I said nervously, taking a step away from him.
Soren noted my reaction, and his left brow quirked. “Have I done something to make you uncomfortable?”
“No,” I lied, sounding like a squeaky wheel. I wasn’t generally a liar, but what was I supposed to say? My intuition and my ghost of an ex think you give off bad vibes ? “It’s just been a long day, and you startled me.”
He pressed his lips together, mulling over my words, while his eyes bored into me as if he were some sort of human lie detector. If I hadn’t been uncomfortable before, I certainly was now. Why was he so suspicious of me? I found that people who were suspicious of others were often suspect themselves. You know, unless you were suspicious about the man you’d once believed to be the love of your life disappearing and reappearing. That was totally normal and not in the same category. At. All. Although I was the one suspicious of my brother-in-law-to-be, so maybe my theory was ridiculous.
Soren flipped a switch and shifted from eyeing me creepily to smiling brightly, highlighting the crinkles around his eyes. “Of course. Traveling can be so tiring. I hope we will be good friends.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say.
Soren smiled, but in a placating manner. “Tell me about Cash,” he casually asked. “You met in France?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“And he just disappeared?” Apparently, Mama had spread that tidbit of information. One would think that would be off-putting to a mother.
“Something like that.”
“Hmm. Where has he been all this time?”
I shrugged, feeling more unsettled around Soren. Why did he care about Cash?
Thankfully, the photographer showed up with a big camera in front of her face. “There’s the groom. Smile.”
Soren held up his hand. “No pictures for me tonight. Tonight is all about my bride.”
Huh? Did that seem weird? And was Lexi okay with this? Come to think of it, she’d never posted any pictures of them together on social media, even though I knew she had hundreds of him, judging by how many she’d sent me over the last few months. Now that I thought about it, she’d instructed me not to post anything about the two of them. I’d just assumed she’d been waiting for some professional pictures of them together and didn’t want me sharing any of her spotlight. But now ... I didn’t know ... something didn’t feel right.
The photographer lowered her camera. “Sorry, I forgot. Lexi said you’re camera shy.”
Soren laughed, and while it sounded mostly good natured, there was a hint of dark humor swirling in there.
When the photographer walked away, Soren leaned toward me and whispered conspiratorially. “In my line of work with such high-profile clients, I feel it best to stay as inconspicuous as possible.”
“That makes sense.” No, it didn’t. Not to say I knew a lot about hedge fund managers, but there were some pretty high-profile ones. Hello? Warren Buffett.
Soren took my hand without warning and kissed it. Another unwelcome chill ran down my spine. And ... Cash appeared, holding up a cupcake made to look like a white delphinium. “Here’s the cupcake you asked me to bring you.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I would never ask him for anything, but something in his imploring eyes asked me to play along. Was he saving me from Soren? Did he truly think I needed saving? Not that I wanted or needed Cash to save me, but I did welcome an excuse to get away from Soren. So, against my better judgment, I took the out Cash offered me.
I ripped my hand away from Soren’s and took the cupcake. “Thank you. What took you so long?” I teased, trying to make the lie sound real.
Soren looked between the two of us, not sure what was going on. He wasn’t the only one. “So, you two are together?”
“Working on it.” Cash flashed me a dazzling smile.
“Um ... I wouldn’t say that.” Like, ever. “I just really like cupcakes.” Oh. My. Gosh. That sounded ridiculous. I mean, I did love a good cupcake. Cakes and pastries were kind of my thing.
“I remember,” Cash said intimately. “I’ll never forget that night you taught me how to make Biscoff cupcakes with buttercream frosting.”
Oh baby. That had been quite the night. The way the man could lick frosting off a finger was magical. Even more magical was how it tasted on his lips. I needed to stop thinking about it before I lost my head and decided to find out if the frosting on the cupcake I held was finger-licking good. “Anyway,” I sang like a soprano. “I should probably go do ... something.” I couldn’t think of anything.
Cash grinned, knowing he was getting to me. Dang man.
I wasn’t sure if Soren had actually bought this show, but he made his excuses to leave. “I should go to Lexi.”
“Good idea,” I replied. “I’m sure she’s missing you.”
He strode off without a word and made his way to Lexi, who was now in the middle of the dance floor getting low, low, low to Flo Rida and T-Pain’s song with all her girlfriends. Several men stood to the side, ogling the scene that was getting exponentially louder and rowdier. It looked more like a bachelorette party than a bridal shower. Mama stood with Daddy, watching in horror as the classy event spiraled into a night at the club. My bet was Lexi hadn’t given Mama all the details. Mama bit her lip, trying to pretend all was well, while Daddy held her hand, probably keeping her from running out on the dance floor and telling Lexi and her friends this wasn’t proper bridal shower etiquette. I’m sure they didn’t love it one bit, watching Soren run his hands down Lexi like they were trying out for a part in Step Up . Yikes. There was some major curve fondling going on. I couldn’t continue to watch.
Meanwhile, I had my own crisis as Cash perched himself next to me. “You’re welcome, by the way,” he had the audacity to say.
“For what?”
“I think you know.”
“I don’t remember you being this cocky.”
“Sure you do, and you liked it. A lot.” He gave me a once-over with his eyes, sending the good kind of shivers through me.
I hated him, but he was right. I did find his, let’s say, confident demeanor sexy. But that was in the past. “You can go now.”
“I’m happy where I’m at. Thank you.”
I wanted to shove the cupcake in his face. What was happening to me? I’d never had violent thoughts like this before or ever wished to make a scene.
I wanted to march over to my parents, but then Nana Rose, Aunt Vivian, and her two daughters-in-law, Georgia and Faith, who were married to Mia’s older brothers, showed up. Oh, this would definitely be interesting. Aunt Vivian was livid that Lexi had refused to have Georgia and Faith in the bridal party. Mama felt like they were too “backwoods,” whatever that meant. Um ... judging by the scene on the dance floor, a lot of these girls had seen some backwoods honky-tonks. There was a lot of badonkadonk going on out there.
Aunt Vivian’s lips curled up into a big ole smile when she came on the scene, knowing it was Mama’s worst nightmare. Heaven forbid anyone think we were less than what Mama considered perfect. I’m sure it gave Aunt Vivian some vindication after Mama and Lexi snubbed Georgia and Faith. It was a crying shame—I really liked Georgia and Faith. They were sweet and beautiful, and they both made a mean peach cobbler.
Mama strolled over to Aunt Vivian, trying her best to stay composed, like there was nothing to see, while her sister prepared to gloat.
Nana Rose came straight to me, shuffling over in what she called pedal pushers, but they were really just capri pants, and an orange Tennessee Volunteers sweatshirt. She couldn’t care less that she was underdressed or that her attire clashed with her bright-red lipstick. I also noticed that Pops and Uncle Finch hadn’t come, even though I’m sure Mama had invited them. No doubt they wanted no part of this girly stuff, as Pops would call it. Pops was the kind of man who believed that allowing men in the delivery room nowadays was a travesty.
“Baby girl.” Nana Rose held out her arms.
No matter how unsettled I felt, Nana always had a way of making me feel better. I handed Cash the cupcake and the gift bag—at least he was useful for something—then ran to Nana and wrapped my arms around her. She was quite a bit shorter than me, so my chin landed on top of her wiry, mostly gray hair with hints of auburn still peeking through.
Nana squeezed me tight. She still had a lot of gumption, despite being in her late seventies. “It’s about time you came home,” she mildly scolded me.
“I know. I’ll try to be better about that,” I promised. “You know, you could come visit us and go skiing with Mia and me this winter.”
“Honey, I would hate to show you up.”
I giggled, but I wouldn’t put it past her to kick our booties on the slopes.
“Let’s get down to business. Word is you brought a man home with you.”
I cringed and silently cursed, but then I remembered that if anyone would see Cash for the snake in the grass he was, it would be Nana.
“I didn’t bring him. He came on his own. And you should know that he left me in France three years ago without even a goodbye,” I said, just in case Mama hadn’t gotten around to telling her, while I narrowed my eyes at Cash—who dutifully held my things, smirking at me as if saying, Bring on your nana.
He’d better get ready—Nana Rose could knock anyone down a few notches. Honestly, it surprised me she hadn’t said anything to me about Soren. Surely she had to have picked up on some bad vibes. She claimed to be a human bull-crap meter. Her meter should go off any second after meeting Cash.
“Is that so?” Nana hissed.
I smiled, knowing I was about to see Nana take Cash down in a verbal assault. I didn’t even care if she made a scene, which frightened me. Who was I becoming? Cash’s presence had me unhinged.
Cash took control of the situation by handing me my cupcake and gift bag before wrapping his muscular arms around my nana. “You must be Nana Rose. I’m thrilled to finally meet you. Sabrina adores you and spoke of you so often, I feel as if I already know you.”
I stood there, absolutely flabbergasted. What was he doing, acting as if we were a couple? The urge to smash the cupcake in his face grew. Cash was upending my life, and I didn’t appreciate it one bit. But I kept ahold of the cupcake and waited for Nana to take him down. It would cause less of a scene, as Nana said rude things all the time, so people just expected it.
The anticipation grew as I watched Cash and Nana. Any second now she was going to have him running for the hills with his tail between his legs like the coward he was. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Um ... what was she doing? I watched as Nana wrapped her tiny arms around Cash’s glorious body, ran her hands up his back, and settled her head onto his chest. Was she sighing? Oh. My. Gosh.
Cash flashed me the smirkiest of smirks.
This, I couldn’t have. Nana was mine, and she was going to hate him. Believe me, I knew how intoxicating he was and how being in his embrace made you feel safe and all sorts of woozy like you could get drunk off him, but it was all a sexy illusion. “Nana, you need to back away from him. This is how he reels you in and then leaves you.”
Cash’s face fell, and he let go of Nana.
But Nana wasn’t done with him yet. To my horror, her aging, knotted hands patted down his chest. She even took the liberty of digging in her fingers a time or two. “I don’t know, baby girl; I’m not sure I’d kick this one out of my bed for eating crackers.”
Ew. Nanas weren’t supposed to say things like that. “I don’t even want to know what that means.” While I grasped the concept, I preferred not to ponder on it. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.
In the background, the dulcet tones of my aunt and Mama were heating up.
“You’re just jealous. You always have been,” Mama accused Aunt Vivian.
“Me? Jealous? Your daughter is marrying a plastic Ken doll. Why would I be jealous of that?”
Hmm. I think Aunt Vivian hit the nail on the head with that one. Soren was pretty plasticky.
“He’s Norwegian,” Mama defended him. “That’s how they look.” Obviously she had no idea what she was talking about.
Aunt Vivian laughed at her. “Whatever you say, baby sister. Just mark my words: their marriage ain’t gonna last.”
It was a good thing Lexi and Soren were still acting as if they were auditioning for Step Up and weren’t privy to this conversation. Lexi would have lost it on Aunt Vivian. I had to wonder if Aunt Vivian was only saying those things out of spite, or if she also had a bad feeling about Soren? I didn’t get to find out, as she, Faith, and Georgia turned and walked out with their heads held high.
“Looks like I need to go have a talk with my daughters again.” Nana stopped manhandling Cash, only to wink at him. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I’ll be back for more.”
Cash chuckled while I wanted to vomit.
Nana shuffled past me and patted my cheek. “Sorry, baby girl, there is just something about that man.”
Ugh. Why did everyone keep saying that? Probably because it was true. But I knew there was more than meets the eye with him, and I intended to find out what it was. While I was at it, I would uncover who my sister was marrying too. I turned and shoved the cupcake in my mouth. I had some research to do. My only hope was that whatever I found wouldn’t cause too much drama.