15. Chapter 15
15
Chapter 15
Blue
If a month ago someone had told Blue that she would have friends knocking on her door, she would have thought they were nuts.
But that’s exactly what happened. Five days ago, she’d gone to a girl’s night out with Grace and Kate the librarian. That night, she’d met a bunch of amazing gals, was added to a group chat of half a dozen or more women, and now, she was letting two of them in her living room as if she entertained all the time. She did not. Her world was small and male-dominated. Girls asked too many questions and cared. Men were content as long as you didn’t show emotions, they didn’t think too hard about having you around.
“You’re getting married tomorrow?” Kate asked, slipping through the door. The night sky was calm and dark with no indication of the coming storm. It was eerie.
“How’d you know?” Blue asked. She leaned against the doorway, trying to be casual. Even before Blue went into witness protection, she’d never had friends like this. Never in a million years would she have thought it was possible to make friends so quickly. Ones she wanted to spend time with.
Grace held up her phone, showing the group text message. “Not because you told us.”
“Your guy mentioned it to one of the employees at the grocery store,” Kate said. “Avery was there buying some water and overheard him.”
“When did you decide this?” Grace asked. “I thought you were in a holding pattern.”
Blue put her hand over Grace’s phone. “No, I—we just decided this afternoon.” And had gone to the registrar right after they’d decided to get all the necessary paperwork. It’d taken them half an hour. She couldn’t believe their luck.
“After the party?” Kate asked, looking surprised.
“What about the hurricane?” Grace asked.
“We’ll get it over with before the storm hits,” Blue assured her. They were getting married early tomorrow.
“Get it over with? Who talks that way about their wedding?” Kate folded her arms over her chest and stared down her nose at Blue. “It’s Sean, isn’t it?”
Blue clamped her teeth together. Why did everyone jump to that conclusion?
Kate smiled dreamily. “The Clayton men sure have a way of making a girl’s head spin, don’t they?”
“You’d know better than I would,” Blue said in an almost whisper.
Grace glanced over her shoulder into Blue’s apartment and gasped. Straight down the hall, in the living room, Blue’s wedding dress hung on a mannequin. It was a two-piece with a removable lace, skirt train she was adding now for her new future. The under piece had a Queen Anne neckline and a mini skirt. She’d made it years ago, then put it away and hadn’t taken it out since.
Kate followed Grace’s gaze.
They made a beeline for the living room. “This is your dress? Oh my gosh, it’s stunning. I’m breathless.” Kate flapped her hands her many rings sending sparkles across the walls.
Blue rushed after them, leaving the door open behind her. She wasn’t sure why, but she was nervous for them to see the piece.
“This is the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen.” Kate fingered the lace at the waist.
“You should have a wedding dress line,” Grace said as she circled the dress dummy, looking from every angle. Blue hadn’t tried it on in years, and when she’d pulled it out this afternoon, there were a few adjustments she needed to make. Mostly in the hips. “I’m just fixing a few things.”
Voices sounded in her doorway, laughing and talking way too loud, and Blue looked that way just as Jonah and two of his friends stepped past the threshold. All three of them were dressed in warm winter coats. Warmer than Blue thought necessary for the weather today. It was in the sixties in Diamond Cove right now.
Levi and Miles. Ugh. Part of the appeal of getting married so quickly was the small hope that Jonah’s friends wouldn’t show. At least there were only two of them. There could be a dozen.
Jonah smiled his megawatt smile at her. “Darlin’, look what the cat dragged in.”
Instinctively, she rushed down the hall to act as a buffer between them and her new friends. “Guys!”
Miles and Levi sandwiched her between them and hip-bumped her from both sides. She felt like a ping pong ball by the time they let her go. Jonah smoothed her hair down on one side.
“I can’t believe you finally tricked Jonah into marriage,” Miles said. He was the biggest in their group of friends. About the same height as Sean’s six foot three inches. He was also the one who instigated all their stupidest stunts.
Base jumping off a cliff with a rocket tied to their backs? Miles. Mountain biking through bear country with raw meat tied to their backs? Miles. Challenging bikers from the Capitol Crows’ biker gang to a race? Miles. That’d almost gotten them killed, but as Miles explained it, the threat of death had gotten them major ratings. Whatever they had to do for fame and fortune.
Levi stepped forward—he wasn’t a big guy, but he had a big, obnoxious personality, and a deep scar in his bottom lip on the right side that she’d never had the guts to ask about. “Now that you’re off the market, do you have any friends you want to introduce us to?”
Blue laughed but tried not to make it sound rude by covering it with a cough. Yeah, not in a million years would she ever set up one of her friends with Levi. As far as she knew the guy had four kids with four different women, and recently found out a fifth was pregnant . . . which had ended his relationship with baby mama number four. And he was only twenty-eight.
Kate and Grace came up behind her.
Levi perked up, glancing over her shoulder. “Ladies!”
“They’re taken,” Blue said defensively.
Levi stepped around her, hips jutted out, arms wide. “But it’s not official until they walk down the aisle, right?”
Jonah pointed at Kate. “Well, this one’s marrying Axel Clayton, so I’d say that’s pretty official.”
“No way!” Miles and Levi chorused together.
“Way,” Kate said, looking completely unimpressed.
The men started reminiscing over that concert of Axel’s they’d all gone to.
Blue turned to her friends, wanting them gone, but not knowing how to say it without being rude.
They took pity on her.
Grace placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll go, we just wanted to be sure we heard right.”
Blue wrung her hands in front of her. “Thank you.”
The women hugged her.
“I know the wedding’s a rush job, but once the hurricane’s gone, we want to throw you a party,” Kate said just loud enough for her to hear as they embraced.
Letting out a breath of relief that she hadn’t said it loud enough for Jonah’s friends to hear—and decide to stay in town long enough to wreck the party, Blue said, “Thank you.”
Blue cleared the path for Kate and Grace to leave, totally convinced one or both of Jonah’s friends would try and cop a feel as they had with her on several occasions. Both times they’d ended up red-faced and not enough shame. Not even their mamas could shame these boys into behaving, and there wasn’t a woman on the planet that could make them want to be real men.
Jonah told his friends to go into the living room as Blue waved goodbye to her friends and shut the door with a resounding, safe, click. She faced him, and he stuck his hands in his pockets.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I know this is a cheek, but can Miles and Levi stay the night?” His accent thickened—a trick he used to try and get her to do things he wanted.
Her jaw dropped. “Those two cavemen in my house the night before our wedding? Seriously?”
He stepped forward, hands out in front of him. “I wouldn’t ask, but the rest of the guys are staying at my place, and I don’t have room. They aren’t here yet, so I thought—hoped these two knuckleheads could stay here.”
They were all going to be here for the wedding. The whole. Freaking. Gang. And Blue wasn’t even sure her dad was coming. Not after their conversation earlier today. The thought of getting married without him to give her away made her stomach churn, but it was his choice to make. She wouldn’t force him.
She glanced to her living area. The guys had raided her kitchen. Each had a soda, Miles had a bag of chips, and Levi had broken off the end of her French loaf and was eating it like a rabbit. Levi plopped down on one end of the couch, and Miles went to the other end, knocking into her dress and nearly sending it to the floor. He righted it with the hand he’d been eating chips with. Joke was on him; those were vegan and gluten-free chips. He wouldn’t be able to poop for three days.
Miles glanced down the hall and looked at her. “Hey, nice dress.”
They turned on the T.V. and cranked the volume up so the announcer’s voice was louder here than in the stadium.
“The man is an elephant, Jonah. If there’s chip stains on my dress, I’m switching their shampoo out for Nair and they’ll be bald before noon tomorrow,” she whisper/yelled at Jonah.
“I’ll tell them to cool it before I leave.”
“Wait— You’re not even staying! Who’s going to babysit?”
A wicked grin tilted his lips up at the side, and he pulled her into his arms. “You want me to stay, darlin’?”
She put her hands on his chest, and when he leaned closer to kiss her, she pulled away.
His eyebrows pinched together in a fake I’m-so-innocent look. “You’re mad?” he asked incredulously.
She clenched her jaw. Like she didn’t have a right to be upset about this crazy turn of events.
She took several deep breaths while fighting the urge to kick them all out to a tent on the beach—during the hurricane.
Longview. She needed perspective. Zoom out, girl , she told herself.
Maybe she didn’t like Jonah’s friends, but she wasn’t marrying them. Yeah, they’d be around now and again but not always. In fact, she hadn’t seen them in months. Not since she’d moved to Diamond Cove. In all this time, Jonah had been traveling to see them. Even for work. She breathed out. “No, I’m fine.”
“So, they can stay.”
She could take her dress down to the shop and stay there. Heck, she could sleep there on one of the sofas and not even set foot in her apartment until the bozos were gone if she wanted to.
She gave a hesitant nod.
He kissed her on the cheek and turned to join the guys when the doorbell rang. Again. “What is happening? Do I have a come-in-we’re-open sign on my door?” she asked as she slung it open.
Sean grinned at her. “No sign but that’s a cute little wreath you have there.” He pointed to her eucalyptus wreath. “You might want to take it down before the storm hits.”
She grabbed it and tossed it on the floor.
His gaze landed on her and dragged down her frame.
He wore jeans, just like he had that afternoon at his mom’s b-day party, but now he wore a dark blue t-shirt that showed off his perfectly toned chest, and she suspected arms too, if only they weren’t covered by a bomber jacket. His hair was wet, and even from a few steps away, she could smell the saltwater in it. Major déjà vu hit, memories of long study sessions in the library, of naps in hammocks on the beach, and her in his arms. She swallowed the forming lump.
For the first time since all the people had started showing up, she became super aware of her outfit of short shorts and a baggy tee. Did he like her legs still? He’d always been a leg-man.
“Sean?” Jonah came up beside her, yanking her out of her inappropriate thoughts.
Sean’s gaze moved to Jonah with a reluctance that made her heart flutter.
Jonah put an arm around her shoulder and her heart returned to its natural rhythm. She fought the urge to shake it off and instead leaned against him.
Sean gave him a little salute.
“What are you doing here?” Jonah asked, all polite tones—but Blue knew better. He only ever used his super-polite voice when he was irritated. “Did you hear about Blue and me getting married tomorrow?”
If Sean was surprised, he didn’t show it. He smiled. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Jonah said.
Sean pointed to Blue. “Actually, I’m here to talk to Blue. If that’s all right with you?”
Jonah squeezed her shoulder. “Actually—”
Blue slouched out from under Jonah’s arm, then glared from Jonah to Sean. “I make my own decisions. I don’t need Jonah’s permission to talk to you.”
This time, Sean did show emotion—sheepishness. He stuck his hands in his pockets and ducked his head a little, but at the same time, she was certain she caught a little smile.
She pointed at Jonah next, who stared Sean down. His friends cheered at something from the living room—sounded like a football game—and when she turned to look. Miles jumped up, spilling soda everywhere. “Jonah, you’re friends are making a mess in the living room.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jonah said, kissing her on the head. “Good to see you again, Sean.” With that, Jonah left her.
Blue turned to Sean again, folding her arms over her chest. “What’s up?”
“Uh—” Sean started when another yell came from the living room.
Jonah, Miles, and Levi were all from Sydney. They’d been in the States for a while, but not so long that she understood how it was they’d come to love football. She’d always assumed that it was mostly an American sport. But when football season came around, she’d always found them watching a game.
She slipped into her flip-flops which she always left by the door, and pushed Sean, hands on his firm pecs, out onto the stair’s landing. She ripped her hands away. Behind him, in the parking lot, was Jonah’s large, yellow, speedboat—taking up three parking spaces in the already crammed area behind the Pier Shops—dripping residual water on the ground. A car was trying to maneuver around it where the tail end of the boat stuck out in the one-lane road. She almost face-palmed. Almost.
“Everything all right?” Sean asked, following her gaze.
“Fine, fine.” She forced a smile.
He chuckled. “You were always a terrible liar.”
Her hackles raised, and she folded her arms in front of her. A gust of wind whipped past her arms, and she leaned into it, tightening her grip on her arms like she was cold. She wasn’t. There he went again, acting like he still knew her all these years later. She wasn’t sure what was bothering her most. That he was doing it, or that he was right.
Sean’s smile slipped. “You and Jonah are getting married tomorrow?”
“Y-yeah,” she stumbled over the word. “It was sort of a last-minute thing.”
“I saw your dress in there.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I remember when you made it.”
She swallowed hard. “That was a long time ago.”
“It’s a piece of art.”
“Why are you here?” She had to know. Showing up on the eve of her wedding couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Why are you marrying Jonah?” The question was judgy, but sounded like he just sincerely wanted to know.
Still, she rolled her eyes. “What is it with people asking me that?”
“You love him.” Not a question. It took her off-guard.
“Yeah.” She nodded and glanced at his brown steel-toed workman boots. He’d been honest with her before and she felt the need to do the same. “That and he’s safe. He can’t hurt me.” And she couldn’t hurt him. It was a win-win, really.
Sean’s eyes flicked up to hers, and for just a moment, she could’ve sworn he looked like he’d just been gutted—but whatever it was she saw, it was gone too quickly for her to be sure. “I’m happy for you. You deserve to feel safe.” He stepped back. “I better go.”
She reached out and grabbed his thick bicep, preventing him. “Sean, why’d you come?”
He let out a deep breath, then turned those hazel eyes of his on her. In a flash, he went from resigned to decided. He faced her again, stepping into her personal space as he did. It wasn’t intentional, at least she didn’t think it was, but he didn’t step back, and she didn’t release her hold on his arm. He was so close now, she could almost taste the salt water smell surrounding him on her tongue.
He stared at her, his gaze running over every inch of her face, and though he wasn’t touching her, it was the most intimate thing she’d experienced in years. It was like he was trying to memorize every curve. Absentmindedly, she realized she was doing the same with him—from the hazel of his eyes to his thick brow and strong jaw to those dimples that had always made her knees wobble when he smiled.
“I had an epiphany today,” Sean said in a whisper, increasing the intimacy of the moment. “I was in the ocean, doing what I love more than anything. My life flashed before my eyes, and even though I haven’t seen you in years, you were at the very center. You were all I could think about.”
Blue’s breath hitched. She broke eye contact and stepped back. “I’m marrying Jonah.” She was moving on with her life. Finally. She was breaking out of this holding pattern she’d been in since forever, since Sean had stomped on her heart all those years ago, and was going to live.
“I’m not trying to stop you.” He cradled her head in his hand, his callused fingertips brushing over her jaw sending goose bumps down her arms, until she looked up at him again. And heaven help her, she leaned into his touch. “I want you to be happy, and if that’s with Jonah, then so be it. But I had to tell you.”
“What?” she heard herself saying.
He swallowed hard, sending his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’ve never stopped loving you.” Her breathing came up short as he leaned in, and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. And then, like earlier today, he was gone.
And like ten years ago, Blue felt her world pull out from underneath her. He was down her stairs and out of sight around a corner before her jumbled thoughts finally caught up with her and she was able to focus on what was most important. Sean never stopped loving her. And he was running away—again. And this time, no preparation, parachute, or ocean below would save her from the fall.