Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
RACHEL
“Forget him.” I run my hand up and down Paige’s back, wishing I could bring her real comfort, but my words sound hollow even to my ears. “Who knows what his problem is?”
“I’m done.” Paige wipes at the leaking tears just beneath her eyes, her movements quick. “Seriously. I can’t keep living like this.”
“No, you really can’t.” I send a longing look Wyatt’s way, wishing I could go talk to him and his mom, but I can’t abandon my friend.
Nate was so cold toward her when we first joined them.
He wouldn’t look in her direction, didn’t say hi to either of us, nothing.
When he decided to go on Serena’s boat, I knew something was up.
What happened? I have no clue.
I comfort Paige for a few more minutes until she finally demands I go talk to Wyatt. By the time I rejoin him, his mom and dad are sitting on the seats in the bow of the boat, and Paige settles in with them.
“Is Paige okay?” Wyatt asks me when I sit in the chair across from his.
He’s steering the boat carefully along with the many other boats out on the water.
I notice how many of them are decorated in the Fourth of July spirit.
Paige brought a bag of decorations she wanted to use on Wyatt’s boat, but the negativity coming from Nate ruined that.
“Not really, but she’ll be fine. I have no idea what happened with Nate, but he was rude toward her. Toward both of us,” I answer.
Wyatt breathes deep, unable to look at me when he says, “It’s my fault.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“We got into it about . . . other stuff at first, but I also mentioned to him that Paige is tired of waiting around for him. He got real quiet after that. Hasn’t really spoken to me since.”
“Oh no.” Regret floods me, and I wish I had kept my mouth shut.
“Hey.” I glance up at Wyatt’s soft tone. “You all right?”
I shake my head. “I should’ve never told you that about Paige. Now she’s miserable, and so is your brother.”
“The truth hurts sometimes.” He leans back some, patting his thigh. “Come here.”
My mouth hangs open like I have no control of myself. “You want me to sit on your lap in front of your parents?”
“I’m not going to jump you.” He chuckles at what I’m sure is my horrified expression. “Come here, Rach. Sit with me.”
I go to him because how can I not? Somehow, we make it work, me perched on his thigh, his arms going around me as he continues to steer the boat.
He finds a spot within minutes of me joining him, and he and his father anchor the boat while I make small talk with his mom and Paige, who’s mostly mute. Her thoughts are clearly elsewhere.
“Wyatt mentioned you’re from New York City. Is that true?” his mom asks me.
“It is true.” I withhold the sigh that wants to leave me.
I’m sure she wants to tell me how glamorous the city is and maybe how she wishes she could go visit, but I disagree.
There’s nothing glamorous about dirty streets and trash on the sidewalks and how the air can choke you sometimes.
No one is friendly, and rarely is someone seen walking around with a smile on their face.
Yes, the shopping is great, and we have some wonderful restaurants in the city too, but ultimately . . .
I love it here. In this town. It’s where I want to be.
“I’m sure being in Foxglove Bay for the summer isn’t something you’re used to.”
“It’s not, but that’s why I love it. Everyone is so nice, and the lake is beautiful. I like working at Mitchell’s too.”
“I think it’s kind of funny that you’re working at Mitchell’s. It’s like a rite of passage for anyone who lives around here to work there at one point or another. I did back in my day,” his mom says, looking proud.
“You did?” I’m not surprised. “Where did you work?”
“The fountain one summer and back in the office for another summer. I hated the fountain. Too busy for me.”
“I’m working the window right now. Taking everyone’s orders. Paige put me there, but I did work the ice cream counter at first,” I tell her.
“I have a lot of fond memories of working there. I was with all my friends from high school, and we had so much fun! I bet it’s a little different when you’re older.” She sends me a questioning look. “How old are you anyway?”
“Twenty-two.” Is she going to hold my age against me? I hope not.
“Hmm. You’re younger than I thought. My Wyatt is almost thirty.”
“I’m almost twenty-nine, Mom,” Wyatt calls out, as if he’s been listening to our entire conversation.
His mom doesn’t seem bothered by it one bit. “Oh whatever! Close enough to thirty.” Her gaze returns to mine. “I know it’s none of my business, but what are your plans for the future, hmm? You seem a little young to want to settle down.”
Alarm races through me at her question and observation. “I, uh, don’t really know—”
“Mom, stop pressuring her.” Wyatt has joined us, a fierce expression on his face. “We’ve barely started seeing each other.”
“I’m just curious.” She offers me a reassuring smile. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I’m a little overprotective of my boys.”
Wyatt rolls his eyes at me, and all I can do is sit here, worry gnawing at my stomach.
“I understand.” I offer his mother a soft smile, trying to act like what she asked didn’t bother me. And it shouldn’t. But it does . . .
“Of course you do, sweetheart. You don’t seem like the type who’d purposely break my oldest boy’s heart.” Her smile is serene, and I can feel mine fading quickly.
Well, this conversation turned awkward.
“Mom, Dad needs you.” The pointed look Wyatt sends her way makes it obvious his father doesn’t need her at all. He’s just trying to get rid of her.
“Oh.” She jumps to her feet. “I’ll be back.”
I watch her go back to the front of the boat while Wyatt moves in closer to me, his hands on my waist, his forehead falling gently onto mine. “I’m sorry.”
I hold in a dreary sigh. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s really not. I don’t know why she acts that way.” He pauses. “Maybe it’s because this is the first time that I’ve brought a woman around her since I was with Dottie’s mom.”
This is . . . a lot. Being involved with a man who has a child.
An overprotective mom who acts like she’s sweet yet watches me with a hawklike expression.
Ready to throw down on me at any moment.
I like Wyatt. I care about him a lot. But everything is happening so fast, and I can’t help but feel overwhelmed.
“Totally understandable.” I pull away slightly, offering him a reassuring smile when he frowns at me. “She doesn’t know me at all. And we are moving pretty fast, Wyatt.”
His frown deepens. “That’s what Nate said.”
Oh great. Nate’s probably bad-mouthing me as well. I can’t win right now. I need to change the subject. “When are the fireworks scheduled to happen?”
Wyatt pulls his phone out of his pocket to check. “I think around nine fifteen? It’s almost nine now.”
Thank God. I watch Paige talk to Wyatt’s parents, and how at ease she is with them. I envy her that ease. The fact that she’s known them basically since birth.
Maybe I don’t fit in with his family. Maybe I don’t belong in this town at all.
* * *
“You’ve been quiet since before the fireworks started,” Wyatt says on the drive back to his house.
Dottie is staying the night with his sister. Wyatt tried to protest, but Serena pointed out it made no sense for her to come home, only to turn around and be dropped off first thing tomorrow morning. So now I get Wyatt all alone for one more night before he has to go in to work . . .
And I’m in an obvious funk.
“I’m tired. Work was busy today.”
He’s quiet as he drives, and I go quiet too, staring out the window.
Paige is in an even worse funk, thanks to Nate’s obvious rejection of her.
When we came back to the dock after the fireworks show, Nate immediately asked his parents if they’d drop him off at his house.
Paige even offered to drive him since they live on the same side of the lake, and he ignored her question.
Literally ignored it like she didn’t even exist.
She left soon after, and I sent her a text to check on her, but no response still.
Men are the worst. Though maybe not Wyatt. I shouldn’t lump him in with the rest of them, but his brother? Most definitely.
“You can be real with me, Rach.” His voice is low. He sounds troubled, despite reaching over and settling his hand on my thigh. “My mom upset you.”
I sigh. “Wyatt—”
“It’s okay if you’re mad at her or whatever. She means well, but she butts in where she shouldn’t and causes unnecessary drama. Your entire mood shifted after you spoke with her.”
“I’m also sad about Paige and Nate,” I admit, not about to go in on his mother. Men are protective of their moms, even if they criticize them. Most people are that way, really. “I hate how cold he was toward her tonight.”
“That’s my fault. I shouldn’t have told him what you said,” he admits.
He’s not wrong, but I don’t want to rub it in.
“Ultimately, I’m the one to blame because I said something when I shouldn’t have.” I won’t tell him Paige never said that in the first place. I’ll look like the villain when that was never my plan.
I’m starting to think everyone back home who criticized me for my big mouth and diving too quickly into a situation, a romance, whatever, was actually right. I seem to make a mess of everything I try to do.
“We both messed up then.” Wyatt pulls into his driveway and puts the car in park before shutting off the engine. I glance over at him to find he’s already watching me, his head bent, his gaze imploring. The longer he stares at me, the easier it gets for me to breathe. “Are you mad at me?”
I slowly shake my head. “No. Are you mad at me?”
His smile melts away the uncomfortable lump that’s resided in my chest since his mom asked me what my intentions are with her son. I know she didn’t say it quite like that, but close enough. “I could never be mad at you.”
Oh, give me time, I want to say to him, but I don’t.
“You’re okay with staying the night, right?” He reaches for me, his fingers drifting across my jaw, and I nod, leaning into his touch. “Good. Let’s go inside.”
My skin goes warm at the way he says it. The look in his eyes. I have to remember that this man wants me. He cares about me. He won’t listen to his mom or Nate or whoever else is a doubter when it comes to our relationship.
Right?