Chapter 17
Ava
All those who love us fill my living room and wait for me to speak since I just cleared my throat after announcing I had something to say.
It’s actually we have something to say, but Matthias seems to be feeling particularly cranky today.
He says work has been getting on his nerves, but I wonder if it’s something else.
“What’s going on?” Eden asks.
She’s the only one I wouldn’t give a hard time to for rushing me, so I fake a grimace and hold up my forefinger. “One moment, please.”
My best friend knows I’m being playful, so she stands up and looks around at everyone. “Ava needs a moment before she tells us all what her good news is. Anyone want to bet it’s baby news?”
Her husband whips out a hundred dollar bill and sets it on the coffee table in front of him. “Oh, I’m good for that bet.”
Kellen standing next to him laughs and sets his hundred on top of his older brother’s. “Me too. It’s always a safe bet with those two.”
Why he says that is beyond me. It’s not like we have a clown car full of kids already. We just had a baby too, so how could they think that’s what this is about?
I turn to look at Matthias standing next to me, but he’s still as grumpy as he’s been all day, so he’s no help. Ronan notices how unhappy he looks too, and of course, has to make a comment.
“No way, guys. Look at how miserable Matthias looks. It’s not a baby she’s about to announce. It’s got to be something else.”
“Honey, could you try to look happy?” I whisper to my husband. “We are announcing something good here tonight.”
All that gets me is a nod. Not even an attempt at a smile. Work must be really terrible lately because I haven’t seen Matthias this way since Theo and I were dating years ago.
I take his hand and bring it to my lips for a kiss. “You ready?”
Finally, he forces himself to smile. I can tell whenever he doesn’t really mean it because the smile doesn’t go all the way up to his eyes. When it’s genuine, his dark brown eyes light up too, but I see nothing but the same irritation in them now.
“Sure.”
That’s also a sure sign the man I love isn’t happy. He becomes reticent, and his answers are invariably monosyllabic.
“Come on, already!” Marius calls out. “What’s the news?”
I give Matthias’s hand a gentle squeeze and finally tell everyone our plans. “After one delay, three kids, and more years knowing one another than we want to count, Matthias and I are getting married two weekends from now.”
Everyone looks around oddly, but no one seems thrilled or even congratulates us. Do they all have the same affliction my husband has lately?
Eden looks at her husband and then back at me. “That’s great, but I think we’re confused. Aren’t you guys already married?”
“No. Don’t you remember that we couldn’t get married when we planned over the holidays a few years ago because of Ronan’s accident?” I explain, hoping to clear up any confusion our family might have about this.
It doesn’t work, though.
Kellen shrugs and says, “We all thought you guys ended up going to city hall or something. I’ve been calling you my sister-in-law forever, it seems.”
Then Eden says, “Yeah, that’s what we thought too. You even said we were sisters-in-law when it came out that Marius and I had been married in secret when we got together in Las Vegas.”
“No, well, yes. I mean, yes I did say that, but it was sort of just my way of saying we were with brothers all that time and didn’t get to take advantage of that fact. Matthias, I think I’m losing the crowd here. Can you explain things to them?”
I look over at him with everyone else to see an expression of almost disinterest. This is our actual wedding we’re announcing, and he acts like I’m telling everyone we decided to have the sidewalks redone.
“We didn’t get married when we wanted to, so now we’re getting married two weekends from now. Ava has all the details. I’m a little fuzzy on the time, so she’ll let you know.”
He stops for a moment and looks over at me. “Good? Okay, I need to go handle some stuff since I’m going to be off from work for the honeymoon we’re taking.”
And with that, he walks out of our big announcement.
The room falls completely silent until Eleanor thankfully says, “We’ve got all sorts of goodies to celebrate, so everyone grab a plate and enjoy!”
When no one moves, I walk over to where we set up all the food and drink for tonight and do my best Vanna White impression. “And here we have appetizers, the best Eleanor made chicken dish you’ll ever taste, desserts, wine, and soda, so let’s get this feast started!”
Thankfully, that lights a fire under everyone, so they get up from their seats and start to walk toward where I stand in front of a table covered in all the food Eleanor prepared. I try to make it seem like everything’s fine, but behind my smile, I’m worried about Matthias.
Eden gently pulls me away from right in front of the most delicious spinach puffs on Earth, and we walk over to near the fireplace as the rest of the group begin to fill up their plates. I can tell by the look she’s giving me that she’s worried about something.
Likely, me.
“Hey, what’s up with Mr. Tall, Handsome, and Moody tonight? You two are announcing your marriage in less than a month, and he ducks out after making it sound like he’s being dragged off to six months on a deserted island. What’s that about?”
Slightly embarrassed, I admit, “I don’t know. He’s been like this for the past two weeks. He isn’t always unhappy, but with every day, he doesn’t smile as much or act like himself anymore. He says it’s his job. I don’t know if that’s it, though.”
“What else could it be?” Eden asks, sounding as confused as I’ve felt ever since this change came over Matthias.
“I don’t know, other than the obvious.”
She waits for me to keep talking, and when I stop, she asks, “What’s the obvious?”
Lowering my voice to barely a whisper, I say the words that have been plaguing my mind since he started acting so unhappy. “That he doesn’t want to actually get married.”
Eden’s eyes practically bug out of her head. “What? That’s insane!” she says far too loudly.
I immediately pull her further away from everyone. “Keep your voice down. As for it being insane, what other reason would a man get all sullen and moody when he and the woman he supposedly loves are to announce their marriage?”
“Supposedly loves? What the hell are you talking about? If you’re here saying Matthias King isn’t madly and crazy in love with you, then I don’t know what the rest of us are supposed to do because you two have been the standard for all of us for years.
You’d have to be crazy to think he doesn’t love you, and since I know you aren’t crazy, you need to forget that idea right now. ”
She’s right, but that doesn’t make me feel much better. I still don’t know what’s wrong with Matthias.
“Fine. He loves me. Then why the hell as soon as we started talking about getting married did he get all miserable? Explain that to me.”
For a long moment, she thinks about my question, but she doesn’t come up with an answer. “I don’t know, but to immediately jump to the conclusion that he doesn’t want to marry you seems a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
As much as I don’t want to say what’s been on my mind, I need to, and Eden is the perfect person to listen. Checking to see if anyone is close enough to hear what I’m about to say, I see we’re far enough away so we can speak freely if we keep our voices down.
“Why do men change suddenly, Eden?”
She thinks about that for a few seconds and answers, “I don’t know where you’re going with this.”
Her voice is tinged with the fear that I’ve experienced for days now. She knows exactly where I’m going with this.
“Let’s be plain. Men change when they feel trapped or are busy elsewhere. Matthias and I just had our third child, so maybe he’s feeling a bit stuck with me and feels like he has to marry me. Then there’s the other reason.”
I can’t bring myself to say the actual words, so like always, I use the euphemism of busy elsewhere. Eden isn’t as constrained, and starts to shake her head in denial.
“No. No way. There is no way on this planet or any other one for that matter. I refuse to believe Matthias is cheating on you.”
And there it is. The terrible word I haven’t even been able to let myself think. Cheating.
“Then tell me what the hell is going on. We started discussing getting married for real, as in a minister and ceremony. We decided on the date and made it pretty soon because neither of us seemed to want to wait and we don’t need any big thing, just all of you guys who love us.
The very next day, he started acting like this.
That was two weeks ago, and it’s only gotten worse. ”
“What is his excuse?”
I look over at the rest of my loved ones enjoying the food we laid out and sigh. “Work. He says his job has been a huge hassle lately. I don’t know why, but I think that’s a lie.”
Ever the one who wants to think the best of those she cares about, Eden perks up and asks, “Did you ask Kellen? They work in the same company. Maybe he could fill you in on what’s going on there.”
My spirits soar at her suggestion, and before I know it, she’s roped him in to talk with us in hushed tones away from everyone. As usual, Kellen seems blissfully unaware of everything around him, which may help us tonight.
He looks at both of us and asks, “What’s up? By the way, congratulations, Ava. Why does my brother look like someone told him he’s being audited by the IRS?”
Eden pulls him closer. “Shhh, let’s keep this quiet.”
Now Kellen appears utterly lost. “What are we keeping quiet?”
“We want to know why work is making Matthias so grumpy,” she says, speaking for both of us.
He shrugs and shakes his head. “I didn’t realize it was.”
“Well, is there anything happening at the company that would be upsetting him?” I ask, hoping Kellen might know the answer.