Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
PATIENCE
I didn’t think anything could burst the happy bubble I’d been in.
But there was one person who managed to pop it instantly.
“Well, look who we have here.”
The voice grated on my nerves, alerting me to who it was before I even turned around.
It was the Fourth of July, and everyone was gathering at Gramps’s house.
Ruby and I were just at the store grabbing some last-minute things for a couple of salads.
I hadn’t expected to run into the She-Devil herself.
“Think she will go away if we don’t look at her?” I whispered to Ruby, causing her to cackle.
Being nice always seemed to be my superpower and my downfall. I struggled back in high school to stand up for myself when it really mattered, but after having Griffin, my parents' dismissal of me, and almost losing Jett, I seemed to have slowly found an inner strength I didn’t know I possessed.
It was working in my favor at that moment.
I was pissed that the woman who stood behind me had put a damper on my day and the blissful weeks I’d been having as I planned a small ceremony while also confirming what we already knew—we were having a baby.
Even the morning sickness still plaguing me hadn’t dampened my mood, but Sloane sure would.
“I can hear you, you know.”
Just get it over with, or she won’t go away.
Huffing out a breath, I turned around to face my nemesis—Ruby swiveling with me—and came face to face with Sloane. She wasn’t alone, of course. Nope, two of her friends, the same ones from high school, were with her. The three of them had the same looks on their faces as they did years ago.
You know, the one where they look down their noses at you, as if trying to let me and anyone else know they were better than me.
“What do you want, Sloane?” I couldn’t hold the irritation from seeping out of my voice. “You could have just kept walking and not stopped to chat.”
Ruby leaned over. “I wish Alley were here. She would be so proud.”
Whenever I found my backbone, I always thought the same thing. That had me giggling, and Sloane's eyes turned to slits. Her claws were about to come out, but I didn’t want to deal with her right then. Not ever is more like it. There was a party happening soon, and my family was waiting for me.
I thought when the custody suit dissolved and I’d signed the papers they wanted me to, maybe I’d be lucky enough to never run into them again. That wasn’t the case, but it didn’t mean I had to give her any of my time.
“I don’t know why my husband ever touched you or why he let you off the hook, but I’m not feeling so generous.”
When Sloane took a step toward me, her followers doing the same while flanking her on each side, Ruby pushed herself in front of me.
“Back the fuck off, now!”
The venom in my sister's voice echoed through the store, and I watched as heads turned toward us. Peeking around Ruby, I noticed that Sloane also saw and flashed a phony smile at everyone. I just rolled my eyes; the woman was a bad actress.
“Wait until Alley hears about you,” I said behind Ruby’s back.
Quieting her voice so those around couldn’t hear, she said, “How cute. You got your friend here protecting you.”
I stepped around Ruby and linked my arm with hers. “My sister.”
Sloane's nose turned up. “What?”
“This is my sister, and you are nobody.” I started to pull Ruby away, which was a struggle. I had a feeling she still wanted to give Sloane a piece of her mind. “We’re leaving now.”
When we got a couple feet away, Sloane yelled out, “You may have gotten away once—”
She was cut off by a manager who had come to check on the commotion. When he approached us to ask if everything was alright, I looked back at the posse behind me, and they had vanished.
I shook my head in disgust, and we spoke with the nice guy for a few minutes before finishing our shopping.
But all the way home, something was bugging me.
Sloane’s words before she disappeared.
At first, I thought she was talking about the lawsuit, but it felt like more. It was a gut feeling, I just couldn’t figure out why, and then, before I knew it, we’d pulled back up to the house.
Suddenly, all that crud at the store was forgotten for the time being when the sexiest man alive walked out the front door and made his way down the steps of the porch toward us.
There was a new lightness in his steps and in the way he held himself since we’d been back from our trip. He had embraced therapy even more, shared with his family and friends, and the two of us had dived right into the deep end of a lifelong future together.
“I missed you, Mrs. Adams.”
That was another new thing.
I hadn’t taken his name the first time we married because I didn’t want Griffin to be unlinked to me in the same way—but now we were both going to be changing our names.
“You’re jumping the gun,” I teased.
Jett had been calling me Mrs. Adams ever since I told him I would marry him again and that Griffin and I would take his name. He hadn’t stopped using it every chance he got.
Butterflies took flight and fluttered in my belly when he flashed me his charming, dimpled grin. “Just testing it out.”
“Are you going to help me with these groceries, or just keep making goo-goo eyes at your wife?” Ruby asked her brother.
“Definitely goo-goo eyes,” he joked.
She shook her head at him as her husband's deep voice broke into the mix. “It’s my job to help you, Red.”
Lyric swatted his wife’s butt and gave her a quick, smacking kiss on the lips before reaching into the back of the car to grab bags.
“Is this all you got?” He looked back at us, brows raised. “Usually, you buy out the whole store.”
Ruby’s head swiveled in my direction, and a look passed between us. Of course, neither of our guys missed it, and both asked what that was about. My sister opened her mouth first.
“Well, we had a slight run-in with the Wicked Bitch of the West.”
I couldn’t hold back the laughter that shot from my lungs. That was an all-time new title, and the ladies were going to love it when they heard it.
“Anyway, Sloane bombarded us, and we exchanged words, but my sis here held her own.” She flashed me a proud smile.
Jett was reaching for my hand. “What did she say?”
I really didn’t want to dampen the mood, but I knew, as always, he wouldn’t rest until he had the full story.
Today was supposed to be all happy, celebrating the holiday and the day we told all our friends—Ruby and Lyric were the only ones who knew so far—about the second round of nuptials we were planning and the baby.
“We’ll grab the sacks and meet you inside,” Lyric said, deciding to give us a second alone.
Once they walked away, I relayed.
When I finished, Jett said, “You’re amazing.”
I was shaking my head as if that was silly. I didn’t do anything.
“Don’t deny it. You stood up to her.” Bringing my hand up to his mouth, he kissed the back of it. “Now we can be done with all of them. Sloane is a bully, and you showed her. It’s over.”
Sloane hadn’t seemed like she was done. She’d just been cut off; that was all. Her words came back to me, but I pushed them down and let them go.
I just hoped my husband was right.
The lady's laughter could have shaken the whole house.
It was a good thing we were all outside when Ruby told the story of our run-in with Sloane. I mean, at first, they were pissed and vibrating with rage; then it turned to admiration when she told them how I’d stood up for myself.
However, it was when I told them about my sister’s witty new name for Sloane that the party really got started.
“Holy crap, Wicked Bitch of the West, that’s priceless!” Gemma screeched.
“You should have been a little quieter about your admiration,” Teal told her.
“What? Why? It was hilarious.” As the question left her mouth, Gemma groaned.
Smug as heck, Embry was waiting in the wings with her palm outstretched, as usual, her adoring clan beside her. All the girls wanted to be just like the money hungry dynamo.
Gemma waved her away. “Go tell your Uncle Bodie to pay my fees.”
Embry took off in the direction where he stood with all the other guys by the grill. She didn’t care who paid her, as long as she got paid. We watched her exchange with Bodie who paid up but then looked over at his wife and mouthed, “That’s one.”
“One?” Lake asked Gemma.
Gemma smiled, but her eyes were still on her husband when she said, “Spanking.”
“Damn, that’s hot!” Teal yelled.
“Now you did it,” Jurnee said as she watched her daughter come running toward us again.
Before Embry even made it to us, Teal gave her the same wave that Gemma had. “Go collect from your Uncle Kace.”
Embry giggled, did an about-turn, and headed back to the guys.
“Now I get one too,” Teal said cheerfully.
And so it began. All the ladies were calling out one thing or another so they could snag a spanking later that night. It was a good thing most of the kids were off playing, and those that had been with Embry had gotten bored of the little game.
Not Embry, though. She waited between the two groups like a vulture until she’d collected money from all the guys.
Except for Jett.
He raised his dark brows at me, and I couldn’t resist.
“Damned if I’m going to be left out!” I shouted.
Not only were the women laughing their butts off, but the men were chuckling loudly, too. Even Gramps was in on it. I shook my head at them. They thought it was the funniest thing when a curse came out of my mouth.
After Embry had taken each man’s money, she ran off toward the other kids.
“She’s going to go count it, isn’t she?” River asked.
“I have no doubt,” her mother responded.
As the ladies laughed at that, my eyes stayed locked on my husband, who was moving toward me with a silly smile on his face. I couldn’t look away. I wondered sometimes how I managed to make the dream who was now standing in front of me mine.
“You ready to make announcements?” he asked, leaning in close so only I could hear him.