Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Scarlett
“Ladies and gentlemen, you’re in for a treat today!” The spa coordinator’s hype-girl enthusiasm is almost too much as she explains the plans for the wedding party. “You’re going to be scrubbed, soaked, and rubbed down until you’re a whole new person.”
I glance at Brendan, who’s wearing his usual coach face—stoic and hard to read. He catches my eye, and his lips curl just a little.
“Okay, ladies, follow me!” She waves us down a long hallway lit with soft, amber lights and Asian spa music drifting from hidden speakers. Somewhere in the distance, I can hear the trickle of a waterfall.
“You and Brendan are such a cute couple,” Carmen says as we head toward the massage rooms.
“Yeah?” I cringe inside that I sound like someone who’s never been in a serious relationship. I hate pretending in front of Carmen. She’s too sweet and deserves the truth. But I’m confused about what that truth even is anymore, especially after last night at the carnival.
Brendan looked like he wanted to kiss me on that Ferris wheel. And he’s everything I want—someone who’s happy just playing darts, or carrying a giant dolphin around, who doesn’t care if I’m wearing my glasses and my heart pajamas while eating Reese’s Pieces.
I want someone who makes my body melt and my pulse pound.
Someone who sounds suspiciously like Brendan Marco.
“It’s funny how things always work out,” Carmen says as we strip down to our underwear in side-by-side dressing rooms. “I always knew you two would reconnect when he moved back to Sully’s Beach.”
“Well, it took a few years,” I say, hoping this sounds believable as I peel off my sundress.
“Girl, you know he’s been slightly obsessed with you since high school.” I freeze inside the dressing room. This is news to me. I always thought I was just the third wheel with him and Eli. “I thought it would happen sooner, actually.”
“Really?” I answer, hiding the hope in my voice.
“Well, when I asked him why he hadn’t asked you out, he told me you two had history. He wouldn’t tell me what.”
Her door opens, but I stay in my dressing room so she won’t see the guilt plastered on my face. I can’t admit that her accident caused our breakup.
“Whatever happened, I’m glad you two worked it out,” Carmen says brightly. “The past is in the past, right?”
“Yeah,” I say weakly behind my door, though I can’t shake the feeling that the past is still haunting me. “Hey, do you know anything about that flower tattoo on Brendan’s arm?”
“Yeah, why?”
“What does it say?” I try to sound casual.
“It’s the date of my accident,” she answers. “He got it while he was in the Marines. I guess he wanted to remember me while I was still recovering.”
Oh. In honor of his sister. That makes sense. But it still doesn’t explain why he didn’t want to tell me.
I walk out of my dressing room, tightening the knot on my robe. “It’s sweet that he didn’t want to forget you while he was gone.”
“Yeah,” she says, her brow knitting, like she’s trying to remember the details. “I barely recall that time, but I guess he was really upset. I think he blamed himself for the accident, which is ridiculous, because I never did.”
I don’t respond, even though I know why—because he was with me instead of her.
We head to our massages, and afterward, I’m directed to change into my swimsuit for the hot-tub soak. I slip into a dressing room and start taking off my robe when I hear Carmen and Elana’s daughter, Taylor, enter.
They’re talking in low voices, oblivious to the fact that I’m there too.
“I just don’t understand why he’s dating her,” Taylor says in a hushed whisper.
I freeze, my hands stilling on the ties of my swimsuit.
“Have you actually talked to Scarlett?” Carmen sounds defensive, and it makes me feel better that she’s on my side. “I think you’d really like her.”
“Well, Uncle Rafael doesn’t.”
What the—
My blood runs cold. I stay quiet, barely breathing as I hide behind the changing room door.
“Uncle Raf always acts that way around new people,” Carmen says. “I’m sure when he gets to know her better—”
“No.” Taylor cuts her off. “He told me himself that she’s not good enough for Brendan. I mean, she might be nice, but it’s not like she’s one of us.”
One of us.
The phrase echoes in my head, confirming every doubt I’ve tried to suppress since this whole thing started.
“Taylor, stop.” Carmen’s voice has an irritated edge to it. “I like Scarlett. And I don’t even know what you mean when you say she’s not one of us.”
Taylor sighs like she’s explaining something obvious to a child. “She doesn’t have the same upbringing. She didn’t go to private school, hasn’t traveled the world. And then there’s her brother, who’s a complete loser.”
“Eli is not a loser,” Carmen snaps. “Their family is going through a lot right now.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that to rub off on us,” she mutters.
“What are you talking about?” Carmen asks.
“All their bad luck. Listen, her family is just different from ours. Why doesn’t he date someone more suitable? Like Laila?”
“Laila’s laid up with a broken leg in Switzerland. Besides, Brendan can’t stand her.”
“Honestly, I can’t imagine this will last long,” Taylor continues, then she sighs deeply. “Although Brendan does seem to have a thing for hopeless cases.”
Hopeless cases? I seriously want to strangle the woman.
I wait until I hear them leave before I even dare to move. When I finally step out from behind the door, I notice my whole body has gone cold.
That was utterly humiliating. And now I have to face them and pretend that I’m all right.
I check the hallway before I make my way to the hot-tub room, reviewing the conversation in my mind and all the things I wanted to tell—okay, shout at—Taylor, but couldn’t.
I take a shaky breath and pray I can get through the rest of this day without losing it.
“Carmen?” I step inside the room, where a hot tub bubbles like a giant pot of soup. “Anyone here?”
Only silence.
Thank God. I need a moment. Or fifty.
I climb into the steaming water and sink down until bubbles break around my shoulders. The heat should be relaxing, but all I feel is the burning behind my eyes and the breath catching on the lump in my throat.
I hang my head, and the next thing I know, tears are dripping down my face, hot and fast.
I try to talk myself out of this spiral, but Taylor’s words keep circling my head like a mosquito that won’t leave me alone. She’s not one of us. Not good enough. Brendan only likes hopeless cases.
What if she’s…right? What if everything she said is what people are actually thinking, and I’m just too dumb to figure it out?
It’s just like when I switched schools and no one wanted to sit with me at the lunch table.
I’m not sophisticated like the rest of the Marco women.
I didn’t attend a fancy private school or spend summers at my uncle’s beach house.
I’ve never been to a wedding that costs more than my entire year’s salary.
My idea of a nice dinner is when we can afford to order pizza instead of eating leftovers.
And here I am, pretending to date someone who grew up with all of that—someone whose uncle owns a professional hockey team and who probably has a trust fund bigger than a lifetime of the cafe earnings.
I’m just Brendan’s pretend girlfriend. Not his actual girlfriend, no matter how he looked at me on that Ferris wheel. He was caught up in the moment, and I got sucked in too, believing there could be something between us.
And now, we’ve done such a good job that everyone bought it.
Why wouldn’t they? It wasn’t hard to pretend I was in love with Brendan Marco.
Because I am in love with him. And that’s the worst part.
After the wedding, I’ll be stuck with these feelings, but the deal will be over. Finished. And even getting the vendor contract won’t make up for that. Then we go back to being…what? Friends? People who see each other at the coffee shop?
Why does that thought make me cry harder?
I’m such a wreck right now, I don’t even hear the door open or the footsteps approach.
I’m startled when a deep voice says, “I hope you’re wearing a swimsuit under those bubbles, because if not…”
My head snaps up.
Brendan is standing at the edge of the hot tub, wearing only black swim trunks that sit low on his hips, and even through my puffy eyes, I think he might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
As soon as he sees my face, his grin falls away.
“Scarlett.” He’s in the water in a heartbeat, moving toward me, then falling to his knees so his face is even with mine above the water. “What’s wrong?”
I wipe my eyes, but it’s useless now. My cheeks are streaked with tears and my nose is running like a sieve. I take in a shaky, pathetic sniffle. “It’s a good thing I don’t like muscles,” I mutter with a laugh.
“Excuse me?” He’s searching my face now. “You’re crying, and when I ask you why, you bring up my muscles?”
“It’s a good distraction.”
“Scarlett.” His tone is low and commanding, his coach voice. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
“Nothing. Nobody.” I shake my head. I can’t tell him what Taylor said without reinforcing to him all the reasons I don’t belong here with him.
“Don’t do that.” He reaches out to touch my face, brushing his hand over my tear-streaked cheek. “Don’t shut me out. Please.”
I wish I could say that his assertive manner didn’t do things to me. But it knocks down all the walls protecting my heart.
I wince, knowing I’m about to tear these wounds right open again. “Well, in the changing room I heard Taylor and Carmen talking. They didn’t know I was there, and Taylor brought up our relationship.”
The crease in his brow deepens. “What did she say?”
Another shaky sniffle. “Basically, that I’m not like the other women in your family. I don’t belong here. And that’s because…” I bite my lip. “I’m not good enough for you.”
I leave out the other rude comments because that will only make Brendan want to burn this place down. His face already looks murderous.