May 28th #2
He nods. “And you should remember that in the future. When you’re trying to convince yourself not to be with me because you think I’m too young.”
“I didn’t act that way last night,” I say, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“Except for the part where you ditched me.”
“Speaking of ditching you,” I say, cozying up to him, “I’m not going to get to see you again until tonight. And I was hoping we’d finally get to golf.”
“I heard you all have a big shopping trip planned to Eureka Springs. Has your mom ever been?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
“She’ll love it, and you’ll have a great time.”
“You wanna come with?”
“Shopping? Nah, I’m good,” he says with a grin.
In living hell.
Ainsley
I am glad that my mom decided to stay for more than just the weekend, and I wouldn’t want to miss this time with her even though I would like to just shack up in Damon’s little tent and never come out.
I’m wandering through a shop with all sorts of locally made food when I hear a voice say, “Ainsley!”
When I turn around, I am face-to-face with Brad’s mom, who immediately pulls me into a hug.
Which is a surprise.
“It’s been much too long, Ainsley. I’ve missed you. How are you doing? Fill me in on everything going on in your life. We were so shocked when you broke up with Brad and switched schools. Notre Dame was your dream.”
I don’t even know what to say to this. Does she think I broke up with Brad? I mean, technically, I did. But still …
So, I stick to the present. “I’m in town—well, we’re up at my uncle’s resort for the annual family reunion. What about you?”
“We’re here celebrating Brad’s engagement and meeting his future in-laws.”
I gulp. Literally, it’s a blow straight to the heart.
But I say flatly, “Well, how exciting. I wish them the best.” Because honestly, I feel sorry for the poor girl he’s marrying.
“Do you?” she says.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“Do you actually wish them the best?” his mom says seriously.
My mouth drops open, and I don’t know what to say. Finally, I mutter out, “Do you know why we broke up?”
“He didn’t really go into detail. Told me to just accept it.”
And that kinda pisses me off .
“Oh. Well, he probably didn’t want to go into detail because he had been cheating on me.
The first time, I sort of let it slide because he told me about it.
Begged for forgiveness. Said he was drunk, that they didn’t actually do much more than kiss.
I was hurt, but got over it. I mean, we knew there were going to be some bumps, staying together while we were in college.
“A few months later, he came over for a date night. We had dinner, and then he said he was sorry, but he couldn’t stay long since he had a paper to finish.
I said okay. He left. I went to make myself some tea.
While I was making the tea, I could hear my phone vibrating from the living room.
But when I looked at my phone, there were no texts.
And when I heard another vibration, I found his phone had fallen in between the couch cushions.
Saw that there were texts from the girl he was meeting up with that night.
At that point, I felt it was only fair to scroll through all of his texts, and it was pretty clear the first incident he had told me about wasn’t the only time he'd cheated.”
“But he said …” She stops speaking, looking shocked and absorbing it all. Finally, she just goes, “Oh, Ainsley,” and pulls me into a hug.
I think about how Brad was my best friend in high school. How we’d been inseparable from the day we met. How important his family had become to me.
“It’s just so hard to believe he would do that, especially when I’m about to meet his future in-laws,” she says when she lets me go, apparently refusing to believe her son did such a thing. “He was a good kid, good athlete. Never got into trouble. So, why did you leave school?”
“I was so devastated that I couldn’t function. I sat in my room and cried. I was depressed. Mad at myself for being so stupid. I failed my classes. Lost my scholarship. So, I had to leave.”
His mom doesn’t say anything, but suddenly, I hear the voice I’ve tried so hard to forget.
“Ainsley!” Brad says. “What in the world are you doing here?”
Be strong. Don’t say anything catty. Be cordial. But detached.
“Shopping, obviously,” I say with a fake smile plastered across my face, like I haven’t a care in the world. “Your mom just told me the good news. Congratulations.”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Brad sputters just as a pretty girl wraps an arm around his waist.
She reaches out her free hand and says, “Hi, I’m Bailey. And you are?”
“I’m Ainsley. Nice to meet you. And congrats on your engagement.”
She holds out the ring for me to see. And I find it interesting that he bought her the ring that I’d always said I wanted. A single carat marquis on a platinum band. The only difference is, this one is wrapped with a halo of diamonds.
Brad’s mom is just staring at Brad. Looking at her son in a new light maybe? And I’m thinking that this couldn’t be any more awkward.
“Who are you here with?” Brad asks, looking around.
Of course, everyone else has moved on to the next shop.
“Family. Friends,” I stutter out.
When I do, Brad’s eyes get big. He squints at me and then possibly at something behind me.
Oh, maybe Mom came back looking for me, and she can whisk me out of this situation.
But then a pair of big hands land on my shoulders. A face leans down and kisses my cheek. A voice whispers, “I decided shopping and lunch with you sounded more fun than golfing.”
“You’ll have to introduce us to your friend,” Brad’s mom says to me.
I can’t seem to get any words out, and thankfully, Damon immediately reaches out his hand to her and then to the fiancée. “Congrats on your engagement. Your ring is lovely. I’m Damon Diamond. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Diamond, like—” Brad’s mom starts to say.
“Yes, he’s my father,” Damon says simply. Then he goes, “Well, nice to meet you all, but we need to catch up with the family—lunch reservations.”
I turn around, look up at him and smile, take his hand, and turn my back on Brad and his fiancée.
“You have the best timing,” I tell him the second we are out of the store. “Thank you for rescuing me from a really awkward situation. ”
“That’s him, isn’t it? The boy who broke your heart? Brad.”
“Uh, yeah. I mean, I know that Sammy told you about him, but how could you possibly know that?”
“That summer when you came to babysit, I started to follow you on social media. And I might have stalked your profiles a bit,” he says with an adorable grin.
I tilt my head at him as he holds up his hands and says, “I was fifteen and obsessed. Whatever.”
“I’m glad you did. It came in handy today.”
“Because you wanted to make him jealous?” he asks. And he doesn’t look happy at the thought.
“Because I didn’t want him to know the truth,” I answer soberly.
“What do you mean?” Damon stops in the middle of the sidewalk, sits on a bench, and pulls me down with him.
“Can we do this some other time?” I beg.
“Nope,” he says.
“I haven’t dated anyone really since we broke up.”
“I know. Which means he hurt you. A lot,” Damon says in understanding.
“Yeah, but it’s been a long time since. I’m over him. For sure. I will say though, it was great to see his mom again. She and I were close.”
He stands up, takes my hand, and leads me to where we’re having lunch.
And not surprisingly, it’s the same restaurant where Brad’s parents are meeting the future in-laws, and their table, of course, is adjacent to ours.
My mom and Brad’s mom are hugging like long-lost friends. Mom introduces Brad’s mom to Jennifer, and she fangirls—probably because it was me who made her watch the Sector movies when my mom was working the night shift and Brad just wanted to play video games online with his buddies.
And Jennifer, in her loveliness and lack of a clue, says, “Why don’t we all celebrate together?”
Next thing I know, our tables are joined.
And I’m in living hell.
Once we’ve done a champagne toast to old friends and new family, Damon stands up and says, “It was so wonderful to meet you all, but I’m afraid Ainsley and I just came to do a quick toast with the family before heading out.”
“Where are you going?” his mom asks.
“It’s a surprise,” Damon says with a grin and then drags me out of there.
“You’re definitely playing the knight in shining armor today,” I say with a smirk. “You don’t actually have other plans, do you?”
“Oh, I sort of stretched the truth a little earlier. I did come here to see you, but I was planning on kidnapping you, not shopping.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” he says as we arrive at his car and he opens the door for me .
When he gets in the other side, he opens the glove box, pulls out a piece of paper, and hands it to me. On it is a list of addresses.
“We’re going to check out the unique architecture of those places. I know Auntie Jay always likes to look at stuff like that for inspiration, and with your internship coming up, I thought you would too.”
“That’s really sweet,” I say, touched.
Hazy and intimate.
Damon
“Hey, where are you off to?” Haley says to me.
“Oh, uh, Ainsley and I are going to play some sand volleyball.” Naked .
She squints her eyes at me. “That’s an odd thing to do at night.”
“Not really. They have lights for the court. Hello, night leagues.”
“Cool,” Chase says. “What do you say, Dani? Want to join them for a while?”
“If I get to see you shirtless, absolutely,” she replies.
“I seem to recall a certain someone who got jealous one time when I was playing sand volleyball,” Chase teases.
“Hey, I crooked my finger, and you left that girl and came running to me. Enough said,” Dani counters.
Chase picks her up and carries her toward the door. “Grab some beers, Daine. I’ve got my hands full. Let’s go!”
“Are you all really going to play my favorite sport in front of me when I can’t play?” Haley pouts.