Chapter 20
TWENTY
Wes
I tap my thumb against the steering wheel as we pass through a familiar neighbourhood close to the freeway entrance. The streets are quieter here, lined with massive oak trees and houses tucked back from the road.
Lottie blinks over at me. “This is such a pretty area.”
Before I can think better of it, I nod toward the next intersection. “A few blocks down that way,” I say. “That’s where I grew up.”
Lottie turns in her seat, looking out the passenger window like she might somehow be able to see it from here. “What was it like?”
I glance briefly toward the street disappearing off to the right before looking back at the road.
“Loud,” I admit, an uncomfortable knot twisting in my stomach as I think back to that time.
“Four boys and one exhausted mom trying to keep us alive. Enough sporting gear in the garage that my parents had to park their cars in the driveway.”
Lottie laughs softly beside me. “Is your dad still there?”
My grip tightens against the steering wheel as I feel a familiar ache in my chest from the grief sitting inside of me. “Not anymore. He’s still in the treatment facility that Jesse got him into for his drinking after he was hit by a car last year.”
I can feel Lottie’s gaze shift to me. “Do you see him?”
“I haven’t had much to do with him for years,” I admit after a second. “Same with my brothers. Jesse’s the only one who never completely cut him out of his life.”
Lottie is quiet, giving me space to decide how much I want to say, which I’m grateful for. “I visited him in the hospital after the accident, and once in treatment. I’m just…” I exhale slowly. “I’m not ready for more than that yet.”
Silence settles briefly inside the car, but my thoughts carry on.
Cutting my dad off wasn’t something I did impulsively.
It wasn’t done out of anger so much as exhaustion.
Things at home after my mom died were messy in ways I still don’t entirely know how to explain to people who didn’t live through it.
The drinking got worse. The tension got worse.
Everything felt unpredictable all the time, and after a while, being around him just started to feel too heavy.
There’s a lot more to it than what I’ve told Lottie, but I don’t particularly want to unpack years of family dysfunction in the middle of our first date.
Still, Lottie matters to me enough that I don’t want to shut her out completely either.
So, I give her pieces of the truth, hoping that will be enough for tonight.
“Oh God,” Lottie murmurs. “That can’t be good.”
She nods toward the dash, where Victoria’s name is lighting up the screen.
A laugh slips quietly out of me as I hit the button on the steering wheel. “Hi Victoria. You’re on speaker with Lottie and me.”
“Well, hello to my favorite fake couple,” Victoria says brightly through the car speakers. “Lottie, my actress, thank you for publicly making out with your husband. The board is thrilled.”
Lottie laughs instantly beside me, and I have to bite back a wide grin. Apparently ten minutes alone in a car with Lottie is enough to wreck my ability to be chill.
“You’re welcome?” she says cautiously.
Victoria laughs. “The photos worked perfectly. The board relaxed immediately, the press bought every second of it, and now everyone thinks Wes Winters is hopelessly obsessed with his new wife.”
My thumb taps once against the steering wheel. “Glad we could provide entertainment,” I say dryly.
“Oh, please,” Victoria says. “You two are the most interesting thing to happen to this company in months. Now tell me, what are the newlyweds doing tonight?”
I glance briefly toward Lottie before looking back at the road. “I’m taking her somewhere. It’s a surprise.”
Lottie’s brows lift immediately.
Victoria gasps dramatically. “A secret date? Wes Winters, look at you being all husband-y.”
I roll my eyes while Lottie bites back a smile beside me. Victoria makes a soft cooing sound that immediately irritates me. “That is disgustingly cute. Alright, I’m hanging up before you two start feeding each other strawberries or something.”
“There will be no strawberries,” I deadpan.
“We’ll see,” she singsongs. “Ciao, ciao, lovebirds!”
The line disconnects and the car quiets again, the city lights sliding across the windshield while Lottie shakes her head softly beside me.
“She’s insane,” she mutters.
“Tell me about it.” I exhale.
A few seconds pass before Lottie suddenly straightens in her seat. “Oh crap.”
I glance over immediately. “What?”
“Do you mind if we make a quick stop at the drugstore?” she asks, gesturing to the Shoppers Drug Mart in the mini mall on the corner. “I just remembered I need to pick something up before it closes.”
“Yeah, of course.”
I pull into a parking spot and kill the engine, then round the front of the car to open the door for Lottie.
She takes my hand when I hold it out to her. “You know,” she says casually, “you’re getting good at the husband thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.” She lets go of my hand and glances back at me. “You open doors. You remember things I say. You’re taking me on an actual date.”
I fall in step beside her as we walk toward the store.
“Even the storm-cloud energy seems lighter lately.”
I stop walking for a moment, surprised. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You get all quiet and tense sometimes,” she says, stopping at the door.
“Like there’s something heavy constantly sitting on your shoulders.
One minute you’re all cocky charm and bedroom eyes, looking at me like you’ve got several illicit thoughts in your head.
” My gaze drops automatically and she points at me immediately.
“See? That. Exactly that.” A smirk tugs at my mouth despite myself.
“Then the next minute, you’re back to being all mysterious and up in your head. ”
There’s a lightness in her voice, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling the weight of her words. The truth is, she’s right. I have carried a weight on my shoulders for a long time. Long enough that I don’t really remember what it feels like not to.
Lottie is looking at me now, her expression teasing but also perceptive as I open the door for her. I can tell that she’s trying to figure me out. “I never know what I’m going to get with you.”
I feel that stupid tightness in my chest again.
“I can handle your moods, Wes,” she says, sounding more serious now. “I just get the sense that you’re constantly bracing for people to leave, and I hate that.”
Her eyes search mine as I swallow the lump that has suddenly formed in my throat. “Maybe you’re right,” I say roughly. “I’ll try to do better.”
It’s not much but I can feel the tension in me ease just a bit, as we walk inside.
Before I can think twice, I reach for Lottie, sliding my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my side.
I press a kiss to the top of her head and for one brief second, she melts into me. Then she goes completely stiff.
I glance down and see that her expression has transformed and she looks like a deer in headlights.
I follow her gaze to where an older couple stands, both staring directly at Lottie.
The woman smiles like she recognizes her, and judging by the way all the color drains from Lottie’s face, she recognizes them too.
The man looks tired and drawn in a way that makes me think he’s not well, and then a flash of recognition crosses his face as he looks at Lottie and his entire face instantly softens.
“Oh my God,” Lottie whispers as they start to walk slowly toward us. “It’s my parents. They’re going to know,” she says quickly. “They’ll figure us out and then everyone will know. My mom’s going to call my sister the second we leave, then my grandparents, my aunts. Everyone will know.”
“Lottie, breathe. I’ve got you,” I assure her. “We’re a team, right? We were going to have to tell them sooner or later. Now we can do it together.”
Her parents stop in front of us and Lottie folds into her dad’s arms when he opens them for her.
His cheek is next to hers and his eyes close briefly as he holds her, one hand settling weakly against the back of her head while she squeezes him carefully like she’s afraid to hurt him.
It’s tender in a way that makes me physically ache as I watch them.
Her mom looks at me with curious eyes before turning to her daughter. “This is a nice surprise,” she says, reaching to grab Lottie’s hand. The moment she does, she freezes. Lottie’s eyes meet mine and I can see the panic rising in them.
“I think we’ve missed a few updates?” her mom says, sounding confused, lifting Lottie’s hand and looking pointedly at the massive diamond ring and wedding band as they sparkle under the pharmacy lights. There’s absolutely no hiding them.
Lottie lets out a tiny sigh beside me. “Mom—”
“You got married,” her dad says softly, eyes dropping to her left hand.
Lottie winces slightly before looking back at them. “We were going to tell you,” she says quickly. “I swear. We just—we hadn’t really figured out how yet.”
Her mom blinks rapidly. “You got married?” she asks, echoing her husband.
“Um…yeah, but…it was recent,” Lottie responds weakly.
“Very recent,” I add. Her parents both look at me at once, like they’d forgotten for a moment that I was there.
There’s a beat of silence before Lottie’s mom breaks it. “Well, your new husband has incredible taste,” she says, turning her daughter’s hand so that the diamond catches the light. “It’s enormous. I can practically see my reflection in this thing.”
I laugh without meaning to and I feel Lottie’s shoulders relax just a little beside me.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from them—anger, hurt, shock, maybe all three.
Instead, her mom looks like she might cry, and her dad keeps smiling at Lottie like he’s about to burst. A wave of relief washes over me as I realize that seeing their daughter happy is the only thing that matters to them.
And there goes that tightening in my chest again.
Her mom finally tears her eyes away from the ring long enough to look at me again. “We would like to invite you both for dinner this week,” she announces immediately. “It looks like we have a lot to talk about. Even more to celebrate. We’d like to get to know you—”
“Wes. Wes Winters,” I answer, smiling. “And I would like that, thank you.”
“Wes.” She nods her head. “Don’t think you’re escaping a family interrogation, you two.” She points between us. “I need details. Your father needs details. Frankly, half the family is going to need details.”
“See? I told you,” Lottie mutters under her breath to me. But when I look down at her, I see love written all over her face as she looks at her parents. Fierce, unwavering love.
Her dad shakes his head fondly with wet eyes before looking at me again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Wes.” He places a hand on the back of my shoulder and pulls me into a weak hug. He feels painfully fragile against me.
“You two free Sunday?” He asks as he steps back from me, his eyes wet. Lottie turns to look at me, and I can see the question in her eyes, like she’s wondering if this is the moment that I’ll hesitate or retreat. Instead, I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her to my side.
“Absolutely,” I hear myself say. “Sunday works.”
Her mom beams instantly. “Our family group chat is about to blow up. I’ll tell everyone to be over at six.”