Ch. 36 – Layla
“ W ell, I don’t know what everyone’s looking at,” Alanna huffed, huddling deeper into her towel. “It’s like they’ve never seen gorgeous women before.”
Their group took up nearly two rows of seats in the urgent care clinic. Layla, hunched under her own towel, self-consciously smoothed out her wedding dress. She’d tried her best to wring out her skirts before entering the small building, but droplets of seawater dripped onto the linoleum floor next to her feet.
Her bones ached with cold, and she clutched her towel tighter over her shoulders, grateful Sully had thought to toss a pile of them into his car before their drive to the beach. Her sandy feet rubbed uncomfortably inside her Kate Spade heels.
Still, there was no other place she’d rather be.
“Yeah, we’re a totally normal, not-at-all-bonkers group,” Hue muttered. He shifted uncomfortably in his wet, sand-encrusted jeans and reached down to pet Janet, who sat on the floor next to him.
“Okay, how bad is my hair?” Rico asked Jax in the next row of seats. “Give it to me straight. I can handle it.”
“Oh, it’s bad,” Jax confirmed. “I’m guessing this might take several rounds of conditioning.”
Rico hung his head. “Don’t look at me,” he groaned to the others.
“Are you doing okay, Willow?” Cam asked the young woman next to him. Layla hadn’t missed how the massive bodybuilder had grabbed a seat next to the shy girl, practically hip-checking Hue out of the way in the process.
Willow nodded, unable to look at him. She tucked her hands in her lap while curtains of black hair hid her face.
“If you don’t want to be here, I can take you home,” Cam told her gently.
Willow shook her head. “I want to be here. Need to be here for Tess.”
“No, you don’t!” snapped a frustrated Tess from somewhere beneath a quivering pile of towels. “None of you should be here. This is crazy! Layla’s got a puddle forming under her chair.”
Layla looked down at the growing pool of water beneath her heels. “Whoops.”
“All for one and one for all,” Alanna answered as she reapplied her signature scarlet lipstick.
“But do we have to be here?” Hue whined.
“You’re our rides, you lumber jackass,” Everly grumbled at him. Somehow, in the awkward musical chairs of their arrival, the two had ended up sitting side by side.
“I will pay for the Ubers,” Hue growled back at her.
“They won’t take us. Our clothes are wet,” she retorted.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Jax put her hands up. Her hair hung in damp clumps behind her ears. “Let’s change the subject.” She grinned. “Wanna talk about the book?”
Rico and Sully groaned in unison.
“Book? What fresh hell is this?” Hue asked.
“We’re part of a book club,” Everly informed him, self-consciously tugging up her top again. “A romance book club. And we’re not ashamed because women have every right to explore and celebrate their sexuality together.”
“I don’t think you meant that the way it sounded.” Hue grinned at her.
Everly glowered at him.
“I, for one, think that’s wonderful,” Cam said approvingly, leaning over Hue to speak to Everly. “I myself believe men need to be much more open about their feelings. It’s good for the soul.”
“Okay, this is definitely hell,” Hue confirmed. “I must’ve drowned in the ocean saving a crazy cat lady who’s filling my condo with mangey kittens.”
“If only,” Everly sighed wistfully.
“So, you’re a crazy cat lady?” Cam turned back to Willow.
Still averting her eyes, she gave a small shake of her head. “I’m a Crazy Cat Lady in training. I… um, don’t have a cat yet.” She picked at the filmy skirt of her dress.
“Tess Aldridge?” a nurse called, raking her eyes over the disheveled group with zero percent amusement.
Theo sprang to his feet and helped Tess up. He glared at the group. “Be good,” he commanded, supporting Tess as she hopped to the counter.
Tess looked over her shoulder. “You too, ladies.”
“So, am I the only one who is insanely suspicious about this new leaf Edwin supposedly turned over in the end?” Alanna said.
“Kill. Me.” Hue muttered.
“Gladly,” Everly simpered at him.
“Alanna, you’re so cynical,” Layla said, ignoring the glare-off between Hue and Everly. “I looooved the ending.”
“Of course you did,” Alanna grumbled.
What wasn’t to love? Edwin had sent his witchy fiancé…or ex-fiancé packing, had re-structured his company into a co-opt that was owned by all his employees, and had re-hired the accountant he’d fired earlier in the book. He’d also purchased Joey’s family farm and won over her skeptical family before asking for her hand in marriage.
It’d all been so perfect.
“I’m not sure about it either,” Jax confessed. “I don’t think people can really change. Not deep down.”
“Wrong,” Everly said. “Of course, they can change. Enough amazing sex can transform anyone.”
“Uh, I’m going to find a bathroom,” Sully said, sliding out of his chair.
“Me, too.” Rico stood and ran a hand worriedly through his messy tangles. “Maybe I can still salvage this.” He looked down at Jax. “Do you still keep that emergency stash of dry shampoo in your purse?”
She sighed, dug through her bag, and handed him the small, purple bottle.
“Gracias a Dios,” he sighed.
Hue stood as well. “I’m gonna go outside, grab a smoke.”
Sully quirked an eyebrow. “Hue, you don’t smoke.”
“No time like the present to start,” the big man muttered before slinking to the entrance, Janet slowly padding behind him.
As soon as the men had gone their separate ways, Layla picked up the conversation.
“Of course, people can change,” she insisted to Alanna. “In the beginning, Edwin was hiding his true self behind his pain and self-doubt. Joey made him realize that he was enough. He had nothing to prove.”
The same was true of Prem. He’d been closed off, even cold when they’d first met. But she’d discovered the warm, wonderful person beneath.
“I’m not sure people can ever change completely,” Cam mused. Layla hadn’t realized the muscled gym owner remained in the back row with Willow.
“But I do think they can grow,” he continued. “And they can choose to strengthen and showcase the better parts of their personality.”
“Yeah, that. Exactly,” Everly agreed. “Well said, Cam.”
“Thanks,” he grinned.
Nearby, an elderly man released a wet, hacking cough that reverberated through the waiting area.
Alanna frowned. “Rude,” she hissed under her breath.
The women continued their discussion of the book, with Cam chiming in every so often. Layla quickly found she enjoyed his easy-going nature, thoughtful perspective, and natural confidence. He seemed to effortlessly fit in with the group of women and even had the grace to politely ignore the come hither looks Everly pointed in his direction with increasing frequency.
Twenty minutes later, Everly had somehow found her way into the empty chair next to Cam.
“And what do you think about women being upfront about their sexual needs in bed, Cam?” she purred to him.
“Love it,” he replied. “Good communication is the cornerstone of a strong relationship. That applies to the bedroom, too. Both partners should feel comfortable and confident in expressing their needs.”
“Are we still talking about the book?” Jax asked.
“And what about true love?” Everly was leaning so close to Cam she seemed moments away from tumbling into his lap. “Do you believe in true love?”
Cam’s blue eyes softened, and his gaze drifted from Everly to Willow, who hunched shyly on his other side.
“Absolutely,” he murmured.
The side door of the clinic creaked open, and Theo pushed Tess through in a wheelchair, her right foot heavily bandaged.
“Oh no!” Layla jumped to her feet. “How bad is it?”
Tess rolled her eyes. “It’s a mild sprain, just like I said. They’re only making me use the wheelchair for liability purposes. I feel like an idiot.”
“They recommended she stay off it for two weeks, and she’ll need crutches,” Theo confirmed. “We’ll pick some up on the way back.”
“Which means it’s time for everyone to finally go home,” Tess ordered sternly.
*
A half-hour later, relief washed through Layla as her mother’s house came into view. Sully pulled the car into the driveway.
“Get out of that dress,” Alanna instructed from the front seat. “Another minute in that thing, and you’re going to get pneumonia.”
“Okay,” Layla said.
“Then burn that fucking dress and forget Cal ever existed.”
Layla reached forward, and the two women hugged.
“So, this is awkward,” Hue grumbled in the back seat next to Layla. “You couldn’t have dropped me off first?”
Layla released her sister, then gave Hue a peck on the cheek. “For all your complaining, I know you’re a big softie on the inside.”
“You got me all wrong,” Hue grumbled, but his cheeks flushed.
Layla gave a kiss to the dog pancaked across the middle seat. “Love you, Janet, even if we had to put all the windows down cause of you.”
“Actually, her farting issues have gotten much better since she started her new medication,” Hue answered, a touch of pride in his voice.
“Well, then, I guess it could have been worse,” Layla answered with a laugh. After shucking her damp towels into the foot well, she dragged her stiffening dress out of the car, hauling out the last few feet of the train before closing the door. She waved as Sully’s Mazda CX-9 pulled out of the driveway. As soon as the car disappeared down the street, the last of the good feelings from the night ebbed, replaced by a bone-deep cold and weariness. Layla looked toward the front door of the house, already longing for the hot spray of the shower. She might not get out until sunrise.
Layla’s legs felt heavy as she climbed the porch steps. She reached for the front door and paused, finally noticing the lights glowing in the downstairs window. Was her mother still up, or had she just left the lights on for her? Dede was an early riser and usually went to bed by 8 PM. Layla glanced at her phone. It was just past ten.
She put her key in the lock and was surprised to find the front door already unlocked.
Her mother always locked up before bed.
Layla turned the knob. Holding the tangled bundle of her wedding train against her hip, she moved cautiously into the house.
“Mom? You up?” she called as she entered the living room.
The scent hit her first. Leather and clove.
Dread filled her even before her conscious mind recognized the aroma.
“Layla,” a familiar voice said.
She turned. Gasped.
Cal stood from the couch. “We need to talk.”