10. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Tanner
“W e’re going to be late,” Vic says, as she stops at a red light. She’d come to pick me up from my place and we’re going to Sunday night dinner at my parents’ apartment. We’re going to tell everyone tonight that we’re engaged.
“It’s not far,” I say. “We still have lots of time.”
“How are you so calm?” she asks. The light turns green, and she continues, turning right at the next street.
“How are you more nervous to tell my family than you were to tell your own?” I ask.
“I don’t like lying,” she says.
I point out the next turn and the building in the distance where she’s going to park. “Don’t think of it as lying. We’re leaving out a few details. They don’t need to know every little piece of our relationship.”
She pulls to a stop, and we get out. She looks up at the building with trepidation. “It’s just, I’ve never met any of them before, except Wyatt and Addison. And now we’re going to tell them not only are we together, but we’re engaged.”
She lifts her hand toward her face, then halts the motion, twisting her engagement ring on her finger instead.
“Come here,” I say.
I wrap my arms around her in a hug. She leans into me for a second before pulling away. I let her go as she straightens up, touching her hair.
“How do I look?” she asks.
“Are you kidding me?”
Her eyes shoot to mine.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, Vic.”
She rolls her eyes, but I note the way the corner of her lips kick up in a small smile.
“Let’s go in. Everything will be fine.” I take her hand as I lead her to the building, pulling out my keys so I can get in. “I told them last weekend that we were dating, and I’d be bringing you today. This is going to be a surprise, but not a huge shock.”
As we ride up the elevator, she asks, “Do you come here often?”
“About every couple weeks. There’s a lot of birthdays. And Mom likes to have her kids and grandkids around. She’s even been hinting at great grandkids soon.”
“You have a niece or nephew who’s old enough for that?” Her eyes are wide as the elevator stops and we get out.
I nod as we go down the hall. “Skylar’s the oldest. She’s twenty-six. She got married last year, but I don’t think they’re planning on kids right away.”
Vic nudges me with her shoulder. “So you have a niece who got married before you?”
I meet her eyes and wink. “Maybe I was waiting for the right woman.”
Before she can respond, I open the door and let us into my parents’ apartment.
“Hey,” I call. “We’re here.”
We meet Brooke first. She’s in the kitchen, pulling plates from the cupboard for Rebecca and Juliet to set the tables.
“Oh, good,” Brooke says. “Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes. You’re late.”
Vic glares at me. I roll my eyes.
“Thanks, Brooke. I told her we weren’t late.”
She hands off the plates and Rebecca and Juliet take them away, grinning at each other as they listen to us. “Don’t lie, and I won’t call you out.”
“Don’t start dinner early and I won’t be late. Mom said dinner at six. If it’s ready in fifteen, that means you’re early. I’m not late.”
“Children, stop bickering,” Mom says as she comes into the kitchen. Then she walks straight to Vic, enveloping her in a hug. “Hello, dear. Welcome. I’m so glad to meet you. Tanner has talked about you a lot over the years.”
“He has?” Vic asks, looking at me in question.
I shrug and don’t say anything. I don’t need Vic to suspect how much I’ve liked her, even after I started at Sterling, and she stopped speaking to me.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Marcus,” Vic says, turning her attention back to my mother.
“Oh, please. Call me Annette. Why don’t we go into the living room, and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Before they can take a step, Brooke says, “What is that?”
She’s staring at Vic’s left hand, where her engagement ring sparkles in the overhead light. Vic looks at Brooke first, then her hand, then at me, asking me what she should say.
“It’s an engagement ring,” I say, as calmly as I can.
Mom gasps, both hands flying to her mouth.
“If she’s dating you,” Brooke says, “who is she engaged to? Didn’t you start dating like a week ago?”
Rebecca and Juliet are back now for the cutlery and staring, too.
“It was more than a week ago and she’s engaged to me.” I sigh. “Let’s go into the living room and we’ll tell everyone at once.”
I take Vic’s hand again, drawing her with me.
“This isn’t going well,” she mutters.
I lean in and press my lips to her temple. “It’s going fine. Everything will be okay.” In the living room, I see Wyatt and Addison sitting on the loveseat while Dad and my sister Harper sit on the couch. Brooke’s husband Gerry is on the deck with the younger children, playing a game of cards.
“Hello everyone, this is Vic,” I say. “I told you last week that we’re dating, but a few days ago I asked her to marry me, and she said yes.”
My sister Harper’s mouth drops open in shock. Wyatt and Addison already know, so they don’t have much of a reaction, but Dad removes his glasses and cleans them before putting them back on, as though seeing more clearly will help him understand what’s happening.
“And even more exciting, we’re getting married on August first,” I continue.
“As in three weeks from now?” Brooke asks.
“Yes,” I confirm. “You’ll be getting your formal invitations in a few days.”
“Is she pregnant?” Brooke asks.
“Brooke,” Mom scolds.
I scoff. “No, Brooke. She’s not pregnant. We just want to get married.”
“The quick date is my fault, actually,” Vic says, her voice firm despite the way she’s squeezing my hand. “I’ve always wanted a summer wedding and to get married at Blue Vista. It’s booked through the rest of this summer and all of next. Except August first at our new location at Crescent Beach.”
There’s silence as everyone watches us. It’s not the whole family. Most of the nieces and nephews aren’t here. Neither is my brother Keith or my brother-in-law, Ian. There are still enough people that the silence is loud. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a family function where no one says anything for any length of time.
Eventually, Mom comes up to us with a bright smile. “Well congratulations. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
I breathe out a quiet sigh, because if Mom is on board, she’ll get the rest of the family on board—or else. She hugs me first, then Vic. Everyone else offers their congratulations as well, and Addison and Harper, commandeer Vic, asking for details of the proposal and the upcoming wedding.
We’d decided to stick with the story we’d given her parents about me asking on the morning before the family dinner. She tells my sister and sister-in-law that I asked after making her breakfast in bed.
Mom and Brooke finish getting dinner on the table and we all sit down to eat, Vic right next to me. After dinner, we return to the living room, where Vic and I sit on the couch and are bombarded with questions about who our bridal party are going to be, when Vic is getting a dress, and how many people are going to be invited.
Mom allows Dad one cigar per week, so he usually smokes it after dinner, on the deck, on Sundays. When he goes out there tonight, he invites me, Wyatt, and Gerry to join him. I have a feeling I know what he’s going to talk about, so I give Vic’s hand a squeeze—hating the idea of leaving her to face the questions on her own—before letting her go and following my brother and brother-in-law to the deck. I close the door, so the smoke won’t get in the house, and sit down as Dad cuts the end off his cigar and lights it.
“Are you sure about this?” Dad asks, not wasting any time.
“Yes,” I say, without hesitation.
“It’s awfully fast,” Gerry says. He’s a good man and has been part of the family for twenty-six years.
“It may seem like that to you,” I concede. “We may have only been dating for a short time, but I have been in love with that woman for almost a decade.”
The words are out before I can stop them. Shit. Fuck. Goddammit. My heart drops into my stomach because they’re true. I am in love with Vic. I’d fallen in love with her during university, and even though we haven’t spent a lot of time together, I never really stopped being in love with her.
I meet Wyatt’s eyes, and he knows it, too.
Dad grunts and takes a pull from his cigar. “That explains why you’ve never settled down the way your siblings have, I guess.”
“Yeah,” I say, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. How am I going to go through with this whole situation? Marrying her only to divorce her later. I swore I’d let her go at the end of this if that’s what she wants, but it’s going to tear my heart out to do it.
The conversation moves on. Apparently, my declaration was enough to put my father’s fears at rest. It stirred up a bunch of my own, but that’s for me to deal with.
When we return inside, Wyatt pulls me aside. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.”
He raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t contradict me.
I clap him on the back. “Come on, Wyatt. I knew what I was doing when I proposed this plan. It’ll be fine.”
He nods and we leave it at that. I return to Vic’s side, and she smiles up at me before I take my place next to her on the couch. My heart hammers in my chest as I take her hand again and she lets me, lacing her fingers through mine.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, her voice low as the conversations continue around us.
I stare at her for a long moment before I nod. “What about you, in here?”
She smiles wryly. “I can handle nosy, Tanner. I’ve been just fine. I’m going to need you to draw me a chart, though.”
I chuckle. “A chart for what?”
She waves a hand at the people around us. “Names and connections. A family tree. So I can keep everyone straight. Study material.”
I reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why do you want to study my family tree?”
“So I can know who everyone is. They’re important to you, so they’re important to me. It’s the least I can do as your fiancée, isn’t it?”
I have never wanted to kiss her more than I do at this moment, but I’m not supposed to do that, so I kiss her cheek instead. “You’re amazing,” I tell her. “I’ll make you a chart.”
I’ll do anything she asks. Because if there’s even a tiny chance she could fall in love with me, I will do everything I can to make it happen.