Chapter Fifteen Zoey
The day of the wedding was finally here, and with it came many things. Top of the list for me were excitement, stress, and my father.
Those last two were related.
“You know I really don’t understand why your brother would choose to get married here with just fifty friends and family members as his guests,” Dad said after the ceremony as we made our way from the beach to the resort’s ballroom for the reception.
“This place is beautiful,” I said, keeping my tone light, even though his complaining was starting to get on my nerves after two hours of listening to it.
Thank God he didn’t come earlier in the week.
Some people might have felt sorry for us because our dad didn’t care enough to spend any of this amazing week on the island with us, but we knew that we were better off that way. Well, Ryan and I knew it. Jake still held out hope that the man would change someday.
“Yes, yes. The ocean is always pretty,” he said dismissively. “But if he had it at a more high-profile location, like The Plaza in New York, I could’ve made a real event of it. Invited business associates to impress.”
I bit my tongue instead of telling him that this wedding wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was about Ryan and Leanne getting married because they loved each other and sharing it with people they cared about instead of our dad’s business associates.
Arguing with him was pointless.
It was just a shame that I was stuck dealing with his judgment and complaints. Of the three of us—Ryan, Jake, and me—I was the only one not in the wedding party, so keeping Dad occupied fell to me.
We stepped into the ballroom through French doors, and I smiled as I looked around. I hadn’t had a chance to see how it was decorated before now, and I was glad to wait to be surprised. It was beautiful.
Crisp white linens covered round tables with centerpieces of white orchids and pink hibiscus flowers. There were gold-rimmed plates at each place setting, and crystal chandeliers hung overhead.
Instrumental music was playing softly in the background, and there was a space for a dance floor that we could use later, after everyone had eaten.
The seating arrangement had me at a table with my father, Uncle Mac, Gordon, and Kirsten. I was still upset that she told Jake about my pregnancy last night, but this wasn’t the place to discuss it. Besides, I had enough going on with my father to deal with.
“Tell me, Zoey,” he started as he used his cloth napkin to wipe the perfectly clean silverware beside his plate, “what are your plans to find a husband? Any prospects?”
Danger! You’re walking into a minefield with that one.
“Not at the moment, no. I’m afraid I’ll need to take my time to be discerning about that. I wouldn’t want to end up with the wrong person.”
His face shifted from annoyance to anger, but it was gone so quickly that I almost thought I’d imagined it.
I knew that I didn’t though. It was because what I said reminded him of my mother.
After she left us in the dust, he often complained about how he’d chosen the wrong person and that he should’ve been more discerning to make sure he had a wife that could handle being married to such a powerful man.
“There’s plenty of time for all that,” I continued. “For now, I’m focused on my career.”
That was partially true, but what he didn’t know was that in about eight months, my priorities were going to shift big time. I still wouldn’t be worried about marrying someone my dad might approve of anytime soon.
He gave a derisive snort. “Your career. It’s simply ridiculous that you insist on doing that.
And your brother with his firefighter nonsense.
Putting his life at risk for complete strangers when he could really do the sensible thing and come work for the family company.
At least Jake had the right idea, going into finance. ”
Yeah, and Dad’s approval was probably the reason he did that. It was a shame that he still let our dad’s opinion influence him so much.
“I love my job.”
“You could live off your trust fund, and I’m sure you’d be perfectly happy. After all, you asked for an upgrade to a bungalow this week. That tells me you like the finer things more than you’d like to admit.”
I knew that asking him to pay for a bungalow was going to bite me in the ass.
But I wasn’t about to tell him the real reason I didn’t want to stay in my original room, so I said nothing. It was easier not to argue with him most of the time, anyway.
During dinner, he mostly talked business with Uncle Mac, and I was happy to tune out the conversation for the most part, but his words about my job and lack of a husband seemed to echo in my ears, bringing down my mood on what should have been a day filled with nothing but joy on behalf of Ryan.
Then, the dinner ended, dancing began, and Ford was suddenly standing in front of me. He held out his hand with one side of his mouth ticked up in a half smile. “Dance with me?”
I shouldn’t. Everyone will see, and it’ll just confuse your poor, battered heart.
I put my hand in his anyway. I needed to escape from my father’s side anyway, and what better place to go than into the arms of someone that I knew valued me.
The things he’d said and done this week didn’t erase the pain of the breakup, but they made me sure that I believed I was important to him.
The music had been turned up a little since we’d entered the dancing portion of the evening, and other people were already on the dance floor. I shot Ford a surprised look when I spotted Kelsie and Damien not just dancing but kissing in the middle of the floor. He chuckled and shrugged.
Then, I was in his arms.
His hands went to my hips and my arms looped around his neck. He looked down into my eyes as we moved together—nothing fancy or elaborate, just two people swaying to the music.
I couldn’t help thinking of the gala. I knew it was only a couple of weeks ago, but it felt like so much longer.
As I’d watched him on the dance floor with Delilah, I’d been burning with sickening jealousy.
But thinking back on it now, I could tell that he was stiff, his smile forced.
There was no softness in his eyes, and she made sure to keep a little space between them.
It was completely different from what he was doing now.
Ford’s grin was the most natural thing in the world, and his eyes darkened with desire because he had my body as close to his as possible.
“You look so beautiful this evening,” he said.
I was wearing a purple strapless dress that was tight around my torso and flared out a bit at my hips, ending just above my knees. I knew it was a good look for me, but Ford’s eyes were only focused on my face.
For some reason, that made warmth bloom inside me.
It didn’t occur to me until the song ended that we’d just danced together in public for the first time. All those months of hiding what we were to each other, and now, it felt like we’d stepped out into the light for the first time.
I didn’t even think about it.
Some people might just assume that we were friends sharing a dance, but I doubted it. No matter how conflicted I felt about my feelings for Ford, even I couldn’t deny that we had palpable chemistry.
Oh well.
The time for hiding whatever we were had passed. We’d move on from that. We weren’t the same people we were even just a couple of weeks ago.
I mingled with friends and family for the next hour, and by the time the party was starting to break up, I was tired but happy. Jake ended up coming to sit by Dad after dinner, so I didn’t have to keep him company myself anymore, and I was able to actually have a good time.
I came to say goodbye to him before I went back to my bungalow, knowing that he’d leave this evening, probably taking a red-eye flight back home because God forbid he even sleep here and possibly miss out on a few hours at the office.
The man even worked on Sundays.
But I placed a kiss on his cheek and told him it was good to see him because he was my dad, no matter what. We’d never be close, but he was still the only parent I had.
As I walked through the French doors and out into the humid air, it didn’t surprise me at all that Ford followed me. I paused and looked at him.
His eyes held mine as he slowly reached out for my hand. I let him take it. There were people walking out of the reception around us, plenty of witnesses to it, but I allowed him to entwine our fingers as we headed to the bungalow without saying anything.
It was satisfying in the way that felt earned, even if it changed nothing between us.
We both knew it. But we kept walking together anyway. When we reached the bungalow, I let him come inside, but it wasn’t like the last time he was here. We didn’t rip at each other’s clothes or rush to the bedroom.
Instead, I went to the hall closet, where I’d discovered a collection of board games our first day here.
There was a chess set inside, so I set it up on the coffee table for us.
Ford had taught me how to play while we were together, and we’d spent many evenings challenging each other to games, sharing lighthearted smack talk, and whoever won had official bragging rights until the next time.
Tonight, it felt like we were visiting the past. This chess set was old and one of the rooks had the top broken off, but we both decided that was part of its charm.
After the game, we watched a movie together, cuddled up on the couch in a way that we always had before; his arm slung over my shoulders and my body tucked in close to his. It was… the perfect way to say goodbye to what we had.