“Mother!” My shock nearly causes me to fall off my chair. Mom has never cursed a day in her life, or at least I’ve never heard her utter a bad word, unlike Ben or me.
“You heard me correctly. I called one of them after Kenneth came to the house to apologize. She still said you were in the wrong. So then I knew something was up with that whole crew of miscreants I’d been spending my time with. Jenna, I don’t know what got into my head. For a time, I guess I went a little crazy, and to be honest, it caused me to lose my religion where you’re concerned. I was the most selfish individual in the world, and I am ashamed of myself. I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to forgive me for what I did to you. Well, good Lord, I almost ruined your life. And that’s completely backward from the way it’s supposed to be.”
I am so surprised by her confession and apology I have become mute.
When I don’t utter a word, she says, “I can understand if you can’t forgive me, because I’m not sure I could do it if I were you.”
“I’d like to put it behind us, but you really hurt me when I found out you lied.”
She doesn’t back down. “I know, Jenna. And if you’ll give me a chance, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“That’s not what I want. I want to get our family back, Mom. I want you to get to know Brandon, and I’d like to have our Sunday dinners again. That is, if we can have them the way they used to be. You know, before you started acting so … well, so crazy.”
A hint of a grin appears on her face, and she says, “Yes, I would like that very much. I miss the laughter and the jokes we used to share. And I can’t wait to get to know your Brandon. Your father tells me he’s quite the business man.”
“I suppose so, but he’s a wonderful guy regardless.”
“Then next Sunday, because we can’t do it this weekend with your big show, can we?”
“No, we can’t. I’ll be a little busy.”
“By the way, I’m coming with your father, so I’ll be looking for you.”
“You are? Ben and Sam will be there, and so will Brandon.”
She stands to leave, and we end up in an awkward hug. I’m reminded of when I was a little girl and how much I loved it when she used to give me “big squeezes” as she liked to call them. I wonder if we’ll ever get back to the way we used to be.
“And, Jenna, that man of yours sure does look good on TV.” She winks at me.
“Um, who are you? My mom would never say something like that.”
“Yes, she would. She just kept herself hidden for the last year or two.”
Hmm. Maybe getting my old mom back will be kind of fun. After she leaves, I drive over to Brandon’s to tell him about her visit.
“She said what?” His perfect mouth is open so wide I want to poke my finger into it. I explain the entire visit from beginning to end.
Brandon’s arms wind around me, and I realize I don’t need Mom’s anymore for the big squeezes. I have something much better. Nothing will ever compare to this.
“I’m rooting for you to work it out so you’ll have no regrets. Family is so important. Braedon taught me more about that than I ever knew.”
Standing on my toes, I wind my arms around his neck and say, “I appreciate you suggesting the lunch with my dad. That was the force behind it all, even though she said it wasn’t. I think it put everything into motion. It’ll be a while before things will be the way they were before, but I have high hopes.”
“So do I,” he says right before he presses his lips to mine for a brief kiss.
When he leans back, I say, “Did I tell you Mom thought you looked good on TV?”
“Oh, God, not her, too,” he groans.
“Hmm. Maybe we should start a cougar fan club on Facebook.”
“If you do, I’ll think of some way to retaliate.”
“I’m sure you will, master,” I say, laughing.
After he pinches my butt, he lets me go. When I stick out my lower lip, he points to the clock on the wall. “Do you want to be late for your opening day?”
Shrugging, I say, “I don’t care. It’s all on Helen now.”
Brandon shakes his head. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wanna bet?” I proceed to unbutton my blouse as I watch his eyes pop. Then they narrow as my pants drop, and I stand in my lacy bra and thong.
“You really are taking risks today, aren’t you?”
“What’s she going to do? Fire me?” I burst out laughing right as he pounces on me.
Forty-five minutes later, we’re still making out like teenagers as he walks me to the door.
“Hey, what are you doing right before opening time?” I ask.
“Nothing, why?”
“If you meet me today around eleven, near the yacht clubhouse, I have the perfect place where we can sneak away.”
He kisses me goodbye, and I’m off to work. Helen scowls when she sees me, but doesn’t utter a word. She can’t say anything because all her work is done, thanks to me. The morning runs smoothly with all the final preparations. The tour doesn’t open until after lunch. At eleven, I meet Brandon near the clubhouse.
Taking his hand, I guide him along a walkway to an area of shade trees that overlooks the harbor. There’s an old swing that’s unoccupied, but not for long.
“I’ve always thought this was one of the best views, and for whatever reason, nobody ever comes here.” I start rocking to and fro to get the thing swaying.
“Oh my God, you’re like a kid.”
“Sometimes I am.”
“Are you nervous for the tour?” he asks.
“Nope. I’m done with all I can do.”
Then he takes my chin between his index and thumb and touches his lips to mine. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
I feel his mouth curve against mine right before we make out like teenagers. My teeth press against my lips, bruising them, but I don’t give a shit. Nothing in the world beats kissing Brandon. Somehow, I end up on his lap, and the tender skin on my chin is scraped raw from his scruff.
“Um, I think we need to take a break,” he suggests.
“Yeah, it’s probably time for me to get to work.”
“Well, that, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your lips are a tiny bit swollen.”
“Oh shit. Are they bad?”
He looks closely and says, “No, no, not at all. Hey, I really like this place. We need to come out here some night with a bottle of wine and a picnic.”
“That would be nice.” I run my fingers through his hair. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could hang out here every day? Or maybe even get us one of those yachts and travel around the world?” I ask him.
Glancing around at all the elegance that surrounds us, he answers honestly, “I don’t know. I think I have everything in the world I could ever need sitting on my lap. I don’t need lots of money. I don’t need a fancy yacht, or even a lavish house. When I didn’t have you, I was just on autopilot making a living, but not really living. Losing Braedon made me realize how short life is, and going through it without the ones you love is meaningless. You’re all I’ll ever need. Well, maybe you and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?”
“In case we get hungry.”
When our eyes meet, the love that radiates from his tells me I couldn’t be in a better place or have been lucky enough to have chosen the right one this time. It can’t possibly get any better than this.
“You’re all I’ll ever need, too, Brandon Connelly. There is no love greater than the love I have for you.”
Thirty-Four
BRANDON
Leaning over, forearms resting on the edge, I gaze out into the sea from the bow of Tabitha’s yacht while she and Dad hobnob with their wealthy friends. I miss my brother like crazy. Parts of me still feel guilty for finding happiness with Jenna.
“Brandon,” Dad says. I stand straight and face him. “There’s someone I w
ant you to meet.”
Shocking the shit out of him, I reply, “Why?” I almost buy his confused expression. “Your family paid off Mom to keep our existence a secret, and now you want to share with the world you have a son?”
It isn’t like he went public about Braedon when he went missing, though he talked to the cops.
“Brandon.” His tone is laced with a tiredness that rivals the anger bubbling inside of me.
“Why didn’t you ever remarry and have legitimate kids, Cole?”
“Brandon,” he says as if the third time will somehow be the charm.
“No! Answer the question.”
He and I are the same height and build. Easily, he takes my arm and steers me further away so we aren’t overhead. I’m not at all surprised by this move. He doesn’t let anyone see that there is any impropriety going on.
“I’m a coward,” he states.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
He isn’t deterred by my rudeness.
“I loved your mother. No, let me correct that. I love her still.” His eyes don’t shift. They remain steady on my own. “I had a choice, and I made the easy one for me. When my father died, I came back. By then, your mother wouldn’t have me, not that I blame her.”
“You didn’t make time for me.”
Even I can hear the petulance in my tone.
“You wouldn’t let me. You shut me out.”
A memory surfaces with him kneeling down with a huge smile. I remember hating him. He’d left us, and then he was trying to come back. I was having none of it.
“You didn’t try hard enough,” I say.
I also remember how it felt when his smile disappeared and he so easily walked away.
He nods. “I messed up with your mom.”
“Yeah, you did. But it’s too late. She’s moved on. Don’t fuck that up for her.”
He holds up his hand in the universal sign for peace.
“I won’t. But most of all, I messed up with you.” He visibly swallows. “Braedon’s gone, but you’re still here. I want to make this right between us. It’s time for me to acknowledge you, my son. Something I should have done a long time ago.”
“And he’s a mechanic.”
“A damn good one,” he snaps back. “I’m damn proud of you, Brandon. You’re the man I should have been. I hope one day I can make you proud enough to call me, Dad, not Cole.”
“Brandon.”
Interrupted, I turn around to find Jenna’s mother. Before I know what’s happening, she’s enveloped me in a hug. She pulls back after kissing my cheek. For a second I think I’m in an alternative universe. “I didn’t know you would be here. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised you’d be here to support Jenna.”
She’s right about that. I didn’t come for my dad. I came for my girl.
“And I haven’t seen you in a while.” Her words drift off. “Cole Connelly…” Her focus shifts between us.
“Yes, it has been a while. I see you’ve met my son.”
Her shock is almost comical as her mouth opens and closes. “You have a son.”
“In fact, I had two. Braedon…” Cole’s voice trails off.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” her mom says.
My attention is taken away as people move and I see her. It’s as if the sun is her spotlight. She glows like my beacon, a sight for sore eyes. And damn, if she doesn’t look like the angel she is, my Jenna. I watch her smile grow as she spots me.
Her mother beats me to her, giving her a hug.
“I’m glad you had your lips redone,” she says to her daughter.
I chuckle to myself before I hear it—my name being chanted. I turn to face the shore and spot a group of women with signs on the dock. Scrubbing my face, I groan.
“What is that?” someone asks behind me, most likely Jenna’s mother.
That’s when Mrs. Hillary walks into the view with two girls on either side of her. Their heads are aimed toward the ground, mirroring my feeling.
Laughter can be heard in my ears as Jenna bumps me with her hip.
“This is so not funny, Bubble Lips,” I try to say with a straight face. “It’s your fault.”
“Bubble Lips? Why don’t you tell my mother how you were teaching me fellatio and that’s how I got donut lips?”
“What—your mom needs pointers?” I joke.
“Ha-ha. And that’s gross by the way. But those poor girls look like they want lessons,” she says.
The chanting has grown louder as the women below assume they have my attention. A crowd forms on and off the boat.
I glance back and see Jenna’s parents talking to my dad. There has to be a way to get this all to stop. A plan quickly forms because I didn’t really have one before. I take Jenna’s hands in mine.
“Tonight, you’re going to pay for this,” I whisper, letting my eyes trail to the women who want to start my fan club.
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
“How about some of both?”
“That will work.”
She licks her lips, and it takes all my self-control not to dive deep into the depths of her mouth and kiss the sin out of her.
“You’ve really put on one hell of a show. People have been talking about how impressed they are this year and how much better it is than the past.”
“She’s done an excellent job.”
Jenna glances over at the women who spoke. “Brandon, this is my boss, Helen.”
I’m reluctant to let go of Jenna’s hand, but with so many eyes on us, I shake the offered hand. So many eyes. I catch Jenna’s mother, then father. They are smiling at me. How can they know? Cole’s crinkle at the corners. Swallowing, I turn back to the woman I love and give her a minute.
Kneeling on one knee, I take a deep breath, as audible ones can be heard all around us. Looking up into Jenna’s eyes, I see surprise and shock.
“I hadn’t meant to do this now. In fact, I wasn’t sure when I’d do it. But I realized something today, here so close…” I have to clear my throat as emotion chokes me. “You asked me about my tattoo, and I never told you.” She nods. “The dragon symbolizes how I felt all my life. It’s like fire runs just beneath my skin, but I’ve always had to rein it in out of duty to my mom… Braedon. I was always afraid that if I didn’t hold what was inside me, others would suffer.”
Her eyes fill with concern.
“I was afraid to let anyone down, upset the normal course of life, you know. But there’s always been fire inside me to be something more than what I am. But with you, I can’t hold back. You are that fire that soothes my soul. You’ve been the one, the only woman I’ve wanted since the first day I laid eyes on you. The boat,” I point to where that tattoo is, “represents me feeling lost. But you found me. We may have had a long journey to get to this point, but I don’t want to waste another moment without you by my side. I love you so damn much for that. You don’t have to say yes yet, but I’m declaring here and now my intention is to spend the rest of my life with you. We don’t have to get married tomorrow or next year, but everyone needs to know who owns my heart and soul.”
The ring I had in my pocket and not in a box is warm. It’s not the doorknocker Kenneth gave her, but it’s big enough to be seen. More important, it’s something I think she’ll like. I’d consulted Cate.
As I hold it out to her, I can’t breathe, nerves keeping my lungs on lockdown. Her hands haven’t moved from her mouth as wide eyes stare down at me.
“It’s okay,” I say, pulling the ring back, understanding I’d made a calculated mistake. I didn’t want to pressure her, but the moment came, and I’d done it without second-guessing myself. “It’s far too soon for me to be doing this.” I close my eyes to get my shit together and find a smile to plaster to my face for all the onlookers.
“Yes.”
The word is so quiet, I don’t dare open my eyes in case I hadn’t heard right. Suddenly, her hands are
covering mine.
“Yes, Brandon. I’ll marry you today, tomorrow, next week, next year.”
Opening my eyes, I stand up and draw her close.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to make the wrong choice.”
“I love you. You’ve always been the right choice, no matter how long it took me to realize it.”
Nothing else needs to be said. I kiss her like I’ve wanted to since I first saw her. Clapping and some agonizing sobs erupt from all around. None of it matters.
Tilting to meet her forehead with my own, our fingers entwined, I say, “You are my present, my past, but most important, my future. No doubt we’ll have rough times ahead, but with you as my compass, we can navigate this life together.”
Epilogue
Several years later
Staring out into the large backyard, I marvel at the house I had built for Jenna, with her input, of course. She wanted a place with a huge backyard for our future kids. So far, I’ve failed her there.
“Hey, stranger,” Cate says, coming over to give me a hug.
“It’s been a while.”
“It has. You guys have a lovely home. Your mom is over the moon showing us around.” I nod. “Where’s Jenna?”
I glance down at Cate’s belly. “Number five, eh?”
She pats her stomach. “Yeah, and that’s the end of that story.”
We laugh, but I know that Jenna’s struggling with seeing Cate today.
“She’s hiding from me,” Cate surmises.
The smile she wears is cautious, but that’s because the sympathy in her eyes is filled with compassion. She pats my hand.
“It will work out. Let me go find her,” she says.
I nod, leaving my mom to play hostess while I wonder if Jenna and I will ever hear the sounds of children’s laughter in the backyard, until I do.
“Uncle Brandon, Uncle Brandon.”
I turn to find little Madeline running toward me. Bending down in time, I scoop her up when she launches herself at me. Her little arms wrap around my neck.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers into my ear.
“I’ve missed you, too, Maddy.”
The Cruel and Beautiful Series Boxset Page 106
