by Frankie Love
I close my eyes, dread coming over me. Realizing I really don’t know anything personal about Tanner except that his brother’s a dick. I don’t know where he lives, what his job is — heck, I don’t even know if he is already married.
No. He couldn’t be. He is a good guy. A really good guy. A guy who held me tight under the light of the stars and told me about his old friend in college. He kissed my lips and caressed my skin and made me feel wanted in a wholly new way. He held me in his arms all night and yet I don’t even know his last name.
My heart starts beating hard. What am I even thinking? This is insane. Being here, dreaming about a future with him when he is a man that I hardly know on his way out of town.
But as I get up from the mattress, pulling on my bra and panties… I blink back tears, frustrated with my own doubt because I do know him. Don’t I?
“Hey,” he says, waking and looking up at me as I pull my sundress over my head. “You don’t like to sleep in?”
I sit down on the mattress. “I have to work the brunch shift.”
He runs his hand over my thigh. “And I have a wedding to get ready for.”
I bite my bottom lip. “I had fun last night.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Fun? That’s what we’re calling this?”
I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “Well, I don’t know…”
He sits up. “I was hoping we could call it the first night of forever.”
I laugh, not taking him seriously. Because why would I?
“You know next to nothing about me,” I say softly.
“Then tell me everything I need to know.”
I laugh gently. “Tanner, I also know nothing about you.”
“Ouch.” He presses his palm to his heart. “You sure know how to bruise a man’s ego first thing in the morning.”
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. I’m just saying thanks. I had fun.”
“That word, fun, again,” he says with a bitter edge to his voice. He runs a hand through his hair. “See, I thought we had something special.”
He grabs his clothes and dresses quickly.
I’m conflicted — both wanting to protect my heart and wanting to give it to him freely.
“Do you want to meet up later? After the wedding?” I ask. “I get off at three.”
“The wedding is at two.” He smiles. “Join me at the reception?”
“At the Grand?”
He nods. “Now, can I at least buy you coffee before you go to work?”
I groan, pulling my phone from my bag. “Sorry. I’ve got to open the whole place up. I need to be there in thirty. I’ll just have enough time to change and get over there.”
We walk through the woods, his hand on the small of my back, and I love it being there — but I also feel fear winding its way up my spine. There is a reason locals don’t fall for tourists. There’s always a shelf life on the relationship. And maybe for some people that works just fine — a summer fling — but I’m not most people.
My heart goes all in. And I want to go all in with Tanner. Trouble is, he’s here for the weekend. And I’m looking for someone who isn’t going to leave.
During my shift, Xander comes to the restaurant and sits at the bar, waiting for me to take a break. Eventually I get a minute, and Jose makes us both Bloody Marys. I don’t have a hangover, but Xander clearly does.
“Last night got wild,” he says. “I thought you were gonna come out.”
Jose’s eyes meet mine. Heat rises to my cheeks.
“What aren’t you guys telling me?” Xander asks.
I shake my head, blushing.
Jose chuckles. “She left with a man. A very handsome man.”
“Really?” Xander slaps his hand down on the bar. “Hot damn, it’s about time, Twila!”
I roll my eyes. “Lower your voice if you want the details. Do we need the entire restaurant to know that I was a virgin?”
“Was?” Xander and Jose raise their eyebrows.
I laugh. “Whelp, I guess I broke the don’t kiss and tell rule.”
“Was he good to you?” Xander asks, all joking aside.
I groan. “Yeah. It was incredible.” I take a big gulp of my ice-cold Bloody Mary to cool off — the mere thought of Tanner naked, on top of me, gets me all worked up. “We went to my secret garden.”
Jose shakes his head. “That’s what people are calling it these days?”
“It’s not a metaphor,” I laugh. “I’m talking about my literal garden, the one back behind my mom’s house?” I wave my hand in the air, shoving the comment off. “Look, it was incredible, but it’s not happening again.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s a tourist. Because I know next to nothing about him. Because it’s stupid to consider this love at first sight when it might all be one-sided.”
“Wait, we’re talking the L word already?” Xander asks, eyes bugging out.
“Maybe?” I exhale. “I felt so… alive with him, but also at peace? Like anything was possible. Like we were possible.”
“So maybe it isn’t one-sided,” Tanner says. “Maybe he is your one and only.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?”
Jose and Xander laugh. “Oh, we’ve always thought you were crazy. But in the best possible way. And if you think he might be the one, go find out if it’s the real deal, girl. No one deserves happiness like you do.”
Deciding my friends are right, after my shift I go to the Bahamas Grand Hotel with confidence in my step. Why shouldn’t I find happiness in the space of one night?
When I enter the crowded lobby, I see my mom working the front desk.
“Hey Mom.” I lean over the counter and give her a hug. “Miss you.”
“I miss you too, darling. You’ve been so busy acting wild and free.”
“Are you annoyed? I left a note.”
Mom laughs. “Twila! You’re a grown woman. I want you to be out having fun. So who were you with? The regular crew?”
I shake my head. “No. Actually, I met someone.” I tell her about Tanner, how he is a guest here, and how I am meeting him for a date this afternoon.
“Oh, I know him. He is so handsome, Twila. But he’s at a family wedding.”
“I know, I am meeting him after.”
“I saw him earlier looking very sharp, all dressed up in a tux.”
“Good thing I wore this black dress to work this morning,” I say. “I won’t look too out of place.
“Here, you need a flower.” She snaps a tropical flower from the bouquet on the table and tucks it behind my ear. “A tropical princess.”
I smile as I walk away. I’m no tropical princess. I’m a tropical queen.
As I round the corner toward the outside deck where hotel weddings are held, I run into a couple making out in the hallway. Hot and heavy. The man has his hands on the woman’s ass and she is grinding against him.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I say, apologetic to be ruining their moment, also wondering why they don’t just go get a room — this is a hotel after all.
But as the couple separates, I gasp, horrified.
“Oh my God!” Tears fill my eyes. And I step away, shocked. It’s Tanner kissing another woman. “Oh God. This was a mistake…” I run from them, Tanner dressed in the fancy tuxedo my mom mentioned, the woman a waitress.
And me nothing but a fool.
I run down the hallway, pulling out my phone, texting Xander that I’m having an emergency. I’m at the Bahama Grand. Come here. Now.
Tears sting my eyes as I leave the hotel, past the bar, past the wedding reception. Feeling sick.
I guess I was right.
I don’t know Tanner. Because the Tanner I thought I knew would never break my heart like this.
7
Tanner
As I’m coming back from the bar, I see Twila walking quickly out toward the beach, tears down her cheeks. Fury rises within me. Who hurt her?
I’ll make them pay.
I set my drink down on a table, moving past the wedding guests. The ceremony was a blur — the bride was hammered, the groom was high — it was a real moment of love and devotion. Why the hell did they even bother getting hitched? And the guests who came are all equally douchebags who have no respect for themselves or anyone else — let alone the sanctity of marriage.
“Twila!” I call for her. She pauses for a moment, but then keeps on running. “Twila!” I shout, gaining on her, hating that I don’t know what’s happened to cause her to be so upset.
When I reach her on the sandy beach, she raises a hand. “Don’t,” she says. “Don’t say anything. I get it.”
“Get what?” I ask. “Why are you crying, baby? Who hurt you?”
She scoffs, wiping the mascara from her cheeks. “Baby? Why are you playing dumb with me? Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“What?” I’m floored — confused and frustrated. “No, I think you’re the most perfect woman I’ve ever met. I’ve fallen in love with you after just one night, Twila. I want you. So damn bad.”
“So badly you were kissing someone else a minute ago?”
“Kissing someone?” I shake my head. “Twila, you’re wrong. I was at the bar and then I saw you running—”
“Stop, Tanner.” Her shoulders shake. “I thought you were different. Thought that we were something. That this was more than a hook-up. I’m a fool for falling for it. For falling for you.”
“I don’t know what you think you saw, but Twila, listen to me.. I think you saw my twin brother. I’ve been mistaken for him my entire life.”
“Right.” She snorts. “Your evil twin brother making out with someone else on his wedding day. That doesn’t sound made up at all”
Just then, there’s a holler from up on the deck where the reception is being held. “Tanner!” my brother calls. “It’s time for your toast, you big jackass!”
“I need a sec,” I holler back.
“Okay man, one sec.” He walks away, and I turn back to Twila.
It looks like she’s seen a ghost.
“Wait,” she says. “Who was that?”
“My twin brother.”
“Wait, you’re really a twin?” She wipes her eyes, shaking as she steps toward me.
“Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair. “But look, I don’t care about my brother Mark. I care about you — and why you think I’m something I’m not.”
Her face crumbles and she drops her shoulders. “Oh crap,” she moans. “I got it all wrong. I got it all…” She’s crying now, and I step closer, pulling her into my arms.
“Baby, don’t cry. I’m right here.”
“I saw Mark with another woman. A waitress. And I thought it was you and I…” She shakes her head, crying against my chest. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I assumed the worst.”
Relief runs through me as I come to understand why she was so worked up. “Of course you were scared. You thought I was betraying you, us. But I didn’t and I wouldn’t. I meant what I said, Twila. I’ve fallen for you. Hard.”
I wipe her tears away with my thumbs, looking into her clear blue eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “And I’ve fallen for you too — it’s why I was so upset. I thought I got it all wrong. That we weren’t what I thought we were.”
I smile. “And what did you think we were, Twila?”
She licks her lips. “I thought we were the real deal.”
I squeeze her ass, drawing her mouth to mine. “Oh, we’re real, all right. So fucking real.” I kiss my curvy girl, loving the way she feels in my arms, against my chest, her mouth on mine. God, I want it to last all night.
“Hey shithead!” Mark calls again. “Your one second is up!”
Twila pulls back form the kiss. “You better go be a good best man.”
“This whole wedding is so fucking weird.”
She laughs. “It’s insane. I mean, he was just making out with a cocktail waitress. At his wedding reception.”
I take her hand, walking with her back to the party. “And the bride, I heard her talking to her maid of honor while I was in line for a drink, talking about the fact this isn’t even legally binding if they don’t mail the marriage license in.”
“What’s the point of all this then? Just a fun vacation in paradise?” Twila laughs.
“I’m personally glad it happened because it meant I met you.”
“Me too.”
We enter the reception and I head to the microphone, trying to figure out what to say that is real. True.
A waitress hands me a glass of champagne, and gives Twila one too. I clear my throat, deciding to speak from my heart.
“We are here today for love. Because in the end, it’s all we have. Our love for one another and the love we have for ourselves. It’s rare to find love that lasts a lifetime, but I hope all of us here today find it. I’d like to raise my glass, and toast the happy couple. May you love deep, love wide, love forever.”
Everyone claps, and Mark gives me a pat on the back. “Nicely done, bro. You’re off the hook now.”
I chuckle, wondering how in the hell two people who spent nine months tethered to one another could be so damn different. Guess in the end, it doesn’t really matter. Because really, the family you are born with isn’t always the one you are closest to.
Music begins to play and couples find one another. I pull Twila into my arms.
“That was quite a misunderstanding,” I say. “I was scared I lost you for a minute, baby.”
She gives me a sad smile as we move around the dance floor. “But eventually I will lose you… won’t I? When do you leave?”
I frown, seeing glassy tears pool in her eyes. “I was thinking never?”
“What are you talking about?” she asks, her breath catching.
“I sold my software company a year ago. I don’t need to work ever again.” I look away, out at the ocean. “I don’t like talking about it, makes me sound like an asshole. But I can do anything, be anywhere.”
“Oh,” Twila says softly. “I didn’t realize. This morning I pulled away because I was so scared… of giving you my heart when you were going to leave it.”
“I’m not leaving this. Hell, Twila, I want to see this through. The love I was talking about in the speech, I think that’s the kind of love we’ve found in one another.”
She squeezes her arms around me, kissing my neck. “I think so too, Tanner.”
“Good, because I have something to ask you.”
“What?”
I pull out a diamond ring I bought earlier at Bijoutique on Main Street. “Marry me, Twila. I know we have a thousand things to discover about one another, but don’t we already know the important ones?”
“Oh God, Tanner,” she says, shaking her head as I drop to one knee. The other wedding guests have stopped dancing and turn to look. “This is insane… but yes. I will marry you. Let’s make our love story the forever kind.”
I slip the ring on her finger and then lift her up, into my arms.
She sighs. “Xander’s here — he probably got my frantic text and drove here as fast as possible. And my mom. Oh, God, look at them!”
They are both staring, jaws dropped. But Xander, like a good best friend, has his phone out, taking photos.
We walk over to them, and I introduce myself. Not as Tanner, but as Twila’s fiancé.
“Oh God,” she laughs. “I don’t even know your last name.”
“It’s Locke,” Galy says. Twila asks how in the world she knows but Galy just shrugs. “I checked him into the hotel. And I must say, Twila, I told you to act wild and free, but this is a bit more than I expected.”
“Are you unhappy?”
Her mom just laughs. “No, I’m shocked, but thrilled. I want you to live your best life, love.”
“Are you are really engaged to a man you just met?” Xander asks Twila.
She smiles, her arm around my waist. “My wish yesterday was for this year to
top the last.”
He laughs. “You really dove right into that wish, didn’t you?” He pulls Twila into a hug, kissing her cheek. “I’m happy if you’re happy, and honey, you are going to love the photos I got! Your Insta is gonna love this.”
I introduce Twila to my brother, but Mark doesn’t take the whole thing seriously. Apparently meeting a woman and falling in love in one day is more ridiculous in his eyes than flying across the world for a wedding that he already knows won’t last.
I take Twila’s hand, and we walk down the beach. We slip off our shoes, walking into the crashing waves. “My queen,” I say, pulling her in for another kiss. “What do you want do with your one wild and precious life? Because baby, it’s yours.”
Twila smiles, and I see all sorts of dreams lighting up her eyes. I can’t wait to learn about each and every one.
“I don’t know about my whole life… but if I can start with tonight, I want to be in your bed.”
I pick her up, kissing her with the promise of forever. The curvy girl at the beach, now also my bride-to-be.
Epilogue
Twila
One year later…
Falling in love — and then learning all about the man I am about to marry — has made this one heck of a year. Who knew Tanner wears V-neck tee shirts under everything and brushes his teeth in the shower?
I suppose he didn’t know that I was a night owl (to his early bird) or that I was a vegetarian. Oops. The first time he mentioned getting BBQ I gave him evil eyes.
But those are all fun things to learn — little surprises that remind us that love is all about give and take.
The trip to Australia for my photography course was incredible — Tanner snorkeled in the reefs, together we explored the country, and I learned a ton about taking better pictures. My Curvy Girl at the Beach Instagram account exploded. Suddenly I’m getting invitations to be a keynote speaker at conferences around the world. Apparently, my body positive message resonates with lots of people.
And I’m grateful for that — but the message is about more than feeling good in my skin — it’s about loving myself inside and out. It’s about taking risks and chances and being brave with love the same as I am brave with wearing bikinis and high-waisted jeans. I’m living my best life, one day at a time.
