A Billionaire BWWM Romance 6: The Wedding

by J A Fielding

  “Are you sure it’s okay to hitch a ride with you to the airport? Because if it isn’t I can just take a cab,” Meg said. Julie smiled and shook her head.

  “We have a cab big enough to fit that family from the ‘Cheaper By The Dozen’ movie,” she said as she helped Meg with her bags. “Damn girl. What do you have in here? It’s only three days,” she added as she pretended to weigh the bags. Meg smiled.

  “It’s three days at a resort. A mountain resort. There are awesome pools, beautiful parks and ravines,” Meg said. Julie shook her head.

  “So?” she asked.

  “All those different places call for different outfits,” Meg said matter-of-factly. Julie smiled and then looked at her watch.

  “Damn it guys. We have twenty minutes,” she called.

  “I’m ready,” Michael said with a smile.

  “I cannot find my flip flops,” Julie’s Nan said. Julie rolled her eyes.

  “They are just flip flops Nan. You could always get new ones,” she said as she looked at her grandmother.

  “But I want those particular ones. They are the nice orthopedic ones. The ones you got me, remember?” she asked. Julie shook her head.

  “Come on. I want to show you something,” Julie pulled Meg away from the madness. They quickly made their way to the upstairs bedroom that Michael had reserved for her and when they got there, Julie quickly locked the door behind her.

  “What are you doing…” Meg started saying before Julie put her index finger to her lips and smiled. She then walked to her carry on and put her passport inside before she pulled out a black lacy lingerie with a red binding. She looked at Meg and raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Wow, I have to say…wow,” Meg smiled. She was lost for words as Julie thought she would be. “Is that what you have chosen for the wedding night?” she asked as she took the lingerie from her. Julie smiled and nodded. It was the most perfect garment. The fabric was just flimsy enough to make sure that when Steven touched her, he would feel the warmth of her skin almost immediately. The sweetheart neckline ensured the impatient push of her breast was apparent. She was going to drive Steven crazy and not forgetting the black peep toe heels that screamed ‘Fuck Me” to all who saw them. Meg smiled. “But why do you have it in your carry on? Wouldn’t it be safer in your luggage” she asked. Julie shook her head.

  “This is a much safer place since he won’t get to see it,” Julie said. “You have no idea how ignorant he can be when it comes to my purse. But with the luggage, he has some of his own things in there too,” she added with a smile. ”Besides the stuff I gave you to have in your luggage, there is still more night wear,” she said. Meg raised an eyebrow over the other.

  “Backup lingerie?” she asked.

  “Backup of the backup lingerie,” Julie said with a smile. Meg shook her head.

  “Just how much lingerie do you have?” she asked.

  “I have a three week long honeymoon. What do you think?” Julie said with a smile. Meg shrugged. “Now, about you,” she started as she looked at Meg.

  “What about me?” Meg asked shaking her head.

  “Well, you have been single for a while...” Julie never got to finish that statement. She looked at Meg’s mouth that was now agape.

  “Are you serious? You are not going to set me up with some guy,” she said.

  Julie shook her head.

  “No one is setting you up. You are just meeting some guy from the UK. Hottie, I have to say. Businessy too, just the way you like them,” she said.

  Meg raised an eyebrow. “Fifty Shades of Grey hot?” she asked.

  Julie smiled. “I haven’t really seen the movie, so…” she started before Meg shook her head.

  “Oh come on. Like you couldn’t get how hot Christian Grey was from the book. That woman had the perfect words to paint the picture of a guy whose clothes I would rip up the minute I saw him,” she said. Julie smiled and nodded.

  “Valid case,” she said. “So, anyway. We are not setting you up…” again she didn’t get to finish her sentence.

  “We?” Meg asked as she looked at Julie. “Who’s we?” she asked as she looked at her best friend. Julie wanted to use all the curse words she had in mind. Profanity seemed like the only thing that could get her out of the hole she had dug herself in.

  “Okay don’t freak out,” she said. “But I met this guy when Steven and I went to Britain together. And he is a sweetheart and Steven has known him forever so…” Meg put her hand up and shut her up.

  “Am I ever going to speak one full sentence?” Julie wondered.

  “Okay, you have to stop. You’re spiraling,” Meg said. Julie took a long deep breath.

  “Cab’s here!” they heard Michael calling out. Julie looked at Meg and smiled.

  “You are going to love this guy,” she said. Meg raised an eyebrow.

  “Love? Really? Isn’t it a little too soon to start labeling things?” she asked. Julie just smiled and shrugged before they both headed for the door.

  “Well, something’s going to have to give and in this case it’s you. Once you see this guy that is,” she said. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Michael was standing there frowning. Immediately, Julie knew that something was wrong. She looked at her father and raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked as she looked at her father. Michael took a long deep breath and took a step back. That was when Julie saw her mother standing there. Immediately, she felt a wave of emotion wash over her. She had not told her mother she was getting married. As a matter of fact, she had not told her mother anything at all. She looked into her mother’s eyes and as she did, she had a million and one things going through her mind. How had she known where to come? Did her father know about this? What was she supposed to tell her?

  “Baby…hi.” Julie couldn’t answer. She looked at her father and sighed.

  “Does everyone have what they need?” she asked. Michael nodded. “Nan got her…” her words trailed off. She had no idea what her Nana had been looking for. She looked at her father and gave him a look that said ‘I – don’t – really – know – what – she – was – looking – for’. Michael nodded. “Go,” she said. Michael raised an eyebrow.

  “But…” he started but Julie didn’t want to let her finish. She shook her head.

  “I’ll catch up,” she said.

  “Juelz, this is not a shopping trip downtown…” Michael started but again Julie stopped him.

  “I will catch up. I’ll just make a quick call to Steven,” she said. Michael took a long deep breath. He knew he was fighting a losing battle. He looked at her and then at Meg.

  “I’ll get your Nan,” Meg said as she walked out of the room.

  “She’s in the den,” Michael said.

  “And Meg,” Julie called out. Meg stopped in her tracks and turned around. “Don’t tell her,” she said. She looked at Julie and forced a smile before she nodded. She looked at her mother and wondered what exactly she was supposed to say but nothing was coming to her mind. The only thing she was sure of was that she had to call Steven and let him know that she would be running late. She reached for her phone in her bag and quickly dialed him. She avoided her mother’s line of sight as much as she could as she listened to the phone ring softly. “Babe…hi,” she said when he picked up.

  “Hey…you on your way?” he asked. She looked at her mother and shook her head almost as if he could see her.

  “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I am running a little late,” she said.

  “Really? How late is late?” Steven asked. Julie had no idea. For all she knew this could easily be a five minute to a three hour thing. There was no telling what time she would get out of there. Again she shook her head.

  “You know what? I can’t really tell. You just go ahead. I’ll catch up,” she said. If Steven was there, she could have seen the concern in his face and eyes.

  “You’re not getting cold feet on me, are you baby
?” he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

  “Not at all. I just have something I need to take care of,” she said and then turned around. “I am not about to become a runaway bride Steven Davenport. I can’t wait to be your wife,” she added in a soft voice.

  “I love you,” he said. She smiled and fought back a tear.

  “I love you too,” she said before she hung up. She turned around and looked at her mother. “What are you doing here? What do you want?” she asked in an almost cold voice.

  “I just needed to see you…I heard that you were getting married and I didn’t know anything about…” Julie smiled cynically and shook her head.

  “You didn’t know anything about it because I chose not to tell you,” she said. “This is your doing mother, you chose to be absent from your daughter’s life,” she added. Her mother opened her mouth but no words came out and Julie sighed. “I wouldn’t know what to say either and honestly, I wouldn’t be here at all,” she said. Her mother walked towards her but Julie took a step back. “Whatever you want to say, you can say it from right there,” she said.

  “I’m sorry, baby. But I don’t want to miss out on this in the same way I’ve missed out on so much.”

  Julie shook her head. “If you really wanted to be there for me, mother, you would have gone to the creek. But I have a feeling this will be Monique’s all over again,” she said. Her mother frowned.

  “Monique’s?” she asked. Julie nodded.

  “The day you were supposed to meet me for lunch and cancelled? Remember? Or the day we were supposed to meet at the sandwich bar and you cancelled…how about the day…” she had an endless list. Her mother held her hands up.

  “Fine…I know I haven’t been the perfect mother…”

  Julie shook her head. “You haven’t been a mother at all and if coming to my wedding makes you feel any better, then you do it,” she said as she pulled out a flyer out of her handbag. “The address is somewhere there. But right now, I have to leave,” she said as she pulled her suitcase’s drag handle. “Lock up when you leave,” she said as she began walking past her mother to the door.

  “Baby wait…” she heard her mother say but she didn’t want to stop. She knew that the moment she looked into her mother’s eyes she would start crying. She just went on until she opened the door, walked out and closed it before she leaned against it and let the tears flow freely.

  Chapter 4

  As soon as they got to Alberta’s Creek, Julie was convinced that the pictures Pamela had shown her didn’t do the place any justice. The place was beautifully green with lush gardens stretching out as far as the eye could see. There was a section of the property that had the perfect place that Julie would have picked for her photo session. It was a water front property, perfectly crafted with wood. To Julie, it had a perfect traditional look to it and as far as she was concerned, that was exactly what she needed in her wedding pictures. She was still taking the scene in when Pamela came running towards her.

  “I hope you like what I’ve done with the place,” she said. Julie looked at her and smiled.

  “Are you kidding? I love what you’ve done with the place,” she said. She looked into Pamela’s eyes. “As far as I’m concerned this is exactly what I wanted.”

  “Cool. We will be going up the creek and maybe across the ravine bridge later on today. We will probably be camping out there,” Pamela said. Julie smiled and nodded. “Is your family feeling up to it?” she asked. Julie laughed and shook her head.

  “Have you met my family? They live for this kind of thing,” she said. Pamela laughed and nodded.

  “Great. I’ll see you up there,” she said before she walked away. Julie looked around as she felt her phone vibrating wildly in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at it. She had a sick feeling in her stomach when she saw that it was her mother. She had said everything she needed to say back at the house. She didn’t think she could utter a single nice word to her, not now. Not after everything that had happened. She hit ignore and put it back in her pocket cursing why she had chosen to stay behind and talk to her in the first place.

  “I would hate to be the person on the other end of that line,” Julie heard Steven’s voice. She turned around and smiled before she wrapped her arms around him. Being in his arms was almost therapeutic for her. His arms were always so perfect, so safe. “You okay?” Steven asked as he ran his hand up and down her back. She pulled away from him and gave him a weak smile. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked as he looked at her. She shook her head.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” she said. He smiled and brushed away a stray strand of hair from her face before tucking it behind her ear.

  “You better lighten that smile up. We are getting married in a few hours,” he said. She smiled and nodded.

  “I know. I’m just happy to see you,” she said. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

  “Does this look have anything to do with the fact that we had to travel separately?” he asked. She sighed and nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. She looked at him and that moment, everything she kept bottled up came crushing down. Her emotions took over the better of her as her tears rolled down her cheeks. “Come on,” Steven said as he put an arm around her shoulders and led her down the path to their cottage. Once they were in, she tried to stop herself from crying but everything she tried was futile. She had not cried so much in a long time. Steven held her close as she sobbed her heart out. “It’s okay. Let it all out,” he said in a low voice. “I’m here now.” He planted a soft kiss on top of her head as she cried. By the time she calmed down, she had no idea how much time had passed. She had even dozed off a little. When she finally pulled her head from Steven’s chest, he was watching TV with his head against the bed’s headboard. “There she is,” he said in a low voice.

  “I fell asleep…I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice.

  “It’s okay. I think you needed it.” He ran his hand up and down her back. “Come on. I’ll get you some tea,” he said as she pulled herself up. He got up and walked to the kitchenette and got the pot started. She looked at him and put her hands on her face. She could feel the area under her eyes swollen. Her face was hot from all that crying. She was breathing hard and fast as she looked at Steven who was now pouring two cups of tea. She put a pillow behind her back and leaned on the head board as he walked back to the bed.

  “I made you the strawberry cinnamon tea you like,” Steven said as he sat down next to her. She looked at him and smiled as she took the cup from him.

  “Thanks babe,” she said before she took a sip. “I’m a mess, I know,” she said as her gaze fell. Steven smiled and shook his head.

  “You still look beautiful to me,” he said. “Matter of fact, you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”

  “I bet you say that to all the girls,” she smiled.

  “Just the one I want to spend the rest of my life with,” he shrugged. She looked at him and smiled. “So, are you going to tell me why we had to travel here separately?” he asked. She took a long deep breath and then took a sip of her tea. “I get it if you don’t want to talk about it…” he started but she shook her head. She looked at him and forced a smile.

  “My mom came to see me,” she started. .

  “Your mom? I thought…Do you guys still talk?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. She took another deep long breath and shook her head.

  “We used to. But things started getting a little…weird between us.”

  “How weird?” he asked and then shook his head. “You know what? You tell me the whole story,” he said. She smiled and took another sip as he pulled the light duvet to cover up her legs. He switched off the TV and turned his full attention to her. She looked at him and then shrugged.

  “Remember when we first met and I told you that my dad did most of the parenting alone?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I remember,” he nodded.

  “Well as it turns out, it
was not because my mom was unavailable…I mean, she was unavailable. But it was because she wanted to be. She was quote unquote not ready to be a mother...”

  Steven put his hand up and frowned. “Whoa. Wait? What do you mean she was not ready to be a mother?” he asked.

  She took a long deep breath. “I mean that she had a choice between being a mom and living the high life and she chose the latter.”

  “So, she walked out on you? It was not some kind of divorce arrangement gone wrong or something?” he asked. She could tell that he was getting more surprised by the second.

  “They did get divorced. Eventually,” she said as she looked at him. “But at first, my mother just walked out of the house and grabbed her car keys like she was going to run an errand like any other day.” She looked at him and forced out a slow sad smile. “I remember that day like it was yesterday.” Steven reached for her hand and looked into her eyes. He had never seen her look so sad in all the time he had known her. “She never came back and the next time I saw her, after almost five years, she said that she had done it for my own good.”

  “What did she mean?” Steven asked.

  “At the time, I didn’t know but now, I know that she was right. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if not for my dad,” she said with a smile.

  “So, where did she go?” he asked.

  “She wanted to live her life partying and having fun and having a baby was making her not do all those things,” she said with a sad smile. “And plus, she needed an excuse to be with the other man in her life who wouldn’t accept her with a child,” she finished as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked up at him and shrugged. He was now drawing small circles at the back of her hands with his thumbs. She looked at him and shook her head. “And even after all that crap, I was willing to let her back into my life when she came back. And she blew it over and over again but last time was it. I couldn’t do it anymore after last time.” Steven brushed away a tear and looked into her eyes.