by Lily Graison
“Are we picking up Faith on the way out of town?” Jessi asked.
Mick shot her a glance that caused her to take a step back. Christian raised an eyebrow at him before wrapping an arm around her waist. “What’s going on, man?”
“Faith isn’t coming,” he said. “Now, let’s get going. I want to get out of here.”
He climbed into the front passenger seat, slamming the door and sat waiting. They’d either get in or he’d slide behind the wheel and leave them all standing on the side of the road. He was done with this town. Done with Faith, and done with women, period. They weren’t anything but lying, manipulating cunts as far as he was concerned.
The sound of doors opening and the others getting inside was the only thing that kept him from crying like a bitch. When Luke started the SUV and pulled away from the curb, Mick stared out the window and had to close his eyes to stop them burning. His heart felt heavy, his chest aching until he found it difficult to breathe. How had this happened? Why? Had Faith set out to trap him like Jennifer had? Was he so gullible, and controlled by his dick, that he would fall for any scheme perpetrated by any manipulative woman that crossed his path?
Apparently.
When they hit the highway, he leaned back and kept his eyes closed. The sound of whispered voices penetrated the space inside the vehicle and he tuned them out. Them and the visions of Faith that danced in his mind’s eye.
How could he have been so stupid? Had he not learned his lesson with Jennifer? Had she not done the exact same thing? She lured him in and sunk her claws in before he had time to even think.
Faith didn’t do that.
He scowled at his own thoughts because they were true. He’d been the one to pursue her. He’d wanted her ten seconds after laying eyes on her and the minute he got her alone, he laid on the moves and was genuinely happy she’d reciprocated. Those sweet little lips of hers tasted like pure nectar and once he got her into his bed, he couldn’t get enough. She was so tiny and gorgeous and made his heart skip a beat when she flashed those pretty eyes at him and smiled. She wanted him and spent hours proving it. His cock twitched just thinking about her. How many times had he fucked her that week in Vegas? How many times had he thought about doing it the weeks they were apart? Every day? Every hour? Every time he lay his head down at night and longed to feel her there with him. Ached to feel her skin next to his. To bury himself in her heat and hear her whisper his name while he loved her.
The ache in his chest intensified, his eyes burning to the point he had to lift a hand and rub them to keep the tears he knew were just under his eyelids from spilling out. He’d given her everything he had and this is how she repaid him? By lies and deceit?
Who said she lied?
He shifted in his seat and he heard the divorce papers in his back pocket crunch. He reached for them, unfolding it and flipping through the pages. Seeing her signature scrawled at the bottom was like a blow to the head. The look on her face when she’d shoved them at him tearing at his heart. She’d looked crushed, broken. He’d done that. He’d caused that look with his fear and doubt. Fear that she was just after his money. Doubt that the baby was even his. But why? He didn’t doubt her for a second when she told him. Not once had he thought, “Maybe it isn’t mine.” He’d just accepted it, accepted her word as truth and thought nothing more of it other than what would they do. The answer had seemed so simple. They’d stay married and raise their kid but one tiny flick of doubt from her father had ruined it all. It destroyed his faith in her, clouded his judgment until nothing remained but suspicions he had no way of finding out. Not now. Not after leaving her … again.
He opened his eyes and turned his head, looking over at Luke. His friend glanced at him but didn’t say anything. Of all the guys in the band, Luke was the one he shared the most with. He was the brother he never had. The one he knew he could tell anything to and it wouldn’t go any further. The one who always helped him out when shit went bad and right now, he knew he needed to sort this out.
“Pull over.”
Luke looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”
Mick nodded. “Yeah.” When the SUV came to a stop on the side of the road, he opened his door and got out, walking down a road a ways and he knew without looking Luke was right behind him. When he stopped and turned, his friend just stared at him. “Her father thought she was a virgin when she went to Vegas.”
“Okay,” Luke said.
“She wasn’t.”
Luke nodded and waited and Mick found it hard to say what he’d been thinking. It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t get the words out. Luckily he didn’t have to.
“You think the baby isn’t yours?”
He sighed and looked out across the highway. “It never even entered my mind until her father asked.”
“Why?”
Mick looked back at Luke and said, “Why what?”
“Why didn’t it ever enter your mind?”
“She told me it was mine.”
“And you believed her?”
“Of course I believed her! Why wouldn’t I?”
“So what’s the problem?” Luke stared at him, his arms crossed over his chest, and didn’t say another word. What was the problem? The problem was what if the baby wasn’t his? What if Faith knew she was pregnant when she went to Vegas and deliberately trapped him? The problem was he’d be raising another man’s kid.
And if the baby is yours, another man will raise it. And spend his life with your girl.
“Mick, what were your intentions when you came down here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Luke said, “Did you come down here to get those divorce papers signed.”
“Yes.”
“And did you?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And what?”
Luke laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “Man, you are so fucked up in the head right now.”
“And this is exactly why were standing in the middle of fucking nowhere having this conversation!”
“All right,” Luke said. “Let me ask you this. When you came to the Inn to tell us to get ready, what were your intentions?”
“We were leaving.”
“With Faith?”
“Yes.”
“So, you were willing to burn the divorce papers and stay married to her?”
“That’s what I just said.”
Luke grinned and shook his head. “Are you in love with her?”
Mick stared at him like he’d been slapped. In love with her?
“It’s a simple question, man.”
“I know.”
“And?”
“I care about her. I don’t want to see her hurt.” Especially when it’s me causing it.
“Caring about someone and being in love with them are two different things.”
“I know that.” He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look back at the SUV. Jessi and Christian were now standing beside the vehicle and he watched them as they stretched their legs. They were smiling and looked happy. As happy as he had felt two hours ago. Watching them now, he knew his accusation against Jessi was unfounded. She hadn’t chased after Christian and trapped him. You can’t force someone to fall in love with you. Christian had fallen for the girl the minute he saw her … the same way he’d fallen for Faith.
He looked back over at Luke. “She asked me if I was insane.”
Luke laughed. “Hate to tell you man, but you’re acting a bit insane. You spent weeks being the most neurotic I’ve ever seen you and acted like a kid the minute we hit this town. You’ve gone from one end of the scale to another in the short time we’ve been here and one innocent remark from Faith’s father and you’re throwing it all away? Yeah. I’m beginning to understand why she asked.”
“So what do you think I should do?”
“It’s not my girl I left behind,” Luke said. “You’ll have to make that
decision on your own but I will tell you this. If I were standing in your shoes right now, I don’t think I could leave Roxy just because I had some doubts. I’d find out the truth before I did something I might spend the rest of my life regretting.”
Mick looked back across the highway. He wasn’t any closer to an answer than he was when he got out of the car. The only thing he did know was, the further they got from Barton Georgia, the more he felt like he’d left something behind.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 8
Faith felt every eye in the church on her as she made her way down the center aisle to her seat on the first pew. Her father sat in the pulpit, staring down at his notes on the sermon and the hushed whispers echoing across the sanctuary increased as she moved closer to the front of the building. When she reached her seat, she forced a smile on her face when Jacob looked up at her. She took her place beside him and tried to not look as miserable as she felt.
For two days she’d done nothing but sit in her room while her heart bled out. To be left and unwanted was the worst feeling in the world. Knowing Mick thought she’d lied and tried to trap him hurt more than him leaving. She could understand his reluctance. She hadn’t at first but after analyzing everything from every angle, she could see things from where he was standing. What hurt the most was him not trusting her. That he thought she would purposely manipulate him.
Her father stood, walking to the podium, and smiled out at the congregation. His words were lost as he spoke, everything around her still a dull buzzing inside her head.
The regular hymns were sung and she mouthed the words hoping no one would know she wasn’t participating. When her father started his sermon, she stared down at her lap and knew every word he said was directed at her. She listened for over ten minutes before tuning him out.
Faint whispers started at the back of the sanctuary and her father’s words slowed, the volume in which he was speaking lowering until he stopped completely. When the whispers grew in volume and people started shifting in their seats, Faith looked up. Her father was staring at the back of the church and like everyone else in the room, she turned to see what he was looking at.
Her heart nearly stopped when she did.
“I’m in the middle of a sermon,” her father said.
“I can wait,” Mick said. “I’ve got time.”
“There’s nothing for you here, Mick.”
Mick smiled. “My wife is here,” he said. “And I’m not leaving without her. I can take her now or when you’re finished. Doesn’t really make a difference to me.”
Faith glanced back at her father. His face was red, his breaths panted out. He was livid and she knew her normally soft-spoken father was about to show a side of himself to the congregation that he never wanted them to see. She stood, hoping to diffuse the situation and didn’t know where to direct her attention … at her father or at Mick.
Her father chose for her. “Sit down, Faith.”
“Daddy—”
“Faith,” he said. “I said sit down.”
She glanced to the back of the church, her gaze finding Mick’s. He smiled at her and started down the aisle, her pulse racing with every step he took. The whispers grew louder, every person in the room watching him as he advanced and by the time he reached her, she wasn’t sure her knees would hold her up much longer.
He stopped in front of her, smiling before saying, “I’m sorry. I act before I think and I should have never left.” He reached behind him, pulling something from his pocket before handing it to her. It was the divorce papers. “I was going to burn them but I wanted to make sure you still wanted to do that first.”
Faith stared down at the document, the pages wrinkled, the edges torn. Her hands were shaking as she stared at it knowing what happened next was all up to her. She looked up, staring at Mick and wondered why he’d changed his mind. Does it matter?
Her father walked to the edge of the pulpit and she turned her head to look at him. She held her breath, wondering if she left with Mick, if her daddy would ever forgive her.
“For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, this is the young man who married my daughter.” Audible gasps were heard through the sanctuary and Faith glanced around the room, noticing the wide eyes and whispered murmurs. “As you can see,” the Reverend said, “He not only disrupts our lives but also our Sunday worship service. For what, I’d like to know.”
Mick turned and faced her father, leveling his gaze on him. “I came for my wife. Told you that already.”
“Your wife? The young woman you married while so drunk you don’t even remember it?”
Mick clenched his jaw and Faith hoped he didn’t say something they’d both live to regret. When he smiled instead she feared the worst. “I might not remember marrying her,” Mick said, “but it doesn’t make the fact that she is my wife any less true. Like it or not, Reverend, I’m not going anywhere unless Faith asks me to.”
Her father turned his gaze on her and lifted one eyebrow. “Looks like it’s all on you, Faith. What’s it going to be? Are you ready to throw away everything you know and run off with this man because some no-name person in Vegas had you recite some vows, in which neither of you remember taking, and pronounced you married? Are you willing to sacrifice your happiness on the chance that this might all work out?”
Mick turned and smiled at her before closing the small distance between them. “I love you, Faith. I don’t know anything about you other than your name and you tend to snore but that’s enough and I’ll spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to see that you’re happy. Just say the word, Tink, and we’re out of here.”
Faith grinned at him, fully intending on correcting the snoring business and glanced at her father. He was still watching them but the look on his face had changed. He didn’t seem as mad as before and she wondered if Mick’s softly spoken declaration had anything to do with it.
When she saw Mick move out of the corner of her eye she looked back at him, her eyes widening when he held his hand out to her. “I think we skipped this part the first time around,” he said, holding out a ring box. The lid was open and two wedding bands sat nestled in blue silk. She stared at the rings, her vision becoming blurry as tears filled her eyes.
“Mr. Weston,” Mick said. “I don’t remember marrying your daughter but I’ll do it again if that’s what it takes for you to accept this. She’s still my wife whether you approve or not but I’d rather leave knowing you’re okay with it.”
“Make him marry her before God!”
Faith turned to see who shouted but couldn’t tell. Every person in the room was staring at them, the looks of curiosity overwhelming. Her father took the two steps down from the pulpit and walked to where they stood. She looked up at him and held her breath.
“Is this what you want, Faith?” he asked, quietly.
Faith looked back at Mick and said, “Yes.”
Reverend Weston leaned toward Mick and whispered, “And what about the baby, Mick?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “If she says the baby is mine, then I believe her. Even if its not it won’t change how I feel about her.”
For the first time in days, Faith saw her father smile. He stared at Mick, studying him before clapping a hand on his back and nodding his head. “That’s all I need to know,” he said. He reached out and took the ring box from Mick’s hand and looked down at the rings. “What do you say we end all the rumors and gossip and get you two married properly?”
She looked at Mick, wondering what he’d say. When he grabbed her hand and said, “Will you marry me … again?” she had her answer.
Laughing, she said, “Yes.”
“All right then!” He turned and walked to the center of the aisle, turning to face her before glancing at her father. “Let’s do this, Reverend. We have a plane to catch.” He stepped closer to her and smiled before whispering, “and a honeymoon to get started on.”
[Back to Table of Con
tents]
Epilogue
Mick remembered facing the Reverend the first time and had imagined the worst. Now as he looked at him and saw the pinched look on his face, and the looks on the faces of Faith’s five brothers he wondered why he was even standing in the same state with them.
The ear-piercing scream that came from the other side of the door reminded him.
He turned and walked back to the door, reaching for the handle. She’d kicked him out five times now, replacing him as her Lamaze coach with Jessi, and going back in to get yelled at wasn’t at the top of his list of sane things to do but standing in the hall and being glared at by the Weston clan didn’t seem like a smart idea either. Another scream, this one sending gut wrenching spasms up his spine nearly brought him to his knees. He should have insisted on the drugs but she’d refused them repeatedly. It was torture listening to her in so much pain while he could do nothing but stand there and wait. Maybe he should have asked if they had anything for him instead.
The wail of a crying baby split the air the next instant and Mick’s heart skipped a beat. He spun on his heel, looking at everyone waiting and couldn’t find his voice. He stared at them, seeing the wide eyes and smiles before he jerked the door open.
Faith was the only thing he saw. The doctors and nurses, Jessi, all the equipment … it vanished as he stared at her. She was smiling at him. For the first time in hours she looked happy to see him.
“Go on in,” Holly said from behind him. “I think its safe this time.”
He walked in, letting the door shut behind him. A nurse with a tiny bundle haphazardly wrapped was looking at him, smiling. “Would you like to see your son?” she said.
My son?
He grinned and nodded his head, walking across the room and looking down at his son. He knew without a doubt the baby was his the moment he looked at his tiny face. He was a funny color and still needed a bath but there wasn’t any denying who this kid belonged to. He looked like his dad.
