Common Ground

by Wendy Smith

  Everyone behind me laughs.

  “I swear that I’ll always be here for you no matter what we face in the future. And I’ll even teach you the rules of rugby and cricket if you pay attention for long enough.”

  Josh chuckles.

  I turn to Amelia and take her hand, giving it a gentle tug for her to join us.

  Josh squats in front of her. “I promised your mama that when we got married, I’d make a commitment to you too. And that is that I promise to always be a good father to you, Amelia. I’ll listen, and make you your favourite hot chocolate with more whipped cream than your mother usually lets you have. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Daddy.” She flings her arms around his neck, and he scoops her up, smothering her face in kisses.

  She giggles, and my heart leaps at the sound.

  Josh gently lowers her to the ground, and takes my hand in his again.

  Reece takes a step forward and hands the rings to the celebrant.

  She holds them in her hand and smiles. “Joshua and Delaney will now exchange rings to show their love and commitment to each other. A wedding ring is a circle—a symbol of a love that has no end. Joshua, please place the ring on Delaney’s left hand and repeat after me.”

  My hand shakes as Josh takes hold of it, and he gives it a gentle squeeze before sliding the ring on and repeating the words. “As a sign of my love, that I have chosen you above all else, with this ring, I thee wed.”

  “Delaney, if you could place the ring on Josh’s left hand and repeat after me.”

  I nod, picking up the ring and switching hands. “As a sign of my love, that I have chosen you above all else, with this ring, I thee wed.”

  “And now, by the power vested in me by the state of California, it is my absolute delight and pleasure to declare you married. I know you’ve been waiting all ceremony, Joshua, and it is now time to kiss your bride.”

  Josh grins, sweeping me into his arms, his lips crushing mine in a kiss that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

  “I love you,” he whispers.

  Behind us, everyone cheers and any nerves I had about who our wedding guests were disappear as we turn together and face rows of beaming faces.

  This is my life now, as crazy as it may be.

  And the most important people in my life are right up the front to celebrate with me.

  Best day ever.

  The day is a blur.

  There are photos. Oh, so many photos.

  There’s food and cake and dancing.

  And then, Josh and I leave to spend the night at the Four Seasons hotel in the penthouse suite. By the time we get there, we’re too distracted with each other to care about the decor.

  We’re a hot, sweaty mess tangled in the sheets, ready to shower and sleep in the small hours of the morning.

  Josh and I have a week alone planned in Hawaii before Melly joins us with Josh’s parents, Reece, and Pania. We wanted time for ourselves, but we also wanted to spend time with people we love the most.

  Josh is still mucking around in the bathroom, and I pick up my phone and start scrolling through Instagram. We didn’t put any restrictions on our guests about photos, and I still want to see if anyone has posted anything.

  Josh’s Instagram makes me smile.

  He walks into the room, and shoots me a curious look as he climbs into bed beside me. “What are you looking at?”

  “This.” It’s a black and white photo. My eyes are closed, and I have a smile on my face as my husband kisses my cheek. “Where did that come from? We need a print of that.”

  His breath is hot behind my ear. “Reece took it. He sent it through to me earlier, and apparently he’s got a few candid shots he thinks will look great on the wall.”

  “Reece is very clever.”

  I smile at the post.

  Today, I married my best friend and the love of my life. Turns out they’re the same person.

  The first comment is unsurprisingly from Reece. No fair. I want a Delaney too. Can we clone her?

  I let out a soft moan as Josh nuzzles my neck. “Put the phone down. We’re on our honeymoon, babe, and I want all your attention.”

  “I want sleep. I’m all champagned and danced and sexed out.”

  He laughs. “Come here and lie down so we can get some sleep then.”

  I put the phone back on the bedside cabinet and snuggle down with Josh.

  After all this time, it’s weird being married. But here we are.

  Mr and Mrs Josh Carter.

  Despite my wanting sleep, I can’t.

  I find myself staring at the ceiling until three in the morning. I’m sure it’s the excitement of the day.

  Whatever the reason, I have no ability to wind down.

  I want that photo to be the background of my phone. Loading up Instagram, I head to his account again. I screenshot the image and save it.

  If I could bottle the feeling of the last few days, I would. Leaving New Zealand again left me unsettled, even with all the love and support I’ve had. But Amelia’s happy, and now Josh and I are married. We’re a family.

  I smile again at Reece’s comment. There are a ton of replies to it, and I don’t expand them because I’m sure there’ll be a ton of women propositioning him.

  But I don’t miss the next comment.

  Really? You could do so much better than her.

  Gold digger.

  Hope you’ve got a pre-nup.

  Fake news. We all know the studio’s making you hide your real marriage to Gabby.

  At that last one, my eyebrows rise. Apparently even a wedding isn’t enough to prove a real marriage.

  “Babe?” Josh’s voice is thick with sleep. “What are you doing?”

  “I just wanted a copy of that photo for my phone wallpaper. And then I started reading the comments.”

  He pushes himself up. “I need to get a social media manager to keep on top of that page. It’s a big job, but there’s no way I can keep control of all of it. It’s run wild.”

  “So, you know what they’re saying?”

  He shrugs. “I can imagine. Maybe ninety-nine percent of the comments will be supportive, but there’s always that element of asshole.”

  “Is that what you call it?”

  Josh takes my phone from my hand. “They’re all jealous because they’ll never have what you do. And I’m not saying that because of my enormous ego, but because it’s true. They’ll also be jealous because you are fucking gorgeous and they know it. They’re just mean.”

  I frown. “How do you deal with this?”

  “I ignore it. My assistant used to skim through and check for any threats, but I haven’t replaced her since I got rid of Mac. I need to hire someone to take care of it.” He scrolls . “Some of this is pretty entertaining. The nasty comments have people replying and sticking up for us underneath them.”

  “Really?”

  For a moment, he hesitates. “I don’t want you looking at this shit, Delaney. It’s meaningless. You got that? The only thing that matters is that you’re my wife, and I will love you until the end of time. I don’t care what random people on the internet say.”

  I nod. “I’ll try not to.”

  “Look.” He taps on the gold-digger comment. Sure enough, there are a series of comments underneath it.

  Jealous bitch, much?

  Have you seen the photo he posted yesterday? They’re in love and you’re just sour.

  “Hate only wins if we let it.” He taps on the comment that says he could do better. I laugh out loud when I see Reece replied.

  Are you serious? I’m fucking bitter I couldn’t steal her from him. She could do so much better than Josh Carter.

  “Reece has your back too. Always. I think if you had a sister, she’d have no chance.”

  I lean over and nuzzle his cheek.

  “Look. Gabby posted too.”

  Congratulations Josh and Delaney. Beautiful couple. There’s a row of heart-eye emojis, and I sm
ile at it.

  “Now, let’s put the phone down and enjoy our honeymoon. Tomorrow, I’ll send you the copy of the photo Reece sent me and you can use that for your wallpaper. It’s much higher quality.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s leave them to it and go back to sleep. I need my wife in my arms.”

  “Your wife.” I grin.

  Josh leans over and brushes his lips over mine. “My wife. I waited a long time to call you that.”

  “Me too. I’m still not sure what to call myself. Should I stick with Delaney Carruthers? Or should I be Mrs Carter? Or Mrs Carruthers Carter?

  “That’s way too complicated a question to be asking in the middle of the night. Come here and snuggle with me.”

  It’s too tempting an offer to pass up.

  Josh wakes before I do.

  The smell of bacon from the room service breakfast really brings me to life. I stretch as I walk out of the bedroom, scratching my neck. “Morning.”

  Josh is sitting at the dining table, food in front of him. I bend and kiss him before sitting.

  “I have something to show you.” He grins.

  “What?”

  “The Delaney Carter Hawaiian fan club has arrived on the scene. I started going through deleting and banning some people, and I spotted this.”

  He shows me the screen and points at one of the comments I saw last night.

  Really? You could do so much better than her.

  “What about it?”

  “The replies, babe. Look at the replies.”

  I slap my hand over my mouth.

  Becky Foster: Oh, fuck off. I’ve met Delaney and she’s amazing. And the way they look at each other? That’s true love.

  She’s posted about half a dozen heart-eye emojis.

  “Becky?”

  Josh chuckles. “The one and only. She and I think her friends have spammed the negative comments. When we met, she said she worked in social media. Maybe I should employ her to help admin the page.”

  “You could do worse.”

  I laugh when I spot the new comment right underneath from Reece.

  Leave him and marry me, Delaney.

  “He needs to find something to do with himself for the week.” Josh shakes his head.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he could join us early.” I shoot him a sly smile.

  He screws his face up. “I know you like his movies, but …”

  “I’m kidding. Maybe we need to find him a woman of his own.”

  Nodding, Josh puts down the phone. “I think you’re right. He’s really good at loving and leaving. He gets bored easily.”

  I reach over and cup his cheek. “This is why I know I made the right choice. I know I have your attention.”

  “You had it even when we weren’t together. I love you, Delaney.”

  “I love you too.”

  Epilogue

  Delaney

  Two years later

  I knew my life would never be the same once I moved to Los Angeles to be with Josh.

  That turned out to be an understatement.

  Tonight, I’m attending my first Oscars ceremony, and the butterflies in my stomach aren’t anything to do with the baby I’m six months pregnant with. Josh did end up impregnating me with that big-headed Carter baby after all.

  “Mummy, you look like a princess.” Amelia twirls in her own fancy dress. She’s having a little Oscars party at home with Josh’s parents.

  “You look like a princess, too.” I bend as far as I can and kiss her forehead.

  “You really do look lovely, Delaney.” Ros smiles.

  “Thank you.”

  Ros and Cal arrived today for a few days. I’m so happy they’re here as they’ll either be celebrating with us, or we’ll all pull together for Josh, depending on how tonight goes.

  “There are my girls.” Cal enters the room, and opens his arms for me.

  I give him a hug. He’s become the father I never really had, and I’m only sorry that the pair of them live so far from us.

  “Don’t you smudge her makeup,” Ros says.

  “I’m not kissing her.” Cal laughs, then cocks his head at me. “Unless you want me to?”

  “This makeup cost a lot to have done. Better not risk it smudging.” He lets me go. “Maybe later.” I wink and he laughs again.

  “Oh no, all the kisses are for me.” Josh wraps his arms around my waist—or rather what’s left of it, and presses a kiss against the back of my neck. “It’s time for us to get out of here.”

  “I thought Reece was coming with us.”

  He pulls away, and I turn to see him shaking his head. “Change of plans. But we’ll meet him there. We’ll all be sitting together.”

  I reach up and adjust the collar of his shirt. I’m so proud of this man. When he cut ties with Mac, I know he was confident enough to do his own thing, but still a little unsure. Since then, he’s made such huge strides, and if his movie even wins one Oscar, it’ll be massive.

  It’s got some crazy number of nominations, including Reece for best supporting actor, Gabby for best actress, Josh for best actor, and best movie. I’ll be crossing my fingers for all of them tonight.

  Josh takes my hand in his. “Come on, wife. Let’s go.”

  I grin because I still love it when he calls me that. It feels so new, but I think that’s because we still feel like newlyweds. Our marriage is solid, and we’ve worked hard to make up for the time that we lost. We’ve reached the point where the balance between work and personal life is right for us. And we plan on keeping it that way.

  Max is waiting with a limo outside. It’s not often that we get to travel like this, and the thrill is always there. I feel pampered just sitting in the car.

  Josh and I sit thigh to thigh, his arm around my shoulders, his hand resting on my stomach as he waits to feel the baby kick. He or she hasn’t graced him with their presence yet, but I sure as hell know that they’re there.

  “Are you nervous?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Maybe a little. We’ve got some tough competition, but the awards will go to deserving movies regardless. I’m just glad I get to share tonight with you.”

  It’s nice to see Josh so fulfilled and content. This is the stuff dreams are made of, and we’ve made it. Even if this is as far as we get.

  “I love you,” I say.

  “No regrets?”

  I shake my head. “Not a single one. Though I might be regretting my shoe choice by the end of the night. I’m not sure Crocs are a good look on the red carpet, though.”

  He laughs, and presses a kiss to my temple. “I’ll rub your aching feet tomorrow. Promise.”

  “I hope you know I’m keeping you to that. Especially if you win.”

  It seems to take forever, but I’m so glad to be off my feet for a while longer before the car draws close to our destination.

  “Ready?” Josh asks.

  The limo pulls up, and someone opens the door. I nod. “As I’ll ever be.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  I blush because I still do that when my husband compliments me. Even if he does it every day.

  Josh steps out first, and then turns, holding his hand out for me to take.

  His hold is firm, and as I step out of the car, he rests his other hand on the small of my back. It’s those little things that make me appreciate him so much. He knows how nervous I am tonight.

  This? This is a little overwhelming.

  I’ve grown used to being in the public eye for the most part. I can handle someone coming to interview us. But this is the bit I’m not sure I’ll ever be completely comfortable with.

  Flashes go off everywhere as cameras take a zillion photos of us. Josh wraps his arm around my waist and looks into my eyes.

  “You okay?”

  “Of course I am. Temporarily blinded, but I’m fine.” I grin.

  “That’s my girl.” He gives me a tender kiss, and as always in that moment, it’s just me and him. “Let
’s do this.”

  We don’t get far before we’re stopped by a reporter gushing over him.

  I’m not angry or bitter, but if so much as one more eyelash gets fluttered at him, I swear I’m going to knock the bitch out.

  Josh reaches for my hand and pulls me to his side. “Of course, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my wife, Delaney. Her love and support has made all of this possible, and I’m so happy to be able to share tonight with her.”

  The woman, who I don’t recognise at all, looks like she just sucked a lemon. Then she flashes a brilliant smile and wishes us well, and we go on our way.

  It seems to take forever as Josh keeps getting stopped.

  “Delaney.” I turn at the sound of Reece’s voice. “You look amazing.”

  I take in the sight of my handsome friend, dressed in a black tux. “You don’t scrub up too bad yourself.”

  He pecks me on the cheek. “Excited?”

  “Terrified. But I’m here, and everything seems to be going well. We’ve stopped about five times for Josh to be interviewed, and my ankles will be mega-swollen by the time we get inside. But it’s a wonderful night. Good luck.”

  He grins. “It’s crazy to think we’re even nominated. You’re our good-luck charm.”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “No way. You guys just needed to get your shit together.”

  Reece squeezes my arm. “That’s why I love you. You’re so upfront with me.”

  “Always.”

  “Reece.”

  I turn my head to see my husband heading toward us.

  He slips an arm around me. “It’s good to see you, man. Let’s head in.”

  My world has become so surreal with the number of actors and actresses who recognise me and say hello.

  Our seats are near the front, and I’m so glad when I finally sink down into mine.

  “You okay?” Josh asks.

  I nod. “Sore feet, but I’ll survive.”

  He takes my hand in his. “You know, even if I don’t win this, I still win.”

  “How do you work that one out?” I laugh.