by Dee Lagasse
Walking past me, he greets Simone the same way and shakes Jameson’s hand in a similar fashion to his and Bodie’s handshake.
“Yeah, they got here about fifteen minutes ago,” my dad answers as we all walk toward the kitchen.
The collective sound of masculine laughter erupting from the kitchen catches my attention. Catching his eye, Bodie’s anxiousness is written all over his face as he fakes a smile in response to his brother’s and father’s laughter. Closing the space between us, I slip my fingers into his and give him the smallest, slightest squeeze in reassurance.
“How do you do that?” He leans in, whispering just loud enough for me to hear it.
Cocking my eyebrows, he takes my look of confusion as his answer.
“How do you make everything okay?” he asks. “Is it a superpower? Do you have magic?”
“Well, I did spend seven years at Hogwarts,” I shrug, trying to keep the smile on his face as we join my mother and the rest of his family.
Just as we step into the kitchen, Bodie bursts into a deep hearty laugh causing everyone to turn their attention from the conversations they were having and right to us.
“Care to share what’s so funny?” his sister asks, grinning.
“He asked if I was magic,” I say, trying to keep a straight face. “Apparently my ‘I spent seven years at Hogwarts’ was comical. I don’t know what’s so funny about it though. It was a lot of hard work.”
“Oh, that’s because he’s a squib,” Oliver chuckles, using the term implying that the Cambridges are a magical family and Bodie doesn’t have any magical powers. “We’re a house full of Ravenclaws. Except for that one.”
Rolling his eyes, Bodie’s younger brother glances over to Bodie disapprovingly.
“Yessssssss,” my sister says. “You need to marry this whole family, Sut. Like all of them. I need them all in our lives forever.”
“Well, why don’t we just start with movie night tonight?” my mother suggests, shaking her head as she makes her way over to me and Bodie.
I let go of Bodie’s hand, knowing damn well she’s going to expect a hug from both of us.
“Hello, ma’am,” Bodie says, nodding in acknowledgment. “It’s an honor to meet you. Thank you for having me and my family tonight.”
“Oh, darling, here in this house, I’m just Sara, please,” she says, waving off his formalities. “I’m so happy to finally meet you and your family. Sutton tells us you enjoyed your stay at the conservation? Sterling loves it there as much as Sutton does, don’t you honey?”
As my dad and Bodie engage in a conversation about our time at the conservation, my mom winks at me and nods over to the bar.
Reaching for a glass to make Bodie a drink, I freeze not knowing what he’ll want. We’ve been so sucked into the little perfect world we’ve created for ourselves that I’d forgotten there was still so much I didn’t know about him. When we were at the benefit in Boston, he was drinking ginger ale, in South Africa, he just drank beer. Other than coffee, I had no idea what else he drank. Feeling defeated in the moment, my shoulders slump.
“Rum,” the voice next to me says lowly.
“I’m sorry?” I turn and find myself face-to-face with Helena Cambridge, Bodie’s sister-in-law.
“I know that look of panic,” she admits, just as quietly as her alcohol suggestion. “I brought Oliver to my company’s Christmas party about a month into us dating. I went to the bar to get us drinks and then it occurred to me, I didn’t even know what he drank. We’d only been on a handful of dates and none of them included having alcoholic beverages.”
“You’re my hero right now,” I tell her. “Any mixer?”
Looking over her choices, she points to the glass bottles of Coca-Cola.
“With lots of ice,” she says as she reaches for the bottle of white wine sitting in a tin bucket of ice. Raising her voice to normal, she adds, “Once you’re finished up with that, come over with us girls. If we’re all going to marry you, we have some catching up to do.”
I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks when she brings up the word marriage. I will get Simone later.
After pouring myself a glass of wine, I take the drink I made for Bodie, and set it next to him on the counter he’s leaning on. Not wanting to linger too long, I only catch that Bodie is talking about baseball and my father is asking him a million different questions trying to understand the game.
“If everyone has a drink, we can make our way into the sitting room?” my mother offers. “The food will be here in an hour.”
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for my sister or me to have food delivered to our residence. In fact, quite a few times, receipts of our “more than generous” delivery tips have circulated around the internet. But New Year’s Eve has always been the one night my parents ordered takeout. It’s something so simple, something people do every single day, but it’s so out of the ordinary here.
Once we’ve all made our way to the room my parents call the sitting room, Bodie is offering his compliments to my parents on their home when Tennyson wobbles in his brand-new walk over to him and reaches up to hand him one of his big plastic blocks. Swooping in, Jameson grabs Tennyson and says something like, “Come on over here, fella. Let the man finish his drink.”
And that’s when Bodie Cambridge wins the heart of every Alloway woman in the room.
Waving Jameson off, he extends his hand, asking Tennyson for the block, and plops down right in the middle of the floor to play with my nephew. Pulling the big toybox to the middle of the room, Oliver sits down right next to his brother. With the help of Jameson and both Cambridge brothers, Tennyson builds a tower bigger than he is.
“For what it’s worth, Bodie already has my approval,” my mother says, nudging me gently with her elbow as I take a seat on the couch in between her and Bodie’s sister. She makes no effort to lower her voice or be discreet about her comment.
“Mine too,” my dad adds from the couch across from us. “His family is a real catch too.”
“Hey Bo,” his dad chimes in from the oversized chair next to the couch. “You did good with Sutton.”
“We like her family too,” Nora laughs from the other side of me.
While everyone else joins in laughing, I cover my face and shake my head in embarrassment. The flush of heat on my face undoubtedly has left a pink mask of evidence as I look over, locking eyes with Bodie. Grinning ear to ear, he isn’t the least bit embarrassed about being the center of attention.
He mouths, “I love you,” before looking down and petting Roxy, who found her way over to Bodie’s lap at some point during their tower construction.
For the first time in the history of the Alloway-Dimarco New Year’s Eve annual movie night, there isn’t a movie. We spend the night laughing, the conversation bouncing from one topic to the next without a single lull. Once Tennyson started getting cranky, my sister and Jameson called it a night, his parents shortly after. They always come to family events, but I think they’re still getting used to the fact their son married the future queen of Windham.
At some point after that, someone found a midnight countdown and put it up on the big television. Five minutes before midnight, everyone except us bundled up and headed up to watch the fireworks from the second-floor balcony. Trying to help, Bodie grabbed both of our coats from the hallway leaving me to explain that there had been fireworks over the summer, and they had terrified Roxy. There’s no way I would make her sit in the house, alone and scared.
“Then, I’m staying in too,” he says, dropping our coats down onto the couch. Once we were alone, Bodie made us both a drink and I started cleaning up, something I knew my mother would give me grief for when she came in. Without skipping a beat, Bodie dove right in, helping me wrap up food and bringing it all into the kitchen.
We made it back to the sitting room with fifteen seconds to spare, counting down the seconds together.
“Happy New Year, Sutton,” Bodie whispers before his lips me
et mine.
The sweet taste of the cola and rum lingers on my lips long after he pulled away. I miss him the second he pulls away. It’s never enough with Bodie. Our time together. The kisses. His hands wrapped in mine. It’s never long enough.
And just like that, I knew. This was it. He was it. I’d spent years pushing the idea of dating and love aside because I didn’t want to deal with it. I was busy. I didn’t have time to invest in something or someone else. It was hard to tell who was in it for me. Just me. Not Sutton, Her Royal Highness, Princess of Windham, but just Sutton.
I didn’t question Bodie or his motives. There is never a doubt in my mind both he and his attentions are genuine. He loves me, not my title or what being connected to him can do for him. This is real.
A big loud boom comes from the pyrotechnics outside and snaps me out of my adoring gaze and causes Roxy to jump off the couch and run right past me to Bodie.
“Traitor,” I chuckle, pushing the last leg of the folding table in, and propping it against the wall.
Scooping her up, Bodie carries her to the couch and begins petting her, repeating a string of, “It’s okay. Shhhh. It’s okay, Roxy girl. We’re right here.” His tone is like the one I remember my parents using when I would come in their room after having a nightmare as a child. Soothing and safe.
Joining them, I slide into Bodie’s open arm, inviting me in. Slouching down just a bit, I rest my head on the curve that separates his shoulder and his arm. Taking turns comforting Roxy, who at this point is soaking up the love, I’m all but certain there’s no way it could get better than this.
Chapter 12
Bodie
It’s only been two weeks since I’ve seen Sutton. But they’ve been the longest fourteen days of my life. But for the next seven days, she would be here with me in Willoughby and then, we’ll both fly back to Windham to attend one of her family’s events.
Halfway through my last visit, I told her I was sick of having to hide her. I want the world to know how absolutely in love with Sutton I am. So we sat down with her parents and Luke and figured out the best time for us to “debut” our relationship. It might be a dinner honoring her parents for their fortieth wedding anniversary, but Sutton and her parents have made it abundantly clear that as soon as the media gets wind of two of us being there together, it will become the “Sutton and Bodie Show.”
Our entire last day together was spent going over everything for the party. This week, as much as it would be time to spend together, it would be a lot of learning. For the first time ever, Sutton was traveling completely alone. Much to her entire family, mine, and Luke and Clementine’s chagrin, she even chose to take a commercial flight. Only compromising with a seat in the front row, closest to the attendants. Sending a mirror picture of herself to me before she left, I had a good laugh at her attempt at “blending in.”
Wearing a white shirt with thin navy stripes, dark denim jeans, nude flats, and a long light beige coat, her idea of camouflaging is placing a big pair of sunglasses over her eyes. She reminds me of old Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn…she is elegant and timeless. A classic beauty.
Sutton Alloway-DiMarco is the kind of woman men stumble over and women envy. It has nothing to do with her money or her title but in how she carries herself. Her confidence and her heart - that’s what I fell in love with.
Just in case her big sunglasses weren’t enough to ward the media away, Nora offered to pick Sutton up from the airport. At this point, we’re doing everything we possibly can to avoid getting caught together. Once she’s in Willoughby, we’ll be in the clear. Even if someone recognizes her, no one would say anything to the media. In fact, I’m pretty sure no one outside of Willoughby even knows that I live here.
I’ve been impatiently pacing since I got the text that she was heading to Boston to get her. I’ve checked the fridge four different times to make sure I got the very few things she asked for. I swear, she must be the most low-key princess in the history of princesses.
“I don’t have royal chefs, or a driver or a maid, so if you want anything specific, you need to let me know ahead of time,” I said a few days ago during our nightly video chat.
Dark roast coffee for the morning, mineral water for the afternoon, chamomile tea for at night, and Dad’s chocolate chip cookies - that’s all she wanted. She already made me promise we could go to the coffee house to see him every morning for breakfast.
And despite trying to stay low-key, she managed to find out that her beloved Michael Bublé would be in Boston tonight and like a lovesick fool, I agreed to go with her, Helena, Oliver, and Nora. I had tried somewhat jokingly to persuade her into thinking she would be too tired from traveling for nine hours to go to a concert a few hours after she lands, but the fierce determination in her eyes as she convinced me otherwise would have me walking through fire if she asked me to.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, the chime of my text alert following it immediately after.
Nora: I have secured the Princess Package.
Bodie: Why are you texting and driving? Get off your phone. You’re carrying precious cargo.
Nora: Speech to text, little brother. Calm down. See you soon.
Looking around, I make sure there’s nothing out of place or dirty. Not that there should be. For the first time in my life, I hired a maid service to clean the entire house. Top to bottom. There wasn’t an inch that wasn’t scrubbed, dusted, or vacuumed. And not to say the house really needed it. I’m not a messy guy. My dad raised me to take pride in things that are mine. Things that include my home. I just wanted everything to be perfect for Sutton’s stay. Even going so far as asking Clementine to give me a list of bathroom products to stock up on for her.
“Honey, I’m homeeeeee,” sings a beautiful voice from the front of the house.
Sutton.
“It’s okay, Bodie,” yells another voice. “Your girlfriend didn’t need any help with her fifty-pound suitcase.”
Nora.
“It is not fifty pounds,” laughs the first voice.
It’s the very same lighthearted, genuine laugh that initially drew me to her the first night I met her. Jumping up from my spot to greet them, I freeze in place when I see her standing in my doorway. There will never be a time I’m not awestruck by Sutton’s very presence. Despite seeing her picture before she left Windham this morning, nothing could compare to the real version of Sutton standing right in front of me.
“Alright, I’ll let you two, yeah,” laughs Nora from the doorway as soon as she sees me. “Meet you at Oliver’s in an hour and a half?”
“Sounds good,” I nod, smiling at my sister.
“Thank you so much for picking me up,” Sutton adds as my sister waves and closes the front door as she leaves.
Dropping the large bag slung over her shoulder, she grins as she jumps up into my open arms. Wrapping her legs around my waist, there isn’t a single second wasted between us. I feel the upward curve of her smile as our lips connect.
With our faces pressed against each other, there’s no mistaking Sutton’s warm, salty tears as they slide down her face, hitting our lips.
“What on earth are you crying for, crazy girl?” I laugh, breaking the kiss, and pulling away just enough to see her face.
Unhinging her legs, she plants herself on the floor, chuckling as she wipes her face.
“I’m just so happy,” she says as she wraps her arms around my waist.
Nuzzling her head into my chest, she sighs contentedly. Fitting perfectly right under my chin, she’s just small enough that I don’t have to look up or turn my head. As cliché as it is, it’s like we were made for each other. Two imperfect puzzle pieces joined together to make the whole picture. Because that’s what I am with her – whole.
Tempting fate, we decide to leave the suite and get snacks of our own. There are over nineteen thousand people at the concert and using that, somehow, Sutton convinced us there was no way anyone here would recognize her. But just to
be safe, she would stay with Nora and Helena while Oliver and I hung back just a few feet behind them.
I promised her father I would keep her safe while she was here. There’s no way I will let her out of my sight, but the two of us walking together is just asking to get caught. Luckily, most of the concertgoers tonight are middle-aged women. And I’m not saying I don’t have my fair share of loyal female fans, but the chances of me getting recognized aren’t astronomical.
“Bodie?”
Instantly, my stomach twists in knots and I feel like I could throw up. It’s not that I’ve been recognized. I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. Cringing, I know there’s only one thing to do.
Pretend I didn’t hear it.
Glancing over at me, Oliver gives me a look telling me that he heard it too. Without needing to vocalize it, we pick up our pace. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I open the ongoing text conversation I have with Nora.
Bodie: 911. Hannah is here. Get Sutton back to the suite.
“Bodie and Oliver Cambridge, don’t act like the two of you can’t hear me.”
Oliver sighs, knowing the same thing I do. This is unavoidable at this point. She’s going to catch up to us. I’m going to have to deal with her.
“Deal with this,” he says lowly. “I’ll try to get the girls back up to the suite unnoticed.”
Turning around, I find myself face-to-face with the woman I thought I was once going to spend forever with. She looks exactly the same as she did the day she told me I had to make a decision between her and baseball. Her black hair still in the same short stacked haircut, the same heavy black eyeliner, and hundreds of layers of clumpy mascara surround her almost black eyes. Her skin is tan, too tan for winter in New England. And of course, the boobs I paid for, are all but hanging out of the white sweater she’s wearing.
