Learning to Move Forward: Novella #3.5

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  We continued to talk while enjoying our tea and dessert. Finally, around five in the morning, we went back to sleep. I was so thankful we’d both have Friday off to deal with some of the aspects of the wedding. I had a bridal fitting scheduled, we both were due at the reception hall to go over the final menu and make any adjustments, and we’re supposed to spend time with all of our families for dinner at his parents’ house.

  Chapter 6

  I didn’t want to get out of bed. We’d hardly had any sleep, but Laurel was calling to swing by and pick me up for the bridal shop. I glanced over at the clock and couldn’t be mad at her for waking me. She’d waited until eleven to call, but I was so tired and still needed to call Jocelyn to ask her advice.

  “Fine. I’ll be ready to go in about thirty minutes.” I felt Jonathan’s erection pressing against my thigh while his hand came up to cup my breast. “Make that about forty minutes.” I hung up the phone.

  He took the cell phone out of my hand and placed it on the nightstand, while putting his legs between mine and opening them up to reveal how he was turning me on. “If I only have ten minutes of your time, then we’d better get to it, love.”

  His lips came down hard on my lips, our tongues wrestling one another as his hands traveled from my thighs up to my breasts and back down. He was all over me, possessing every inch of my body and consuming my mind.

  I couldn’t think straight, but moaned when I felt the tip of him press against my center and then shove forward with such force that it made me gasp. Every time he entered me, whether slow or fast, felt like the first time we’d made love. He stilled his movements, allowing my body to adjust to his size, since he was huge, before he started moving. He pulled back until the tip was almost out before lunging back in.

  My legs wrapped around his waist, causing my hips to tilt, allowing him deeper entry. Why did it always feel so good to have him buried deep in me? I love how he drives me insane when he tries crawling up inside me.

  The pace he was setting was slow, but building. Every nerve within my body was lighting up and responding to him. I could feel the edges of my orgasm begin to build as he quickened the pace. His tongue was still wrestling with mine, while one hand came down and added friction to the nubbin of my clit. My orgasm seized me, making my eyes shoot open, throwing my head back, and praising his name over and over again.

  He rode out my orgasm and found his own release after a couple more thrusts. I loved how we normally snuggled after we made love, but this time, Jonathan climbed out of bed, still holding me on his rod, and walked us into the shower. We made love one more time before I had to get dressed and meet Laurel out front.

  He walked me to the front door, dressed only in his jeans and a navy t-shirt, and gave me a sweet kiss and hug. “I don’t want to be away from you today, not after the revelation you had last night. But I understand it’s bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding.”

  I nodded in agreement and turned to exit the front door when his arms circled around my waist and held me tight. His breath rushed across my ear as he whispered, “Please stay safe and call me if you need anything, even just to talk.”

  My heart melted knowing we had such a strong pull toward one another. I didn’t want to leave the house. I just wanted to stay wrapped up in his arms in our bed all day long. But we had plans that needed to be dealt with and issues that needed handling if we ever wanted to be married.

  I reached my hand toward his face. “I know, darling. I feel the same way. I’ll try to call Jocelyn if I get the chance. Please see if you can talk to Garrett.”

  “I’m going to drop by his house in a few to check in on him and spend time with our niece and nephew.” His face held a quirky smile, making me wonder when we’d start trying for kids. We’d talked about them and we both wanted to have at least one or two, but that’s as far as we’d gotten in our discussion.

  The limousine’s horn went off. I knew we were on a schedule, but I never expected Laurel to be impatient. I wonder who she talked into honking the horn. I glanced through the window and noticed Thompson at the wheel, smiling and shaking his head.

  The day was already getting interesting.

  ***

  I’d decided to use Flair de Fleur for my gown selections. The dresses they selected for the benefits Laurel attended and for her wedding were amazing and flattered her figure perfectly, even hiding that she was pregnant with twins at the time she married.

  I was anxious on the ride over. When I’d gotten into the limo, Laurel noted something was off. “What gives, sis?”

  I laughed. “It’s going to take some time getting used to you referring to me as sister instead of cousin.” I patted her hand. “You’re my cousin, but you’ll always be my sister in my heart. You’ve been that for as long as I can remember.”

  I brought a couple of tears to her eyes. She leaned over, giving me a quick hug, then grabbed hold of my shoulders and really looked into my eyes. “Okay, I can tell you didn’t have much sleep. Either you were busy all night with Jonathan or something’s going on. Which is it?”

  There was no pulling anything over on Laurel. We’d known each other too long. “Both,” I admitted, sheepishly.

  “Okay, spill it.” Damn, I was rubbing off on her, because that’s one of my lines.

  “I saw Jocelyn yesterday and we had a bit of a break-through. Then Jonathan was called into the restaurant because the head chef had an emergency and the place was overrun with theater goers, so I ate in his office and wrote in my notebook.” I took a deep breath in and explained how the writing got me to dreaming and then waking up with a realization of something I’d chosen to block out of my mind.

  I was thankful she’d put the barrier up between us and Thompson so I could speak freely. I told her everything in detail. Her eyes were wide with shock. “I knew he’d violated your trust, but damn, you should’ve prosecuted his ass. Now I’m glad to know Freddie beat him up and Donny put the fear of God in him.”

  Wait. What? “The fear of God! What did Donny tell him?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

  Her hand went to her mouth and she shook her head. “I promised I’d never tell.”

  I slammed my hand down against the seat. “Damn it, Laurel. I have a right to know! Now spill it or we can just return home and I can take myself to the shop.”

  Her shoulders slumped with defeat. “Fine, you win. But don’t ever let Donny know that I’ve told you.”

  “Okay.” Besides, how bad could it be?

  She grabbed hold of my hand and took a deep breath. “Donny and Freddie wanted to kill him for what he’d done to you. They knew they couldn’t, but they felt like it. Before they wiped Barry’s phone clean, he’d sent the pictures to his own phone so he could have evidence, should Barry ever try to harm you again. He wanted to be sure he could put him away for a long time.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He’d lied to me about wiping the photos away. He’d actually held onto them all this time. All I could muster was, “Why would he do this to me?”

  She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug as my tears started falling. “He and Freddie didn’t want to look at the photos. They saved them to an encrypted disc that was password protected and put safely in a lock box. Barry threatened to post your pictures all over the Internet. He said he wouldn’t stop taunting you until your life was ruined. He wanted everyone to know the only thing you were perfect for was a good fuck.”

  The one thing Laurel could say to make me furious worked. “But my life was already ruined!” I yelled.

  “I know. Remember how we all tried to help you work through things?” She grabbed a tissue and held it out to me.

  I nodded. “Please continue.”

  “Donny had a feeling he might try something, so that’s why he wanted some security. He came across his vehicle at the time Barry was paddling you and took some pictures without Barry knowing. He showed him those, along with the pictures that asshole to
ok of you and told him that if he tried to mess with one hair on your head that he and Freddie would come looking for him with the police.”

  I looked up to see Laurel was crying along with me. “They were only trying to protect you. That night haunted them for the longest time. They both felt guilty for not insisting you stay home that night and for not finding you sooner.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “But it wasn’t their fault.”

  “I know, but still…” Her eyes dropped to the floorboard of the limo, not wanting to meet mine.

  My hand flew up to my mouth, feeling like I was going to be sick. “I can’t believe they blamed themselves. I need to talk to them.”

  Laurel grabbed my hand and shook her head. “No. You can’t. You aren’t even supposed to know what I just told you.” She paused for a moment. “I’ve talked with them through the years and they’ve come to realize they did the best they could with the circumstances presented. They still have the disk, if you ever need it, but we’ve kept your secret, because it’s only yours to share. I thought you should know.”

  I thought about it for a moment and realized they’d only protected me and wanted to ensure the bastard couldn’t come after me. I guess I could let it go. In a way, we’d all suffered from Barry’s actions.

  I was about to say this to Laurel when I heard, “We’re here, Mrs. Waters.”

  Laurel turned several shades of red, though I couldn’t tell whether it was embarrassment or anger. She pushed the button to lower the divider. Her voice was all huffy. “Thompson, for the last time please call me Laurel!”

  I could see his smirk from where I was sitting. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She was a bit miffed, but she would get over it. We were here and it was time to see if they were able to do what I wanted with the dress.

  We’d barely made it inside when Amber came rushing toward us in greeting. “Ms. Hart and Mrs. Waters, welcome back. We have both of your dresses ready and waiting. Would you care for any champagne or water?”

  I shook my head, declining the offer. I was just anxious to see my dress.

  Laurel politely declined. “I’m still breastfeeding, so I’ll decline the alcohol, but maybe some water in a little bit.”

  Amber could tell I was pensive. “The dress turned out wonderfully. Come with me and we’ll help get you into it and make any final adjustments.” She turned toward Laurel. “This is Monique. She’ll be happy to assist you with your fitting.”

  My gaze was fixated on the bag as Amber revealed the final results. “Oh my God! I love it!” The dress turned out better then I’d envisioned it.

  I’d tried on many of their dresses, but none seemed to be the one. Then I tried on one that had the perfect top half, but I hated the snug fitting, simple bottom. Then I tried on another with a bottom that was an amazing mermaid flair, but the top was so plain I just yawned. That’s when all of us seemed to get the same idea of merging the two dresses together. I’d been shocked because I didn’t know that could be done.

  I removed my clothing and put on the undergarments I’d wear with the dress and held my breath as I stepped into it. The dress went on smoothly, and when the zipper was pulled into place, I was staring into the mirror—speechless for the first time in my life.

  Amber’s face was filled with concern. “You don’t like it? We can make adjustments or any changes you want.”

  I shook my head. “No. I love it!” I turned to her and grabbed her hands. “I don’t know who’s responsible for creating this, but I’m blown away. This is more breathtaking than I’d imagined and I just don’t know what to say.”

  I was staring at a lovely sleeveless gown, adorned with custom beading and lace on the top. The neckline had a deep plunge, accentuating and lifting my cleavage. The dress hugged my upper half and hips and flared out just above the knee with a ton of tulle making up the mermaid bottom. There wasn’t a definite line separating the portions of the dress, which was my fear. Instead they made the beading and lace dip into the lower portion in various areas as if it had originally been designed this way. The back of the dress dipped to my lower back and had a few strands of pearls crossing over, accentuating my skin. I had them remove the train because it didn’t make any sense risking grass stains when the wedding was outside.

  She smiled and seemed to breathe in relief. “Why don’t we step out onto the floor and you can see yourself in the three-way mirror and get Laurel’s opinion.”

  She opened the door and helped guide me through. Laurel was already in her dress and smiling away in delight. The color they’d helped me pick out, a burnt copper, looked radiant on her. I’d kept her dress simple, a strapless knee length gown that flared a bit at the hips, with a bolero style jacket to match.

  I’d always imagined a spring wedding, but I didn’t want to wait for spring to roll around to marry Jonathan, so I’d never thought about anything outside of pinks and yellows. We’d tried gold, various shades of yellow, since it was fall, but they all washed Laurel out. The copper looked perfect on her.

  We were going with a small wedding, just immediate family and a few co-workers, similar to what Laurel and Garrett had. I didn’t want the hassle of tons of attendants, and frankly, I’d never been closer to anyone other than her, so she immediately came to mind. Jonathan was glad, since he’d only wanted Garrett as his best man, which made things perfect.

  The beach had already been done, so we opted for the country club Dr. and Mrs. Waters belonged to. The main building was located close to a waterway and had an artistically carved white gazebo that would look amazing against the setting sun. The club would be closed for the day for our wedding and reception. I’d objected at first, not wanting to put anyone out, but my new family was insistent on having the best and insisting on safety.

  My mind must’ve wondered off a bit. Laurel was grabbing hold of my arms and shaking me. “Grace, snap out of it.”

  I smiled. “Sorry, just imagining how everything will look.” I glanced at her and motioned for her to turn around. “The dress doesn’t look like it needs any alterations.” I was almost jealous of her looking so good in it. Garrett had hired a trainer to work with her to get her muscle tone back after having the babies by cesarean. She’d complained that her abdomen continually hurt until the trainer had shown her some gentle exercises to help slowly strengthen them. Now she looked like she’d never had a baby, let alone two, her figure looked amazing.

  “Jonathan’s jaw is going to drop when he sees you in this dress. You look wonderful.” I noticed tears in her eyes as she reached for a tissue.

  I put on the shoes the shop had reserved for me and stepped up onto the platform and twirled this way and that, staring at the mirror in amazement. My mom had insisted on a veil, but I didn’t want to be bothered with one. I saw how cumbersome it had been for Laurel, blowing all over the place in the wind at the beach. We compromised with a birdcage veil, similar to fish netting. It would be pinned into my hair and adorned with satin roses and rhinestones. Unlike Garrett, Jonathan wanted my hair up and dotted with sparkling clips and flowers. Personally, I think he likes my hair done up so he can take it down and run his fingers through it, which of course makes me melt. All I cared about was it being able to easily remove and keeping my hair intact.

  Amber pulled the seamstress out from the back room and she glanced over each of us, tugging here and there. She leaned back, shaking her head. “I don’t think we need to do a thing. The dresses fit perfectly, unless either of you have any issues.”

  I turned around in mine and then stepped down off the platform and over to the seats, where I tried sitting. Everything fit like a glove. I watched as Laurel followed suit and had no complaints about her dress, either.

  This went much smoother than I’d anticipated. I’d expected spending several hours here and having to return a couple of times, but we were done. We actually had some time to kill so I asked if we could take the dresses to her house and pick up a late lunch along the way.

/>   I wouldn’t need to be at the country club for several hours and didn’t want to return home without Jonathan. I hoped that maybe he and Garrett would still be watching the kids. My mind kept wondering about my job and I needed some closure, but when we arrived at Laurel’s place, we discovered her mother-in-law, Olivia, helping the nanny watch the kids.

  Chapter 7

  I was thankful for Laurel’s insight in getting extra lunch for everyone, just in case a few extras stopped by. It turned out to be a girls’ luncheon with me, her, my future mother-in-law, Olivia, and Laurel’s mom, Sylvia, who dropped by later.

  Olivia handed us notes from Jonathan and Garrett, which explained that they’d been called into work regarding a contract. Harris had gone with them to help negotiate with the neurology department at the hospital they were working with. Garrett went on to leave something romantic in Laurel’s note. I could tell because she turned several shades of red, much like me.

  Jonathan had been suggestive in his note, telling me what he’d like to do with me later on tonight. It definitely kicked up my heat level a few degrees. He also promised to bring Harris and meet up with his mom and my parents at the country club to review the final menu selections.

  The next few hours were wonderful. I loved my Aunt Sylvia and my future mom. We got along wonderfully, but my heart always ached to have this kind of bond with my own mother. But I guess it’s not meant to be.

  It was late afternoon when we got to the country club to do a final walk through and approve the menu. I was surprised to see our florist there with some sketches of the gazebo decorated in various styles, all of which appealed to me.

  I asked Jonathan his opinion and my mother just fussed. “It’s your day, Grace, and it needs to be perfect. You need to pick out what you want.”

  I was grateful when Jonathan spoke up. “I agree about it being Grace’s day, but the only thing that makes it perfect is her being there and marrying me.” He stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me to his chest where only I could hear him whisper, “Let’s walk over to the side and make the floral selection together.”