Forbidden Miles

by Claire Kingsley

  Zoe leaned over and kissed him. “Thanks for bringing these. I’ll see you at home later.”

  “Are you throwing me out?” he asked.

  “Well, it’s kind of a girls’ day,” she said.

  “Cooper’s here.”

  I was about to say Cooper was just the driver when he came waltzing over wearing a pink tulle skirt over his jeans, holding a satin wrap around his shoulders.

  “I don’t know why girl clothes are so fabulous and guy clothes are so boring.” He stepped onto the platform and checked himself out in the mirrors. “Look at this. Why can’t guys wear shit like this? It’s not fair. I call sexism. Girls shouldn’t have a monopoly on all the awesome shit. Seriously, what guy wouldn’t want to wear a big frilly skirt?”

  “Me,” Roland said.

  “You’re missing out, bro.” He turned and looked in the mirror over his shoulder. “It hides my sweet ass, though. That is a downside.”

  “Did I miss anything?” Chase came in, dressed in a crisp white t-shirt and dark jeans. His hair was damp, like he’d just showered.

  “You’re not supposed to be here.” I stood and slipped my hands around his waist. He smelled fresh and clean. It made me want to forget the fitting and take him home to get naked. “This is for the girls.”

  “Cooper’s here.”

  “Dude, what do you think?” Cooper said, turning in a circle. “Nice, right?”

  “Yeah, bro, that’s a good color on you,” Chase said.

  I looked up at him. “He’s basically wearing a tutu.”

  Chase shrugged. “So? It’s Cooper.”

  Which was basically the answer to any question about my brother.

  “All right, ladies, sorry for the delay.” Jolene returned, followed by another clerk, both of them carrying large garment bags. “Time for the dresses.”

  “Chase, you need to get out of here,” Zoe said. “You can’t see Brynn in her dress.”

  Chase glanced around at our little party, which now included both Cooper and Roland. He sat on the couch and winked at me. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll close my eyes.”

  “The more the merrier,” Jolene said. She hung the dresses on a rolling garment rack and unzipped the first one. “We’ll start with the bridesmaids. This one should be for Zoe.”

  Zoe and I glanced at each other in confusion as Jolene pulled out a bright pink dress. It was short, and strapless, and the most hideous shade of hot pink I’d ever seen in fabric form. It was not the dress we’d picked.

  “I think there’s been a mistake,” Zoe said. “That dress doesn’t have enough fabric to cover my boobs right now.”

  “Oh, maybe this is for Grace?” Jolene looked at the tags on the garment bag.

  “No, that dress isn’t for us,” I said. “It’s nothing like the dresses we chose.”

  “That’s so odd,” Jolene said. “I’m sorry, Brynn. This must have the wrong sales slip on it. Let’s check the other one.”

  She opened the second garment bag, producing another dress identical to the first. Hot pink and hideous.

  Cooper crossed his arms. “Damn it, I really want to comment on how good someone’s boobs would look in those, but it’s Zoe and Gracie wearing them.”

  Grace glanced at me and my mom, raising her eyebrows.

  “You get used to him,” I said.

  “I don’t even hear half of what he says anymore,” Mom said. She glanced at Cooper, who looked at her in surprise. “I love you, honey.”

  “I’m sure these are just mislabeled,” Jolene said while she and the other clerk put the two pink monstrosities back in the garment bags. “Let’s take a look at the bride’s dress. Then Cherise and I will go see about the others.”

  I moved around behind Chase and covered his eyes. “No peeking.”

  He rubbed his hand along my arm. “I won’t.”

  Jolene opened the larger garment bag with a flourish. White tulle spilled out as soon as the zipper opened, as if the dress had been straining to break free from its vinyl prison.

  It was the wrong dress.

  I dropped my hands from Chase’s eyes. “Um, that’s not my dress.”

  “Heavens,” Jolene said, placing a hand over her ample cleavage. “It’s not?”

  “No. Not even close.”

  “I’ll go check in the back.” Cherise scurried away.

  “Like I said, they’re probably mislabeled.” Jolene set about trying to stuff all the tulle back into the bag, but it resisted her efforts.

  I bit my lip, trying not to worry. Our dresses had to be in the back. We’d ordered them weeks ago and didn’t have time to order new ones.

  Jolene finally wrestled the dress into the bag and zipped it up, then whisked it away. We waited in tense silence for them to come back, hopefully laden with more bags containing the dresses we’d actually ordered. But when they both came out a few minutes later, they didn’t have more dresses.

  “There appears to have been a mix-up,” Jolene said.

  My heart sank. A mix-up? This close to the wedding? And of all things, it had to be my dress.

  “Now, let’s not panic,” Jolene said. “I’m going to call the manufacturer right now and see what happened. Your dresses must be somewhere. As soon as we track them down, we’ll call you in. And we’ll make sure the alterations are done at no extra charge.”

  I took a deep breath. Everyone was looking at me, like they were expecting me to turn into a raging bride-monster. I wasn’t going to freak out, but it was hard not to be worried. My dress was one of the things that really mattered to me.

  “Okay, well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until they come in.”

  Jolene sighed, her shoulders relaxing with obvious relief. “Good. I’m going to go call. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have the dresses in hand.”

  “Thanks.”

  The dress situation took the wind out of my sails. Everyone else seemed to understand. Cooper drove Mom and Grace back to Salishan, and Roland took Zoe, leaving me with Chase.

  “What kind of ice cream do you want?” he asked as we walked out to his truck.

  I smiled. “Salted caramel?”

  “Done.” He picked up my hand and kissed the backs of my fingers. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  I leaned into him. “Thanks.”

  “Feel better yet?”

  “A little.”

  “Ice cream,” he said. “Then… a bath?”

  “That sounds great.”

  “We’ve got this.” He put his arm around me. “I’ll make you feel better.”

  And the amazing thing was, he already had.

  Twenty-Eight

  Chase

  Brynn’s presence at the desk behind me was pleasantly comforting. And slightly distracting. Not for the first time, I wondered if there was a better way to configure the furniture in here so we were closer. Could she run invoices if she was sitting in my lap? She’d probably say no, and to be fair, I’d probably just end up fucking her on the desk if I had her ass against my groin all the time. We wouldn’t get a lot of work done.

  But it had been at least five minutes since I’d touched her. I didn’t care if we were working, that shit was ridiculous.

  I swiveled my chair around and leaned into her neck, breathing in a lungful of her. Of Brynn. That soft, warm scent that lit up my brain like a drug.

  “Mm.” She hummed and tilted her head so I could kiss her neck. “I need to finish these invoices so you can get paid.”

  “Am I distracting you?”

  “Yes.”

  I reached around to squeeze one of her soft tits. “I like distracting you.”

  She laughed softly, but she wasn’t melting at my touch. Her body was tense, almost rigid.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, pulling my hand away.

  “Yeah.” She turned her chair to face me. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed.”

  I pulled her closer, the chair wheels squeaking on the concrete flo
or. “Come here. Talk to me. What’s stressing you out?”

  “It’s just… the wedding, I guess. I don’t want to be all bridezilla about it, but we don’t have dresses. Cooper said the weather has been too cold, and depending on where the florist is sourcing her flowers, there might be issues. So many people haven’t RSVPed that I don’t know what to tell the caterer. Zoe keeps insisting it will all come together, but she can’t go more than an hour without either puking or crying, so I don’t know if I really trust her judgment right now. Plus her baby is due just a month after the wedding, and maybe we should have waited after all.”

  “Why would waiting help?”

  Her lips parted, but she paused. “Well… we’d have more time to get things done. And I wouldn’t be upstaging Zoe’s baby with a wedding.”

  “Okay, first of all, are you really worried about upstaging Zoe? She’s making a person. That isn’t going to go unnoticed, regardless of when we get married. And it’s Zoe. She’s not the jealous-girl type.”

  “That’s true.”

  I rubbed my hands up and down her thighs. “Second of all, what’s the worst that will happen if nothing else goes right?”

  “We run out of food because we didn’t tell the caterer to bring enough, we have no dresses to wear so I have to marry you in a t-shirt while holding a bouquet of dandelions because the flowers died.”

  “We’ll order too much food and Cooper will Hoover the leftovers.” I touched her cheek, my rough calloused hand sliding over her petal soft skin. “You are going to be the most beautiful bride, no matter what you wear. If they can’t get your dress, we’ll go find another one. We’ll drive to every store in the state until we find one you love. And if you’re holding dandelions when I marry you, then those will be my new favorite flower.”

  “Why are you so amazing?”

  “Born that way,” I said with a shrug. “You’re just the lucky recipient of my amazingness.”

  She leaned in and brushed a kiss across my lips. “Okay, Mr. Genetically Amazing, I still need to get these invoices done.”

  “Fine, I’ll let you work.” My pout was only half-pretend. It would have been more fun to make out in the office, but she did have a point about getting paid. Especially because I was paying for most of our wedding. Shannon kept trying to argue with me about it, so I just paid for things behind her back so she didn’t have to worry about it. But her mention of guests and RSVPs got me thinking. “Hey, speaking of RSVPs, did my parents respond yet?”

  By the flash of worry that crossed her features, I knew the answer before she said a word. “No, I don’t think they have. But I haven’t checked the mail today, so maybe…”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Or probably not.

  I’d called my parents shortly after I’d proposed to Brynn—the second time, that is, not after I blurted it out in the middle of an orgasm. Left a message. Hadn’t heard back. I’d figured they’d at least send the little RSVP card to confirm they were coming.

  They had to be coming. Maybe we weren’t close, and they hadn’t called me once since moving. But this was my wedding.

  At this point, I just needed to call them and see what was up. I walked out into the empty shop and called their number.

  Dad answered. “Chase.”

  “Hi Dad.” I took off my baseball cap and scratched my head before putting it back. “How’s the new place?”

  “It’s fine.”

  My dad hated small talk, so I didn’t know why I was trying to engage him in pointless conversation. “So… did you and Mom get the invitation? We haven’t heard back.”

  “Yes, we did.”

  I hesitated, waiting for him to say more. To say they were coming. “And?”

  “Chase, what are you thinking?”

  “Right this second, or in general? You’re going to have to be more specific.”

  “Don’t be a smart-ass. You’re actually getting married?”

  “Yeah, that’s why we sent out invitations,” I said, unable to keep the frustration from my voice.

  “Did you get her pregnant?”

  I closed my eyes and ground my teeth together to stop myself from losing my shit on him. “No, Dad, I did not get her pregnant.”

  He was silent for a moment and I got the feeling that he hadn’t expected that. He’d been sure I was only marrying Brynn because I’d knocked her up.

  Good to know you have so much faith in me, Dad.

  He took a deep breath. “How long have you known this girl?”

  “Did you read the invitation? She’s Brynn Miles. I’ve known her since she was born.”

  “We didn’t know you were dating anyone,” he said. “This is very sudden.”

  “How would you know if I was dating someone, though? It’s not like we do Sunday dinners and I could have brought her to meet the family.”

  I could hear my mom in the background, urging him to ask me questions.

  “How long have you been dating this girl?” he asked.

  The way he kept calling her this girl got my hackles up. “Since last fall.”

  “That’s less than a year,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’m well aware of that.”

  “Chase, I dated your mother for two years before we even discussed the possibility of marriage. How could you marry a girl you’ve been dating for less than a year?”

  “Because I love her.”

  He groaned. “Is that what you think marriage is? It’s not that simple. Marriage is hard work. This is a lifelong commitment you’re roping her into.”

  “Jesus, Dad, I’m not roping her into anything. I asked her to marry me. She said yes. It’s not because she’s pregnant, or because I conned her into it. We love each other. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever known and it’s a fucking privilege that I get to be with her.”

  “I just don’t think you understand the level of responsibility involved.”

  “Why not?” I asked, trying not to raise my voice. “Why do you think I’m such a fuck-up? Because I didn’t go to med school? Because I’m a mechanic? God forbid I not have a job where I have to put fucking certificates on the wall to show how important and smart I am.”

  “You’ve done nothing but squander your life,” he said. “You run around with that man-child you call a roommate, partying, drinking, picking up women. Why do I think you’re a fuck-up? Because you are. Because you’ve never done anything to prove otherwise.”

  His words stunned me into silence. I had no idea what to say to that.

  “If you insist on going through with this, we’ll come,” Dad said.

  “No,” I said, my voice surprisingly even. “No, don’t come. This is the most important day of my life and I’m going to spend it with the people who care about me. You don’t need to be there.”

  I hung up without waiting for his reply.

  Rage boiled hot, searing me from the inside. I felt like I was about to snap in half, and when I did, I’d spew fire. I needed to get out of here so I didn’t take this out on Brynn.

  The office door opened, and she peeked out. “Hey. Do you want to get some dinner soon? I’m almost done with these.”

  “No,” I said, the word coming out harsher than I meant it to. I took a deep breath. “I just have to go deal with something.”

  “Oh, okay. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” I turned away because she’d know if she saw my face. I knew she had the power to make me feel better, but I needed a little time. Just to cool off. Think things through. “I’ll text you later.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure,” she said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Brynn. So fucking much.”

  I left her in the shop, a knot of anger and shame settling deep in my chest. Did anyone believe I was cut out for this? Every time we’d told anyone we were getting married, we were hit with the same reaction. Disbelief. Suspicion. Assumptions. Her family. My parents. The people who knew us—or should know us—best had questioned this from the start. W
ere they right?

  Was I really just a fuck-up?

  I drove out to the highway to get out of town. I had fucked up in the past. Probably a lot. And who knew, maybe I didn’t deserve a girl like Brynn Miles. She was smart, and fun, and loyal. Beautiful. So goddamn beautiful, sometimes it hurt to look at her. Maybe I was on borrowed time with her, and any minute she was going to realize I wasn’t good enough.

  The highway curved through the jagged terrain, my headlights a pool of light in front of my truck. The hum of the engine and the feel of the pavement sliding beneath the tires helped calm me down. My heart wasn’t beating quite so fast, and that knot of pain dulled.

  I was far from perfect, but I hadn’t messed up everything. I owned my own business. Made good money. It wasn’t a fancy job that gave my parents bragging rights, but fuck them anyway. Nothing I’d ever done—no award, no achievement—had ever made them care. Nothing had ever been enough to make them love me.

  Brynn loved me. That was fucking priceless. She loved me, and she needed me, and I didn’t give a fuck who stood in our way. I was going to marry her and love the shit out of her forever. And everyone else could just fuck right off.

  Twenty-Nine

  Brynn

  My last group left the tasting room, all smiles and with at least one bottle of wine each. They’d been a fun group—three couples who had been friends since college. They were all in their forties now, with kids approaching high school. They were first time guests, and they’d loved the wine selection. My job was a lot of fun when I had happy customers.

  The hum of voices carried from one of the larger rooms, but my tasting room was empty. We’d be closing soon, and my feet were tired. A bath sounded nice. Or maybe Chase would give me a foot rub. He was at work today, too, on a job a couple of towns over. It probably meant he’d be working late, since he had to drive all the way back after he finished.