The Luxury of Being Stubborn (The Stubborn Series Book 4)

by Jeanne Arnold

  “That’s not nice.” I grabbed her hand. She fell to the ground and kicked her feet stubbornly.

  Gabe laughed. His laugh was ten times better than any surprise.

  “No. I want cake,” she said.

  I went to pick her up, and she rolled over and ran toward Gabe’s trailer.

  “The photographer’s waiting, Avery. I still have to braid your hair,” said my mother as she held open the trailer door and hurried me inside. “We’ll just do two braids and cross them over the top.”

  Deliah was fiddling with a strap on the pair of heels my mother had bought for Meggie.

  “Is that man seriously sabotaging my party?” Meggie asked. “I worked my tail off to make this happen.”

  “Do you realize you’re getting married?” I said.

  “Friends I haven’t seen in ages are out there. I guess this is it.”

  My mother snickered. “He had some big ideas. Be thankful this is how it’s happening, Meg. It’s going to be lovely. You’ll have everything you ever wanted. He lives here, and his headquarters are here.”

  “What about a wedding ring or a license or a minister, Val?”

  My mother grinned and shook her head as if to tell my aunt to stop worrying.

  I studied the trailer. Everything looked different. There was a folding table and chairs set up where we had our kitchen set. The living room had a new couch and an ironing board covered with towels. On the counter were six plastic containers holding white rose corsages with Texas blue bonnets and four bouquets of pink and white roses. There was a collection of liquor bottles and glasses set up like a bar. I peeked into the bedroom and found a new bed, fully made.

  “Lane and Judson aren’t here,” Deliah said as she played with her mother’s necklace.

  “I know, kiddo,” said Meggie. “I sent some of my guys out earlier. I don’t think Lane wants to be found.”

  “I wish we had more time to find him,” I said as my mother pulled a chair out from the table and made me sit down.

  “I don’t know where Judson is either,” said Deliah. “He’s in trouble, so he’s probably not ever coming back.”

  “No, no,” assured my mother as she ran the brush through my hair. “He’s got every reason to come back. It’s a shame he can’t see how beautiful you look.”

  She spun around and her skirt floated. “I do look good,” she said in her distinct accent.

  “I do look so good too,” said my sister proudly as she mimicked Deliah.

  * * *

  My slice of wedding cake sat untouched. I had a belly full of filet minion and rosemary mashed potatoes. Crumpled candy wrappers covered the elegant place setting before me. A Swarovski crystal flute held Gabe’s discarded black ice Blow Pop. I was sitting on his lap at our empty table when Meggie walked up to us. She looked like a glowing bride even though it hadn’t occurred to either of us when we were getting ready that she would be saying her vows in front of a few hundred people.

  “You two make me long for my youthful innocence,” she said as she dropped her shoes on a chair. “The picture of young love and chemical attraction. There was a time Joel and I couldn’t be pried apart.”

  I slid over to my own chair as a photographer tried to snap our photo.

  Gabe held tight to my hand on my lap. There was nothing innocent about what he was trying to do to me under the tablecloth.

  “I can’t believe you’re married. That was quite a kiss,” I said. I swatted Gabe’s hand as he dragged my seat closer. “I always wondered about Josh’s father, but I never imagined you would marry him.”

  “Do you see my husband?” Meggie pointed. “He’s ranting about Brent oil futures to the prime minister of some country I can’t even place on a map. He can’t help himself. Heaven forbid he ever cut himself open or oil might spew from his veins.” She took a seat and propped her feet on a chair. “I love the hell out of him for doing this. I sure wish your brother had been here with us. I’m still hoping he shows.”

  “Your necklace is incredible,” I said when I noticed what she was wearing.

  “Joel got it on loan for the photographs. It’s ninety-five carats of pink diamonds,” she whispered and stroked the design. “There’s a bodyguard following me around.”

  Gabe sat up and removed his cowboy hat. “Congrats, Meggie. I always wanted you to be my mom.”

  She set her hand on her heart and sighed. “That’s the sweetest thing you could ever say. I love you, kiddo.”

  The string quartet started to play a lively piece. Mr. Halden hired them to play while the dance floor was being set up. Preparations that would have been done for a normal wedding were being taken care of on the spot.

  “My father went down the road to meet the HalRem tankers Joel ordered to block the view of the property. Caleb said the paparazzi are going crazy trying to get in.”

  “Word got out that the king of oil tied the knot,” said Gabe.

  Meggie took a sip of water from an unused glass. “Did you see what happened while we were cutting the cake? A reporter drove through my field on an ATV and ran into the catering truck.”

  “I haven’t heard a helicopter all day. That’s unusual,” I said.

  “Lieutenant bought them all out,” Gabe commented as he popped a mint into his mouth. “I helped him.”

  “No kidding,” Meggie said laughing. “He must’ve been planning this long before I came up with the surprise party.”

  “The party was my idea,” I said.

  Meggie stared into the field behind me. I watched her face turn white. She closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest. “Oh my honeybees,” she said.

  Gabe and I jerked our heads around. He jumped out of his chair, bumped the table, and knocked over a goblet of water.

  The short blonde woman was an unexpected sight. “Molly,” I whispered hoarsely. She had a bag on her shoulder. Baby Eli was in his stroller.

  “Hi, Avery.” Her voice sounded choked. She stepped closer. “I don’t mean to crash your party or cause any disturbance, Miss Paulsen. I need to talk to Caleb and Lane. I’m really sorry to do this.”

  “You better leave,” Gabe said harshly.

  Molly widened her gaze around the tent. “I just need a minute with them.”

  “You need to freakin’ leave now,” he repeated.

  I turned and set my hand on his vest. I could feel the empty ring box in his pocket. His heart was pounding. It gave me hope to know he wanted to protect his brothers. “I told her we were having a party today.”

  Gabe offered me a perturbed look and removed my hand.

  “I didn’t tell her to come back,” I stressed so only he could hear.

  “After what she did—she doesn’t deserve a damn thing. This is a wedding for cripessake.”

  Molly set her bag in the grass. “I thought it was a surprise party. I’ll have to call a cab. It took me forever to get in here. This place is locked up like Fort Knox.”

  The photographer returned and snapped Molly’s picture. Meggie shooed him away.

  “Kids, bring Eli inside the house,” she told us. “Joel mentioned you’re playing later. I saw the Ingarson kids bringing in equipment when I was cutting the cake. Take care of this and get back out here so he isn’t any the wiser.”

  I followed Molly and Gabe across the crowded lawn. Somehow my sister spotted us and came running at me.

  “Go find Deliah and dance with her,” I said when she caught up. “Baby Eli has to go inside for a minute.”

  “I’ll tell Emmie he’s back.”

  “No, don’t say anything,” Gabe told her. “You can have your sister’s cake. It’s on the plate at our table.” She turned around and sprinted to the tent.

  “Good thinking,” I told him right before he took off for Caleb when he spotted him approach from the road.

  “She’s your mini twin,” said Molly. She lifted Eli out of the stroller and walked him up to the porch. He looked like the boys. His eyes were turning as hazel as an
y Halden. “The dresses. The braids. Who got married?”

  “Meggie and Joel.”

  Molly’s mouth fell open. “Holy moly. I didn’t think that would ever happen.”

  “He surprised her,” I said just as Caleb barged into the kitchen. He was clearly irritated by the sight of the baby.

  “Why in the goddamn world did you come back here with him?” he drawled.

  “I need to talk to you and Lane. Is he here?”

  Caleb lifted his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t need to do anything but get lost.”

  Molly turned to me with pleading, tear-filled eyes. She held out Eli. I took him and he cried.

  “Can we please speak alone?” She walked to where Caleb was leaning on the counter with his legs crossed at his ankles. He straightened up and thrust her arm away when she reached for his hand. The baby cried louder.

  “If you’re here for money, forget it.”

  “That’s not it at all.”

  “You’ve been gone a month. You put Lane through hell. He doesn’t need this bullcrap.”

  Her lip quivered. “What about you?”

  “I don’t need you coming around anymore. You’re a twisted liar. You made me look like a damn fool.”

  I’d never seen Caleb act so vulnerable. He looked a little squirmy. He was trapped at the sink while he was usually the one doing the trapping.

  “I can’t find Deliah!” my sister shouted through the screen door. “Del-iah! Where are you?”

  I heard Gabe speak to my sister and then the door slammed. He ambled in and tightened his gaze on Caleb.

  “Hey, why’s she still here?”

  “Take this, little brother. There’s more where that came from,” Caleb said to Gabe and handed him a bottle. I couldn’t see what it was.

  “Thanks,” Gabe told him.

  I bounced Eli on my hip and tried to get him to stop crying. “I’m taking him upstairs. Come with me.”

  Gabe’s boots clunked behind me. I knew he wouldn’t object to hiding out in the house as opposed to dealing with guests and whatever drama was brewing. The baby quieted when I stopped at the bedroom door. My parents moved into the attic bedroom, and Deliah and Brianna were sharing Josh’s room while he was away at camp. I waited for Gabe to open the door.

  “You remember me, little dude?” he said as Eli’s suddenly quiet eyes locked on his. “The fireworks are about to start.”

  “He thinks you’re Lane. It’s probably better he’s not here for this. What did Caleb give you?”

  “Nothing.” Gabe reached past me for the doorknob. “It’s jammed.”

  I stepped back and held Eli’s head to my shoulder as Gabe kicked the bottom with his boot. The room was dark. I peered in and found my sister’s dollhouse set up next to the door. Then when I looked up, something moved in the corner. Deliah was standing in front of Travis. Her hands were at her side. His hands were at his side. She was kissing him into the wall.

  Six

  “Gabe!” I screamed as he dove across the bed to grab Travis by the throat. The boy moved so fast he hit the wall when he ran into the hallway landing. Gabe was on him like a pit bull, but Travis managed to take the stairs before he could tackle him. I heard one of them trip and slap the floor.

  “There’s no privacy here. I can’t live like this!” Deliah shrieked.

  Baby Eli turned bright red. I lifted him higher on my shoulder before he started to cry again. Deliah tried to brush past me, but I stopped her by pushing the door in her way.

  “You can’t stand that he wants me.”

  “Not this again,” I muttered. She fell back on her bed and sighed dreamily.

  “You’re jealous of my boyfriend,” she said as she attempted to pull her hair out of the fancy braid.

  “I am not. I’m glad he likes you. I don’t think Gabe’s glad, though.”

  “Shelly’s coming over to babysit Emmie and Brianna. She’ll be happy for me.”

  I walked Eli to the window and pulled up the shade. Lights were coming on outside. Travis was zipping across the lawn to his brother’s truck. “What were you going to do in the dark?”

  “What do you think?” she said.

  “Gabe’s definitely going to hurt him. Did anybody talk to you yet?”

  “About S-E-X?” She sat up.

  The door opened wide. “Somebody call my name?” Caleb popped his head in.

  “Never fear, the expert is here,” Deliah groaned.

  “What did you do with Molly?” I asked.

  The sides of his eyes crumpled, and he acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about.

  “Caleb, where is she?”

  “She’s balling it out in the bathroom. She should’ve known better to wear waterproof makeup when she came around here.” He bounced on the mattress and made half of the toys fly off. “What do you need to know about S-E-X, Mona Deliah?”

  “I can’t listen to this,” I said as I walked past him and headed to the first floor to find Molly.

  Gabe was sitting on the kitchen counter drinking from a HalRem coffee mug. He kept looking over his shoulder out the window. “That fifteen-year-old farm boy isn’t going near my thirteen-year-old sister again. He’s got more guts than brains.”

  “She was kissing him. You’re the reason she knows him.”

  He finished his drink and set it on the counter. “You think she brought him up there? I don’t reckon that’s how it went.”

  I grunted at his rashness. Baby Eli looked around. He seemed to understand where he was. “I reckon she had everything to do with it. Come on, Gabe. He’s shy.”

  “He’s a guy. I know what he wants.”

  I rolled my eyes, and Gabe glanced over his shoulder again. He was spinning through his moods like nobody’s business.

  “Can you hold Eli so I can talk to Molly? We should get back outside before we miss something.”

  Gabe froze as if I asked him to do something unheard of.

  “I’ll take him,” Molly said as she walked into the kitchen. She fixed a bandana on her forehead like a headband. “I’m leaving. This was a bad idea.”

  She wouldn’t look at Gabe.

  “Did you try to talk to Caleb?” I asked.

  She reached for Eli. He got excited to go back to her. “He’s not happy with me.”

  “Christ all Friday—I’m pissed off you’re here,” he said out of sight. Then he hopped off the bottom step.

  Deliah followed. She walked over to Eli and played with his little fingers. He smiled sweetly at her and tried to speak in baby talk.

  “He looks like me. I don’t care what y’all say,” she said.

  Caleb stood beside Gabe at the counter where he was leaning back. Gabe unbuttoned his collar and loosened his tie. There was a lot of family resemblance going around. I had a hard time not staring at the pair of them. Their mere existence raised my blood pressure. Gabe was an image of perfection. I had to fight the attraction that was pulling me across the room and urging me to kiss his soft lips.

  “I care,” said Molly. “That’s why I came back.”

  “And now you can leave,” Gabe told her.

  I held my breath. I wanted to know why she came back.

  “You wanna play us all for fools again? Why don’t you go take a running jump,” Caleb said in a slightly more punishing manner than Gabe.

  “I’m sorry, Avery. I’m sorry to all of you,” she said.

  “Why did you come back?” I asked.

  Molly kissed baby Eli’s head and turned him around in her arms to face the boys. “I did something I can’t take back.”

  “Is that the best you can do?” Caleb snapped.

  “I came to tell the truth.”

  Caleb and Gabe united forces with the same annoyed stare. No one said a word except Eli. Molly stepped closer to the counter and narrowed her focus on Caleb. Gabe’s eyes found me. He raised his brow speculatively.

  “Why now?” asked Caleb.

  I
predicted what Molly was going to say before she even said it. My thoughts went to Lane.

  “He’s your son,” she told Caleb. “I know for certain. I’m sorry I put you through this. I had no right to keep it from you.”

  “Whoa—let’s back it up. How long have you known this?” he asked. He set a hand behind his neck.

  She looked straight into his eyes and choked up. “I’ve always known.”

  Caleb punched the counter with his fist and made her jump out of her shoes. “You let my brother play house for five damn months.”

  “What about the paternity test?” I asked.

  There was an awkward silence before she answered. “Do you really want to know?”

  “The lieutenant? Hell, I’m surprised none of us can walk on water,” said Caleb. He pounded his chest. “You want it done? Ask the Haldens. No truth is ever too big to manipulate.”

  Molly glanced at me and then stared at the floor. “You’re his dad, Caleb. The rest of it doesn’t matter. I don’t want anything from you or your family. If you want to know why I lied, I’ll tell you everything. Otherwise I need to call a cab.”

  My sister walked into the room with frosting on her face. “Hi, Avy. The bus is here.”

  Gabe jumped off the counter as if he had an emergency. He reached for my waist and pulled me to his hip. He smelled like liquor. “I gotta split,” he said before he disappeared out the back door.

  I turned to my sister, who was waving at the baby. I took her hand and walked her to the sink to wash her face. I was thankful Molly and Caleb held their fire. “Doesn’t anybody watch you? Hundreds of people are out there.”

  “Kaboom!” she said excitedly. “Daddy says we get to have fireworks after Mr. Melon comes.”

  “I don’t know who that is, but okay,” I told her as I wiped her cheeks and hands. “We’ll go find Mommy.”

  “Mommy puked!” she said and giggled.

  * * *

  “Your parents just got married,” I told Josh as the sun vanished in the field behind his house. “Gabe’s Uncle Joel is now my Uncle Joel. That’s messed up.”

  “No more messed up than Judson being his real dad and Joel being mine.”