by Aimee Brown
“You’re not any trouble at all, Em.” He pulls me by the hand to the edge of one of the twin beds. “I wasn’t going to say this right now, but I know this isn’t going exactly how you expected, so now is as good a time as any.”
I shake my head, “Jack, I can’t have sex with you on your sister’s single bed. It’s wrong.” I scrunch my face up in disgust.
“God,” he jumps off the bed. “No. I’m glad you feel that way,” he laughs. “That wasn’t what I was going to say. I actually asked you to come here so you could meet my family because I wanted to take things to the next step in our relationship.”
Oh, my God. This is it. He’s going to propose in a hot pink fourteen year old girl’s bedroom. Not exactly how I pictured it, but oh well.
“OK,” I say, through the butterflies suddenly swirling in my chest.
“We’ve been together now for three months and it’s been the best three months ever.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” He stops and takes a deep breath. “I am falling in love with you, Emi, and from here on I don’t want to see anyone but you. I think you could be the one.”
Has he been seeing other people until now?
No, Emi, stop. That’s not what he’s saying. He just said he loves you.
Why did I think he was proposing?
“Did you hear me?” he asks nervously.
“Yes, yes. Me too.” My heart flutters in my chest. I wish I had more of a way with words and could maybe impress him just a tad more, though.
“You too?”
“I mean… I think you’re the one too. I fell in love with you before I even officially met you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, I know this is so romantic but I’m really nervous about being here with your family and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“You’re not going to ruin it.” He leads me back out into the hallway, away from the blinding pink bedroom. “Come on, you can meet Hannah and then we’ll go relax. I have a surprise for you later.”
Ugh… another surprise. I hope it’s not a wife and kids.
I follow him out to the pool and see the tall blonde wearing a tiny pink bikini lying next to the pool exactly where she was a few moments ago. She’s perfect: her hair, her skin, her designer swimsuit that will put my Target one to shame. She’s completely the opposite of me.
“Hannah… I want you to meet someone.”
We both watch her turn her head in our direction, propping herself up on her elbows, looking me over through her mirrored lenses.
“You must be the infamous Emi?” She lifts her sunglasses and lies her magazine on the chair next to her. The way she says it I can already tell she’s not impressed. I’ve been here less than thirty minutes and so far, this is the worst trip of my life, even though the man of my dreams just basically told me he’s falling for me.
“I am. It’s nice to meet you too, Hannah.”
“I’m sure it is.” She pats the chair next to her and flashes a million dollar smile at me. “Come sit, I can’t wait to get to know you.”
I look at Jack, who honestly looks as nervous as I am about me having a private chat with Hannah. She has a quality about her that screams I’m going to chew you up and spit you out. I’m a little scared, but I follow her command and sit on the lounger.
“So…” She starts talking but stops and looks over at Jack who is still standing off to the side of the patio watching us. She lifts her glasses with a sigh. “We’re fine, Jack. Go do whatever it is that you do.” She rolls her eyes, slides her glasses back on and turns to me.
I chew on my lip nervously. She’s intimidating, and I wasn’t expecting it. I feel like I’m on trial to see if I could hold my own in the family, which is seeming quite unlikely.
Jack and I haven’t talked much about Hannah, other than that he has a younger sister whose dream is to be a southern California socialite. I’d say she’s a definite contender, she’s gorgeous. She doesn’t have a single blemish on her skin. Her makeup is flawless, even in the sun. Her long blonde hair is perfect, even in the wind. She seems practically supernatural.
“So…” She pauses dramatically. “Tell me what you love the most about my brother?”
I didn’t realize there was going to be an entrance interview and I’m not exactly prepared. “He’s uh…” I pause, not the way she did, but to pick out just one thing that I love about him that I think might impress her. Even though it’s only been three months, I’m more in love than I ever thought possible.
“Rich?” She interrupts my train of thought.
“What?”
“He’s rich,” she repeats herself.
The Jack I know doesn’t live like this house suggests. Until thirty minutes ago I didn’t even know this side of him existed. I just thought he was a normal guy, a law student who wasn’t considered poor, or something like that. Rich isn’t a word I’d ever used before now to describe Jack. He’s so… modest.
“OK…”
“So, you’re with him for the money?”
“No. No, I didn’t even know he had money until I got here. This isn’t his money, though, it’s your parents.”
“They gotta die someday,” she laughs. “So, that’s a technicality. OK, I’ll bite, if not the money, then what?” She removes her glasses altogether and sits up in her chair. “What’s so special about Jack?” The way she says his name makes me cringe a little. I know brothers and sisters are often pretty mean to one another, but I could never say Evan’s name implying that I was better than him.
“He’s amazing, he’s a gentleman, he’s kind, he’s humble, he’s caring, he’s…”
“Ugh… I get it. You think you’re in love with him. They all do.” She rolls her eyes at me before lying down again, adjusting her suit so not to disturb her growing tan lines.
If eye-rolling was a sport I have a feeling Hannah would be the champion. “You’re just one of the many women he’s brought out here to meet us. You’ve reached the meet the family level. He always thinks he’s found the one and then a few weeks later they’re gone.”
“Gone?” He has relationship levels? Like a video game?
“Not dead, but you know, dumped.”
“Oh.” I bite my lip so hard I can taste the blood. “That sucks.”
“Not really.”
“So, you don’t like any of Jack’s girlfriends?”
“I wouldn’t say any… but few. Jack is… Well, he’s too easy to fall in love.”
“He falls in love a lot?”
Crap. Not good for me at all.
“Well, I don’t know if love is the right word, but he’s been with some girls if you know what I mean.” She sighs, lifting her bikini bottom to check her tan line. “I guess if you make it out here more than once we’ll know that he’s more serious about you than the others.”
I don’t really have anything to say to that. How can a conversation like this one follow the one I just had with Jack?
“Quit the crap, Hannah. You’re not scaring this one off.” Jack suddenly reappears on the patio, obviously having been listening from somewhere he couldn’t be seen. “Either you’re nice to this one, or you’ll never meet another. Stop acting like you’re Queen Bee of Nothing.”
“JACK!” She screams at him, like a dramatic younger sister with a hot pink bedroom would, and throws her sunglasses across the patio before disappearing into the house.
“Ignore her. She tries to act important a lot.”
“Do you really bring a lot of girls here?”
“No. I think you’re the second. Like I said… She’s a bit much, especially for the truth. The less you listen to her the better off you’ll be.” He reassures me with a kiss on the lips before lying down in the chair Hannah had been using. “She’s a bully, Ems. I meant what I said earlier. I love you.”
“You love me?” I can’t help the smile that’s now taken over my face. He didn’t exactly say that earlier, he said he w
as falling in love with me. This is a whole new level.
“I do.”
“I love you too. I even bought something for you especially for this trip, before I knew your family would be joining us.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, but it’s not exactly, uh, family friendly, if you know what I mean.” His eyes get as big as saucers and his smile is contagious. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to show it to you later.”
He lets out a small nervous cough, “Luckily, I made reservations at a very romantic restaurant in town so we can sneak into my room later and see what all the fuss is about,” he winks.
Seventeen
Leaving on A Jet Plane
Present Day
Portland, Oregon
I decided last night that this was all too much for me to process, so as soon as Evan and Hannah leave for their honeymoon, I’m catching the next flight out to Dallas. I know it seems selfish but this week has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions which I still feel it isn’t over.
There is only one thing I need to do first and that’s thank Liam for being there during a very weird moment in my life.
“Someone has to find him,” Hannah pleads with Evan as he carries their bags out to their car. The two of them were supposed to be at the airport an hour ago, but it’s been a rather sleepless night. After Jack stormed out last night no one has heard from him and Hannah is more than worried. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he was four years old and hiking down the train tracks with a hankie on a stick over his shoulder, full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“Hannah, Jack is a grown man. When he’s ready to talk, he’ll talk. Until then he can take care of himself.” Evan is getting irritated, rightfully so.
“I know, but how horrible to relive the whole him and Emi thing and then end up trapped in a pregnancy by that terrible Greta! It’s like a bad Disney movie where the villain actually wins. That’s not fair, Evan!”
I roll my eyes, overhearing them from my room upstairs. I opened the window so I could overhear them but now it’s just kind of pissing me off.
“Maybe Emi could look for him?” she suggests.
“Jack is not Emi’s problem. Can you just stop worrying about your brother and focus on the fact that we’re going on our honeymoon? White sandy beaches, warm breezes, and food to die for, and just the two of us for a whole week.”
“Right,” she sniffles up her worries. “It’s going to be so romantic,” she cries, making it sound anything but romantic.
“Where exactly are you going?” Lily asks as she walks into my halfway packed room.
“Home.”
“Our flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow.”
“I sweet talked an agent into getting me on one this afternoon.” It was no easy task either. I had to promise to bring him and his crew members Starbucks, and lunch.
Lily purses her lips together. “So, you’re just going to avoid this whole mess and go right back to pretending that Jack doesn’t exist?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I dunno. I think spending some time where I feel good about myself, until I can sort out how I feel, is never a bad thing.”
She nods. “True. And if he contacts you?”
“Then I guess we’ll go from there. But, I’d say Jack has much bigger things to deal with than an old girlfriend.”
“You think that’s all you are to him, an old girlfriend?”
“I don’t know what I am, Lily. All I know is that everything that’s happened over the last twenty-four hours is too much for me to handle. Do you have any idea how many times my heart has been broken over and over again since yesterday? I just want to go home.”
“OK, I get that. Are you at least going to say goodbye to Liam? I mean he did do you a favor.”
“Yes, as soon as I’m done here I’m headed straight there.”
I’ve been thinking about what to say to Liam but I’ve got no idea. I feel a little bit like a loser if I’m honest. Not only did my big plan of making Jack jealous, and swoon over me and my lucky dress not work but now I’m once again running away from a situation that scares me.
I pull my bags towards the stairs to make my way to the car out front where Evan and Hannah are preparing to leave on their tropical honeymoon. I feel like the conversations I’ve had up here in the last twelve hours are echoing off the walls as I walk away. Spinning in confusion in my head. And I don’t know what to do with any of them.
“Congratulations, again, you guys. The whole thing was beautiful.” I say to Evan as he hugs me goodbye.
“I can’t believe you’re not going to follow him. You two are so perfect for each other,” Hannah pulls me from Evan, crying into my hair. “Don’t you love him?”
I swallow down the lump in my throat when she says it. There are so many more things to consider now that I don’t know if I can wade through them fast enough to grab the fleeting feelings before it’s too late.
“You should find him,” Hannah finally says, holding me at arm’s length.
“No. If I follow him I’m just some girl who forced herself on a guy who ran from us because he now has bigger issues. He didn’t do that to me. I don’t know what I want, but I know it’s not being the girl someone settles for. I want to be the one. The one you don’t even think about, you just know that you can’t go on without them. I don’t know if I’m that girl anymore for Jack.”
Hannah nods with a forced smile. “I guess I can see that.”
“OK, now no more tears! Honeymoons are not supposed to start with crying.” Evan opens Hannah’s door, coaxing her into the car so they can finally start their vacation.
Josh, Lily, and I wave from the curb until their car is no longer visible. Right on time, a blue car pulls up to the curb with a honk.
“That’d be my Uber.” I pull a bag to the door, Josh, and Lily pulling the rest of them.
“I guess we’ll see you back at home later, then.”
I nod, glancing back at Evan’s glorious house, a little sad this week went the way it did.
“I just have one more opportunity to make a fool of myself,” I laugh. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck, you’re a pro!” Josh waves over at me with a laugh.
*
When I walk into the bar, Liam is standing behind the counter wiping out cups. A smile spreads across his face, which makes my heart sink the tiniest bit more.
“Hey there. How’s my favorite unlucky bridesmaid?”
“Liam… I wanted to talk to you.”
“Uh-oh. Sounds like we’re breaking up,” he winks as he walks around the counter, taking a seat on one of the barstools. “I think you should do it.”
“What?” I ask, a little confused.
“I saw the way he looked at you at the wedding. And in my experience when a man looks at a woman that way, especially after everything you two have been through, you belong together.”
I smile and look down at the counter. “It’s a little more complicated than that now.”
“What happened?”
I shake my head, not really wanting to relive it. “I know a year doesn’t seem like a long time to be apart but in this case, it’s turned into a lifetime and I’m not sure it’s salvageable at this point.”
I sigh, hoping to get through my speech of thanking him without pouring my feelings out onto the bar like I did the day we met.
“I just wanted to stop by and say thank you. I’ve been really stubborn, and I might have led you on a little. I never do that, and I wanted to apologize before I left.”
“Don’t worry about a thing.” Liam smiles. “Actually, I should be thanking you.”
“You should?”
“Yes. I asked for a favor in exchange for our deal, and without even knowing it you gave me one.” He pauses with a small smile. “I’ve been playing it safe for far too long, and seeing what you and Jack went through this weekend, reminded me why I shouldn’t do that. I want that love worth fighting for li
ke I have a feeling you two have.” He’s now nodding through an almost frown. “Despite what happened after I left, I’m sure Jack loves you.”
I shrug my shoulders because I’m honestly not sure.
“Do you love him?” He asks.
“I don’t know, there is a lot to consider. Maybe?” I sigh.
“There is something I didn’t tell you before I left the wedding the other night…” He starts.
“What?”
“I didn’t realize it until the middle of the blow-up, but, I’ve met Jack before. He came in a few weeks ago, by himself. He sat right there,” He points at a stool up the bar, “and he drank, alone.”
“Really?” I ask, only surprised because I know how little Jack drinks, especially in public, alone.
“Yup. He looked like he was struggling with something, so I got him talking for a few minutes, and I felt for him. I wish I’d realized it was him sooner.”
“What did he say?”
“He was nervous about seeing the only woman he’d truly loved again. The woman whose heart he broke, even though things weren’t quite as they seemed. He felt like it was his fault that you were both miserable, possibly forever. He said it was no longer his place to get involved in your life even though it’s all he wanted to do.”
“I’ll tell ya, I’ll never forget the way he talked about you. He misses you, and if I’m reading him right, he truly loves you.”
I nod, forcing a smile, not wanting to say that he’s now linked to Greta for life because she took advantage of his vulnerability.
“Thank you, for telling me.”
“My pleasure. You’re a great woman, and he’s a lucky man. I promise I’m only a little bit jealous of him.” He laughs. “I’ve no doubt that whatever has come up that you two will somehow make things work out.”
I hop off my barstool and wrap my arms around Liam. “Thank you.”
“You have my number…”
“I do, so if you’re ever in Dallas, let me know.”
He nods, a smile on his face that is so sincere it makes me a little sad. Liam is a great guy, and in any other situation, I’d have jumped at the opportunity to date him. But, right now, my world is a mess and I can’t pull someone else into that. I don’t doubt that he will have no problem finding some lucky woman to woo. I think half the bridesmaids were dreaming of him as their date. He deserves his very own happy ending and I’m sure he’ll get one worthy of a romance novel. It’s just not meant to be with me.
