Found My Love [Learning to Love 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alison Mello

  We have photos at the park at five. Hoping to be done by six, but not sure what time we’ll finish.

  Why don’t you play it by ear? You know I always have plenty.

  Okay, I’ll let you know.

  I hit Chase’s number on my speed dial.

  “Hey, T. What is going on sweetie?”

  “My mom just texted and asked if we can do dinner at their house tonight. Apparently my sister is coming down to see my dad for dinner. I don’t know if the entire family is coming or just her, but my Mom was hoping we could go by. I told her we have pictures, but we’ll see what time we finish.”

  “That is fine. I think we should try to go so you can see your sister and so that your dad has a chance to see everyone together just in case.”

  “Okay. So let’s just make sure we pay attention to the time, and we’ll shoot straight over there after we’re done.”

  “No problem. I have to let you go. I’m sitting in a meeting, and everyone is staring at me wondering what the heck I’m talking about.”

  “You answered your phone while you're in a meeting?” I yell at him.

  He bursts into laughter. “Yeah. What’s Seth going to do, fire me?”

  I hear Seth yell in the background, “I might if he keeps his shit up!”

  We both start laughing, and he says, “I’ll talk to you later, sweetie. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Chase.” I cut the call and get back to work thinking about the fact that I now have to deal with my snobby ass sister tonight.

  I put my focus into the report in front of me, tweaking a few last minute things before I send it off to Jack for approval. Then I jump on working on the next report, which is Abbey’s AP report. She did most of the work on this, but I have to comb through it and make sure that nothing in this is from another quarter. She’s pretty thorough, but because she’s new and this is her first time doing the report on her own, I need to make sure there’re no mistakes. Nothing pisses Jack off more than an inaccurate report.

  I had to work on the AP report through lunch while eating at my desk, but it was worth it because I’m now pretty confident that it’s clean. I have to have Abbey change the date on a few things, but that’s nothing, and she wouldn’t have known to do it. I’m pretty proud of the work she did. I send the report off to Abbey asking to make the appropriate changes and then one to Jack letting him know that I’m leaving soon and asking if he needs anything before I go.

  A few minutes go by, and he e-mails me back with a note saying, “Yes. I need you to go take nice photos with your family.”

  I start laughing and send him thanks back. I’m so glad he and his wife are going to make the wedding. My phone pings, and it is Chase’s special ping. I take a look.

  Do you have a picture of Kyle for the security detail?

  I scroll through Facebook to find a picture of him, save it to my phone, and send it off to Chase.

  Here you go, straight from his Facebook page.

  Thanks, T! See you at home shortly.

  I gather my things and head toward Jack’s office to wave good night before I head out the door. He’s on the phone, so I literally just wave so he knows I’m leaving, and he gives me a wave back. I need to stop at Abbey’s cubical.

  “Good job on that report, Abbey. It looked awesome!”

  “Thanks, Theresa. I got the e-mail you sent me, so I’ll be working on fixing those dates this afternoon.”

  “No problem. You wouldn’t have known to change those because we only just decided to put that entire job into the next quarter so that’s why we need to move the dates of the invoices.”

  “Whatever you say. You’re the boss.”

  “Well, I’m off to do our photo shoot. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  * * * *

  We get to the park right at five, and Katie is bouncing around in the backseat. She wants to run and play.

  “Katie, you need to calm down. We’re here to take pictures, not play around,” Chase says firmly. “If we can get our pictures done, you’ll get to go see Grammy and Grampy,” he adds, and she calms right down, wanting to see her grandparents.

  I climb out of the truck and grab Katie to help her out so she won’t fall and get dirty. I’m wearing skinny jeans with brown calf-high boots and a gray sweater. Katie is wearing a white shirt with a gray sweater over it with jeggings and boots similar to mine. Chase is wearing jeans with a white-and-gray plaid button-down shirt. We find Lauren and let her know that something came up and that we do not have a ton of time. She’s very accommodating and starts positioning the three of us in different poses in front of these beautiful trees. After she has done a few poses of the three of us, she takes a few of just Katie and me. Then she does Chase and me together and then a few of Katie alone. Luckily Katie cooperated, so we’re in and out in forty-five minutes. As we’re walking back to our cars, Lauren tells us she’ll send me some unedited samples as soon as she can so we’ll have an idea on how they came out. She thinks they’ll be great.

  We pull up to my mom’s, and my sister’s luxury SUV is sitting in the driveway. This is a good thing because it means she actually showed up. We walk into the house and I do my signature “Mom, we’re here.”

  My mom laughs and says, “In the kitchen.”

  I chuckle.

  “What’s so funny?” I explain to Chase that we’re laughing because I always say, “Mom I’m here,” and she always says, “In the kitchen.” Why I don’t just walk in and head straight to the kitchen is beyond me.

  “Look who finally decided to show up.” Chelsea rolls her eyes as she makes her snide comment.

  “Excuse me. I had my engagement photos scheduled before you decided to make an appearance.”

  “I don’t know why you bothered with engagement photos. It’s not like you’re going to put an announcement out. You’re getting married on Saturday.”

  “She did engagement photos because I wanted to have them for our home.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Oh, you must be Chase,” she says in her snobby, stuck-up voice.

  “Yep, that’s me,” Chase says plainly.

  “What, your husband and kids couldn’t make it to dinner?” I say, frustrated that she’s here alone.

  “Enough,” my mother says sternly. “Chelsea, enough being snotty to your sister and Theresa stop pushing her. Dinner is ready, so let’s all sit down to eat.”

  Chase heads into the living room to help my dad off the couch, and I hear him mumbling to Chase as he comes back into the dining room with Katie in tow. We sit down to an amazing lasagna and baked ziti dinner. As I make Katie’s plate, I sit there wondering if Chelsea is even going to come to the wedding. She’s the only one who hasn’t responded to the e-vite.

  Once we are all sitting and eating, I finally get up the courage to say something. “So, Chelsea, you guys are the only ones who haven’t responded to our e-vite for the wedding. Are you guys going to make it?”

  “That is because I haven’t decided if we are going or not,” she says flatly like my wedding isn’t this coming Saturday.

  I take a calming breath. “It would be the perfect time for the kids to all get together and play, and they would have a chance to see Mom and Dad.”

  My mom says, “Chelsea, don’t be rude. Respond to your sister’s wedding. If you can’t make it fine but don’t leave her hanging. She’s your sister.” I can tell my dad’s not happy but he bites his tongue.

  She says nothing as she continues to chew her food. I drop the conversation and just start eating. Chase squeezes my leg under the table in silent support. I look at him and give him a small smile. He kisses my cheek and whispers that he loves me. As I finish my plate, Katie asks if she can be excused to go watch TV, and I allow her. It has been the most awkward dinner, and she doesn’t need to witness any more of this.

  “I can’t believe you came here to have dinner with your family and can’t even participate in a conversation with us.”

  “Actually I came
to have dinner with Mom and Dad, but she had to invite you.”

  “I’m their daughter and your sister. What is the big deal? Not to mention it gave you the chance to meet your brother-in-law. His sister-in-law was so happy to meet me. Why is it you do not have the same excitement?”

  “My problem is you. I get married. You give them a grandkid. Now I give them two grandkids, and you turn around and do this rush wedding. You want everyone to drop what they are doing and attend your wedding.”

  “I can’t believe you would make this about you. I call you and update you on Daddy’s illness because I want everyone to enjoy as much time with him as we can. You’re here for thirty minutes, and already you have made it about you. How damn selfish can you be? And to make matters worse, your damn husband and kids couldn’t take the time to be here. You know what? Don’t come to the wedding. I really don’t care anymore.”

  “Theresa,” my mom calls from the table but I ignore her as I get up and walk away, carrying food to put away in the kitchen. I’m trying to keep it together, but I’m so tired of her and her shitty attitude. If it isn’t about her, it doesn’t matter. I’m giving up a perfect wedding so my dad can be there with me and see me get married. Am I mad? No! Am I making it about me? No! I’m doing it because I love my dad, and I know this is what he wants.

  Chase comes in the room with more dishes and places them on the counter. “I’m sorry this didn’t go better.” He kisses me on the cheek and walks away to get more stuff from the other room.

  I finish what I’m doing in the kitchen while my mom and dad visit with my sister. I can’t stand to be in the same room with her right now, and my dad doesn’t need to see us upset with each other anymore.

  I walk into the living room to find Chase and Katie watching TV with my dad. I smile at the sight of them talking like they have known each other for years.

  “Hey, sweetie, I have everything in the kitchen all cleaned up. Are you ready to get going?”

  He looks to my dad and then back to me. “Sure, if you’re ready to go, then so am I.” He gets up and shakes my dad’s hand. “See you Saturday around noon?”

  He smiles at Chase. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. My baby girl’s getting married, and I can’t wait to give her away.”

  I lean down to hug my dad. “Bye, Daddy. I love you.”

  He wraps an arm around me and kisses my cheek. “I love you, too, baby girl. Don’t you pay any mind to your sister. I can’t wait to see the pictures.”

  Katie says her good-byes to my dad and I ask him to tell my mom that I’ll call her later.

  I manage to hold back my tears long enough to get out of the house. Once I’m safely in Chase’s truck, I can’t even look at him. I stare out the window as the tears fall on the way home. I wish I could understand what I did to my sister to make her hate me so much. I know my dad and I have a better relationship, but she was always too busy with her friends to have a relationship with my parents, so why is she so jealous now? Part of me hates that I let her get to me and that I care so much but part of me feels like it is time to let it go and just not talk to her anymore.

  “Mommy, why does Auntie Chelsea make you cry?” Katie asks as we arrive at the house.

  “Katie, some people just don’t care about other people’s feelings, and so they say hurtful things. Mommy will be okay, but what do you say we head inside for a snack, and we give mommy a moment,” Chase says as he takes her in the house.

  At that moment, I decide I’ll not let my sister hurt me anymore. I’m done being upset that she doesn’t want to have a friendship with me. I pull myself together and walk in the house, feeling so much better.

  “I’m sorry, sweet pea. Mommy isn’t going to let her get me down any more. When you’re done with your snack, come upstairs and I’ll help you in the shower.”

  “Okay. I love you, Mommy.”

  “I love you, too, sweet pea,” I say as I climb the stairs to her room so I can get her clothes ready for tomorrow. Once hers are set I head to my room to get mine ready. By the time I’m done grabbing my clothes out, she’s upstairs, so I head back to her room to get my baby girl showered and ready for bed.

  Chase comes up just as I finish putting Katie to bed, so he goes to her room to say good night, and by the time he gets to our room I’m in bed looking at the unedited engagement photos the photographer e-mailed to me.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  I look up from my phone. “Talk about what?”

  “Come on, T. You’re clearly upset by what happened with your sister tonight. No matter how much you want to put her out of your mind or say you don’t care, you are who you are, so, of course, you care. That’s one of the things I love about you.”

  “What’s there to talk about? She’s jealous of my relationship with my parents but has never tried to have one with them, so it’s her own fault that her relationship is what it is.”

  “How come she didn’t have a relationship with your parents?”

  “I don’t really know. She was so into her friends growing up and into how she appeared socially. She always had to have the most popular, best-looking boyfriends, the trendiest clothes, and only hung with the popular kids. I don’t understand why because we didn’t have a ton of money growing up. We worked for everything we have, but she always managed to get the things she wanted.”

  I stop and think about our childhood for a moment. “Now sometimes I wonder if she married her rich husband thinking that would make her happy, but in reality she’s miserable and just won’t admit it.”

  “Maybe that’s the case and if so at some point she’ll finally be able to admit that she screwed up. Then you two will be able to have a relationship, but until then you cannot beat yourself up over her life choices. I know it is hard—trust me, I understand—but you have to let it go for now for your own sanity.”

  “You’re right. I have no regrets in life, and if I’m happy and my family is happy, that is all that should matter to me. As far as my parents are concerned, I’ll continue to take care of them the best I can, and she’ll have to live with the decisions she makes.”

  “Now show me what you were looking at so we can get some sleep.”

  “I’m looking at our engagement photos that came out awesome, even though they haven’t been edited yet.” I show him the pictures as we go through one by one talking about what we like in each one. We decide which ones we would order and talk about where we would put them. I put my phone charging on the side of my bed when he looks me in the eye.

  “I love you, Theresa Marie, and I’m so glad I found you.”

  Chapter 18

  I can’t believe I’m getting married today. I have a hairdresser coming to the house shortly to do my hair and makeup. We didn’t do the whole separate-the-day-before thing, so we’re both kind of running around watching the caterer set up tables and the DJ set up his area and speakers up in the yard. Everything’s coming together nicely.

  The florist should be here shortly with my purple rose bouquet and Abbey’s white rose bouquet. I chose a purple rose for the guys to wear on their suit. I didn’t feel like we needed flowers for the backyard, so she has it pretty easy. She said she was going to throw some extra baby’s breath in, in case I wanted it for my hair.

  Katie is running from window to window watching all the action going on around the house. The doorbell rings, and Chase goes running to answer it. It’s probably the hairdresser. At this point security is already in place, and they all have a picture of Kyle and have been instructed that he’s not allowed anywhere near the front door of the house. They have a guest list, and an usher will ask for people’s names and will walk them to their seats so we know he doesn’t try to sneak in as a guest.

  “Hey, hon, the hairdresser is here for you and Katie.”

  I run to the top of the stairs. “Okay, send her up!” I want her to do my hair first since I can sit still longer and won’t mess mine up. God knows if Katie’s will last with the way
she’s bouncing off the walls. She sets Katie’s hair in curlers and gets to work on curling mine.

  Once my hair is curled, she sprays my curls, leaving them to set while she pulls Katie’s down and starts to pin hers like the picture I showed her. We have a simple tiara for Katie because she wanted to be a princess for Mommy’s wedding. As she’s finishing Katie’s hair, Abbey comes walking in.

  “Oh, look at the pretty princess,” Abbey says, getting Katie all excited.

  “Now here is the thing about being a pretty princess. You need to sit nice so you do not ruin your hair.”

  “Mommy, can I go watch TV?”

  “Sure as long as you promise to sit nice.” Hopefully the TV will entertain her enough to keep her still so she doesn’t mess her hair.

  The hairdresser goes back to work on my hair while Abbey takes Katie downstairs and gets her situated. When Abbey gets back upstairs, it’s almost her turn to get her hair done, so she sits on Katie’s bed, and we chat while she waits her turn. She tells us that she, too, has a picture of what she wants and brings it up on her phone to show her as the hairdresser puts the tiara in my hair. She pins it in place, and I am officially done.

  I switch seats with Abbey so the woman can start curling her hair. I’m glad we left plenty of time because I would not be happy if I had to stress over time.

  Katie comes upstairs with a plate carrying muffins. “Chase said I need to bring you two a snack so you don’t get over-hungry before the wedding.” She puts the plate down and heads back downstairs.

  I am actually hungry, so I dig into one of the muffins before I have to have my makeup done. Mmm, it’s so good. I finish up just in time. The girl is done with Abbey’s hair and is ready to move onto makeup so I sit facing the natural light and she gets started while Abbey eats her muffin.

  A short while later we are both done, so we thank our hairdresser as she heads out the door. We move to my room so I can use the full-length mirror to look at my hair and face. I have to say that she did a pretty good job.