The No Regrets Groom

by Taylor Hart

  Dax grinned up. “Are you saying yes?”

  Tears fell from Sky’s eyes as she nodded, and Dax picked her up. They kissed, and all of the onlookers clapped.

  Ziggy’s chest filled with warmth, and he felt emotion well in his eyes too.

  In the background, the music changed to the Jackson Five song “I Want You Back.” Ty made a circle-up gesture to all of the brothers. Ziggy laughed at how it was muscle memory to move into the old dance positions. How many times had he sung this song? His dad had thought it was such a hoot to make them perform this song and showcase Ty’s gift.

  Ty, of course, sang the Michael Jackson part. “Oh, baby, give me one more try …”

  Ziggy watched Sophia and exchanged huge grins with her. He didn’t even have to think about the choreography and humming at the right times with the song.

  The rest of the audience circled them and clapped along. At the end, Dax grabbed Sky and swung her around, eliciting a chorus of cheers.

  When Ziggy looked up, he saw Sophia disappearing into the crowed, the blur of her red dress and blonde hair forever burned into his mind. At this moment, he knew Sophia Charles would always be his biggest regret.

  Chapter 2

  Sophia skipped into her high-rise apartment in downtown Denver. Marshall, her boyfriend of almost a year, had been texting her over and over, telling her he had news and they would meet at her apartment. The whole way here, she’d been pushing Ziggy Brady out of her head. Dang, why did she have to see the man tonight? The unbelievably hot man with whom she shared so much history. Why did she …

  Oh, it didn’t matter. She and Marshall had been talking about marriage a lot lately. They’d even stopped at a jewelry store in the mall last week and talked about what kind of ring she might like.

  Marshall was a reporter for the local television station. Actually, he wasn’t just a reporter; he’d been broadcasting the past couple of years. They’d met in London, and when he’d gotten a job in Denver and asked her to come with him, moving back had felt right. Denver was home, after all. Her parents had been ecstatic about the move and Marshall. His passion for changing the world through reporting the hard things was the reason she’d fallen in love with him.

  He was the complete opposite of Ziggy Brady. Ziggy only cared about football. Despite herself, she remembered the intense way her heart had sped up just being in his arms. People called him Aquaman, and she couldn’t deny he resembled the superhero: his long, blond hair, the scar above his left eyebrow, the sheer size of the man … She shivered and pushed those feelings of attraction aside.

  The vision of all of the brothers singing, “I Want You Back,” still lingered in her mind. Okay, maybe he cared about his brothers too. So what? She didn’t want to think about him or any of the things her mother incessantly slipped into conversations about Ziggy.

  She paused in the hallway, half expecting to see a smattering of rose petals on the floor leading out to the patio or to a steaming dinner that he had lovingly made for her. Not that he cooked, but they had talked about what her dream proposal would be. She’d told him how sexy she found a man who cooked for her. “Marshall!” she called out.

  Only silence answered her.

  She walked around her apartment, checking to see if he was waiting to surprise her. The apartment had been converted from a loft, with stairs leading to her bedroom and a living room at the top floor. “Marshall?”

  Nothing.

  She pulled out her phone and texted him. Where are you?

  A scraping sound broke the silence—the ceramic frog was moved from its position in front of her door as Marshall took the key and let himself in. He propped the door open before putting the key back.

  She’d never wanted him to have his own key; she was traditional that way. She didn’t believe in living together or being together before marriage. Even though he hadn’t liked it, he’d respected that. In fact, she’d thought his desire to be with her might have something to do with his recent proposal talk. Anticipation pulsed through her as she wondered how he might propose.

  Marshall walked in, wearing his brown pants, striped shirt, tie, and corduroy jacket. He looked like a professor—or a reporter, she conceded. He carried his laptop over his shoulder, but he also had a big bag, the kind of bag someone took on a trip.

  “What’s going on?” Sophia’s brow furrowed.

  Marshall laughed and raked his hand through his hair. He never put product in except right before he was filming a television clip. “Hey.” He seemed out of breath. “Where have you been?”

  She frowned at him. “I told you about the ALS fundraiser tonight. For Ty Brady, the country singer and my old family friend and neighbor.”

  He looked confused for a second. Then he scrunched his nose and waved a hand through the air. “Oh, right.”

  “You’ve texted me a hundred times. What’s going on?”

  He let his bags drop onto the couch and shuffled to stand in front of her, taking her hands. “I’ve had the best news, and I wanted to tell you in person before I left.”

  Before he left? His hands felt precipitously heavy over hers.

  He beamed, like he could barely contain his excitement. “I got the war correspondent job in South Africa. I fly out on the red-eye tonight.”

  Sophia’s mouth opened and closed. She attempted to absorb what he was saying.

  He laughed and kissed her cheek. “I know, right? What a break. What an opportunity!” He dropped her hands and went for her cupboards, filling a glass and sucking it down in one gulp. “I’ll be smack in the middle of the war.” His fist punched the air. “More importantly, I’ll be able to report the truth of what’s happening.”

  The center of her chest flooded with ice-cold disappointment.

  “I can’t believe it. They called this afternoon and said they accepted my application and they loved my work, and could I be on a flight tonight. Tonight!” He rushed back to her side, a grin still on his face. “This is my dream job. To be out there, in the action, with an international station that broadcasts news all over the world.”

  He hadn’t even considered them. He hadn’t even thought about her, and … She put a hand to her head. How had she misread everything?

  Marshall laughed. “First, we’ll broadcast from Rustenburg, then Libya, and then Durban.” He snapped his fingers. “And even Cape Town. Can you believe it?”

  She stared at him, remembering what she’d told Ziggy. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach that she’d bragged about Marshall. “Yeah.”

  He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She turned away from him and went to the kitchen, getting herself a drink of water.

  “Port Elizabeth too.” More laughter. “I can’t believe I’m finally getting my big break.”

  She should have expected this, should have seen this coming. Marshall had always yammered on and on about South Africa. It was his dream. It was like marriage for him. She scoffed, feeling stupid.

  “Did you hear me, Sophia?” Marshall asked.

  Abruptly, her vision cleared and she saw Marshall for who he really was. She couldn’t help but ask the question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered: “Did you ever plan on marrying me?”

  Looking taken aback, he pushed his glasses up on his nose and blinked slowly. It was what he did when he was thinking. She used to think it was cute when he did that. Right now, all she wanted to do was throw his glasses down and smash them, grinding them into her tile floor. “Well …”

  “You didn’t.” As she said it, she knew it was the truth. “What about the jewelry store? What about all that talk of proposals last week?”

  Marshall swallowed audibly. “Now, Sophia, just hang tight. You know I am always doing research on many things. I’m always curious about—”

  She cut him off, asking him directly. “Fine. When do you see us getting married and having a family?”

  Pausing, he blew out a long breath. “I …”

  “You k
now what, Marshall? Forget it.” Stupid tears were already on her cheeks, and she pushed past him, hating herself.

  He grabbed her hand, stopping her. “Sophia, you know that I never wanted to hurt you, but you also know that my job …” His voice was breathless as he dropped her hand. “That helping people, making an impact on humanity has always been my dream.”

  The truth of his words pierced her heart.

  Their eyes held, and he shrugged. “I’m sorry that I’ll never be a husband to you, but you still meant something to me. I hope you know that.”

  The way he’d used past tense, like he was already over her, ticked her off. “You led me on. You let me believe you wanted to marry me.”

  He cleared his throat, and his eyebrows lifted into an superior expression. “I think you let you believe that I wanted to marry you.”

  On impulse she slapped him, hard and fast across the cheek. “Get out.”

  Chapter 3

  Ziggy pounded the pavement, listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black CD and trying to play his music loudly enough to scatter his brain, erase the memories of him and Soph, and obscure the fact that he was jogging past her parents’ property right now. He wanted to ignore the huge, dilapidated red barn that he had been “married” in more than a hundred times. He grinned, remembering how her wedding endings always had a very Western feel to the end.

  He ripped his earbuds out as he saw her mother on a horse riding over to him. As she approached, he slowed to a walk so they could move alongside the fence together. “Hey, Mrs. Charles.” The woman looked like what he imagined an older, lovely Sophia would look like. Her long blonde hair was braided down her back, and she wore a cowboy hat on and Wranglers. She was beautiful.

  She grinned down at him. “I heard your brothers were going to stay for a couple of days after the fundraiser. Did you stay at your mom’s last night?”

  “Yep, gotta hang with the bros.” Ziggy’s house was only a couple of miles away.

  Her smile turned sympathetic. “How is Ty?”

  Even though they’d known for almost two months, it still felt like a sucker punch to his gut every time someone asked. “I think he’s hanging in there better than the rest of us.”

  She nodded, keeping her horse to a slow walk. She tsked her tongue. “Is there anything I can do for Lilian?”

  “She’s solid,” he sighed. “Putting her faith in God.” Sometimes it bothered him that his mother was so faithful, but he didn’t need to bring that up to Mrs. Charles.

  “That sure describes her.” Her face softened. “If there’s anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to let us know.”

  His mind flashed to Soph for a second before he nodded.

  Karen seemed to read his mind. “Sophia mentioned she saw you last night.”

  It surprised him that she would mention it. Of course she would, though. She worked for Helping Hands. “Yep.”

  “Said you danced together.”

  Ziggy swallowed his question about Soph’s engagement. “It was nice.”

  Her mother winked at him. “Well, here’s something you may want to know—her boyfriend left last night for South Africa to cover ‘important issues.’” She put air quotes around the last two words, then rolled her eyes. “Like my daughter isn’t important enough.”

  It made him smile that she obviously didn’t care for the boyfriend. “What about the proposal?” He found himself asking it before he could help himself.

  Karen slowed the horse to a stop. “Do you believe in timing, Mr. Brady?” she said in a semiofficial way.

  Had Soph told her about his comment on timing? “I guess.”

  She winked at him. “It appears yours is impeccable.”

  Baffled, he watched her ride away. “What the …?” What did that mean? Had Marshall proposed? Had she said no? Had he asked her to go with him? Wouldn’t Karen tell him if she’d gone?

  He resumed his jog and kicked it into high gear to get to his mother’s property faster. Thoughts of Soph’s red dress, her blonde hair, her soft skin, and her smell consumed him. Dang, she was still beautiful. She’d always been attractive, but she’d matured into a woman with all the right curves. He chastised himself; he shouldn’t be thinking about those amazing curves.

  Even then, he remembered all the times they’d had fun together, which was practically every day as they’d grown up. They’d ridden horses, laughed, joked, and hung out with his brothers. During their eighth grade year, he’d finally had the courage to kiss her and tell her he loved her. What had happened?

  He turned up the long driveway and sprinted for the house. When he got to the porch, he didn’t stop to cool down; he just plunged into the side door that put him smack in the middle of the kitchen. The smell of bacon and pancakes welcomed him.

  “Ziggy.” His mother was ready for the day. Her Enya music played in the background. She was done up, and her hair perfect. She floated to him in her yellow apron and kissed his cheek. “Your dedication to keeping in shape is inspiring. Your father was always so proud of your initiative.”

  His mother always said to him, especially after his father had passed away two years earlier from cancer. Initiative had been very important to Bill Brady, attorney at law. His sons had received more lectures on personal initiative than they could count.

  “Hey, Mom.” Ziggy paused and accepted the kiss before swiping bacon from the counter.

  She swatted him with her spatula and laughed. “Wait. I know you need to shower, but I need to give you something.”

  “Okay.” He had no idea what she was talking about.

  Digging into her apron, she pulled a ring out of it—the ring he’d always pretended to marry Sophia with.

  Ziggy fidgeted. “What is this about?”

  She dropped it into the center of his palm. “I just thought about how you used to take this out of my jewelry box all the time when you were little. Do you remember that? I’d get so mad at you.”

  He nodded, thinking of slipping this ring onto Soph’s finger. It didn’t fit, but she would always hold it with her other fingers and pretend it did.

  His mother kissed him lightly on the cheek. “You keep it.”

  “Why?” This whole thing felt rigged.

  She shrugged. “For … whatever.” Her eyes flashed wide, and she returned to her cooking.

  Ziggy didn’t want to get into anything with his mom, especially not rings and women, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Mom, I have to ask you something.”

  She turned, looking surprised. “Okay.”

  He didn’t know how to bring this up. His mother loved Sophia and always bugged him for more information about what had happened between them.

  “Yes?” She waited, propping her spatula over her shoulder like she was about to go to battle.

  There wasn’t an easy way to ask it. “Do … uhh … I just saw Soph’s mom.”

  His mother’s face lit up with a smile. “Was Karen out riding? Ah, I just love her. She and Hank have been exceptional to me over the years. I loved seeing Sophia at the fundraiser last night. She is so good at what she does, and Karen told me her goal is to help more and more people. It’s inspiring.” She tsked her tongue and flipped a round of pancakes. “The girl is smart. If you ask me, she is too smart for that Marshall.”

  This was what he counted on from his mother. If he could just get her talking, she would provide the answers he wanted without him even having to ask the questions.

  “I swear, he’s so self-absorbed. Never pays as much attention to Sophia as he pays to other tragedies happening around the world.” She scowled.

  He let out a light laugh. “Karen mentioned that her boyfriend left for South Africa last night.”

  His mother’s mouth snapped shut. “What? No.” She let out a long sigh. “Poor Sophia.”

  “I danced with her last night, and she told me he was going to propose after she left the fundraiser, so I’m wondering what happened.”

  Out of nowhere, Ty breezed
into the kitchen, smacking him on the back and taking a piece of bacon.

  “Hey.” His mother whipped the spatula at Ty as he did a turn-and-swivel move, anticipating getting swatted.

  Ty kissed her cheek and looked at Ziggy as he munched the bacon. “She’s heartbroken. That’s what’s happened.”

  “What?” Ziggy and his mother asked at the same time.

  “Who’s heartbroken?” Dax led the other brothers, Ocean and Boston, into the kitchen. He sniffed Ziggy. “You stink.”

  Ziggy pushed him, and Dax returned the shove. Their laughter was contagious, and Ziggy was so grateful that the silent treatment was finally over. It had been a long year.

  Dax took a piece of bacon, putting his hand up nonchalantly to take the beating that was coming.

  His mother sighed and whacked him.

  Ocean and Boston snickered behind Dax. While his mother was distracted, Ocean sneaked around her and grabbed his own piece.

  His mother tried to whack Ocean, but ended up hitting Dax again. “You boys never wait for a prayer!”

  Boston crept behind their mother, pulling her in for a hug, then reaching past her waist for bacon.

  “My word!” His mother swatted Boston’s arm. “You boys act like you were raised in a barn!”

  Boston just smiled and kissed her cheek.

  Unexpectedly, his mother had tears in her eyes. “It’s so nice having you all home.”

  The moment went quiet, and Ziggy joined them, putting his arms around Dax and Ocean. The rest of them all linked up. “It is nice,” Ziggy agreed, looking at Dax.

  Dax scrunched his nose up. “You were always a sissy.”

  Ziggy laughed. “Shut up.”

  Dax had tears in his eyes too. He frowned, turning to Ty. “Who’s heartbroken?” Dax asked again.

  “Yeah, who?” asked Ocean.

  “What?” Boston chimed in.

  Ty shook his head, swiping more bacon. “Ziggy danced with Soph last night, and she ran off to go get proposed to by her stupid boyfriend, but he dumped her and went to South Africa.” Ty grinned and pointed at Ziggy. “You need to go to her. Get back with her. You two never should have been apart. You know that, right?”