Dear California (Martin Family Book 2)

by Brooke St. James

  Chapter 16

  Tyson ended up getting really into the whole Cajun music thing. He took pictures of Cole and me at first, but when he saw that I was just going to stay in that same position in Cole's arms, he took his camera apart and put it away.

  "I still have a little handheld in my pocket," he told me as he stashed his bag on the floor near my feet. He said it as if I might be worried he'd miss a moment, which I obviously wasn't.

  "I didn't even care if you brought your camera in the first place," I said. It was way out of the ordinary for Tyson to take his eyes off of his camera bag, but the music and atmosphere was drawing him in—I could see it in his smile. Wynn and her friend were dancing on the far side of the floor, and I watched as Tyson went over there to meet them. One of the girls standing with Wynn grabbed Tyson and began giving him a Cajun-dancing tutorial off to the side. She was expressive, and I laughed at the sight of them laughing and bumping into each other.

  There was so much action that I hadn't even noticed Wynn was coming our way until she was almost there. She was wearing a huge smile, which I returned the instant I saw her. "This is so weird. I can't believe you're over here cuddled up with my cousin," she said as she came to stand right in front of me.

  I smiled and wiggled my shoulders to demonstrate how comfortable I was. "He's cuddling up with me," I said.

  "I just wanted to make sure y'all knew you could come over there by us," she said. She turned to point at the area where she'd met up with some of her friends. "Tyson's over there with us, and I didn't want you to think you had to stay way over here by yourselves."

  "I was enjoying watching you guys," I said. "But thanks for coming over."

  I shifted to glance up at Cole. "I need to use the ladies room." I looked at Wynn. "Do you think you could show me where it is on your way back to your friends?"

  "Of course," she said. "I could use a trip to the ladies room, anyway."

  Cole promised to stay right where I left him and to keep an eye on Tyson's camera.

  "He's the best," Wynn said, leaning toward me as we bobbed and weaved our way through the crowd. "And I'm not just saying that because he's my cousin. He's seriously the best."

  "I know," I said. I wanted to say something more—something like how crazy I was about him, but I was too nervous to come up with anything that sounded good.

  "And he doesn’t bring girls around our family," she said when it was obvious that I wasn't going to say anything else.

  "He doesn't what?" I asked, yelling over the crowd noise.

  She stopped walking so that she could repeat it to me. "He never brings his girlfriends around. It's amazing that we met you already." She was smiling and I was relatively sure she was trying to give me a complement, but the mention of his previous girlfriends had me feeling nauseated all over again. It was funny how matters of the heart seemed to be directly connected to my stomach. I smiled since she was trying to say something sweet.

  "I really like him," I said.

  It was an understatement, but I wasn't going to stand there and spill my guts to his cousin in the middle of a concert. The restroom was crowded, and we were only in there long enough for us both to use the facilities and check ourselves in the mirror.

  "Oh, my gosh, you came!" I heard from behind me as we were walking out.

  I turned to find Michelle who was now standing near the sinks. "Give me one second to wash my hands and I'll walk out with you."

  "She's a stylist," I said to Wynn. "She helped me with my hair earlier."

  "I was wondering how you pinned it all up like that," Wynn said, looking at my hair, which was styled half-up in intricate knots and braids.

  "She could do this herself," Michelle said, hearing our conversation. She took a towel from the dispenser and crossed to us with a smile.

  "I'm Michelle," she said. She reached out to adjust Wynn's hair and then mine without our permission, which made us both smile.

  "I'm Wynn," Wynn said.

  "How'd it go with your man?" Michelle said, nudging me and wearing a wide-eyed expression like she wanted the whole story.

  "This is Cole's cousin," I said, feeling embarrassed.

  Wynn put her arm around my shoulder, in a posture like she was about to say something, but someone came in, and the three of us moved to the side so they would walk around us. "I was just telling her that Cole must be in love because he already brought her to meet his mama."

  Michelle's jaw dropped. "You already met his mama?" she asked, seeming amazed even though she didn't know either Debbie or Cole. I laughed at her amazement.

  "You'd really think something of it if you knew Cole. I was just telling Liv that he's only introduced his mom to two or three girls tops in all these years."

  There it was again—the heart-stabbing sensation that hit me when I heard a reference to other girls. Who were these two or three girls who got to meet his mom, anyway?

  "I want to meet him," Michelle said. "You guys should come over by us. Most of the band's family and friends are over there. I'll introduce you to everybody."

  "I saw you earlier," Wynn said. "Y'all are over there by the stage."

  Michelle nodded as she looked at Wynn. She tilted her head to the side and squinted at her like she was really in deep thought.

  "I keep thinking I've seen you before," she said.

  "I sing in a band," Wynn said.

  "Yes!" Michelle said, pointing at her. "I just saw y'all at Jazzfest."

  Wynn smiled and nodded. "We were there," she said.

  People continued to walk around us as they came in and out of the bathroom. A few times, girls took a second glance at me as if they recognized me, but nobody stopped or said anything.

  "I thought one of the singers in your band was one of the Martins," Michelle said, trying to put the pieces together.

  (When your family owns a store as big as Martin Outfitters, you get referred to as one of the Martins, and people know exactly who you're talking about—at least around New Orleans.)

  "I'm a Martin," Wynn said, nodding.

  "Did you come here for Cole Martin?" Michelle asked, a wearing wide-eyed look of amazement as she stared at me. "You told me his first name today, but I had no idea it was Cole Martin."

  "How do you know Cole?" I asked.

  "I have a lot of friends who know him and Cam from Tulane. Everybody knows the Martin boys from football and everything, plus the store, obviously. Who doesn't know Cole Martin? One of my friends went out with him a couple of times." Michelle laughed and elbowed me. "She was one of the ones who didn't get to meet his mom." She paused and pointed at Wynn with a nod. "Now that I think about it, I've seen you around other places than just Jazzfest. It makes sense that you're a Martin."

  Wynn agreed with Michelle that they had seen each other around town, and we all walked out as they continued to remember mutual friends.

  "Come meet my family before you go back to your table," Michelle said, glancing at me as we entered the hall. "I was telling them about doing your hair today, and I know they'd love to meet you."

  I started to ask if I should go get Cole first, but then I thought about her friend who had been "out with him" a couple of times, and I decided to go alone.

  "Sure," I said.

  "I'm gonna get back to Claire and them, but I'll see you later," Wynn said as she gave me a quick squeeze. She waved at Michelle. "Nice to officially meet you," she said.

  "Same here," Michelle said, smiling.

  "I'm gonna have to look you up for my hair," Wynn said as she walked away.

  Michelle gave her a thumbs up, and pulled me along as we got swallowed up by the crowd. The place was packed, and we had to walk across part of the dance floor to get to the place where Michelle's group was sitting. An older man with a potbelly and slicked-back hair pinched my arm and winked at me as I went by. He had no idea who I was; he was just randomly flirting with me, which made me smile.

  "This is Liv, y'all," Michelle said as we came to her
group. She ticked off the names of 6 to 8 of the people who were sitting and standing around, and I smiled at each of them even though their names had unintentionally gone in one ear and out the other. I wasn't trying to not pay attention, I was just nervous, and I couldn't help but wonder if any of these were the girl who had gone out with Cole. Two of them were particularly beautiful, and I felt a rush of adrenaline at the thought of them together. What did going out mean, anyway? Had one of these girls kissed Cole?

  I started getting that same panicked feeling again. Suddenly, my ears started clogging up and ringing, and I felt like passing out again might be an actual possibility. In those seconds, I tried desperately to talk myself out of caring who these girls were. I told myself we all had pasts. Who cares if one of them had kissed Cole? Goodness knows I'd kissed more than a few guys in my life.

  I knew all of these things, and my brain was fine with standing there and having a conversation with these people like a normal human being, but the fight or flight instincts had already hit me. My ears were ringing, and I felt like I might not be able to stand much longer. The lights and the sounds were just too much. I had to get some fresh air immediately.

  "I actually have to go take care of a phone call," I said, trying to look regretful, but feeling shaky and disoriented.

  "Is everything okay?" Michelle asked from beside me.

  "Oh, yeah," I said. "I just have to make a call," I said. I glanced at the group as a whole and tried to smile. "It was really nice meeting you all."

  "We were all really excited to meet you," one of the women said.

  "Yeah, we didn't believe Michelle when she said she did your hair today," a guy chimed in.

  "I told y'all!" Michelle said, with a big-eyed, silly expression aimed at them.

  I giggled at her as I made a little bow. "I'm sure I'll see you around before the night's over," I said, looking at Michelle.

  She reached out to hug me. "Thanks for coming," she said sincerely.

  I wanted to say something nice about how much I enjoyed the music or the atmosphere, but I was still feeling like I couldn’t breathe properly. Again, I wondered if having one panic attack meant you were more apt to have another, because it felt a lot like what I had experienced the other day.

  I faked another smile as I turned to head through the crowd in search of Cole. I took all of four steps before running into the solid brick wall that was Cole's chest. I gasped at first, but instantly collapsed onto him once I realized who it was. He wrapped his big arms around me, and I felt like nothing in the world could do me any harm.

  "I would have been there sooner, but I had to bring Tyson his bag." Cole said, rubbing my back. "Do you need to go?"

  I stared up at him for a second before shaking my head. "I'm fine now," I said. "But I should probably step outside for a second to look like I'm taking care of a phone call."

  "We can step outside if you want to, but you don't need to look like anything," Cole said. "Those people don't care what we're doing."

  "What if they do?" I asked.

  "Then that's a waste of their own time," Cole said.

  I smiled at him, feeling comforted by his no-nonsense personality. "Let's hang out a little while longer, and then we can take off," I said, but just as I was saying it, someone put a hand on my shoulder with heavy pressure. I shrugged out of their grasp as Cole turned me in his arms. The person who approached me was a young man. My initial thought was that he looked disheveled, and I was instantly wary of him.

  "Hey, are you that girl from YouTube?" he asked, slurring his speech.

  Cole pulled me back a step, positioning himself between me and the guy. "She's off the clock right now, bruh," Cole said.

  The guy stared at Cole. He widened his eyes in a crazed expression, and flinched toward us like he might hit Cole. "She's gonna be on my clock later, bruh."

  Cole pushed me aside right before he threw a hook and his right hand connected with the guy's ribs. He doubled over with a loud moan, and Cole caught him to stop him from going to the ground. "Don't call me bruh, bruh," Cole said. "And don't ever look at my lady again."

  Chapter 17

  As bar fights go, this one was very discrete, but we still chose to rush out of there before we stirred up any more trouble. Cole did his best to hit the guy without causing a fuss, but everyone who was standing around us saw what happened.

  "I'm sorry, baby, but we should probably go," he said, turning to me once the guy walked off.

  I smiled and nodded, feeling willing to follow him to the moon if that's where he wanted to go.

  "Do you need to get your friend?" he asked.

  I shook my head. "He's having fun," I said. "I'll text him. Let's get outta here."

  "Don't be scared," he said. "That guy's not gonna do anything. He knows he's lucky I didn't hit him in the jaw after saying something like that."

  We continued out of the venue and to the parking lot where we found his truck.

  "He was creepy," I said, remembering the incident as we pulled onto the road.

  "He was just drunk," Cole said. "I'm sorry that happened."

  We rode for a few seconds without saying anything as I remembered the whole thing.

  "I've never had someone punch anyone else for my honor before," I said, finally.

  "I don't go around punching people," Cole said. He paused and glanced at me with a serious expression as he held up a fist. "These things are deadly weapons, you know." He smiled in such a way that I knew he was kidding around, but I also felt like they sort of were, which was incredibly hot.

  "I was glad you did it," I said. "It was really creeping me out the way he looked at me."

  "Do you have to deal with that stuff when you're traveling with your sister?" he asked.

  "Not really," I said. "We're always traveling with Tyson and at least one other person. There have been a few odd experiences, but nothing too bad."

  "I don't want you to think I go around having bar fights," Cole said. "I'm not like that. I don't even go to bars. That guy just said the wrong thing at the wrong time, and well…"

  "Well, I think it was really sweet," I said, fidgeting with the console to see if I could get closer to him.

  Cole moved some things around before pushing the center console into it's upright position as the seatback, making the front seat a bench seat, and I scooted over to sit right next to him.

  "Why in the world didn't you already have this up?" I asked, cuddling next to him.

  He laughed as he put his hand on the outside of my leg, pulling me closer.

  "I should call Tyson," I said.

  He nodded. "Wynn and Claire can give him a ride back to the hotel."

  "Yep," I said. "I was thinking that same thing. "Wynn can just crash at the hotel if she wants. And you can, too."

  Cole kept his right hand on my leg as he used his left hand to make a turn at an intersection. "I might, but if I do, I have to get up and leave early in the morning. We're having a workday at Nana's before she feeds us lunch. I'm supposed to be there by 8, which means I'd have to be on the road by 7:15."

  Cole and I had talked about me joining them for lunch at Nana's, but it was the first I heard about the workday.

  "Tyson has to leave at around ten for the airport," I said. "I was planning on seeing him off."

  "I figured you would," Cole said. "I assumed I'd come back to get you for lunch. If Wynn stays at the hotel, maybe they can give you a ride."

  I took my phone from my purse so I could compose a text to Tyson, but I already had two texts from him.

  The first one said: "I saw that whole thing go down. I wish I had my camera out. Where did you guys go? Are you leaving?"

  The second one said: "I think you left. I'll ride back with Wynn. She's trying to get in touch with the only band mate who's not here so I can take some band photos for them tonight. Probably go to a few locations. Don't wait up."

  I texted him back.

  Me: "We did leave. Sorry. Headed back to
the hotel now."

  Tyson: "No worries. Wynn found her friend. We're gonna take some pics. It'll be midnight or later."

  Me: "Can you ask Wynn to spend the night at the hotel, and maybe give me a ride down to their house tomorrow." I included a heart emoji and the one of praying hands.

  I was telling Cole about Tyson taking pictures of Wynn's band when Tyson texted me back.

  Tyson: "She said sure thing. We'll see you tonight."

  I was so emotionally invested in Cole that I was thankful to Tyson for helping Wynn with those pictures. I already thought of Wynn as family, and it made me happy that Tyson was helping her out. He was a talented photographer, and Wynn and Claire were quirky and cute, which always made for cool photos. I was excited to see them.

  I told Cole plans were all squared away with Wynn, and we changed the subject to whether or not we wanted to get some food on our way back to the hotel. We ultimately decided to use room service, and went straight back without making any stops.

  We spent the next three hours talking, getting to know each other, and being in love. I never dreamed I'd find myself wanting to be in someone's presence constantly, but I was already dreading three days from now when I had to go back to Los Angeles. I wanted to get it over with and just marry him so we could quit saying goodbye already. If I know he's the one, does it make it okay to run off and marry him? I gave it a little thought and determined that I had to follow my heart. I knew what I felt with Cole was different than anything I had ever felt before. That's what I had to go on, and that was good enough for me.

  We stayed up till after midnight, and Tyson still hadn't gotten back with Wynn. There was only one bedroom in the suite, so we left the main area for Tyson and Wynn when they got back, and Cole slept next to me on the bed. I showered and got in my pajamas, but he stayed in his clothes and fell asleep on the outside of the covers. We dozed off watching TV and holding hands, and I didn't wake up until the next morning.

  I squinted at the clock to find that it was just after 8AM. I knew Cole would be gone, but I shifted to look at the bed beside me just in case. Sure enough, it was empty. I sighed and flopped back onto the bed, thinking he had probably already made the trip home and was working by now. I was lying there thinking about it when I heard a noise from in the kitchen. I knew it was just Tyson, so it took me a few minutes to work up the energy to get out of the bed.