Infinity & Always (24 page)

“It’s
not up to you, Knox. If it’s your time then that’s it,”
he shrugs.

“Writing
me off already?”

“No,
I’m just…I don’t know,” he sighs again,
closing his eyes. We sit on the rock until it gets dark. I use the
light on my phone to guide us down and we walk back to the house. Dad
has dinner ready for us and even though I haven’t eaten, I do
my best to bite the burger. I send Bailey a quick text telling her
where I am. I do not want a repeat of last week.

Bailey: Okay babe, miss you xxx

She
replies and my heart hurts all over again. How the fuck am I going to
tell her this? As if reading my mind my dad asks.

“When
are you telling Bailey?”

“I
don’t know. I want to marry her, Dad. I don’t want
anything to stop it.”

He
opens his mouth, but I hold my hand up, stopping him. “I know
Dad, I know. I need to tell her, but I don’t want to make her a
‘widow’ before we even walk down the aisle,” I
sigh.

“It’s
a difficult choice, Knox, but it’s better that she knows
beforehand.”

I
reach into my pocket and take out two of the pills my doctor gave me.
Max and Dad watch me swallow them.

“It’s
the same medication as before, I can’t get anything stronger.”

Max
blows out a breath and slumps back into his chair. I can see his face
clearly now and watch the angry set of his jaw.

“I
should get back, Bailey is waiting for me.”

Max
stands up with me and my dad looks sad that we are leaving. I tell
him I will swing by the lake house on Saturday. Climbing onto my
bike, Max looks at me frowning.

“Do
you want to take the truck?” he asks.

“No
way, bro,” I laugh at him. Starting up the engine, I smile at
the familiar rumble and follow Max out of the driveway. I take my
time and stay behind Max on the freeway. I don’t feel like
tearing home although, I do want to see Bailey. When we pull into the
parking lot, I climb off and stretch out my back. Max walks over to
me and leans against his bike.

“You
okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,
for now. I have to wait for more results, but there’s not much
I can do about it.”

“I’m
sorry for blowing up at you. I know why you didn’t say
anything, but it hurts that you didn’t tell me after.”

“I’m
sorry Max. I just got carried away with life, after Lindsey and then
Bailey. I didn’t have much time to think about myself,” I
shrug.

“Yeah
I suppose, are you coming to work tomorrow?”

“Yeah
I am. I don’t think Frank will like me taking off more time and
I have to do the wedding meeting thing on Saturday morning.”

He
nods as he stands and hugs me tight, “Love you, bro.”

“You
too,” I answer and walk off to my building. When I get inside
the place is quiet. I kick off my boots and jacket. Walking down the
hall I hear soft music coming from the bathroom, peeking inside the
door, I see Bailey in a bubble bath with her eyes closed. I strip off
and walk inside. She smiles without opening her eyes and moves
forward so I can slide down behind her.

“Welcome
home,” she says.

My
heart constricts and I wrap my arms around her waist, “Hey
darlin’.” Tilting her chin up I bend down and kiss her.
Opening her eyes, she smiles at me and kisses me back.

“I
was home waiting for you at noon,” she says, still smiling at
me.

“I’m
sorry,” I sigh. “I was with Dad and Max and time got
away.”

My
answer is crap and I’m sure she can see through my bullshit,
but she doesn’t call me on it. She nods and settles her back
against my chest pushing the bubbles around with her hand. I can’t
help but kiss her neck making her sigh and lean into me more.
Everything in the world I want is here in my arms and everything I
can lose.

Bailey

Over
the past few days, Knox has been quiet. I haven’t asked him why
he is this way because I have a feeling it has something to do his
dad or Max. We are in the Edgewater Hotel walking through the main
ballroom. It is a beautiful room, with a wide dance floor. Knox has
his hand in mine as we follow the wedding coordinator through the
room and out onto the balcony/patio area.

“This
is where we can have the ceremony. The guests can enter from the main
lounge and walk up those steps,” she points behind us to a set
of stone stairs. “We can do a flower arch if you want or we can
do something simple,” she finishes and looks at us expectantly.

“Yeah,
whatever you want darlin’,” Knox says, looking at me.

I
know he has stuff on his mind, but he could at least take part. I
tell the lady I’ll get back to her in a day or two about the
arch or whatever. She frowns and nods at the same time looking
annoyed. We walk back inside and over to a table with eight place
settings with all different, crockery, cutlery and glassware. Looking
around, I am slightly overwhelmed and I see plates of all different
colors. Some have charger plates and some don’t. I squeeze
Knox’s hand and beg him with my eyes to get in the game and
help me out. He smirks at me and kisses my head then walks around the
opposite side of the table. I look down at the place setting in front
on me and groan, it has loads of flowers on it, and I swear it was
dragged up from a sixties wedding storage unit.

“This
one,” Knox announces. Lifting my head, I look over at him. He
is grinning like a maniac so I walk around to see what he picked.
When I get to him, he kisses me quickly and I smile. “Just for
you darlin’,” he points down and I follow his finger.

I
smile big when I see the place setting. It is a white plate with
three Calla lilies on the side. The champagne flutes are brushed
silver in the shape of a Calla Lily, and the cutlery, match the
glasses.

“It’s
perfect,” I whisper, looking up at him.

“It’s
you,” he smiles, taking my face in his hands.

“So
we’ve decided on set six,” the coordinator interrupts our
moment.

We
nod in agreement and finally she cracks a smile. We walk to another
table and get down to real business, the food. After an hour of
tasting meats, sides, and dessert, I am fit to burst. My stomach
hurts as we walk back to my car.

“My
belly hurts,” I moan. Leaning against Knox, he laughs and pulls
me closer to him.

“I
know what will help you.”

“Babe,
seriously?” I question him, as he opens the door.

Laughing
he bends down to kiss me, “Get your mind out of the gutter
darlin’.”

Knox
drives us to the lake and parks in Dad’s driveway. Climbing out
he takes my hand and we walk towards the house.

“You
know we have our own driveway babe.”

He
looks down at me and smiles, “Yeah but the walk will help the
food go down.”

“No,
I don’t think so. This baby is not going anywhere,” I pat
my bloated gut and groan. He laughs at me and shakes his head. When
we arrive at the house, a big smile spreads across my face. I can’t
believe in a few months we will be married and living here, it feels
like a dream. Richard smiles when he sees us and hugs Knox a little
longer than normal.

“How
are you doing?” he asks.

“We’re
good, we just came from the hotel,” Knox answers.

I
pat my belly and pout, “I tasted too much.”

Richard
laughs at me and tells me I’ll be okay. We walk around the
house and mostly all I see is exposed wiring, pipes, and odd markings
on the walls, but I love it. He explains the progress so far and
answers all my questions. I am happy he agreed to help me. I didn’t
want to hire just a contractor and have to worry. I know Richard will
keep everything on track and in budget. We stay and chat for a while,
then decide to walk back over to Dad’s.

“So
are you happy with the way it’s shaping up?” Knox asks.

“Yes,
I can’t wait to move in. It will be amazing and we can do what
we want when we want,” I answer.

“We
do that now,” he laughs.

“Yes,
but we have a landlord to answer to and neighbors,” I retort.

“True,
we do,” Knox agrees.

“Are
you excited to move in?” I ask him, taking a hold of his hand.

“Of
course I am darlin’, I can’t wait,” he says,
looking down at me. “How about we spend tomorrow on the beach
or up in the mountains?”

“Oh,
we haven’t been up the mountains for a while.”

“Okay
then, we will have a picnic and relax up there.”

I
watch his jaw set and see the muscle jump, he sounds okay, but I know
by his body he is definitely holding something inside. I hope he
tells me because I really don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t
think I could take it.

I
call out to my dad when we walk through the kitchen, he appears at
the doorway smiling. He gives me a hug hello.

“What
are you doing up here today?” he asks.

“Oh,
we went to the hotel and over to see the house,” I answer,
making myself a drink. My dad and Knox talk about the hotel. Well,
when I say talk, I mean a heated discussion.

“Knox,
I won’t hear of it. I’m paying and that’s final,
now shut up about it,” my dad says.

“Fine,
Frank, have it your way,” Knox replies, blowing out a breath.

Dad
winks at me and I grin at him, poor Knox, he has been beaten by his
future father-in-law.

“Don’t
worry babe, you’ll get used to it.”

“Yeah,
that’s the problem,” he smiles at my dad. Walking over I
plant myself on Knox’s lap and kiss him. Dad tells me he will
be going back to DC for a few weeks on Monday and I need to keep an
eye on the company.

“There
are two presentations coming up and a meeting with Hero designs. You
need to take that one for me sweetheart.”

I
groan and bury my face in the crook of Knox’s neck. “No
Dad, I can’t deal with Ken doll.”

“You
have no choice, they want a new security program for some upcoming
design.”

Knox
rubs my back and kisses my head, “Who’s Ken doll?”
he whispers.

Lifting
my head, I look at him and sigh. “Andreas,” I answer. He
raises his eyebrows at me and gives me his ‘I don’t think
so’ face. Smiling I kiss him, “Yeah I know babe, he is a
tool.”

“But
you have no choice,” my dad says, making it clear and final.

“Okay,
I get it, Frank,” I answer him. He ruffles my hair and laughs
at me, telling me I can handle it. “Dad I swear you are trying
to give me more responsibility in the company, which I don’t
want.”

“Why
would I do that? You’re only twenty-three years old,” he
smirks at me.

Knox
chuckles at us and wraps his arms tighter around me. “You’re
good at it darlin’, that’s why.”

“Don’t
side with the enemy,” I scoff, swatting his arm. Both my dad
and Knox laugh at me. We hang out with my dad for a few hours and I
hug him hard before I leave. “I love you, Dad, be safe over
there in DC.”

“Love
you too sweetheart,” he kisses my head and we say goodbye.
Climbing into the car I am a little sad that he is leaving. I have
gotten used to seeing him every day for the last six months.

“You
okay darlin’?”

“Yeah,
I’ll just miss him,” I sigh.

Knox
holds my hand as we drive down the hill, he asks if I want to swing
by the bar tonight to hang out with him and Max.

“Where’s
Chase?” I ask.

“He
has some personal time he took,” Knox answers, so I agree to
hang out with him. When we get home, Max is in the living room
staring at the ceiling.

“You
okay?” I ask, wondering why he is here and spacing out.

“Yeah
just thinking,” he answers, in a lifeless tone. Knox frowns as
he looks down at Max.

“Okay,
I’ll go shower while you guys make dinner.” Giving myself
an out I leave them to talk, I haven’t heard from Paige for a
few days so I am hoping that she and Max are not fighting again.
After my shower, I stroll into the kitchen in my yoga pants and
Knox’s sweater.

“You
look adorable darlin’.”

“Really,”
I frown. “I was going for badass.”

They
both laugh at me and Max sticks a fork in my leg making me jump.
Taking a seat, Knox hands me my dinner of baked salmon and salad.
Both of them are smiling now and the moroseness in the air has
lifted. After dinner, I say goodbye and kick them out of the
apartment. Knox pouts but Max drags him away from me complaining that
he will see me in two hours.

Paige
and I walk over to the bar she is talking about starting back at BRU
next week.

“It’s
going to be fun.”

“Yeah,
it will,” I agree. “We can chill on the quad again, Abbey
and Becky are pretty cool too.”

We
arrive at the bar seeing Knox and Max with their back to us, from
behind most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference
between them, especially tonight. They are both wearing all black,
only the ring on Knox’s finger, which he insists on wearing, is
what tells them apart right now.

“Hey,
can we get some service down here?” I yell at them. Knox lifts
his head and smiles at me.

“Just
a sec darlin’.”

“You
say that to all the girls?” I tease. He laughs while punching
buttons on the cash register, then slams the drawer and walks over to
me.

“Only
the really special ones,” he answers. Stretching up I kiss him
on the lips, leaving a nice layer of lip-gloss behind. Grabbing a
napkin he wipes it off. “Now what can I get you ladies?”
he asks.

“You
know, I think I want something new,” Paige answers, “Can
I have a cocktail?”

Knox
rolls his eyes at her and I laugh, “I’ll get Max on it,”
he teases her.

“You’re
gross Knox,” she answers.

He
walks away and I watch as he shakes the silver shaker above his head.
After a few minutes, he comes back with two different drinks. “Cape
Cod,” he hands Paige her drink. “Sex on the beach,”
he hands the other to me.