TOML SW 2015-04-09 (12 page)

It had taken every scrap of pride Tori could piece together to come here today, to pretend everything was fine and to focus on the wedding rehearsal.

She made it a point to flirt with Gabe, especially when she knew Jed was watching. Gabe was to the side of the altar, too, standing next to Jed. She risked a glance, carefully avoiding Jed’s eyes, and gave Gabe a suggestive wink.

That would teach him.

Oh, yes, Tori. Because you winking at Gabe is exactly the same as Jed sleeping with Evelyn.

Gabe spoke up. “Father John, would it be okay if I walked down the aisle with Tori, rather than waiting up here?”

The preacher furrowed his brow. “Traditionally, the maid of honor walks alone.”

“Ah, but we’re not a traditional family,” said Gabe. He turned to Edward. “Is it okay with you, Dad?”

“If it’s all right with Bonnie.”

Gabe walked to Tori and offered his arm, whispering in her ear, “Hey there, beautiful.”

She smiled, extremely grateful to have someone else in front of the firing squad with her. She could see Jed shifting his weight out of the corner of his eye, and she tightened her grip on Gabe’s arm.

“Thanks,” she whispered to him.

“You got it.”

They reached the flower-covered arbor and split apart. Tori closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. The hard part was done. Gabe walking her down the aisle was just icing on the cake.

When she opened her eyes, her mother was walking down the aisle with a single red rose, her face aglow with obvious happiness.

Tori felt herself instantly choke up. She was glad her mother had found love again. In that moment, she could feel her father’s spirit, just as pleased as she was. Tori’s eyes were drawn to the sky, and she smiled, whispering, “I love you, Dad.”

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, blah blah blah, blah blah blah,” said the preacher, and everyone laughed. “Tomorrow we’ll do the real thing. Who will have the rings?”

“I will,” said Jed.

The sound of his voice went through her like a warm breeze. Why did he continue to affect her this way? He was not the man for her, she was certain. And if she was hurt by him sleeping with Evelyn, it was only her surprise at the speed with which he switched direction, not because he had betrayed her.

How could you betray someone you weren’t seeing in the first place?

~~~

“What can I get for you?” asked the bartender.

Tori leaned over to be heard above the crowd. “Two shots of whiskey and a white wine spritzer.”

Someone pressed behind her and she cursed the crowded bar Bonnie and Edward had chosen to go to after the rehearsal dinner. Tori had a little too much wine with dinner, which made it seem like a terrific idea to continue the revelry. Only once they were away from the confines of the table, Jed had become more difficult to elude.

The bartender brought her drinks and she threw money on the bar, then turned around, directly into Jed’s chest.

“How long did you think you could avoid me?” he asked.

“Not long enough, apparently.” Lifting her arms, she moved sideways through the crowd, forcing him to follow her or leave her alone. She wasn’t surprised when he followed.

Tori made her way back to Bonnie and Edward’s table, passing out the whiskeys and taking a fortifying sip of her spritzer.

Jed leaned in to speak into her ear. “I want to talk to you.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Just hear me out.”

“Where’s your fiancé?”

“She’s not my fiancé anymore.”

“That’s true. Hey,” she said, hitching her elbow onto his arm, “Maybe she’s with Gabe. We should go see. Gabe!” she yelled, pretending to look around. “Gabe!”

“Stop it.”

“Oh,” she smacked her forehead. “That’s right. They probably went to bed. They said they were both
really tired
.”

Jed gave her a look that could have bored through steel. He leaned in front of her toward Bonnie and Edward. “We’ll be back.”

Before she knew what he was about, he’d grabbed her by the hand and was dragging her through the crowd of people, her protests lost in the din. He pulled her out the front door and onto the sidewalk.

Tori’s ears were ringing from the noise inside the bar, and she knew her cheeks were red with a heady mix of anger, embarrassment and something that felt like shame. “I am not some puppy dog you can drag around on a leash.” She looked at her wrist, red where his fingers had been, and rubbed at it.

He put his hands on hers, far more gentle now. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She yanked them away. “You say that a lot. Maybe you should start behaving better so you don’t have to keep apologizing for being such an idiot all the time.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

Their eyes held a moment too long.

“I’m going inside,” she said.

“Wait. You’re obviously upset with me. I don’t even know what I did.”

She stopped, even as she told herself to keep moving. She stared through the glass into the crowded bar, knowing she didn’t want to be in there any more than she wanted to be out here.

“Talk to me, Tori.”

She shook her head. “No.”

He walked up behind her. “Is it something I said?”

The door to the bar opened, noise spilling between them, and Gabe stepped outside. “What’s going on out here?”

“None of your business,” said Jed.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” said Tori. “None of this is his fault.”

Jed raised his eyebrows. “All of this is his fault.”

“Ah,” said Gabe. “The old, ‘Gabe’s ruined the world’ conversation. I have to say, that argument’s wearing a little thin these days, brother.”

Jed moved to Gabe, their faces inches apart. “You think so?”

Tori pushed the two men apart. “Stop this.” She let out a huff. “Gabe, go inside, please. I need to talk to Jed alone.”

Gabe gritted his teeth, but nodded. “If you need me, you let me know.” He went back inside.

Tori turned to Jed and took a deep breath into her lungs. “I know you slept with Evelyn.”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw her car at your place last night, the same one she was driving at the restaurant. It was still at your house this morning.”

“Whoa, hold on. We were talking. She took a cab home.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Right.”

“It’s true. And why were you watching my house, anyway? I thought you weren’t interested in me at all?”

“Why would she take a cab home?”

“We were drinking. Now why were you watching my house, instead of Gabe’s hotel?”

“Why were you drinking with your ex-fiancé?”

“Because she wants me back.”

Tori snorted. “Really.”

“Yes, really.” His eyes darkened and his voice dropped. “But I don’t want her, Tori. I think you know that already.”

Tori’s cheeks flamed hot. “I don’t know what you want, Jed. That’s part of the problem.”

He stepped closer and tipped her chin up with his hand. “I want you.”

“Let go of me.” She lifted her chin out of his grasp, then sidestepped Jed and went back inside.

He didn’t even try to stop her.

~~~

Jed watched as Edward lit a cigar and blew smoke into the night air. The noise in the bar had calmed down long ago, the women had left and the band had gone home. Jed knew if he had any sense, he would follow their lead—tomorrow morning was bound to come earlier than he would like.

The door opened and a bit of smoke wafted inside. Jed pushed off his barstool and made his way outside. “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

“Of course not.” Edward reached inside his breast pocket. “Cigar?”

Jed nodded and took one, reminding himself of stealing these very cigars on his monthly visits to his father’s house. Jed hadn’t smoked in years, but allowed Edward to light the tip, nonetheless. He exhaled a cloud of fragrant smoke.

“Just like you remember?” asked Edward with a smirk.

“So you knew about that.”

Edward nodded. “I knew about the scotch, too.”

“And here I thought you were an uninvolved parent.”

His father’s face fell.

“I’m sorry,” Jed said. “That was rude of me.”

“No, no. You’re not wrong to criticize. I wasn’t involved in your life, it’s true. I wanted to be, though.” He inhaled from his cigar. “It seemed the older you got, the more I wanted it.”

Jed sidled up to the railing beside his old man, the two of them looking over the lake. “I missed you, growing up. I used to imagine I’d become a smart and powerful adult, and you’d come crawling back to me, asking if you could take me fishing on your boat.”

“Why fishing?”

“A picture on your desk. A fishing trip with Gabe.”

“Ah, yes. I caught nothing, while your brother caught a mackerel and screamed like a little girl when it was time to get it off the hook. His mother then berated me for not knowing how to relate to children.”

“It looked like more fun than that.”

“Things are not always as they appear.”

Jed nodded. That was certainly true.

“Jed, thank you for coming to Moon Lake. For giving me another chance, even though I didn’t deserve it.”

“You’re welcome.”

Quiet settled over the two men as smoke swirled up to the sky.

Edward chuckled lightly. “Perhaps now that you’re smart and powerful, you’d like to go fishing with me sometime.”

“Do I get to steer the boat?”

“I think that can be arranged.”

Jed smiled. “I’d like that.”

~~~

Chapter 9

Turquoise of blue and the brightest of greens

Opaque in its lustrous yet heartwarming sheen

Smooth to the fingers but cold to the touch

Its twin made of metal all souls in its clutch

We promise each other our hearts with our gold

Our diamonds, our virtue, to have and to hold

The prettiest treasures can’t come close enough

To matching the power of love’s magic touch

~~~

Tori stood behind her mother in the vanity mirror, helping to put on her mother’s veil, which was short and topped with a crown of baby’s breath flowers.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Bonnie said, adjusting the tulle.

Tori was getting choked up already, a full half an hour before the ceremony would begin. She leaned over her mother’s shoulder. “You look so beautiful, Mom.”

“Do you really think so?”

Tori nodded.

“Well, love will do that to a person.” Bonnie reached for her blush and a makeup brush. “I’ve wondered lately if you might be in love, too.”

Tori blinked. “No.”

Her mom caught her eye in the mirror. “Jed is a wonderful man.”

The corners of Tori’s mouth turned down. “I’m not in love with him.”

“I saw the two of you together several times. There is a kind of energy between you that reminds me your father and me.”

Tori sat down. “It’s not like that between us, Mom.”

“Oh, no?”

She shook her head. “That summer when we first met the Trainors, I had a crush on Gabe. Nothing happened.” She blew out air. “Not much, anyway. He was my first kiss. So when you said you were marrying Edward…”

“You were thinking something might happen between you and Gabe.”

Tori nodded. “Did you know his girlfriend is Jed’s old fiancé?”

“Edward mentioned something about that. He said Gabe and Evelyn have been together for quite some time, and she’s the reason the boys don’t get along.”

“I like Gabe, Mom. I really do.”

“And Jed?”

“Honestly? Every time I look at him, it’s like I’ve swallowed a bucketful of jitterbugs. But I don’t want to care about him.”

“We don’t get to choose the people we fall in love with. Something in their soul speaks to something in our soul. When I first met your father, I thought he was an arrogant grand-stander. He was the quarterback on the football team, the king of the senior prom. He had a head the size of Massachusetts.” She laughed.

“But soon I realized his soul was calling out to me, and there wasn’t a single thing I could do to keep from falling in love with that boy.”

Tori tilted her head. “I don’t remember him that way.”

“Oh, no, by the time you came along, it was mostly out of his system. That’s part of the magic. We find the people who are meant to love us throughout our lives, not just the people we are now, but the people we are meant to become.”

“I’ve always been alone. What does that say about me?”