by Jill Sanders
Each of the bridesmaid dresses were unique in style and a different soft blue color, creating a rainbow of blue surrounding their friend.
“Ready?” he asked when they’d reached the bottom.
“Hang on.” Zoey stopped them all, then tugged on her friends’ hands until they made a circle. “I just wanted to take a moment to breathe.” She took a deep breath then smiled. “No matter what path each of us takes in the next few months”—her eyes moved around to each of her friends as he stood outside the circle, watching— “we will always be sisters. We came to this camp alone and broken, each of us. But we left stronger because of this.” She held up their joined hands. “Something that time couldn’t take away from us nor could anyone else who tried to pull us apart.”
His eyes moved to Aubrey, and he noticed her blue eyes tearing up.
“Don’t make us cry,” Elle warned.
“Shut up.” Zoey smiled. “No crying on my wedding day. I’ll finish up with this… We are and will always be Wildflowers through and through.”
“Wildflowers,” the rest of them said softly before hugging each other.
“Are you ready now?” he asked dryly, chuckling softly to show he was joking.
“Men.” Aubrey rolled her eyes as she wiped a tear from her eyes.
“Yes.” Zoey smiled up at him, then reached out and took his arm.
“Who’s giving you away?” he asked as he helped her into the golf cart. Zoey and Scar’s dad had passed away the year before, and he hadn’t heard who would be walking her down the aisle. Only that he was to deliver the group to the entrance of the beach at exactly six o’clock.
He glanced at his watch and figured they had just enough time.
“I’ll be walking myself down.” Zoey smiled. “It’s a modern age.” She shifted and touched his arm. “Thanks for driving us.”
He chuckled as they started down the path. “Hey, no skin off my back. Besides…” He glanced back at Aubrey and winked. “I get a sneak peek at you lovely flowers.”
Zoey chuckled. “If I hadn’t fallen head over heels for Dylan.” She sighed and nudged him.
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Scarlett asked as he slowed down to turn on the correct pathway.
“Who says I don’t?” he responded.
“Do you?” she retorted.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he joked back.
“Did you at least bring a date?” Zoey asked.
“He’s my date today,” Aubrey spoke up. “What?” she said when all of her friend’s eyes turned to her. “He mentioned to me the other night that he didn’t have one, and we suggested going as friends.” She shrugged and glanced off towards the beach as he stopped the cart.
“We’re here,” he said, turning to Zoey. “Go get ’em.” He smiled at her.
He’d grown to like Zoey and the rest of the Wildflowers over the past few years. Even though Elle was his only cousin, he thought of the others, except for Aubrey, as family.
He helped Zoey out of the cart and stood back as her friends fixed her train. Then he rushed ahead of them through the clearing and nodded to Liam, who was waiting for his signal.
Watching the wedding procession from the sidelines, his eyes kept returning to Aubrey. What had it meant that she’d been the one to mention to her friends they were a date for the event?
For almost three years, she’d kept everything about them, about their relationship, a secret. He couldn’t count how many times he’d wanted to tell someone, or better yet, show them, by pulling Aubrey into his arms and kissing her in front of her friends, but he’d promised her he’d keep it a secret. It had almost killed him doing so. Especially when she’d pulled away. So many times he’d wished he could talk to his cousin about her friend and ask her how he could win Aubrey back.
Now, she was the one breaking that barrier. He hoped it meant that she was ready and willing to open up to her friends about them and possibly take the next step in a real relationship with him. But something told him he would have to force her hand and take drastic measures himself to get her to take those steps.
When the ceremony was over, he helped shuttle the guests towards the dining hall. After everyone had shuffled into the main hall, he found Aubrey sitting in the front with her friends. He took the spot next to her, and she smiled over at him and offered him a glass of champagne.
“So?” he asked after a sip. “What’s next?”
“Now we sit back and enjoy some food, then cake and dancing.” She smiled over at him.
Her eyes told him that she understood he hadn’t been talking about the wedding, but about them.
Setting down his glass, he took her hand in his. “You know what I mean,” he said softly as he felt her stiffen slightly.
Her eyes moved away from his as she glanced around, no doubt to see who was watching them. “Now, we enjoy being friends,” she said between sips.
“I think you know that’s not possible.” He leaned closer to her as his thumb played over her palm. He heard her breath catch and knew he’d made his point. There was too much between them to stop now, no matter how hard she tried to pull back. Just knowing that she felt the heat as well had him smiling and moving closer, emboldened by the desire flooding her eyes. “Why the games? Why can’t we just…” His eyes moved to her gloss-covered lips and a slight groan escaped him when her tongue darted out to lick them. “Why can’t we see what new things we can explore together?”
She didn’t answer him at first. Her breathing labored as she thought, and he knew she was trying to come up with an excuse or a reason. When fear started to replace the desire in her eyes, he sighed and leaned back.
“Soon you’ll confide in me why intimacy causes you to panic.” He took up his glass and drank again, wishing for a beer instead of the sweet champagne.
“I would think that our past proves that I’m not afraid of intimacy,” she said softly.
Chuckling, he glanced over at her. “I wasn’t talking about sex.”
She hissed and nudged him.
“Lower your voice,” she said as she glanced around.
He chuckled again. “Afraid someone will find out about us?” He made a show of glancing around. The fact was, everyone around them was so enthralled in chatting that he doubted that a single person was paying attention to them. He knew he was pushing her too far, but he was tired of the games. He missed her and from the looks she had been giving him, she missed him as much.
“Aiden.” Her voice was a warning.
“There you are.” Hannah rushed over and grabbed up Aubrey. “Sorry, I need to borrow her for pictures,” she said to him as she rushed her friend away.
“Saved you,” Owen said to him as he sat beside him.
“Oh?” He pushed his champagne away and then smiled when Owen handed him a beer. “Yeah.” He motioned with his beer toward the guy and then took a sip. “You did.”
“Hannah saved Aubrey,” Owen said, nodding to the two friends, who had disappeared out the back doors, no doubt to take pictures with their friends on the patio area.
“Yeah.” He sighed.
“I didn’t know you and Aubrey were…” Owen dropped off when Aiden glanced over at him. “Umm…” He cleared his throat.
Sinking back in the chair, he shrugged. “No one does. Aubrey’s orders.” He rolled his eyes.
“Shit.” Owen sat up a little straighter. “You’re serious? I was just shooting in the dark with that one. Do any of the other friends know?”
Aiden shook his head. He knew Owen Costa could keep secrets but figured that since Aubrey had made the first confession that he was free to let a few things slip out.
“Crap.” Owen ran his hands through his longer hair. He shook his head. “You mean, I know something that the Wildflowers don’t?”
Aiden chuckled. “What will you do with all that power?”
Owen frowned over at him. “No, you don’t understand. I could be in serious trouble here.” He glanced over a
t him. “You’re messing with me, right? I mean, you and Aubrey aren’t really an item.”
“We aren’t anymore.” He sighed and sipped his beer. “But if I had my way…” He dropped off and figured a change of topic would be beneficial. He glanced over at Owen. “So, have you and Hannah set a date yet for your big day?”
Owen’s smile grew. “Yeah, we figured we’d do this ourselves in the spring. Liam and Elle have a December wedding planned.”
“Spacing them out?” he joked.
“Not my idea. If it were up to me, we’d be right there today.” He nodded to his brother and his new sister-in-law. “All three of us.” He shrugged.
“Not a bad idea.” Aiden thought about it.
“Course, that would be too practical.” Owen shrugged.
“Could have saved a lot of money too,” he added, causing Owen to chuckle.
“See, I knew there was a reason I liked you.” He slapped him on the back. “You have a head for business.” He sighed. “Speaking of which, how’s the swimming pool and club house at Hammock Cove coming along?”
For a few minutes, he filled his boss in on their joint project before Aubrey and Hannah returned to get them for pictures.
He didn’t know why he was dragged into the large group, but he stood beside Aubrey and itched to grab her as the photographer snapped pictures of the smiling bunch.
He sat and enjoyed the dinner that the famous chef Isaac Andrew and his team had prepared for the crowd. He chatted with friends while keeping as close to Aubrey as he could.
When the band started to play, he pulled Aubrey out on to the crowded dance floor. The moment her body glided across his, he hoped that the night would never end.
“Enjoying yourself?” he asked and, by the way she sighed as an answer, he knew she was more than a little drunk.
He’d enjoyed a few beers himself and knew that if he’d allow himself, he would be right there with her. Still, he knew she was drunk enough to not care who saw her rubbing her body up against his.
The music slowed and she plastered herself to his body, and he was thankful the lights had dimmed some time ago.
“Aiden.” She sighed, “Why is it I can’t stop thinking of you?” she said against his chest as she rested her cheek against his shoulder.
“The same reason I can’t stop thinking of you either.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, wishing to hold onto the memory of how she felt against him, how her perfume filled his senses and had his loins aching for her.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this.” She glanced up at him briefly, then looked around. “I love my friends, but so help me, if they start getting ideas…”
“Why don’t you believe you are due happiness?” he asked, then silently cursed himself when the music stopped, and the band explained that they were taking a fifteen-minute break.
Taking her hand, he pulled her towards the glass French doors and didn’t stop walking until they stood on the narrow strip of secluded beach.
“Why?” he asked her after they stopped. “I’ve avoided asking you and you’ve avoided telling me. I think after everything we’ve been through together that I’m due a few answers.”
Chapter 7
How could Aubrey explain her pain in such a powerful setting? The sun had gone down a few hours ago when Zoey and Dylan had been exchanging their vows. But with the soft sand between her toes, and the gentle sound of the water lapping at the shoreline, she had only to close her eyes to remember the beauty of the place.
She knew she owed Aiden an explanation. After all, over the past three years she’d grown closer to him than she had ever allowed herself to be to a man, even though she still thought of what they had as just physical.
She’d locked away her heart so long ago, she didn’t think she knew what it felt like to love anyone other than her friends. And that was a different kind of love than she could ever feel towards a man.
“You know about my father?” she said, pulling her heels off and tossing them into the sand before moving over to sit on one of the swings that Liam had hung from a thick oak branch.
Aiden followed her into the underbrush of the trees and sat beside her on the swing.
“These are nice,” he said to her. “I haven’t gotten to enjoy them yet.” He pushed off, sending them swaying in the breeze. “Go on. I know a little about your father. What you’ve told me, or I’ve heard over the years.” He motioned to her.
It was officially the last day of summer, which in Florida meant very little, except that it would be cooling down in the evenings soon.
“Not even my sisters know everything.” She sighed and rested her head back. He’d wrapped his arm behind her, so her head rested on his bicep. She remembered how wonderful it felt to be held by those strong arms.
Maybe it was all the champagne she’d had over the last few hours, but she no longer cared if anyone saw them together. She knew she could fend off her friends nagging if she had to. After all, the five of them were like sisters. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been nagged before this. She had just hoped to keep this part of her life a secret.
“I was eight when I went to live with my father. My mother had… died a day before I was uprooted.” She closed her eyes on the pain that always came when she thought about the woman who loved her so much that she would have given anything to be with her.
“How did she die?” he asked.
In the past, she’d skirted around this question. Even her friends didn’t know. She’d told them that Nora Murphy had died of a broken heart. She knew they’d assumed she’d died of heart failure or something close to that.
“When she found out that the courts were about to award full custody of me to Harold”—she glanced over at him and held her breath for a split second—“she slit her own wrists.” She sighed. This was the first time in Aubrey’s entire life that she’d said it out loud. Tears burned behind her eyes, and she had to shut them quickly.
“I’m so sorry.” Aiden moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. She held onto him for a moment, enjoying the safety and warmth he provided.
“Less than a year earlier, my mother had hunted Harold down. She’d claimed that she’d fallen for him when she’d worked for a private airline company. She’d been hired to steward one of his private jet flights and, well, she had always told me that she’d fallen in love with him the moment he walked onto the plane.” She sighed, then shook her head. “I was eight. Everything was so… romanticized back then. So, when she got fired from another job, she decided to find him and ask him for help with his child.” She glanced over at him. “There were blood tests, court appearances, and social service meetings for several months before it was agreed that I would move in with Harold.”
“You must have been crushed,” he said softly.
“I was leaving behind everything I’d ever known. Moving out of the love-filled one-room apartment above a gas station to a ten-thousand-square-foot mansion with a father who couldn’t be bothered to see his daughter but once or twice a week.”
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
“The worse of it was, shortly after I arrived, I realized just how cruel Harold Smith could be. He started controlling every detail of my life. My clothes, my activities, school, my diet, exercise, every detail was planned out and charted.” She stood up suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself as she moved closer to the water’s edge. Knowing Aiden would follow her, she didn’t even glance back.
“There was punishment when I didn’t fall into line.” She hugged herself tighter.
“Did he…”
She glanced over and stopped him. “Harold Smith would never stoop as low as to hit anyone,” she said stiffly. “His punishments were more… mental.” She glanced out at the water. “Things I enjoyed were taken from me. People I grew close to… disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“I had stumbled into the kitchens one night. After I’d disappointed him with a B in social
studies, I’d been sent up to bed without dinner. No biggie, except I’d also had five hours of dance class that day and had only eaten an apple for lunch. Naturally, by midnight, I was starved. I tiptoed down to the kitchen and ran into Luis, my father’s private chef. Instead of tattling on me, Luis consoled me and made me a sandwich.” She smiled. “Over the next year, he became my first friend in the house. I often snuck down to the kitchen after dark to spend time watching television or enjoying snacks with him.” She sighed.
“What happened?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Harold found out. Luis’s work visa was cancelled, and he was shipped back to a country he hadn’t been to in over fifteen years.” She closed her eyes on the new rush of pain. “Less than a month later, a newspaper was left on my breakfast plate.” She turned to Aiden as tears rolled down her checks. “The article talked about a chef that had been kidnapped and forced to mule drugs for the cartel. When he’d refused, they’d beheaded him and hung him from a bridge.”
“That’s terrible.” He moved closer to her.
“I was ten.” She shook her head as she dashed the tears away. “Suddenly, I knew what kind of man my father was. I knew I couldn’t cross him. So I fell into line. For the next few years, I did everything he wanted. I became his perfect protégé. Until one summer, when I was dropped off… here.” She glanced around. “I felt so abandoned, so alone, until I bumped into Zoey, Elle, Hannah, and Scarlett.” She smiled and her tears dried in the evening breeze. “From that summer on, I made sure to never let on how much this place meant to me, how much my sisters meant to me, for fear that Harold would take them away as well. I complained about having to go to the camp. I even had Joe call and tell Miss Ellison about a new program for older girls, when I had officially outgrown being a camper the summer before, so that I could come here and be a counselor instead.” She smiled, then it slipped slightly. “Harold never knew how much this place meant to me until I came back here.” She turned back to him. “For the past three years, he’s been trying different methods to tear this place down.”
“He has?” Aiden tensed. “Why haven’t you—”