“Oh that one is gorgeous,” Missy says from next to me as she pushes her black rimmed glasses further up her nose while we sit on a white leather couch in the middle of a bridal shop.
I’ve never been in a bridal shop before, but I would have to say they are extremely nice. Or this one is at least. I feel like I should have taken my shoes off when I walked in. Everything is so white and clean, from the white carpet to the white furnishings, it almost made me nervous to even sit down on the couch.
I look up at Vivian when she waves the dress she is holding in my face. It’s an okay dress, but it’s a little too much for what I’m wanting. The top is a sparkly halter top and then the entire skirt is nothing but net. I imagine it would look beautiful on the dance floor.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” I say smiling.
Vivian’s smile drops off of her face, and she lowers her arm that’s holding the dress. “You don’t like it?” Her words full of disappointment.
I shrug. “It just doesn’t look like me,” I say honestly.
“What kind of dress do you have in mind?” Courtney asks from the dressing room to the right of us. She has been in there for ten minutes trying to get Holly into a dress.
“I don’t know exactly. I want something elegant, yet simple,” I say, imagining something tight fitting with a long train. Something that is classy and stunning.
“Simple?” Courtney snorts. “Since when do you do simple?”
“What does that mean?” I ask with a frown looking to the door of the dressing room.
The door swings open, and she walks out. A defeated looking Holly follows behind her wearing a white crinoline skirt and white corset. Her shoulders are slumped, and she blows a few pieces of her black hair out of her face.
“It means it’s your wedding. Go all out.” She throws her hands in the air. “You’ve always been a girlie girl. Get something with layers of lace and jewels.”
I shake my head. “I want simple,” I repeat, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I think simple sounds beautiful,” Missy says softly with a smile.
I nod my head, thankful that someone is on my level, even if she is just agreeing with me because no one else is.
I’ll take it.
Why she continues to bring me dresses is beyond me. Holly is the one who is running out of time. Slade and I haven’t even talked about a date yet.
I hold in my sigh. As a girl I know we all dream about the day we get married and what we would want it to be like. But the day my father passed and my mother shut me out, my life changed. Things no longer mattered. Even with Jax. We had spoken of marriage, but I was never the girl to run out and grab wedding magazines to start planning it.
I do want to marry Slade. I want to be that girl who’s excited and ready to start planning our future together. We have only been together for four months, but I love him more than anything, and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with him.
I nod my head and give Vivian a sincere smile. “Okay, but I want simple,” I remind her.
“I think I saw just the one,” Vivian says turning and handing the dress in her hands back to the consultant who is helping us out.
As Missy and I strike up a conversation about her schooling, Holly explains to the lady that the dress she had given her was too small, and she didn’t care much for it anyway.
Her mother had set up this appointment while we were in New York. She had intended to be here as well but had to go away this morning a business trip. Holly tried to reschedule for when she got back, but her mother said she didn’t have the time to waste and to go on and try them without her. We were not the least bit surprised when we arrived and the consultant already had dresses that Holly’s mother had picked out for her. And they are hideous.
“Here it is,” Vivian says, getting my attention and holding up a dress that is still in the plastic cover. “Come on. Try it on.” She pouts, and I can’t help but laugh.
“I’ll help you,” Missy says standing and taking the dress from her so Vivian is free to go help Holly pick out something else.
Missy and I make our way into the dressing room and stand quietly as I stare at the cover hiding the dress. I close my eyes and wish that my mother was here. She would not have missed this day.
I hear the cover being unzipped and open my eyes when Missy gasps.
“Wow,” I say when I get a good look at it.
“Yeah,” Missy agrees.
We don’t say anything else as I remove my jeans and shirt. Courtney throws over a corset to us, and Missy helps me snap it in place. She then helps me into the dress.
All the girls are quiet as I step up on the pedestal to look at myself in the floor length mirrors.
Vivian steps up behind me, her eyes filled with tears. “Is this what you had in mind?” she asks with a knowing smile.
I smile as I nod my head. “It’s perfect,” I say as I run my hands down the flawless white satin that covers my hips.
She smiles. “I thought so.”
It really is gorgeous. It’s too big, but the style and look is exactly what I had in mind.
I turn around and face her. “Thank you, Vivian.”
It is then that I realize I do have a mother here to help me, even if she is not my own. I lost my mother and my father, but I am gaining an entirely new family.
“You’re so lucky you found a dress,” Holly cries, almost in tears. “All the ones my mother picked out are fugly,” she whines.
Courtney nods her head quickly with her lip pulled back in disgust.
“Try on a dress that you like,” Missy encourages her.
Holly shakes her head. “You don’t understand. My mother will freak if I don’t pick something that she likes.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, it’s your wedding,” Courtney says making me frown and Holly laugh. “Tell her to take a hike.”
“She’s paying for the wedding. She wants everything how she has always imagined it. I’m her only daughter.” She sighs. “I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“But she doesn’t mind disappointing you,” Courtney says matter-of-fact. “She doesn’t care what you want.”
“Courtney,” I snap.
Holly just stands there staring down at the white carpet, and I feel my heart break for her. I know the truth. Her mother hasn’t even asked her what she wants. We have been going over stuff on the internet at Vivian’s house every other day, yet she hasn’t told her mother the things she wants because she hasn’t even asked.
“Wow. That dress is beautiful on you.” The consultant walks up interrupting our conversation. “But it’s way too big. Let me take some measurements,” she says, already pulling out pins and a tape measure.
I give her a small smile as she proceeds to take my measurements. I want to hold Holly and let her know that it will all work out. As her maid of honor, I want her wedding to be perfect. Right here, right now, I vow to myself to make that happen. Even if I have to go behind that bitch of her mother’s back and make it happen.
We finish up at the store not long after that. Holly has to work tonight so we weren’t going to be closing the place down.
I pull up to the house after making an evening run to the grocery store after the bridal shop to grab a few things.
I get out of my car and smile looking down at it parked in the garage. I’m surprised Slade didn’t say anything about me driving it today. I’m pretty sure the fact that he was running late this morning due to our sexual activities kept him from caring what I drove to work.
After shutting the door, I stop in the garage to answer my ringing phone. Holls flashes across the screen.
“Hello?” I say trying to juggle my purse and the few sacks of groceries.
“Hey, Sam,” she says timidly.
“Hey girl,” I say frowning at the tone of her words. She wasn’t in the best of moods when we left the bridal store. “Everything okay?”
She takes a few seconds to answer which makes
me nervous. “Uh, well I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What is it?”
“Well, uh, Jax is here.”
The sound of my purse hitting the concrete floor echoes through the garage. “What?” I ask thinking I heard her wrong.
“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going on, but he says he’s been trying to call you.”
I shake my head to myself. “I haven’t gotten any calls from him.”
She releases a long breath. “He refuses to leave until he speaks with you.”
“No,” I say gritting my gritting my teeth. Not this again. “That’s not going to happen. Tell him to go fuck himself, Holly,” I start to ramble. “There is nothing left to say. It’s over. Tell him to take a hike.” I suck in a deep breath once I finish rambling, not knowing what the hell he must be thinking. He must have lost his mind to think I would want to see him after what he did to me.
“That’s my girl.” I hear her smile through the phone.
“What? You thought I would want to see him?” I ask somewhat confused.
“No. It’s just that he has me confused. He said he keeps calling you, and you hadn’t mentioned it to me. Wouldn’t you tell me if he was calling you?” she asks sounding hurt.
“I promise you, Holly. He has not called me, nor have I spoken to him.”
She sighs and then speaks. “I believe you. I’m going to have Brandon kick his ass out.” Brandon is the new bouncer who she hired after all that shit went down with Jeremy. Even though Jeremy pled guilty and is in jail, it opened our eyes to what could happen in that bar. She also had the owner install a few cameras.
“Holly, if he asks anything about me, do not tell him I’m with Slade. He knows where Slade lives, and I don’t want him showing up here.”
“Are you going to tell Slade?” she asks sounding worried.
“Yes,” I reply with no hesitation.
“Okay. I’ll let you know what ends up happening.”
“Thanks girl for giving me a heads up.”
We hang up, and I retrieve my purse from the garage floor. I walk inside and place the groceries on the kitchen counter when the voices of Slade and Tate float up from the basement. I make my way down there and find them playing pool while watching Sports Center.
I walk over to the couch by the pool table and sit down nervously.
I look down to my hands as I open and close my fists. What in the hell could Jax want? My mind wanders back to the last day that I saw him when I was moving my stuff out of our rental house.
“What are you doing?”
I spin around and my heart rate picks up. Jax is standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Packing up my stuff.”
“No, I mean what are you doing? Why are you leaving me?” He leans up against the door jam.
I’m starting to get pissy. “Because I walked in on you having sex with someone else.”
“But I don’t want to break up.” He smiles, and it gives me goosebumps; the kind of goosebumps that scream danger. He pushes off the doorframe and starts to move toward me. I look to the hall behind him, panicking. Where are Micah and Holly?
My heart is pounding, and my skin gets clammy. “Stay right there,” I demand, putting my hands up.
“Come on, babe, you know we’re good together. Can we just forget this ever happened?” His brown eyes are on mine, and that disturbing smile is still plastered on his face as he saunters toward me. He’s getting too close to me now, so I decide to run past him, but he catches my arm and pushes us out into the hall. He is holding my arm so tightly that I cry out.
“Let go!” I scream. I try to pull away, but he has a death grip on my arm. “Let go of me, Jax!” I yell in his face. He’s never acted this way before, and I don’t know how far he will take it.
That vicious smile drops off his face as he narrows his brown eyes at me. “No!” He growls, “I will not let go because you’re not leaving. You are such a little bitch, Sam. You think you can just walk away from me?” I see him lift his right hand, and I think for a second he’s going to hit me. I take both my hands and shove him, making him release my arm.
Micah had interrupted us right then and pushed Jax away from me. But I had gotten in the way when Jax charged toward him. He pushed me, causing me to fall and hit my head on the corner of the wall, which landed me in the hospital.
After Holly had come into my hospital room, I had spoken with the police. Told them what had happened-verified the story that Micah had already told them-and we immediately went to the court house to file a restraining order. We hadn’t known at that moment that he had already left town. When the police came up with nothing they had informed us the rental house had been trashed and every trace of him had vanished. Then word of mouth got around town that he had taken off with Bridgette to her hometown in Georgia. But that bitch caused problems between Slade and me just a few months ago when she was giving all those pics to Jessica to fuck with me. So he may already know I’m with Slade. She must have told him. Have they broken up? What does that mean now? Jax wants me back? I laugh out loud at the thought of that.
What if he cheated on her? I laugh again.
Oh the irony.
What if she cheated on him? Not as funny. I want him to break her heart—that fucking cold heartless bitch. I could care less that she had slept with Jax while we were together. What I do have a problem with is what she tried to do to Slade and me.
I wish I could have heard that phone call between Jessica and her after what I did to Jessica at the bar. The bitch deserved more than just a broken nose. I laugh again.
“What is so funny?”
My head snaps up, and my laughter dies when Tate speaks. He and Slade are both standing there, pool sticks in hand, staring down at me.
“Go ahead. Share what is so funny,” Slade encourages with a smile.
They have probably been standing there for five minutes now watching me laugh to myself.
I take a deep breath before letting this out.
I will not keep any more secrets from Slade, I chant to myself over and over in my head.
I blow out the breath I was holding. “Holly called me and informed me that Jax is up at Larry’s looking for me.”
Slade’s smile drops off of his face, and his body stiffens. Tate’s eyes narrow and his lips thin.
“Did you speak with him?” Tate demands.
I frown—why would Tate care? “No. She said he refused to leave until I spoke with him but I told her to kick his ass out. I have nothing to say to him.” I look down at my hands shaking my head. “He told her he’s been trying to call me.” I shake my head. “But I haven’t received one call from him.”
I peek up through my hair, and I see Slade and Tate exchange a look that I don’t understand. “What?” I ask.
Tate nods his head as Slade just stands there, his eyes now drilling holes into me. “What?” I ask standing from the couch. “I saw that look you two exchanged. What is it?”
“I blocked his number from your line.” Slade finally speaks, his voice hard and cold.
“What made you do that?” It shouldn’t surprise me. He did the same thing to Jessica. Then a thought hits me. “How would you know his number?” I deleted it after our breakup. And if I remember correctly, Slade kept telling me he didn’t know Jax until that night I called him looking for Jax.
Slade runs a hand through his hair and releases a curse, now looking more worried than pissed. “I…he…”
“I gave him the number,” Tate interrupts him.
Now I look to him even more confused. “How would you get it? Do you know him?”
“No.” He leans back against the wall getting comfortable before he speaks. “But it wasn’t hard to find.”
I wait a few seconds for him to say more but quickly realize that is all he is willing to give.
“Thanks?” I guess is what I’m supposed to say.
Tate just shrugs my half-ass t
hanks off, but Slade narrows his eyes on me. “Do you want to speak to him?” he demands.
I sigh. This is what I didn’t want to happen. “No. But I would have liked to have known what was going on. I had filed a report and put a restraining order on him. Would it be hard to get another one now that he’s back?” Slade’s body relaxes and he reaches for his back pocket to pull out his phone.
“I will make a couple of calls.”
“I told Holly not to mention you,” I say nervously looking to Slade. His eyes narrow on me once again, and I rush to finish my explanation. “He knows where you live, and I don’t want him showing up here.” I hold my breath waiting for him to come unglued at the fact that I’m not throwing Slade in Jax’s face.
Slade looks over at Tate, and Tate gives him a small nod that I almost missed. I look back at Slade to ask him what the hell that meant, but he is already talking on his phone.
*****
SLADE
“Why didn’t you tell me Angel had put a restraining order against Jax?” I growl into the phone at my brother.
“I didn’t think it was important. By the time we took her to file it, he was nowhere to be seen. It was an ex parte order which was dropped once the fifteen days were over and he wasn’t there to show up for court. He had vanished before I could do anything about it,” he replies.
Yeah, thanks to Tate.
“Well Holly just called her saying that Jax is up at Larry’s looking for her.”
“What? When was this?”
“I don’t know. Earlier.” She didn’t say when that call took place, and I really don’t care. All I care about is that the fucker is back.
“Let me call you back. I’m going to call Holly and head up to Larry’s. I don’t trust that piece of shit around her any more than you want him around Sam.” He hangs up not waiting for a reply.
I turn and look at Tate. He saved my ass a few minutes ago. Angel would be pissed if I told her I spoke with Jax, deleted the evidence out of her phone, and then blocked his number. Yeah. That is one fight I do not want to have.
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