Her Charming Secret

by Sam Ayers

  “As if I can rest today.” He smirked. She smiled at him, but he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  A real smile graced her face. “How do you know anything’s wrong?”

  “Because I can feel you, Twin!”

  She giggled, her unease already clearing up a bit. Aiden did that to her, he calmed her like nobody else ever could.

  At that moment, Abigail knocked the door and walked in with Jo trailing behind her. Adele didn’t miss how her brother’s face lit up as Jo entered the room.

  Aiden looked at her, surprised. “Jo! What are you doing here?”

  Jo smiled. “You invited me, remember? Do you want me to leave?”

  “Of course not!”

  Abigail smiled at the two. Jo made an unexpected visit with Alex last night to apologize to her. She wasn’t really accepting Alex as her boyfriend, but she promised to try. She had to be at the wedding location early, so she just took her dress and decided to dress up before the wedding; Jo did the same. Now she was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. Her and Jo’s dresses were in her hand in protective covers so they could change easily later. She had decided to go in jeans because, however easy it looked – being a wedding planner was hard. Already, she had had to show them how the flowers and place cards were to be placed and satin ribbons tied, all leading to various spots of green smudging her jeans.

  Jo stepped out after saying hi to Adele. Aiden decided to introduce her to his parents later. He excused himself and joined her.

  “Want a little tour of this place?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Absolutely!” She giggled and touched his hand. He grabbed her arm and walked towards his room.

  The room he had in the lake house was huge. The walls were a shade of light cream, which contrasted well with the blue and green highlights in the room. The bed was modern and zen-styled, low, leaving a lot of space in the room. One wall was completely made of glass and overlooked the lake, making it seem as though the lake was right outside. A comfortable-looking white couch stood at one wall with a cool desk next to it. Various photos of Aiden with his family covered the wall above the desk. Almost an entire wall opposite to the bed was a bookshelf completely filled with books except for the area in the middle where there was a flat screen TV.

  Jo stood staring at the room, mostly at the bookshelf, and she jumped in surprise when Aiden put his arms around her and pulled her back to him, her back completely molded to his chest. He placed soft kisses on her neck, causing her to giggle. She turned in his arms and put her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss.

  “So you reached home safe last night?” Aiden asked her after they broke apart.

  “Umm . . . no. Alex took me back to Abigail’s place. Sorted all the misunderstandings.”

  “I’m glad!” Aiden kissed her brow.

  Just then, Aubrey ran into the room, almost knocking Jo over as she jumped on Aiden.

  “Aidey, I missed you!” She grinned. She turned to look at the lady who was standing close to Aiden. How dare she! Aidey was hers!

  She looked at Aiden, confused. “Who is she, Aidey?”

  “Aubrey, she’s your favorite author, Jo Winters.” He smiled. She looked at Jo in surprise and smiled. However, her smiled was wiped off her face as soon as she heard Jo speak.

  “I’m Aiden’s girlfriend. And you must be Aubrey, nice to meet you.” Jo smiled at her.

  Aubrey stood in front of Aiden like a guard. “Aidey is mine!”

  Aiden tried to console her. “But angel—” He was cut off by Aubrey turning to him with teary eyes.

  “You are mine, right, Aidey? She can’t have you, can she?”

  “What?” Jo murmured and heard the door open with a bang. Alex walked in with a wide grin on his face.

  “How many times do I tell you to knock on the damn door, Alex?” Aiden groaned.

  “The door wasn’t locked, and what do I see here? Girlfriend vs. Sister?!” Alex laughed. Jo and Aiden glared at him.

  Aubrey sobbed and ran out of the room, searching for her daddy. Aiden stood there, lost. He didn’t want to hurt Aubrey, but Jo was his girlfriend. He wasn’t going to deny that for any reason.

  Jo glared at Alex. “Is there a reason you barged in here?”

  Alex smirked at Aiden. “Looks like you messed up again, Aido. Oh, and you are being called downstairs.”

  Aiden gave Alex a glare before walking out of the room. Jo had no choice but to follow him. As they headed downstairs towards the front door, they met his parents.

  Nicholas and Adelynn were just making sure if all the final arrangements were proper. Their relatives were already here, and the whole place looked lively with kids running around and old men laughing about something. Aiden realized that those guys were his grandfather’s friends.

  “Bonjour, Aiden! Comment vas-tu?” Aiden turned around when he heard a voice asking him how he was.

  “Rachel? Oh my God! You’re back!” He yelled in excitement before hugging her.

  “It’s my brother’s wedding! I can’t miss it, can I?” She grinned. It was good to be back at the Reids’ place; they were always kind and caring.

  “Rachel?” They heard a voice behind them. It was Jo.

  “Oh! Hi, Jo,” Rachel said, politely.

  “You guys know each other?” Jo asked Aiden.

  “Of course! Rachel is Gabe’s sister.” He smiled widely. “And how do you two know each other?”

  “She’s dating Jake,” Jo said before Rachel could explain. Aiden was patient as both the girls told him the whole story. Finally, he decided to excuse himself and asked Jo to join him. They walked towards his parents and Adelynn beamed when she saw him.

  “Momma, Dad, I would like to introduce you to Josephine; I guess you have already met her,” Aiden said.

  “Of course. Josephine dear, how are you?” Adelynn gave her a small hug and Nick shook hands with her.

  “So is this the official meet-the-parents kinda meeting?” Nick teased them. “I remember when that happened to me; I freaked out thanks to her father.” Adelynn raised her eyebrow, but decided to ignore him.

  “So, does Aubrey know?” Lynn asked her son.

  He tensed and looked away before speaking. “She took it badly, ran away crying. I’m sorry.”

  At that moment, there was a loud bang as Pierre jumped on the stairway; he waved at the people standing below like he was a celebrity, descending the steps with the cat in his hand.

  “Trouble,” Nick whispered and got a glare from his wife. Little Fluffy was roaming around licking Aiden’s fingers. When he sensed a cat around he growled and jumped on Pierre, who slipped and landed near the couch, breaking an expensive vase and knocking a bookcase along.

  Fluffy was chasing Miss Fuzzlez in the backyard and everyone was panicking as they thought that the cat and dog would ruin the arrangements.

  “Aido, let’s go catch them,” Alex said, running towards the door. Both the boys ran as fast as they could, and Alex shouted, “Catch the dog!”

  “Catch the cat!” Aiden shouted back. He came in Fluffy’s way and caught him easily.

  “Calm down, Fluffy. Easy, boy!” He said in a soothing tone as he took the puppy inside and handed it over to Aubrey, who kissed his cheek lightly and went back to her room with her mom.

  Alex was still running around because the stupid cat was fast. “Mizz Fuzzlez! Comez back toi Papa!” a very annoying voice called from behind him. He jumped and, surprisingly, caught the cat – which scratched his arm and dashed towards Pierre.

  “Mizz Fuzzlez!” Pierre cried and hugged his cat.

  “Aaahhh! It scratched me! That stupid cat!” Alex muttered, groaning in pain. Adele, who was already looking at all this from the balcony, knew that someone or something would surely destroy her wedding, as it had already started badly.

  - Chapter 26 -

  Together. Forever?

  Pierre did not even glance at Alex. He pulled Miss Fuzzlez to him and walked inside. Alex looked at
him in disbelief, staring at his back and the hissing cat before turning to his hand. He moaned, “Oh God, I am going to die! That crazy animal hurt me!”

  Ashton shook his head and laughed, pulling Alex up. “Come on, let’s get that looked at. It doesn’t look too deep; you may not need to go to the doctor.”

  Alex made a face before holding on to Ashton’s arm and pulling himself up.

  Nicholas sighed heavily. William, who noticed his distress, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You know what they say, what’s a wedding without some drama in it? It’s better this way; at least we can hope that the wedding will go better now, right?”

  Nick nodded, but he couldn’t help but send a silent prayer that his little girl’s big day didn’t get ruined.

  Adele had long since abandoned her place near the window, and now sat at her dresser. She smiled when she saw the small jewelry box. It held a small blue hair clip that her mom had given her for something borrowed and something blue. She knew that she had to start getting ready soon; after all, it took forever to get ready for a wedding. Especially if it was your own.

  Jo sat next to the window humming a tune. It was so strange to Adele. The fact that Aiden Reid, perfectionist extraordinaire, had fallen for a carefree girl like Jo. He was never one to waste time or sit around, and she could sense that Jo wasn’t like that either. She wondered how he would propose to Jo later that evening. Aiden must have planned something, but he hadn’t said a word about it yet.

  Her phone vibrated, and she picked it up to see a message from Gabe:

  You know, your grandpa is troubling me again. He wants me to name our kid Fuzzlez, if it’s a girl! she read and burst out laughing.

  Jo and Abigail looked at her curiously and she explained to them what caused her to laugh.

  “Fuzzlez is an odd name.” Jo grinned. “Are all French names that odd?”

  “Heard any odd French names recently, Joey?” Abigail raised her eyebrow.

  “Yeah. Gale!”

  Abigail remained silent and lowered her head; she couldn’t see the pain in Jo’s eyes again.

  “No, Gale isn’t French. It means a strong wind or a storm at sea,” Adele said. “But it’s a nice name.”

  Jo smiled a sad smile. “Yes, it is.”

  The door opened with a bang and in came the great Alex with Ashton trailing behind him.

  “What are you doing here?” Abigail asked in surprise.

  “Why, darling, am I not supposed to be here?”

  “Hi, Jo!” Ashton waved and smiled shyly.

  Alex looked at Jo, then at Ashton, confused and curious. “Oh my freaking goodness! You have a stupid crush on Jo,” he shouted and burst out laughing.

  “Go away, bull.” Ashton groaned and sat next to his sister.

  “Bull? That’s a lovely nickname,” Abby teased Alex.

  “Suits him perfectly,” Jo added with a giggle and Ashton gave her a high five.

  Alex gave them an affronted look and said, “Hey, I look nothing like a bull!” causing all of them to start laughing again while he sulked. But seeing the humor, he also began to laugh with them.

  Abby looked at the time and shooed everyone out, stating that Adele really needed to start getting ready. Adele smiled at them and turned to look at her dress again. Putting the dress on, she stared at herself in the mirror and saw that the light off-shoulder dress hugged her in the right places and fell just right. It was the dress she had always dreamed of, and she couldn’t help but think that they had picked the perfect dress. It was simple and cool, sort of like her relationship with Gabe, and she smiled as she thought of her husband-to-be. He would already have gotten ready; she knew, after all, that he was never late. She picked up her phone and sent him a quick message, a simple ‘I love you’, before carefully arranging a stray curl that had fell over her forehead. Soon, Adelynn, Danielle and Pierre walked in, and she was immediately cooed over by the two women.

  Pierre burst into tears and hugged his wife. Weddings made him emotional, and the fact that they didn’t let him bring his cats made him sadder.

  The black cat Pierre had taken to carrying around hissed at Nicholas when he came in, and Pierre said, “All becuz of youz. You takez mi dauzer away, andz Gabriel takez mi granddauzer away!”

  Nicholas ignored him and walked in; Pierre always acted crazy, and he didn’t have to react all the time. He stood still when he saw his daughter. She looked absolutely gorgeous, and what surprised him more was how beautiful Adelynn looked when she stood next to her mother and their daughter. After all these years, he still felt the deep love for her that he had felt when he was young. He walked towards his wife and placed a soft kiss on her lips, murmuring how beautiful she looked. Then he turned towards Adele and gave her his complete attention.

  “Now I really understand how Pierre felt when he saw Lynn at our wedding.”

  Adele gave him a smile before hugging him, being careful about her dress. “It’s not like I am moving really far away, Daddy. Don’t worry, I’ll always be around.”

  Nick couldn’t help but smile while Adelynn dabbed at her moist eyes. He was so proud of their daughter.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, Aiden and Alex stood downstairs talking about work.

  “I’m not sure, Al. I’m not able to handle this stress anymore.” Aiden said.

  “I’ve always told you to do what you wanted,” Alex said as he placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “I love my work, that’s why I’m not stressed or anything. You don’t. So choose something that you love.”

  “The only choice I’ve now is to quit.”

  “Then quit, find a better job. Do research. That’s what comes under your subject, right?”

  “Dad won’t be happy.” Aiden sighed again as he looked up to see Adele hugging Nick and Lynn together.

  “Oh, c’mon, Aido! I can convince Uncle Nick easily. You just gotta be scared of my dad!”

  Aiden gave an uneasy smile and looked at Alex’s shocked expression when he was quiet for a minute. He turned around to see what caused it and saw Jo and Abigail walking towards them. Alex had told him about his relationship with Abigail two days ago, so he wasn’t hiding anything anymore.

  The two girls looked radiant; Alex couldn’t keep his eyes off Abigail, who was wearing a deep blue floor length dress that had a satin sash going over one shoulder. That, along with her beautiful eyes and smile, seemed to be drawing a lot of attention her way, causing him to scowl at any male who looked in her direction. She was his! And nobody else could have her.

  Aiden was handling it no better. Jo was wearing a modest deep violet dress that fell to her knees. It wrapped around her, and her perfect arms were peeking through the sheer sleeves. The satin collar just defined her slender neck, and Aiden was battling a strong urge to brush away the single curl that was touching her neck.

  They stood there staring at them when Aiden felt a pull at his leg. Looking down, he saw Aubrey in a cute red dress that had a darker red belt. The dress made his princess look beautiful and he smiled, picking her up.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. Then she looked at Jo and said, “Mine!”

  Alex chuckled and pulled Abigail to him. “You look amazing, love. And see, all my attention is only for you and nobody else.”

  “Aiden!” a voice called from the balcony. Ashton looked down and waved towards them. “Aid, Adele is calling you. You too, Aubrey.”

  Aiden nodded and excused himself before going upstairs with Aubrey. He was delighted to see his sister. She looked absolutely stunning in her bridal gown. He smiled and walked towards her.

  Adelynn grabbed Aubrey’s hand and said, “I’m taking Aubrey downstairs, and Ashton. Come along, baby.”

  Aubrey blew a kiss to Adele and walked away with her mother.

  “So, excited?” Aiden asked Adele, already feeling a swell of joy. She was excited, alright.

  “Nervous! I hope I’ll be fine.”

  “You�
��ll be fine!” Aiden kissed her brow and hugged her tightly. “I’ll see you downstairs.” He smiled at Nicholas and walked away.

  “Daddy, don’t let me fall,” Adele murmured.

  “Never!” he whispered and held his hand out for her.

  Adele and Nicholas made their way downstairs and out the door. The setting was exactly as she wanted it. Small flowers scattered along the aisle, leading to an altar of flowers. The aisle looked like a tiny natural burst of color in the green. The arch at the altar was covered in beautiful gauzy curtains and complementing blossoms. All in all, it was exactly what she wanted – a walk into nature.

  The guests sat on either side of the aisle on white satin-covered chairs that had a single blue ribbon around the back along with a single blossom.

  She held her father’s arm tightly as she walked on. She saw Gabe standing there beaming at her and smiled. There was nothing between them today: no work, no family, nothing; it was just them, and she felt her heart swelling with joy.

  Pierre sobbed, hugging Miss Fuzzlez. To him, this was like watching Lynn getting married again. Pachelbel’s Canon played as Adele slowly walked down the aisle.

  When they reached the altar, Nicholas kissed her cheek lightly and placed her hand in Gabriel’s.

  “You look stunning!” Gabe whispered and kissed her softly.

  “Wait till the wedding is over!” Alex called and gave Ashton a high five as they chuckled, only to earn a glare from Aiden. Alex stuck his tongue out at Aiden before turning back to watch the ceremony.

  They began to say their vows. Aiden smiled as he looked at his sister, but suddenly felt someone’s gaze on him. He looked to his right to see his parents holding their hands tightly.

  To his left, Pierre sat sobbing on Danielle’s shoulder. He was in the first row, but he leaned backwards and craned his neck to see Jo grinning at him from the other side of the aisle. There she sat with Jacob and Rachel. She winked at him once and he smiled back and looked forward just in time to see Adele say, ‘I do!’

  Everyone cheered loudly when Gabriel kissed Adele. When he pulled away, she smiled and pulled him down for more, to which Alex and Ashton hollered and wolf-whistled.