by Skye Turner
With a shriek and a muttered, “Some people have no class!” I race into the house, not even caring if anyone follows me. I just need to get away from the crowd on the porch.
I need to get away from Ty!
Once I get into the formal sitting room, I fall onto the chaise lounge and bury my face in my hands.
Why is Ty here? Tif brought that man of hers with her, so why is Ty here? Is he here to see me? To torture me?
God, I miss him.
He was goading me on the porch. It was like he was determined to get under my skin.
He did. Dear God, he did.
WHY did Grandma say that? It was like she was testing me. Like she knew about Ty and me. But, that’s impossible. She can’t know. There’s no way she really knows, right?!
She’s made comments before about Ty, but I never paid her any attention.
Dammit, she’s always pushed me toward him and made me see him. I think she realized a long time ago that I couldn’t NOT look at him when he was around.
Then, I went home with him all those months ago.
WHY did I do that? WHY, ANNABETH?
Now, I’m wearing a ring that weighs me down and I sink further into the quicksand every day.
I’m set to marry a man I dislike intensely and the man who makes me FEEL… the man who sets me aflame is right outside.
This is torture.
This is my punishment for what I did to him…
A morose groan has my head snapping up. My eyes land on my “fiancé,” the man I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with… the man I just want to go away and leave me alone.
He says cockily, “That man needs a lesson on manners. As if he can come here and insult us in our home. He has no place here.”
I can’t help it. I snap. Slapping the couch cushions, I startle Stanton. “Oh, do shut up, Stanton. Manners? You call insulting my sister and her boyfriend manners?” His mouth drops open at my outburst. “Just shut the hell up.” I stand up rapidly and take a step away from the couch. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I need to get away. Away from him.
The urge to maim him is strong.
As I reach the door, I turn back. “Oh, and this is not your home, Stanton. It’s my home. Not yours.”
His mouth is hanging open as I march through the house and exit through the kitchen. I head toward the maze in the garden.
Patting my pocket, I make sure my cell is in there. I need to call Coralee. I need to vent.
As I head out to the center of the maze, I punch in the numbers. Coralee answers on the first ring. I immediately get emotional and start to rage at Tifanie as if it’s her fault that my life is so messed up. I know it’s not. I know I’m just upset and I don’t mean what I’m saying, but I can’t stop raging. I just need to get it all out and Coralee listens. She says, “You don’t mean that,” more times than I can count, but I just let it all out. I’m raging about Tif when what I really want to do is break down and cry over Ty.
Suddenly a very angry voice interrupts my conversation. “What the hell are you doing, AnnaBeth?”
I scream in start and drop my phone to the ground. Whirling with my hands over my heart, I screech at Ty, “Jesus! What the hell? What am I doing? What the hell are you doing? Are you following me?”
Thank God we’re far enough away from the house that no one can hear us. The urge to throw myself into his arms is right at the surface.
He screams at me again. “Yes. Yes, I am. I cannot believe you just allowed that fucking prick to say those things about Cruz! You’re such a piece of work, AnnaBeth Bellaforte!”
I’m enraged. How dare he come at me like this? I didn’t do anything. I snap. “I’m a piece of work?! Me?! I’m not the one making a spectacle of myself! I’m not the one parading my lover around father’s constitutes just to embarrass my family!”
He laughs at me. He laughs in my face, only nothing about this is funny. “No, you would never do anything to embarrass your family, now would you?! You’re so worried about what Daddy thinks that you don’t give a damn about anyone else. The perfect princess!”
The pain is so sudden, I almost fall. He thinks I don’t care about anything? About anyone?
You have no idea what I care about, Ty! No idea about my life!
You have no idea about the hell I live in to make everyone else happy.
You have no idea what it’s like to be ME!
Sobs wrack my body as tears course down my cheeks. My voice cracks as I gasp out, “Go to hell, Ty! You don’t know anything! You go to hell!”
I whirl and race down the path. Thank God I know the way because I can’t see through the tears.
As I get to the edge of the maze, I duck into a clearing and fall onto the bench that’s hidden there. My legs can’t support me and I can’t breathe.
As the sun shines brightly overhead and the scent of jasmine wafts around me, I huddle into a ball on the bench and cry until I think I’m going to puke, then I cry some more.
I’m not certain how long I stay there. As the sun starts to set and the temperature cools a bit, I stand and wipe my swollen cheeks with my hands. Then, I trudge up to the house, grab my keys, and make my way to my small house. I lock myself in and fall onto the bed in the dark where I cry myself to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Ty
God, I drank too much today.
I wake up and I’m covered with a throw on the settee in Grandma’s sitting room. I must have passed out. Tif had to cover me.
After seeing AnnaBeth in the maze and screaming at her while she screamed at me… I came back to the house and swiped a bottle of bourbon from the caterers. I hid in here and finished it.
Why did I follow her out there?
You know why you followed her. Because you can’t NOT follow her.
I saw her heading into the maze and she was alone, so like an idiot, I followed her. Of course we fought. I was drinking and she was gorgeous and on HIS arm all day.
I was jealous.
I thought I could handle seeing her. I thought it would be like it was before… before I touched her.
Yeah, not even.
All I wanted to do was race across the porch and pull her into my arms. In front of everyone… her family, Tifanie… Stanton. I wanted to prove to him that she should be with me.
Yet, I promised her I wouldn’t.
So, I insulted her… and Stanton. I’m not sorry I did it. They deserved it, but I shouldn’t have followed her.
She cried. She cried in the maze and it was my fault.
I don’t want any woman to cry over me. I’m not about that. I’ve never been about that.
Time to buck up, Ty. She’s engaged and it’s not to you. Leave her be, man.
She was right… we’re not from the same world and as much as I wish things were different… today just proved that I really don’t belong with her. I don’t fit in this world. I don’t want to fit in this world.
She was right…
Hearing agitated voices on the porch, I delicately stand and make my way to the door.
It’s Tif and Cruz. Seems today is the day for arguments. It sounds like he’s running scared again. Tif is in his face, not letting him run. I love that about her. She goes after what she wants and now that she’s finally landed the man of her dreams, she’s not letting go. I envy that.
They eventually kiss and I think all is well, so I head out to the porch. They break apart and Tif heads back inside to check on Grandma as I plop onto a cypress glider. Cruz and I chat for a bit before we fall into comfortable silence as we both laugh at just how out of place we are here.
Before long, Tif comes back outside and they take me home. I fall into bed and pass out from the alcohol and the emotions of the day.
*
We’ve been at work for about an hour and it’s been quiet. Thankfully, Tif has left me to my mood. She’s kept to herself after she asked me what was up and I basically bit her head off.
&nbs
p; I’m in a bad mood and I really don’t want to take it out on her. She’s just here and she’s my best friend. So, she gets the brunt of my mood.
I feel bad for jumping on her though. It’s not her fault my life is a mess. Standing, I head to the small kitchen in the trailer and fix her a cup of coffee. Walking over, I hold it out. She looks up and smiles as she takes it from me. I smile sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m a bear today. I’m in a pissy mood and I’m taking it out on you.”
She sets her E-reader on the couch and pats the space next to her. As I settle into the cushions, she leans against my shoulder and says, “It’s cool. Everyone has days like that. You ok?”
I nod. “Yeah, I let something get to me even though I know better. I’m good.”
We talk about Cruz and her for a minute and she tells me she told him she loved him in her rage last night when he tried, once again, to bolt.
Whoa. This is serious. I mean, I knew she loved him, but the fact that she told him… that’s huge.
I wish I could talk to her about everything. But I’m too afraid of her reaction. She’ll be pissed I kept it from her for so long. And rightly so.
It’s over now anyway. Doesn’t matter.
I just need to get over it.
I chuckle as she finishes telling me about the scene on the porch I briefly witnessed last night. “You do tend to go after what you want. It’s one of your more endearing traits.” I bump her shoulder with my much broader one.
She laughs. “Yeah, I do tend to go in guns blazing.”
I laugh again, though it pangs my heart. I mutter, “That’s not always a bad thing. At least you know what you want and you go for it.”
She gets a peculiar look on her face and then she turns to face me. My back instantly straightens as she says, “Ty? Cruz and I… we were in the maze.” I frown.
What does that mean? In the maze…
I don’t think she’s telling me that they were getting frisky.
Shit! She heard me and AnnaBeth?!
She grimaces. “We heard you. We heard you arguing with AnnaBeth…” She fidgets on the couch. “What was that about?”
What was that about? Only the fact that I fell for your sister and she broke my heart. Crushed it.
I can’t tell her that though.
I laugh and it’s harsh. “You know me. And you know I can’t stand her.”
Believe me. Please believe me.
She watches me curiously, but she nods. “It seemed like more. Are you sure that’s all it was? It seemed like a lot more than you being pissed about the scene on the porch.
“You’d tell me if something was going on, right?”
I do something I hate myself for. I lie. I look straight into my best friend’s face and I lie. With a cocky smile, I say, “Trust me, Tif, nothing is going on. I would tell you.” I laugh again and it’s so forced, I’m certain she’s going to call me out. “Me and AnnaBeth…”
I fake a shudder.
She laughs along with me, though she continues to watch my face.
Thank God, we get a call right then. It stops me from having to lie to Tif anymore.
I hate myself for the half-truths as it is.
We hop into action and become the team that people are so proud of. I get an uneasy feeling as we head to the address of the call. It’s a really nice neighborhood and not at all like what we’re expecting.
Once we pull up, things get a hell of a lot more interesting.
*
AnnaBeth
It’s been three days since Grandma Clarabelle’s party. Coralee and I are out shopping and spending the afternoon together after another meeting at the hospital this morning to go over details for the Gala.
She swipes a dress from a rack and holds it out to me. “Try this on.”
Absentmindedly, I drape it over my arm with the other stuff I’m holding. I’m not even certain what I’m doing here.
Sunday is still on my mind and I can’t find my cell phone. I search my purse for the hundredth time in three days when Coralee sees me. “What are you doing, chick?”
I toss the clothes to a chair and use both hands to search. “I can’t find my damn phone. I must have lost it at home.”
She laughs lightly. “When did you last have it? Who was the last person you called?”
I scrunch up my face as I think back to the last time I remember having it. I screech in frustration. “Shit! It was Sunday. I was in the damn maze. It’s in the maze!
“Shit! Shit! Shit! I dropped it when I was on the phone with you.”
She clucks her tongue and pops out her hip as she stares at me. “Are we ignoring the elephant in the room?”
Grabbing all of the clothes, I stalk to a dressing room. She laughs and follows me. We head into a large stall and start undressing. She slips a short, but beautiful dress over her head and checks herself out in the mirror. Looking at me in the reflection, she sighs. “Seriously, AB. Are we not going to talk about what I overheard when you dropped the phone?”
I shrug. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
She turns and stares at me. “Bullish!” She points at me. “That was a serious double-edged fight, AB. You two were going at it and I could hear how much you hurt him.” I shake my head. She ignores me. “Girl, he was lashing out at you from pain and frustration. You two are walking a tightrope.”
Throwing the dress I’m holding to the floor, I glare at her. “No, we’re not. That’s done. It’s over. I… He… We… No, that’s it. It’s done. He’s not hurt. He hates me, Coralee.”
She chuckles and my head jerks up. “Nuh uh. He does not hate you. He hates what you did and he thinks you’re a selfish bitch, but well, you kind of are.” I gasp. She waves my objection off. “You are. You don’t mean to be and it comes from doing what other people want you to do, but you can be selfish.”
I shake my head. “I’m not.”
She grins at me. “You are. But, I love you anyway.
“When is the last time you did anything just for you?”
I look at her in exasperation. “You just called me selfish and you want to know when the last time I did anything selfless was? You don’t make any sense. How can I be selfish and selfless at the same time?!”
Laughing, she tosses another dress at me. “Because you are a complex creature.” I catch it. She points at the dress I’m now holding. “Put that on.”
I mutter under my breath as I slip the dress over my head. It’s a strapless, sweetheart neckline summer dress. The coral color looks great against my creamy skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
Coralee makes an approving sound. She tells me to turn so she can see the back. I do. She grins. “I have a task for you.”
I’m immediately uneasy. Coralee’s ideas are often not the smartest.
She giggles again. “We’re going out tonight.”
What? Her task is something about us going out tonight?
I can use a girl’s night, but the last time we did that… the last time, I ended up going home with Ty…
I say uneasily, “Where are we going?”
She grins at me. “Mustangs, of course.”
I sputter out, “We can’t go to Mustangs. That’s where… That’s where Ty hangs out.” The dress falls to the floor as I start to panic.
She looks at me with a knowing look on her face. “I know it is and you and Ty need to talk.”
We don’t need to talk. Us talking is a bad idea. I’m engaged to someone else. I left his bed and got engaged to another man the same day. The last two times we’ve “talked” have not gone well. I’ve ended up in tears and on the verge of panic attacks.
I shake my head. “I can’t go to Mustangs, Coralee. And I can’t talk to Ty. There’s nothing left to say to each other.”
She implores me with her striking eyes and her face tightens. “I’m your best friend and I’m telling you to stop lying to yourself.”
She looks at my hand and says flatly, “Where’s your atrocious enga
gement ring?”
I glance down and realize it’s not on my finger. I took it off last night and threw it on my dresser.
What’s the significance of that gesture? Am I having second thoughts about marrying Stanton?!
Second thoughts, more like tenth and eleventh thoughts.
Last night, I looked at my hand and the sight of the ring had me livid. I ripped it off my finger and tossed it onto the dresser. I threw a ring that cost more than most people’s houses onto the dresser like it was a vending machine bauble.
I’d say that’s pretty significant.
The question is… what am I going to actually DO about it?
Without stopping to think about the consequences, I nod. “It’s at home. On my dresser. Where it can stay. I don’t want it. I don’t want Stanton. He can have it back.”
Her face shows her surprise before it changes into pure unabated elation. “Seriously, AB? Have you finally realized you can’t marry Stanton?”
I quell the panic that’s threatening to rise as the full spectrum of what I’m deciding takes effect. I smile timidly. “I think I’ve known all along I can’t marry Stanton.”
Coralee whoops and pulls me in for a tight hug. “I knew you were my sexy, smart girl!”
Laughing with her as we dance around in our underwear in the dressing room, I realize my entire life is about to change and I’m terrified that it’s too late to save what Ty and I had…
But first… I have to end things with Stanton… and tell my parents.
Chapter Nine
Ty
We’re on the last hole on the course. Bently, Remy, and I have been playing golf all day. It’s taken us a bit longer because every time the beer cart passed, they keep flagging the pretty girls over to flirt, but it’s been a pretty relaxing day. It’s been a day that I desperately needed.
Things have just gone insane lately with my scene with AnnaBeth at the mansion, and then getting the call that rocked Tif’s world the other day.
I’m glad the call came in to stop her train of questions, because I’m pretty certain she’s got a hunch there’s something between me and AnnaBeth that I’m not disclosing. I’m not glad that the call was about her boyfriend, Cruz, and that it was because his asshole, loser sperm donor decided to attack him at his mother’s house. Something is not right with that guy. He was arrested for assault.