by Drea Stein
“Are you going to drink that champagne or just smell the bubbles?” Tory said, looking at Lynn from the mirror. Phoebe was behind the screen, making one last adjustment to her dress. It was going to be show time soon.
“What are you talking about?” Lynn said. She looked beautiful, more so than usual with her hair in an elaborate updo with ringlets falling down and framing her face. There was a glow about her—one that had nothing to do with her light spring tan or the artful makeup Tory had applied.
“You’re glowing,” Tory pointed out. She could be patient up to a point, but it hadn’t totally escaped her notice that Lynn had switched to decaf, was picking at her food unless it was disgustingly sweet flavors of ice cream and, when she wasn’t glowing, was a sickly shade of green. Or the way Jackson would run his hand possessively over her belly when he thought no one was looking.
“It’s the wedding. Weddings always make me…,” Lynn said, and then she threw her hands up in the air. “You know, too? Did you guess? Or did someone tell you? I mean, I wanted to tell you, but it’s early, and you were so busy that I just didn’t know what or how to do it.”
“Lynn,” Tory said and pulled her friend into a hug, “I’m so happy for you and Jackson. Congratulations.”
“It’s amazing. I mean, unexpected and awkward because we’re not married yet, but we will be soon. In another two weeks or so before everyone else guesses. But I am so excited, and I can’t wait for the look on your face when you hold a baby. I don’t know if you have ever held a baby before. They are so cute even you will be making funny faces at it.”
Tory smiled. It was great news, wonderful news.
“You know, all you have to do is tell him you’re wrong. It’s part of being in a relationship, telling someone you’re wrong and the other person forgiving you. Happens all the time. You forgive each other, and you go forward and become stronger.”
“What are you talking about?” Tory checked her hair, her makeup.
“You and Colby. Phoebe and I saw him the other day, walking with his mother. She’s quite charming.” Lynn’s glance slid toward Tory.
“You met Eleanor.”
“She’s delightful,” Phoebe said, from behind the screen. “I invited her to the wedding, since Colby’s going to be here.”
“You did what?” Tory yelped. Colby would be here today. She’d forgotten that he had his own invitation. She would have to see him. Panic started to flood through her.
Lynn looked at her and said simply, “Might be the perfect time to tell him you were an ass.”
“Well, what do you think?” Phoebe said as she stepped out from behind the screen.
They were silent.
“Wow,” Lynn said finally, and Tory could see that she was starting to tear up.
“You look amazing,” Tory said. And Phoebe did. She was glowing in her white off-the-shoulder gown, a simple column until it pooled out into a gorgeous sweep of skirt and train. Her hair was piled high on her head, with ringlets of gold falling down.
“I feel amazing,” Phoebe said, and Tory saw that there were tears in her eyes, too.
“No one cries,” Tory said sternly. “We’ll ruin our makeup.”
Phoebe took a deep breath, fanned her face. “Ok, ok. I am going to do this. I am going to get married today.”
She smiled, and Lynn and Tory smiled with her. The wedding planner came and hustled Phoebe away. Tory took a moment to think. All she had to do was to tell him she’d been an ass. How hard could that be? Because she had been. She loved Colby, had known it from almost the very beginning but had fought against it every step of the way.
Tory looked at herself in the mirror, taking a deep breath, steeling herself. Lynn came up behind her, wrapped her arms around her.
“You look like someone who’s been thinking deep thoughts.”
“I’ve been an ass,” Tory said.
“Yup you have. But the good news is you figured it out.”
“I love him. I love Colby Reynolds.”
“Yes you do. Tell me, was it from the moment you saw him or did you have to wait and take him for a test drive?”
Tory laughed and Lynn smiled. “I think it was from the moment he looked at me and said my name.”
“Ahh, love at first words. Almost as magical as love at first sight. And way more rational. Just like I’d expect to from you.”
“I have to tell him,” Tory said turning.
Lynn put out her hand. “Oh no you don’t. First you have a wedding to attend, then you can sort out your love life.”
“My love life,” Tory said, feeling a little dazed. She loved Colby. She thought about it and the panic died away. It felt…right.
Chapter 60
“Colby, tell your dog to keep its god-damned paws off my dress.”
Colby heard the voice and ignored it. He was busy fixing something, but Princess kept barking and the calls were more insistent.
“Colby!”
“Ellie, what do you want?” He came out of the garage. Eleanor was still in her car with the window rolled down. Princess was jumping up and down and making a racket.
“Tell her to hush, and I’ll tell you,” Eleanor said as she took off her oversized sunglasses.
He sighed. “Down, Princess,” he said, and she took her paws off the car door.
“I’m wearing a nice dress, Colby, and I swear I will hurt her if she lays a paw on me.”
“Here,” he called, and Princess reluctantly came over to him. For good measure, he held on to her collar.
Eleanor finally opened the door, and he saw that she was dressed up.
“Have somewhere to go, Ellie?” he said. He did not want to deal with her. He was brooding, thinking about Tory. She would be getting ready for the wedding now. She had let him peek at the dress. It wasn’t a typical bridesmaid’s dress, and he knew that she would look amazing in the pale blue sheath that would show off her sculpted body.
And her hair … “Down or up?” she had asked, and he had pulled her to him, ran his hands through it and kissed her until she couldn’t remember her question.
“Yes, I do. And so do you. We’re going to a wedding.”
He burst out laughing at that.
“A wedding? Are you kidding me, Eleanor? You want me to take you to Chase’s wedding?”
Eleanor shrugged. “Nope, I am going to take you. And make sure you go in.”
“Is this one of your weird head games, Eleanor? Tory’s going to be there, and I don’t want to see her.”
Eleanor waved her hand. “’Course you do, sugar. You’ve been brooding about her for days now, and the two of you are too stubborn to do anything about it, so we’re just going to have to move this along.”
“What? What were you thinking?” Colby felt his blood rise.
“I was thinking that you once wanted to stand up for me, but I wouldn’t let you. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I wasn’t, but it’s time I meddled in your life the right way. She knows it all the whole story.”
“Great, so now she knows I’m a trailer trash bastard.”
Eleanor came over to him, ignoring Princess, and took him by the shoulders.
“Colby Reynolds, you are a good man. You were a good boy, too. You made some bad choices, but you came back from them. That’s what she needed to know. She doesn’t want just anyone; she wants you.”
“No, she doesn’t,” he said.
“Well, she has a classic case of a commitment-phobia.”
“What am I going to do about that?”
“Chase her harder.”
She shook her head when she saw that he didn’t understand. “Look, she panicked, told you it was too much, right?”
He nodded.
“Used me as an excuse.”
He shrugged in acknowledgement.
“Well, now that you’ve actually left and haven’t come back, guess what…?” She waited.
“I’ve proved exactly what she’s afraid of, that I’m not committed enough to her.”
&nbs
p; “Exactly.”
“So, I’m supposed to beg her?”
“How badly do you want her?”
He looked away and then at Eleanor again.
“As much as I have ever wanted anything.”
Eleanor folded her arms across her chest and smiled. “Well, then, time to show them just how well a good ol’ boy can clean up. Time to get your fancy duds on, as Bobby Dean would say.” Colby smiled, his heart lifting.
“Thank you, Eleanor. You’re ok for a mother.”
“Well, that means I’m making progress. Now put that beast away so she doesn’t get any ideas about my dress, and go get cleaned up.”
Chapter 61
The wedding was beautiful. Jake stood across from her and threw her some funny looks, trying to make sure she didn’t cry. She appreciated it—really, she did—but everything was so perfect and beautiful that she couldn’t help it when a few teardrops fell. She brushed them away. They were tears of happiness; really, they were.
“Old Tory crying, never thought I’d see that.”
“Shut up, Jake. I didn’t agree to be your plus-one, you know. You can leave me alone.”
“You seem kind of sad. And alone, so I’m just being a nice guy.”
They stood together looking at all the happy couples. Noah and Caitlyn Randall, Lynn and Jackson, Darby and Sean Callahan, and now Chase and Phoebe. Almost in unison, they sighed.
“I think this calls for a drink,” Jake said, turning toward the bar. She turned with him, and he was there, in a gray suit, blue tie and matching gray boots.
“Mind if I cut in here?” Colby said, eyeing Jake.
Jake looked between the two of them and finally settled a questioning glance on Tory.
“Get lost, quarterback,” she said.
“On it.”
#
Jake wandered over to the bar. He was fumbling for a dollar to leave in the tip jar when he looked up and was met by one of the frostiest expressions he had ever seen.
“Colleen? What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Jake,” she said as she poured the guy next to him two white wines.
“What are you doing here?” he repeated because he couldn’t really think of anything else to say to her.
“Working. You’re holding up the line,” Colleen said pointedly. “What do you want, a beer?”
He nodded, and she handed over an icy cold bottle, which he took.
She stared at him expectantly, and he remembered his manners. His hand started to drop the dollar bill in his pocket, and then he thought better of it and pulled out a five.
She looked at it and then at him. “You don’t have to feel guilty, Jake. The dollar would have been fine.”
“I’m not feeling guilty.”
“Well, then, move aside—lots of thirsty people. Watching people make life-shattering decisions like getting married is thirsty work.”
He moved away, throwing a glance over his shoulder. Colleen McShane. Her hair wasn’t as blonde as it had been, and it was shorter, almost a bob. Her face was still pretty, but it had lost the fullness he remembered. She had been all pouty lips and lush curves. Back then, it felt like a million years ago, he had taken Darby Reese to the prom and wound up with Colleen McShane. Darby had been angry, and Colleen had laughed at him when he called the next day, saying she had no interest in a dumb jock. That’s when Jake had realized he’d been used. Darby had forgiven him, but Colleen had disappeared soon after graduation and he hadn’t seen her again until he heard she’d gotten a job at the Osprey Arms. Since then he’d been doing his drinking at Quent’s.
He closed his eyes and took a sip of beer as a memory of long blonde hair, soft skin and rock anthems swept over him. The backseat of a car, of course—they’d been teenagers. He remembered his excitement, Colleen’s seeming pleasure and then the moment when Darby had found them and expressed her disgust at both of them in no uncertain terms. He and Darby hadn’t been dating, of course—just friends, but it had been a bad move. Still, he hadn’t forgotten his one night with Colleen McShane. He took one more look at Colleen, then glanced away. He caught sight of Tory and Colby and shook his head. Weddings. Emotional roller coasters and not just for the couple getting married.
#
“You’re wearing cowboy boots. With a suit. To a wedding in May?” She said it because she could think of little else.
“What can I say? Once a cowboy, always a cowboy,” he said.
“You told me you’ve never been on a horse in your life.”
“Nope, I said I preferred cars to horses. Big difference. I also didn’t tell you I had a mother who works for me, my real dad was a drunk and that, to tell you the truth, I hated Bobby Dean DeWitt with a passion.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” Tory said.
He shook his head. “I think that’s all the lies and half-truths out of the way.”
“Well, then, I have something to tell you.”
“Ok,” he said, and she saw the uncertainty in his face. Her heart broke. She had done that, made him doubt her.
“I’m an ass,” she said.
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m an ass. I love you, Colby Reynolds, from your cowboy boots, to your accent, to the way you make me laugh, to your swagger … and to the way I feel complete when I’m with you. And I was an ass to run from it and you, and I hope you can forgive me.”
He looked dumbstruck, and she laughed.
He took a step closer, took her hand. “What were you afraid of?”
“I don’t know. Maybe growing bitter, tired, stale.”
“Like your parents?” Colby asked, and spun her around so she could see the dance floor that had been set up. Her parents were out there, dancing like they belonged together. Lynn and Jackson were swaying, eyes glued to each other. On the sidelines, other couples watched and held hands as Chase swung Phoebe around with more enthusiasm than skill, but no one minded.
“The road isn’t always straight, Tory. Sometimes it curves, but I want to take it with you, one day at time, but forever together.”
She looked at her parents, looked at the other couples dancing and leaned into Colby. He had fixed her car, cooked her dinner, kissed her senseless and turned a road trip an adventure.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being scared, for holding back.”
“I knew you’d come around, logical, practical Tory.”
“So, you’re ok with it … with me?”
“Tory I love you, all of you. Every bit of you … so, will you?”
“Will I what?”
He smiled at her. “I wouldn’t want to be so rude as to spoil someone else’s big day, but….”
He pulled the dark blue velvet box from his pocket. This time she didn’t close her eyes, didn’t flinch at the sound of it snapping open. A simple band of yellow gold with a round diamond smiled and winked in the sun.
“Make Princess happy. Make me happy. Marry me?”
She looked at him and smiled, her heart finally full. “Yes.”
A Note from the Author
Thanks so much reading! As always, I wouldn’t be doing this without you – the reader! I hope you enjoyed Tory and Colby’s story. Keep an eye out for Jake’s story coming soon!
In the meantime if you want more things Queensbay, please stop by my website: www.dreastein.com
Or on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DreaSteinAuthor
Cheers!
Drea
Read the other books in the Queensbay Series:
Book 1: Dinner for Two – Darby & Sean
Book 2: Rough Harbor – Caitlyn & Noah
Book 3: The Ivy House – Chase & Phoebe
Book 4: Chasing Chance – Lynn & Jackson
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2015 by Andrea “Drea” Stein. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, includ
ing photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Barn Hill Media/GirlMogul
309 Main Street
Ste 101
Lebanon, NJ 08833
www.dreastein.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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