False Start (Mavericks #1)

by Julianna Marley

  Sitting back down, she squeezed the sides of her chair. Her fingers were itching to get on her computer and review a few more concepts for some fast approaching events because regardless of how wonderful the day of rest felt, the thought of taking a whole day off with so much work still left to do, had her slightly panicking all morning. But for as tempted as she was to send a few emails on her phone while Jax was elbows deep in damp sand, he had demanded, with his body none the less, that the day would be for relaxing and spent with family. He was worried she was running herself into the ground again and as much as she hadn’t wanted to admit it, he was right. She needed this. So instead of replying to emails and signing off on signature cocktails, she was sitting in a chair on Hudson Beach with the sounds of her daughters’ giggles mixing with the loud sounds of the waves around her.

  Again, she was in heaven.

  “Hi y’all!”

  Alivia looked up at Chelsea and Trevor walking up to the spot of sand close to the water with their beach towels and bags, Asher nuzzling into Trevor’s neck.

  “What’s up?!” she heard Myles’s booming voice behind them.

  “Party’s here,” Charlotte sang, looking up past her big floppy beach hat.

  Walking over to Jax, Trevor slapped hands with him while Chelsea sat down throwing her bags and towels in the sand, out of breath.

  “Hi!” Alivia smiled, reaching for her bottle of citrus water beside her. “Is Asher okay?” she asked, watching her chubby godson grip onto Trevor’s neck.

  “We have another round of teeth coming in,” Chelsea sighed, taking Asher from Trevor. Laying his head against her chest, Chelsea kissed the top of his little head as Alivia wrapped a towel over him shielding him from the strong sun.

  “Is this seat taken?” Charlotte asked, plopping down on the other side of her.

  “It’s all yours,” Alivia said, taking a few towels off the back, “my amazing dress designer.”

  Smirking, Charlotte took off her cover-up, “flattery will get you everywhere with me.”

  “Ah, yes I heard about these gowns and I want in,” Chelsea leaned forward looking at Charlotte.

  “Relax, I didn’t forget about you,” Charlotte quipped. “I’m taking that stellar tangerine dress that you’re oddly obsessed with, the one I wore to New Year’s Eve last year and reconstructing some of it for you.”

  Chelsea’s face lighting up in pure joy, Alivia knew her best friend was excited. Charlotte acted as if creating another beautiful gown was no big deal. Like it wasn’t the most bad ass thing Alivia had ever seen, but then that was the thing about Charlotte. She did things for everyone all the time as if it was no big deal, never truly grasping how happy she made other people.

  “Ohhhh, I love that dress!” Chelsea gushed. “I actually have dreams about that dress!” she laughed, pure joy on her round face.

  “Is Whitney coming?” Chelsea asked, quietly rocking Asher.

  Watching the girls down by the water dancing around Jax like ballerinas, Alivia waved to them.

  “When I called this morning, she said her and Adam would come.”

  “I’m worried about her,” Charlotte said, rubbing more lotion on her shoulders. “Something’s up.”

  She had thought that giving Whitney some time off to focus on the baby coming would have helped ease her constant worrying, but it seemed as though Whitney was stressed out more than ever. She was practically begging her and Ross to take her along with them to scout venues for the events they had coming up, especially the draft party.

  “I’ve noticed it too,” she said, looking over at Charlotte. She had promised Whitney that she wouldn’t repeat what the two of them had discussed in her office, but seeing how concerned Charlotte was, she wondered if she should mention it now.

  “Well how come I haven’t noticed anything?” Chelsea asked.

  “Because you’re too busy with that rabid chipmunk over there and planning your dream wedding to notice anything else,” Charlotte stood, rubbing lotion on her porcelain stomach.

  “That’s not true,” Chelsea said pursing her lips. “I noticed you cut your hair shorter again.”

  “Like a month ago, Chels.”

  “Oh,” Chelsea said, lifting the towel up checking on Asher. “Sorry.”

  “And for the record,” Alivia declared, “she is not too busy planning her dream wedding. I am.”

  Resting her nose on the top of Asher’s head, Chelsea was quiet. She didn’t know it yet, but Alivia was planning to fly out to Georgia to meet with the Shaws to convince them all to come to the wedding.

  “They’ll come hunny.”

  She wasn’t completely confident she had what it took to actually get them to attend, but she was going to try her darndest. “I promise.”

  “Room for two and a half more?” Whitney appeared, rubbing her big belly, a large bag hanging from her arm as Adam stood behind her, hands empty.

  “Absolutely.” Alivia got up, insisting on taking the large bag, holding Whitney’s arm. Leading her through the sand, Charlotte placed a towel down on the chair before reclining it backwards.

  “Y’all treat me like I’m made of glass,” Whitney whined, slightly out of breath. Even nearing her last trimester, she looked flawless. Big, but flawless. Her pregnancy glow matching the shine from the afternoon sun. Plopping down into the chair, she readjusted herself, easing back, and moaning. “Oh, this is divine.”

  Chuckling, Alivia sat down again. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Shielding her eyes from the sun, she watched Adam making his way towards the other men at the water’s edge.

  “Hi, Adam,” she said a little louder and a little more annoyed than she intended. The usually chivalrous man avoiding them without even a noncommittal “hello.”

  “Oh, hey, Liv,” he nodded, reaching the guys and shaking hands with Jax.

  Snickering, Charlotte rested her arms above her head looking down at the water. “What’s up his asshole?”

  “Language,” Whitney said hoarsely, sipping her water. “He’s stressed out.”

  “What the hell does he have to be stressed out about?” Charlotte asked, her eyebrows snapping together. “You’re the one carrying this baby.”

  “And the one not sleeping,” Alivia chimed in.

  “And the one whose vagina will never look the same,” Chelsea added, making them all laugh.

  Sad, but true.

  “Ugh, if that’s what pregnancy is all about,” Charlotte shuddered leaning her head back on the chair. “Count. Me. Out.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Whitney giggled causing her big belly to wiggle,

  “Myles told me once that he wants six kids.”

  “Six!” Charlotte spat, sitting up in a panic, her hat swaying on her head. “Is he out of his mind?”

  “Looks like you got your work cut out for you there, Miss Scott,” Alivia laughed.

  “Hell no!” Charlotte trailed off, leaning back down into the chair slowly. “I’m not designed for marriage and motherhood.”

  “What does that even mean?” Whitney asked shaking her head. “Not designed for marriage and motherhood?”

  “It means that I don’t know if I can be married to one person for the rest of my life,”

  Charlotte said, her eyes resting on Myles chasing the girls into the water like a big kid.

  “You mean sleep with only one person for the rest of your life,” Chelsea chuckled, earning her a glare from Charlotte.

  “And all of this stuff,” Charlotte said waving to Asher fast asleep on Chelsea’s chest and Whitney’s belly, her face squishing in horror. “Just…no!”

  “If you find the right man, you can,” Alivia added, not taking her eyes off Jax.

  “She did find the right one,” Whitney sighed sweeping her long hair into a ponytail. “She just has to stop being so stubborn.”

  “Whatever,” Charlotte bit back, watching Myles.

  “I already told you, Char. If it feels
good, don’t fight it,” Alivia said. She wasn’t sure why Charlotte was always afraid of commitment, but it sure was fun watching her squirm. Alivia couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been in love with Jax. The years before him seemed like another life. A life where she was unaware of how much love a person could experience and what happiness felt like. Real happiness.

  “Oh, it’s right,” Whitney chuckled, swatting Charlotte’s arm. “She’s just too chicken to let herself fall in love.”

  Scowling, Charlotte leaned back in her chair, pulling her hat over her face.

  “But what do I know?” Whitney sighed. “Liv is the only one who is technically married,” she said twisting her engagement ring from Adam on her finger. “Any pearls of wisdom for the rest of us impending wives?

  Maybe she wasn’t the perfect person to give anybody advice about marriage, but she had learned a lot over the past year. That the sacrifice of being in love is being open and vulnerable to pain. Experiencing a love so intense, it only made sense that when you were burned, it burned deep. That even the most noble of intentions fueled by love could nearly destroy a person.

  “It’s not a matter of being ‘designed’ for anything,” Alivia said, staring out at Jax, his black board shorts hanging low on his hips, running around with the girls all over the beach.

  “Your heart doesn’t seem to care much about all the fears your mind creates, it just wants what it wants. It’s about waking up smiling every day at the person next to you and it’s about that one person being your calm in the middle of the storm,” she continued, watching every muscle tighten on his tan back with each swift move he made. “It’s about that unmatched peace that settles inside of you, about making that person happy and helping them succeed above what you would even do for yourself. It’s about the guy who winks at you when you say something silly, the one who would walk through hell for you, even if you aren’t entirely confident you’d have the courage to do the same.” Feeling her heart swell, she winked at Jax across the sand.

  “And it’s about choosing to do it all over again, every single day.”

  Charlotte was quiet and Alivia didn’t miss Whitney looking down at her engagement ring.

  “Well, alright then,” Chelsea broke the silence. “I think you just wrote my wedding vows.”

  * * *

  “Daddy! We’re going to go see if we can wake up Asher,” Hailey said, jumping up and down in front of Jax. He was having a ball with all his girls and he couldn’t remember the last time they were all at the beach together. The girls took off up the beach towards Liv. He was glad he was able to persuade her this morning to put down the laptop and spend the day together.

  Shaking his head, Myles came out of the water, out of breath. “Man, they are getting so big.”

  “That they are,” he agreed, watching them try to wake Asher up in Chelsea’s lap.

  “You’re up next,” Jax said, tipping his beer towards Adam. He didn’t know exactly what it was about him and he could never put his finger on it, but he never liked Adam. The guy was decent and polite enough, never causing any trouble as far as he knew, but he didn’t trust him. Whitney was like the younger sister he never had and sweet as pie, he didn’t get the match. Shaking his head dismissively, giving clear indication that they were not discussing his impending fatherhood, which Jax found odd, he let the topic go. The man was engaged to be married and having a child with such a sweet, talented woman, what man wouldn’t have been excited about that?

  “So when are you gonna make an honest woman out of Charlotte and start popping out ridiculously large humans?” Trevor asked, hiding his laughter.

  Rolling his eyes, Myles kicked at the sand under his feet. “Please! I have to tackle that woman to the ground just to get her to commit to dinner next weekend,” he said, shaking his head. Glancing back up the beach where Charlotte sat with the other women, he took another pull of his beer.

  “I had one of those,” Trevor chuckled. “Damn women.”

  “Yeah, aren’t men supposed to be the ones scared of commitment?” Myles asked.

  “Charlotte will give in,” Jax said, smiling at one of his best friends since playing for the Mavs. He knew Charlotte well enough to know that she was smitten with the big guy, she just needed time to come around. But in the meantime, he was thoroughly enjoying watching the big lug be brought to his knees by a feisty blonde.

  Agreeing, Myles grinned. “I’m getting to her. I can see it.”

  Looking up the beach at his own sassy blonde, Jax smiled. He never had any hesitation committing to Liv. From the moment he met her, he had known he was in trouble and from the moment he had kissed her, he knew he had seen the rest of his life beside her. Staring at her now laughing with each of the girls sitting on her lap, he could empathize with Myles’s pain. Because even after all this time, Liv still bought him to his knees.

  And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  18

  Willing herself to pick up the phone, Alivia plopped down into her chair. She had just spent the better part of the last hour finding small tasks to complete inside her office to avoid calling Chelsea’s parents. Even insisted on a mid-afternoon office dance party that she did from time to time. A few minutes when she demanded everyone to get up and dance to boost morale and recharge the creativeness in the middle of the day. Something she had instilled since opening Save the Date, usually earning her eye rolls and groans, but she didn’t care, she knew they secretly loved it. Things were chaotic, and about to get a whole lot crazier in three short days. She was flying out to Atlanta for a visit, her sole purpose to convince the Shaws to attend Chelsea’s wedding. Of course, they didn’t know that, not right now at least. When she had called Trevor to explain her near mission impossible, she could hear the relief in his voice even over the phone. Any doubts she had about interjecting in a family issue disappeared. She needed to do this. To fix this. For Chelsea. For their future. But most importantly, for Asher. After convincing Trevor that it wasn’t a good idea for him to fly solo to visit the Shaws, or really visit at all, he offered to help in any way he could to get things right between Chelsea and her parents. He was adamant that he wanted nothing more than for Chelsea to be happy and why the Shaws disapproved of a man who loved their daughter so fiercely, she would never understand. All he needed to do was cover for her when she told Chelsea she would be traveling for a bridal seminar, the rest was up to her. The thought of the enormity of what lay on the line drilled a hole in her stomach.

  Picking up the phone, she gripped it in her hand. She had known Chelsea’s parents her entire life and although they were orthodox and tended to be a little narrow minded, they were good people. Gentle, kind people who loved their daughter. Dialing the numbers from the piece of paper Trevor had given her, she waited as the phone rang. Fortunately, she had always had a good relationship with the Shaws, believing, or maybe just praying that if anyone could get through to them, it could be her. Mrs. Shaw had always told her that she was a part of their family and she was banking on that notion to give her some pull.

  “Hello?” A small voice filled the phone and Alivia knew that it was Mrs. Shaw. Her unmistakable gentle tone clouded by a thick accent.

  “Hello,” Alivia cleared her throat sucking in a breath. “Is Mrs. Shaw there, please?”

  Breathe.

  “This is her. May I ask who is callin’?” Mary Shaw asked and she wondered if it was too late to hang up. Maybe she should just have shown up on their doorstep. Surprise!

  “Mrs. Shaw, hello!” she said shaking out her nerves. “It’s Alivia.”

  Scrunching her face, she wondered how surprised Mary was by the call.

  “Alivia? Hello!” she sang through the phone a bit brighter. “I thought it sounded like you, how are ya darlin’?”

  Chewing her lip, she stared at a picture sitting on her desk of her and Chelsea at Asher’s christening.

  “I’m well, how are you?” she asked, still staring at the picture. She co
uldn’t screw this up. Too much was at stake. She needed the Shaws at this wedding.

  “We are well,” Mary continued. “Jim will be very glad we heard from you.”

  “Oh well, please do tell him I said hello.” she swallowed the lump in her throat. She had to get it together. If she was this nervous just talking to Mrs. Shaw on the phone, there was no telling what kind of a hot mess she would be when she showed up on their doorstep.

  “Mrs. Shaw, I have some good news. I’m going to be in your town in a few days for some business,” she winced. She was an awful liar and felt like a total creep, but Chelsea’s mama would thank her for this one day. They all would. “And I would absolutely love to see y’all while I have some downtime.”

  The line was quiet a moment and she held her breath. Checking to make sure she was still on the line, Mary cleared her throat, filling the silence between them again.

  “Now Alivia, dear, are you really comin’ all the way out here for business or does this have to do with our Chelsea?”

  Damn it.

  “Oh,” she stuttered, smacking her palm against her head. She hadn’t counted on Mary seeing right through her and she couldn’t very well lie now. That wouldn’t do any good, but maybe if she could convince her, right here, right now, than maybe she would have an easier time breaking down the rest of the family.

  “Possibly?” Alivia admitted squeezing her eyes shut. “I wouldn’t be Chelsea’s best friend if I didn’t try and do everything in my power to make sure her wedding day is spectacular, Mrs. Shaw,” Alivia spat out quickly, covering her face.

  This is a disaster.

  “She misses you and Mr. Shaw and of course Charles,” Alivia continued. “And she has been very reluctant to enjoy her wedding process because of the constant reminder that her family will not be there. That, and the painful thought that her daddy will not be giving her away. It’s destroying her.” She rambled on, hoping that honesty really was the best policy.

  Mary was quiet again and she silently hoped that what she had said was good enough to at least continue the conversation. Mary could just as easily give her the riot act about respecting people’s privacy or minding her own business, or worse, hanging up on her.