by Vella, Wendy
“Well, now, girl, you look mighty fine.”
“Thanks, Uncle Mitch. You’re pretty handsome yourself.”
His suit was black over a vest of black satin and he wore a white shirt and black crossover tie. In one hand he held a black cowboy hat and on his feet were leather boots.
“Well, then, I reckon we could be making an entrance, little girl.”
They traveled by limo with Taylor, who was dressed like Uncle Mitch. The day had produced good weather for the bride and they arrived at the church thirty minutes later.
Limos and expensive cars lined the street that the church stood on. They pulled up outside, and Taylor got out first and held out his hand to her. He then led her up the stairs, and they smiled and nodded to several other guests before stepping inside the cool interior of the church.
It was huge, with high vaulted ceilings and arches, and long rows of pews with a wide aisle between. Everything sparkled and the flowers smelled wonderful. Big white satin bows had been placed on the end of each pew. The guests who had already found their seats were buzzing with expectation as they awaited the bride.
“I’ll just sit at the back here, Taylor. You go down to where the family is,” Annabelle said, stepping to one side so they didn’t block the doorway.
“Ethan wants you up in front, Annabelle. He told me.”
Annabelle patted Taylor’s hand. “No, really, I’ll be more comfortable down here. You go on with your uncle, and I’ll see you after. This isn’t a time for strangers to be sitting with all of you.”
He didn’t want to, but as other guests were arriving there was little he could do. Annabelle moved to the last row, which was still empty, and slid into it, seating herself at the end by the wall. She was happy here, tucked away so she could observe and slip out when it was over to await Ethan outside.
Looking around at the other guests, she thought everyone had dressed just as she’d expected they would, and knew there was a great deal of money invested in both the clothes and jewels. Some were a bit overdone, the hats too big, the gems too ostentatious, but wasn’t that what made the world an interesting place. Everyone was different and to each his own had always been her motto. Annabelle smiled to the people who settled in the pew beside her. Looking toward the front of the church, she watched Ethan come into view. She could see his head, then his shoulders, encased in a black evening suit.
That man is way too good-looking, she thought, studying those broad shoulders and the killer smile he flashed as he walked. Regroup, Annabelle, regroup! The words shrieked in her head as he looked at her, his eyes boring into hers. As he drew closer, she saw the smile was a fake, and in fact, he was not a happy man. As her pew was the last, and there was little space between it and the rear wall, and he had to lean over the other guests who had just seated themselves to get to her.
“You’re sitting with me.” There was no please or could you in his words; they were just what they were, a demand, and she shouldn’t feel that little flutter in her chest at the sight of his large hand extended towards her. In fact, she should be downright pissed off by his highhanded attitude.
“Please excuse her, Bill, Sally. She’s not supposed to be down here. She got a little confused when she arrived.” This he said to the people seated beside her, and they all bought it, smiling as they stood to let her past, so Annabelle had little choice but to do as he asked or make a scene.
Gritting her teeth, she nodded, smiled, and tried not to step on toes as she walked, until his fingers took hers in a hard grip and hauled her out to his side.
“This day is going to be hard enough without having to worry that some asshole is hitting on you, Smith. And quite frankly, in that dress I’m surprised you even made it through the door.” His words were a snarl as he marched her down the aisle.
“What’s wrong with my dress?”
“Not a damn thing,” he muttered, taking her hand and forcing each of her fingers into place between his.
“I was happy down there,” Annabelle protested as they walked past the other guests who were all watching them avidly.
“I wasn’t.”
And that was that as far as he was concerned, so for now she shut up, because his mouth might be smiling but his expression was mean, which told her he was angry about something.
“Did you get into it again with your dad or Brad?”
“Both,” he muttered.
Stopping by the second pew from the front, he then urged her in. He didn’t release her hand, so she had to shuffle sideways past Uncle Mitch and Taylor.
“I did tell you, Annabelle, that Ethan wanted you up here. Maybe next time you’ll listen.”
She sat next to Taylor and sent him a glare that he returned with a wide smile, one just like the thundercloud beside her usually wore.
“Why can you never just do as you’re told?” Ethan whispered the words into her ear so no one else heard.
“I don’t take orders from anyone, so I don’t know why you think you’d be any different, Gelderman.”
His lips twitched and his grip on her fingers eased, so at least the blood could flow again.
They sat in silence steering at the back of Mrs. Gelderman’s hat, which was large with a floppy brim, in a pretty shade of blue. On impulse, Annabelle learned forward.
“That’s a lovely hat, Mrs. Gelderman, and such a pretty color.”
The woman turned, and the surprise on her face was genuine. Her eyes went from Annabelle to Ethan. “Thank you, Ms. Smith.” Her smiled was a bit brittle, but Annabelle thought it was genuine just the same.
Annabelle nudged Ethan in the ribs.
“It’s nice, Mother. You look lovely.”
More surprise at her eldest son’s words. This smile was less brittle and definitely genuine. “Thank you.” She then turned to face forward once more, and beside her Uncle Mitch said something.
“Happy now?” Ethan said into Annabelle’s ear.
“Women of any age like a compliment, Ethan. Just because she’s your mother doesn’t make her immune,” Annabelle said, turning to look at him. He was so close she could see the strain etched in the lines of his face.
“I can see that now. Thank you.” His gaze moved over her face and down her neck, where it lingered on the necklace and then moved lower.
“Stop that!” Annabelle whispered as it settled on her breasts.
“Honey, do you have any idea how you look in that dress, with those killer heels doing amazing things for your already amazing legs, and those gems sparkling at your throat and your hair all sleek and shiny?”
“Oh, please. You’ve been saying things like that to me since we met,” Annabelle scoffed, trying to ignore the spike of heat that was spiraling through her body. He was just looking at her, for pity’s sake.
“Ah, but the difference then was I didn’t know what was under your clothes. Now I do, and believe me, that outfit you’re wearing today does spectacular things for your body, Ms. Smith.”
“Ethan, we’re in a church. Stop it.” Annabelle wriggled on her seat in embarrassment as his eyes continued to trail over her.
“Don’t inhale like that. Christ, my blood pressure is in the rafters already.”
The tightness was slowly leaving his eyes as he teased her and even though it was at her expense, she was glad. Maybe she could give him a few other things to think about.
“Like what?” Annabelle fluttered her eyelashes and took a deep breath, feeling her bodice press against her chest then release.
“Hussy.”
She placed a hand flat on his chest, letting her fingers slide inside the front of his jacket. Leaning forward, she then brushed his lips softly. His inhale was deep and the muscles beneath her hand clenched.
“This,” he rasped softly when she pulled back, “will be the longest day of my life.”
Annabelle sat back and smiled and then the music started.
Hope looked beautiful in ivory satin, with a long lace train gliding behind her
as she walked on the arm of her father. Steven’s smile was just for his future wife as she reached his side, as was the kiss he placed on her lips when her veil had been lifted.
“Oh, that was beautiful.” Annabelle felt the sting of tears and sniffled.
Ethan didn’t say anything, just lifted her fingers to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. The gesture was sweet and innocent, and touched Annabelle a lot more than it should.
She watched the service and listened to the vows, and wondered if she would ever experience this. Would she ever commit her life to another?
“You have a wistful look on your face, honey.”
She didn’t look at Ethan as he whispered the words, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s a lovely service,” she said in reply.
His fingers tightened around hers briefly after she spoke, but he said nothing further.
They sat hip to hip, thigh to thigh, hands entwined throughout the long ceremony. Annabelle had never really felt connected to anyone before, especially not in a you’re my heart and soul kind of way, but as she sat there in that old church that was full of memories and traditions, she began to feel different, began to feel the slow build of need inside her.
The need to belong to another person, the need to be something to someone. It was to the man at her side that she wanted to belong. The flutter of panic slowly building in her chest was not pleasant, especially when she poked at its edges and realized it was because she was beginning to care deeply for Ethan, and the thought that she was now in too deep to back out was a terrifying one.
Inhaling through her nose, she tried to calm down. This would be over soon. Ethan had said that they would leave first thing in the morning, before the family rose. She could go home and put some distance between them again, and think through her next step, whatever that would be.
Regroup! Regroup!
Ethan got through the day by avoiding Brad and his father. He talked to friends and family at the reception, ate and drank, then danced with the sexiest woman in the room, Annabelle.
When he’d seen her walk into the church on those long, endless legs, he’d had the urge to simply stalk down the aisle, throw her over his shoulder and walk out. The pink dress had a floaty part attached to it that fell from beneath her breasts, and as she walked it fluttered around her, making her look like a… Christ, he had no idea how to describe what she looked like. She was just so fucking beautiful, his teeth hurt from clenching every time he looked at her. Her silver heels were sky-high which meant, when they were close she all but looked him in the eye, and that necklace sparkled against her soft skin.
The reception was being held at his father’s country club, expensive and exclusive. The guests were now being wined and dined on the best of everything. Annabelle was dancing with Taylor, and he was watching, as were most of the men and a good handful of envious woman as she glided around the room laughing with his brother.
A few of his old friends had slapped him on the back to congratulate him on bagging the hottest woman here, which just pissed him off, because Annabelle wasn’t the type of woman he wanted to score with. He realized that he wanted a lot more from her, and knowing how she felt about him and about being involved with him, Ethan thought he was going to have to pull out a few slick moves to get her to stay in his life.
It was ironic really, that he, the man who committed to no one, had fallen hard for a woman who herself seemed incapable of commitment. Maybe that view was different now; after all, she’d slept in his arms last night. Maybe she thought differently about him too, because he sure as hell did about her.
Looking at her bag that lay on the table beside his hand, he heard the buzzing sound of her phone again. It had been ringing on and off for days, and each time she’d ignored it. He watched Taylor swing her away from him on the dance floor, so he opened the bag and pulled out her phone and saw the name Cooper on the screen.
“Why are you looking inside my bag?”
Damn.
“Your phone was buzzing, so I was getting it out for you. It’s named Cooper, who if I remember correctly is your brother.”
She took the phone out of his hand and stuffed it back inside her purse even though it was still ringing.
“You’re not going to answer that? Seems to me if your brother is calling you from Vegas at”—Ethan checked his watch—“10:30 p.m., it could be important.”
Her expression was closed suddenly. All the laughter she’d had dancing with Taylor had drained away and now her face was blank.
“No,” she said, sliding into her seat. She took a mouthful of water, and then turned her back on him to watch the other dancers.
“No, I’m not going to call him now, but I will later? Or no, I’m not going to call him ever?” Ethan grabbed the seat of her chair and turned it so she was facing him.
“Hey! I was watching the dancers.”
“And now you’re not,” he said calmly. “Now you’re going to tell me why you’re not taking your brother’s calls at 10:30 at night.”
She dropped her eyes and ran the tip of her finger around the rim of her water glass. “There’s nothing to say. He’s probably just out with his friends and wanted to chat with me.” She put the glass on the table slowly and precisely.
“You’re lying to me, Annabelle, and considering I’ve bared my soul to you, and you’ve seen all my ugly, dark secrets this weekend, I hardly think it’s fair that you won’t share a few of yours with me.”
He thought she was going to say something smart, push him away with a comment, but instead she heaved a deep sigh.
“I don’t want to tell you, because mine are uglier and way darker than yours.”
“Cool. I could do with something to take my mind off this, so spill… now,” he said.
Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the table and started to talk. “The truth is I’ve been lying about Cooper, Ethan, to everyone.”
The brown depths of her eyes were sad as she looked at him, so he reached for her, cupping her cheek, his other hand sliding up her leg.
“Lying how?”
“I really need to tell my other brother before I tell anyone else, because he’s been in this mess from the start too, like I told Buster when he drove me to Brook. It’s just that Zach’s at sea, so communication is hard.”
“Will you just tell me, woman…please?” Ethan added.
“I’m not real big on sharing things about me or my family, Ethan. I…I hate pity and weakness.”
“And telling me will make you weak and you think I’ll pity you?” He stroked her cheek.
“No…I know you won’t, but like I said, I’m not good at sharing this kind of thing, because I’ve always dealt with my problems alone.”
“But you’ve never been alone, Annabelle. You’ve always had your friends,” Ethan said, holding her eyes steady.
“I know, and it’s bad that I haven’t shared everything with them, but when I was younger I just got sick of the pity.”
Her eyes were so sad that Ethan leaned forward and kissed her softly, their lips clinging until he reluctantly pulled away.
“One day you’ll tell me about your life, like I told you about mine, honey, but for now tell me Cooper’s story, okay?”
She nodded, lifting a hand to touch his face briefly before letting it drop back into her lap. “All right, but don’t tell Bran or Jake, and definitely not Buster, because they’ll get all bent out of shape because I told you first.”
“Scout’s honor,” he said, lifting his fingers.
“You were a scout?”
He didn’t answer, just gave her a steady look, telling her he knew she was trying to delay the conversation.
“All right,” she muttered. “Cooper’s not doing well. in Vegas. In fact, he’s been doing drugs and gambling for a few years now.” She took another deep breath. “It started out okay for him, and he was in high demand, considering his skills. Coop’s really smart and can do amazing things with software and write prog
rams and things like that, and then it all went wrong.”
“I’m sorry, honey.” He ran his thumb under her eyes as the first tears began to fall.
“I’ve tried to help him.” Her hands gripped the one he had on her thigh. “Zach and I have given him money, flown out there to try to get him home, then found help, and he always says yes, he’ll change, and that he’ll get help, and then he doesn’t.”
“So why aren’t you taking his calls?” Ethan knew there was more to this story. The softhearted Annabelle he knew, under the hard façade she showed the world, would never turn away from anyone, least of all her brother.
“He hacked into my bank account and stole my savings, Ethan. Twenty-five thousand dollars. That day in Brook, when you found me in the water, I’d just found out about it.”
“Ahh, baby, I’m sorry.” He pulled her into his arms, uncaring of who saw. Not many people were focused on him so late in the evening anyway. She grabbed the front of his shirt and he knew she was crying so he simply held her and whispered comforting words into her ear until she calmed down.
“I’m alright,” she said finally, when she’d stopped. “It just hurts because I parented him as best I could, and I thought I’d gotten it right. He was well mannered, and seemed responsible, and he was so excited to be going to Vegas, and then it all turned ugly.”
“And he’s been calling you ever since?” Ethan said, wiping her eyes with a napkin. He wanted to know more about her, more about her raising her brothers and how she had managed it, but he kept those questions to himself for now.
“Yes. He said he stole from me so he wouldn’t get in trouble with the law, He owed people, so he had no choice. I knew then that he would keep doing it, keep stealing from me and Zach, and I couldn’t allow him to, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to keep making my mortgage payments. So I cut him off. I told him I wanted nothing more to do with him, but he just keeps calling.”