by A. K. Evans
We approached the front door and I saw someone walking away from the door toward us. As we got closer and I realized who it was, I completely broke down and lost it.
“Monroe, babe, what’s happening?” Wes asked as he now had both arms around me and pulled me even tighter to him.
“Monroe? Is that you?”
“Vaughn?” Nikki called.
“What happened to her?” he asked, now standing next to me and putting his arms around me.
Wes was hesitant to let me go.
“Honey, Vaughn is Monroe’s brother. It’s okay, you can let her go.”
Wes loosened his hold and turned me toward Vaughn’s arms where I cried even harder. Vaughn held on tight.
“Let’s go inside,” Nikki said. “She can talk to you in there.”
Nikki opened the door and we all walked in. Once we were inside, Charley took that time to introduce Wes and Vaughn. I took that time to try to stop crying and pull myself together.
“We aren’t going to stay unless you want us to, mama. We’ll give you some time with Vaughn. You okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Charley.”
She pulled me into a hug and then Wes came up and put his hand on the top of my head. “I’m sorry for what he did to you tonight. You didn’t deserve that.”
“It’s not something you need to apologize for, but thank you, Wes.”
“Charley will check in with you tomorrow, okay?”
I dipped my chin in acknowledgement.
Wes kissed the top of my head, put his arm around Charley, and they left.
“It’s good to see you, Vaughn,” Nikki began. “She misses you and you’re probably the person she needs the most right now, so I’m going to head to bed.”
“Nice to see you, too. Good night, Nikki.”
“If you need me, mama, you yell. Okay?”
“I will.”
“Love you, babe.”
I gave her a small smile.
Nikki walked down the hall to her bedroom and left Vaughn and me in the family room. I turned to look at him and saw concern in his face.
“I’m so happy you’re here, Vaughn. I’ve missed you so much,” I sighed as I took the two steps to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I took in a deep breath; he smelled like home. When I pulled back from him I asked, “Can I get you something? Do you want anything to eat or drink?”
“No. What you can do for me is tell me why I flew here to surprise you and spend the weekend with you only to get here to find you shredded and in tears. What happened?”
“We should sit,” I suggested. “And you need to not lose your shit when I tell you.”
“You aren’t making me feel better right now, Monroe,” he informed me as he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck.
“Vaughn…please?” I asked, my voice laced with despair.
He squeezed the back of my neck and nodded. “Okay.”
We sat and I gave it to him. I was very close with all three of my brothers, but it was different with Vaughn. The two of us were super close and he always got all the details of everything. He always gave me all the details of his situations, which mostly consisted of girl troubles. Regardless of the situation either of us was in, we were always there for each other. I knew I could tell him about this and he’d be there for me the way he always was. So, I told him everything. I told him about how Stone was there for me when Emme was kidnapped and when I learned about Emme’s rape. I told him about the karaoke night and how Stone walked out on me. I told him about my flat tire situation since he didn’t know what happened after Stone fixed the tire, and then I told him how Stone helped me with the studio on Saturday. I did not tell him that Stone told me he wanted to fuck me senseless. I did; however, tell him how Stone kissed me Saturday night and then crushed my heart into a million pieces the next day when he told me he couldn’t do it ever again. Then, finally, I told him what happened tonight. By the time I finished, I could see Vaughn struggling to keep it together.
“He called you a whore?” Vaughn asked.
“He didn’t use that word exactly, but he might as well have.”
“Come home, kid.”
“Vaughn, I can’t do that. I have a two-year lease agreement that I signed, I just got my studio all set up, and I even hired my first employee who, I might add, really needs and deserves this job.”
There was a knock at the door.
“That’s probably Emme and Zane. I walked out of Lou’s a mess and they likely just want to check on me,” I explained, as I stood and walked to the door.
I opened the door and froze. Stone was there and the look of torment on his face was clear as day.
“I’m sorry.”
Two words. That’s all he said and the tears spilled down my cheeks. His hand came up to swipe at them when he stopped mid-air. His eyes were now narrowed and focused behind me.
“You touch her and we’re going to have a problem,” Vaughn advised from behind me.
Stone dropped his hand and looked to me with his brows drawn.
“Are you Stone?” Vaughn asked.
Stone nodded.
“Then I’d like to know why the fuck I flew here to surprise my sister this weekend only to get here and find her in tears over the fact that some asshole treated her like a piece of shit.”
“Vaughn, relax,” I warned, knowing he was getting worked up. He was very protective of me and this wouldn’t end well if I didn’t calm him down.
“Vaughn?” Stone repeated, confusion in his voice. “Vaughn is your brother?”
“Yeah,” I answered, my voice small and timid.
“Please do not tell me that Remi is also your brother,” Stone pleaded.
I pulled my brows together, but nodded.
Stone’s expression changed and the remorse was written all over his face. He dropped his head and brought his hand up to run through his hair. When he brought his eyes back up to mine, they were pleading with me. “Angel, I’m so fucking sorry.”
I couldn’t control it. I brought my hands up to cover my face and I burst into tears. Vaughn was immediately beside me pulling me into his arms.
“You need to leave,” Vaughn demanded of Stone.
“Monroe,” Stone called.
My face was still in my hands, which were pressed up against Vaughn’s chest as he held me in his embrace. I pulled my face out of my hands and looked to Stone.
His voice was rough when he said, “I was wrong. I never should have said what I did tonight at Lou’s. I’m sorry for hurting you.”
I stared at him. I didn’t know what to say. He seemed genuinely remorseful and I knew it had to be difficult to not only admit to what he had said and done, but to have to do it in front of my brother as well. Despite all of that, I still couldn’t forget what he said about me. My eyes dropped from his and I stared at his throat. I couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. Vaughn brought his hand up behind my head and pulled me toward him. My face landed back in my hands, only my cheek was pressed to them as I continued to stare at the muscled column of Stone’s neck.
“I need to take care of her now and you need to go,” Vaughn persisted.
“Monroe,” Stone called.
I didn’t move. I didn’t look him in the eye. I simply snuggled in further to Vaughn’s hold.
“Right,” he continued. “Okay, I’ll go. Good night, angel.”
And then, he was no longer there. I was staring into the empty space where he once stood. Vaughn reached an arm out to close the door. He held me a minute longer before he worried, “You okay?”
I shook my head, but said nothing.
“Come on. Why don’t you go change and get ready for bed? I’ll make you your favorite tea and we can watch TV for a while.”
“Thanks, Vaughn,” I responded before I walked away from the front door and down the hall to my bedroom.
*****
I woke the next morning snuggled up in my bed. The events from last night came flooding bac
k to me. After Stone left, I changed and got myself ready for bed before joining Vaughn on the couch where he already had my favorite green tea made and the television turned on.
I asked Vaughn about the rest of my family, wanting to make sure they were all doing well but, other than that, I didn’t say much else. He knew I needed his quiet presence and was more than happy to give it to me. I fell asleep on the couch and Vaughn must have carried me to my bed last night.
Now, I was here wondering what I was supposed to do next. I’d never been through anything like this before and I didn’t know what to do. Part of me thought that there was no going back from what he said while the other part of me wanted nothing more than to tell him I forgave him. I believed he was genuinely sorry, but the rational part of my brain kept me from giving in to what my heart wanted most in the world. I needed to talk to Nikki to get some guidance from her. I might even need to bring Charley and Emme into the mix for some advice.
It was getting late so I got myself out of bed, used the bathroom, and then made my way out to see if anyone else was awake. Not surprisingly, Nikki and Vaughn were both already up and having coffee.
“Morning, babe,” Nikki greeted, as I walked into the kitchen. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a squashed bug.”
“Monroe, what the fuck does that mean?” Vaughn asked, chuckling.
“I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing if I were a bug and I got squashed, this is what it would feel like.”
“I’m guessing if you were a bug and you got squashed, you’d feel dead,” Nikki said.
I looked at her a moment and sadness washed over me before I confirmed, “Then yes, I definitely feel like a squashed bug.”
She gave me a sad look and Vaughn looked a little angry.
We heard a knock at the door.
“If that asshole came back here, I swear to God,” Vaughn warned, as he got up and walked out of the kitchen to the door.
“Did he tell you about last night?” I asked Nikki.
She nodded. “What do you think about it all?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly had no idea what to think. If she’d asked me how I feel about it, I’d have a million things to say.
“Tea?” she confirmed.
“Yes, please.”
Not even a minute later Vaughn came back into the kitchen with a beautiful bouquet of red and white roses.
“Who are those for?” I questioned.
Vaughn gave me a look, set the flowers on the island, and handed me the card.
My eyes rounded. “Nobody has ever sent me flowers before,” I announced, as I opened the envelope and pulled out the card.
I’m sorry, my angel. Please forgive me. -- Stone
My angel? What?
“What does it say?” Nikki asked.
A lump had formed in my throat and my nose began to sting. I couldn’t read it out loud; I’d have a total breakdown. I held the card out to her.
Nikki took the card from me and read it. When she looked back up at me her eyes were wet. Her eyes searched my face as though she was trying to gauge what my thoughts were. I’m not sure if she found what she was looking for before Vaughn walked over and pulled the card from Nikki’s hand. He read it and I immediately saw his jaw clenching.
“He doesn’t deserve you, Monroe,” Vaughn declared.
The hope inside me died. Why couldn’t Vaughn have said that he believed Stone was sincere in his apology? I wanted to believe there was good in Stone. I had already witnessed and experienced it.
“He made a mistake,” I responded, my voice small.
“No, he didn’t make a mistake. He made a lot of fucking mistakes. Making you think he was a good guy that was interested in you and then humiliating you more than once is inexcusable. He isn’t worthy of your forgiveness.”
Vaughn reminding me of the humiliation and embarrassment I felt, on more than one occasion, only made my heart break a little more.
“I don’t like what he did to her, especially last night at Lou’s, but he’s apologized more than once. I don’t believe he’s an evil guy,” Nikki claimed, challenging Vaughn.
“Not saying he’s evil,” Vaughn retorted. “I’m saying she’s too good for him.”
A tear slid out of my eye and down my cheek.
“Mama…” Nikki trailed off, noticing I was despondent. She walked over, set my tea in front of me, sat down next to me, and put her arm around me.
“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed. “Should I call and thank him for the flowers? Should I forgive him?”
“No,” Vaughn answered immediately.
I looked to him.
“You think I should ignore him?”
“You’re a fucking treasure, kid. If he didn’t know that the moment he met you and treat as though you were just that, he doesn’t deserve you. If you need to forgive him for your own peace, you make him work for it. You do not forgive him after one bouquet of flowers.”
“It doesn’t seem very nice to do that to someone once they’ve apologized to you,” I pointed out.
“Maybe not, but it also wasn’t very nice for him to do and say what he has either. And I’m sorry, but I don’t really give a shit if you are nice to him or not. What I care about is that my baby sister wasn’t even in a serious relationship with someone and somehow managed to get her heart trampled on. That doesn’t make me happy and it doesn’t make me want to consider how the guy is feeling.”
Nikki surprised me when she broke in, “You know, he is right. I mean, Stone walked out of Lou’s at Emme’s birthday party. He apologized and you did the right thing by accepting his apology and forgiving him. The fact that he said what he did last night only a week after he apologized for the first time he hurt you makes me wonder how soon he’ll hurt you again if you forgive him. And that makes me worry how much more invested your heart will be in this.”
She had a point. I didn’t like it, but it was true. If I forgave Stone, would he just squash me again? If so, how long would it take? But if not, what would I miss out on?
“Can we go out for breakfast?” I asked.
“Whatever you want,” Vaughn answered.
“I wish matters of the heart were that easy,” I said sarcastically.
His face warmed and he reassured me, “It will be. With the right person at the right time, it will. I promise you, Monroe.”
“Thanks, Vaughn.”
I got up and made my way back to my bedroom to get ready. Once I finished, I let Vaughn use my bathroom so he could shower and change. Not long after, Vaughn took Nikki and I out for breakfast. Nikki drove separately since she was planning to get some work done at the salon today. I wanted to show Vaughn my new studio, but since he was in town I didn’t want to spend my day there.
My brother and my best friend spent the morning at breakfast distracting me from the miserable events of the last week by talking about anything and everything unrelated to Stone. Following breakfast, we drove to the studio and salon. Nikki went to the salon and I told her we’d stop over before we left.
“This is it,” I beamed, as Vaughn and I stepped through the front door and into my reception area.
“Looks great, kid.”
“Thanks. I love it. I actually love it more than my spot in Ventura. The only thing that makes the Ventura spot better than this one is the fact that I know when I’ve got my recitals you, Remi, and Deacon are always there to support me. That, and every so often when you knew I’d been putting in long hours at the studio at least one of you would walk through my door and bring me dinner. That’s what I’m going to miss about the old place. It’s what I miss about home…” I trailed off.
“It’s been, what, two weeks? It’s not the same at home without you. We all miss you. Mom and Dad are devastated. They both keep asking why their only girl had to move and why it could haven’t been Remi, Deacon, or me. Earlier this week, Dad grumbled, “Got three sons to spare, yet it’s my baby girl that moves away.”
”
I pushed out my bottom lip and made a sad face. My brothers were overly protective of me, no doubt about it, but I was the definition of daddy’s little girl. I knew he was distraught over the fact that I left and I hated making him feel that way. I only wished I’d be able to make them see that moving was the right decision for me because I had finally found my love. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though that would be happening. This would only make their hearts hurt harder for me.
Vaughn continued, “So, show me the rest of the place.”
I loved him. He wanted me to hear about my family, but he also knew it’d hurt to dwell on it too long.
With that, I took Vaughn through the rest of the studio and showed him everything. The only thing I hadn’t done yet was put up my barres, so he did those for me while he was there. After he finished, we went over to Nikki’s salon so Vaughn could check it out before we took off.
We said good-bye to Nikki and did some sightseeing in Rising Sun. Since I was new to town I didn’t know much about what was around. It was fun to explore and experience that with Vaughn. We found a great little café to have lunch in that afternoon and I got calls from Charley and Emme. Charley wanted to check in to see that I was doing okay after everything that had happened last night. I told her I was doing alright and that I had things to share, but I’d talk with her later about them. I wanted to tell her about the flowers, but did not want to get into all of that while I had very little time to spend with Vaughn.
Emme also called to check in on me. Apparently, Charley called her last night and let her know that my brother came in to visit. She and Zane ended up inviting us over to go snowmobiling with them tomorrow. I figured it would be good for Vaughn to not only have some fun while he was here, but also for him to see that I had good people around me. It would help set his mind at ease a little, so I told her we’d be there.
Vaughn and I spent the rest of the day together catching up until Nikki came home and the three of us had dinner together. After the night I had last night and knowing we were going to be spending the day with Emme and Zane tomorrow, I ended up calling it an early night.
It was when I finally got into bed and no longer had any distractions that my mind drifted to thoughts I’d successfully avoided having all day. Thoughts of those baby blue eyes filled with a pain and hardness I wanted to take away, that spiky blonde hair I wanted to run my fingers through, those lips I could still feel against my own, those hands I loved feeling against my skin, and that bouquet of red and white apology roses begging me for forgiveness.