His hand tightened around mine, and he downshifted. “Honestly, I don’t care what you do. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me. But I do think if you wanted the job as much as you want to go to vet school, you would have jumped at the chance.”
Was he right? Was my hesitation to take the job and decision to think it over basically just me putting off what would eventually be a no?
I wasn’t so sure.
To me, it just didn’t seem that simple.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Romeo
My mother had taken over.
I was starting to think she missed her calling as a hostage negotiator, because her powers of persuasion were unmatched.
Especially when it came to Rimmel.
Things between Mom and Rim had gone from bad to better, then all the way down the toilet, and then settling somewhere in the middle.
The middle = Rimmel avoiding her at all costs but being polite when she couldn’t + my mother trying to make up for all the poor choices she’d made when it came to my girl.
Our engagement, though… that was a whole new field to navigate with Mom. From almost the second I’d proposed, she tried to sweep in and plan the wedding of the century.
I put the kibosh on that shit real fast. I skipped a quickie wedding in Vegas so Rim could have the wedding she wanted—not the one my mom wanted.
She of course acted like her life was over, in a mom sort of way, and Rim caved.
Rim always caved when she played the mom card.
Mom insisted on throwing us an engagement party, some big, lavish thing that everyone would talk about for weeks. I saw on Rimmel’s face she didn’t want an engagement party, but she graciously accepted and told my mother to plan it however she wanted.
I saw the genius behind this even if it did drive me mad.
By giving my mother something to focus on, like the engagement party, she kept my mother too busy to obsess over the actual wedding.
Good for you, Rimmel. Good. For. You.
Still, it was a temporary win. One that was speeding to an end. Like right now.
“So as you can see…” Mom was going on, with folders and charts in front of us. “Everything is all planned out and taken care of.”
My eyes were starting to glaze over. This shit was for girls. Who the hell cared where people sat and what color the balloons were? Why did we even need balloons?
All I needed was one chair, a beer, and Rim on my lap.
My mother probably would have died right then and there if I said that, though. So instead, I just sat there looking like my handsome self and kept my mouth shut.
“It’s all just so stunning,” Rimmel said. She was totally overwhelmed, but Mom didn’t notice. “I can’t believe you went to all this trouble and expense. It really wasn’t necessary.”
“This is my only son’s wedding! Of course it was necessary,” she insisted, then turned her brown eyes toward me. “Roman, I took the liberty of getting you a new suit. It’s hanging upstairs. I’ll get it for you before you leave. It’s tailored to your measurements.”
How the hell did she get my measurements?
I probably didn’t want to know.
“Rimmel, make sure he hangs it up as soon as you get home. It’s already been steamed and is ready to wear.”
“Of course.” Rimmel agreed.
“Do you have your dress yet?” she asked.
Rimmel tensed slightly. “Uh, no. But it’s being delivered to the boutique tomorrow. Ivy ordered me something.”
“Well, good. That girl has good style. I hope she got white. You are a bride after all.”
Rimmel glanced at me, and I made a face. She started laughing.
“Roman, honestly.” Mom chastised me, but then she laughed, too. “I’m well aware this planning is boring you to bits.”
“It’s great, Mom,” I said. “I appreciate you doing all this for us.”
“I just can’t believe you’re getting married,” she mused, and I was afraid she might cry. But then her face cleared and she refocused on her plans. “Everyone, and I mean everyone, will be there. Including the media. The second I started planning, word got out. I think the staff at the club I rented out tipped them off. I figured it would be more peaceful to have them invited than to be fighting them all off all night.”
“Probably a good call.” I agreed.
The media had been relentless. Since I proposed on the field and basically in front of the world (on TV), everyone and their mother thought it was their wedding, too.
Had I known what a media circus it would become, I probably wouldn’t have asked her that way.
We were the front page on the sports section in the Maryland Tribune right after the game, and then the same paper ran a big engagement announcement in the social section a few weeks later. Several other local papers ran articles, and a couple national magazines picked up the story. Most women probably would have been pissing themselves at the fact they were on the cover of People magazine, but not Rim.
Ivy bought like every copy she found the day it hit stands and brought them all home. Rimmel just glanced at it and said it was nice and then went on about her day.
So far, the vultures had stayed off our property and away from our house, but I was starting to worry once the next season began and I was a full-time starting quarterback that we would never get any peace.
I was seriously considering buying a house on some land and putting up a gate so no one could get on the property without our consent.
Rimmel wouldn’t like it, but it might become necessary.
“You two should also know that magazines are calling. There are several clamoring for exclusive wedding pictures. They want all the details, the venue, and they want to do the spread.” Mom glanced at Rimmel. “I have to say, however, you and Ivy keeping the plans quiet is genius. It’s got everyone salivating. Some of these publications are offering big money to be the first to break the story.”
“They’re calling here?” Rimmel asked, mystified.
“That’s why we didn’t get a landline at home,” I said, nudging her softly. “They would have had our number in minutes. I used to live here, and my parents’ number is public record. Plus, with Dad being my agent, it’s part of his job to field calls.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rimmel said. “That has to be annoying.”
I thought it was cute the way she didn’t think of this shit. She had no idea how interested people really were in us. So far, I’d managed to protect her from most of it, but I was worried about the day I wasn’t going to be able to.
“It’s fine.” Mom waved it away. “We’ll get the number changed if it gets too bad. They’ll all stop calling once the wedding information leaks out.”
Her eyes zeroed back in on Rim, and I saw the look in them. She wanted information, and she was going to get it. I gave her a warning look to back off my girl, but she wasn’t looking at me.
“Now that the engagement party is completely planned, I’d be more than happy to assist you with the wedding.”
Rimmel opened her mouth, probably to tell her no, but Mom just kept on talking.
“I haven’t wanted to seem like one of those mothers.” She began. “You know, the kind who stick their nose in everything,”
I laughed out loud. She was totally one of those mothers.
“Honestly, Roman,” Mom scolded, but then went on. “I’ve barely asked for any details. I keep waiting for the invitation, and it never comes. People ask me about the date and the plans, and I never know what to say. It’s really quite embarrassing. What kind of mother doesn’t know about her own son’s wedding?”
“That must be very embarrassing.” Rimmel agreed.
How the hell was she keeping a straight face?
“I’m very sorry you feel left out, Mrs. Anderson—”
“Valerie.” Mom corrected. She’d been trying to get Rim to call her by her first name for months. I told Mom when she talked to me about it
that if she wanted Rim to see her as more than just my mother, she was going to have to treat her better.
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my head. In her own way, that’s exactly what she’d been doing. She never made one snide comment about our relationship when we got engaged. She never implied she was anything but happy for us. There were no calls from a private investigator, no news bombs dropped in our laps, and no accusations that Rim was only hanging around for the money. Hell, they insisted on paying for the lavish engagement party and the wedding.
Yes, it was traditional for the bride’s parents to pay, but well… that wasn’t an option here. Rimmel’s dad literally had nothing.
“Valerie.” Rimmel agreed. “I haven’t told you anything because there hasn’t been anything to tell. Romeo and I just set a date.”
Mom tried not to fall out of her seat. “Only just now?”
“We’ve only been engaged a few months, Mom.” I reminded her.
“I thought you wanted to get married right away, before the start of the new season and training camps.”
“We do,” Rimmel said. “We just thought it was better to wait a little bit before we started planning, give Braeden and Ivy a little more time to heal.”
I watched Mom’s dark eyes fill with understanding. She was a lot of things, but she understood family and the commitment a person had to it. “Of course,” she murmured. “They’ve been through a lot. I’m sure Ivy’s had a lot to deal with, and since she is maid of honor… How is she doing?”
“She’s doing better.” Rimmel smiled. “I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“Oh, yes, please do. She’s a lovely girl. I never thought any girl would manage to calm Braeden down, but she did.”
“But we do want to get married before the off-season is over and he leaves for training camps this summer. We picked a date, but it’s so soon. I’m not sure how big of a wedding we’ll be able to plan.”
“Oh, we’ll get it done,” Mom said and sipped at her tea like she was fortifying herself for battle.
I smiled.
“When’s the date?”
“We were thinking April third,” Rim replied.
Mom gasped. “That’s barely a month away!”
It seemed like forever to me.
“Well, it’s a little more than a month.” Rimmel hedged.
“Have you managed to find a venue on such short notice? All the best places book up months in advance.”
Rimmel frowned. Then her teeth cut into her lower lip. “I haven’t looked yet.”
Mom launched into some detailed plan and pulled out some folder she’d been hiding under all the others, and surprise, surprise, it was filled with wedding information and potential plans.
I should have known she had an arsenal just waiting to pull out.
Rimmel’s eyes widened when Mom starting telling her all her ideas—how she knew someone over at the best hotel in this part of the state and she could make a call to get us the date.
It was elegant and ritzy, expensive and stuffy.
In other words, it was everything Rim was not.
“Mom,” I said, stern, cutting her off. “This is all great, but I think Rimmel should get to choose what she wants.”
“What do you want, Rimmel?”
All eyes turned to her.
“I don’t know.” She turned to me. “Vegas sounded good.”
Mom gasped so loud I thought she was having a heart attack. Rim and I both jumped up to help her as she pressed a hand to her chest.
“My son and future daughter-in-law will not get married in some cheap drive-up chapel! I won’t have it.”
“Geez, Mom. Take a chill pill.” I sat back down and nudged for Rimmel to do the same.
My dad chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. When he saw us all there, he smiled widely. “I didn’t know you guys were here. I’ve been holed up in my office all day, working.”
“Let me get you some coffee, Anthony. I’m sure you could use it.” Mom jumped up to pour him a cup of the fresh brew she made when we first started going over all her papers.
“It’s been a long day.” He sighed.
“Have you talked to Robert?” I asked.
He blanched. “Yes, I’m afraid I have.” Dad shook his head sadly. “He’s not doing well at all. He’s adamant that Braeden is responsible for Zach dying in that crash.”
“That’s just ridiculous,” Mom said, handing over the mug. “Braeden would never do such a thing. He’s a good boy.”
I don’t know if I would use the words “good boy” to describe B, but I wasn’t about to argue. Mom thought I was a good boy, too.
Ha.
“Does he have a case?” I asked, worried. If this got out, Braeden’s entire future could be ruined, and for what?
For making sure our family wasn’t tormented any further by someone who should never have been granted leave from the mental ward.
“He has enough to likely press charges. But the charges won’t stick. I’ll get them thrown out.”
“But that would drag him and Ivy both through the mud!” Rimmel said, getting visibly upset. “They’ve been through so much already. I don’t want to see them hurt anymore.”
I pressed my hand to her back and rubbed in slow circles, trying to calm her down.
Dad sighed, and I noticed how tired he looked. It was clear he’d been working around the clock since B and I met with him and told him about the situation. “No charges have been filed yet. There’s still time. If I could only make the man see reason, but I’m afraid he’s past that. Zach died, he let his practice fall into the gutter, and then his wife left him.”
“She couldn’t stand the public shame,” Mom whispered. “The fact that her son had conned his way out of a facility, stalked a poor woman, and then tried to kill her. Not to mention the fact that Robert would never just admit that Zach was wrong. He was going around the country club telling everyone that Zach was just as much a victim as the people he hurt.” Mom glanced at me. “You know she’s not even his mother.”
“What?” Rimmel gasped.
Mom nodded. “She was his stepmother. His real mother, Robert’s first wife, killed herself years ago.”
I hadn’t known that. Come to think of it, I didn’t know much about Zach at all. All he ever was to me was an asshole.
“That’s terrible.” Rimmel sympathized. “I hope he’s found some peace in death. He certainly never had it while I knew him.”
There was that soft heart of hers again. It was specifically soft for the lost and damaged. It’s why she loved the shelter so much. There were so many animals there that needed her care.
Had Zach been lost and damaged? Is that why he did all the terrible things he did?
I guess we’d never know.
I don’t think it really mattered. What mattered to me was that Braeden’s life wasn’t destroyed because Zach’s father was mad at the world for the shitty hand he was dealt.
“How close is he to having charges pressed?” I asked Dad.
“I managed to put him off today, but I really don’t know if I’ll be able to stop him.”
“He knows the case will be a losing battle?” I pressed.
“I told him as much. Ivy was there. She was a witness. Her testimony along with the findings of the investigation would be enough to prove probable cause. That car blowing like it did was inevitable. I read the forensics report. Frankly, Braeden’s lucky he got Ivy out in time before the whole thing went up.”
“He just wants to take Braeden’s life away like his son’s was taken,” Rimmel whispered, a catch in her voice.
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my chest. She sniffled and wiped her face on my T-shirt.
“I’ll keep working on it,” Dad said. “I’m not going to give up that easily.”
“Thank you,” Rimmel said fiercely and got up to hug him spontaneously. A look of surprise flickered over both my mother’s and father’s faces.
Ahh, she’d gotten to him.
She’d penetrated the impenetrable Anthony Anderson, take-no-prisoners lawyer. I’d seen very few people get a place inside my father’s heart throughout my life (besides me and Mom of course), Braeden being one. And now there was my soon-to-be wife.
“Now don’t you worry about this. You just focus on marrying my son.”
Rimmel returned to my side and wiped her face on my shirt again. I kinda liked being her human tissue.
“Anthony,” Mom said with a wise look in her eye, “please tell these two they cannot elope to Vegas.”
“What?” Dad said and shook his head. “No, no, no.” He set down his cup and patted Rimmel’s hand. “That’s not good enough for my kids. You make sure you do up something nice for them, Valerie, and, Rimmel honey, you send me the bill.”
“Oh, no,” Rimmel said for like the millionth time when my parents brought up the bill.
“Yes. It will give me something to look forward to in between all these football contracts and dealings with Robert Bettinger. It’ll do my heart good.”
Rimmel bit down on her lower lip and nodded. If there was one person my girl had yet to learn how to say no to, it was my father. She had a soft spot for him. She told me once it was because he was an older version of me. Clearly, my mother had figured this out all on her own.
Well played, Mom. Well played.
Not too long later, we were outside in the whipping wind, hurrying toward the Hellcat.
“That was brutal,” Rim moaned when I opened the door for her to get in. The heat was already toasty thanks to the remote start.
I ran around and shut myself in the driver’s seat.
“You better figure out what kind of wedding you want and fast, baby. ‘Cause if you don’t, you’re going to end up with something that will make the society pages green with envy.”
“All I want is you,” she whined.
“You got me.” I picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “How about me and two hundred and fifty of our most personal friends?” I joked.
#Heart (Hashtag #6) Page 16