Untamed: A fake relationship, small town romance (Gritt Family Book 3)

by Gabrielle G.

  “I don’t know, Bella, she still despises him so much. If only he weren’t bedding the whole town, something could have happened between them a long time ago.” I roll my eyes at her while we sit comfortably on the screen porch where none of my children are allowed. This room is my retreat. For almost fifty years now, it has been my private space. They all know if I’m back there not to come and disturb me, not even if one of them is bleeding. Ridge built it when Luke was born so I could have a few minutes to myself. Only my husband is allowed in here, and even then, if I’m deep in a book, he’d better not venture in.

  “Don’t play the prude. I know who you really are. The fact that you want to stay faithful and boring to a dead husband has nothing to do with whom you are inside… You know as well as I do that dear Frederick wouldn’t have liked you to end up alone living the life you do.” I pour myself a glass of Ridge's scotch and add some ice to it.

  “Bella,” Marybeth chastises me, but I ignore her.

  “I heard Kip has had enough of his hag. From what Chris told me, seems his parents are finally divorcing.” I try to push her back to her first love. Marybeth and Kip were madly in love until he got Shelby pregnant with Chris. Because her family was super religious, Kip had to marry her and forget Marybeth who went to travel the country, found Frederick somewhere in California, brought him home, married him, and lived happily ever after.

  “You know she won’t. It’s against her beliefs.” She drinks her beer and reaches for the cheese and crackers I have out for her.

  “Not so sure, Kip really has had enough… And maybe we can help with a little accident?” I joke.

  “We are not killing Shelby for me to get back with Kip fifty years later.” She blushes.

  “Ah! I knew you’ve thought about it! I can’t wait to tell Ridge to pay up!” I beam at her. We’ve been friends for a long time and have done crazy things together. She’s the first one who opened her arms to me when I arrived in town, and we became fast friends in our hippie days.

  “Back to the kids. Why do you think it’s the right moment?” Marybeth asks me, shoving some cheese in her mouth.

  “Easy, Aaron is finally back with Alane. Jesus, this took some work! Even had to play nice with Shelby so she would call Aaron’s girl and tell her about the situation with her mother. This woman is so difficult to stand, even after all these years!” Marybeth nods to agree with me while chewing her cheese and gestures with her hand for me to go on.

  “Luke finally found the man of his dreams. I love Dex like one of my own. That boy is the most loyal and devoted man Luke could have found. He makes me think of Ridge when he was younger. Don’t you think?”

  “Oh, yes. Dex is a young Ridge on that front. That’s why he gets along so well with Aaron, and Ridge took him in right away.”

  “Exactly!” I slap my thigh.

  “But otherwise, he’s so tense…”

  “Less than he used to be.” I smile, remembering the first time I saw Dex five years ago so depressed and lost. He looked like a lost boy, but then when I stalked him—because what good mother wouldn’t look into her kids' boyfriend—I saw pictures of him in three-piece suits, looking like a GQ model, and couldn’t believe this was the same man.

  “True.” She nods, taking a sip of her drink.

  “And with Chris finally being one of ours…”

  “That took a long time! Salomé has been very patient…”

  “Tell me about it, and it was an art. She will always do the total opposite of what I tell her to do, so I used all the reverse psychology I could. But I didn’t expect Aaron getting so pissed and Chris leaving for Asia…”

  “Well, it worked in the end!”

  “Of course, it worked. Bella Russo always gets what she wants! That’s why I have faith in Barnabas and Avery finding each other.”

  “Still not using the Gritt name I see.”

  “The whole town might call me Gritt and conspired with Ridge but I will never use his family name! And, I might tell Avery to do the same. Avery Gritt sounds awful!”

  “I’m really not sure she can fall in love with him, Bella. She has these ideas in her head about him…”

  “About everyone,” I interrupt her. “Like she thinks she has to stay here and take care of you. I mean, the first years, yes, but years later? Maybe you would be riding the Kip train if Avery wasn’t breathing down your neck.” My friend blushes again and has this guilty look across her face. “You have, dirty little minx, and you didn’t tell me!” I laugh.

  “We talked a lot and ended up having coffee together when we ran into each other in town last month,” she mumbles, embarrassed as hell.

  “Oh my… Fi-fucking-nally! Fifty years later…”

  “As I was saying,” she interjects, not willing to give me details. “She really thinks he’s scum.”

  “But you and I know that he’s not.”

  “We’ve known since they were in diapers… If only he wouldn’t have peed on her doll when she was two!”

  “We said we would never tell anybody that happened, so we’ll have a chance to see them get married!”

  “I never told a soul, Bella, but I think deep inside her, she knows he was mean to her.”

  “He wasn’t mean. He was marking his territory. That was Barnabas’ way for years. Avery was always his…”

  “Except when he almost got married to another girl.” She scoffs, still not forgiving Barnabas to have almost married someone else.

  “Come on, Avery went and had a child with another man… Speaking of, have you seen Barnabas with your granddaughter? My boy would be a perfect father to Alexis.” I serve myself a second scotch and reach the cooler behind me to get Marybeth another beer.

  “If there is a way to Avery’s heart, it is through Alexis. She has to see them together, a lot.”

  “That’s how we do it!” I stutter a little, the scotch hitting me in all the right places.

  “Yes!” Marybeth squeals, also feeling the alcohol. “Are you getting me drunk again?” she asks happier than usual. I smile at her, what are friends for if not to push your limits a little.

  “So, we have to push them to spend time together, with Alexis. Any plans?” We both stay silent, thinking through the fog of our inebriety.

  I see the moment Marybeth gets the idea we’re looking for. She’s all excited and has a glint in her eyes. I knew serving her alcohol would help her see further than her clean romance books and her life as a good citizen of Springs Falls.

  “Go ahead, my friend. What do you have in mind?”

  “I need the right opportunity. Why don’t I tell this stupid ex of hers that she wants to leave for Montana? God knows she talks enough about it and never does. We’ll tell him she’s leaving and doesn’t need the apartment, and we tell her his wife doesn’t want her to live there anymore. Then I’ll tell her that you have room and push her to live on the farm. Once she’s here, you bullshit her about the rooms being reserved or in renovation, and you send her to live in the barn.”

  This woman is a genius…

  “How are you going to tell her ex?” I slur, the scotch now flowing in my veins.

  “Easy, she keeps forgetting her phone. So next time she does, and I’m at her place babysitting Alexis, I’ll send Noah a text!”

  “Brilliant!” I clink my glass against her beer.

  “What are you two conspiring about?” my amazing husband says while sitting on the armrest of my favorite chair and slipping his arms around my neck.

  “Nothing,” Marybeth and I answer at the same time. Ridge looks at us and then frowns.

  “Don’t come ask for my help when Dex figures out you’ve been meddling… You know how our son-in-law is.” He drags his hand through his white long hair.

  “Yes,” I scoff, “he’s the one who wants to do the meddling… Oh sorry, he calls that fixing, but isn’t it exactly the same?”

  “I’m not getting into that conversation with you again,” Ridge says, raising his hands
. “Is there anything we should bet on, though?” He lifts the corners of his mouth and strokes his beard.

  “I bet you a trip to LA to see baby Arthur that Barnabas and Avery will be an item by the end of the summer,” I tell him confidently. His smile becomes a full grin, and his eyes shine with understanding.

  “I counter bet a trip to Italy that by the end of summer they’ll be talking about adoption.” He juts out his chin and raises an eyebrow.

  “You’re evil. I’ve asked you to go to Italy for the last two years, and you know how much I want grandchildren!”

  “Come on, sexy saint, you know it’s not about any of us winning, it’s about our children being happy!” He’s wearing the smile that stole my heart over fifty years ago and dips his head for a kiss. His eyes are full of desire, and I’m brought back to the first time he kissed me when I was a naïve eighteen-year-old rich little girl and he was a twenty-two-year-old hippie wanting in my pants.

  Marybeth clears her throat. “I should go.”

  “No!” I push Ridge away before our lips collapse and we give a show to our friend. “You’re having dinner with us. Right, can man?” I wink at Marybeth while calling my husband by his old hippie name.

  “Yes, my friend will be here any minute.” He smiles, kissing the top of my head. Marybeth stands and wobbles a little, trying to get inside the house.

  “Are you drunk, sunflower?” Ridge says to Marybeth.

  “You two are assholes,” she mutters, walking away while Ridge and I are laughing. She always hated her hippie name.

  “For sure they are,” I hear Kip say in the main room. “Hi, Marybeth.” His voice gets low and sexy, and I can only imagine the effect his voice has on my friend.

  “I got him condoms and Viagra. You know, just in case…” Ridge shrugs.

  “And I got her drunk. Let’s bet.” I wiggle my eyebrows.

  “Can we bet if we want the same outcome?” he says, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

  “What would be our lives without our bets, can man?”

  32

  Epilogue

  Barnabas

  Archie, Arlo, and Angus stand beside their sister. The triplets are always proud of Lex. There is a reason we called the four of them the three musketeers. One for all and all for one. The three boys got the same mermaid tattoo I have on the inside of my wrist as a promise to Ave they’ll take care of Lex all of their lives.

  “Dad!” Archie tries to get my attention. “Picture,” he mouths for me to immortalize the moment. No matter that there are hundreds of photographers trying to take a picture of the four new tech geniuses they are, the responsibility of taking a good picture falls on me.

  “For all the years that you bitched to those four to go play outside and stop being on their computers…” Dex laughs. “Look where they are now. High school graduates and already at the head of one of the biggest startups in the country.” I roll my eyes.

  “They are only eighteen and already richer than I am. What the fuck?” Aaron mumbles, holding the hand of his granddaughter. I snap the precious picture and lean toward Ave.

  “Still mad?” I whisper in her ear. She steps forward to put distance between us.

  Adalia and Ambree chuckle behind me.

  “I mean, Dad, it’s a big change,” Aria, always the reasonable one, states.

  “I know, but it was an accident,” I try to explain for the umpteenth time.

  “An accident is putting too much cream in my coffee or spilling a glass of wine. This is an abomination,” Ave says between her teeth. Behind me, all of our family laughs.

  “You can sleep at our place again tonight, Barn. No problem.” Chris smiles.

  “You know what, Ave? This is ridiculous. You married me for better or for worse. Well, that’s the worst!” She turns to face me but turns back around right away.

  “I can’t even look at you,” she seethes. “Married for not even two years, and that’s what you do? You repulse me!”

  “You’re a fucking drama queen, you know that?” I rub my hand in the hair I don’t have anymore. “You’re ridiculous!” I turn around and walk away. Over the years, Ave and I had our share of fights, especially with seven kids to raise, but this one is the cherry on the sundae. I find Luke outside smoking in the parking lot, all alone.

  “I thought you’d quit?” I tell him, reaching for the blunt.

  “Dex has been extra asshole-ish these days; I need something to feel happy.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “You really want to know?” He scratches his chin.

  “Of course, Lukey. What did he do?” Luke sighs, takes the joint back from my hand, and takes a hit.

  “I did. I fucked up…” I frown, not believing for one second Luke would do something to fuck up his relationship with Dex.

  “Okay…” I gesture with my hand for him to go on.

  “I proposed.” He sighs again. I shoot my eyebrows to my hairline.

  “You proposed? To Mr. I hate weddings. Let me guess. He laughed like a hyena and told you to get the fuck out?” I laugh. Luke shakes his head.

  “No, he said yes and started to plan the ‘gayest wedding of the universe.’ His words.” He rolls his eyes.

  “That’s a good thing, right?”

  Luke sends me a stern look. “Seriously, do you know your brother-in-law at all? He’s trying to teach me a lesson. He’s such an asshole. He didn’t want to say no, so now he’s organizing something out of this world to punish me.”

  “Or… he wants to please Mom. She’s eighty-three and always dreamt of seeing you two married. You know she’s sad since Dad died.” I choke up at the reminder of my dad not being around anymore. Luke rubs my back and hands me the joint.

  “No, that’s why I proposed. If he’d accepted and would just do something simple in Springs Falls like I asked, it would have been perfect. But now? He wants a Gloria Gaynor impersonator to marry us because it seems that’s how he knew he was in love with me.” I laugh, imagining Luke and Dex getting married by a drag queen.

  “Okay, you’re right. He's an asshole. But were you expecting anything less?” Luke shakes his head. “Have you talked to Virginia? She’s like a sister to him, maybe she can convince him to tone it down?”

  “No, I haven’t told anybody. I’m not marrying him under these conditions.” He huffs in indignation. “Enough about me. Why are you out here when it’s your favorite kid’s graduation?” I roll my eyes. Everybody always thinks Lex is my favorite. It’s not true, of course, mainly, maybe.

  “Ave is still pissed. She hasn’t talked to me in two weeks.”

  “It’s understandable!”

  “I know, I fucked up, but what was I supposed to do?”

  “Not bet shaving your head that Andrew would finally get the balls to tell Lou how he felt. Knowing that Mrs. Dubois married her last longing love after years of being apart, there was a big chance one of the daughters would do the same. Luckily for you, it was Lou doing so and not your wife.”

  “Well, maybe me saying I would shave my head is what my friend needed to make his move…” I smirk.

  “Oh my, don’t tell her that or you might never have sex ever again. You know how she loved your hair. Her vows were not to you but to your ‘locks of soft sunset’,” he quotes my wife on our wedding. “And you shaved it all for a bet. It’s like if I shaved my beard.” I cock an eyebrow and give him a side smile.

  “That could be a good idea to piss off brother-in-law dearest.” I rock back on my heels. Luke’s eyes light up with mischief.

  “Yeah…” He smiles. “Let’s do it.”

  “I think the barber is still open. Let’s get you shaved, brother.” I wrap my arm around his neck, laughing.

  “Barnabas Topher Gritt. What dumb thing are you planning now?” Avery appears from the darkness of the parking lot. I squeeze my brother's shoulder. My heart stops beating when I see how beautiful she is, but then it goes faster, and I get mad at the scowl on her face. If m
y hair is more important than her sister’s happiness, suddenly the love of my life has become a self-centered little brat, and I need to teach her a lesson.

  “Luke and I are planning on visiting some plastic surgeon to ask how much breast implants cost these days. You know, so I can continue having a hard-on when I look at you?”

  “You’re such an asshole.” She charges at me like a bull. I shove Luke aside quickly and stop her by crouching down and carrying her over my shoulder. She starts kicking her arms and legs for me to put her down, but I don’t.

  “I’m an asshole? I lost my hair so your sister could finally get orgasms after being married to a jerk for twenty-five years, and I’m an asshole? What about you, sugar? Who was imploring me to talk to Andrew, so he would finally do something? Who pushed Mel and Jake to talk him into dumping Donna, your best friend, so he could fuck your sister? Seriously, I’m the asshole in this story? Come on, you know I’m gonna have to punish you, sugar. I shaved my head. I didn’t cut my balls or check out another woman! I shaved something that is going to grow back.” I grip her knees, so she stops kicking me.

  “Well, you’re still an asshole for making a joke about my tits!” she says, planting her claws in my back.

  “True, but you know I love your tits as much as I love our children. I was just trying to get you riled up a little more, so you’d want to fuck me. Your pussy tastes divine when you're angry.”

  “I hate you!” she sneers.

  “I love you too, sugar.” I spank her, and she lets out a moan. “I can’t fuck you here with our seven children and all our family not far, Ave, but once we’re home, we’ll take turns hurting each other to let out our anger. Deal?”

  “Deal, but I hurt you first. I need to make you pay for the loss of your beautiful hair.” I slide her down my body and bring her lips to mine.

  “I know, sugar, I know. Speaking of, we’re gonna have to throw it away at some point…”