One Wrong Choice (A Cruel and Beautiful Book Book 3)

by A. M. Hargrove

  She’s right about that. I didn’t come for my dad. I came for my girl.

  “And I haven’t seen you in a while.” Her words drift off. “Cole Connelly…” Her focus shifts between us.

  “Yes, it has been a while. I see you’ve met my son.”

  Her shock is almost comical as her mouth opens and closes. “You have a son.”

  “In fact, I had two. Braedon…” Cole’s voice trails off.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” her mom says.

  My attention is taken away as people move and I see her. It’s as if the sun is her spotlight. She glows like my beacon, a sight for sore eyes. And damn, if she doesn’t look like the angel she is, my Jenna. I watch her smile grow as she spots me.

  Her mother beats me to her, giving her a hug.

  “I’m glad you had your lips redone,” she says to her daughter.

  I chuckle to myself before I hear it—my name being chanted. I turn to face the shore and spot a group of women with signs on the dock. Scrubbing my face, I groan.

  “What is that?” someone asks behind me, most likely Jenna’s mother.

  That’s when Mrs. Hillary walks into the view with two girls on either side of her. Their heads are aimed toward the ground, mirroring my feeling.

  Laughter can be heard in my ears as Jenna bumps me with her hip.

  “This is so not funny, Bubble Lips,” I try to say with a straight face. “It’s your fault.”

  “Bubble Lips? Why don’t you tell my mother how you were teaching me fellatio and that’s how I got donut lips?”

  “What—your mom needs pointers?” I joke.

  “Ha-ha. And that’s gross by the way. But those poor girls look like they want lessons,” she says.

  The chanting has grown louder as the women below assume they have my attention. A crowd forms on and off the boat.

  I glance back and see Jenna’s parents talking to my dad. There has to be a way to get this all to stop. A plan quickly forms because I didn’t really have one before. I take Jenna’s hands in mine.

  “Tonight, you’re going to pay for this,” I whisper, letting my eyes trail to the women who want to start my fan club.

  “Is that a threat or a promise?”

  Her eyes twinkle with mischief.

  “How about some of both?”

  “That will work.”

  She licks her lips, and it takes all my self-control not to dive deep into the depths of her mouth and kiss the sin out of her.

  “You’ve really put on one hell of a show. People have been talking about how impressed they are this year and how much better it is than the past.”

  “She’s done an excellent job.”

  Jenna glances over at the women who spoke. “Brandon, this is my boss, Helen.”

  I’m reluctant to let go of Jenna’s hand, but with so many eyes on us, I shake the offered hand. So many eyes. I catch Jenna’s mother, then father. They are smiling at me. How can they know? Cole’s crinkle at the corners. Swallowing, I turn back to the woman I love and give her a minute.

  Kneeling on one knee, I take a deep breath, as audible ones can be heard all around us. Looking up into Jenna’s eyes, I see surprise and shock.

  “I hadn’t meant to do this now. In fact, I wasn’t sure when I’d do it. But I realized something today, here so close…” I have to clear my throat as emotion chokes me. “You asked me about my tattoo, and I never told you.” She nods. “The dragon symbolizes how I felt all my life. It’s like fire runs just beneath my skin, but I’ve always had to rein it in out of duty to my mom… Braedon. I was always afraid that if I didn’t hold what was inside me, others would suffer.”

  Her eyes fill with concern.

  “I was afraid to let anyone down, upset the normal course of life, you know. But there’s always been fire inside me to be something more than what I am. But with you, I can’t hold back. You are that fire that soothes my soul. You’ve been the one, the only woman I’ve wanted since the first day I laid eyes on you. The boat,” I point to where that tattoo is, “represents me feeling lost. But you found me. We may have had a long journey to get to this point, but I don’t want to waste another moment without you by my side. I love you so damn much for that. You don’t have to say yes yet, but I’m declaring here and now my intention is to spend the rest of my life with you. We don’t have to get married tomorrow or next year, but everyone needs to know who owns my heart and soul.”

  The ring I had in my pocket and not in a box is warm. It’s not the doorknocker Kenneth gave her, but it’s big enough to be seen. More important, it’s something I think she’ll like. I’d consulted Cate.

  As I hold it out to her, I can’t breathe, nerves keeping my lungs on lockdown. Her hands haven’t moved from her mouth as wide eyes stare down at me.

  “It’s okay,” I say, pulling the ring back, understanding I’d made a calculated mistake. I didn’t want to pressure her, but the moment came, and I’d done it without second-guessing myself. “It’s far too soon for me to be doing this.” I close my eyes to get my shit together and find a smile to plaster to my face for all the onlookers.

  “Yes.”

  The word is so quiet, I don’t dare open my eyes in case I hadn’t heard right. Suddenly, her hands are covering mine.

  “Yes, Brandon. I’ll marry you today, tomorrow, next week, next year.”

  Opening my eyes, I stand up and draw her close.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to make the wrong choice.”

  “I love you. You’ve always been the right choice, no matter how long it took me to realize it.”

  Nothing else needs to be said. I kiss her like I’ve wanted to since I first saw her. Clapping and some agonizing sobs erupt from all around. None of it matters.

  Tilting to meet her forehead with my own, our fingers entwined, I say, “You are my present, my past, but most important, my future. No doubt we’ll have rough times ahead, but with you as my compass, we can navigate this life together.”

  Epilogue

  Several years later

  Staring out into the large backyard, I marvel at the house I had built for Jenna, with her input, of course. She wanted a place with a huge backyard for our future kids. So far, I’ve failed her there.

  “Hey, stranger,” Cate says, coming over to give me a hug.

  “It’s been a while.”

  “It has. You guys have a lovely home. Your mom is over the moon showing us around.” I nod. “Where’s Jenna?”

  I glance down at Cate’s belly. “Number five, eh?”

  She pats her stomach. “Yeah, and that’s the end of that story.”

  We laugh, but I know that Jenna’s struggling with seeing Cate today.

  “She’s hiding from me,” Cate surmises.

  The smile she wears is cautious, but that’s because the sympathy in her eyes is filled with compassion. She pats my hand.

  “It will work out. Let me go find her,” she says.

  I nod, leaving my mom to play hostess while I wonder if Jenna and I will ever hear the sounds of children’s laughter in the backyard, until I do.

  “Uncle Brandon, Uncle Brandon.”

  I turn to find little Madeline running toward me. Bending down in time, I scoop her up when she launches herself at me. Her little arms wrap around my neck.

  “I’ve missed you,” she whispers into my ear.

  “I’ve missed you, too, Maddy.”

  She’s the middle of sisters in Cate and Drew’s brood and my relentless admirer. Drew exits onto the deck with the rest of the clan, Ethan, Emma and Caitlin.

  “Can we play?” the other two girls ask.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  We’d rented a moon bounce to keep the kids occupied, and they tear off for it.

  “Hey, Ethan,” I greet.

  “Hey,” he says, not looking at all interested in the moon bounce or his sisters or us adults.

  “I’ve got the new Madden downstairs.” His eyes perk up. “Yeah, I’ve got a bun
ch of new games if you want to check it out.”

  He glances up at his dad for approval. “Sure, but don’t forget to come up for dinner.”

  Ethan races off, and Drew shakes his head. “If he has his way, he won’t see us for the rest of the night.”

  We laugh. “Uncle Brandon,” Maddy says, still in my arms, as she tugs on my shirt. I give her my full attention. “Daddy says we can’t get married.”

  “Really,” I say, then glance at Drew, looking for a little help.

  Chuckling a little, he doesn’t offer any.

  “Well, I’m already married to your Aunt Jenna.”

  My princess sounds more like she’s thirty than three and half when she speaks next.

  “She’s not really my aunt, and you’re not my uncle. So it’s allowed.”

  How can I argue with her logic?

  “Who will she marry if I marry you?”

  She shrugs with an expression that everything makes perfect sense. “She can find her own prince.”

  I laugh, then kiss her cheek.

  “This prince needs to cook dinner, otherwise we’ll all starve. Why don’t you go play with your sisters?”

  When I set her down on the ground, she stares up at me. “I will. But you’ll sit next to me at dinner, right?”

  I nod and she sets off, announcing to anyone in hearing distance that she’s going to marry me.

  “Sorry about that,” Drew says.

  “It’s okay. You guys have a great family.”

  He looks thoughtful, and I know what’s coming. “Have you guys seen that specialist I talked to you about?”

  It wasn’t quite the conversation I wanted to have at our house-warming.

  “We have,” I admit.

  Gratefully, Ben and Sam walk in with their daughter. Sam comes over. She, too, is pregnant, though not as far along as Cate. Everyone greets each other with Sam doling out cheek kisses and handshakes between the guys.

  Jenna, being the trooper she is, swore she could handle seeing everyone with their families growing while ours is at a standstill.

  “Congratulations, if I haven’t said it before,” I say to my brother-in-law and his wife.

  More compassionate smiles and I feel my own is waning.

  “I should probably go find Jenna before I get started cooking.” To Ben’s daughter, Julie, I say, “You should go play in the moon bounce.”

  Shyly, she glances up at her father whose hand she hasn’t let go of. “Daddy, will you take me?”

  “Absolutely, darling.” He scoops her up, and the pair of them head down the deck stairs.

  I go through the French doors and head up the back stairs. Through a cracked master bedroom door, I hear Cate and Jenna talking. I push forward, and Cate looks up.

  “I’ll leave the two of you alone,” she says and pats my arm again as she leaves.

  “Hey, babe,” I say, trying not to make a big deal. Her emotions have been all over the place lately, not that I don’t get it. Our lives seem to be in flux, and she’s been busy with the decorator trying to make everything perfect. Cate and her family are staying with us for the weekend. “Everyone’s here. You should come down.”

  That’s when I spot her tears. I go sit next to her on the bed. “Why are you crying?” I ask like I don’t know.

  “When you married me, I bet you didn’t bargain on getting a defective wife.”

  She has no fucking clue how lucky I am to have her.

  I pull her onto my lap, overcome with lumps that want to form in my throat. Wrapping her around me, I declare with no room to argue, “You’re not defective.”

  “Really,” she sobs. “It’s not your swimmers that are the problem.”

  “And you don’t know you are either. The doctors aren’t sure what to make of us. It could be just the pressure we’re putting on ourselves.”

  Fierce eyes meet me. “Don’t. We both know if it’s not you, it’s me.”

  Stress etches worry lines in her forehead. Between hormone injection shots and sex on demand, I can see in her eyes she’s ready to give up.

  The kiss I give her I hope speaks volumes. But when I pull back, I add words to what I want her to know.

  “I married you. You, Jenna Connelly. You are everything to me. If we can’t have kids, if you want to adopt, or if you want to just let it be the two of us, I’m cool with any of it as long as it will make you happy.”

  For a second, my thoughts trail off to Kym. She’s graduated college and is working in Charlotte. She wouldn’t come back to Charleston, but we still keep in touch. I wonder what our life might be like if she hadn’t lost the kid. Maybe Jenna and I could have been parents of a sort, and my girl wouldn’t be so unhappy.

  “Why does everything have to be so hard for me?”

  I swipe the tears from her cheeks.

  “We’ll get through this.”

  “Promise?” she asks.

  I pull a tissue from the box on the bed and hand it to her.

  After she blows her nose, she asks, “Together?”

  I nod. “Together.”

  After wiping more tears from her eyes, I help her to her feet.

  “I have to check on something,” she says. I try not to look worried, and she adds, “I promise I’ll be down in a minute. I need to fix my face.”

  One thing we have in spades is trust. So I head for the kitchen, where Ben finds me.

  “So, I hear you’re marrying Maddy.”

  He, like Jenna, enjoys making jokes.

  “Yeah, don’t tell Jenna.” I laugh.

  “Tell Jenna what?”

  She comes in, all smiles. That’s my girl. She puts on a brave face for everyone.

  “Seems your husband is going to divorce you for a younger woman. Good thing you didn’t sign a prenup. Now you can take him for all his money.” Ben laughs.

  “Younger woman, huh? Good thing your business has expanded. I’ll go find that hussy. Her name wouldn’t be Madeline, would it?” Jenna says good-naturedly.

  Everyone knows of Maddy’s fondness for me. I shrug.

  “She showers me with hugs and kisses. It’s kind of hard to ignore. You’re going to have to step up your game.” I wink at her.

  Her animated face is true, and I love her more for it.

  “I’m going to find this Maddy and tickle her until she gives up her quest to take my man.”

  The grin she gives me is so bright, my mood lifts. I shouldn’t have doubted that she could do this day and survive it. We will survive. All I need is her.

  “How’s she doing?” Ben asks seriously once Jenna’s outside.

  “Some days are tougher than others,” I admit.

  “I feel almost guilty that Sam’s pregnant.”

  “Don’t,” I say. “She’s giving adoption serious thought.”

  Ben nods.

  “Well, Sam and I want to tell you both that she’s willing to carry a child for the two of you. I mean, Jenna told her that was an option. Doc will sync the two of you up and implant it in her.”

  The fertility doctor had mentioned that as a possibility, but Jenna didn’t want to ask Sam or Cate to do that for her. I’m surprised she told them.

  “You guys would do that?” I choke.

  Ben has become like a brother to me. It’s weird being on the receiving end of advice, but I’m grateful for him.

  He nods. “I bet Sam is telling her now.”

  Clapping me on the back, his support lifts a weight from my shoulders. I felt helpless unable to give Jenna everything she wants in this life. I hug the guy, not caring who sees. Then, I brush off the emotions, afraid I might tear up or some shit. I pick up the pan of steaks ready for the grill and head outside, blinking away any threat of moisture.

  The women are in a circle hug, and for a second, I allow myself to dream. It’s easy to imagine Jenna and me pushing the two kids she so desperately wants on a swing set with a golden Labrador running around and between us. Before the vision fades, I envision Jenna steppin
g back with a rounded belly. It’s too much to dream for. So I push it back as the three women join us guys on the deck as I put the steaks down.

  “We have news,” Jenna says.

  “Me first,” says Cate.

  She walks over and doles out drinks to all of us. The guys get beer, and the girls get sparkling apple cider in flutes. She stops next to Drew, who wraps an arm around her before she makes an announcement. “A toast. We’re moving back to Charleston.”

  It’s a good thing I haven’t started the meat. The squeals and hugs go on for long minutes as we guys watch. Apparently, Cate hadn’t told Sam and Jenna yet.

  Drew shrugs. “It’s time. Our family is here. I’m joining a practice down here.”

  Cate looks at me as she speaks to all of us. “For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine living here without…” She glances at her husband for a second. He takes her hand in his. “But he’s here,” she says, choking up. She brings their joined hands to her heart. “I know he’s happy for me, for us. And to tell you the truth, I miss you guys. I want our kids to know each other.”

  Cue in the group hug.

  “I have an announcement,” Sam says.

  I steady myself that maybe, just maybe Jenna and I can have at least one of our own. And I’ll be happy if Jenna’s happy with one child.

  “Jenna and I have decided to go into business together. We’re going to start a boutique event and marketing company.”

  Cate bounces on her toes. She and Drew give more congratulations to the women. I’m not surprised by that. They’ve been toying with the ideas for a while. However, I was expecting—

  “My turn,” Jenna says shyly. She glances up at me from across the circle. I give her my best reassuring smile. Whatever she says next, that we are giving up on having kids or that we are adopting or that Sam has agreed to be our surrogate at some point in the future after giving birth to her and Ben’s second. Whatever it is, I’m prepared to support her decision.

  “I’ve made a lot of wrong choices in my life, but you guys aren’t one of them. I’m grateful to each of you. Cate, my best friend in all the world, I’m so happy you have Drew. He’s the very best guy for you.” Her eyes shift. “Benny, my brother, and biggest champion, you are the best big brother a girl can ask for.”