by Willow Aster
“Baby, you’re okay. I’m right here,” he whispers as he wraps his arms around me.
“She sent him away because he isn’t able to have sex as often as he used to? Who does that? And she didn’t want him to wear a hearing aid because it makes him look old. It’s horrible. She had him undergoing all of these ridiculous tests, and guess what the conclusion is?”
“What?” he asks.
“He’s freaking eighty. He’s actually in pretty good health considering his age. The hearing aids are an easy solution. The sex stuff, oh my gosh, I wanted someone to set my ears on fire after hearing in-depth about his struggles. But that is also an easy solution. He will take some medication. But I think there is a lot more to repair between them than their sex life. I think he’s been depressed for a long time. Even the fact that he put up with her foolishness is so unlike him. The time away was really good for him. I feel like I got my dad back.”
“Yeah. I’m guessing the way she treats him doesn’t give him a lot of motivation in that department.”
“It made me realize how lucky we are, Caden. To have found what we have together. To know that I want to wake up with you every single day for the rest of my life. To know that we love each other. We desire each other. We have one another’s backs. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. And you are all I’ll ever want.” I put it all out there, and I sound like a blubbering fool.
“You are all I want too, Cosi.”
Before I can stop myself, I drop down on one knee and swipe at my face. “You are my forever, Caden Taylor. I don’t want a big fancy party, I just want to make it official. You and me.”
His eyes are wet with emotion as he stares down at me, stroking my cheek with the pad of his thumb.
“Hold that thought.”
He hurries out of the bathroom, and I’m down on one knee feeling a bit foolish and wondering what the hell just happened. He returns before I can move to my feet, and he drops down to face me. “You and me, lover.”
He holds a ring in his hand, and my breath gets caught in my throat.
“What is this?” I cry.
“It’s an engagement ring. Of course I planned to do a whole thing, you know, the candles and the flowers and the whole bit. But this feels right. Real. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted. There was a long time that I just didn’t think I’d ever find someone that I’d want to spend my life with, and then you showed up. Lavender eyes, white-blonde hair, and a smile that lights up my entire world. You are everything I want, Cosette Dubois. Will you marry me?”
I’m sobbing now, as he slips the stunning ring onto my finger. I’m nodding furiously, and it takes a minute before I can get the words out. “Yes. But on one condition.”
“Name it.” He’s so close that his warm breath tickles my cheek.
“I don’t want the fancy dress and the big showy event. I want you and me. Standing near the ocean. Our closest friends and family, and only those who truly wish us well. No fuss. My whole life has been about the fuss. This is about us. You and me. Forever.”
His lips crash into mine.
I push his towel off and he has my shirt and pants off within seconds. I’m greedy for him, loving the way his skin feels under my fingertips, wishing I could crawl right inside of him. I’ve missed him with a constant ache that only now is beginning to ease. I’m relieved we’re okay, relieved we’re together again, relieved that he wants to be my forever as much as I want to be his.
“I love you so much,” I whisper, as he lifts me up and wraps my legs around his waist.
“I love you, baby.” He drops me on the bed and prowls over me like a tiger ready to pounce. “I can’t wait to be inside you,” he says with a grin. “I’m going to fuck the jet lag right out of you.”
I giggle. “I can’t wait.”
He doesn’t waste any time either. He bottoms out in me with one deep dive and I’m breathless. I was ready for him, and when we start moving, our rhythm is frantic.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he says. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
“Let’s do this every day for the rest of our lives, okay?”
He puts his fingers between us and teases me there. Except his eyes are as serious as they get.
“You’re really gonna be my wife?” he asks, driving harder and harder and so deep I feel like I’m going underground.
“First chance I get.”
“Next week?” he sounds winded now, and I’m meeting him with every thrust.
“Next. Week,” I whimper.
“Come with me, Cosette.”
I cry out and he’s right behind me, searing me with a kiss that causes time to stand still.
I shake and shudder, whisper his name over and over again, the aftershocks coming hard even after we’ve kissed.
“I want to shake your world each and every time,” he says. “The way you shake mine. How about we put that in the wedding vows?”
I laugh into his chest and run my fingers lightly over his skin. “Absolutely. Were you serious about next week?”
“Serious as I can be. Were you?”
“I would marry you yesterday if I could.”
He grins down at me and kisses the tip of my nose. “I just need to get my parents and Pen here. The brothers and their girls will make it work.”
I squeal. “My dad will be happy to walk me down the aisle or grass or wherever it ends up happening. I can’t believe we’re doing this. I’m so excited!”
“Oh, you know who will want to be in on this? She wouldn’t go too over the top or make it feel stressful … Alice.”
“Who’s Alice again?”
“The one who created your fairy garden magic.”
“Ohhhh, yes. I would love that. Oh my God, Caden. I can’t believe we’re doing it. I cannot wait!”
He turns to face me and pushes my hair back. “Welcome home, Cosi.”
I sigh and lean into him, kissing him until we heat up to combustible levels. He pulls me on top of him and this time, we take it slow.
I fall asleep afterward and a little later, I feel him kiss my shoulder as he pulls the covers around me. “Sleep, my beauty. And when you wake up, we’ll start planning all the things for a non-wedding wedding.”
I drift back off still smiling.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” Caden asks as we walk up the steps at my parents’ home.
“I am. I spoke to my father this morning and he and Maman have been working on things since he returned from France. He is taking control of his life, and it’s time I do the same.” I type in the code and we step inside.
My parents are both sitting beside one another on the couch in the formal living room as if they are waiting for us. I didn’t tell my mother I was coming over to talk to them, I only shared this with my father.
I haven’t talked to my mother since she tried to hurt Caden by making it look like Jeremy and I were together in France and the fact that she sent my father off to another country to “fix himself” … I’m still not over either one. It’s appalling and I wanted to cool down before we spoke.
It’s time.
No more avoiding confrontation.
I’ve found my voice and I’m ready to use it on the one woman who has managed to silence me most of my life.
“I’ve missed you, darling,” Maman says, as she hurries over and hugs me. “Caden.”
He chuckles at how cool she is toward him and hugs her in spite of her rudeness.
I kiss my father on each cheek when he stands. Caden extends an arm and my father ignores it and pulls him in for a hug instead. We talked about my relationship with Caden a lot while I was in France with my father. He shared that he never thought Jeremy was good enough for me. He had pulled away from me because he was struggling with depression about his flailing marriage, the fact that he wasn’t hearing well, as well as all of the other limitations he’d been experiencing. He admitted he’d had a late in life identity crisis. He laughed when saying that, like he nev
er thought it would happen to him, and it surprised me too—just goes to show that it can happen to anyone. He didn’t regret going into business with Jeremy because he thought he had good business sense. But he didn’t think he made me happy and he was fine with us going our separate ways. He loved the way that I lit up when I spoke about Caden. He said that’s how he’s always felt about Maman, which made my heart ache a little bit because of the way she’d treated him. He reminded me that marriage was a journey, with many highs and lows, and they were currently in a low. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t turn things around.
Caden and I drop to sit down on the lush blue velvet loveseat across from them. My mother has a silver tray with a tea set out for us. I hand Caden a teacup and then make one for myself.
“I just wanted to come over here to speak to you both. I don’t want to focus on the past and the recent events that have upset me,” I say, my gaze locking with my mother’s. She looks away quickly, but I see the shame there, and I’m happy to see she feels something about her despicable actions. Dad told me on the phone the other day that she’d agreed to counseling, which is a huge step for her. “I’m here today to discuss the future.”
“I think moving forward is a good thing. Your mother and I are doing the same. It doesn’t excuse the hurtful things that have taken place,” my father pauses and sets down his tea and looks at my mother, “but hopefully we learn from our mistakes and we do better.”
I nod. “Agreed. Moving forward, I would ask for your blessing with what I’m about to tell you. But I also need to make it clear that I don’t need it. It would make me happy, but it won’t determine what I choose to do for my own happiness.”
“What does that mean?” Maman asks as she zeroes in on the large spectacular diamond setting up residence on my ring finger.
“It means that Caden and I are getting married. I’ve never been happier. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be for you to be happy for me.” I lean into my boyfriend for comfort almost instinctively. He wraps an arm around my shoulder.
“I love your daughter more than I ever knew possible. I will spend the rest of my life showing her how important she is to me,” Caden says, before leaning down and kissing my forehead.
“I don’t think we could ask for more,” my father says. “Thank you for coming to speak to us.” He winks at Caden. “And for our little one-on-one chat already. You absolutely have my blessing.”
All eyes turn to my mother.
She looks away, eyes wet with emotion. “What about Jeremy?”
“Maman, you have to let that go. I was never happy with him. I care about him and I wish him the best, but he is not the man I want to spend my life with.”
She nods. “I can see that. And apparently, this wedding is going to take place with or without my blessing.”
“It is,” I say, and I have no emotion in my voice. I’m not allowing her to make this about her.
I’m happy to say that this time with Caden has helped me find myself—working on the hotel project has too. My mom only wants the best for Juliette and me, it’s just that her best isn’t what I want … God knows what Juliette thinks, if she even does—she’s so brainwashed. Even though my mother and I don’t see eye to eye, she is my mom, her own person, and I will always love her. But I need to be who I’m meant to be now and hope that she’ll come to understand that. Opening my own business is going to be another step on the ladder of life.
I can feel Caden tense up beside me. The whole thing is offensive. She doesn’t even know why she doesn’t like him for me. He isn’t Jeremy. A man who cheated on me repeatedly and whom I had nothing in common with. And no, he isn’t obscenely wealthy. But with my trust, I have enough to never need another thing, and Caden is actually rapidly working his way up the ladder. It’s damn impressive to see him building his company with his brothers.
“I’m happy for you both,” my father says, and he pulls his hand away from my mother, and she stiffens. She suddenly gets very busy with tucking the blanket tighter around Louie, and he bounds out of the blanket and jumps on my lap before moving to Caden’s and settling in.
“Thank you. So the other thing we wanted to discuss is the wedding.”
“Oh, do we have a date? Shall we book the club?” she asks. Juliette and Beecham got married at the country club and it was very fitting for them. It was formal attire, elegant, and cold as hell. No laughter. No sentiment.
But it was exactly what they wanted. That is not what Caden and I want for our special day.
“We’re getting married two weeks from today. We’ve booked a lovely resort on the Hudson River for both the ceremony and the reception. It will be family only. No fuss. Just a special day with the people we love most.”
My mother’s eyes bulge out of her head. “Two weeks? A resort? On the river? Why not at the club?”
“Because it isn’t what we want, Maman. Our wedding should be about us. This isn’t about putting on a show, it’s about celebrating the fact that we want to spend the rest of our lives together, and we want to start right now.”
“I think it sounds wonderful,” my father says, and he winks at me.
“Thank you,” I say, before turning to look at my mother.
“Well, I guess I better get on board then.”
“I guess so,” I say.
I’ll tell her about my job decision another day.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Caden
“I’m so looking forward to meeting your parents,” my mother says to Cosette as we make our way into PLUSH, one of the restaurants in Manhattan that her family owns. My parents flew out here for the weekend specifically to meet the Dubois before the wedding.
I can feel Cosette’s shoulders stiffen at my mother’s words. I squeeze her hand and lean down to kiss her cheek, wanting her to know that everything will be fine. My parents will love her parents because they love her. It’s just who they are.
Alban Dubois is standing in the bar pointing to a few tables, and he has a smile spread clear across his face. He’s back in his element, and Cosette said that he seems more like himself now than he has in a long time. I’m guessing that his hearing aids have a lot to do with getting his confidence back. His wife is the only person who cares that he wears them, but the good news is that her opinion doesn’t appear to matter to him when it comes to being able to hear.
News flash—hearing is not something that one should give up if they don’t have to. The man simply wears a device which allows him to engage with others. Her lack of empathy is difficult to relate to, but she’s Cosette’s mother and therefore she gets a pass from me.
He sees us and hurries over. He introduces himself and my parents beam as they all embrace right there by the hostess stand.
It’s a very Taylor thing to do, but not a typical Dubois response. Maybe the tides are changing. Cosette standing up to her mother was the first step.
Alban guides us all to the private room in the back, where we find Vivienne placing an oversized arrangement in the center of the round table. Louie has somehow earned himself a seat at the table tonight and it’s a rare sight to see him outside of her handbag. He’s sitting on a booster seat wearing a tuxedo top with a bow tie. My mother giggles and my father stares with complete amusement.
“This must be the infamous ring bearer,” Mom says, and she uses her hand to cover her mouth, most likely to hide the fact that she’s gaping.
Vivienne turns to face my parents and she smiles. “This is Louie François Dubois.”
“This is the dog that haunts Gus’ nightmares, right?” my father whispers in my ear and I fight the urge to laugh when I give him a single nod.
We share a few more introductions before we all take our seats. Things are going better than I expected, if I’m being honest. Vivienne hasn’t insulted anyone, not that my parents let stuff like that bother them. The only time there will be a problem is if she says something unkind to me or Cosette in front of my pare
nts. They won’t stay silent for that.
“We are just thrilled for the kids. And I have to say, Mel and I like the idea of an intimate wedding. Focusing on what it’s all really about, right?” my father says, as he reaches for his wine glass and takes a sip.
“Agreed.” Alban raises his glass and we all clink them together. With the exception of one person.
Cosette’s mother.
“Well, I still prefer a big celebration. My daughter Juliette had the most amazing wedding. It was featured on page six in the local paper because we spared no expense,” Vivienne says, swirling her wine in her glass as if it isn’t quite up to par just yet. I cringe at her words. The woman is such a snob. I’ve heard about the page six bullshit more times than I can count. Who cares? Juliette and Beecham are two of the most miserable people I’ve ever met. I’d skip page six and head to couples therapy if I were them.
Cosette stiffens beside me at her mother’s words and I wrap an arm around her. “Well, a lifetime of happiness with my girl is all I care about. Page six would be lucky to feature us, baby.”
My mother beams at us before turning her attention back to Vivienne. “We’re looking forward to meeting Juliette and Beecham. I know you’ve met Caden’s siblings, and we can’t wait to do the same.”
Watching Vivienne and my mother interact is sort of like watching a kitten play with a scorpion.
“I’m not sure you will meet Juliette,” Vivienne says as she sets the menu aside.
“They aren’t attending the wedding?” Cosette asks, completely caught off guard. Her sister has made a few snide remarks about the wedding being too small, but she hasn’t mentioned not attending as far as I know.
“She and Beecham have a wine tasting event that same night,” Vivienne says as if Cosette should have known, and my father spews the wine in his mouth across the table. Now I can’t help myself and I bark out a laugh.