My Favorite Mistake

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  “Small. Definitely,” I said, beating Hunter to the gun. Neither of us had big families. You know, if we were getting married, which we weren’t, because this was just for pretend.

  “Less than 25 people?”

  “Probably. We hadn’t really sat down and counted yet,” Hunter said. “But it’ll be what, your parents, Tawny, my family, that’s eight, then Darah, Renee, Paul, Megan and Jake, and then Dev and Sean. And a few cousins. Right?” It was like he’d actually thought about it.

  “That’s right,” I said with a sweeter-than-sweet smile.

  “Okay, well that would be perfect. I don’t think we could accommodate everyone, but definitely the bridal and groom parties. Let’s go upstairs and see some of the rooms and then we can go over the grounds.”

  “Sounds good,” I said with another teeth-hurting smile.

  “Good job, Missy girl,” Hunter said as we walked up the spiral stairs to the rest of the inn.

  “Bite me, Mr. Zaccadelli.”

  “Anytime, Mrs. Zaccadelli.” I nearly tripped on the next step. Hearing him call me that made a strange feeling come over me that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

  Susan showed us a few rooms that weren’t occupied. They were all quaintly furnished and had great views. My favorite was the library suite. I gasped when we walked down a set of narrow white stairs and came into a room furnished in dark green with red accents. It was a bit like a strawberry gone nuts, but with BOOKS. There was even a balcony with more rows of bookshelves. I nearly lost it.

  “Hey, you’re going to squeeze the blood out of my hand,” Hunter whispered.

  I looked down and saw that I was clenching his hand in excitement. Maybe a bit too hard.

  “You can take it. Do you not see the books?”

  “Would you have your way with me right now?”

  Surrounded by all that literature? Oh hell yes. Damn Susan. She was still yammering, but I wasn’t hearing her. Too many pretty books were calling my name.

  “Why do you think Beauty picked the Beast? It was the library.”

  “I guess I’m the Beast in that situation.”

  “Unless you want to be the Beauty.”

  “Nope, that’s all you.” He pulled me toward him and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I thought I heard Susan sigh.

  “Would you like to see the grounds?”

  “Sure,” I said, taking one last, longing look at the library room.

  “Hold on,” Hunter said, taking out his phone. “Would you take a picture of us?”

  “Absolutely,” Susan said, taking the phone.

  Hunter pulled me close and put his arm around me.

  “Smile, baby.” I did, and Susan took a few shots of us.

  “Perfect,” she said. Hunter grinned at me, and I wanted to slap it off his face and kiss him at the same time.

  Susan took us around the back of the inn, which had a huge sloping lawn.

  “Now we can do tents, or some couples prefer the gazebo.”

  “What do you think, babe? Gazebo or tent?” I said.

  “Whatever your little heart desires, my love.” He was laying it on thick. I hoped Susan couldn’t hear the sarcasm. She seemed oblivious.

  “I like the gazebo. I’ve always imagined getting married in a gazebo.” Now I was the one laying it on.

  Susan gave us the rest of the tour, barely stopping her torrent of words to take a breath. Hunter and I had a little battle, with me elbowing him and him trying to get me back. Susan was oblivious. We took some more pictures of the inn, and Hunter made Susan take some more of us.

  “I swear to God, if you post these online, I will strangle you in your sleep,” I hissed while she took another shot of us in the gazebo.

  “Noted,” he hissed back.

  Susan gave us a bunch more brochures about all sorts of things and blathered on about catering. I was exhausted by the time we walked outside.

  I turned around and looked one more time at it.

  “Like your castle, princess?”

  I shrugged. “It’s okay.”

  He narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m sorry it’s not up to your standards. Would you like me to call my private jet and take you to England to see a real one?”

  “Well, if you insist.”

  “You’re a demanding girl, Missy. You’re not going to want swans for our wedding, right?”

  “Only a few dozen. And doves. We must release doves.”

  “Oh, doves are a given. That’s why I didn’t mention them.” He turned on the car and swung around the circular driveway.

  “It is really cool inside. Thanks for bringing me here.”

  “Anytime, princess.”

  We went downtown to The Camden Deli to get sandwiches and then we drove to the top of the mountain. Luckily, since it was the middle of the week, there weren’t that many people up there. The tourists had mostly left, but the leaf peepers were already out in full force, and there were always the birders to contend with. You could always spot them because they had huge binoculars.

  We found a semi-flat spot and settled down to watch the boats come in and out of the small harbor and the bustling town. Hunter found an old blanket in his car, and we spread that down. Of course he’d brought his guitar.

  “You never know when you might need it. What if our wallets were stolen and we ran out of gas? Then I’d have my guitar and I could play so people would take pity on us and give us gas money. So really, this guitar could save our lives.”

  “Never insult Hunter’s guitar. Note made,” I said, tapping my head. “You didn’t have to go veggie for me. I don’t care if you eat meat, as long as you don’t shove it in my face or down my throat.”

  “I like hummus; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Since when?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Since you made me eat it three weeks ago.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You’re cute when you’re smug.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Missy does not take compliments well. Note taken.”

  It was my turn to roll my eyes and munch on my sandwich for something to do. We finished and then had double chocolate chip cookies for desert.

  “You want to go up to the tower?”

  “Sure.” The most prominent item on the top of the mountain was a stone tower with a winding staircase that you could climb to the top. I wasn’t much for stairs that you could see through, but I wasn’t going to tell Hunter that. I went first, and somehow made it to the top without freaking out.

  “Can I tell you something?” Hunter said when we were both at the top. I nodded. “Your ass looks amazing from that angle.”

  “I swear, I will throw you off this tower.”

  “No you won’t,” he said with a smile as he picked me up and placed me on the edge of the wall that surrounded the tower. It had little crenellations, and I fit exactly between them.

  “No stay still, I want to take a picture. Smile, baby.” He was still calling me baby, even though Susan wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  I did, which was easy to do with him looking at me like I was the best Christmas present he’d ever gotten.

  “Gorgeous. Okay, let’s get you down.” I begrudgingly let him help me down. “Let’s do one more. Smile big.” He held the camera out with one hand and put his face next to mine. “One, two —” Before he got to three he moved his head and kissed my cheek. I squished up my face in surprise.

  “Hey, no ambush kissing.” I wacked his chest halfheartedly. He captured my hand and kissed my palm.

  “Even if you like it?”

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  We heard voices on the stairs and in a moment we were joined by a mother, father, two kids and a set of what were probably grandparents. The top of the tower wasn’t that wide, so we had to squish in.

  “Sorry, there’s not a lot of space up here,” the mother said as one of the kids begged his father to be held up so they could see over the wal
l.

  “It’s okay, I think we’re going down soon,” I said.

  “Oh, would you mind taking a picture of us?” the woman said, trying to gather her son so he wouldn’t throw himself down the stairs.

  “Sure,” I said, taking the camera. They got themselves sorted, and I had to back up nearly to the other end of the tower and zoom all the way out to get them all in.

  “Say Mt. Battie!”

  “Mt. Battie!” they all chimed in.

  “Thank you so much,” the woman said as I showed her the pictures on the camera. “Oh my goodness, what a beautiful ring. When are you getting married?”

  “March 21, first day of spring,” Hunter said, putting his arm around me.

  “Well, congratulations.”

  “Thank you,” I said, trying to grind my heel into Hunter’s foot. He avoided me, and we said good-bye to the family and started back down the steps.

  “You go first.”

  “What a buzz kill,” he said, but he did go first.

  I almost reached out and held onto his shirt as we went down, but I resisted and before we knew it, we were back down. Phew.

  “You want to walk around a bit?” He didn’t let go of my hand, and we walked around the road a bit, making a loop and then back again.

  “I’d love to come here at night to see what the town looked like all lit up. They close the gates, so you’d have to walk up with flashlights. Still, it would be worth it.”

  I nodded, looking down at our linked hands.

  “So is that how you’d see your wedding? With swans and all that?” he said.

  “I never really imagined a wedding.”

  “I thought that was something all girls did.”

  “Well, like you said, I’m not a normal girl.”

  “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “How did you mean it?”

  “I meant it that you’re not just any other girl. You’re you.”

  “Profound.”

  “Come on. Don’t be like that. All the other girls I’ve known would have been thrilled and would have showed it to anyone whether they wanted to see it or not. Some would have thought it was a proposal. But you didn’t. You were pissed I’d spent money on you.”

  “I’m still pissed about it, but what am I going to do about it?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What?”

  “You’re just different. I like that.”

  “Whatever.”

  We kept walking silently.

  “I like that you’re nice to people,” I said.

  “What?”

  I had sort of mumbled it. “You’re nice to people when you don’t have to be. Like those drunk girls and Susan. You act like you’re this big badass, but you’re really not.”

  “Are you saying I’m not a badass? Then all these tattoos were for nothing. What shall I do?” He shook his fist to the sky.

  “Aw, did I insult your badassery?”

  “I’m wounded,” he said, clutching his heart. “You must soothe my wounds.”

  “How?”

  “Gimme some sugar,” he said, stopping and pointing to his puckered lips.

  “No way, man.” I tried to walk, but he wouldn’t let me.

  “Come on. Give your fiancé a kiss.”

  “That was your stupid idea.”

  “Nonetheless. Kiss me, please.” If only he hadn’t said please.

  “Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was that I knew if our lips met, I wasn’t in control of what happened next. It was like I had an excess of sexual frustration built up after so many years of celibacy. Could that happen?

  I pressed my lips together so there was no hope of tongue and gave him a little peck.

  He shook his head.

  “Nope. Still in pain. Gotta do better than that.” I tried again, giving him a little bit longer, but still pulling back as soon as I wanted more.

  “Who are you, my grandmother?”

  I was about to stomp my foot and say enough when my phone rang.

  “Forget about it,” he said, leaning in.

  “It’s my mom’s ringtone.” It was Hip To My Heart by The Band Perry. She loved that song. “I need to take this.” I hadn’t talked to my mom in a while and I felt horrible about it.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hey, Kid! I feel like it’s been ages since we talked. I got out of work early, so I thought I’d give you a ring. You’re not in class are you?”

  “Nope. I wouldn’t have answered if I was. Or I’d be whispering.”

  “Right. So how are you?”

  “I’m good. Busy. Classes are nuts.”

  “That’s good. How’s the job?”

  “That’s good to.”

  “And the roommate situation?”

  “Tell her it’s great,” Hunter whispered. The volume on the phone was loud enough for him to hear. I turned it down and walked away from him.

  “It’s sort of been resolved.” So far. “I’m going to deal with it for the rest of the semester and then we’ll see.”

  “Oh, good. You sound better. You sound really happy, actually.”

  “Do I?”

  “Yes, you do. What’s the cause?” The boy who was currently trying to wind his arms around my waist and distract me from talking to you.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the new year. My birthday is coming up.”

  Mom wasn’t fooled. “It’s a boy, isn’t it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Oh. My. God. I thought it would never happen. I want details, Kid.” She sounded like Tawny.

  “He’s just a guy.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “Not really,” I said. Hunter was trying to tickle me. “Will you stop that?”

  “What?” Mom said. I glared at Hunter, and he gave me a wide-eyed innocent look.

  “Nothing, I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “That was him, wasn’t it? Is he there with you? If you’re on a date, we can talk later, as long as I get details. Oh, God, you’re not in the middle of something, are you?”

  “Mom!” My face went scarlet as Hunter laughed quietly.

  “I was just asking. You never know. Are you on a date?” The excitement in her voice was palpable, even over the phone.

  “We’re not on a date.”

  “Yes we are,” Hunter said, loud enough for her to hear.

  I put my hand over the speaker.

  “Will you shut up?”

  “Kid, why don’t you call me back? Oh, before you go, I thought I could have you and Tawny over for family dinner on Saturday night. Why don’t you bring him? I’d love to meet him.”

  “You don’t even know his name.”

  “Doesn’t matter. If he’s gotten through your walls, I know he’s something special. Your standards are high.”

  “Yes, they are,” Hunter said in my ear. His warm breath was making it very hard to think. “I’d love to meet your mother.”

  “Was that him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell her I’d love to meet her,” he said so loud that I’m sure people from miles around could have heard him. I gave him a death glare.

  “Tell him that’s great. I’ll be sure to make you something special.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Call me later, Kid.”

  “I will.”

  “You’d better. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I hung up with Mom and jabbed my fist into Hunter’s stomach. He dodged at the last moment and wrapped his arms around me, giving me a bear hug.

  “I can’t wait to meet your mom. I want to see what you’ll look like in twenty- five years.”

  “Well, since you invited yourself to dinner, I guess there’s nothing I can do to stop you.”

  “Exactly.” He dived in and got a good kiss in, smiling against my mouth. I totally let him. “There. Now was that so hard?”

 
; I made a grumpy noise.

  “Come on; let’s go have some music sex.”

  We settled back in our spot, and Hunter serenaded me as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Renee and Darah texted me, asking when we were getting back. I messaged them back and said I didn’t know. I was at Hunter’s mercy. Renee was dying for details. She’d probably be disappointed with my lame details.

  “One last song. What’ll it be?” he said.

  “How about something older? Oooh, how about Love Me Tender?”

  “Elvis?”

  “What? He’s the King.”

  “Yes, yes he is.”

  I put my hands behind my head and stared up at the sky as Hunter’s voice lulled me into that safe bubble again. My stupid phone popped it.

  I stared at the screen. Tawny. I ignored the call. I’d call her back later. Hunter kept singing, drawing the song out longer than it normally would be.

  Immediately, she called back. That raised a red flag. She didn’t do that unless there was a reason.

  “What’s up?” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. Hunter stopped playing.

  “Travis is up for parole.”

  Twenty-Four

  Every bit of oxygen I’d had in my lungs left in one puff of air.

  “What?” Hunter looked at me with a question mark on his face. I turned away from him.

  “He’s up for parole. There’s a hearing in a couple of weeks.”

  “But he has two more years.”

  “I know, but you know how it works. He got the date almost two months ago, but they forgot to let us know.”

  “They can’t let him out,” I whispered.

  “They could.”

  “Can we go?”

  “We should be able to, since we’re both victims. They should have called you, too.” I’d had a call earlier, but I’d let it go to voicemail since I didn’t know the number. What a moron.

  “What’s wrong? You’re shaking.” Hunter put his hands on my shoulders.

  “Don’t fucking touch me!” I shrieked.

  “Taylor! Don’t freak out. It will be fine. They’re not going to let him out. Where are you?” Tawny said.

  “Camden.”

  “What are you doing there?”

  “Not important.”

  “Okay, well I want you to go back to your apartment and stay there. Is there someone to stay with you?”