Edge of Love (29 page)

“
You don’t need to work at
all, Sean. I have plenty of money.”

He smiled. “Thanks, but no thanks. I
won’t change my mind about this.”

I sighed. I knew how stubborn he was
about this topic. He was too traditional to stay at home. “Take all
the time you need. Find something you enjoy, Sean.”

He nodded. “So, I guess we should talk
about the wedding.” I could tell he wasn’t looking forward to this
conversation by the sound of his voice.

“
Yeah,” I said
sadly.

“
What do you want to
do?”

“
I get a
choice?”

“
I won’t make you do
something that you don’t want to do, Scar.”

“
I know.”

“
So, I came up with an
idea. Let me know what you think.”

I looked at him.

“
What if we get married
here just like you wanted. It will be just us, Cortland, Ryan,
Janice and Monnique. Then, we’ll fly to Connecticut and do it
again. We’ll already be legally married, but my family doesn’t have
to know that. The real thing can be just us.”

I felt the tears bubble under my eyes.
I couldn’t believe Sean was willing to lie to his whole family for
me. “No.”

He raised an eyebrow. “No? I can’t
come up with a better solution than that.”

“
Sean, the reason why I
don’t want to have a big wedding is—for a lot of reasons. I don’t
have a dad to walk me down the aisle. I don’t have a mom either.
And you know how crazy she is. She’ll find out about the wedding
and come to sabotage it and embarrass me. It’s hard for me to be
around your family because it makes me feel like a failure. And
since I don’t even know most of the people, they’ll just be
commenting on the plane incident, or the fact that my mother is
crazy, or whatever it is.”

He leaned in and kissed me on the
forehead. “I understand your feelings, babe. But I want you to know
something.”

“
What?”

“
My family doesn’t think
less of you. They love you. In fact, they think you are too good
for me.”

“
Really?”

“
Just ask my
dad.”

I smiled.

“
And Scar?”

“
What?”

“
I know it hurts you that
you don’t have a family, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m your
family. I will always take care of you and love you. I will be the
mother you never had. And my family is your family now. Please
don’t feel embarrassed about where you come from. All that doesn’t
matter anymore.” He squeezed my hand. “And I’ll have security
looking for your mom in the front. If she really wants to try
anything, she’ll have a really hard time.”

I smiled. “I love you.”

“
I know,” he said. “So, if
you don’t want to get married in Connecticut, then why don’t you
want to get married here?”

“
I couldn’t do that to
you, Sean. I know you want your parents to be there.”

“
And my best
man.”

“
Who’s your best
man?”

“
My brother.”

“
Really?”

He sighed. “I know we aren’t close,
but we used to be. I would like to honor that relationship even if
it’s dead. Also, I know it would mean a lot to my parents if my
brother was the best man.”

“
But it’s your
day.”

“
No, it’s yours,” he said.
“And I want to give you whatever you want. Let’s have a secret
wedding and not tell anyone about it. No one will ever know the
truth.”

“
I can’t do that,
Sean.”

“
I want to.”

“
Well, invite your parents
and brother. Just tell them to keep it a secret.”

“
I’m not sure if they
would.”

“
Talk to your dad
first.”

Sean nodded. “I’ll see what they
think.” He stared at me for a moment. “And thanks, babe. I do want
my parents to be there.”

“
I know.”

He kissed me on the cheek. “I think we
got everything.”

I laughed. “I think so
too.”

“
Wait.”

I felt my heart fall.
“What?”

“
What are we going to do
about Ryan?”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
I slept with Janice. I
think he should know.”

“
No,” I said. “There’s no
point.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Well, he didn’t even know
Janice when you slept with her. He has no right to be mad. And
secondly, he’s a total slut. He’s not going to care.”

“
I think he would. I know
he would.”

“
Did he say something to
you?”

“
When he came over here,
he said he’d want to know if Janice slept with someone he
knew.”

I sighed. “Don’t, Sean. It’s just
going to make things awkward between you. Now you and Cortland
aren’t close, and then you won’t be close with Ryan. He may hate
you.”

“
That’s for him to
decide.”

“
Don’t say anything,
Sean.”

He sighed. “Have Janice talk to
him.”

“
I can’t tell her what to
do.”

“
So she doesn’t want him
to know?”

“
Not
particularly.”

He shook his head.

“
You better not say
anything.”

He was quiet for a moment.
“Okay.”

“
It isn’t your business to
mess with their relationship. This is the first good thing that’s
happened to Ryan, and I don’t want him to mess it up and start
acting like a jealous lunatic.”

“
He’s your brother, Scar.
You really aren’t going to tell him?”

“
I have his best interest
at heart.”

“
That scares me,
Scar.”

“
Please don’t assume that
I’m going to do the same thing to you. The situations are
different. You know that.”

“
Okay.”

“
Are we done
now?”

“
No.”

“
Damn.”

“
It really makes me
uncomfortable when you say mean things about my mom. She meant
well, really.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m
sorry.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes,” I said. “I was just
overreacting.”

“
Okay. That makes me feel
better.”

“
I love your family, Sean.
Even your brother. Well, not right now, but I did at one
point.”

He laughed. “I really don’t know if
that relationship will ever be mended. I think it’s a lost
cause.”

“
I think he would be there
for you if you needed him.”

“
I sincerely doubt it,
Scar.”

“
Well, he’s going to be
your best man even though he doesn’t want to.”

“
Only because my parents
will ask him to be.”

“
I still think you can
work it out.”

“
I tried.”

I kissed him on the cheek. “Well,
that’s all you can do.”

“
I suppose.”

Now that our conversation was over, I
looked around the room. “So, now that we are done with that, I can
be a bitch, right?”

He laughed. “What?”

“
Clean up this
mess.”

He laughed again. “Damn. I forgot that
the wife likes this place to be clean.”

“
Damn right I
do.”

28

“
How’d it go?” I asked
from the couch. I was sitting in my pajamas with the computer on
the table.

Sean dropped his bag next to the door.
“Fine. My boss was surprised. He really liked me.”

“
Did he ask why you
quit?”

“
Yeah. I just said that I
felt that I had expired my potential at the company.” He sat next
to me on the couch.

I raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that
supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s some
bullshit I made up.”

I laughed. “So, how’s the job
search?”

He took his jacket and tie off then
threw them on the couch. “Uh, I haven’t looked.”

“
Good,” I said. “You
should be lazy for a little while.”

He smiled. “I won’t be annoying you
all day?”

“
Well, I didn’t say
that.”

“
I’ll try to stay out of
your way.”

I cuddled into his side. “No, I love
being with you.”

He kissed me on the head.
“Thanks.”

“
So, what did that stupid
whore say?”

He laughed at the hostility in my
voice. “Nothing.”

“
She didn’t say
anything?”

“
I didn’t see her. I just
went to the office and dropped off the papers. Then, I
left.”

“
Good.”

“
You don’t need to be
jealous, babe. That bitch is out of my life forever.”

“
Can you work somewhere
that only employs men?”

He laughed. “Like a
mechanic?”

“
Yes!” I said excitedly.
“Do that!”

I laughed. “I’m not into
cars.”

“
Be a stay at home
husband.”

“
I don’t like that idea
either.”

“
Be a professional finger
master.”

“
What the hell is
that?”

I glanced down to his fingers. “You
know what that means.”

He laughed. “So, you want me to charge
women to finger them?”

“
No,” I said as I hit him
on the shoulder. “It would just be me.”

“
So, I would be your sex
slave?”

“
It comes with
benefits.”

He laughed loudly. “That does sound
tempting. I’ll think about it.”

“
Even comes with a
401K.”

“
It keeps getting
better.”

I leaned into him and snuggled next to
him.

“
Babe, I’m going to get
up.”

“
Where are you
going?”

He smiled. “I’m going to change. I
hate wearing a suit for any amount of time.”

“
Okay.”

He walked away into the
hallway.

The phone rang on the table. I
answered it.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey, what’s happening?”
Ryan asked.

“
Nothing.”

“
Everything okay over
there?”

“
Yeah. We’re great. We
were just watching television.”

“
So you aren’t coming back
over here?”

“
No.”

“
Yes!” He turned away from
the phone and spoke to Janice. “She isn’t coming!”

I rolled my eyes. “You guys are
assholes.”

He laughed. “Sorry, Scar.”

“
And you know you miss
me.”

“
I really
don’t.”

“
Whatever.”

“
So, everything is fine
with Sean?”

“
Yeah, we’re very
happy.”

“
So, did you figure out
the wedding situation?”

“
Yes, we’re going to have
a secret wedding with just us and his parents, then do another in
Connecticut. That’s a fair compromise.”

“
It sounds good. I’m glad
you figured it out.”

“
Me, too.”

“
So, am I going to walk
you down the aisle?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
What? Then what the hell
am I going to do? I’m not in the wedding?”

“
Calm down! For not
missing me you sure seemed to be concerned about me.”

He laughed. “I just want to know
what’s going on.”

“
Well, we haven’t planned
anything yet.”

“
You know people plan
ahead. Maybe you guys should try it.”

“
Fuck you.”

He laughed. “Seriously, am I not in
it?”

“
Well, I wanted to ask you
this in person, but you ruined that.”

“
What?” he asked
excitedly.

“
I want you to be my maid
of honor.”

Ryan was quiet for a moment. “What the
hell? I’m not a girl, Scar.”

“
I realize that. I’m not
as dumb as you think.”

“
And I’m not wearing a
dress. And I’m definitely not helping you plan a stupid
wedding.”

“
You’re my best friend,
Ryan. There’s no better choice. I want it to be you.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Do I get
to wear a tuxedo?” I heard the smile in his voice.

“
Yes.”

“
Alright. I’ll do
it.”