Edge of Love (8 page)

7

Scarlet

Diane cleaned the blood
from Mike’s face before we sat down for breakfast. I thought we
should wait for Sean, but I knew that was unrealistic. Who knows
when he’ll return? I picked at my eggs and bacon but didn’t eat a
whole lot. I had never been more uncomfortable with his family then
I was now. Mike kept staring at me across the table, and his mom
tried to make small talk. She was trying to act like we didn’t just
witness a scene from
Fight
Club
.

I didn’t want to be here. I just
wanted to go home. After hearing what his mother said about me,
that she didn’t think Sean should marry me because I was just a
rebound, I just wanted to go. The fact that she still talked to
Penelope made me more upset. She never made an effort to be close
to me. Even when she spoke to Sean on the phone, she never asked
him to hand the phone over. I knew Penelope was beautiful and
perfect, but why didn’t they care for me? They seemed to like me
more as Sean’s friend, not his girlfriend.

When we were almost finished, Sean
appeared from the backdoor. He seemed calm after his time alone. I
wished I had followed him. I could use some peace and quiet as
well. He washed his hands in the sink then sat beside me. I didn’t
look at him as he moved his chair next to mine. He grabbed my face
and kissed me hard, right in front of his family. Then he kissed me
on the head.

“
Are you okay?”

I nodded.

He picked up his fork and started to
eat from the table. His brother didn’t look at him, and Diane kept
her gaze on her husband. To say it was awkward was an
understatement. It felt like another fight could break out at any
moment.

Sean tapped his fork against the glass
then cleared his throat. “I have an announcement to
make.”

I felt my heart spasm in my chest. He
really wanted to do this right now? The timing was completely
inappropriate.

“
This weekend hasn’t gone
as Scarlet and I planned, so we are just going to announce our
news.” He held my hand on top of the table. “I asked Scarlet to
marry me and she said yes. I’m the luckiest guy in the
world.”

Andrew’s eyes lit up with happiness.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” He rose from his chair then
clapped his hands. “One of my boys is finally getting married! This
is wonderful.” Sean stood up and his father embraced him, patting
him on the back. “I’m very happy for you, son.”

“
Thanks, dad.”

Andrew came to me and hugged me
tightly. “Now I have a daughter. Well, you already were but now
it’s official.” He pulled away then kissed me on the cheek. “And a
more perfect woman I could never find for my son.”

I felt my cheeks blush at his words. I
always loved his father. He always made me feel welcomed and
appreciated. “Thank you.”

He leaned closer to my ear. “When he
starts to drive you insane, just call me. I’ll talk him
down.”

I laughed. “I will definitely take you
up on that offer.” I pulled him to me and hugged him again. Sean
was standing behind his father and our eyes met. He was smiling at
me, pleased that his father was so supportive. When I pulled away,
Diane was standing next to me.

“
Congratulations,
dear.”

I tried to force a smile to my face. I
knew she thought this was a mistake. “Thank you.”

“
Let me see the ring.” She
grabbed my hand and looked at the diamonds in the band. “It’s
beautiful.”

I turned the ring over. “And it’s
engraved.”

She gasped at the sight. “How
romantic.” She pulled me in for a hug. I returned her embrace
without as much as heart as I did for her husband. When she pulled
away, she was smiling at me. “We have a lot of planning to
do.”

The idea made me nauseous.
“Uh—yeah.”

Mike approached me and I felt my
muscles tense. Sean stared at him with a look of hatred but he kept
his distance. It would be idiotic for Mike to start something right
now. He leaned closer to me. “Are you sure you want to do this? You
can still get out.”

“
I want him for my whole
life.”

He shook his head. “I can make your
legs shake,” he whispered. “Believe me, I’m twice the man my
brother is.”

I hated hearing him discuss Sean like
this. I couldn’t stand it. I pulled his ear to my lips. “Then why
did your girlfriend—the love of your life—want to fuck him?
Obviously, you couldn’t satisfy her.” I stepped away and ignored
his look of anger. I slid into Sean’s arms and immediately felt
safe. I was still angry with him from our fight from the evening
before, but I still loved him completely.

He pressed his lips against my ear.
“Are you sure you want to marry me?” I knew he was referring to his
dysfunctional family.

“
Yes.”

“
Are you sure? I come with
a lot of baggage.”

“
You’re good in
bed.”

He laughed. “That’s the only reason
why you’re with me?”

I shrugged. “It’s a
factor.”

“
I’m only that good when
I’m with you.”

“
Well, yeah,” I said with
a shrug. “I’m amazing, too.”

He laughed again. “Now look who’s
conceded.”

“
And I give great
head.”

“
No arguments there,” he
said. “In fact, I could use one after all the bullshit this
weekend.”

“
We’ll see.”

He stared at me. “You’re such a
tease.”

I smiled at him. Now I just wanted to
be alone with him, not with the rest of his frustrating family. I
just wanted to cuddle with him under the sheets and not speak. Just
being with him always made me feel better.

Diane stepped toward me. “We have to
start planning!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Right
now?”

“
Well, of course. When
were you planning to marry?”

“
Uh.” We hadn’t thought
about it at all. Honestly, I just wanted to go down to city hall
with my family and tie the knot. I had no interest in having a
fancy wedding with a bunch of people I didn’t even know. “We
haven’t discussed it yet.”

“
Don’t worry,” Diane said.
“I’ll take of everything.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me from
Sean’s arms. I wanted to scream. The only person that I wanted to
be with right now was him. “I have my wedding binder prepared. I
knew one of my sons would marry soon and I had to be
ready.”

Andrew looked at his two sons. “I
don’t think we’re needed here. Let’s watch the game.”

Sean looked relieved. “Let’s do
it.”

I stared at Sean, silently begging him
to help me. I couldn’t believe he was leaving me alone with his mom
to plan a wedding I didn’t even want.

He caught my look and smiled. Then he
turned away and walked into the living room with his father and
brother. I silently cursed Sean. He wouldn’t be getting any from me
tonight. Not after he abandoned me to his mother’s
cruelty.

His mother and I moved into the grand
table in the other room. The hard wood furniture looked like it had
never been used. Their house was so big I was certain that some
bedrooms weren’t visited for years.

She placed a thick binder and a few
magazines on the table. I took the seat next to her, knowing this
meeting was going to take a while. Looking at the wedding organizer
made me feel faint. I never wanted to have a wedding. Sean should
have known that. Well, I never told him exactly, but he should have
figured it out by now. But how could I tell his mom that? Clearly,
she was excited about the event. She was definitely more excited
than I was.

“
So, I think we should
have a Venetian style wedding,” she said as she opened the binder.
“We can do a mermaid style dress because it will accentuate your
features perfectly. Then, we could have a Tuscan feast that will be
supplied by this wonderful restaurant in Manhattan—”

At a certain point, I stopped
listening. She pointed at diagrams of the outside terrace and
pointed at the seating arrangement. She intended to invite five
hundred people. Then, she rambled on about the center pieces and
said we should get theseridiculously huge purple flowers inside a
pink vase. I know I’m not a designer, but that sounded appalling.
The wedding was practically already planned out. I only got in a
nod or two. I wanted to scream. This wasn’t happening. Out of the
five hundred guests, only four of them would be from my side of the
family. I didn’t have a father to walk me down the aisle, and I
didn’t have a mother to help plan this. The thought of my mother
made me panic. What if she showed up anyway, drunk and high off her
cigarettes? It would be the biggest embarrassment of my life. And
this engagement would be announced in multiple papers, including in
my hometown since I was marrying the son of a millionaire. I
really, really didn’t want to do this. When we left tomorrow
morning, I would just tell Sean we weren’t doing the wedding and he
could break the news to his mother. After her lack of support of
our engagement, I didn’t owe her anything.

“
What do you
think?”

I flinched. I wasn’t paying attention
at all. “Yes.”

She nodded. “Penelope liked it
too.”

Are you fucking kidding me? Did they
talk about wedding plans before she and Sean broke up? And if they
did, why would she bring that up to me? It was like this woman was
purposely trying to make me leave Sean.

She turned toward me. “I apologize,
dear, but I have to ask. What happened with Penelope? Sean won’t
speak of it, and Penelope is always vague, saying it just didn’t
work out. Please tell me.”

She stared at me with the same blue
eyes Sean had. It made me uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, Diane. I don’t
know why Sean wants to keep it a secret, but it’s his personal
life. I can’t divulge that information to you.”

I saw the irritation in her eyes, but
she held back the angry retort that was on her tongue.
“Okay.”

“
I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “Please don’t think I
dislike you, Scarlet. I just have to make sure my son is making the
right decision. You know we love you.”

I nodded.

“
Sean told me how much he
loved Penelope and that he was going to marry her. A few months
later, he shows up with you and says you’re engaged. I don’t know
what happened, but I don’t want him to rush into anything.” She
stared at me, waiting for me to reply. “I just want the best for my
son.”

“
I understand.”

“
Please tell me, Scar. I
won’t tell him you told me.”

I sighed. “I can’t, Diane. I would
never break his trust.”

She stared at me, irritated that I
wouldn’t be honest with her.

“
But I will tell you one
thing.”

Her eyes widened.

“
Their breakup was the
best thing that ever happened to Sean. He is much better off
without her and he deserves something better. Your son is in good
hands.”

“
But isn’t that statement
biased?”

I wanted to grab the binder and hit
her upside the head. I breathed through the anger. “Just take my
word for it.”

She was quiet for a long moment then
returned to the wedding book. She circled all of our—her—decisions
in red then closed the book. “I’ll get started on this
soon.”

This wedding was never going to
happen. Even though I received my inheritance money, I wouldn’t
spend it on one ridiculous, frivolous wedding. How did she expect
me and Sean to pay for this? We aren’t millionaires,
too.

“
Thank you for your help.”
I didn’t mean a word I said, but I had to get it out.

She nodded. “You’re
welcome.”

I rose from the table then walked up
the stairs. “I’m not feeling well. I think I’m going to lie down
for a little while.”

“
Okay, dear. I hope you
feel better.”

“
Thanks.”

As soon as I walked into our bedroom,
I collapsed on the bed and stared out the window. I was frustrated
with the way everything turned out. I just wanted to go home. I was
also irritated with Sean that he didn’t just tell his mother the
truth about Penelope. I didn’t understand why he was so secretive
about it. Was he embarrassed that she cheated on him? Was he trying
to protect Penelope? I had no idea.

After a few moments, I reached for my
purse and pulled out my phone. I called Ryan and waited for him to
answer. I knew it was early in the morning in Seattle, but I didn’t
care if I woke up my brother. He was usually awake pretty early
anyway.

His voice was raspy when he answered.
“Hello?”

I sighed. “Hey.”

Ryan was quiet for a moment. I heard
Janice in the background. “Who is it?” she asked.

“
Scarlet,” he
whispered.

Janice yawned. “Tell her I said
hello.”

Ryan directed his voice into the
phone. “What’s up, Scar? You don’t sound happy.”