I Choose You (15 page)

             
Nicole walked slowly to the stairs. When she got to the base she said, “Hello, Daddy.”

             
Her father nodded slightly and simply said, “Nicole.”

             
She walked up the steps and kissed the side of each of his cheeks lightly, then stood off to his right and gestured down to Kent.

             
“This is my boyfriend, Kent.”

             
Kent climbed the stairs and put his hand out to shake Nicole’s fathers’.

             
“Kent, this is my father, Gordon.”

             
“It’s nice to meet you, Sir,” Kent said as they clasped hands.

             
“Nice to meet you too, Kent.” Her father said his voice deep and low. He turned to Nicole and stated, “Your mother is waiting for you in the drawing room,” then he turned and walked back into the house, leaving Nicole and Kent no choice but to follow him.

             
“We have about a half an hour before the guests arrive for drinks,” Nicole said in a whisper. “I’ll take you in to meet my mother, then I will be expected to greet the guests with her. You can mingle and enjoy a cocktail, and I will come to you as soon as I’m able. We will have an hour for drinks, then dinner will be served. Afterwards there will be drinks and desert and maybe some dancing. Then we can head back home.”

             
Kent tried to comprehend everything she was saying, but it all seemed pretty complicated for a birthday party. The last birthday he celebrated with his mother was when Roni baked cupcakes, their father got drunk, and their mother ended up crying as she blew out her candle.

             
Now that he thought about it that sounded like all of his mother’s birthday celebrations.

             
He tried not to stare at the opulence of her parent’s home, but he couldn’t help but be impressed.

             
He heard the high pitched tone of what he assumed was Nicole’s mother’s voice as she spoke with Nicole’s father.

             
“She brought a date?” The shrill voice asked in a hushed tone.

             
Great
, Kent thought when he heard her mother’s question, then he turned to Nicole who was looking at him sadly.

             
“Did you say something about a drink?” He asked under his breath as they entered the room.

             
“Darling,” Nicole’s mother cooed as she glided towards her daughter, arms stretched open wide.

             
Kent could tell that she had probably been nearly as beautiful as Nicole when she was younger, but she’d had so much work done to her face, she could no longer hold a candle to her daughter’s fresh beauty.

             
And she resented it.

             
He knew by the way she looked Nicole over with hard eyes, before going in for air kisses, that Nicole’s mother resented her daughter’s effortless beauty.

             
He hated her on sight.

             
When she was finished putting on a show for her own benefit, she turned to Kent with a fake smile.

             
“And just who is this handsome gentleman?”

             
Nicole smiled at Kent as she spoke to her mother, as if trying to soften the sharpness of her mother’s tone.

             
“This is Kent, Momma. My boyfriend.”

             
Kent took the hand her mother offered and brought it to his lips, obligingly.

             
“It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

             
“Psht. Ma’am? Please, call me Kitty.” She drawled softly, her hard eyes never stopping their appraisal of him.

             
“It’s nice to meet you, Kitty,” He amended, thinking it was a ridiculous name for a ridiculous woman.

             
“So, Kent, how did you meet our little Nicky? Are you from Dallas? Do I know your family?”

             
Kent realized the interrogation had begun, and gratefully accepted the drink that Gordon offered him.

             
“I met Nicole at her work. No and no.” He replied pointedly, hoping Kitty would get the hint and leave him alone for a moment.

             
No such luck.

             
Kitty pulled back a bit, affronted by his abrupt tone. Kent could tell he wasn’t gaining any points, but he couldn’t bring himself to kiss her ass.

             
“Where are you from?” Kitty asked, taking a glass of wine from her husband without so much as a smile of acknowledgement.

             
“Detroit.”

             
Kitty wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she had just smelled something rotten, and was just about to speak, when she was distracted by a movement by the door.

             
“Jake,” Kitty practically purred as she turned to greet her new guest, leaving Kent without a word.

             
Kent turned to see the man that Nicole had been engaged to, and was less than thrilled to see a very good-looking, obviously well-off, young man.

             
He sipped his drink and watched Kitty fawn over Jake, who didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. He felt Nicole’s arm wrap around his waist and she leaned in to whisper to him.

             
“Don’t mind her, she doesn’t mean anything,” She followed his gaze to the door, and he felt her arm stiffen.

             
“You okay,” He asked, wondering if she stiffened because it was awkward to see Jake again, or if she felt something for him.

             
This party was already making him crazy.

             
“Yeah,” Nicole replied softly. “I mean, I figured he’d be here, but it’s weird seeing him again.”

             
She pulled away slightly when Jake walked toward them, and Kent felt the separation instantly. He wondered why he’d ever agreed to come; it was obvious that he didn’t belong here.

             
“Nicole,” the shorter man said softly as he approached. He pushed his hand nervously through his light brown hair, and Kent got a whiff of his expensive cologne. Kent knew the brand, it was one of his favorites, but he would bet that Jake had never scrimped and saved to buy that cologne.

             
He watched as they kissed each other in greeting. No air kisses this time, he noticed. No, they were actual kisses.

             
He walked over to pour himself another drink and heard Nicole ask Jake how he’d been.

             
He looked out the window and paused, his drink frozen inches from his lips.

             
Their backyard extended further than the eye could see. The lawn was manicured and perfectly green. The trees were lush and full, and there was a large sparkling pool with a large patio surrounding it, and what looked like a pool house.

             
The pool house was larger than the house he grew up in, the house his parents still lived in.

             
Kent shook his head slightly and took a long drink.

             
“Kent,” Nicole put a hand on his back to get his attention. He turned to see her standing behind him with Jake. “This is Jake.”

             
Kent couldn’t stop himself from stretching to his full height, making him practically tower over Jake.

             
Jake offered his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

             
Kent looked at him for a moment, before accepting his hand and shaking it. “You too, man.”

             
He hated to admit it, but Jake actually seemed pretty cool. He couldn’t fault the guy for loving Nicole, she was pretty amazing.

             
Nicole smiled up at him, her gratefulness apparent, then she turned slightly at the sound of the doorbell.

             
“I’m going to go help my mother greet the arriving guests. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She tiptoed up to kiss him on the cheek, before turning to go to her mother, who was standing at the threshold, watching them with evident displeasure.

             
“Is she always in such a party mood?” Kent asked wryly as he accepted another drink from a waitress who had started circling the room with a tray.

             
“Who, Kitty?” Jake asked with a grin. “You get used to her… eventually.”

             
Kent just lifted his eyebrow questioningly and looked around the suddenly full room.

             
He’d never seen so many fake noses and boobs in one place, he thought with a chuckle.

             
Jake excused himself to go and talk to someone he knew, and Kent began to slowly wander around the room.

             
“Did you hear about the Truman’s?” He heard Nicole’s mom say in a loud whisper to a group of ladies dripping with jewels.

             
“From the Parish?” A tall bleached blonde asked.

             
“Yes.” Kitty said her voice practically oozing excitement. “He was arrested for a domestic dispute. I guess he’s an alcoholic and has been beating her for years. Can you believe it?”

             
“Oh my gosh, no.” This came from a short portly brunette, who put her hand to her mouth in mock horror.

             
“I can’t believe we’ve been going to the same church with them for all of these years,” Kitty exclaimed, looking each lady in the eye to drive her point home. “Breeding always tells.”

             
Kent felt his gut tighten and his face flush with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He put his glass down on the nearest traveling tray and walked out of the parlor, down the hallway, and out the front door. Once outside, he breathed in deeply and tried to calm himself.

             
He could only imagine what Nicole’s mother would think of his parents. Of his life. Of him.

             
He heard the door open behind him, but didn’t turn. He knew it would be Nicole, coming out to see if he was okay, but he didn’t want to turn and see her beautiful face. He didn’t want to see the hurt that would inevitably end up there. But he knew he had to face her.

             
“Hey,” She placed her hand on his back as she came up next to him. “I saw you rush out, is everything okay?”             

             
He repressed the need to turn and hug her tightly against him. Instead, he steeled himself against his emotions and turned to her.

             
“No, Nic, everything’s not okay.”

             
Her hand dropped to her side when she saw the look on his face, and hers became a mask of confusion.

             
“What happened?”

             
“Let’s just say I don’t fit in in your world.” He said tightly.

             
“Kent,” Nicole reached towards him, but stopped before she touched him. The look on his face must have told her that he didn’t want to be touched. “This isn’t my world. What happened?”

             
“Nicole,” He began, trying to think of the one thing he could say to make her realize that he was right, that they would never work. “My father is a drunk who uses his fists to get his point across. He beat on me from the time I was two until I was twelve.” He stopped for a moment and breathed in deeply when he noticed the look of shock on her face.

             
When he felt composed enough, Kent continued to explain. “He raised his hand to Roni once and I took a bat to his knees. He never touched me again, and I made sure he never touched Roni, but my mother wasn’t so lucky. He’s been using her as his own personal punching bag since they got married, and she lets him.” He couldn’t help the look of bitter disappointment that crossed his face. “I’ve tried countless times to get her to leave him, but she won’t. They live together in misery.”

             
He looked Nicole in the eye, trying to drive the point home, “That’s what I come from.”

             
Nicole’s eyes filled with tears and she moved towards him, like she wanted to hold him.

             
Kent took a step back and put up a hand, causing her to stop.

             
“You deserve better than me.” He stated simply.

             
“How can you say that?” Nicole asked softly, wiping the tears that were running down her face with the back of her hand. “You are amazing. How and where you grew up doesn’t matter to me. You made yourself into the successful and wonderful man that you are today.”