Promised (14 page)

“I guess you could say it that way.” I murmur, elbow on the table, head lying against my propped up hand.

It’s Saturday and she hasn’t changed out of her robe and pajama’s. This is one of the few days she doesn’t have to rush out of the house to be at Aunt Kelly’s (her sister) bakery first thing in the morning. She’s been helping there since we moved to town at the beginning of the school year and I know she loves it, but she also loves her down time at home. Hence it being almost ten a.m. and her still being in her night clothes, just now starting her first cup of coffee.

She sets her coffee cup down and straightens herself, pulling her robe tighter. “Lincoln, I don’t really know if this is a healthy relationship for you to be in.”

I sit up straight in my seat. “Mom, you don’t know her. If you did, you’d see what I see in her. She’s been put in this difficult situation. She doesn’t want to marry him, but if she doesn’t, her family will turn her out. Can you imagine how hard that would be for a seventeen year old girl?”

“I feel for her, but why do you have to be the one to save her?” Her grey eyes are appraising me.

“I don’t look at it as if I’m saving her. I like to think it’s me giving the girl I love a chance to be who she wants to be.” I explain, holding her stare with the golden brown eyes I inherited from my dad.

She holds my stare for several more beats, then looks away running her fingers through her dark brown hair, the same color she passed down to me. “Are you sure this is what she wants? She could be leading you on for a last hooray before she gets married.”

“This was my idea, not hers. I can’t tell you she’s made the final decision about what she wants, because she hasn’t. She’s afraid to turn her back on her family because she loves them. But Mom, she also wants a different life for herself. She’s torn and it breaks my heart to see it and know I can’t fix this for her. The only thing I can do is show her she has options.”

She picks her coffee mug back up as she sighs. “Fine, see if she can come over so I can meet her. We’ll talk more about it after that.”

I rush to her side of the table and give her a tight hug. “Thank you so much. She’ll be over in a few hours.”

She hugs me as she grumbles. “I guess I need to get out of my night clothes then.”

*******************************

I meet Wyn outside when she arrives. I take her hand as soon as she’s out of the car, pulling her into a hug. She trembles and I pull back to look at her face. “Are you alright?”

“Nervous.” She says, giving me a hesitant smile.

“She’s going to love you, so don’t worry.” I pull her back against my chest, giving her another hug.

“I hope so.” She says, slipping her arms around my waist to hug me back.

“Are you ready to go inside?” I ask as I step back after I feel her relax against me.

“First, do I look alright? I wasn’t sure what was appropriate to wear the first time you meet a guy’s mom.” She holds her arms out from her body and does a slow spin so I can see her whole outfit. Her curly hair has been worked into an intricate braid. Her four leaf clover charm rests against her chest. She has on a dark red sweater, that isn’t tight but somehow still shows her curves, over a chocolate brown skirt that falls around her knees, and high heeled boots the same color as her skirt that come to right below her knees. Like always, she looks beautiful.

“You’re beautiful.” I tell her my thoughts, take her hand in mine and lead her into the house.

Mom is in one of the chairs in the living room waiting on us. She gets up and greets Wyn with a hug. “I’m happy to finally meet you, Wyn. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Tatman.” Wyn tells her, hugging her back.

“Oh please, call me Kate.” Mom says as she releases her from the hug.

“Yes ma’am.”

Taking her hand, Mom leads Wyn to the couch to sit. “Like I said, Linc’s told me about you and he’s told me about your situation, but I want to hear more about you.”

“I’m the youngest of six kids, the only girl. I volunteer at the children’s center close to the school twice a week and tutor once a week, but I’ve had to put those on hold because of the…” She stops herself and looks to me nervous about how to explain the reason she stopped.

I sit on the opposite end of the couch as Mom, beside Wyn, and take hold of her hand. “Mom knows. It’s okay.”

She squeezes my hand, then turns back to Mom and looks at the floor. “I had to stop to work on the wedding plans.” She explains.

I watch Mom examine Wyn. Then she leans in and places her hand to her jaw, bringing Wyn’s eyes to her own. “I’m not here to judge you, sweetie. I just want to understand everything that’s going on. Now, why don’t you tell me some more about you. How do you like school?”

“It’s my favorite part of the day.” She looks at me and smiles. “And not just because I get to see Linc.” Then she turns back to Mom. “I’ve always enjoyed reading and learning new things, so I try to absorb as much as my teachers can offer me. It’s probably the reason I’m at the top of our class.”

I’m so shocked, my eyes about pop out. “You’re what?”

She faces me again, biting her lip. She releases it and says. “I’m ranked first in our class.”

“You never told me that.”

“It’s not something I tell people. The only people who knew up till now were me and the school faculty.”

“Wyn, with your rank and volunteer work, you have a good chance at getting scholarships.” I explain, not hiding my excitement at this new revelation at all.

“I’ve applied for a few, but I won’t hear back till at least next month.” She confesses quietly.

I jump up off the couch; I’m so excited. “This is great. You can get a scholarship to help with school and you won’t have to go through with the wedding.”

“Lincoln Andrew, calm yourself and take a seat. If you can’t do that, then you can go do it in the kitchen so Wyn and I can continue talking.” Mom chastises me. I stop my celebration and look at Wyn, who’s still sitting beside Mom looking completely uncomfortable about my outburst.

“Sorry.” I say, rubbing my hand over the top of my head as I take my seat again.

Mom turns her attention back to Wyn and asks. “If you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you shared any of this with anyone else?”

“It’s not the gypsy way. The woman stays home and takes care of the house and kids. We marry young, normally not finishing school. Me finishing high school is unusual, college is unheard of.”

Mom nods her head in understanding and continues to ask Wyn questions. It feels so surreal sitting here on my parent’s floral printed couch while my Mom and Wyn discuss Wyn’s life. I feel almost like I’m in a dream. I’ve wanted them to meet for so long and I can tell they’re hitting it off, but I never had a doubt they wouldn’t. Wyn’s hard not to like and Mom has a soft spot a mile long. Though she thinks she can hide it, she never does. I don’t have any doubt she’ll agree to let Wyn move in after graduation. The only thing I don’t know for sure is, if that’s the choice Wyn will make.

Wyn stays for another hour talking and then I walk her out to her car. Mom invited her to stay for dinner, but because of her arrangement with Shay, she has to decline. I watch the SUV she’s driving until I can no longer see it. Then I go back in to Mom, who’s made her way into the kitchen to start cooking.

“So?” I ask, leaning against the island and watching her pull out the ingredients for spaghetti.

“I’ll talk to your dad. If he agrees, we’ll offer her a place to stay if she needs it.” She tells me while filling the pot with water at the kitchen sink.

My head drops and I let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

She turns off the water and looks over her shoulder at me. “Son, you need to keep in mind that she might not choose to leave that life. She loves you, but she loves her family too. That’s a hard decision for someone so young to make. I don’t want you to get hurt if this doesn’t go your way.”

I wish I could smile and convince her I’ll be fine, but I know I can’t pull it off so I don’t even try. I look up and she turns so we’re face to face. “I don’t think there’s a way to stop that from happening if her decision goes that way.” I tell her.

She nods her head in understanding. “Then I’ll be here to help you get through it.”

“Love you, Mom.” I whisper, because God knows, I do, and I hope she realizes just how much.

“More than the moon and the stars.” She replies back on a smile, repeating the words she’s added on to “I love you” since I was a baby.

Chapter 20 – Wyn

~The Show Stopper~

My head is pounding. I want nothing more than to run from this room and never return. But like always, what I want doesn’t factor in. So, I continue to smile and pray this goes fast. I’m sitting in the waiting area of Mrs. Dallas’ Custom Designs with my mom, Dani, Marley (Aidan’s wife), Cara (Aldon’s wife), Ali (Alec’s wife), and Jenna (Aaron’s wife).

The walls are a bright orange and there are touches of zebra print throughout the room. Racks of dresses as vibrant as the orange, line two of the walls and most of the floor space. The third wall has fitting rooms, a reception area, and the door that leads to the back where the dresses are created and private fitting rooms for special clients are located. The fourth, of course, is the entrance, the display windows of the shop, and a small sitting area.

Thee Mrs. Dallas walks out of the back wearing pointed-toe black heels, hot pink slacks, and a zebra print blouse (if you can’t tell, she loves zebra print). A bunch of black and pink necklaces cover her neck and her midnight black hair is fashioned into a high pony tail on the top of her head. She catches sight of us and calls. “Come on you gorgeous Scott women. I’ve been waiting forever to show you what I’ve come up with.”

She doesn’t wait to see if we’re following before she turns on her heels and struts (seriously, it’s a strut, like what you’d see a model do down a runway) back towards the private rooms. We follow of course, me bringing up the rear of our little group because I am not looking forward to seeing the contraption they’ve come up with for me.

We walk into a room about half as big as the front of the shop. The same interior design as out front has flowed back here, but instead of orange, it’s an electric blue. There are several fitting rooms lining the back wall and I can see garment bags hanging in each stall. Across from the stalls are plush Victorian couches, chairs all done in zebra print, and a black oval coffee table topped with refreshments. There are mirrors covering the far side wall.

I take a seat in one of the chairs after picking up a bottle of water off the coffee table. Removing the lid, I bring it to my lips for a sip.

“Do you want to see yours or the girls' first?” Mrs. Dallas asks me from her position by the fitting rooms.

“I think I want to see the girls in their dresses first.” I say, bringing the bottle away from my mouth and replacing the lid. I want to put off my torture as long as possible.

“Save the best for last, good decision.” She smiles at me and claps her hands together. “Alright ladies, come find your dress. Your names are on the garment bags. Your shoes are in their boxes under the bags. Put everything on and come out for us all to see.”

The girls and Mom, minus Dani whose dress has to be made last minute because of her due to give birth the month before the wedding, head to the stalls to follow Mrs. Dallas’ directions. She stays by the stalls so she’ll hear them if they need help getting zipped up, and Dani takes a seat in the chair beside me.

“How are you holding up?” She leans in to whisper so I only hear her.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I ask back, eyeing her pregnant belly. She may not be due till April, but she looks like she could go into labor at any moment.

Her hand reflexively comes to rub her stomach and she smiles. “I’m perfect, swollen ankles and all. But today isn’t about me, it’s about you and I want to know how my best friend is dealing with this.”

“I’m here, soldiering through like always.”

“How did it go yesterday at you know who’s house?” She quietly asks, trying to lean forward to grab a bottle of water and cookie off the coffee table.

I grab them for her and hand them over. I look at the dressing rooms and Mrs. Dallas to make sure no one has emerged to overhear us before I answer. “Good. Great even. His Mom seemed so understanding and even invited me to stay for dinner, but I couldn’t because of it being date night with Shay.”

“And how are things with Shay?” I pretend like I don’t hear the hope in her voice when she brings him up. But I’ve learned over the last few weeks, Dani is holding out hope that I’ll fall madly in love with Shay so she won’t have to worry about losing me. She knows me falling for Shay is a pipe dream, but I let her have it because if the roles were reversed, I’d be hoping for the same thing.

“I must say, he’s persistent. He comes around about every day and makes me spend time with him, but my feelings for him haven’t changed.”

Dani doesn’t even try to hide her frown so I lean in and give her a hug.

Marley comes out of her dressing room first and walks over to the mirrors. Mrs. Dallas designed the dresses so they’d each be a different shade of purple from lavender to a deep eggplant, and each would have a different design. Marley’s is the lavender with a beautiful braided racer back. It clings tight to her till it hits her waist, then it falls in loose waves to where the hem ends at mid-thigh. The bodice is covered in a swirly crystal design and the skirt has a few scattered throughout. The lavender goes perfectly with her light blonde hair. Out of all my sister-in-laws, I’m closest to Marley (after Dani of course). But since I don’t get along with Aidan or agree with what he’s doing behind her back, I’ve been keeping my distance. I wish I didn’t have to. Heck, I wish I could tell her the truth without having to worry about Aidan blowing his gasket, but I can’t.