CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Wrong about him.

Vale

“Can I have this dance?”

I turn away from the bar to find my father holding his hand out to me. He looks dashing in his tuxedo—a far cry from his usual chambray shirt and jeans.

Funny. Before this afternoon, I would’ve accepted his invitation for appearances only.

Now, I’m actually happy he’s leading me out onto the dance floor.

“It’s turned out to be a beautiful wedding. A beautiful day,” I say, looking around us.

All the guests are having a great time—laughing, dancing, eating, drinking. Love is most definitely in the air.

“And I nearly ruined it,” Dad says.

“We both lost our tempers. On more than one occasion over the years.”

“You know I’m not a man who shares his feelings easily. I’m not one of these, you know, touchy-feely men. But I still should have been upfront with you. I should have told you how it made me feel when you were so determined to leave. It wasn’t until you brought up my father today that I really understood.” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “Having you back for a couple of days isn’t good enough. As soon as you showed up, everything felt right again. I didn’t know until you got here that something had been missing. Sure, I missed you. I know your mother missed you. But actually having you here? Now I know how much it hurts when you’re gone.”

“Oh, Daddy.” I brush away a tear.

“I suppose today was my last-ditch attempt at trying to get you to stay. You’ll find as kids grow up and get minds of their own, you get tired of arguing and reasoning with them. And at some point, you snap and realize you sound like a parent. I should have told you my concerns.” He is silent for a moment. “And sometimes, it’s a lot easier to be mad than, uh, sort through your feelings.”

“I’m pretty sure you passed that trait on to me.” I let out a chuckle and then get serious again. “I think you should be a little more attuned to Mom’s needs.”

“Vale,” he says, his eyes big and his face looking downright scandalized.

“Ohmigawd, Dad. That’s not at all what I meant. I just meant, do you make her feel valued? Is she happy?”

“I think you might have misjudged your mother. Just because her life isn’t what you imagined yours to be like doesn’t mean she’s not happy. I know you think I’m the one who controls things but not when it comes to her. I have a lot of bravado, sure, but your mother has always ruled the roost. And I’d do anything to keep her happy. Mostly. The only time I didn’t was when it had to do with you. But when you never came back and never even called, it hurt her a lot. She understands when you love stubborn people like us, you have to let them do their own thing—even if you disagree with how they do it.” His hand tightens around mine. “If you didn’t understand earlier today, I want you to know now, Vale. I was afraid if you didn’t have your mother and me to rely on, you’d lose yourself in the world. I should have known better. You’ve always been the strongest-willed of all our kids. And I am very proud of the woman you’ve become.”

“If you had said that when I got here, the weekend would have been a lot more fun,” I say with a chuckle.

He nods toward the corner of the dance floor, where Sophie is happily monopolizing Carter’s attention. And the sight of her sparkly pink shoes on top of his so they can dance together is enough to make my heart ache.

“I like him a lot,” he says.

And suddenly, it all feels like too much.

Being here with Carter. Feeling the way I do about him. Hearing my father praise my fake fiancé.

I excuse myself, pretending to need the bathroom, but what I really need is a moment to myself.

Or else today’s meltdown won’t be the last time one of us Martin girls is in tears.

Always been yours.

Carter

Sophie sticks out her bottom lip. “I wanna dance with you again.”

“Actually”—I crouch down, so we’re face-to-face—“I was hoping I could dance with your aunt Vale.”

“Come on, you.” Brooke picks up her daughter, balancing her on one hip. “You’ve taken up enough of Carter’s time.”

“I loved every minute of it.” I wink at Sophie, who manages a tiny smile in the midst of her disappointment.

But I need to go find Vale.

The girl who has my heart.

I search the dance floor but don’t find her, so I step outside the tent.

“Hey, if you’re looking for my sister,” Blake says, “she’s down in the gazebo, talking to Trent.”

“Trent? Is he well enough to be here?”

“Apparently. He wanted to talk to her before she left town.”

I make my way past the barn, needing to know what’s happening out there.

I enter the gardens, and as I’m going down the main path, I find Trent being pushed in a wheelchair. By whom I assume is his mother.

“Hey,” I say to him. “How are you feeling?”

“Still pretty sore, but I wanted to at least come and congratulate AJ and Lakelyn.”

“That’s nice of you. Are they in the gazebo?” I ask even though I know they are not.

“No, I was chatting with Vale. I heard she and her father made amends. I figured it was time we did the same. Put the past behind us.”

And my heart goes out to him again. I know that girl isn’t easy to forget.

“Did it go okay?”

He nods. “Yeah, I think so. I’ll see you later.”

His mother continues their trek to the barn, and I move farther toward my destination. Toward her.

I find her sitting on the railing of the gazebo, dangling her feet over the edge, swinging them back and forth.

I wish I could get a picture of her right now. I wish there were a camera in existence that could capture her beauty. Sitting there, surrounded by the glow of flickering lanterns. Her hair swept up, her face tilted back so she can look at the stars. And I can’t help but wonder what she’s thinking about.

When she looks down at the ring on her left hand—my ring—I know.

“This seat taken?” I ask her.

“Of course not. Sit. Sorry, you startled me. I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear you coming.”

“I saw Trent. Looks like he’s on the mend.”

“Physically, yes. And hopefully emotionally too. I hurt a lot of people when I just upped and left.”

“We haven’t really gotten to talk about New Year’s Eve. I think I need to tell you everything.” I pick up her hand. “Obviously, this is the ring I had designed for you. The ring I had in my pocket the night I was going to propose. My flight was delayed due to weather. Traffic was horrible. I made it there just before midnight. When I found you, the ball hadn’t dropped yet. But there you were, kissing another man. After that, proposing really didn’t seem appropriate.”

“Why didn’t you confront me? Or tell me when I called you a few days after? If it were me, I would have been pissed and wanted you to know it.”

“Because I felt like nothing you could say would matter. That you had already given me your answer.”

“But you kept the ring?”

“Kind of had to. It was custom. Eventually, I’ll have it stripped apart to sell the diamonds, but”—I lower my head, my voice tightening—“I just haven’t yet.” I let out a sardonic chuckle. “And now, we know why. So we could pretend to be engaged.”

“Is that what you want?” she asks.

“To pretend to be engaged?”

“Yes.”

“No. It’s not what I want. I’ve wanted you to be mine since the night we met. But you seemed … elusive. So, I just let you do your thing. I was afraid I would push you away if I acted too serious. Chloe set me straight about that.”

“She did?”

“She told me to stop asking the coach to put me in if he feels like it. You’re the coach in this scenario.”

“I figured.”

“It made me realize that was how I treated us. I was so glad to be with you whenever you wanted to be with me that I didn’t want to rock the boat by coming out and saying I wanted more.”

She sighs. “So long as we’re being honest … I don’t know how I would’ve reacted then. If you had proposed. I mean, I would’ve been swept up by it, and had I accepted, I would’ve meant it. But …”

“You would’ve had second thoughts.”

“I had—have issues to process. Baggage to unpack. It’s all so mixed up.” She shakes her head, and I notice her hand trembling in mine. “I’m all so mixed up.”

“We’re older than AJ and Lakelyn. We’ve got separate careers and lives, and for us to work, we’d have to figure out how to combine them. I’m not telling you what happened to make you feel guilty or to pressure you in any way. I simply want you to know how I feel. It’s why I couldn’t give up the ring.”

The DJ in the wedding tent plays a sweet, slow song, the sound drifting toward us.

“Can I have this dance? I’m pretty sure it’s tradition for the maid of honor and the best man to have at least one dance.”

She rolls her eyes but laughs. “Can’t break tradition, can we?”

We dance slowly and then make our way back to the reception tent. We don’t want to miss the cutting of the cake.

No sooner are we on the dance floor and back in each other’s arms than AJ breaks through the crowd with his father.

“I’m convinced,” Mr. Barnett says.

I met him when we were getting ready for the wedding today, but we haven’t spoken a word about anything else.

“Convinced?” I look at AJ for answers.

“That I should sign with you,” AJ explains with a grin. “Dad talked to Mr. Martin, and everyone is in agreement.”

I shake his dad’s hand. “It will be a pleasure representing your son, Mr. Barnett.” Then, I turn to AJ. “We’re going to have to hustle to get everything ready for the draft. When do you leave for your honeymoon?”

“We want to get settled in our new city first.”

“Thank goodness. I wouldn’t have wanted to go on your honeymoon with you,” I tease.

“Congratulations,” Vale murmurs.

I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or to the Barnetts. I just know she slips away while AJ’s dad hammers me with questions.

Strange how I feel like I lost an opportunity, even while in the midst of gaining a client. I should be happy, but I’m not.

I want more. I want her.