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Shrugging, I say simply, “Fine, it’s true.” Neither of them says a word to me, but they return their focus to one another.
Drew reaches his hand out and places it on Rosie’s cheek. I feel the need to turn my head from the intimacy between them, but I don’t want to move. “Rosie, I’m sorry. I can see you are hurt because it feels like we were all keeping a secret from you. I promise it wasn’t intentional. I just wanted this to be something they worked out. I didn’t want you to worry. It was unfair, and although I saw it as nothing, now I see that this tiny little thing seems like a secret. We don’t keep secrets, and again, I’m sorry.” Rosie doesn’t say a word. She simply leans her face into the palm of his hand and closes her eyes. This is trust.
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I apologize, too. “I’m sorry, too. This is exactly what we didn’t want to happen. This thing between Abbey and me, it happened before we knew what was even going on, and we couldn’t stop it. Our biggest fear was causing an issue between you two. Between all of us. I screwed that up, and I need to figure it out.”
“Yeah, you do,” Rosie says. Looking back at Drew, she gives him a small smile. “I forgive you just like I forgave Abbey this morning.” My heart jumps at the mention of Rosie talking to Abbey this morning. “You talked to her? Is she…” I ask, pausing for fear of what Rosie’s response will be before continuing, “Is she okay?”
Shaking her head, “No, Parks. I’m not answering that for you. You need to get your crap together. Figure out what you really want and then fight for her. Abbey’s past is for her to share with you, but I can tell you one thing—fight for her because no one ever has.” Rosie raises up on her tiptoes and places a sweet kiss on Drew’s lips. He kisses her back. Turning away, she lifts her hand in a small wave. “See you later.”
Drew and I both stare after her. “Bye, see ya,” we say in unison.
Rosie pauses in the doorway without turning back to us, “Oh and Parker, I’m rooting for you to win.”
She is gone just as quickly as she came in, leaving me reeling over all the hard things I must do to make this right. I don’t even know if Abbey will listen or if I can make this right. Can I risk even more hurt when it comes to Abbey?
Just as the thought enters my mind, our dad appears from around the corner.
“Hey boys, I just ran into Rosie girl on my way in,” Richard Nallen says, walking into the room armed with cans of paint in each hand. “I asked her if she wanted to help instead of finalizing wedding things with your mom. She passed.” He laughs to himself.
Drew looks over at me, rolling his eyes at our dad laughing at his own joke. I smile, thankful I have a reprieve from thinking about the mess I’ve gotten myself in.
“Yeah, I’m not sure if Mom would forgive us for stealing the bride away the day before the wedding, Dad. It’s bad enough we’re doing this the same day as the rehearsal dinner,” Drew says as he takes a can of the paint from his dad. “She already thought we were being ridiculous for painting this room today.”
Dad laughs, “Well, I’m pretty sure Ty and Jasper are regretting declining our invitation to help because she has the two of them running ‘girl’ errands for her, as Tyler put it.”
Shaking my head, I say, “He’s an idiot.”
“Well, your brother will figure out life one day,” dad says.
Drew opens the first can of paint and pours it into the pan. “Tyler has no clue at this point, though. I think it’s going to take a lot for him to learn about life and women.”
Chiming in, I say, “Yeah, well, we might be waiting a lifetime for him on that front. I’m not even sure I know how to recognize what is right in front of me. Let alone what women are thinking.” We all laugh, but my dad doesn’t even know just how much truth is in that statement right now.
“I think Drew figured something out,” Dad says. “I figured it out when I met your mom. It isn’t something you understand until one of two things happens: You meet the person who steals your heart, you resist it, and then you come to a clear realization. Hopefully before it’s too late,” he tells us. He continues while we remain silent, listening to him, “The second thing is something I learned a long time ago, when you have someone as loving and smart and funny as your mom, a woman who makes you feel like life is impossible without her, you do absolutely everything in your power to make her happy, ask for her forgiveness when you’ve done her wrong, and make her feel like she is the only one worth loving in the world.”
Everything Dad says sinks into my heart and mind. I need to fix this thing with Abbey. I have fallen for her. I shouldn’t point fingers at Ty when I’ve been just as big of an idiot. Now I just need to find a way to make that beautiful, stubborn woman hear me out. I already know this won’t be easy. But I am going to fight. Rosie’s words echo through my mind,‘Fight for her because no one ever has.’
I want to be the first.
Twenty-One
ABBEY
Standing with my back against the door, it takes everything in me not to open the door. I’m just not ready to face him yet. I still have three hours and forty-seven minutes until I must be face-to-face with him. In front of his entire family. And I will have to pretend it doesn’t hurt to see him.
I wasn’t expecting him to show up here.
Slowly, I turn and peer out of the peephole, and he’s standing there looking around. My heart races at the mere sight of him. Just as it has always done. Surely, he will leave.What is he even doing here anyway?Parker stares at the door for a long moment, almost as if he knows I’m watching him from the other side. He looks sad and defeated.
Just when I nearly break down and open the door, he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. He bends and disappears beyond my sight.What in the hell is he doing now?He pops back up, startling me. With a final glance at the door, Parker shakes his head and walks away.
I run to the window and watch him as he turns down the sidewalk and vanishes from sight. Now that I know he is gone for sure, I go back to the front door and open it to see if I can figure out why he bent down. As I pull the door open, a folded piece of paper floats to the floor.
I glare at it suspiciously for a moment before picking it up and closing the door.
Walking over to the couch, I sit with the sheet of paper in my lap, taunting me with the message I anticipate it holds inside. Will I feel better or worse after I read it? I finally decide to follow Seb’s advice and be brave.
Unfolding it, I begin to read the words scrawled across the page.
