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“Exactly,” he said, pointing at me. “I’ll make you look like an amateur by comparison.”
I jabbed him in the chest with my finger. “We’ll see about that.”
He cupped my cheek and kissed me, then gave my ass a squeeze as I walked back to the pool. Carly picked up on the second ring.
“Actually, I’m bringing a date after all,” I said. “And I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
33
Melinda
Like the previous month, the next month was a whirlwind of travel and activities. We eventually docked in Rome and remained there for two weeks while Pierce and Tristan took care of some business; apparently their holding company was looking into purchasing some shoe factories near Milan. While they did that, Andrew accompanied me to have alterations done on my dress.
“I can’t wait to see you in it,” he said. “You’re going to be beautiful.”
I grinned and kissed him, then felt a moment of sadness. It was a shame I had only one date to the wedding. I had grown so used to doing things with all three of them, that it almost felt strange to leave Andrew and Tristan behind.
Once the business in Rome was completed—they chose not to purchase the shoe company—we sailed home to America. The journey took just under two weeks. After hopping around Europe, going from city to city, I had to admit it was nice to relax on the Bellerophon with nothing on the agenda. I had to laugh at that—I never expected to get sick of traveling the world.
I did miss home, though. Since I hadn’t returned to Providence, the Bellerophon had come to feel like my home, so staying on it without any excursions onto land was like recharging my batteries.
We stayed in Boston for two days while Pierce handled some more business. We even went to a Red Sox game, staying in the private suite of John Henry, one of the owners.
After taking a selfie in the suite—with John Henry and his wife in the background—I sent the photo to my dad, who was a life-long Red Sox fan. When he asked how I had managed to sneak into the owner’s suite, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I still hadn’t told my family who I was the surrogate for; all they knew was that it was someone wealthy enough to take me around the world on his business travels.
Which brought up an issue I had been avoiding: what to do about the wedding. When we got there, someone would certainly recognize Pierce Benning. And even if they didn’t, the truth would come out after Pierce spent thirty seconds being interrogated by my dad.
Another problem was how to act with Pierce. Since he was my date, I couldn’t act like I was only his surrogate and nothing more. Not without the two of us pretending like we were just friends all night. I wasn’t sure I could even go a whole night without any displays of affection; we were still acting like honeymooners, too comfortable to fake anything else.
We left Boston and began sailing down to Rhode Island, the place where all of this began. It felt like a lifetime ago that I had gotten into my car to meet the people I would be surrogate for. It was a strange feeling, nostalgic and sad all at the same time. I wondered about that as I fell asleep next to Pierce.
When I woke up the next morning, the Bellerophon was stationary. That meant we had arrived. Pierce walked into the room with a cup of coffee in one hand and a towel in the other, drying off the sweat from his hair after his morning workout.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said.
“Is it coffee?” I asked.
“I have that, but it’s not the surprise.” He handed me the cup. “Take your time. It’s not going anywhere.”
It was impossible to take my time knowing I had a surprise waiting for me. I got dressed and hurried onto the sun deck. The sun still hadn’t rose, and everything was peaceful in the twilight hours of the morning. I expected us to be anchored in the mouth of the Providence River, with the city splayed out to our north. Instead, there was only a strip of land to the east.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Andrew handed me a pair of binoculars. “Over there.” I aimed them where he pointed.
I saw a secluded beach, with an open field and several resort-like buildings inland. On the edge of the beach, half a dozen workers were erecting a tent. Nearby, two more workers were unfolding white chairs and arranging them around an altar.
“That’s the venue!” I said. “That’s where my sister is getting married today!”
“I thought you might enjoy being right here,” Pierce said. “Especially since we didn’t arrive until the day-of.”
Being here, within sight of the venue, suddenly made everything more real. My sister, my only sibling, was getting married today. Tears welled in my eyes.
“Shit,” Pierce said. “I didn’t expect you to cry.”
“I’m just happy,” I said, hugging him. “I can’t wait to celebrate with Carly.”
“And I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.
