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“I want to bleed,” I whispered, feeling ashamed but still aching for the pain.
“No, you don’t,” he argued and caught both my hands in one of his. His fingers tightened around mine, just firm enough to make me pay attention. “You’re upset and frustrated. Talk to m
e, Lu. Let me help you.”
I wiped my nose on my shoulder, not caring that I probably just covered him in snot. “It feels like Mom has forgotten everything she knows about me. It feels like…she doesn’t even care anymore.”
“Was the dress really so bad?” he asked reasonably.
“It was beautiful! It was the most amazing dress I’ve ever seen or worn.” I lowered my head as more tears fell, and it was like the dam broke and the words spewed out of me like vomit. I told him how the day had started once I had shown up at breakfast and how Mom had been on my case as soon as I walked through the door. How it felt like she and Nat and Aunt Emmie had drained the fun right out of the whole experience of picking my dress.
Then the words I thought I would never say filled the air. “She doesn’t even seem to like me most days, Drake. We’re strangers now, and I know it’s all my fault.”
“She loves you, Lucy.”
“I know that, but the way she treats me sometimes these days…” I shrugged. “Like I said, it feels like we’re strangers now.”
Drake gave me a few more minutes to cry it all out. There was no pity in his eyes, no judgment either. As I slowly began to calm down, I realized I had overreacted to the whole situation, and that just pissed me off. I was letting something like a dress wreck me, and I was stronger than that, even without the cutting.
“Let me take you back to the shop, Lu,” he offered when all my tears were gone. “Don’t let this pull you down. You’ve come so far, and I’m so fucking proud of you. But you need to face this head on instead of running from the situation.”
Because he was right, I gave a nod, and he grabbed his keys. As he led me out to the garage, I realized only Nevaeh and Arella had been at the shop with Lana earlier. “Where are Heavenleigh and Bliss?” I mumbled as he opened the passenger door of his truck for me.
“They went to Cole’s for the afternoon,” he said as he climbed behind the wheel. “The old man’s new girlfriend has baby fever right now. Cole’s hoping he can use my babies to burn that out of her. If not, he’s probably going to break it off with her.”
My eyes widened. “Cole Steal a father again at his age?”
Drake laughed. “Stranger things have happened. But he doesn’t look his age. Hell, I don’t even know how old the fucker is. But he’s probably made a deal with the devil for immortality.”
“That’s possible,” I snickered softly. After the meltdown I’d had earlier, it felt weird to laugh now, but it was kind of cathartic.
As Drake drove us back to Paul’s, he called Lana to let her know we were coming. I didn’t hear anything my sister was saying, but from the tight look on Drake’s face, I knew he wasn’t pleased. Anxiousness churned in my stomach the closer we got to the shop. I had reacted poorly, but at least no one but Lana had seen exactly how badly I’d taken Mom’s dress.
At the shop, Drake pulled in behind Lana’s minivan and turned off the truck. “You cool with this?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t completely sure I was being truthful to him. That was my family in there, though, and I knew I had to put my foot down over my wedding dress or I would regret it. “Let’s go,” I told him in a voice that, thankfully, didn’t tremble.
The receptionist was still at the desk when we walked in. She gave me that same megawatt white smile before her gaze fell on the man behind me. Then that smile became something else entirely. “Mr. Stevenson,” she murmured in a sultry voice to match the sexy smile she flashed at him.
“Ma’am,” he said with a nod, but he barely even glanced at her. With a hand at the small of my back, he urged me back to where I’d left my entourage after trying on the second dress earlier.
“Maybe if you three calmed down for five seconds and actually allowed her to make a few decisions on her own, she wouldn’t have to run off to get your fucking attention.”
I froze at the sound of Dad’s booming voice. “What’s he doing here?” I whispered to Drake.
“Lana called him. She thought having Jesse here would make this easier for you.”
I took a moment to absorb that and realized my sister was right. I felt relieved Dad was going to be here. Drake nudged me forward again, and we walked a little farther into the shop until I saw Dad towering over Mom, Natalie, and Aunt Emmie. But as my dad’s bald head came into view, I realized he hadn’t come alone. He’d brought Nik and Devlin with him, and the other two men wore unhappy expressions as they glared down at their wives.
Crap, I hadn’t meant to cause a fight between the three couples.
“Hi, Lucy!” Trinity called out from the other side of the room where I could only assume Jenna had taken the girls while the dads tore into the moms. I waved a little shyly as all eyes snapped to me. “Yay! You’re still wearing the tiara. Does that mean you’re going to try on more dresses?” she asked excitedly.
“Umm, yeah. I think I’m going to,” I told her in a small voice, just then realizing I still had the tiara on my head.
Dad broke away from the group of parents and stomped over to me. Before I could tell him how sorry I was, he wrapped his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Daddy,” I whispered.
