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Halfway there, Lyric called me.
“Bro, Mila is pissed,” he said in greeting when I hit connect at the sight of his name popping up on my smart screen. “She has always loved Mom, but she’s seeing a side of her now that is making her rethink everything.”
“What do you mean, everything?” I asked distractedly as I switched lanes.
“We were discussing getting a house closer to Mom and Dad. Splitting the year between Creswell Springs and Malibu. Or at least summers and holidays. I was even debating starting a pop-up tattoo shop in LA. Now she’s not sure she wants the kids to spend as much time with Mom. She actually just texted me that Mom is acting worse than Ian when he throws a tantrum. Fuck, man. I always thought we got our personalities from Dad, but apparently we’re more like Mom than I imagined. Especially you.”
“Funny,” I grumbled, passing a slow-moving vehicle in the fast lane. “You tell Dad?”
“Aunt Emmie has texted Uncle Nik a few times, but I haven’t seen Dad’s phone go off. Yet. After what supposedly happened when Lucy went dress shopping for her wedding way back when, I bet they want to keep Dad from storming into the shop. I mean, it sounds like Vi isn’t having fun, and Dad can get…scary.”
“What about Uncle Shane?” I asked with dread.
“He’s playing with the kids outside, and his phone is in the kitchen. If anyone has called or texted him, he’s not aware of the situation yet. Which is probably a good thing.”
“Probably.” My hands clenched around the steering wheel. “Has Mila mentioned if Vi has actually cried?”
There was a short pause on my brother’s end, making me tense even more, before Lyric answered. “She said Vi had glazed eyes, but you know it takes more than something like this to cause her to shed tears in front of anyone but you and maybe Shaw. Plus, she has Love Bug with her. No way she’d let a tear fall in front of the kid… Wait. Mila just texted me again.”
“What does it say?” I gritted out impatiently.
“Vi is still in the dressing room with dress number five. She refuses to come out, and Mila just heard her sniffling. The door is locked, and she’s in there by herself. She won’t even let Shaw in.” Lyric groaned. “That’s it. I’m telling Dad.”
I hit the steering wheel with my fist in frustration. “She’s crying, Ric. Fucking crying! While trying on wedding dresses. This shouldn’t be happening. Vi should be laughing—or at least, if she did cry, they should be joyful tears. It’s supposed to be a happy day for her. Forus. We’re so close to getting to where we should have been all along, but people keep hurting her!”
First Megan and her bullshit, and now my mom was trying to make our wedding about her? That was the only reason I could think of for why she was being dramatic over something as nonsensical as what color dress Violet wanted to wear down the aisle. It was Vi’s choice. She’d even asked my opinion on it, and all I could think was I didn’t give a shit what color gown she wore. Because she was going to be beautiful, regardless.
But mostly because I was finally—fucking finally—making her my wife.
“Mila just texted that Love Bug is throwing a fit. Aunt Harper is about to lose her shit. And Mom is just sitting there, staring off into space like she’s tuned everyone out. For fuck’s sake, bro. I think she’s lost her mind. Hundred bucks, one of the aunts has a handful of Mom’s hair in her hand before you get there.”
I was only a few blocks from the dress shop, and my heart was pounding harder than when I was on the field. Muttering a curse, I slammed the brakes and my horn when a group of what had to be drunk bachelorette partiers crossed right in front of me. Even this early in the day, it wasn’t unheard of for a group of chicks to be sloppily stumbling around Nashville. While most guys wanted to go to Vegas for their pre-wedding rituals, women tended to choose Music City.
“Last chance, Luca. Am I telling Dad or not?”
I double-parked in front of the shop and grabbed my phone, leaving everything else in the SUV without a second thought. If the damned thing got towed, it got towed. I had more important matters to take care of. “Do what you want. I’m here.”
Hanging up before he could reply, I pocketed my phone and stomped past the gawking receptionist. Before I got to the showroom where all the dresses were on display, I heard my daughter’s voice. The displeasure in her tone only set my teeth on edge.
“I don’t like you anymore, Gammy. I’m never coming to visit you again!”
“That’s emotional manipulation, Remi,” Mom snapped.
“I don’t know what man-manip-lation means, but you’re a meanie-head and I’m telling my daddy on you!”
“There’s no need to tell Daddy, Love Bug.” I tried to keep the seething rage out of my voice so as not to scare my kid, but she jumped at the unexpected sound of my voice. Everyone else turned to look at me and I saw relief on Lucy’s face, but everyone else in the room had fury banked in their eyes that told its own story of what was going on.
“Daddy!” Love Bug ran over to me and wrapped one arm around my leg while pointing at her gammy with the other. “Tell Gammy to stop being rude. Mommy is so sad that she won’t come out and show us her pretty dress.”
Bending, I lifted her into my arms. Pressing a kiss to her temple, I breathed in her sweet scent in hopes of calming some of my rage, but it barely put a dent in it. Keeping her in my arms was the only solution I could think of to keep from doing something I knew I would regret later.
“Love Bug, Daddy needs you to put on your earmuffs, princess.”
She gave me a pout but covered her ears with her hands and started to hum softly, just like I’d taught her. Sometimes I couldn’t keep foul language away from her, so I’d had to come up with something to keep her little ears innocent.
“Explain. Now,” I commanded in a quiet voice when I turned to face my mom.
“She won’t pick a traditional dress,” she said with a huff, as if that explained everything.
