AllFreeNovel
Share Us
25
“Is everything okay?”Audrey asked as Viv grabbed her purse to head home for the day.
Viv nodded. “Yeah, I’m just tired.”
Three nights ago, she’d had the hottest, quietest sex of her life in a bathroom only to go back to her bed alone. Since then, sleep had been very hard to come by. Every time she laid her head on the pillow her thoughts would be filled with all things Glenn. His touch. His face. His scent. His smile. His voice. His stare. His body. His…everything.
Viv was starting to think that her feelings for The Gladiator had reached the point of no return. She was in love. And she was not happy about it.
What they had together was something that didn’t come along every day, or every month, or ever year, or every lifetime. And he was making the decision to ignore it, to not pursue it. His reasons for not wanting a relationship were noble, but that didn’t make them right.
She strongly believed that he was wrong. If they didn’t explore what was between them and give being together a shot, it would be the biggest mistake of their lives. She’d almost showed up at his door to tell him that a hundred times over the past three days, but something stopped her.
She was tired. She was tired of always being the one to take the lead. If he wanted to be with her, then he should tell her that. He should fight for her. Did she really want to spend her life with someone she had to convince she was worth being with?
The answer was simple. No. She didn’t.
“If you need any help with Hometown Heroes, just let me know!”
“No, I’m good.” The event was two days away and Viv was ready for it. This was her last shift at Brewed for the week so she’d have plenty of time to tie up loose ends or handle any last minute emergency. “You just worry about your wedding.”
Her sister was set to walk down the aisle in one month and Viv couldn’t be happier for her.
Audrey smiled, that silly smile she got on her face every time the subject of Josh or her wedding came up. “There’s not much to do, you know that. So if you need help, just ask.”
Audrey and Josh were going to be getting married in the same spot that Ava and Asher had held their reception, down by the Riverside Recreation Area. That also happened to be the same place they met on the 4th of July nearly thirty years before, which, come on, was ridiculously romantic. Viv knew her mom would have loved that, and she hoped that wherever she was she was smiling down at them.
The ceremony was going to be held on the banks of the river and performed by the town pastor, Caleb Harrison, who also happened to be Josh’s best friend. The entire town was invited so there wasn’t a guest list, per se. They were getting married right before the fireworks were set to go off. Then the reception was going to be held in a tent after that with a buffet style dinner and no seating arrangement.
Audrey had liked the DJ and caterer from Ava’s wedding, so she was just using them. The wedding party consisted of Grace, Viv, Ava and Blake. Josh wasn’t having any ushers since his best friend was officiating. The wedding was pretty simple, which was exactly Audrey’s style.
Ava had gotten married in a church, that had been important to her. Grace hadn’t walked down the aisle yet, but if Viv was a gambling woman, she’d put money on her sister and Easton eloping. Unlike Viv, Grace did not like being the center of attention and she was a very private person.
As for Viv, she wasn’t sure what she wanted when it came to a wedding. She’d never dreamed of what that would look like. The farthest she’d gone was imagining what her proposal would be like. Oh, and she was starting to consider if she would want their father there. Not to walk her down the aisle, but at least in attendance.
Which made her think.
“Have you thought about inviting Mason?” she asked Audrey.
Viv had decided to simply call him by his name. She didn’t feel comfortable referring to him as ‘Dad.’ She felt that was a name that was earned, and he hadn’t earned it.
Since Audrey was only two when he left, she doubted that her sister had any memory of the man and wasn’t sure where she stood on reconnecting with him, but she hadn’t asked. Grace still didn’t want to talk about him, which Viv understood, but Audrey and Ava seemed more open to the topic of discussion.
Audrey tilted her head to the side. It was what she did whenever she was unsure about something. “I have been thinking about it. I want to but I don’t… I don’t want to do anything to upset Grace.”
Like I did.
“Have you talked to him?”
Viv sent all of her sisters an email detailing her visit and giving them Mason’s phone number, just so they’d have it and know all the information that she did about what their father’s life had been like and that he had a box of shrines to them. She made sure that all of them got the email, but she hadn’t asked if any of them had reached out to him. She, herself, had spoken to him a few times on the phone and had texted with him every few days.
“No.” Audrey shook her head. “I don’t know what’s stopping me. I don’t know if it’s loyalty to Grace or just that…I don’t know him, I guess. All I know about him was what Mom would say and she talked about him like he was a saint, which clearly, he was not. All this time, in my head, he’s been sort of this fictional character. Now he’s real and I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Are you mad at me for finding him?” Viv asked the same question she’d asked her sisters every day since she’d dropped the paternal bombshell on the deck.
They all, including Grace, kept telling her they weren’t mad when she asked but she figured that once they had time to process it, they could change their mind and she wanted to give them a chance to air their grievances toward her. Her sisters were everything to her, and the thought of them being upset with her was too much for her to handle. She wanted to get everything out in the open and deal with whatever fallout came from what she’d done.
“No. I’m not. I’ve told you that.” Audrey grinned sweetly. “I’m glad you did it. I don’t think Grace or Ava would have ever done it. And I know that I wouldn’t have. It was like this big piece of our lives that was this unknown entity just hanging out there in the universe. Now we have answers. But…can I ask you something?”
