Page 37 of Mr. Swoony

“I know. I’m not moving on from Tristan to him. I need to clear that up and figure some things out for myself.” That’s about the only thing I decided last night as we were ripping apart the beautiful dress Kyleigh made.

My mom takes my hand. “Was it a relief when he stopped the wedding?”

I nod, not wanting to tell her that I should have done it long before it got to that point. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t be. I only want you to be happy. I’ll go through all the storms and be by your side as long as you come out happier. That’s a mom’s promise.”

She opens her arms, and I fall into her embrace. “I think I got a little caught up, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone. All that money and planning. There was so much pressure.”

Her hands run down my back. “I know, sweetie. It was a hard decision to make, but can we be honest and admit that your dad had a little bit to do with why you stayed for so long?”

She draws back, and I sit up. “I just… he really liked Tristan. Said we were a perfect fit. I kind of wanted to…”

“Please him?”

I nod.

Her hands land on my shoulders. “Now is time for a restart. Of course, this aftermath won’t be fun, but after it’s all said and done, you have a great opportunity to decide what your future looks like. No one can tell you what makes you happy but you. So, take control of it and to hell with everyone else’s opinions.”

“I know.”

A knock lands on the door, and Jade peeks her head in. “Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt and no rush, but I just wanted to warn you before you came downstairs. The boys are back… Conor is with them, and he really wants to talk to you.”

I nod. “Thanks. I’ll be down in a minute.”

She shuts the door, and my mom stands. “I better hurry. Sam’s meeting him before me.” We both laugh, but she sobers up fast. “You’re okay though? No regrets or anything?”

“I just wish I would’ve stopped it before the wedding.” I shrug.

“It doesn’t matter when. Even if you’d married him and decided afterward, it would have been okay.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” She pats my leg. “I’ll see you downstairs.” She turns but stops and circles back around. “Hey, there is one problem, and I feel horrible about this. But remember how Sam and I decided to do the renovations at our place?”

My forehead wrinkles. “Yeah.”

“The contractor said it will go faster if we move out for a month or two, so we rented a one-bedroom apartment starting next week. You’re of course welcome to the couch… oh, you know what, we’ll just delay them. You should be home until you can find a new place to rent.”

I force a smile. “No, Mom. You and Sam continue with your plans.”

“We can talk about it later. Come and eat.” She smiles and walks out the door.

I flip the blankets over me and swing my legs out of bed. Here goes nothing.

I dress and throw my hair in a ponytail. A shower never felt as good as it did last night, although I had to shampoo three times to get all the product out of my hair.

Bodhi must be back home because I hear his footsteps running downstairs.

I go down and find a kid’s movie on, but no one in the room, so I venture farther down the hall, following the voices into the kitchen. Jade has Bodhi on the island, the two of them preparing something. I smell something baking in the oven. Henry is pouring a coffee for either himself or someone else, but he stares lovingly at Jade and Bodhi.

Kyleigh, Conor, Tweetie, and Rowan all sit around the table, my mom and Sam with them, drinking coffee and talking. Sam gets up when he sees me enter, and I’m thankful that Conor’s back is to me. My stomach rumbles with nerves over how I’ll feel when I see him face-to-face again.

“Hey, you.” Sam pulls me into a hug and whispers in my ear, “I’m proud of you. It’s not easy to do what you did.”

“Thanks, Sam.” I hug him harder, thankful to have him in my life, as tears sting my eyes.

“Always.”

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