Page 21 of To Have and To Hold

He glanced at his watch. “It is for 2 pm.”

She nodded and hit the button on the keypad of the phone, beginning to call her parents, dismissing him. He turned, but then she said.

“Where do you think you are going with my peace offering? Bring them back here,NOW.”

He moved and handed the bag over as she cupped the top part of the phone between her ear and neck, her hand now busy reaching in and pulling out a fish cake. He tried to take one and left her office with a stinging hand instead for his trouble.

Chapter 9

Coco glanced down at the ring on her engagement finger. The gaudy diamond was surrounded by so many smaller diamonds that you could barely see the thin gold holding it up. The ring was a show piece and not one picked out of love. It was ugly as hell and that is why she chose it, because if he was going to give it to someone else, she wanted the woman to know Colin had bad taste.

She grinned, but then sadness came over her. As they were searching, a simple, elegant diamond engagement ring had caught her attention. It was a heart-shaped diamond with two gold prongs on each side looking like hands holding it up in the center with the band continuing around the back. The ring symbolized to her the love and unity between a couple, and it would have been her ring if she was with the one she loved. She pretended to give it a cursory glance so that Colin wouldn’t buy her the ring she liked and then end up giving it to her in the end, making it meaningless, or to someone else.

Coco turned at the sound of her mother’s voice, as she gently lifted her hand and peered down at it. “That is one god awful ring, Coco, but definitely shouts engaged.” Vye said, sounding amused and appalled at the same time.

Her father had glared at it, not saying a word when they all went out for dinner. Conversation had flowed between her mother and Colin while her father responded with terse comments.

She grinned. “And overpriced too but wouldn’t do much in the way of hitting his pocket.” When she’d picked out the ring, Colin had a funny expression on his face because she knew hethought it was hideous too and what it would look like when his peers, family, and friends got a look at it. She was going to show off this ring to everyone they met so that all could see that her fiancé had bad taste. Petty but so satisfying. People, upon seeing it, couldn’t take their eyes off it and the whispers and smirks had been fantastic. She made sure that everyone that saw it, knew who her fiancé was, Colin Norris, the famous chef and an heir to the Norris fortune.

Her mother turned to her and gave her a hug, pulling her into her warm embrace and Coco nestled there like she used to as a child. They’d made it to the mini putt course and things were going better than she expected.

“Thanks Mom, I needed that. You always know when I can use a good hug.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled and cupped Coco’s cheek affectionately.

“Mom, why did you agree to all this? I know this is all you because Dad would have refused until the end of time. Even now he is still struggling with it.”

“I don’t know, I think he is starting to like Colin. Look at him, putting his arm around his neck.” They both laughed because he looked like he was trying to strangle him at that angle and when Colin moved slightly away, eyeing the older man, they knew they were right. Then it looked like her father stumbled and hit the ball, accidently sending it flying and not into the hole inside the mountain. They both laughed again because her father was once again playing dirty, and Colin was scowling now, catching on to her father’s games.

Her mom turned to face her with a serious expression gracing her features so similar to her own. “To answer your question, if I didn’t feel this was right for you or he wasn’t rightfor my daughter, I wouldn’t have given him my blessing. This might seem fake, but I don’t think it is. There is unfinished business between you and him. You still have feelings for him. Just like I know when you need a hug. I know my own daughter and the way he has been acting when he is with you says that he has feelings for you too. And deep down, you know it too.”

Coco shook her head no. “You’re wrong about Colin. It was so easy for him to walk away the first time we got together, and he is only here now because he needs me to help him grant his dying grandfather’s wish. If it hadn’t been for the shares from my company falling into his lap at the perfect time, he never would have thought about me and getting me to help him.” She said bitterly.

“I would have thought the same way, but I see how he looks at you. I don’t think that is the only reason he came. The day we saw you two together. He looked like a man protecting his woman. And I know once the two of you realize that you are still in love, then he is going to make my baby the happiest woman alive.”

Coco just shook her head again.

“Yes, I know you can’t see it now with all the hurt he caused you, but maybe think of giving him a chance and opening up more to him.”

“Mom, he hurt me so bad and now with this. Even if he suddenly asked me to take this seriously, I don’t know if I could give him another chance.”

She nodded in understanding. “I never told you or your sister that there was a time where I was so mad at your father that I didn’t think I could forgive him either.”

Coco stilled, and her eyes searched her mother’s face. She gave her daughter a sad smile and Coco was shocked to hear that her father had done something to hurt their mother.

“It was in the beginning, when we met. You both know that we met and then he went after my best friend, Denise. But what you didn’t know is that he slept with her.”

Her mom turned, facing slightly away from her. “I fell in love with him the first moment our eyes met and thought he felt the same way too. I just knew we were meant to be together, but then I was shown I was wrong. When Denise showed up and his interest turned to her, I was hurt that he’d then asked my friend out. But I was devasted when I learned from Denise that they’d slept together. So, when your father came knocking saying he made a mistake, I slammed the door in his face, prepared to never think of him again. But your father is so stubborn, he refused to give up and let me go.”

She then glanced at Coco. “The man learned to grovel like nobody’s business before I would even let him into the same room with me and it took time for me to forgive him, but I did. And look, I have two beautiful, amazing daughters to show for it.” She held Coco’s face in her hands. “Forgiving someone when they hurt you sometimes does not make you weak; it can show how really strong you are. Just give it some thought, okay? I am here for you no matter what.”

Coco wiped away the tears on her mother’s cheeks and her own, and they smiled.

“Now, let’s go and join the men before your father accidently trips and kills Colin.”

Her father, of course, won the mini-putting that night, but she didn’t play as well as she used to. The conversation with her mother kept playing over and over again in her head. Shefound herself watching Colin take in a deep belly laugh when her mother teased him or his frown of confusion when her father got something by him, but he didn’t know what. To a look of happy contentment on his face when he was watching all of them play together. Either he really cared about her and her parents, or he was a very good actor because he’d fooled her pretty well into believing he wanted to be with her. Back in high school, they’d started talking about plans together and then in a snap, it was all gone as if she were nothing.

Should she take that chance and open herself up to Colin, in the hopes that he felt more for her than just a means to an end?

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