Page 23 of Marrying Chrissy

Chapter Nine

Wyatt watched Bonnie as she finished hitting the last three baseballs that were launched her way. When the pitching machine powered down, she lowered her bat and turned with a satisfied look on her face. “We need to do this more often.”

He wasn’t going to argue with her. In fact, he hadn’t felt this relaxed in months. They’d just finished their second round at the country club batting cages. Wyatt’s biceps were already aching. Bonnie was right, it’d been way too long since they’d last done this. It used to be a monthly event for them. In fact, they used to call it their gripe session. When everything about their family would drive them crazy, they’d both save up their grievances, go to the batting cage to take it out on the baseballs, and then talk.

They dropped their gear off, grabbed cold bottles of water, and found a small table in a more secluded area of the gardens. Wyatt downed half his water in several swallows before securing the top again and leaning back in his chair. “You were hitting those balls pretty hard. Whose face were you picturing?”

Bonnie giggled. She’d always had a little girl laugh that was highly contagious, and Wyatt had yet to meet someone who was impervious to it. She took another sip of water before giving a little shrug. “You know Mom. My life is veering off course, and she’s the only one who can fix my GPS.” She rolled her eyes. “In other words, nothing new.” She crossed her arms and fixed Wyatt with a stern look. “But you, my dear brother. Spill.”

“I have no idea what you’re referring to.” Wyatt casually downed the rest of his water. When Bonnie continued to stare at him, he gave her a subtle shrug.

She threw the cap from her own bottle at him. “Oh really? Let’s see if I have this right.” She held up a finger for each of her points. “First, you brought a date to Gran’s birthday party when none of us knew you were seeing anyone. Second, there seemed to actually be something there between you two.” When Wyatt started to object, Bonnie shook her head and continued. “Third, Violet strongly dislikes Chrissy, which puts a big plus in the Chrissy column as far as I’m concerned. And fourth, apparently Gran really wants Chrissy to go to the family reunion.”

Had Gran gone to see all of her grandchildren to have a discussion about Chrissy? He didn’t know if that qualified as obsessive or crazy.

This was like a flashback to when he was with Ashley. Somehow every member of the family felt they should give input on his love life.

“Truthfully?” Wyatt paused and waited for Bonnie to nod that he should go on. “I think it’s sad that no one else in the family has something to focus on besides my lack of a relationship.”

Bonnie seemed disappointed for a moment before she crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. “I’ve heard different things and figured I’d come to the source. So there’s nothing at all between you and Chrissy?”

Technically, there wasn’t. But the immediate rush of wishing there was hit him hard. His hesitation was apparently all Bonnie needed. She grinned triumphantly. “So why aren’t you bringing her to the reunion? Come on, a romantic getaway to the beach? What’s better than that?”

There was no way Wyatt would tell anyone in the family how Chrissy actually ended up at the birthday party. Anyone, that is, except for Bonnie. She was the only person who always kept his secrets. In return, he’d kept hers as well. It’d been a friendship growing up that he could rely on. She also had a way of worming information out of him.

“If I tell you, you can’t breathe a word of it to anyone else. Agreed?”

“Including Gran?”

“I’m serious, Bon. Anyone. Or I’ll be sure to tell them about that field trip your junior year…”

Bonnie’s face turned red, and her eyes widened. She knew full well that he would never tell her secret, but just the thought was enough to ensure her secrecy. “Okay, okay.” She made a crossing mark over her heart. “So what’s going on?”

Wyatt told her about how Mom had been pressuring him about bringing a date to the birthday party because it’s what Gran wanted, and they needed to make her happy. He told her about asking Chrissy and then ultimately offering to pay her to accompany him.

That had Bonnie giggling again. “So you’re telling me you hired a coffee barista to be your date?” When she put it that way, it sounded really lame. “You’re a Tabor. The only Tabor man who isn’t married, I might add. I’m pretty sure you could have dates lined up every night for the next decade if you just said the word.”

He had no doubt she was right. But they’d all be lined up to go on a date with him because of his money. He was confident none of them actually cared to get to know him, and as a result, he hadn’t yet convinced himself trying to date someone was worth it.

And then there was Chrissy. She was different. He wanted to give her a chance. But what if she was like all the others? He couldn’t risk another relationship that ended the way it had with Ashley.

He realized then that Bonnie was just watching him with an interested look on her face. “You’re never going to know if you don’t try.”

“And you really think bringing her to our family reunion and subjecting her to Mom and Violet is a good idea?”

Bonnie laughed at that. “Well, I think there are few people who deserve that. But,” she held up a finger, “if Chrissy goes to our family reunion andstillwants to go out with you afterward, you’ll probably have a keeper.”

Wyatt wanted to deny that but couldn’t. Instead, he chuckled. “So I should triple my fee for the birthday party and see what happens?” It was supposed to be a joke, but he immediately sobered. The truth was, Chrissy and her family could use the money. But now that he knew her financial situation—and she knew his—any attempts to help her monetarily would be seen as charity.

His sister kicked his shin under the table, immediately making it sting. “Why don’t you try asking her to go with you, dummy?”

Could he do that? Ask Chrissy to go with him to the reunion as his date? What would that say about how he felt about her? And if she said no? Just the thought made his heart drop.

If she said yes, would it be because she wanted to go with him or because of the family money? He wanted to get back in the batting cage for another round or two and try to make sense of the mess of emotions zipping through him.

Bonnie must have taken pity on him. Instead of continuing to tease him, she leaned across the table and gently poked his arm. “You’re overthinking this, big brother. If you like Chrissy and want to see if there’s anything there, then ask her to go. If you don’t, then skip it. In the end, it doesn’t matter how much Gran wants something or how much Violet and Mom don’t. What matters is whatyouwant. So what are you going to do?”

Wyatt jabbed a thumb toward the batting cages. “I’m going back in there until the answer comes to me.”

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