Page 40 of Beck & Coll
I nodded.
“Is Church doing good? She never calls me anymore.”
We both cut our eyes across the table, where our youngest sister was engaged in a conversation with one of Beckham’s younger cousins, a handsome and intelligent guy who seemed to be a good influence on her. In Chicago, she’d been floating through life, not really sure what she wanted to do or how she expected to get there. In Jackson Falls, she seemed more grounded.
“I think so. She’s back in school. She enrolled in the local community college, and you know she works at the salon. I’m proud of her.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Beckham said, standing beside my chair. “You ready to head out?”
I nodded. “I’ll see you back at the house,” I told my sister.
She’d opted to stay at the three-bedroom house that my mom, Church, and I shared. My mom and I weren’t there nearly as much as Church was. She spent a lot of time with Bayliss, and I spent as much time as possible with Beckham.
“Sure you will.” Perkins twisted her lips to let me know that she didn’t believe me. We both laughed.
At Beckham’s house, we ended up on his back deck. The temperature was in the upper forties, so we had the fire pit going as we sat side by side on the outdoor sofa.
“When my ex, Shandi, was acting up and showing her ass, I never really got where she was coming from. I mean, I understood that she was disappointed that our relationship was coming to an end. I got that she felt… blindsided. I can’t say I felt blindsided. I knew what it was, even when I felt myself falling for you. But the pain of you leaving and going back to Chicago… that shit had me out here sick. If I made her feel the way that I felt, I owe her a bigger apology. Thank you for coming back to me.”
“You’re welcome. And thank my mom. I told you it was her, her courage, her decisiveness, and her declaration that she wasn’t going to deny herself Bayliss and everything that he is. Idecided right then and there that I wasn’t denying myself you either.” I stretched out on the sofa, resting my head in his lap.
He played with my hair. “The salon is closed tomorrow?”
“Yeah. The Kingsley girls plan to spend the day together. We’re going to the spa, and I heard that Bayliss is renting a private jet to take us to Vegas.”
“I heard that, too,” he confessed. “You’ll be back in time for all of your Saturday appointments?”
“I guess so. Besides, I can’t stay away from you too long. You know I hate sleeping alone now.”
“And you know as long as I’m around, you’ll never have to.”
“Beck, you think we’re gonna end up getting married?”
“I know we’re gonna end up getting married. I love you. I think I’ve loved you since I watched you tumble down that mountain and hit your head on your first wilderness adventure.”
“Shut up!” I laughed.
“Nah, but I knew I loved you when you fell into the creek. My heart damn near stopped, and all I could think about was getting you out of there and warming you up. I just wanted to protect you.”
“And you have. You’ve protected my body from physical harm. I appreciate that. But what I appreciate even more and what makes me love you the way I do, is the way you’ve protected my heart.”
The Following September
“Ma, I need you to be still while I add these flowers to your hair. You’re the one who wanted to be a fairy at your wedding,” I joked, which caused everybody to laugh and broke some of the tension in the room.
“Not a fairy.” She waved her hand at me.
“Nah.” Church leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You look like a princess, Mommy.”
“Don’t mess up her makeup, Church. I just spent forty-five minutes doing it,” Perkins complained.
“You look beautiful, Ma.” Bailey added. “Let’s get some pictures.”
We all took a few hundred pictures with our phones, and before we knew it, it was time to help our mother into her dress.
Since it was her first wedding, we had all hyped her up into wearing as humongous of a gown as she wanted to wear. In the end, being the fashionista that she was, she’d chosen a strapless, beaded form-fitting mermaid dress with tulle. With the up-do I’d given her, she was a vision.
“I’ve never seen a prettier bride, Ma,” I said then quickly corrected myself. “You’ve tied Bailey. I never thought I would see a bride prettier than Bailey, and you’ve tied her.”
