Page 115 of Everything Has Changed
She reaches into the basket to remove the remaining tray. “Olives, pickles, and fig jam.”
“Whoever picked out these trays has exquisite taste.”
Laying the trays on top of the picnic basket between us, we silently nibble. Her eyes are on the water, but mine stay on her.
“You absolutely knocked this festival out of the park, Gwen. I am so proud of you.”
Her nose scrunches before her grin breaks through. “I think you said that a couple of times today, but a few more wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ll tell you every day for the rest of our lives,” I reach out and grab her hand, bringing her fingers to my lips. “I am so proud of you.”
She ducks her head. “Thank you.” I don’t let go of her hand, instead dropping it to my lap where I forget all about the food and focus solely on her. “You know, usually I would try to minimize my accomplishments, but this really was the best possible outcome for the day.” Her lips purse for a second. “Well, almost the best possible outcome. Victoria showed up.”
“Is that who won the bid for Jackson?” Gwen nods in response, and I release a low whistle.
“And don’t forget it was my sister who had to win the bid for you.” Gwen takes a sip of her wine, her eyes looking anywhere but me.
“I asked her to do it.”
Gwen’s eyes return to me, though full of confusion. “But you said you didn’t want me to bid.”
I shake my head, trying to figure out the right way to say this so I don’t fuck it all up. “I was being stupid. I only wanted you to. I onlywantyou. I want to shout from the mountaintops that I am absolutely, insanely crazy about Gwendolyn Prescott. But…” I trail off, fighting against the words, not wanting to ruin this moment but not wanting to keep her in the dark either. “There are some things going on with my father that I need to talk to you about, that I’ve been trying to talk to you about, but I just haven’t found the right time. Honestly. I don’t think there is a right time.”
“Things as in?”
“My father wants to change Willow Grove from this loveable, small town to a man-made consumerism dream.”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with us?”
I heave a deep sigh, clutching my hand around hers. “There are deals in place. Ones that I have no control over, but I can lessen the blow on the people I care about.”
“That means what exactly?”
“I have to follow my father’s rules for now. He needs to believe I can be persuaded, that I can be molded to what he wants and needs to make sure his master plans go through. And it’s not just him. This goes bigger than Willow Grove.”
“But if you are taking over as mayor, why can’t you just tell them no?”
I shake my head slowly. “It doesn’t work like that. These contracts and deals have been in place for years.”
“I’m sorry if I sound dumb and repetitive, but I still don’t see what that has to do with our relationship if we want one.”
Running my hand over my mouth, I drop my head for a second as the truth starts to bubble up.
“My father is all about optics. He wants to paint a united front so that no one sees him or his family as anything other than powerful, as loyal. Part of this deal includes the Antonio family. They are helping back the project.”
Gwen sucks in a sharp breath, and it’s a knife straight to my heart. When I feel her hand go slack within mine and then slide away, I let her go even though my entire being wanted to just reach out and shield her from any hurt this was going to cause.
“Antonio as in… Camila Antonio.”
I stare out at the water, willing it to come up and swallow me whole. It would be a hell of a lot better than what I’m feeling right now.
“Is this you telling me you’ve been in an arranged marriage this whole time?” She nervously chuckles. “What is this, the 1800s? You have free will. You do know that, right?”
“It’s not that simple, Gwen.”
“Unless he has something on you, I don’t see why it is your responsibility to marry two families together. This is insane.”
I just stare at her, seeing if she realizes what she just said.
