Page 10 of Forbidden Fiancé

“Wonderful. My fiancé is MIA. She didn’t come home last night and hasn’t called to tell me where she is, but yeah. Just fine,” he said sarcastically.

“What happened?”

Hector nodded at me and left me alone with Ethan. Gwyn had mentioned Ethan and his fiancé were having some problems but I thought they had worked them out. I had honestly been a little shocked to hear that Ethan was getting married. He was more excited about partying and being with as many women as he could. His actions were not of a man who was ready to settle down. I had hoped that the woman he met had maybe changed his mind and mellowed him out. Apparently not.

“I have no idea. She’s crazy. We were having a lovely dinner last night when she freaked out over the fact that I wanted dessert. She got so angry she threw my ring at me and stormed out of the restaurant.”

“That seems a bit excessive. Was there something else going on before?” I asked.

I leaned back and looked at my son. He had a way of telling a story to make himself look as innocent as possible. Usually at the detriment of others. I hadn’t met his fiancé, but I couldn’t see a woman getting that upset over a dessert. There was more to the story.

“No. We were having a great time. The food was incredible, the service was impeccable, and our waitress was super-hot.”

I tilted my head at my son. “Did you just say the server was hot?”

“She was. I can’t help that,” Ethan said, obviously annoyed that I picked up on his comment.

“Did you think that maybe your fiancé didn’t take too kindly to you noticing that the server was hot?”

“It wasn’t like I hit on her. Well, not much. I was just being friendly.” Ethan said, trying to defend himself.

“Leave our son alone. He’s allowed to enjoy what’s right in front of him,” Gwyn said as she walked out onto the deck.

“Hello, Mom,” Ethan said and went to hug his mother.

Charlie was right behind him. I nodded my hello and he did the same. I wouldn’t consider us friendly but we tolerated each other. The hope was that we might get to know each other better during this trip. Gwyn had wanted us to be a united front when talking to Ethan about his life and where it was going.

“What is this about Natalie?” Gwyn asked.

“Natalie?” I asked. I had no idea how Gwyn knew about Natalie and me so soon.

“She’s being stubborn as always. I’m not sure if she’s going to make the trip or not,” Ethan said.

“Natalie? Your fiancé’s name is Natalie?” I asked.

“Seriously, Luke. Do you ever listen to anything I tell you?” Gwyn asked.

“I don’t think you ever told me her name,” I said.

“Of course, I did,” Gwyn said, annoyed.

While I might have been excited about the idea of our son getting married, settling down, and doing something with his life, Gwyn didn’t feel the same way. She only referred to her as “that girl” when talking about her. I had never heard her name. I wasn’t about to call Gwyn out on it and piss her off before we even left port and just let the comment pass. I was also trying to get over the coincidence of two women having the same name.

“My apologies,” I said to Gwyn and then turned to Ethan and asked, “Have you tried calling her?”

“She knows where to find me. She knows how to reach me. If she can’t be bothered, obviously she doesn’t want to be here, then fine. I don’t want her.”

Ethan’s words tried to show that he didn’t care but I could hear in his voice and the slump of his shoulders that he did.

“Call her, make sure she is okay. We can wait. We aren’t in any rush to leave,” I said.

“No. Let’s get going. I’m ready to get out of here. Screw her,” Ethan said.

“Honey,” Gwyn said and patted Ethan’s shoulder. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“I told you I did. Leave me alone,” he said and stalked off.

We watched him go. I looked over at Gwyn as if to say, “He’s your son.” She shook her head at me and went to go after him.

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