Page 44 of Wed to You

Mitch grunted.

Chelsea put her arm through Jagger’s, causing him to look at her. Her eyes were watery but defiant as they stared at him. He initially patted her hand, but it was too small of a gesture when she was clearly hurting. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “It will be all right,” he whispered in her ear.

She surprised him by pressing her cheek against his, as if she needed the contact to strengthen her resolve. He’d thought her tears were out of remorse at lying to her friends, but now he wondered if she was hurt by their reaction.

“That was so fun!” Kaden ran out of the exit. “Can we get ice cream?”

Mitch, who still said nothing, stepped back and the tension dropped a degree.

“Absolutely.”

Kaden deserved ice cream as far as Jagger was concerned, since he’d interrupted what was proving to be an intense moment.

“Ice cream sounds good.” Sydney put her hand in Mitch’s and gave him a nearly imperceptible squeeze.

Jagger wondered about that kind of communication between couples. He and Chelsea probably wouldn’t develop it because it required a love and intimacy they didn’t have.

Mitch scowled at Jagger for another moment before turning and smiling at his wife. “Do you want pickles too?”

Jagger could see the love between them and again, jealousy sharply speared his gut. He pushed it away. He’d tried to find love but discovered his father had been right all along: Jagger wasn’t a man worthy of what Mitch and Sydney had. Or what Lexie and Drake had.

Then Mitch’s words finally got through his brain. “Ice cream and pickles. That sounds like news.”

Sydney beamed as she affirmed his assumption. “Yes. We’re expecting in about six months.”

“Congratulations.” Jagger leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Like Drake, Jagger had known Sydney from New York. In fact, when he’d first moved to Charlotte Tavern, he’d tried to date Sydney. It was clear early on that she and Mitch were in love, even if the two of them hadn’t realized it yet. So Jagger had stepped aside. “To celebrate, I’ll buy ice cream all around.”

“Yay!” Kaden jumped for joy.

Chelsea stoodnext to Jagger as they watched Kaden fly by on the large swing. She inhaled the scent of kettle corn and used her exhale to push away the final bits of tension in her body. Telling Lexie and Mitch about her engagement had been more difficult than she’d anticipated. She hated lying to them, but knew she couldn’t tell them the truth.

She hadn’t been surprised by Mitch’s response to the news, but she’d been hurt by Lexie’s. Chelsea knew she shouldn’t be since the whole situation was a lie. Still, Lexie didn’t know that, so her reaction stung. While they had ice cream, she could feel Lexie scrutinizing her and Jagger.

“You okay?” Jagger’s voice was soft, laced with concern.

She looked over to him and noticed the tension around his eyes had lessened, suggesting he was relived the ice cream social part of their day was over with as well. “I’m glad telling Lexie and Mitch is out of the way.”

“You and me, both, although I would have liked some time to better prepare.”

One auburn brow rose. “I told you we needed to get our stories straight for them.”

He smiled. “You did. I just thought we might have them for dinner and plan our announcement, as opposed to running into them and working off the cuff.”

She agreed that would have been a better option.

“Jagger! Miss Beemer!” Kaden’s hand waved as the swing circled above them.

Chelsea waved back. “How come we’re not up there too? It looks like fun.”

Jagger gave her an amused smile. “Do you like carnival rides?”

“Absolutely. The more thrilling, the better.”

“Well then.” Jagger scanned the carnival. “How about that one?”

Chelsea followed the direction of his nod toward the Death Drop, a ride that lifted passengers straight up and then dropped them in a free fall. “That’s a good one.” However, she didn’t need that ride to feel the rush of her stomach doing a loopty-loo with Jagger grinning at her. “But that’s probably not a good one for Kaden.”

“We’ll watch you.”

---