Page 97 of Tripped By Love
“I obviously don’t know what Marco has been through. But I do know that it’s easy to feel like we don’t deserve love and happiness. Not when others…can’t have that,” her voice broke a little. “Even now…there are times when I think about Darren, and I feel so guilty it’s like I can’t breathe. But then Brady swoops into the room and makes Hannah laugh, or I see them with their fingers tangled together on the piano, or he wraps me in his arms and kisses me, and I know that this was supposed to happen, too. I just need the reminder sometimes. Maybe that’s all Marco needs?someone to remind him that he’s worthy of love.”
I nodded, knowing it was true. Knowing Marco needed someone holding a mirror up in front of him and showing him all the pieces of him that were beautiful and deserving. I wanted to be that person, but I wasn’t sure he’d let me. I wasn’t even sure if and when he was coming back to Grand Orchard now that he was determined to stay and help Maliyah and Jonas. To help the family he’d ignored for too long.
Those thoughts were still with me two nights later when I entered the lobby of the theater that was already bustling with people. I slid a hand down the fitted dress nervously. I hadn’t worn anything so formal since…maybe ever. I hadn’t gone to prom, and both my high school and college graduation had seen me in my normal long skirts and plain blouses under my robes.
The only thing saving me from running back to the house and changing was the fact that I was still in flats. No way my clumsiness could be put on display in a pair of stilettos like the ones the band members of The Painted Daisies wore tonight. The six women were in a range of them from spiky, heeled boots to tall, strappy sandals, but they all moved around on them with the grace of ballerinas that I would never have.
I missed Marco even more tonight because I was attending this event alone. I’d never had anyone at my side for things like this before, but knowing what it would feel like if he was there almost made it worse. I made my way farther into the lobby, trying not to feel awkward and out of place.
My first instinct was to go check on the little spread of appetizers and cocktails that The Golden Heart Café had made, but I forced myself in the other direction. I had to trust that Cliff and Willow had it covered if I was determined to step away from managing the restaurant. So, I pushed myself toward the wall of murals Tristan had painted for the university. It was a series of keyholes, and as you glanced through them, you saw Grand Orchard in varying seasons and times of day. A mural that said there was more to people and life than what you could see with a glance. Like there was more to me or Marco than what you saw on the surface.
Brady found me and slung an arm over my shoulder. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You look beautiful, Cass.”
I looked down at his gray slacks and button-down. “You look like some banker took over my brother’s body.”
Brady laughed. “I know. Thank God I get to change to go onstage with The Painted Daisies.”
The band was going to showcase some of their favorite songs off the album. Not a full concert, but a little taste of what was to come. Brady had done more than just produce the album. He’d collaborated with them on a couple of songs as well. Duets about love and life.
“Why are you over here by yourself instead of mingling with everyone?” Brady asked.
I looked back to where the band was hanging out with their team, Brady’s team, and some of the locals. My parents were there as well as some of the other professors and the dean of Wilson-Jacobs. People I’d known my whole life and shouldn’t have made me feel out of place. Should have made me feel at home, and yet I still felt empty and alone.
“I don’t know. Just feeling…” I trailed off.
“Like you’re missing part of your soul,” Brady said quietly. My heart twisted. That was it. Ever since Marco and I had slept together, and then I’d left Austin, I felt like I’d forgotten a piece of me there. As if I wasn’t ever going to be whole again until he showed up.
I gave a slight nod, unable to speak.
“Do I have to send Trevor after him?” Brady asked, half-tease and half-serious. I reached up and flicked his ear. He pressed his head to his shoulder. “Here I am defending you, and you’re torturing me with those wildly long fingers of yours.”
I chuckled. “He’s coming back. He just has a lot to take care of.”
“He doesn’t have a wife and kids hidden away somewhere, does he?”
I laughed again. “No.” But it was still a family he couldn’t just leave.
“Brady, you ready?” His stage manager, Alice, came wandering over. Her dark hair streaked with purple was done up in curls, and her normally thick-framed glasses had been exchanged for ones that sparkled. Alice had been with Brady almost since the beginning—even longer than Marco. But I’d never seen her in a dress like the one she wore tonight. Below the black satin, she had on a pair of spiked and studded Demonia boots that fit her vibe perfectly.
Brady looked at me questioningly. I shoved his shoulder. “Go! I’m fine. I’ll make my way over to Mom and Dad.”
He frowned, and I reached up to flick his ear again, but he ducked away and turned back with a smile. “Fine. Fine.”
He and Alice headed into the theater, and I started to move toward my parents, where they were talking with the dean, when a hand grabbed my wrist from behind, yanking me backward. I twirled around, losing my balance momentarily before righting myself and finding Clayton’s scowling face staring at me.
God, was the man ever happy? Tonight, there was a pinched look to his eyes and a hallow to his cheeks, as if he hadn’t been sleeping.
“I got the DNA results. He’s mine,” Clayton said.
I gave a sarcastic laugh. “Did you expect me to be surprised? I knew you’d provided the sperm to create him. I didn’t need a DNA test to prove it.”
That was all he was?a sperm donor. I would never acknowledge that he was Chevelle’s “father,” and I’d burn in hell before I said that he belonged to Clayton in any other way, shape, or form.
I yanked at my wrist, but he didn’t let go. In fact, he squeezed harder.
“I just wanted you to know that I would have allowed you to continue to see him if you hadn’t been such a bitch about things. But now I’m going to take him, and you’ll never see him again. My investigator has proof that you left him to go fuck some guy who was dishonorably discharged from the military. The same guy you let around my son all the time. He spends less time with his own mother than he does with others. No judge will allow you to keep him when you’re such a bad influence.”
My first instinct was to slap him. My second instinct was to defend myself. I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about Marco and me…he’d obviously had me followed. I wanted to laugh and cry because I hadn’t been anywhere in two years. I hadn’t spent one single night without my son until I’d gone to Austin. I’d worked myself to the bone to provide for him. I wanted to scream all of that at him. To tell him that at least I’d wanted Chevelle even before he’d been born, but instead, I glared.
