7. Jackson
The air wasn't as fresh and the birds weren't as active, there was a "polluted" feeling in the atmosphere that started to give me a headache as I sat in my rented Ferrari outside my parent"s house. I'd adapted to the elevation, nature, and fresh air of Boulder already.
What I hadn't adapted to was my parents' incessant need to have me attend family gatherings.
I hadn't even packed a bag. I had no intention of staying—I didn't want to be around my parents for any longer than I needed to. It wasn't that I didn't love them, they were great in their own ways, solid in their parenting, and loving toward me and Tiana. But they were overbearing, too involved, and being around them for too long posed its own risks. The same risks I'd abandoned so I could live my life the way I wanted to.
I sighed as I pushed open the driver"s side door. The house stood tall in front of me, its pillars, large windows, and stone facade boasting the money they had. Not that I had any room to judge, but even I didn't go as far as they did with showing off my wealth. As a kid, I'd get lost in the house, wandering from room to room on Christmas morning, until I found the tree that actually had presents under it and wasn't just there for decoration.
"Jackson! You came!"
My mom stood in the center of the double door entryway, leaning on the frame in her apron and dotted slacks. As if you're actually cooking and haven't hired chefs.
"Shut the door, Kate, you'll let the cool air out," Dad grumbled, coming around one side of her to take a peek at me. "Oh, good, Jack's here."
"You act like I had a choice," I mumbled. I walked up the front steps toward my parents, the lines and creases in my suit from my flight far too apparent. I noticed the grimace flash across my mom's eyes as she caught them.
"I can have Henry grab your bag from the car," Mom grinned, one arm coming out as she moved toward me, inviting me for a hug. I gave it to her.
"I didn't bring one." Her thin frame always felt so much thinner when I hugged her. "Who's Henry?"
Dad rolled his eyes, his posture tight. "The new help. Your mother is in love with him."
"I am not," Mom hissed, pulling back from the hug to hit my father in the gut with the back of her hand. "What do you mean you didn't bring a bag? I've got a whole weekend of fun planned out for the five of us. You're not staying?"
"Five of us?" I asked.
"Fred's here, too." Finally, a small crack of a smile emerged on my dad's face. It wasn't often I got to see that, and the idea of Tiana's boyfriend being there was what brought it on."The three of us are going golfing tomorrow. You can borrow my clubs."
"I'm not staying. Just here until tomorrow morning." I stepped between the two of them, the aloofness of the house already making me feel uneasy. The grand double staircase stood in front of me, marble flooring everywhere. It felt like a show house, pristine and perfect all the time. Not one speck of dust or a hint that anyone lived there or ever set foot in it.
"Tomorrow morning?" Mom echoed as Dad shut the door behind her, the sound echoing throughout the obnoxiously large hall. "For God's sake, Jackson, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you hated your own family."
"I'm just busy."
"Too busy for your family?" Mom pressed.
"Too busy for most things," I grumbled, as I followed the sound of hushed, giggling voices coming from the second of threeliving rooms. Mom said something behind me as I walked, her words blurring and vanishing before they even registered. I was thinking about Mandy again. Thinking about that painfully short skirt she'd worn, the little ringlets of her hair as she unknowingly twirled it around her finger, the sheer audacity she had to show up like that.
Not to mention the sheer audacity she'd had to say all of those awful things about me. She'd think twice about that if she knew what I'd done for her. The hell I'd put myself through.
It made my chest ache just to think about, right beneath the little spot that marked me forever as hers.
"Jack! Nice to see you, man," Fred called from the sofa, one arm around my little sister's shoulders and his chin pressed against the top of her head. "It's been too long."
"It has," I deadpanned, too tired to pretend to be enthralled by any of them. "You should come out to Boulder."
"Nah, too many rocks," he joked. I tried not to take offense as my dad burst out laughing at his arguably horrible one-liner. "I do think Colorado is in our future though. Tiana loves it out there."
Mom's lips twitched upward as she watched the two of them giggle and squirm on the couch. Tiana was always friendlier around Fred, always sociable, happy. A stark difference from her usual angry facade that she definitelydidn't learn from me.
"Honey," Mom cooed at my father as she untied her spotless apron from behind. "You remember that thing we bought for tonight? Why don't you go get it?"
"The Dom Perignon? Now?"
"Yes, Paul."
Fred's brows rose as he looked between the three of us. Already? he mouthed at my mother, and she nodded in return.
"What the hell is going on?" I mumbled.
"Shh."
Dad came around the corner, a bottle in each hand, and behind him, one of the many helpers around the house carried a tray of champagne flutes. "We haven't even had dinner yet," Dad grumbled, his shoulders slumping forward as he started working on opening one of the bottles.
I sat down on the corner seat next to him, reaching out one hand, requesting the other bottle. He handed it to me without a word. Every twist made my fingers wish they were doing something else, something far more mischievous, something that involved a lot of Mandy and very little clothing. I don't know how I ever let myself love a man like you. She loved me at one point. That was enough. It had to be enough to fix things.
"Fred…" Mom urged, stepping around my father to take a seat next to me. She smoothed out the lines on her slacks, shooting a glare over to me suggesting I do the same. No.
Fred shifted in his seat across from us, slipping out of my sister's embrace and standing up straight as he cleared his throat. "Tiana," he began, and as I watched his hand reach into the pocket of his jeans, I noticed he was trembling. "The last two years with you have been the absolute highlight of my life?—"
The cork popped in my hand so loud that the room stopped. I thanked my nonexistent gods that it didn't fizz and spray everywhere.
"You've become so ingrained in my life that I can't see a future without you in it. I know we've had our ups and downs…" Is he really doing this now? Is that why they waited for me? "…and I know that things aren't always easy. But between us, I think we can handle the world together."
My chest warmed as I watched Tiana's eyes light up when Fred dropped down to one knee. Mom sniffled beside me, as if she hadn't known this was coming, but obviously she had. Dad was too entranced by the champagne to actually pay attention.
"Tiana Big, will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to be my wife?"
That got Dad's attention.
"You didn't ask?—"
"Shh," Mom hissed at my father.
Fred's hands shook even harder as he pulled the box from his pocket, opening it in front of an anxious Tiana. Even from where I sat several feet away, I could see how much the ring shone.
"Oh my God, yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!" Tiana squealed as she lunged for him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. The smile on her face was larger than I'd ever seen—even bigger than it was the Christmas she got the life-size Barbie dream house she'd been begging for.
A new record for the books.
Mom clapped beside me as Dad side-eyed her, his excitement hidden behind his irritation that no one had told him. Join the club, Dad.
"We can have that Colorado wedding you've always wanted," Fred said, his face buried in the crook of Tiana's neck. "I'm sure your brother knows all the good spots."
"I'm sure Tiana knows more places than I do," I chuckled. She'd been planning her wedding since she was a kid and knew what she wanted before she even knew what marriage truly was. She'd made sure the entire family was clued in on her plan.
"Now it's your turn," Mom joked, nudging me with her knee as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Mom," Tiana groaned, pulling back from Fred as she slipped the ring over her finger. "Can't you just let me have my moment without dragging Jack's love life into it?"
"No, no, I'm serious. You know, my friend's niece just got back from France. If I message her now I could probably talk her into coming over this evening or maybe tomorrow morning before you have to leave."
"Mom, please," I sighed. "Can we not do this again? You know how much I hate?—"
Tiana's phone dinged from beside her on the sofa.
A second later, Dad's.
Mom's and Fred's went off at the same time.
Mine buzzed in my pocket. And then buzzed again. And again.
All around us phones were going off, over and over, alert after alert.
"What the fuck?" I pulled my phone from my pocket, my family going absolutely silent as they collectively stared at their screens.
It was Samantha in Public Relations. I opened the message, and within a second a photo and a link filled my screen. Lover's Quarrel: America's Most Eligible Bachelor in the Doghouse.
Clear as fucking crystal, the photo they'd used was of me, eyes wide at the table, a furious Mandy standing on the other side. No. Fuck no, they were watching? Beneath the headline was a video. I hesitated with my thumb over the play button, the terror already sinking into my bones, but before I could press it, the sound filtered out of Tiana's phone.
"I don't know how I ever let myself love a man like you."
My mom's.
"I don't know how I ever let myself love a man like you."
Fred's.
Dad's.
Mine.
I don't know how I ever let myself love a man like you.