4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

ISABEL

“You’re what?!” Mom stood so fast the chair fell back behind her.

Jenna paused with her champagne glass hovering below her mouth, and Chuck choked on his food. Stefano reached over and patted him on the back until he managed to swallow, and he held up a hand to signal he was okay. “Sorry. Didn’t expect that.” Chuck cleared his throat. “What did you say?”

Tucker looked down at me and wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me close to his side. “We’re engaged.” He repeated what I’d just told our families.

“Excuse me.” Nic’s voice was rough, earning my attention, and he wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin before pushing away from the table. Those sapphire eyes of his turning to stone with his expression.

My chest fell a little watching him walk away. One less ally in the trenches. I wondered if he’d ever let me reach him. As close as he and I had gotten, he’d tucked his demons away well .

I looked around the room. After a wonderful, perfect, nerve-wracking afternoon, Tucker and I had our families gathered around the long dining table at the beach house, and the late afternoon sun was shining through the floor-to-ceiling glass that looked out toward the shore. The storm had passed after a couple of hours, the skies opening back up, revealing the sunlight and inviting us down to the beach with its warmth a little while ago. It would be a little damp still, but I wouldn’t trade the rain.

When it hit, Tucker and I had run across the boardwalk back to his truck, and he helped me climb in before rushing around to hop into his side. We just stared for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, both of us soaked and grinning like mad. I did have to ruin the mood for a moment when he asked what I meant about his cousin, but as soon as we got back to the beach house and started stripping out of our soaked clothes, Tucker dragged me into another multi-orgasmic shower.

We called Annie and Jet after that, wanting to surprise them with our news first before calling up our families. They’d only gone into temporary shock before congratulating us, and with that layer of pressure gone, I spent the next hour and a half whipping up a meal, my hands nervous with excitement and needing to stay busy as we prepared to tell our parents.

Now was the moment of truth, and from Mom’s reaction, it was not going well.

Her jaw jutted in frustration, part of that look she got when she strove for patience, and she dropped her brow to her fingertips. “I know I’m not hearing this right. Tell me this is a joke.” Mom looked back up .

I held out my hand, showing off my ring as the diamonds sparkled under the light and sunset shining in through the glass.

“Oh, Izzy, it’s gorgeous.” Helen took my hand, and Harper, Chelsea, and Vicky all leaned in to look with oohs and aahs.

“You have really great taste, Tucker,” Harper praised.

“Seriously, it’s beautiful.” Vicky smiled up at her big brother. “Right, Chels?”

“Definitely.”

“Girls, why don’t y’all go down to the beach to play? Archer and Colton, y’all, too.” Jenna set down her champagne glass, her expression flat.

The little moment of joy I’d gotten just then vanished as my stomach tensed, especially when I looked back at Mom, her face frozen in anger and her cheeks flushed. I knew she was biting her tongue, and as soon as the kids grumbled and disappeared down the porch steps, she lost it.

“You have got to be kidding me, young lady,” she hissed.

“I’m not,” I said, my voice firm.

“Or is the ring not a big enough tip off, Mom.”

“Not now, Annabel.” But her gaze never left mine. “Y’all are too young to get married.”

“I agree.” Jenna looked at Chuck. “Dear?”

He just shook his head, that vein Tucker and I were privy to last November with our last big news pulsing in his forehead. He didn’t have to speak for me to know he was pissed. When he did, he would blow.

“This is a mistake.” Mom started up again. “After everything you two have been through, you can’t possibly think you’re ready for marriage. ”

“That’s exactly why we think we are,” Tucker replied, earning her glare next. “We’ve been through everything together, and despite everything that’s been thrown our way, we’re still together. We’re stronger than ever.” He gave a slight squeeze to my waist.

We still hadn’t sat down, standing near the head of the table. I wasn’t sure about Tucker, but to me, sitting would be like conceding to the battle. Saying we forfeit when we knew we’d already won.

Mom tossed her head back with a scoff. “You can’t be serious. I watched my daughter break down the first night I was home and then the way she crumbled last night before y’all snuck out. Both after fights she had with you .”

I didn’t have to look up to know the way Tucker’s eyes narrowed, and Uncle Blake hissed, “Bridge, enough. Sit down.” He fixed her chair, but she refused, her hands pressing to the table as she leaned forward.

“How long until you’re bored, Tucker, and you start chasing every girl that walks down that beach like you used to?”

“Mom!” I cried as Jenna gasped, gaping at her friend, and Chuck barked with a warning glare.

“Watch it!”

Mom glanced down at her friends and finally took her seat when Uncle Blake gave her a stern look.

“Maybe we should wait outside and go watch the kids.” Helen looked at Stef, and he nodded, the two of them quietly stepping out.

The room stayed silent, but so much pulsed in the atmosphere. I looked up at Tucker as he looked down, the two of us not saying a word. After last night, we didn’t need to. We were exactly on the same page. Tucker gave me a tiny nod, signaling for me to go ahead, and I looked around at our best friends and fuming parents.

Annie and Jet sat together, our pillars of support across the table from us. It was our parents further down that I had to reach.

“Are y’all done?”

Jenna and Chuck looked over, both silently fuming, while Mom raised an eyebrow, her mouth open to retort until Uncle Blake placed a warning hand on her arm. He looked at me.

“Go ahead, Izzy.”

Giving him a small smile first, I smoothed my hands over the skirt of my dress, willing my heart to stop racing in my chest. I took a breath.

“I know y’all are upset, and I understand. Like you said, Mom, last night was rough. The past five months have been hell, honestly, but Tucker is the only reason I made it through everything. We fought last night, ultimatums were made, but it was exactly what we needed to break the walls down and finally deal with our grief. We’ll never fully get over the scars losing Zoey left, but we’re really healing now and in a good place.”

“And what if that doesn’t last?” Jenna quietly spoke. “What if your grief has been holding you together, but now that you’re healing and moving on, you grow apart?”

“Exactly.” Mom tossed a hand up, but I shook my head as Tucker’s deep voice cut in.

“If you think that, Mom, then you don’t know us at all. I breathe for this girl.” He squeezed my waist again. “She’s it for me, and I will never do anything to ruin it.” He glared at my mom at the end, her comment obviously still fresh .

“And if you get pregnant again?” Mom’s eyes narrowed back.

“Then it’ll happen.” I shrugged. “We’re using all the precautions we can. Hell, we didn’t even start having sex again until last night.” I immediately flushed, cringing at that admission.

“Getting married doesn’t have to automatically mean babies,” Tucker continued for me. “We’d give anything to have Zoey back, but I’m not rushing to have another. Neither of us are.”

I watched as relief fell over all of their faces.

“I just don’t like this.” Jenna shook her head. “Y’all are going off to college in just a few months. There will already be so many changes in your lives.”

“I don’t think either of you realize how hard being married young can be,” Mom added.

“You and Daddy made it,” I whispered.

“Your dad and I are beside the point. Not all couples that young make it.” Her eyes darkened, and I frowned, reading something beneath the surface but not sure what.

Jet leaned forward in his chair to look down the table. “My parents were eighteen and seventeen when they got married. They’re still together.”

“And you and Aunt Rosa were freshmen in college when you got engaged.” Annie looked at Uncle Blake. “And Gabe just married Julia last year. They were twenty-one. You and Aunt Rosa didn’t fight them , right?”

“We didn’t.” Uncle Blake met her gaze when she mentioned our cousin.

“Sounds like we know a lot of couples that married young and are doing fine.” Jet shrugged .

Tucker sighed and ran his hand back through his hair. “This is getting off track. Mom, Dad, Bridgette, we didn’t bring y’all here to ask your permission. We just wanted an amazing weekend with our families in grandpa’s old house where we could hopefully all celebrate our news. Izzy and I are getting married, whether y’all like it or not. Can we please have y’all’s blessing?”

“When?” Chuck finally spoke.

I looked at Tucker and back at him. “When?”

“When is it? Do you have a date?” He stared at us, and a tiny, happy bubble began to form in my chest. Because I could see it. How close we were to his acceptance.

“It’s next summer on our anniversary.”

“Late July,” Tucker clarified.

Chuck nodded, the movement slow. “I think that sounds alright.” From the movement of his arm, I could picture him giving Jenna’s thigh a gentle squeeze, and she swallowed, nodding to herself before giving us a smile.

“Welcome to the family, Izzy.”

Mom’s shoulders dropped then, her allies gone, and she released a deep sigh. “If this is happening, then yes. Welcome to the family, Tucker.” She raised her champagne glass for a toast. My throat grew tight, meeting her gaze as we all raised our drinks.

“Thank you,” I mouthed, relief touching me when she gave me a small smile.