Page 23 of Aisle Be The Groom (Bristlecone Springs #1)

GRAY

T he second Emma answered the call, everything I’d rehearsed vanished from my mind.

“Hello? Gray? Can you hear me?” A clear hint of impatience colored her tone when I didn’t respond, and with it, my resolve returned to end our marriage.

Our relationship had been like this for years. Since the boys grew up, we seldom spoke to each other. I still sent her the occasional birthday and Christmas gifts. After all, we didn’t hate each other. We just had nothing in common and no love for each other. At least not the kind of love that should exist between a married couple.

“Emma, how are you?”

“I’ve never been better. Yesterday was the…” She prattled on about a charity event she hosted that was “such a smashing hit” that they wanted her to be in charge next year as well. I let her speak until she was out of breath.

“That sounds wonderful, Em. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Immensely. Moving here is the best decision I’ve ever made. Though I wish you had stayed.”

I chuckled. “You know you don’t mean that. How else would you have moved Marc into your bedroom?”

“Oh, I suppose that’s true.” She giggled like a schoolgirl, and I smiled. I was glad she was happy with someone else. Then she would have no reason to fight our divorce. “Though Marc is no longer in the picture. I’m with Antonio now.”

“Antonio? Where did you meet him?”

“On my trip to Italy last month.”

“You know, people usually bring back knickknacks when they come home from a trip, but you return with a man as a souvenir.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Please, Emma. Would our marriage have lasted this long if either of us was jealous? We’re not that kind of people.” Though I could be for the right person. Ozzie flashed through my mind. So thoughtful and sweet. And waiting for me on the porch.

“True,” she said. “Why did you call me? Is it about the wedding? Ozzie is not messing up everything, is he?”

“He’s managing things on his own pretty well, given Carter has abandoned him.” Nope, he wasn’t. We’d made no further preparations for the wedding, and we wouldn’t until Carter returned home to the truth.

“Hmm. Well, you can’t really blame him, can you? He’s celebrating the last of his freedom before he gets shackled. I told him he’s too young, but he wouldn’t listen. What’s the rush? It’s one thing for him to marry someone so dowdy, but I’ll be damned he’s getting a lousy wedding. I’m going to bring important guests with me.”

“Emma, this is their wedding, not yours. You get a plus-one. That’s all. Bring Antonio.”

Fuck. Why am I telling her who to bring to a fake wedding?

She clicked her tongue. “I still haven’t received the save-the-date cards. Isn’t there a wedding planner in town who can help the poor thing?”

“Ozzie is doing fine, Em. That’s not why I called.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Well, what is it?”

Silence ticked between us. I inhaled deeply and let out the breath slowly. “We need to talk.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“I mean a serious conversation in person. Is it okay to visit you this weekend?”

“I suppose. We can always stay at a hotel. I’ll make something up to tell Antonio why I’m gone. His English isn’t that good.”

“No, we don’t need a hotel room.” In the past when we met up, we’d slept together, but I hadn’t touched her in years. “Why don’t you reserve one of those private tables at the country club, and we meet there and talk?”

“Gray, what is this about?”

“Our marriage—if it can be called that.”

“It’s been over a decade, and you’ve never had an issue with our marriage. Why now?”

“It’s just time. The kids are old enough now. We don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“I see.” She cleared her throat. “Very well, then. I’ll get in touch with the rest of the details.”

“Thank you.” But she already ended the call. For a moment, I stared blankly at the phone, my heart pounding and my mind whirling. Why had I kept the marriage going for so long? We’d been apart for years. I’d known this day was coming, and I’d expected to be gleeful about it, but not feel this sense of failure. Of giving up. But hadn’t we both given up years ago?

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts. I didn’t want Emma back. We were a disaster when we’d been together, and during our estrangement, we hadn’t even been friends. Not really. Friendship required common ground. We didn’t have any.

Shaking off my melancholy, I headed downstairs. Gertie poked her head out of the kitchen and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, her face set in a determined line.

I followed her into the kitchen. “What is it?”

“Grayson Montana Magnuson.” She shook her spoon at me. “You’ve done gone and stepped in it this time, haven’t you?”

I blinked. “Stepped in what?”

“Don’t play coy with me. I know everything.”

“You know what?” About me and Ozzie? How could she? We’d both been careful.

“Are you really going to make me say it out loud?”

Oh shit. It was about Ozzie and me. “How did you find out? Did Ozzie mention it?”

“Not purposefully. How can you sleep with that boy, knowing he’s engaged to your son?”

“Well—” I scratched the back of my head, my cheeks burning. Gertie had a way of making me feel like a teenager. Maybe because she’d known me for so long. “It doesn’t just go one way, you know. We mutually consented.”

“And that makes it right to fornicate with your own blood’s boyfriend?”

“It’s not as simple as you think.”

“Maybe not, but think about what you’re doing to that boy’s poor reputation in this town. If word gets out—”

“It will eventually get out. We’re not having a fling here, Gertie. Ozzie’s special to me.”

“Special how? The sex?”

“Oh, Gertie, I won’t talk to you about that, but no, I mean special in every way. He’s a spectacular young man, and I want to be by his side and convince him how amazing he is.”

Gertie lowered the spoon. “Oh crap, I was prepared to give you a good tongue-lashing. You men always know how to be glib, so we forgive you. And that boy’s clearly smitten by you. I hope you know what you’re doing, Gray. He’s not like Carter. He can be hurt—for real.”

“I know, and I won’t do anything to hurt him.”

“Maybe not intentionally, but you know how brutal town gossip can be. You protect that boy from the brunt of it, you hear me?” She was back to waving her spoon at me.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. I like that one. I wouldn’t mind him staying, and you’ve sure seemed happy since he’s been around. Go on, then. Git.”

I chuckled at her dismissal. Just like old times, Gertie always seemed to keep me in line. At least Ozzie had someone looking out for his best interest. Someone who could vouch for us when the town learned about what we’d done.

Outside on the porch, Ozzie and Matty were talking. Good. Hopefully, they were getting along. I wanted my boys to like Ozzie and to see him the way I did. Except that would probably not be the case with Carter.

“You know why I don’t like you, Ozzie?” Oh shit. Matty’s tone was clipped and frosty. “Because you have this sweet butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-your-mouth crap going on, but you don’t fool me. You were only here one night, and you were already fooling around with someone else.”

Ozzie blinked, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

Do something. You promised Gertie to protect him.

But my legs wouldn’t move, and my whole body seemed to have shut down.

“You don’t understand.” Ozzie sounded on the verge of tears and stepped back as if he wanted to flee.

“What’s there to understand? You’re a whore who sleeps around on your fiancé, and my brother might be an ass, but he doesn’t deserve that.”

“Matty, enough!” His harsh words shocked me out of my stupor. Who the hell did he think he was talking to Ozzie like that? I marched toward them. “Are you okay?” I asked Ozzie and reached out for him, but he shrank back.

“You’re only defending him because you don’t know what I saw the morning after he came here. He’s not being faithful to Carter.”

“You’re way out of line, and I need you to apologize to Ozzie right now.”

“N-n-no, he doesn’t need to,” Ozzie said.

“Yes, he does.”

“I’m not apologizing. I haven’t done or said anything wrong. In the meantime, Dad, you should consider canceling the wedding.”

“The wedding’s already canceled.”

“What?”

I grabbed the back of Matty’s shirt. “We’ll be right back, Ozzie.” I propelled Matty inside the house.

“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. You can’t treat me like this.”

I closed the door and released him, then wagged a finger in front of his face. “If you don’t stop acting like a kid, I’ll treat you like one. What you said to Ozzie is disrespectful. I didn’t raise you like that.”

“Didn’t you hear a word I said? He’s been cheating on Carter.”

“With me! He’s been cheating with me, and I won’t tolerate you calling him a whore for it either unless you’re calling me one too.”

Matty furrowed his eyebrows and pressed his lips tight together. The emotions played out on his face like a silent movie. “Dad? You?”

I leaned against the wall, creating some distance between us. “Yeah.”

“But…why would you do something like this? Carter’s your son.”

“I could stand here and justify why. Carter is a shitty fiancé and doesn’t consider his feelings at all. I could tell you that no one should plan their wedding alone and that we’re pretty sure Carter cheated on him, but the truth is that I wanted him. It’s that simple.”

Matty reeled back like he’d been slapped, his face going white, then red. Then he shook his head as if trying to clear it. “How could you?” His voice was shaking. “What about Carter?”

“I’m hoping he’ll want what’s best for Ozzie and give us his blessing.”

“Carter is one of the most selfish people on this planet. You expect him to smile this off? Oh my god, Dad, seriously? Ozzie? This isn’t happening.”

“Matty, I can’t help it if I’m attracted to him. I wouldn’t have acted on it, but he’s miserable in his relationship with Carter. He’s the one who’s supposed to be here, taking Ozzie around, but he left that job up to me. All this time I’ve spent with Ozzie only made me fall for him.”

“So now what? You saying you’re in love with him?”

“We’re a good match.”

“Are you listening to yourself?” Matty spat. “Nothing you said can justify what you’re doing. You’re screwing your son’s fiancé behind his back.”

“Don’t trivialize what we mean to each other.”

“But you don’t see anything wrong with trivializing your relationship with your son? Isn’t this family hurting enough as it is? Parents who live in two different places, married in name only while sleeping with whomever they want? Is that what a marriage is now?”

I frowned. Something was wrong in his words, something beyond Ozzie and me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Forget it. I can see no one gives a fuck anymore about vows and keeping their word to each other. By all means, enjoy your son’s lover.”

“Maybe what we’re doing isn’t ideal, but do you know what it’s like to glimpse your happiness in a rearview mirror? I can’t miss it this time, Matty. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy, and I hope Carter can forgive us. We’ll have a tough enough time in town. Hopefully, in time, as you get used to Ozzie, you can support us.”

He shook his head hard. “I can’t. I’m sorry, but this—this is wrong on so many levels.”

A vise clamped around my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs. “I can’t force you to accept us, Matty, but I’m still your dad. You don’t have to like what we’re doing, but I won’t tolerate you disrespecting Ozzie. He doesn’t deserve it. Have I made myself clear?”

“He deserves—”

“I said have I made myself clear, Matty?”

“Yes, sir,” he said, his tone full of grudge.