SAMANTHA
I suppose I should’ve been happy my mother was married.
She looked it. She glowed as she sat at the head table with James and their bridal party, excluding Mason and Logan. The boys sat with me at a table in the back, which also included Mark and Cass, and Taylor. Heather and Channing came for the dinner and were with us as well. James had his two ushers sit in Mason and Logan’s empty chairs.
Drinks and appetizers appeared, and then the dinner was served. The maid of honor offered a touching toast for my mom, and I couldn’t stop watching as she listened to those kind words being spoken about her.
Whoever she was, this woman didn’t know her. They might’ve been in a treatment facility together. And they all seemed demure and perfect, but it was bullshit. I knew that much.
They’d shed a few tears, probably heard each other’s sob stories, but did they hear from the ones they’d hurt? Did they know how my mom had lied to me all my life, let me fall in love with the man who raised me, and only after she left him did she tell me the truth? Or how she’d threatened him and my real father to keep them away? Or how she’d tried to ruin what I had with Mason? Or—I forced myself to calm down.
This woman. I wanted to destroy her. I wanted to hurt her the way she’d hurt me. I wanted misery to come to her, but I also missed her. I could remember the times we’d laughed, the few there were.
And I loved her.
I touched the dandelion pendant hanging from my neck, and feeling the whole storm inside of me, I could only sit and stare at my mother.
She turned, as if feeling my gaze, and she flinched. Her eyes widened and she turned away immediately to pretend she was laughing along with everyone else. The maid of honor had made a joke. Apparently.
I didn’t need to look around my table. No one was laughing. Wait, I heard Cass giggle.
She quickly muffled it and hissed under her breath, “What?” One second passed. “Oh.”
And my table went back to silence again. They all watched me, I couldn’t stomach any of this anymore.
I shoved back from the table, and as the second bridesmaid started to give her speech, I left.
“Sam.”
Mason came after me. I shook my head, not turning around. “Don’t, Mason. I just—” I had no idea. I swept out to the parking lot.
“Hey.” His hand caught mine. “Hey.”
“I can’t, Mason. I just can’t.” My chest heaved.
His hand tightened around mine, and instead of pulling me to a stop, he tugged me to an outside patio area tucked back between a bunch of trees—a little oasis. No one else was there. There were a few tables, and each one had a light sitting on it.
He sat down, but I couldn’t. I wrapped my arms around myself, but then I yanked at my dress. “I can’t stand wearing this now.” Disgust flooded me. I was choking on it. “Fuck this matching shit.” If I could’ve ripped it off then and there, I would’ve. I eyed the stream flowing nearby. The fucking thing would go in there. I didn’t care what happened to it.
“Sam.”
I wanted to punch him. Mason’s voice was so calm and steady. I wanted him to rage with me, and then I remembered the police station. He had raged. It hadn’t gone so well.
“What?”
He pulled me onto his lap.
I waited, but he didn’t say anything. “What? No words of wisdom from the fucked-up son of James Kade?” I grimaced, hearing the bite in my words. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” He looked into my eyes. “I am James’ son, and I am fucked-up regarding him. There was no insult in what you said, and even if there was, you know I’m not going to get mad.” His eyes softened, and he pulled my head down so he could kiss my temple. “Not with you.”
I turned so my back rested against his chest, and I watched the stream. I almost couldn’t look away from that small trickle of water. “She killed my little brother or sister, then I called 911, and she pretended she’d tried to kill herself.” I’d never forgive her for that. “I thought I was over that.”
“Hey!” Heather came toward us. She dropped into another seat at the table and said, “Logan sent me out here.” She turned to Mason. “He said something about owing your dad and to get your ass in there.” She turned to me, a crooked grin on her face as she reached into her purse. “I came out to keep you company.”
Mason looked at me.
I nodded. “Go.” I gestured to Heather. “She’s right, or Logan is. You owe your dad. You need to hold up your end of the deal.”
He groaned, but I stood up, and so did he. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before heading back inside the hotel.
Once he was gone, Heather pulled out a cigarette. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah.”
Grabbing an ashtray from another table, she lit up. She took a quick drag before leaning back and exhaling. “I normally wouldn’t, but I’m a bit tense in there. This is a rich person’s wedding? Weddings I’ve gone to aren’t like that.”
“That was a wedding, but I don’t know.” Though I knew what she was referring to. There were an inordinate number of tanned and fit bodies, boobs that didn’t seem all-natural, and money. There was no other way to describe it. It was present in the clothes, the mannerisms, and even just the stuffiness in the air. James Kade was wealthy and important. It made sense he’d invite similar guests to his wedding.
“The women seem stuck-up.”
Heather was putting that mildly. I grinned at her. “You don’t have to be so nice.”
“I’m not.” She took another long drag. “But I think their dad is going to make them give a speech, so I’m not sure if you wanted to hear that or not?” She finished her cigarette quickly, grinding it out.
“You know me so well.”
Heather laughed, and as we went back inside, Channing stood in the opened doorway to the ballroom. He’d been waiting for us.
“Mason just took the microphone,” he said. “James made a point of saying they had to do a speech together. He won’t allow Logan to do his own.”
Heather moved to stand next to him. “Smart.”
Mason stood on the platform behind the bridal party’s table and laughed into the mic. Logan was right next to him.
“I have to admit, I’m shocked our dad’s asked us to do a speech.” A polite smattering of laughter came from the room, but Mason ignored them. His dad had turned to see him. “You sure about this?” Mason asked.
“Logan promised to be nice.”
Mason brought the mic closer to his mouth, his voice even louder. “But I didn’t.”
The laughter doubled from the tables, but there was a tension in the air, too.
I held my breath.
Mason seemed to be considering something, then his eyes found me in the back, and a resolve settled in.
I let out that breath. I reached for the doorframe and held on.
“Okay. You asked for it, Dad.”
I didn’t look at anyone else. No one else existed at that moment.
“I know we’re all here for these two, since they’re now wedded, and hopefully wedded in bliss. But we’ll all wait and see on that, won’t we?”
There was another polite round of chuckles, but it was like the rest of them were cluing in. This might not go as most toasts do.
“I know I’m supposed to stand up here and say a bunch of nice things.” Mason’s voice grew serious; there was no forced lightness now. The room grew quiet. “But I can’t do that. I can say a bunch of things about what I hope for their future. I hope they continue to be happy. I hope they’ll remain faithful to each other. I hope Analise won’t start drinking because even though that’s not what her problem was, I know it might’ve helped. I hope she won’t do anything to tear this family apart. I hope one day Logan and I will enjoy coming to the house again, the place we grew up. I hope our father will one day apologize to our mother for the endless stream of mistresses. I hope Logan will have a relationship with his father, because he didn’t growing up. I hope Samantha won’t fear her mother one day. I hope you both will be welcomed at my wedding one day.” He looked at me then. “I hope you’ll both be doting grandparents to my future children, and I hope I’ll let you see them, and maybe even have unsupervised sleepovers. I hope for a lot of things.”
His gaze swept out over the quiet crowd. Some of the women had their hands over their mouths. Some of the men were glowering. But others weren’t reacting at all. Those were the ones who knew the real Analise and James, and a few of them looked at Mason and Logan with sympathy.
A hand grasped mine, and I looked over to see Heather giving me a reassuring smile. I realized I’d been crying. I used my other hand to wipe my tears away.
Mason’s voice gentled as he held my gaze. “I know this wasn’t the nicest speech, but I’m not one to be fake. My dad knows that, so he must’ve been expecting something like this. I can say a few good things. I can say that I used to hate my dad, and I don’t any longer.” He tore his eyes away to look at his father. “I don’t have as much anger at you as I did, so maybe you wanted to hear that?” Then he looked at my mother. “And Analise…” I heard a woman suck in her breath at the nearest table. “I can thank you for giving Sam space, but I want you to let her go.”
A ripple of murmuring rose from the room.
A couple looked at each other near me, and I heard the woman say, “How can he ask that?”
Someone else said, “Fuck this.” A chair pushed backward.
Mason ignored everyone. “The matching dress, the necklace. You’ve backed off, but she can still feel the hold from you. Let her go. Once and for all, just let her go.”
Logan cleared his throat, reaching for the microphone. Mason let it go without a fight, but he continued to hold my mother’s gaze steadily.
“Uh.” Logan laughed, moving a few feet away from his brother. He took the spotlight with him. “Thank you for that…very transparent speech, Mason.”
More people began to talk, but Logan spoke over them, raising his voice. “Yeah. So. I’m usually the one who delivers the bomb. I don’t think I can compete with my brother, and by the way…” He waited until Mason looked at him, “You should’ve dropped the mic. I don’t know if you’ll get a more perfect moment than after that speech.”
Mason shrugged.
Logan laughed again. “I guess here’s my turn. Everything Mason said was true. If you guys didn’t know, there’s not a good history between us and our dad. And the other thing he said was true, too. When Analise was walking down the aisle, Dad made me promise to be nice, so this is a little different for me. Mason’s the quiet fighter, and I’m the talker, and I don’t usually equate nice with Analise—”
“Logan.”
He lifted a hand toward his dad. “Hold on, Dad. But I’m going to do that tonight.” He gestured to me in the back. “And if you all didn’t know this either, Mason and I are protective of Sam back there, who is Analise’s daughter. So…” His eyebrows pinched together, and he turned to regard Analise. He held the mic up to his mouth so we could hear his soft breathing. “My speech is going to suck because I can only think of a couple nice things to say. One, thank you, Analise, for giving birth to my new stepsister. Not only is she my first stepsister, she’s my first sister at all.” He did a half-bow, which caused some laughter from the room.
“Thank you for that. Two, uh…” He raked a hand through his hair. “You got my dad to stop sleeping around. I give you two thumbs up for that.” And he actually did, flashing her a grin at the same time.
More laughter sounded from the tables, along with an air of relief.
“I have one more I just thought of; it goes along with my dad’s newfound fidelity.” He suddenly grew serious. “For what it’s worth, I do think my dad loves you. And through that, he’s shown me a different side of himself, one that I respect.”
He turned to his dad. “Kind of. I kind of respect you. I’m starting to respect you. Wait. No. Yeah. I do, somewhat. You’re halfway there, Dad. I almost completely respect you. Not really. You’re like an eighth of the way there. Maybe a tiny bit more than an eighth, but you know what I mean. It’s more than before.” He grinned and held his hand up, leaning down toward James. “High five to that.”
James didn’t move to slap his hand, and Logan looked at it. “You’re leaving me hanging? I kept it nice about Analise.”
One of the ushers took that opportunity to get the mic from Logan. “Okay. Thank you…both.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he glanced over to a stage where the deejay was setting up. “I believe we’re ready for our slideshow, and then the dancing will be starting soon. Drinks are on the house, so everyone drink up!” He turned around, but Mason and Logan were still standing there. The mic was down by his side, but it still caught him saying, “Get off the platform. You two are horrible sons.”
Logan didn’t move, so Mason began to move him to the edge. Logan twisted back around. “Dad, you did ask us to do speeches. What were you thinking?”
“I thought you’d have the decency to be polite.”
“Logan, come on.” Mason kept moving.
Logan stepped back, and as Mason hopped down and moved my way, Logan spoke again. “Hey. At least I’m calling you Dad again. Mase, too. That’s a big step for us.”
Mason was almost to me, but more movement on the platform caught my eye.
Analise had stood, and she moved in front of Logan, folding her arms over her chest. Everyone quieted, and I heard her say, “You protect Samantha from me. This is my turn to protect my husband from you. Please leave, Logan.” She glanced to me. “All of you.”
I felt nothing. The Sam I used to be would’ve felt stabbed, taking those words as a personal blow, but the Analise before would’ve delivered them with that intent. They weren’t this time. They really were just words from a wife who loved her husband and was protecting him.
Mason pulled me with him as he headed to the parking lot. Logan jumped down to follow. I knew Heather and Channing were coming as well, and for the first time ever, I felt like we’d overstepped.
Once we got outside, Channing clapped his hands together. “Remind me not to get on your bad sides and then ask you to do a speech at my wedding.” He nudged Heather with his elbow. “Whenever that’s going to be.”
I sensed a storm inside of Mason, but I knew he wouldn’t say anything until we were alone.
“James shouldn’t have asked, and he knows it,” I told them.
Mason’s hand tightened on mine. He glanced down, like he could tell I wasn’t sure about my own words.
“Yo.” Mark was jogging to catch up. Cass was with him, and behind them Logan was holding hands with Taylor. Mark held up his phone. “I got the whole thing on vide—”
Mason rotated around, grabbed his phone, and smashed it on the cement.
“Dude!”
He brought his foot down, then glared. “You think I wanted to hurt my dad?”
Mark’s eyes rounded. “I…well, yeah. That’s exactly what you did.”
“But I didn’t want to. That’s the difference. He put me in that position. He made us agree to be his groomsmen, and then he followed through to the last detail. A fucking speech by his adoring sons—that’s what he wanted. He backed us into a corner because he thought we’d play nice. I didn’t want to do any of that, but I’m not going to be fake. I’m not going to lie and put on a charade that he’ll be able to play over and over again and to delude himself. ‘I had two doting sons once. I wonder what happened to them?’” Mason shook his head. “He can’t rewrite history, and he can’t force a new future. That shit I said up there, that was me being kind. Trust me. I have a lot more I’d like to say, but I kept it in.”
“My phone, man.”
Mason kicked Mark’s phone to Logan’s foot. He bent and pocketed it.
“Sorry, man,” Logan said. “There may be other videos of it, but it’s not something we want to be a part of spreading.” He moved forward, still holding Taylor’s hand. “We might not like James, but he’s still our dad.”
The rest of us began moving, hand in hand. Mark and Cass held back a step, and then with a sigh, Mark took her hand, too. They began following us.
We had one last parking lane to cross before we got to Mason’s Escalade when a squad car stopped in front of us.
Mason pointed to his vehicle. “We were just leaving.”
Two officers got out and the one closest to us asked, “Mason Kade?”
“Yeah?”
He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and gestured for Mason to turn around. “You’re under arrest for the assault of Jared Caldron.”
“What?!” Logan lunged forward, like he wanted to rip the cuffs off of Mason. “That was self-defense.”
The officer opened the back door, reciting the Miranda rights as he guided Mason into the backseat, covering his head with his hand. He stopped once to ask if Mason understood the rights as he’d stated them, and Mason nodded.
He turned back around to us. “Not for the incident that happened a week ago. For the incident that happened a month ago.” His cold eyes landed on me. “You were there. Maybe you could fill him in? I believe it happened at your place of employment.”
I narrowed my eyes. What did he mean…then I knew. When Caldron had been about to hit me at the carnival. “Mason was defending me.” I looked at Mark. “Tell him.”
Mark lifted his hands in a helpless manner. “I didn’t see it. I wasn’t there, remember? I came after it was done.”
The cop shrugged, sounding tired, “Bring your argument down to the station.”
The car left, and Logan kicked savagely at a rock on the ground. “Fuck! Fuck!” He rounded on Mark. “You couldn’t speak up? You couldn’t say you were there?” He lifted his hands like he was going to shove Mark.
Mark’s nostrils flared. “Back off of me. I can’t lie, Logan. You want me to lie?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” Channing stepped forward, getting between the two of them, his hands out. “They came to arrest Mason. They would’ve arrested him no matter what Mark said. It’s with the courts now.”
Logan was still glaring at Mark. “You have experience with that, Monroe?” His voice had an edge to it.
“Yeah.” Channing lowered his hands. “You think you’re the only guys to get arrested around here?” He seemed to force a lighter tone. “Come on, know of any good lawyers we can call?”
Logan cursed. “Yeah, my dad’s.”
The dad he and Mason had just royally pissed off.
Logan looked at me. “I know of one other lawyer in the family.”
I sighed, wanting to curse, too. “He’s not this kind of lawyer.”
“Don’t matter. He’s still a lawyer.”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered, but he was right. I didn’t have my phone or purse with me, so Logan handed me his.
A second later, it was ringing, and my biological father answered.
“This is Garrett.”
“Dad?” I felt like a little girl in that moment, but I didn’t know why. “I need your help.”