Chapter 26

Rhett

 

As I got dressed in the morning of the big day, I felt really anxious. I was guilty that I hadn't done anything to find the truth out about my dad to help Lyla, but I was also excited to see where the day would lead.

Danica was the maid of honour, whereas I hadn't been asked to be in the wedding party at all. My dad’s best man was some boring dickhead that he worked with, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t want to be in it–it was hard enough just being there. I was happy to just watch Danica walk down the aisle in the dress that promised to be amazing. I would get a much better view from the sidelines anyway, and it wouldn’t be obvious to everyone else that I was only staring at her.

The gorgeous, luxurious hotel that our parents had decided to hold the ceremony and reception in was amazing. It was a real luxurious, five star type. Some guests from further afield were staying there, but not us. They made the decision to return home after the big night, and I was happy for that to happen. There was nowhere that I’d rather spend the night than in bed with Danica.

We’d been hanging out at night, just the two of us, and it was amazing. It was really giving us the chance that we needed to connect and to allow our relationship to grow. The fact that nothing physical was happening actually made it better because there was nothing getting in the way of us exploring one another. I felt like I was getting to know a side of Danica that she didn’t show the rest of the world–and that made me feel extra special.

For a brief second, I considered calling my mom for a boost of confidence, but I thought better of it. I didn’t want to make her feel bad, although she had spent our last few conversations telling me that she didn’t care. I knew her better, and I knew this couldn’t be any fun for her.

“Come on, Rhett,” I muttered to myself, hearing the cars pulling up outside. “Let’s just do this.”

I quickly peeked out of the window, just to get a look at the vehicles we would be travelling in, and I got an unexpected glance of Danica. She took my breath away–the blue dress she was wearing clung to her body like a dream. It dipped in and out of her curves, swishing at her feet in a way that looked beautiful.

She was gorgeous, and she was mine.

I absolutely couldn’t believe it.

“Rhett,” someone finally called up the stairs. “It’s time to go.”

So I raced down the stairs, ready to face the day of terror.

 

***

 

Surprisingly, the wedding was amazing. The décor was breathtakingly beautiful, and I couldn’t help but be impressed. Sure, I knew that it had taken a lot of money to get it that way, but it was impressive all the same. The fact that Danica had done a lot of the planning took away any resentment that I might normally feel.

I hated to admit it, but they had all done such a good job that I even started to see my dad in a different light. As he said his vows, with tears shining in his eyes and love plastered across his expression, I started to think that maybe I hadn't always been right about him. Maybe he had mellowed; maybe Lyla had been the one to change him.

It was an uncomfortable revelation, but I was experiencing it all the same.

Lyla looked absolutely beautiful in her long, elegant, ivory gown. She was radiant, and the feelings she had for my father shone through, causing me to doubt myself even further.

But for me, Danica was the attention stealer of the day. She looked phenomenal in that show-stopping gown, and my heart raced with excitement at the mere sight of her. I was filled with love, and it was a confusing sensation. I still struggled with the guilt combined with the intensity of my emotions, but it was lessening by the minute. Sure, things had taken another turn, which left us in an even worse situation, but in the light of the day, that didn’t really matter.

As the day started to drift into evening, and it became time for the reception, I was ready for a drink. I’d enjoyed the day, but I needed something to numb my feelings a little bit.

Under any other circumstances, I would be able to spend this romantic day with the girl who was rapidly becoming the love of my life, but of course, it wasn’t like that. I had to keep my distance, and I would only be able to cope with that if I was at least a little bit tipsy.

As the champagne bubbled down my throat, I started to loosen up and relax a little bit. I spotted Danica across the dance floor, and I instantly made a beeline for her. We might not be able to kiss and cuddle like we’d been doing in private for the past few days, but we could hang out. I enjoyed her company as much as anything else, so at least I could have that. I needed her if I was going to get through this night without going a little bit crazy.

She turned to face me, almost as if she could sense my presence and her face broke out into a heart-stopping grin.

“You look all right,” I teased, shrugging my shoulders. “That dress is okay.”

“Oh, this old thing?” She laughed, swishing it around her body. I was overcome by the urge to pull her in for the kiss, but of course I couldn’t. “Why thank you very much; I just threw it on for the occasion!” I smiled secretly to myself. Danica really was beautiful, and I was lucky that she was even giving me the time of day. It might not have been an ideal situation, but it was ours, and that made it perfect.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” She ran her hand over the jacket of my suit, and I felt flutters of desire float through my body. The look she gave me suggested that she was feeling the same way, and I wondered for a second if we could sneak off somewhere for some secret time alone.

“Ooh, hello, you two,” some distant relative or family friend drunkenly swung her arms over mine and Danica’s shoulders. “That was a lovely wedding wasn’t it?”

“Erm, yes.” Neither of us really knew who this woman was, but that didn’t matter to her. I guessed that was a negative side effect of weddings–everyone wanted to chat to the wedding party, no matter what.

“Are you excited to be a family now?” she slurred. “It’s lovely to see how well you get along.”

“Yeah,” I grinned secretly. “It is nice.” Danica laughed, but the woman didn’t catch on. “We have a lot of fun.”

If only she knew!

But the joke quickly backfired when she steered Danica away from me to meet her great nephew or something–someone she thought she would “really get along with.” My heart sunk as she vanished into the crowd.

This was the downside to keeping us a secret–people trying to set us up, or assuming that we were nothing more than stepbrother and sister. This was going to be harder than I first thought. I finally started to really think about our future, and it was really difficult.

I just had to hope that it would be worth it in the end.

I headed to the bar and I grabbed myself another drink. It was going to take a lot of champagne to get through this. Especially if I was going to be forced to watch someone else flirting with Danica when there was nothing I could do about it.

I glanced around the place, but the woman and Danica were nowhere to be found. It was just other random family members and friends that I didn’t really know. I really didn’t want to talk to any of them, not even for five minutes, but of course I was going to be forced to, no matter what I wanted.

 

***

 

Despite myself, I actually ended up having a really good evening. I found myself introduced to numerous family members that I hadn't met before, which was more fun than I ever thought it would be. It turned out that my fear and dread had been totally misplaced. They were all really welcoming, which gave me the impression yet again that I was the one who had always been in the wrong. I had held myself back, just blindly hating my dad, and maybe I had been wrong for that.

James would have a lot to say on that subject! So would my mom. I was almost dreading going home to speak to them after everything I’d said.

By the time the night was almost over, I finally spotted Danica once more, and she was sitting alone, sipping a flute of water thoughtfully.

In my buzzing state, I suddenly had a great idea, we might not be able to be open in our affections, but that didn’t mean that we had to avoid one another all night. Plus, I wanted to wash the memory of someone’s great grandson off her mind; I wanted her to only be thinking about me.

I stalked confidently across the dance floor, knowing that I was about to put a big smile back on that beautiful face. “Hey,” I said to her, causing her to flick those big, blue eyes up towards me. “Come and dance with me.” I extended my hand to her, blocking out the rest of the world. In that moment, I really didn’t care what they thought. It didn’t matter to me one bit.

Danica shot me a knowing, flirtatious glance before almost recoiling in on herself as reality hit once more. “We can’t; you know that.” She was clearly shocked that I would even suggest it, which was silly. After all, why wouldn’t we dance?

“It’s only a dance,” I insisted happily. “We can’t get in trouble for that!” She still looked hesitant, so I continued convincing her. “We’re the only ones without dates here.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but that didn’t matter. I just needed her to relent, and to do the thing that she so clearly wanted to do. “And you know you want to.”

She glanced around, trying to see if anyone was paying us any attention, before realizing that they weren’t. Then she relented and stood up, finally wrapping her fingers around mine.

I tugged her lightly onto the dance floor, then wrapped my arms around her as we swayed to a slow song that I didn’t recognize. It was some song from the seventies or eighties I assumed–nothing I would have heard of. Everything else melted away; all my fears and stress as I finally found myself in the place I wanted to be. I tried not to melt too much into her embrace, because I didn’t want to give us away, but it was hard.

However the rest of the world saw it, this moment would be memorable to me and Danica. We would never forget being wrapped up together like this, even if everyone else did. I thought that we might look back on this as a defining moment in our relationship, even if it was during the part where we were a secret.

I felt an overwhelming sense of happiness, and I knew that despite how challenging it was going to be, we would be able to get through anything.

Somehow.