Chapter 24

Bethany

Kendal's speech went well the day before, but there was no getting to him for the hordes of people who crowded the stage when he finished. Bethany gave up after a few minutes and left with Ben to head back to the office. After a long afternoon of working on the special project she promised Damon she would help with, she headed back to their place and spent the evening unpacking. Something came up at the office that had him tied up, and at eleven, she gave up and fell asleep on the couch.

She woke in the bed the next morning, the smell of his cologne lingering in the room around her. He must have toted her to the bedroom sometime during the night. Where she missed seeing him like crazy, she refused to get pissed over it. He had to do what he had to do. She'd already witnessed him trying to be home more often and ignoring the business when they were together if at all possible.

"So... no being upset." She rolled over and sat up, stretching. The memory of him stripping her down and wrapping himself around her the night before raced through her mind. "Oh." She smiled and laid back on the bed, letting the visual warm her. They hadn't made love, but they might as well have. The strong grip of his hands on her skin, his mouth against her neck, the soft promise that he would make him being late up to her, it was everything to her.

The phone buzzed beside her, pulling her from her reverie and causing her to groan. She was due to be at UT for her last session as Kendal's TA in an hour. There was just enough time for a quick shower before she had to head up to the school. She'd grab a muffin and coffee for both her and Kendal.

The number on her phone wasn't one she knew, so ignoring it, she got up and stripped on the way to the bathroom. Graduating with her master’s should have felt like a monumental occasion, but in light of the wedding. It didn't. She was thrilled to be done with her studies, but not working with Kendal anymore was depressing.

"Maybe in the future," she mumbled and turned on the shower. The phone buzzed again, and she paused. "Who the hell?" She considered going back into the bedroom to check, but the thick haze pouring from the top of the shower called to her. The only thing better than a hot shower was a hot shower with her man behind her.

***

"You look... alive." Kendal smiled as he opened the door for Bethany. "Getting excited about the wedding or graduation, or both?"

"All the above?" She walked into the auditorium and breathed in deeply. "I can't believe this is my last day with you."

"Don't sound so sentimental." He chuckled and walked up the stairs onto the stage. His brown hair was a mess, and his glasses a little crooked. He was beyond cute. Dana was a lucky woman, but one that had better do Kendal right.

Bethany forced down the need to protect Damon's best friend. "Maybe I'm a little down about not being here with you." She put her hand on her hip and gave him her full attention. "I liked you from the first day we met. You know, the day you gave me your speech about who you were, what you put up with and how you were completely hands off."

"Hey. I worked hard on that speech." He glanced up and smiled as he adjusted his glasses. "It's worked for the last few years."

"And now it's time to retire it. You don't need it anymore. You're with someone. A good someone?" Bethany lifted her eyebrow.

"Yeah. Dana's incredible. More than I deserve after all the shit we've gone through." He turned and walked to the white board, scribbling out something that was hard as hell to read.

"I'm just glad everything worked out." She moved toward the stage. "You have your tux and everything for the wedding?"

"Sure do. Dana helped me get everything together." He chuckled.

"What?" Bethany couldn't help but grin. Kendal had been so damn serious from the first day she started to work for him. He was changing, they all were.

He glanced over his shoulder, his expression kind. "I was just thinking about how ridiculous this last year has been. I mean, what are the odds that you would end up TA'ing for me and you just happen to be my best friend's girl? Mind you, my best friend that swore he would never settle down, not in a million years."

"Things just work out somehow." She shrugged and turned to find Jake struggling to hold the door and wheel into the auditorium. "Hey. Let me help you." She jogged over to him and pulled the door open wide. "I was hoping you were coming today."

"Wouldn't miss it for anything, silly." He turned and reached up, raking his thin fingers through his floppy blond hair. "You excited?"

"Yes. You?" She glanced over to find Kendal watching them. Both her and Jake would graduate with their master’s in a week or so. It was the next step in their journey, and yet her path looked so different from Jake's.

"Absolutely. I go in for one more surgery two weeks after we graduate. I was hoping they could get it done before so that I walk across the stage," he sighed, "but it wasn't meant to be."

"You'll get it done soon, man." Kendal hopped off the stage and walked toward them. "Now, stop talking about the future and get your sights focused on today. We have finals, and word in the professors’ lounge is that some of the finals got out among the students about a week ago. You guys know anything?"

Jake snorted. "No, but I'd love one for Dr. Dickman's marketing final. I'm lost in there. I'm going to have to be the worker bee in a firm because if I'm left to sell my own services, me and my family are going to go hungry."

Bethany smirked. "I haven't heard anything, but seeing that you have... what are you going to do about it?" Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see another unknown number. "Sorry about that." She put it back and ignored it. Bill collectors? Krista? No. Maybe someone just had the wrong number.

"I changed the test. What else could I do?" Kendal put his hands on his hips and lifted his eyebrow. His devilish expression had to be one of the many tricks he used on women in his younger years when he and Damon were slutting it up in college. Bethany had, unfortunately, heard a few too many of their stories over beers and burgers before.

"That was a forty-page test, Dr. Tarrington. You changed all of it?" Jake's eyes widened.

Bethany's phone buzzed again, and she growled, pulling it from her pocket and turning. "I'll be right back. I need to get this."

"Yeah, I changed it. There's no way in hell I'm going to give someone a test I know they've already seen." Kendal snorted.

"He loves his rules," Bethany called over her shoulder before pushing the door open and putting her phone to her ear. "Hello?"

Nothing. Silence.

She pulled it away from her face and checked to make sure she connected with the caller. Yep. Telemarketer? She pressed the phone to her ear again. "Hello? Who's there?"

Nothing. Soft panting, but it was more the sound someone afraid would make. "Krista? Is that you?"

A click resounded in her ear, and the call died.

"Really?" She searched through her missed calls and realized that same caller had been the one calling all morning. Something didn't feel right about it, but she forced herself to ignore it. If someone wanted to get in touch with her, even Krista, they would.

She dialed Damon's number, wanting to hear his voice as she found a bench to drop down onto. He picked up on the second ring.

"Damon Bryant."

A smile lifted her lips. His voice even sounded delicious.

"Hi, Mr. Bryant. Any chance you might make it home to your girlfriend before the sun goes down tonight?" She glanced around as nostalgia raced through her. Five years of struggling her ass off on the UT campus and she was almost done. It felt too good to be true. She'd almost done it. And honestly, most of it had been by her own doing, with her strength and money.

Damon chuckled. "Hi, baby. I'm not sure about tonight. I'm trying to work through a few new accounts so that I can have off for our honeymoon in a few weeks. I'll do my best, all right?"

She held in the sigh that sat on the edge of her tongue. "Absolutely. I'll cook some dinner, and if you're not there when I go to bed, there will be a plate in the fridge for you."

"Sounds amazing. Are you not working with Kendal today?"

"I am. I just keep getting calls from some unknown number, so I finally decided to answer it."

"And?" His voice grew tight.

"And who knows. The guy or girl never answered, just breathed on the phone." She stood up. "Probably Krista."

"She wouldn't have access to a phone without someone next to her, Beth."

Why had she mentioned it to him again? He overreacted worse than she did in most situations.

"Right, then, I have no clue. I'm not worried about it. I'll see you tonight, okay? Nothing to be concerned about."

"I don't like it," he barked out.

"Then I'll let you answer it the next time we're together and it rings." She walked toward the accounting building as the wind picked up, blowing her hair about.

"All right. Be careful, okay? I love you."

"Me too." She dropped the call and smiled at a big football-looking guy who opened the door for her. "Thanks."

"You bet."

She shook her shoulders and let out the breath she was holding. Graduation was coming soon, then the wedding and then the honeymoon. Back to Jamaica, but this time, just her and Damon. Funny enough, the best part about all of the upcoming events was that Matt would be back in town. Him moving to Seattle left a hole in her heart she hadn't expected. Being an only child left her yearning for a sibling, and Matt was just the guy.

Too bad a beautiful, creative, dominant woman had him wrapped around her fingers. No, that wasn't the rough part. That was great. Too bad she lived in Seattle. It might as well have been a million miles away.

***

The rest of the day went off without a hitch, and Bethany considered just going over to her mother and Kent's for dinner instead of eating at Damon's alone again, but Damon's was home. She had to get used to that.

"Feels more like home when he's here." She walked languidly to the front door with a large bouquet of roses in her arms. Kendal had outdone himself, and the whole class got to witness her blushing because of it. He was a good man. "I need to get a dog, or a cat, or something. Something to greet me when I walk into the house."

Bethany had barely gotten in the house when the doorbell rang behind her. She put her stuff down and walked back to the door, peeking through to see her mom standing on the other side with a bag of groceries in her arms.

"Mom." Bethany pulled the door open and reached out to take the bags. "What are you doing here?"

Her mother smiled. "I heard Kent say that Damon was working late again, and I thought you might like some company?" She shrugged and walked in, hugging Bethany around the bags. "That okay?"

"Of course it is. I was just preparing myself to be a good sport about another night alone in his big beautiful house."

"Speaking of the house," her mother moved past her, "we need to get a new color scheme going. This modern white and cream-colored boringness has to go."

"Agreed." Bethany walked to the kitchen and set down the bags before digging out the contents inside. "Yum. I love goat cheese and Canadian bacon. What are we making?"

"Pizzas. Your favorite." Her mom moved up beside her and pressed her shoulder to Bethany's. "Only now they are a little more upscale. No more sauce and Parmesan packets stolen from the pizza place down the road. Man, life sure has changed."

"This was our real life all along." Bethany pulled out a bottle of red wine. "I'll open this, and you finish getting everything out so I can ogle at it before we start making our pizza."

"Sounds like a deal."

Bethany worked on the wine as her mother went on about graduation and the wedding, just the sound of her voice a complete comfort.

"Do you think Dad will show up at the graduation?" Bethany turned and lifted her eyes as her mother glanced over her shoulder.

"Your father or Kent?"

"My dad." Beth picked up two wine glasses and handed her mother one as the older woman turned around.

"No, baby. I haven't heard from him since the day before he left." She reached out and touched the side of Bethany's face. "Don't count on that, okay?"

"No, of course not." Bethany scowled. "It's not like I want to see him anyway. He abandoned us."

"He did." Her mom lifted her hands and glanced around. "And as much as I hate to give him any credit, because of all he did... we ended up here. It sucks to high heaven, but a lot of times our brokenness becomes a mosaic of beauty, if we let it."

"Wow. Did you come up with that yourself?" Bethany poured them both a glass of wine.

"What? Hell no. I read it on a plaque at the mall today."

They both cracked up and lifted their glasses, toasting the past, the present and the future. Together.