CHAPTER 37
LIAM
“Son, come down here.”
My eyes roll automatically when he speaks to me these days. I never thought I’d cringe at the sound of my father’s voice, but I do. The closer I get to graduation, the more of a hard ass he’s become.
The day I asked Josie to homecoming the dissension started. My parents sat me down and explained the concept of socially acceptable standards. In a nutshell, Josie isn’t country club enough to be seen with a Westbury.
For the first time I saw my parents in a different light. I was disgusted to be their son. I couldn’t understand how they could say something so horrible about someone they didn’t even know. The night of homecoming I walked out of my house in my tux without saying goodbye or allowing my mom to take a picture. I wasn’t going to let them dictate who I dated, or who I loved for that matter.
“I’ll call you back,” I say to Josie. She doesn’t come over anymore. She gave up a long time ago. She even offered to break up with me so my life would be easier. I told her no way in hell was I going to let Sterling and Bianca Westbury drive her away.
Josie is the best thing to ever happen to me. She understands me.
Throwing my phone on the bed, I sigh. I’m counting the days until I’m out of here. Mason and I are taking the girls camping for a week before we leave for college. One last hurrah and a week of pure solitude for me and Josie. No annoying parents looming over our shoulder.
When I get downstairs, I’m greeted by an ominous look from my father. He’s up to something. He pats me on the shoulder and leads me into the living room. There sitting on the couch, with her legs crossed, is his golfing buddy’s daughter, Sasha.
I groan and rub my hands over my face. In this position I could elbow my dad in the gut and run for it, but Sasha has already seen me and is standing, walking toward me with her hand out as if I’m to kiss it. Like I owe her a thank you for being in my house. No thanks.
“Liam, it’s so good to see you.” Her voice is whiney, nasally. I can’t stand it. I grimace which only makes her smile brighter. Her teeth are so white. She could light a dark street at night.
“Sasha,” I say coldly, uninterested.
“Well, I thought you two could come with us tonight,” Sterling says. Again with the eye rolling which Sasha witnesses.
“Or we could stay in,” she offers.
I recoil at the thought of spending time with her. “I have plans.”
“Oh, I don’t mind hanging out with you and your friends.”She laughs as her hand trails down my arm. I move away, offended by her touch.
I don’t remember offering I want to blurt out. “I’m sure you don’t, but my girlfriend does,” I say just so I can goad Sterling. He stiffens and I want to laugh. His matchmaking is failing which means his buddy is going to be pissed.
“Excuse us for a moment, Sasha.” My dad grabs my arm and pulls me into the other room. I’m about to get a tongue lashing, something I may thoroughly enjoy.
“Liam, it’s about time you look at your future. You're going away to college and Sasha is a fine woman to have on your arm, especially when the NFL scouts you. You need to present the full package and she completes that. You can’t have riff raff from across the tracks hanging on just so she has someone to support her.”
His words fuel nothing but pure anger. “You don’t know shit about Josie and her family.” I point at him, pushing my finger into his chest. “You do nothing but sit on your pompous ass and look down on people who don’t go to your stupid ass country club. I love her and I plan to marry her whether you like it or not. If you want some arm candy, why don’t you date Sasha? She’s probably looking for a sugar daddy anyway.”
“Where are you going?” he asks as I walk away.
“Out with my friends. It’s Mason’s birthday so you’ll have to entertain Sasha. Just don’t let mom catch you.” I slam the door effectively cutting him off.
I shake my head to clear away that memory. I’ve hated my dad for so long for the way he’s treated Josie. Even though my mom comes around to see Noah, I refuse to step foot into their house. She’s trying. I’ll give her that, but him… no way. If he couldn’t accept Josie in my life back then, I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow him anywhere near my son.
So much has changed in the past four months. Josie and Noah moved into my – our – house after New Year’s. Harrison and Quinn have also moved to Beaumont and right into Josie's empty house. Which I knew was going to happen. It all made sense. That also put him in the same neighborhood as Katelyn, where, if you drive by on Saturday, you see him and his tattooed arms mowing her lawn.
Tonight we're celebrating Mason’s birthday. It’s been seven months since he left us and we’ve each struggled and coped differently. We held our fundraiser for Katelyn and the girls at Ralph’s, which has become a local hotspot, and did fairly well. I’ve also hired Katelyn as my manager effectively giving her a stay at home job, even though she has to come to my house and work every day. As soon as school is out for the summer we're heading out on tour. Three band members, two bossy women and four kids touring for three months. Band life will be different now.
I’m waiting for Josie to get ready. My truck, a recently acquired nineteen sixty-five Chevy, is strictly for water tower drinking. When I told Josie about my purchase, she slapped me in the arm and told me to grow up. Yet she’s the first one to yell for a ‘water tower’ night when we're in need of a reality check.
I load the back of the truck with a cooler full of beer. Josie will be our designated driver tonight, which I’m thankful for. I want tonight to be fun and somewhat enjoyable for Katelyn. Josie walks out of the house, her arms full of food. I run over to her, kissing her on the cheek and relieving her of the heavy load. We had the food catered as I didn’t want Josie or Katelyn stressing about what people will eat.
I turn back and look at her after putting everything into the back of the truck. I take in her appearance. She’s dressed in tight jeans with her red cowboy boots. Her tight, ‘I love my rocker’ tank top hugging her curves nicely. She dresses like this to tease me.
I saunter over to her and sweep her into my arms, bending her backward and attacking her neck. She giggles and tries to push me away with her head. She finally relents, knowing I’ve won.
I set her back on her feet. “Ready?” I ask. She nods, threading her fingers into mine. She climbs into the truck through the driver’s door, settling in the middle. Just like in high school.
When we arrive at the water tower, there are a bunch of people here. I was surprised when Katelyn said she wanted to invite people from high school, but went along with it. Josie and I hop out of the truck, hand in hand. I drop the tailgate and help her set up. Harrison comes over to say hi before snagging a beer out of the cooler.
“I’m going to head up, okay?” I kiss her on the cheek and pocket a few beers. Mason’s truck is lined up just perfectly for our beer torpedoes. Harrison follows me up the ladder. Most of the guys already at the tower know him, but I make a few introductions.
We pop open our first beer and chug. On the count of three, we throw our bottles down. With the loud crash of glass shattering we all yell out ‘Mason!’ The women start cheering and the music is turned up.
We start the party in true Mason style.
As the night goes on, stories are told and retold. The comfortable camaraderie that we all had in high school is back. I’m no longer the asshole that ditched everyone and Harrison fits in with everyone. I’m literally living the best of both worlds and I couldn’t be happier.
I look at Harrison when I hear him sigh heavily.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” he says. I follow his gaze and see that Katelyn's talking to Bill Rogers, some geek turned millionaire for creating a computer program that everyone loves.
Bringing my bottle of beer to my lips, I look back at Harrison. His expression is sad. I know he likes her but is afraid of being turned down.
“Take your time with Katelyn, man. Just be there and don’t push her. They were together for a long time, but I know she notices you. I’ve heard her talking to Josie about you. Just seize the moment when it’s there.”
Harrison starts laughing. “You’re one to talk.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You write song after song about how much you love that woman.” He points to Josie who's talking to Jenna. “You live with her, share a son, yet I don’t see you asking her to marry your sorry ass.”
I look from Josie to him and back again.
“You’re right.” I stand up, holding on the railing, place my fingers through my lips and whistle loudly getting everyone’s attention.
“Hey, Josie!”
“What do you want, Westbury?” she yells back. I love how some things haven’t changed.
“Will you marry me?”
Someone kills the music and silence spreads over the field. She moves closer to the water tower and sets her hands on her hips. “If you’re going to ask me, you better do it proper.”
“Yes ma’am.” I down my beer and toss it toward the truck and make my way to the ladder. I climb down carefully. When my feet hit the ground I pat my pocket for the ring I’ve had in there for the past few weeks and pull it out, keeping it in my palm. I’ve just been waiting for the right moment. This must be it.
I stroll over to her, my steps wide so I’m there faster. Her hands are still on her hips, her eyes wide. She’s not expecting this.
I bend down on one knee in front of her. Her hand goes to her mouth and there’s a collection of gasps behind us.
“Josie Preston I have loved you since I was sixteen. I know I’ve screwed up a whole lot, but I promise to make it up to you every day. Would you do me the immense honor of wearing my ring, taking my name and becoming not only my partner in life, but most importantly, my wife?”
Josie nods. There are tears in her eyes and I want to get up and kiss them away. “Yes, Liam. Yes a million times over I’ll marry you.”
I pull her hand forward and slide the ring on, kissing her finger before I kiss her. There is loud applause and cheering behind us.
“I love you, Jojo. You’re forever my girl.”