Chapter Ten
The interview, considering it was really short, was in fact a success. The story of Hunter, the rich billionaire, falling for the plus-size model, had been a huge hit. Hunter was happy that no more negative stories were being written regarding his relationship with Payton.
When his cell phone rang, he saw it was his father calling.
It had been a week since he had canceled dinner, and he had already made plans that weekend as it was the launch that Elise had scheduled.
“Hey, Dad,” he said.
“Hello, son. I just wanted to make sure that you are aware we read the news. We’re old, but we’ve not lost all of our faculties.”
“I know you read the news, and I had hoped for us to be there, but Payton got sick, and I spent all weekend taking care of her.” He knew it was love. There was no way he would have cleaned sick out of her hair repeatedly if it wasn’t love. Hunter didn’t have any doubt that he loved her. From the moment she was sick, he didn’t leave his bedroom, watching her as she slept. He did some work, but every whimper, every movement, he was there, watching, keeping an eye on her.
“Do you love this girl, Hunter? Is it the real deal or is this publicity?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I wanted to know if I should stop your mother from planning your wedding.”
Hunter laughed. “You’re joking?”
“Nope. The bridal magazines arrived in the post. She’s out grocery shopping, and is hoping she can convince Payton to pick her to bake your cake.”
He was in shock. “I’ve never brought a girl home.”
“Exactly. First you wanted us to meet her, and now this interview. No woman has ever been special enough for you to take the time to care. I’ve seen the stuff on the ‘net, and I follow her on all of her social media pages.”
“You’re kidding me, right? I don’t do social media,” Hunter said, feeling really old.
His father burst out laughing. “You really should. It’s a good way to connect to people. She’s a darling, and so is that friend of hers who is there with her. The pictures of the two of you together. I know you, son, this is the real deal, isn’t it?”
“I love her, Dad. She is the real deal for me.”
“Then the wedding?”
He burst out laughing. “I don’t think Payton is ready for that yet, so please try to stop my mother from going crazy.” He shook his head, and finished his call with his father.
Opening the bottom drawer of his desk, he pulled out the velvet box that he had picked out this morning. They had known each other a couple of months, and this was fucking crazy.
He never proposed, or did the whole marriage gig.
Elise entered his office later that day, and she had a key fob in her hand. “Check out some of the shoots. I thought you would totally love to see them.”
He loaded them up on his computer, and began to look through them. They were amazing. “Antonio is really something.”
“Yes. I told him everything that I wanted, and he worked to get it.”
He passed some of Britney, and he stopped on a particular one of Payton. She was in a figure hugging summer dress, strolling through the park. Her head was turned looking at something, and as he stared at her, he just knew there was no one else in the world that he wanted more.
“I’m going to ask Payton to marry me,” he said, standing up.
“What? Wow? Really? Do you think that came from the pictures, the clothes?”
“Nope. It came from the fact that I just love being with her. She is an amazing woman, and I’m damn lucky to have found her.” He grabbed the small box, and his jacket. “Do you know where she is?” he asked.
“Rick mentioned about going over some contracts. They don’t have an office, so they’ll be at her place I think.”
“Great.” He left his office, and made his way down to his car. Opening the door, he climbed inside, and made his way toward Payton’s apartment. When he got there, after dealing with city traffic, he was somewhat anxious.
Buzzing her apartment, he waited.
“Hello,” she said.
“Payton, hi, it’s me. It’s Hunter. I really need to talk to you.” Static came on as she didn’t answer right away. “Payton, baby, it’s me.”
“Hunter, right now is not a good time.”
“Baby, please, there is something I really need to ask you, and I don’t want to wait around to say it.”
“How about we meet up later?” she asked.
“Payton, I really want you to marry me. There, I have said it. I want to marry you, and have lots of sex so we can have babies, and then more sex. You’re the woman for me, and I love you more than anything else in the world. You can blame your ass if you want. I just love it.”
He was expecting her to burst out laughing, or say something witty.
“Hunter, my parents are here.”
Oh shit.
He took a step back. This was not what he expected today, and he ran fingers through his hair. “You’re joking?”
“Nope, I’m really not, and you just proposed to me.”
“And I said all of that other stuff. Damn it, I must sound like a complete lunatic.” He paced the front steps of her apartment block.
“I will buzz you up.”
“No, don’t. I can’t see them, Payton.”
“Hunter, don’t do that. Come on. It will be fine. I want to see you now. You can’t just propose through a buzzer and leave, that is rude.”
The buzzer went, and Hunter opened the door, but he didn’t go through.
He wasn’t a coward, never had been, so he went to Payton’s apartment. She was already standing there.
“Hey,” she said.
“Do I get my answer before I meet your parents?” he asked, holding up the ring.
“You really were proposing to me?”
“I was. I love you, Payton, more than I have loved anyone else in my life.” He cupped her cheek. “I will always love you. Can’t you feel it when we’re together?”
Tears filled her eyes. “Yes. I feel it. I’ve tried not to. I’ve tried to keep my distance from you because I didn’t know where this was going, and that scared me.”
“I don’t want you to. I want every single thing about you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Don’t ever change, not for me.” Hunter held her close, and glanced into her apartment. There two people who were indeed a lot older than she was. “I thought you were avoiding me.”
“No. They are here to talk. It has been too long.” She took his hand, and within second he was in front of her parents. “Mom, Dad, I would like you to meet Hunter Reynolds. He’s just asked me to marry him, and I accept. Hunter, this is my mom and dad.”
“She’s told me a lot about you.”
He saw that her mother had a tear in her eye. “Was it all bad?” she asked.
“Mom, no.”
“We deserve it.”
“Linda,” her father said.
“Look what we did, Matt. One daughter died, and we pushed the other one away.” Linda stood. “There was a news reporting into Bethany’s death. At first we were so angry, and through our grief, we realized we had pushed our little girl away. Bethany, she would have been so angry with us. I’m so angry, and I wanted to come here, and to make it up to you. We’re so proud of everything that you’ve achieved. We have been following you, and even though at times it has been painful, you are doing so well, Payton.”
“I didn’t help either,” Payton said. “I didn’t stick around. I blamed you, and I blamed myself, and then I didn’t want to be around anyone. I’m so sorry.”
Hunter felt her hand tighten around him, and he saw she was struggling with this. He pulled her into his arms and hoped that he gave her comfort. Her parents looked really upset, and clearly wanted to make amends.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I know it’s going to take time,” Matt said. “I don’t expect you to forgive us. It has been years, and we made the mistake in pushing you away.”
“Bethany meant everything to me,” Payton said. “She asked me to do this. She asked me to make something of my life, and to rock my body all over the world.” She started laughing. “She probably wouldn’t dream of me being a model, but I did it. I hope if I ever see her again, she’ll be happy with what I did.”
Hunter stepped back as Payton went into the arms of her family. He saw they had been broken for too long now, and so he waited. She was going to be his wife, and he could wait for as long as she needed him to.
****
“What if your parents hate me?” Payton asked.
She was in Hunter’s car, driving toward his family’s home. Between her parents visiting, and the hugely successful launch, she was walking on cloud nine. She had to be. Elise’s designs, and everything she had invested into the clothing range, had come true. That one opening with the launch party had already shown a massive response, not just from critics, but also from their consumer base. The party had taken place on Friday, and on Saturday, they had opened at all Image Counts stores.
Hunter had already told her they were reporting queues that hadn’t been seen in years.
“They are going to love you.”
“What if they don’t? I’m not for everyone.”
“They already know that I want you. I’ve already told them I proposed. I will have to warn you though,” he said.
“What about?” Her parents had adored him. While she had cooked dinner, Hunter had kept them entertained with many of his stories growing up. She loved hearing about him as a boy with the dream of making it big. His dreams had all come true, and so had hers. Rick had told her that offers were flying in, but she had signed a five-year deal with Elise. On opening night she had got talking with Elise, and the other woman had so many plans for the future and for Image Counts. Hunter had put Elise in charge. After what Payton had heard, she wanted to work with Elise, and Image Counts. Rick was also all over it. Anywhere Elise was, he wanted to be, which Payton did find incredibly sweet. They both had hit it off big time.
“My mom.”
She had seen a couple of pictures of his mother. The woman was so small, so delicate, and she looked so sweet.
“She’s planning our wedding, and she was doing it before I even proposed to you.”
Payton started laughing, and when she saw that Hunter was serious the laughter faded. “Wait. Did she think I would say yes?”
“She had seen pictures of us together, and I guess she thought we looked so much in love that she just couldn’t help herself. Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
“I’m not going to be sick. It’s kind of amazing to have a mother plan a wedding when you’ve not even asked.”
“In all fairness, she didn’t believe anyone could turn her son down. I’m quite the catch you know.”
“Well the press had a turn around. Payton Hicks is now the most eligible single woman in the country. Well, I’m not really single anymore, but they have been really nice.”
Hunter took her hand, kissing her knuckles. “I knew that the moment that I saw your ass.”
“Is that what we’re going to tell our kids? It all started with my ass?”
“Not if we have a girl. I don’t want her trying to compare, or to have a guy compliment her ass, and think that’s the way it’s going to go. Not on my watch it’s not.”
She laughed as his hands tightened the steering wheel. “Easy there. We’re not even pregnant yet, and you’re already gripping the steering wheel as if it’s a potential boyfriend you’re going to have to slaughter.”
“I guess I’m going to be an overbearing dad then.”
“Probably. I’ll be the cool mom to our daughter, and to our son, I’ll be the irritating nag that will find porn underneath his bed.”
Hunter laughed. “Not every boy has porn.”
“No, but every kid wants porn. They get to that age don’t they when they are so curious.” Payton paused, and started laughing. “I cannot believe we’re having a conversation about our kids, and porn. We’re not even married yet.”
“You’re going to meet my parents. I would say it’s a given.”
She didn’t know how her life was going to be with Hunter, but something told her, she wasn’t going to be sad. He had a way of making her happy even when everything seemed to be falling apart.
With all the bad press surrounding their earlier relationship, she had wondered how they could turn around their bad luck. The ride to his parents’ place went by without a hitch. They discussed their plans. There was so much stuff to work through. Where they would live. Where they would get married. They settled on his apartment, but she wanted to redecorate.
“What’s wrong with my place?”
“It’s great. Honestly, it’s fine, but you don’t have anything that makes it you. You have a show apartment. My place is all me. You can see that it belongs to me, and wherever I live, I want to feel at home, not like I’m about to enter some competition for favorite home, or cleanest home.”
“You can do whatever you want with my place.” He parked the car, and she was climbing out as he grabbed her hand, looking over the ring he’d placed on there.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re about to meet my very neurotic mother, and I just want to make sure that my ring is on your finger.”
“It can’t be that bad,” she said.
The door to his parents’ home opened. His mother and father came out, and she was pulled from his side into their arms. She smiled, and hugged them back, and before she knew what was happening, she was being pulled into their home.
Hunter was laughing behind her, and as soon as she was inside, she was completely bombarded with different wedding dresses, and bridal gowns.
“I want you to pick one, and we’ve got three places decided. Obviously, you and Hunter get to pick the final place, but I think we’re almost there,” her mother said.
“Wow, Mom, you really went all out.”
“I know you are both busy, and I don’t want one of those fancy city girls handling your wedding. I want it to be here, or wherever you decide.” His mother pushed her glasses up her nose. “You are a beautiful woman. Plus size, my backside. You are just …”
“She’s perfection,” Hunter said.
Payton turned toward him, and smiled. Every time he said that, it sent her insides to jelly. The love in his eyes was clear for her to see.
“They are so much in love,” his mother said. “Come, come, I made cake.”
“You made a cake as well?”
“I made several cakes.”
They entered his mother’s home, and she wasn’t kidding. A chocolate frosted cake, a white one, a yellow one, and there was even one that looked like the colors of a unicorn.
“I want you to try them all, and to see which one you like.”
“Mom?” Hunter asked. “This is all a little crazy.”
“I warned you, son. You are not leaving until all of this has been decided. I want my wife back.”
“I want my son married, and as soon as possible. I’m not getting any younger, and these doctors do not know what they’re talking about nowadays. They say I’m fine but I can fall over dead at any minute. What way would it be for me if I didn’t at least know their grandmother?”
“Babies now?” Hunter asked.
“You’re not young yourself, son,” his father said. “You know our fellas don’t stay fit forever. You need them to swim, and with all the chemicals they’re putting in our food and water, they could decide to just chill, and not go for its desired swim.”
Payton loved his parents, even as she was having images of sperm taking a relax rather than swimming.
“Come on, dear, this is a lemon sparkle. Do you like that? I love to bake.”
A piece of cake was shoved into her mouth.
The burst of lemon exploded on her tongue. “Wow, that is so nice.”
“Excellent.” His mother then shoved the cake into Hunter’s mouth.
Hunter took hold of Payton’s hand, and she laughed.
“I think we’re going to be trying cake,” she said.
His mother clapped her hands and laughed. “I will get the kettle on. Cake goes so well with tea.”
Sitting next to Hunter, she watched as his parents danced around each other in the kitchen. They weren’t avoiding one another. It was just years of knowing how the other moved. The love between them was clear to see, and the love they had for Hunter was amazing to watch. They loved their son, and they were embracing her.
“Look what I’ve also been knitting in my spare time,” his mother said, bringing in a large wooden hamper. She was pulling it into the kitchen, and she broke wind as she did.
“Mom, please,” Hunter said.
“I’m sure Payton’s heard a woman fart before, and don’t even pretend that you don’t know a woman needs to as well. Damn, that basket is heavy,” she said.
The basket was opened, and inside, Payton fell in love. Knitted cardigans, boots, jumpers, and socks.
“They are so cute.”
“We only want the best for you both, and I’m so happy,” his mother said.
Hunter gripped her shoulder, and she couldn’t help but laugh. This was like a complete dream, a fairytale.
Later that night when they were outside in the garden alone, Payton stared up at the evening sky.
“My family is pretty crazy. I’m sure I told you that before,” he said. “Did you pick one of the dresses? I saw so many in the sitting room.”
“I tried them all on, and your mother helped me to pick. She’s a wonderful woman. Your dad’s amazing as well.”
Hunter kissed her head and turned her. “That’s where it all started for me. In that garden shed right there. It’s how I started making my money, and became the man I am today.”
“Then we need a place with a garden shed, and to have your parents come to visit.” She couldn’t believe she was talking kids with him.
“You know the media are going to be all over our wedding,” he said.
“Let them. I don’t care. I love you, Hunter.”
“I love you, too.”
She snuggled into him, listening as his parents talked in the house. “I’m wondering if you’re still going to love me when I have a saggy ass.”
“I’ll love you even more so.”