Payback (Firsts and Forever Stories Book 10), page 18
“Oh.”
“You ran out of gas, didn’t you?” When I didn’t reply, he told me, “Throw me your mooring line, and I’ll help you climb onto my boat. Then we can tow the dinghy back to the marina.”
“No.”
“No to what part of that?”
“All of it. I’m not getting in your boat.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m really fucking pissed off, Malcolm.”
“Be pissed off later. For now, let’s get you someplace safe.” He leaned over the side of his boat, plucked the rope out of mine, and fastened the two together while I stood there and glared at him.
“I said I’m not going with you.” Here was the thing about my stubbornness—it wasn’t rational, and when pushed, I’d absolutely double down.
He put his hands on his hips. “So, what’s your plan, Daniel? To live out here on a broken down dinghy forever?”
“Another boat will be along eventually.”
“It’s going to be dark soon, and your boat doesn’t have any lights.”
“So, call the coast guard and tell them where to find me.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
I knew that. “I don’t care.”
“Why are you mad? If anyone should be angry, it’s me. You came into this with the intention of using me to get back at my son, didn’t you?”
“You already know the answer to that. How’d you find out I was Brad’s ex?”
“Ginny did some digging.”
“Oh, that’s great! I’m so happy Ginny was in on it, too. Did the two of you have a good laugh behind my back?”
Malcolm knit his brows as he exclaimed, “No! Why would we laugh at you?”
“Because I’m ridiculous and pathetic. Poor little Daniel, who thinks he’s so clever with his childish plan to get back at his ex. Well, joke’s on me. For the record though, the plan was never to trash Joy’s reception. Please apologize to her for me.”
“Unless you purposely let that rat loose, which I know you didn’t, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“Of course not. But I left a door ajar, so I could sneak in and see how the reception was going without Brad spotting me. I never in a million years thought a freaking Tom and Jerry cartoon would slip through and end up wreaking havoc.”
Malcolm’s hair had long since escaped from its bun, and the wind was pushing it around. As he tucked it behind his ear, he asked, “Wasn’t the whole point of this to show up with me at the wedding and throw it in Brad’s face? I don’t get why you were hiding.”
“That was the plan before I knew you, Mal—when you were no one to me besides the father of the man who’d hurt me. But then we spent these last two weeks together, and I forgot all about Brad and my ridiculous scheme. I started to really, truly care about you, and I wanted to be with you. I thought our time together would come to a screeching halt once I confessed, and that you’d hate me for deceiving you. But it turns out you knew, almost this entire time! Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I wanted to hear it from you, Daniel. That was important to me. I kept waiting for you to come to me and let me in on the plan. But you never did.”
“Again, that’s because I thought telling you meant the end of everything. On top of that, these past few days were pure chaos. And then all of a sudden, the wedding was here, and your son arrived with the jerk he’d been banging while we were a couple. I didn’t want you to find out the truth from Brad, so I was hiding from him.”
“So, when exactly were you going to tell me you’d dated Brad, and that you approached me initially to get back at him? On our ten-year wedding anniversary?”
My voice shook with emotion as I exclaimed, “It’s cruel to joke about that! I really, really like you, and some ridiculous part of me started to think maybe we could end up together. That’s why it was agonizing—keeping this secret, thinking it would destroy us when it came out, and then finding out you fucking knew, almost this whole time.” My voice broke at that last bit, but I refused to let myself cry.
Malcolm’s rigid posture relaxed as he said, “I’m sorry. I had no idea you were struggling with that. I just assumed you were staying on track with your plan, and like I said, I was holding on to the hope that you’d open up to me eventually. Now I get why you didn’t do that—because you were worried I’d break up with you. But even if I hadn’t already known your secret, I never would have done that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m crazy about you, Daniel.”
I shook my head and blinked to fight back tears. “That can’t be true. I lied, right from the start. I’m a bad person.”
“No. You’re not. You were hurt and angry because of what your ex-boyfriend did to you, so you decided to get back at him. Was it a good decision? No. But you’re human! It’s not like any of us make great choices all the time, especially when our emotions get the better of us.
“And you didn’t go through with your plan. In fact, you went out of your way to hide from Brad, because you didn’t want to wreck what you and I were building. You chose me over revenge.”
“Of course I did, and I’m so sorry for keeping that secret from you. I wish I could go back in time and change things, because you deserved the truth, right from the start.” I looked away and murmured, “You’re the kindest, most wonderful person I’ve ever met, and I can’t imagine what you could possibly see in me.”
“Then let me spell it out for you. You’re sweet and considerate, and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for the people you care about. Just look at the way you took care of me when I had that migraine, or the way you stepped up with my sister’s wedding prep. You went way above and beyond to help, and that speaks volumes about the kind of man you are.
“You’re also fun, and interesting, and unpredictable, in the best sense of the word. When you climbed over that fence and into my life, you shook up my world. And let me tell you, it desperately needed shaking up. I was burned out and uninspired. The music that used to fill my thoughts had gone silent, and when I lost it, I lost myself. Then you came along, and it was like you turned up the volume on my life. All of a sudden, I could hear the music again.”
Malcolm pulled something from the pocket of his tuxedo jacket and held it up to show me as he continued, “This is a song that’s been bouncing around in my head all day. I finally had to grab a cocktail napkin and jot it down. That’s what you’ve done for me.”
“It could be a coincidence,” I muttered. “Maybe you just happened to move past your writer’s block around the time we met.”
He shook his head. “No. I know for a fact that’s not the case.”
“How can you be so sure?”
There was raw emotion in his voice when he told me, “Because all the songs are about you, Daniel. Every last one of them.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and whispered, “That’s the best thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“Now, will you please get in this boat and let me rescue you?”
I held my hands out, and he took them and helped me climb from my boat to his. Then he cupped my face between his hands and kissed me, and it was full of love and hope and optimism.
I hugged him and asked, “What do we do now?”
“We go back to the lodge, eat a lovely meal, and dance at my sister’s wedding.”
“I doubt Joy’s going to want me there after all of this.”
“Joy’s perfectly fine. After you left, she completely took control of the situation. Her mother-in-law started to complain, but Joy shut her right down. It was like, once pulling off a perfect wedding was no longer an option, she could finally stop pretending to be the perfect daughter-in-law. She could just be Joy, who it turns out is a real bad-ass. That’s also who Felix fell in love with in the first place.
“Anyway, after putting her mother-in-law in her place, Joy said, ‘will someone please clean up that cake, take the rat outside, and find Daniel? Because we’re about to get this party started, and he shouldn’t miss it.’ That’s a direct quote.”
“Why would she want me there? Even if she understands the cake and the rodent were accidents, everyone heard what Brad said about me being his ex-boyfriend, and they probably figured out I’d been trying to keep that from you. What must your family think of me?”
“Joy knows what an incredible person you are, because she got to see you in action these past few days. I know you’re wonderful, too. No one else’s opinion matters.”
I thought about it for a few moments, as I searched Malcolm’s warm, dark eyes. He looked so sure, so confident. Finally, I said, “Okay. Let’s do it.”
When we got back to the lodge, we returned both boats and went to our suite, so I could quickly shower and change. I was nervous as we headed downstairs to the reception, but Malcolm held my hand and assured me, “This is going to be fine. I promise.”
And it really was. Joy welcomed me with a hug, and when I apologized for the rat incident she grinned and said, “It’s not your fault. Besides, I wanted a unique wedding that people would talk about for years to come. Mission accomplished.”
As Malcolm introduced me to a few family members, Brad stormed over to us and tried to make a scene. He and Frederick had gone upstairs and changed, but he was angrier than ever and demanded to know what I was doing with Malcolm.
Mal shut him down with one simple sentence. “This has nothing to do with you, Brad.”
We spent the rest of the reception ignoring him and enjoying ourselves, dancing and celebrating until the party wrapped up around two a.m.
Later that night, when we were curled up together in bed, I asked, “What are we going to do next? Are we going straight back to San Francisco? Or can we maybe stay here a little longer?”
“We can do whatever you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.” He kissed my forehead and told me, “All I care about is that we’re together.”
He was right. That was the only thing that really mattered.
Epilogue: Daniel
Six months later
“Wow, congratulations!” My friend Timothy looked impressed, as I held the paperback in front of the phone so he could see it. “How does it feel to be a published author?”
“Independently published.”
“That totally counts.”
I grinned and admitted, “It feels pretty amazing, actually. As of today, something I wrote is out there in the world. I’ve wanted that for as long as I can remember.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of myself.”
We both heard a muffled crash, and he asked, “What was that?”
“Probably Embry. All of my housemates are supposedly in stealth mode downstairs. They’re helping my boyfriend decorate for a surprise party to celebrate the book’s release day.”
“I wish I could be there.”
“Me too, but you’re busy traveling the world with the love of your life. We’ll celebrate when you get back home.”
“Speaking of the loves of our lives, it sounds like things are going great between you and Mal.”
A huge smile spread across my face. “It’s been incredible. I’ve never felt so loved, or been so happy. He really believes in me, and I never realized how much I needed that. It’s what gave me the confidence to join the LGBTQ writers’ group I told you about, which in turn led to taking this chance and self-publishing my book. Plus, It feels good knowing I’m inspiring him, too. In the time we’ve been together, he’s written an entire play. He’s about to start workshopping it with some friends of his who work in musical theater.”
“It’s really cool that you two spark each other’s creativity.”
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. A moment later, Mal appeared in the doorway and asked, “Am I interrupting?”
“Nope. I’m on a video call with Timothy.”
I held up my phone so the two men could say hello, and as they exchanged greetings, Mal came into the room and placed a small gift bag on my nightstand. Then he told me, “I need to change. I got caught in the crossfire when Embry knocked over a chair and startled the cat, who ended up tripping JoJo. Everyone’s fine, but my shirt took a hit when JoJo’s diet soda became airborne.”
While Mal opened his drawer in my dresser and rummaged through it, Timothy said, “Aleksei’s waiting for me, so I should go. Have fun at your—I mean, um, have a good rest of your day. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Once we ended the call, Mal turned to me and grinned. “You know about the party, don’t you?”
“I do. I found some decorations hidden in the laundry room yesterday, and since they were all book-themed, I put two and two together.”
“Try to look surprised. Your housemates are really invested in this party. So’s Ginny. She’s downstairs, helping Yolanda and JoJo put together the biggest charcuterie board I’ve ever seen.”
“I love the fact that she’s become such close friends with those two.”
“Me, too.”
After he replaced his wet T-shirt with a dry one, he playfully pushed me onto my back on the bed. I was grinning as he climbed on top of me and kissed me. Then he dropped onto the mattress, and I rolled onto my side facing him and whispered, “I love you so much, Mal.”
“I love you, too. With all my heart.” He kissed me again and said, “Which is why there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“What do you think about moving in together? We already spend every night together, either here or at my hotel, but I want to make it official.”
“I was getting ready to ask you the same thing! As much as I love it here, you and I need a place of our own.”
“We do. That’s why I want to buy us a house. After all that time living in hotels, I’m ready for a home, someplace where we can put down roots.”
“That would be amazing. I’d love to find one with a space we could turn into a cozy writing studio, for the two of us. And of course, we’d need a music room, for a piano and your other instruments.”
“Definitely.”
“What’s on your wish list?”
“A big kitchen,” he said, “so we can cook together.”
“You don’t cook.”
“I know, but you can teach me. We should make sure it has a yard too, for the dog.”
I flashed him a smile and joked, “We don’t have a dog, unless that’s what’s in that little gift bag.”
“We’re definitely getting a dog, since we both love them.” We sat up, and he handed me the bag. “This isn’t a dog, as it turns out. It goes with the theme of your party, but I wanted to give it to you in private.”
I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag and opened the box inside. It contained the same beautiful pen he’d tried to give me when we first met. “You kept it.”
“Of course I did. I also had it engraved.”
I picked up the pen and read the inscription, which said: To Daniel, my favorite author. I love you, and I believe in you. Mal.
I threw my arms around him and whispered, “This is so special. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
“When did you have it engraved?”
“The week after we got back from Canada. Then I decided to hold on to it and give it to you when you published your first book, to mark the occasion.”
A lump formed in my throat. “But we were so new then, as a couple. Plus, I hadn’t done anything yet with my writing. You didn’t know if I would.”
“Yes, I did. Like it says in the inscription, I believe in you. I believe in us, too. I always have, and I always will.”
As we held each other, I could see it all so clearly—our future home, the life we were going to build, and so much love. Mal and I were going to write such a beautiful story together.
The End
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Alexa Land, Payback (Firsts and Forever Stories Book 10)
