Wait for Always, page 4
I rolled my eyes at him. It had actually been to prove Derek wrong. “Whatever.”
We took our cones, and Ash went to pay.
I tried to scoot around him. “You got lunch!”
He didn’t budge and tapped his credit card. “So?”
“I can pay for things too.”
“You are capable of that, yes, but not when you’re with me.”
“Just because you’re a Talmadge and have more money than God doesn’t mean that I can’t buy us ice cream.”
He pocketed his wallet and gave me the same smile that had made my knees weak since I’d been fifteen. “Yes, it does.”
There was no point in arguing. I’d never paid for a thing around him. My family had nearly as much money as the Talmadges, and my boutique was doing wonderful, but there was no way I made close to what he did. Not yet at least.
“You’re an ass,” I muttered under my breath as I took the first lick of my cone.
Ash laughed softly. He’d clearly heard me. “Who knew chivalry was dead?”
I rolled my eyes at him, and suddenly, everything felt totally normal again. “I’d say, most people, considering it was a knight’s code of conduct in medieval times. All about honor and justice, are you?”
“Modern terms of chivalry,” he corrected.
“Like stepping in at my debutante ball?”
Ash’s eyes softened at the edges. “Indeed.”
I knew what he’d meant, but it was fun to mess with him. In fact, as we took our seats under the Spanish moss in Reynolds Square, I realized just how much I’d missed Ash. Things had gotten turned upside down, but underneath it all was the friendship I’d had with him my whole life. Even when I’d been too young and he’d only seen me as an annoying little sister. Even when things had changed between us that time at Miss Georgia. Even much later … when we’d said things we couldn’t take back. I wished there were a way that we could hold on to this part of our relationship without reminding me of everything else. But I didn’t know if that was possible.
“So, how did your meeting go?” Ash asked after I was quiet for too long.
“Oh,” I muttered.
And then there was that. The part that he didn’t know.
“It went well.”
“What was it about anyway?”
I bit my lip and then decided to just get it over with. It wasn’t like us getting lunch or ice cream was going to derail my plans.
“I’m looking at opening another boutique.”
His eyes shifted to mine. Blue meeting blue. The world skittered to a halt in that one look. Confusion in them, followed by pride. “That’s incredible. Who did you meet with?”
The question was so innocuous. Or it would have been if Ash hadn’t been the person to help me get the property for my store on Broughton. He’d been with me the entire time. If I wanted to open another location in Savannah, I would go to him.
I swallowed and met his gaze again. “Holden Holdings.”
Ash froze in place. “In Charleston?”
“Yes.”
He opened his mouth and closed it. Of course he knew who Holden Holdings was. It was one of the most prominent companies on the southeastern coast, and he’d gone to college with the CEO, Nolan Holden. Ash had introduced us.
Finally, he asked, “Are you … planning to run it from here?”
“No,” I whispered.
A flash of panic shot across his features.
I continued speaking before I could stop myself. “I was planning to move to Charleston. Marina said I could stay with her while I got situated. Mom offered too, but I loved the idea of living with Marina.”
“You could open another store here,” he said. “There’s plenty of space.”
“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t think the clientele is there.” When he didn’t say anything, I rushed forward. “Eventually, I’d like to open a store all up and down the coast—Hilton Head, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville. And maybe if that did well, I could start doing college towns—Athens, Columbia, Chapel Hill.”
“Which you could run out of Savannah,” he said reasonably.
“Maybe.”
There was so much more to say. So much that I didn’t know how to explain to him. I loved having Kathy close, but I hardly ever talked to my dad anymore. Derek had moved to Atlanta to be with his wife, Marley. Everyone else I loved was in Charleston. The only person who had kept me here was currently sitting beside me, staring back at me in disbelief. He’d been my lifeline in Savannah. And as much as it was home, it was haunted. One of the most haunted cities in the US, and full of ghosts of my life.
“I’m going in a few weeks to see my family and to meet with a Holden representative,” I explained.
“Go out with me.”
I sputtered, my eyes going wide. “What?”
Ash reached forward, sliding his hand into mine. “Go out with me, Amelia.”
“No,” I whispered breathily.
“Why not?”
“I’ve waited so long for you.” I glanced down at our locked hands. The feeling so natural, so normal. And yet … he had never been mine. “I’ve waited my whole life for you. You can’t do this just because I might be leaving.”
“I’m not,” he said at once.
I arched an eyebrow. “Your response to me telling you about Charleston was to ask me out. How can I think otherwise?”
“You might remember that I came by the store last week and asked you out then too. That I’ve been coming by to see you every day. That I’m here right now. I want you to go out with me. I want this.”
I closed my eyes around those words. Ones I would have literally died to hear when I was younger. When he’d loved someone else … and I’d just been a consolation prize.
“Why?” I whispered.
“What do you mean?”
I stood up, pulling my hand free. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. “Why? Why do you want to go out with me? Why now? Why after everything?”
Why not before? That was what I wanted to ask, but he must have seen it on my face because whatever anger he’d been rising to meet disappeared.
“Because living without you was torture.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“It was torture. I hated every day and every minute without you. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
I scoffed. “I was there when Lila left you at the altar. I remember you drowning yourself in alcohol to try to forget. I remember all the stupid shit you did to try to move past what had happened with her. You want me to believe it was worse than that?”
But Ash didn’t flinch away from what I’d said. The love of his life had left him on their wedding day for another man. We never spoke about it. We never said her name. And the time that I had slipped up was … a catastrophe. Except this time, he really seemed different. I didn’t know if he’d ever get over Lila entirely. I’d never been sure if that would actually happen, not when he’d wanted her as long as I’d wanted him, but for the first time, I saw something else in his eyes. Hope.
“No,” he said finally. “It wasn’t worse than that, but it was a different sort of terrible.”
At least he was honest. I wouldn’t have believed him if he’d said it was worse than the day of his wedding. But I could believe that he’d been hurting. I could see it on his face.
“It was,” I admitted.
A smile cracked through his features and then disappeared again. He almost looked … uncertain. But I’d never seen Ash look anything but confident.
“Look, what Lila and I had was … toxic. I know that now. We were on and off for years, and now, she’s marrying someone else. We had our chance. We had our chance too many times.” He stepped forward, that confidence returning as he brushed a strand of my hair out of my face. “But you and I, we never had our chance. And I would regret it for the rest of my life if we didn’t try, Mia.”
A cool breeze cascaded between us as soft light filtered down through the hundred-year-old trees. The thousands of azaleas that overtook Savannah in the spring were just beginning to bloom. And all of it disappeared at Ash’s words. The words I’d wanted for too long.
I was leaving for Charleston. I had plans to open another boutique. I’d made these plans while plotting to get out of my relationship with Mark. Never thinking that I’d finally get my shot with Ash. Never thinking that he’d finally be over Lila. But here he was, talking about her in the past tense, admitting that they had been toxic and she was marrying someone else. I’d walked away for so much less, and I’d always wanted so much more. How could I say no when he was saying everything I’d wanted to hear?
“Okay,” I finally said.
“Okay?”
I nodded. “I’ll go out with you.”
6
Parsons
May 23, 2013
“You made it,” I said with a smile.
Ash passed me a bouquet of red roses. “Like I’d miss it. Happy graduation.”
My heart was in my throat as I took the roses. I knew they didn’t mean anything. That he was dating Lila again. They’d dated briefly in high school and reunited after college. Derek had told me once how annoying they were but that he was glad Ash was happy.
And so I swallowed back that same desire that always rose up when I saw him. He was happy with someone else. I was currently dating someone too. I’d come a long way since that eighteen-year-old girl, drunk enough to steal a first kiss with him.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I told him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said, throwing an arm across Ash’s shoulders and leaning forward. “We’re all thrilled.”
Ash shoved him off. “Shut up. We know you begged me to come up for it.”
Derek grinned. “Yeah. Well, it was more so I could get you to spend the week in Cambridge with me before graduation. You don’t have time for me anymore now that you’re a settled man.”
“Fuck off, dude,” he said with a laugh.
“It’s just like old times,” I said.
Ash had always been there at family events when I was younger. Our summer vacations in Charleston, my dad’s second wedding, my sweet sixteen—he was always present. His parents sometimes joined him, but since he was an only child, half the time, they just sent him off with us. My parents had never minded, and Derek had liked having another boy to hang out with. Having him here felt right. And I couldn’t deny that I was glad he hadn’t brought Lila. We’d cheered together her senior year at St. Catherine’s, but I didn’t really know her. And since she had Ash’s heart, I had no interest in getting to know her either.
“Yeah, just like me and Ash out on the sailboat in Charleston and you begging to be included,” Derek joked.
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s my college graduation. Must you be a dick?”
He ruffled my hair. “It’s how I show love.”
“I’m sure Marley loves it.”
Ash and Derek exchanged a look. Boy code that I’d never been able to decipher. You’d think that they’d be spending all their time together since Lila and Marley were best friends and Ash and Derek were too. But it seemed like something was up with that, and I could never figure them out.
“Aren’t you dating someone now?” Derek interjected. “Where is he anyway?”
My cheeks flushed. Camden Percy wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who came to graduations. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, except that he was, like, the richest guy on the planet, and somehow, he was interested in me. Sometimes, being in his presence felt like clinging on to the side of a boat for dear life. Like he was a force of nature that could never be weathered, you just prayed that it didn’t destroy your entire world. I’d never met anyone else like him. Maybe that was what I liked about him.
“We’re meeting up with him tonight,” I said quickly.
I hadn’t told Derek that I was dating Camden, who he knew from Harvard. He’d introduced us over spring break, but I was sure Derek hadn’t done it so that we’d end up together.
Ash frowned. “Who is this mystery guy?”
Did I detect a note of jealousy?
No, that was absurd. Ash was with Lila. She was all he’d ever wanted, right? I nearly gagged on the thought.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kathy pushed between the boys and pulled me in for a hug. “We’re so happy for you, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Kathy.”
Mom stood off to the side with her new boyfriend. She’d been with Jared for two years, but I never got the impression that she cared whether or not they got married. Maybe she didn’t want to be tied down after what had happened with Dad.
“My baby is all grown up,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Mom,” I said with a laugh, turning from Kathy to hug her. “I’ll always be your baby.”
“Yes, but now, you’re going to be working for a high-end fashion designer on the Upper East Side. Your dreams are coming true.”
I beamed. My dreams were coming true. I hadn’t told anyone that Camden had helped me get the interview with a fashion designer. Elizabeth Cunningham was the designer on the Upper East Side. She had killed it at Fashion Week, and her sales were through the roof. Anyone who was anybody wanted to be wearing her. Even Katherine Van Pelt was wearing her clothes. It was sort of weird to think that I knew the ice princess of the Upper East Side, but she ran in the same circles as Camden, and we’d met once or twice. Camden looked at her like she was poison infecting everyone around her, but I wasn’t sure why everyone hated her. People just didn’t like when women succeeded, and she was currently on every runway and in every tabloid and the face for half of my favorite brands.
And now, I would be working with Elizabeth Cunningham. I was still dizzy with the knowledge that I’d start next week. I’d only met with Harmony Cunningham, her daughter, who also modeled for the label. But I was hoping I’d get to meet Elizabeth soon too.
Dad had his hands in the pockets of his suit when he smiled at me. “I always knew you’d do it.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” I said and let him hug me too.
And in that moment, I forgot all the other bullshit. My family was here. My life was moving in the right direction. That was all that mattered.
“Wait,” Derek said as we took the elevator up Percy Tower to Club 360.
“Yes?” I asked. I checked the delicate Rolex on my wrist, which had been a birthday gift from Camden.
“Where are we going?”
“Club 360. I already told you.”
He snatched up my wrist. “Where did you get this?”
I yanked my hand away. “It was a gift from my boyfriend.”
Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this guy, Amelia?”
“Look, I don’t need the protective older brother routine right now.”
“If you think you’re going to get it, then you probably already know that whatever this is, it’s a bad idea.”
I looked to Ash for backup, but he had his arms crossed, letting us duke it out.
“Whatever, Derek. You introduced us.”
“Fucking hell,” Derek said, leaning back against the elevator. “You’re dating Camden?”
“So what if I am?”
“Fucking hell,” he grumbled.
“He’s your friend.”
“Which is how I know that you shouldn’t be dating him!” Derek snapped. “The guy owns this hotel. He owns the penthouse on top of the hotel. He owns the club that we’re about to walk into. He owns everything in his life. I don’t want him to own you too.”
“He doesn’t own me,” I said with an eye roll.
Derek grabbed my wrist again and held up the diamond-encrusted watch. “What’s this then?”
“A watch,” I snarled.
His eyes widened. “And the new job?”
“I got that job on my own!”
“And he didn’t put in a word? He owns the Upper East Side, Amelia. I know this guy.”
“So?”
“This is a bad idea,” Derek said grumpily. He nudged Ash. “Tell her, Ash.”
Ash finally looked up at me. Our eyes met in that short distance. He hadn’t said much this weekend. There was always something keeping him from his usual buoyant self.
He just shrugged. “Let me meet the guy first.”
“Oh, great. So now, you’re both going to be judging him.”
“If I didn’t think he’d put a hit on me, I’d beat the shit out of him for touching you,” Derek said.
“Put a hit on you,” I said with a head shake. “You’re so dramatic. He’s not in the Mafia!”
The elevator door dinged open, and we were on the top floor of Percy Tower, a highlight of the Upper East Side glam. I pushed away from my brother and to the front door. At the entrance, a line had of desperate men and women hoping to get into the club tonight had already formed.
“Hi, Jerry,” I said with a smile at the bouncer.
“Amelia,” he said with a nod as he pulled back the rope to let me through.
“They’re with me.”
Derek and Ash followed behind me to the grumbles of those in line. I knew exactly where Camden would be waiting for me. He always had a reserved booth, and just as I expected, he was standing around, drinking with his friends, Court and Gavin. A girl I recognized was seated at his side, laughing at everything he said. Her name was on the tip of my tongue … Fiona?
Camden’s eyes found me before I got to the table. A shiver ran down my spine at the possessiveness in that one look. Maybe Derek wasn’t wrong. Maybe he did own me. Because in that moment, I would have done anything for him.
He wasn’t as tall as Derek and Ash, but he was still much taller than me with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a two-thousand-dollar tailored suit. He extracted himself from his friends, slid an arm around me, and kissed me hard on the mouth.
“Hey, baby,” I said breathlessly.
“How was graduation?”
“Perfect.”
“Good.” He nodded his head.
He didn’t say he wished that he could have been there. He’d never say something that he didn’t believe, and I thought he was glad I wasn’t a college student anymore. He was in his late twenties, and I always felt a little out of place with his older friends. It was better when it was just the two of us.
