My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (17 page)

              Asher frowned at her. “Uh, you just promised to help me fix this, remember?”

              Cleo groaned and looked at Pule who held up his hands innocently. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea how to save Asher from Meredith’s rage.”

              Asher sighed and stood up. “Well, at least come with me down to The Iron Skillet and stand next to me when I tell her so you can tell Garrett what happened to my body.”

              Pule stood up and punched him in the shoulders. “Brothers till the end.”

              Asher groaned. “I had no idea my end would be so soon.
Cleo?
You in this with me?”

              Cleo stood up slowly and grabbed her crutches. “I’m with you,” she said not looking very happy about it.

              Asher nodded and they headed to the door. Pule picked up Cleo and carried her down the stairs while Asher took her crutches and stowed them in the back. They drove in silence to the restaurant and got out of his car, filing slowly inside.

              Asher stared in dismay at all the bodies and turned and looked at Pule. “We’ll never get seats.”

              Pule frowned and then motioned towards the back. “We don’t need seats. Let’s go to the kitchen and check on Kam. We can tell him what’s going on and maybe he can help us get to Meredith.”

              Asher nodded and Cleo looked relieved as they followed Pule back. But when Kam heard how the whole town was gossiping about Meredith, he didn’t look very helpful.

              “I am not happy with you,” he said in a low mean voice that had the hairs on the back of Asher’s neck standing up.

              Pule moved to stand in between them and Asher sighed in relief as he wrapped his arms around his ribs, saying a quick prayer of gratitude.

              “Bro, take it up with Rob. He forced this on Asher. You know that.  You were right there when this all went down. He told Asher he’d kill him if Wren’s name was even mentioned. He had no choice. And he can’t help it if Brogan went around to practically everyone in Fircrest and told them Meredith was pregnant. The man has a mouth like a faucet. Rob and Brogan deserve all the blame for this.”

              Kam glared at the floor but then sighed. “You’re right, Pule. Fine, Asher, you’re off the hook. I’m going to go talk to Rob about this,” he said and whipped his apron off, disappearing quickly in long strides.

              “I actually feel bad for Rob now,” Asher said in surprise.
              Pule laughed. “Don’t waste your time. The man threw you under the bus and you know it. Come on, let’s go find Meredith.”

              Meredith nodded her head and wrote down a note about lavender napkins and wondered how many brain cells she had lost in just the last half an hour. She’d been sitting here with Anne Downing, Bailey Matafeo and Taryn Moore for almost an hour and they had only just now agreed on the lavender napkins.
Just. Barely
.

              “Mrs. Downing, now that we have your napkins picked, maybe we can talk venue. I think with the wedding coming up soon, that might be the most important matter. We can always pick colors later,” she said in a businesslike voice that she found soothed emotional people just as well as narcotics.

              Anne nodded her head as if she was in total agreement. “
No
. I just feel strongly that I need to pick all of my colors first, you know? I need to get a feel for this wedding. I need to take all of the details and wrap myself in it. It just doesn’t feel real to me yet,” she said sounding almost frantic.

              Meredith raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Taryn who was looking at her apologetically. She glanced at Bailey who wore the same expression. Meredith nodded her head and steepled her hands on the table. Time to get down to what was really going on.

              “Anne, how are things between you and your fiancé? Are things going well? I mean, for the wedding to feel real, the relationship has to feel real. All of this stuff? The napkins, the venue, the table cloths and the food? None of that actually matters if we’re being honest. The realness comes from your relationship. Napkins and colors can’t give you that,” she said as gently as she could.

              Anne’s face froze, her mouth working silently as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t. Bailey looked at her mother in alarm as Taryn grimaced.

              “
Oh no
. Mom, are you guys breaking up? Is that why you’ve been changing your mind so much? Is it because you want the wedding, but you know in your heart, it’s never really going to happen?” Taryn asked quietly.

              Anne began weeping quietly and Bailey gasped, throwing her arms around her mother’s shoulders. “That jerk! How could he do this to you?” she demanded, looking helplessly at Taryn.

              Taryn sighed tiredly and put a hand over her stomach. Anne shook her head, sending tears flying everywhere. “No, girls. It’s not him.
It’s me.
I can’t do it. I thought I could, but I just can’t. I mean, it was so perfect at first. We fell in love and I was amazed at how well we clicked. We laughed at the same jokes, we loved the same food and movies. And girls, that man could kiss,” she whispered, before blowing her nose.

              Bailey and Taryn shared a disgruntled look before looking back at Anne who was now wiping her tears and smearing an inch thick line of mascara from her eyes to the middle of her cheeks.

              “But then something changed. And I don’t even know what. He went from being the sweetest man in the world to being sarcastic and mean. I’ve never met anyone so moody. He’d mock me sometimes and then laugh like I was supposed to be in on the joke. But then he’d be nice again and I’d think I was just imagining things. But the worst part was, he swore he loved me and that he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with me, but then the very next day he’d call me up or take me to lunch and give me a long list of why it would never work between us. It was just killing my soul. I felt like a yo-yo constantly being jerked back and forth. He’d take my emotions and my feelings for him and play with them, like I was a puppet or something. Sometimes, I think he did it just to be cruel. Just to show me he had power over me. And then the next day he’d call me and tell me how much he loved me and that we were soul mates. He’d describe our life together and how wonderful it would be … and I’d believe him.
Sort of
. It’s like he had a list of things he knew I wanted to hear, building me up just to tear me down for fun,” she whispered before a new batch of tears began cascading down her make-up smeared cheeks.

              Bailey stood up and pulled Anne up. “I’m taking you home, Mom. I’m going to draw you a hot bubble bath and you’re going to relax. And then tomorrow, you and I are going to plan a way to break up. This wedding is over,” she said with a flip of her long, blond streaked hair.

              Meredith smiled at Bailey and nodded her head. “Good plan,” she said quietly.

              Taryn stood up and hugged her mom, kissing her tenderly on the cheek. “I’ll stop by tomorrow at lunch and we’ll figure it all out. I’ll go with you if you want me to,” she added.

              Anne nodded and patted Taryn’s cheek. “I know you would, honey. You’re my little hero. But I’m a big girl. I can do this on my own,” she said softly, sounding very tired and very heartbroken.

              Meredith watched Anne and Bailey walk away and sighed sadly. “You know what? Love sucks,” she said without any heat.

              Taryn sat down and stared at her oddly. “What do
you
have to complain about? But hold that thought. Don’t move. I have something for you.”

              Meredith blinked in surprise as she watched Taryn sprint out of the dining room. Anne’s impromptu meeting had ruined all of her plans for the evening but now that everything had fallen apart, she couldn’t resent it. Seeing the real pain on Anne’s face reminded her of how rare real love truly was and how easily some women were able to convince themselves that they had the real thing, when in fact, they just didn’t want to be lonely anymore and were willing to put up with abuse they should never have to. She was proud of Anne for seeing her fiancé for what he was and calling it off now instead of moving forward with the wedding only to regret it later.

              Meredith thought back to her own fiancé and wondered if she would have been brave enough to have called it off. Looking back now at who she was now and the man her fiancé had been, she hoped so.

              “
Here
. I got this for you now that we’re BFF’s,” Taryn said sounding breathless as she plopped down in her chair and threw a pink, polka dot gift bag at her.

              Meredith’s eyes went big as she tentatively reached for the bag.
Was this a joke?
Why in the world would Taryn Moore be giving her a present? She had been acting very strangely though. But then again, so had everyone. Fircrest was turning into a looney bin.

              “You shouldn’t have.
Really
,” she said lifting the tissue out of the bag and peeking inside.

              Taryn smiled excitedly. “Hurry up! I can’t wait.”

              Meredith nodded and pulled out a large black shirt that was almost tent-like. “What is this?” she whispered as she held it up. Did she have body dysmorphia where she thought she was normal but everyone else looked at her and saw an overweight person? She glanced down at her hips and thighs and decided it was time to hit the gym.

              Taryn smiled complacently. “It’s your first maternity shirt. I bought the same one so we can be twins. I can’t wait to find out our due dates. I don’t know why, but I feel so good knowing that my little girl or boy will have a playmate their own age. I mean, just knowing that you and I will be going through every milestone together makes me feel more relaxed for some reason,” she said, her eyes glowing. “It’s not so scary having a friend along for the journey.”

              Meredith slowly lowered the black tent and stared at Taryn. The woman had lost it. “Wait,
you’re pregnant
?”

              Taryn stared at her in confusion. “
Duh
. Didn’t Asher tell you? He’s the one who went and bought my pregnancy test. I had no idea he was such a sweetheart. And then when Brogan came home that night and told me that you were pregnant too, I just couldn’t believe it. I’m going to have a talk with Asher. We were all there sitting around the table talking about my pregnancy and he didn’t say one word about yours. I guess you two wanted to keep it quiet since you’re not married and all. You two
are
getting married, right?” she said, narrowing her eyes at her.

              Meredith opened and closed her mouth a few times, shaken to her core. “You think
I’m pregnant
? With Asher Murphy’s baby? Are you serious?”

              Taryn frowned at her and glanced at her stomach hidden by the table. “Brogan wouldn’t make something like that up. Are you saying
you’re not
?” she asked, sounding sad and disappointed.

              Meredith pursed her lips as she felt a volcano of emotion begin to build. “
No
, Taryn. No, I’m not pregnant and I’m
not
expecting Asher Murphy’s love child. So this is why everyone’s been acting so weird,” she whispered, covering her flaming cheeks with her hands.

              “Everyone’s been talking about me,” she continued quietly, clenching her eyes shut tightly as she felt a wave of embarrassment and shame wash over her. “I’ve tried so hard to change and be somebody people can respect and all this time everyone’s been judging me and laughing at me behind my back.”

              Taryn looked down at her lap for a moment before looking up. “Hey, it’s not that bad. It’s not like you were walking around with a scarlet A on your chest or anything. Getting pregnant out of wedlock is sort of the norm these days.”

              Meredith nodded her head. “Sure. It’s no big deal. Meredith the screw up. Meredith the woman who is having Asher Murphy’s baby. Yeah. No problem,” she said woodenly.

              “
Hey
.”

              Meredith’s head whipped up as she looked into Asher’s face noting that Pule and Cleo were standing right behind him looking apprehensive.
As well they should
. “
You
,” she breathed out, clenching her hands as all the embarrassment and anger suddenly found a target.

              Asher looked grimly back at her. “Yeah,
me
. I take it you just heard the rumor going around.”

              Meredith stood up and grabbed her purse. “Yeah, my new best friend, Taryn just gave me a maternity shirt to celebrate my pregnancy. Kind of came as a shock. But you know what shocked me more than that?”

              Asher swallowed but shook his head. “No, what?”

              Meredith stood with her hands on her hips and stared at the man she’d thought of as her friend. “That someone I trusted, someone I cared about would tell people such a horrible lie about me. We’re through as friends, Asher. If it weren’t for being in business together, I’d never want to see you again,” she said in a low, rage filled voice before walking past Asher, Pule and Cleo and out of the restaurant.

              She stomped five blocks home and was still breathing hard with rage when she walked into her apartment. She threw her purse on the floor and kicked it. When she thought back to every weird comment that had caught her off guard lately, it all finally made sense. She collapsed on her stomach and screamed into a cushion.

              When her tantrum was over she flipped over and stared at the ceiling blindly. How could she face everyone now knowing that she’d been the subject of gossip and jokes? She heard her phone beep and leaned over to grab it off the floor.

              A text from Tristan.
Hey Mommy. When were you going to tell me you were pregnant!? Why               am I the last to know!! Call me
.

              Meredith groaned and threw her phone back on the floor. “I give up,” she said out loud as a few tears of self-pity seeped out. She got up and made her way to her room, knowing that Cleo and Pule would probably be showing up soon to convince her not to hate Asher. She threw some clothes and make-up into a duffle bag and went in search of her phone. She hit her contacts and tapped her brother’s face.

              “Come and get me. I want to go home,” she said tiredly.

              Being broke couldn’t break her. Being a joke had though. It was time to regroup and figure out where to go from here. Because from where she was sitting, being in business with Asher wasn’t going to work now. How could she look into the face of a man who had betrayed her? Humiliated her?
Lied
about her?

              The simple answer was, she couldn’t. She walked out of the apartment and locked up, running down the stairs and out to the curb where her brother would pick her up.

              She said it again just to make sure the world heard her this time. “Did you hear me, life?” she asked no one as she stood in the soft, cool rain. “I give up.”