The Price of Love (A Price Novel Book 1) (34 page)

“You promise?”

“I pinkie promise.” I grabbed his pinkie.

“Well, there is something else I want to talk to you about.” He sounded pretty serious for being drunk.

“What?” I was nervous.

“When are you planning on getting started on this wedding?”

This wasn’t something I felt like talking about right then. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry Slayde, because I definitely did. I just wasn’t into weddings. I would rather just show up, but I knew that would disappoint him. He was that perfect guy women dreamed would wait for them at the end of the aisle, in the most perfect venue, while they were wearing the most perfect dress. He deserved the most perfect bride — but that wasn’t me. When most little girls were playing wedding, I was playing doctor.

“I don’t know. Soon, I guess.” I was hoping that would be enough for him, but I should have known better.

“That’s a pretty vague answer, A. Are you really going to marry me or not?” He sat up in the bed and turned the on the light so we could finish the conversation face-to-face. I could tell he was getting aggravated with me.

“Of course I’m gonna marry you.” I hesitated for a minute. “I just don’t know when.”

“Are you seriously going to make me wait until your residency is over to marry you?”

“You wouldn’t wait for me?” I asked him. I was getting a little annoyed myself.

“You know I would wait on you forever if I had to, but I don’t see why I should have to. Why can’t we just go ahead and do it now?”

“You’re drunk, Slayde. Let’s talk about this tomorrow, OK?”

“I don’t want to talk about it tomorrow. I want to talk about it now. I’ve wanted to talk about it forever, but I was scared I was going to freak you out.” He had gotten out of the bed and started pacing around the room, and he was talking louder than was necessary.

I needed to do something now, before this got out of hand. I grabbed his hand. “Baby, let’s just talk through this, OK? I love you, and I’m not going to make you wait forever. I just haven’t figured out when I would have some time off to do it. I doubt I have vacation as an intern, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Well, forget that. Let’s just do it when we go to Saint Lucia. I know you’re not the big wedding type anyway, and I sure don’t care. I just want to be married to you when it’s over.” Visibly calming down, he got back in bed. I couldn’t believe he had said that.
But maybe that
is
a good idea.
It would help keep it out of the press.

“How would we get everything together in that short a period of time?” I asked.

“The four of us can fly there tomorrow and get it all set up. We could fly everyone else down a few days later for the wedding.”

“Are you really serious? You aren’t just drunk and talking stupid?”

“Arden, I am very serious. You should know that.”

“OK, do you think your mom and sister could go tomorrow when we do? I am not really good at that kind of stuff. You think Lexi would mind?” I asked.

“Now that’s a stupid question. You know she wouldn’t mind. That would make her the happiest mother-in-law in the world.” He laughed.

The six of us flew down the next day. His dad and a few other friends would be flying in the day before the wedding. I couldn’t believe this was happening so fast. On the plane, I started to get nervous, but I didn’t want Slayde to get wind of it. I knew it would upset him.

Interrupting my thoughts, Lexi swapped seats with Slayde. “Thank you for including me. That really means a lot.” She hugged me. “You don’t think your mom’s feelings will be hurt, do you?” She probably already knew that my mom would never want to do something like plan one of her daughters’ weddings, but at least she thought about her.

“You’re welcome. I’m so glad you don’t mind. I don’t know if this is terrible or not, so please be honest with me.” She nodded. “I really don’t think I want to ask my mom and sisters to come. Or Brady.” I waited for her reaction.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Well, I think that I would rather it be just us. After the way Brady acted in Breckenridge, I don’t know how great of an idea it would be to add him and Kenedy to the guest list.” She looked like she understood. “I can’t ask my mom and not my sisters without my mom making a big deal about that. Other than Isabelle. I definitely want to invite her.”

“It’s your wedding. I think you should do what you want. You do have a point — I don’t think inviting Brady is a great idea either.”

My mom had seemed so worried about me the day Slayde and I had broken up, but I hadn’t heard from her since she left me in the bathroom at the restaurant after my graduation. So how much could she really care? I was making the right decision not to invite her, and I wasn’t going to feel bad about it.

When we landed in Saint Lucia, there was someone from the resort waiting for us with a van. That’s when I discovered that not only did they drive on the wrong side of the road there, but they also drove way too fast. I started thinking I wasn’t going to live to see my wedding day. However, I seemed to be the only one concerned about the driver’s driving skills or lack thereof.

The roads were narrow and windy with hills on one side and banana plants and lush vegetation on the other. Everything was really green and pretty, but the local housing situation didn’t look so desirable. All the houses were lumped close together along the sides of the road. It looked like the wealthier families lived along the coast, but even there, the houses were still extremely close together.

After what seemed like an hour in the van, we finally arrived at the resort. I was glad to be alive and glad to get out of that vehicle.

“You OK?” Slayde asked as he helped me out.

He looked worried, so I smiled. “Just a little carsick.”

“Well, come see.” Little boy Slayde was back. Grabbing my hand, he dragged me through the open lobby of the resort and out onto the patio where you could see the beautiful, calm, crystal-clear water.

I was amazed by how gorgeous it was. “It’s unbelievable,” I said.

He smiled from ear to ear. “I know. It’s gonna be great.” His excitement was contagious, and I was growing excited myself. “It’s gonna be the best week ever.” He gave me a peck on the lips.

Lexi cleared her throat; she was standing at my elbow. “OK, lovebirds, we have a lot to do before everyone else gets here. I need Arden to be ready early in the morning. Go get settled, and let’s all meet back here in an hour. We will eat dinner and then turn in early. OK?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Slayde and I said together.

She smiled. “See you in a bit.”

When she was far enough away that she couldn’t hear, Slayde asked, “What are you thinking about? You’ve been a million miles away since we left Los Angeles. You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?”

“No. I’m just trying to figure out all the stuff we have to do.” I kissed him and buried my head in his chest. That was the safest place in the world, as far as I was concerned. “I’m not going to get cold feet, baby, I promise.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and I was afraid to keep Lexi waiting, so I hurried him along to the room.

As I was coming out of the bathroom, I heard Slayde on the phone. “No, it’s fine. I’d rather you were here, but whatever.” He was quiet for a few seconds and then said, “It’s really no big deal. I’ll see you when we get back.”

He laid his phone on the bed and looked up at me. “Who was that?” I asked.

“Kevin.”

“Kevin isn’t coming?” That surprised me.

He tried to smile, but I knew he was hurt. “It’s OK.” I didn’t believe him, and he knew it, because he said, “Or it will be OK. It’s not the end of the world. It just pisses me off that he isn’t coming because of Kimberly.”

“Did you invite her?”

“Kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“Well, I told him he could bring her if he wanted, but that I wished he wouldn’t.”

I had to keep myself from smiling, because I knew he was upset, but I was proud of him for being honest with Kevin. He usually kept his negative opinions to himself where his friends and family were concerned. The fact that he’d voiced them to Kevin was a pretty big deal. I wasn’t sure if Kevin was mad and that was the real reason he wasn’t coming — and that was probably what was really bothering Slayde.

“You and Kevin will be fine. And it’s probably for the best anyway. I mean, can you imagine her at a table with your parents?”

Finally he smiled a real smile, following it with a slight laugh. “That could have been interesting.”

“Is that what you want at our wedding?”

He shook his head and perked up a bit, making me think he had accepted the situation for what it was. “Let’s go before Mom comes and finds us,” he said, hurrying me out the door.

The next morning Lexi, Milly, and I were up early, looking for a dress. To my relief, we found the dress at the first place we went. There weren’t many bridal shops on the island, and Lexi had mentioned maybe having to fly somewhere else if we couldn’t find anything. That was the last thing I wanted to do, so I told myself I was not going to be picky.

But I didn’t have to be, because this dress was perfect. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was strapless and had an empire waist with beading below. The long chiffon barely reached the ground — crucial, since we were getting married on the beach. I fell in love with it the moment I put it on, and so did everyone else.

“Well, that was easy enough,” Lexi said as we left the dress shop. “Now, on to the cake.” She put her arm around me, and we headed to the bakery. We decided on a small, square, two-tier white cake with tiny white pearls along the edges.

“Now, what about the top? Would you like a bride and groom topper? A bow?” asked the stout, middle-aged lady who owned the bakery. She pointed at a humungous bow.

I wasn’t really sure. “Not a bow. I’m not really a frilly kind of girl,” I said, wrinkling my nose and shaking my head at the bow.

“Well, here are some other options,” she said, leading us to another case with different brides and grooms in it.

One of the couples was a bride dragging the groom by his collar. Lexi pointed at it and said, “Too bad there isn’t one with the groom dragging the bride.” She looked at me and burst out laughing. I smiled and rolled my eyes, but she did kind of have a point.

I did want to marry Slayde. I was just scared.
Isn’t that a normal feeling?
Maybe not, because he didn’t seem the least bit nervous or scared about this life-changing decision. I wished I had his confidence about this — and about everything, actually. He was the most confident person I knew. He wasn’t arrogant or overconfident, but he had just the right amount of confidence. The amount that made him seem normal and me seem crazy by comparison. I was the one with issues. Now, here he was, about to tie his perfect little life up in big fat bow with the queen of messed-upness. What was he thinking?

The more I thought about that, the more I realized that I loved him too much to let him do something that stupid. That it was so ridiculous that it actually made me giggle.

“What?” Lexi asked.

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Nothing intelligent, I promise.” I looked back at the lady. “We’ll take a bow, but just tone it down a little.”

I walked outside, and Lexi took care of making sure they knew where to deliver the cake. Lexi took care of everything. She was a lifesaver.

Milly left right before lunch to go meet Eddie. Lexi and I decided we would grab some lunch before heading back.

“Do you think we’re rushing into this?” I asked Lexi over salads. I knew I was leaving myself wide open, but I really wanted her opinion.

“Do you?”

I had also begun to learn she was great at making you answer your own questions. “I know that I can’t live without him. I just know that these next few years are going to be tough, and it really scares me.” I wondered how she would take that, but it was what I felt. I took a sip of my drink and continued. “I’m torn between my residency program and just dropping out and going with him. This may sound strange, but I feel physically sick when we aren’t together. Maybe something is wrong with me.”

Lexi laughed. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re in love with him. That’s pretty normal.”

“I know it would be easier for us if I dropped out, but I hate to throw away that dream just because I have a new one. You can have more than one at a time, right?”

“Of course you can. Nothing worth having is easy. Just don’t make the mistake of giving up when it gets hard, because you’ll regret it. Follow your heart and you will always make the right decision. It’s when you let your head take over that you can screw up.” I knew she was speaking from her own experience. “Arden, I know the lifestyle he leads now is not your dream lifestyle, but you have to decide what’s more important to you: your perfect lifestyle or your perfect life partner.”

“You think we are perfect for each other?” I asked.

“I don’t think anyone is perfect, but I definitely think you are perfect for each other. He loves you more than anything. I’ve never seen anything like it, that’s for sure.” She laughed.

I laughed too. “He tells you everything, doesn’t he?”

“He tells me a lot, but I learn more about what’s going on with him by the way he acts when he’s not telling me something. For such a talented actor, he is a terrible liar.” She smiled.

After lunch I met Milly, Eddie, and Slayde out on the beach. “Are we still getting married or has my mother scared you off?” Slayde asked as I sat next to him on his chair.

I smiled. “We’re good. What have you guys been doing all day?” I asked.

“Well, Eddie and I went jet skiing and then met Milly for lunch. We were waiting for you to go surfing.”

“Surfing? Slayde, I can’t walk and chew gum. What makes you think I can surf? Besides, there are no waves,” I said, pointing out at the calm, emerald water.

He smiled. “Not here, but there are places to surf on the island. Now, let’s go.”

I was not an outdoorsy girl. I was also somewhat afraid of the water. Not the water itself but what might be in it. What I couldn’t see in it. Like sharks or humungous octopuses like the one that ate the cruise ship on that movie.
Quit being a freak!
I told myself. But I wasn’t convinced. However, since no one else seemed to be worried, I decided to keep my insanity to myself.