C&A Novella (Marked Heart #2.5) (7 page)

19

The wedding party was gathered outside at his Uncle Brennan's place for the wedding rehearsal and Charlotte seemed angrier with Auggie than she was the night before. Thanks to Braden not showing up for the rehearsal, she now had something new to be mad at him for.

  Auggie followed Charlotte out to her car, she had walked off on him one too many times, and he was getting pretty aggravated himself.

  "Would ya stop for a minute!" Auggie griped, trying to catch up with her.

Shaking her head, she continued to her car.

When Charlotte reached her car, Auggie stepped directly behind her, sliding his hands around hers.

  She started to hold his hands then pulled away, asking, "How many times am I supposed to forgive you."

  "As many as it takes to keep us together." Auggie replied, suddenly feeling panic rising in his chest.

  Turning, Charlotte looked into his eyes and stated, "I don't know what's worse. That I'm not worth your honesty or that you'd rather lie then talk to me."

  "Lotte..."

"You swore nothing would come between us and I believed you. I believed you when you told me there was no more you and me, only us."

  With an anguished expression on his face, Auggie lifted his hands to the sides of her face asking, "And now you don't?"

  "It's you that doesn't believe in us."

  Shaking his head in confusion, Auggie replied, "I do."

"Then why lie to me?" Charlotte asked, her eyes searching his for the truth.

He looked into her eyes, at the time he had a reason, but at the moment it didn't make sense.

Sliding away from him, Charlotte nodded.

  "I'm sure about us." She swore before her voice cracked as she suggested, "If you're not, don't even bother showing up tomorrow."

A sharp pain twisted in Auggie's chest before settling in his stomach causing him to take a step back.

  "You don't want to get married?"

  Opening her car door, he could see tears pool in her eyes as she replied, "I don't want to wake up one day and have to pretend to be someone I'm not because you suddenly don't want me anymore."

~

Auggie sat alone in The Dog House with a bottle of whiskey, keeping the bottom of his glass filled as he sipped it, thinking about what Charlotte said. He knew she was talking about Kieran and Liv. The more he drank, the more he compared himself to his cousin.

Refusing to believe there was a similarity there, Auggie recalled when Kieran chose his own mark over Liv's.

Wearing a proud expression, Kieran puffed his chest in Auggie's direction.

  "What'd ya think?"

  Eyeing the mark on the left side of his cousin's chest, Auggie laughed, "It might be time for your ol' man to retire."

  "Why?" Kieran asked, looking down at his own chest.

  "'Cause that doesn't look like a lily to me."

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Kieran slapped Auggie's shoulder, informing, "I had Sarah change it."

  "You serious?" Auggie questioned, finding it hard to believe, given how committed his cousin was to his legacy.

  "I love Liv. Have since the first time I saw her. But, man, I was sittin' there at your mom's and all these 'what ifs' kept gettin' me."

"She's gonna be pissed. You know that right?"

  With a quick nod, Kieran shared, "She was. Swore it's 'cause Sarah hates her."

  Giving him a slight shove, Auggie griped, "What the hell?"

  "What? Your mom does hate her and besides, this one's more my style."

  Growing disappointed with him, Auggie asked, "And when she finds out?"

  "How's she gonna know?"

  Shaking his head, Auggie replied, "For what it's worth, you're wrong for doin' that. Liv's cool as hell."

  "She is, isn't she." Kieran agreed with a wide smile before saying, "We'll see how you handle the nail in your coffin, when your day comes."

  "Ain't happenin.'"

  Kieran rolled his eyes and laughed, "Admit it, you'd do the same."

  "You're messin' with tradition. It's gonna bite you in the ass one day."

  "What can I say, cousin, Liv's badass but it never hurts to have a plan b."

  "If you say so. Won't matter for me. There's not a woman on earth bad enough to own me."

Scowling into his glass of whiskey, Auggie shook his head at himself. Why couldn't he have inherited some wisdom from his dad? If he were here, they could share the bottle while Gus imparted one of his sayings that would make everything alright.

As Auggie sat there thinking about his dad, his family and the woman he loved, he heard the doors open.

  "Bar's closed." He informed, not caring who it was as long as they left.

  "I want to be with Penny." Seth announced, sounding like his life depended on it.

  "Good for you." He replied, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"What do I do?"

Surprised at how quickly the answer came to him, Auggie knew exactly what Seth should do.

20

Staring at her cell phone, Charlotte thought about calling Auggie before she fell asleep and again when she woke up. She expected at least a text message from him assuring her he would show up for the wedding. With a loud huff, she slid out of bed, hoping the day would go as planned. After all, Auggie didn't have the best track record when it came to important events.

Before Charlotte made it to the bathroom, her bedroom door flew open.

  By the time the door slammed shut Silvia was in her face, questioning, "Have you heard from Braden? He's still coming, right?"

  Taking a step back, Charlotte fussed, "Seriously! Stop!"

  Silvia frowned, instantly pouting as she griped, "You're in a mood."

  "Could it be because my sister has no manners?"

  Still pouting with persistence, Silvia replied, "Please? Tell me he's coming."

  Narrowing her eyes at her sister, Charlotte stated, "Just get out."

  "Uhh... Fine! You're so selfish." Silvia complained as she left the room.

'Unbelievable.' Charlotte thought as she finally made it to her bathroom.

Checking her cell phone again, now that she was dressed, the fact that Auggie still had not called or sent her a text message was starting to bother her. What if he didn't show up? The thought made her uneasy, until irritation set in. It was a much more manageable emotion than fear. Choosing to focus on what a jackass her soon to be husband was, helped alleviate the uncertainty of how the day would turn out.

She stopped to look at herself in the mirror and read the words off of the shirt that she was wearing, 'I CAN'T KEEP CALM, I'M GETTING MARRIED.' After counting back from ten in her head, Charlotte thought; 'You better have picked one hell of a wedding song, Augustus,' and walked out of her room.

~

Charlotte sat on a stool inside her wedding preparation tent, listening to the voices and various sounds of everyone outside the tent setting up. Taking slow deep breaths, she tried not to panic. No one had seen or heard from Auggie since the night before.

21

Bumping the side of his fist against the top of the table Seth was passed out under, Auggie heard him quickly sit up and bang his head underneath it.

  "You alright?"

Groaning his reply, Seth dragged himself out from under the table.

In all the nights Auggie spent drinking, he had never seen anyone actually drink themselves under a table.

  Climbing into a chair, Seth laid his head down on the table, saying, "I feel like death."

  "Ya look like it too." He teased before advising, "Go home and shower. Tea, not coffee, take aspirin, a nap and then another shower and you should be good."

  Seth cringed as he looked up at Auggie saying, "That was...specific."

"Best of luck to ya." He added, grabbing a bottle of Guinness off of the bar.

~

Auggie glanced into the rearview mirror at his suit jacket and tie hanging in the back seat of his truck. Why he'd waited so long to do this he wasn't sure, but timing is everything and today felt right. Grabbing the beer out of his console, he opened the door and got out.

Walking across the grass, Auggie stopped next to a marble marker. He leaned down and placed the Guinness next to his brother's headstone and smiled.

  "I won't keep ya, Will. I got somewhere to be." He shared before informing, "Gettin' married today."

Running his hand down the front of his beard, he took a moment to laugh at himself.

  "You probably already knew that, I'm not sure how all this works. Point is, there's somethin' I have to say to you."

Nodding at the silence of the cemetery, Auggie continued.

  "Guess you were wondering when I'd figure out that you set us up. I hope you know she's gonna give me hell for the rest of my life." Stopping to smile he acknowledged, "But I'm a better man for it."

Pausing, he took a deep breath.

"Anyway, what I came out here to say was... Thank you. Thank you for bringing Charlotte into my life. I love ya, brother."

Auggie took a step back and nodded again before turning and walking to his truck.

Back in his truck, Auggie headed out to his uncle Brennen's. With his heart thundering in his chest, he was about to be married and no one, not even he, was going to ruin the day.

22

Stepping out of the barn, on the far end of Brennen's property, Auggie stopped and looked around. He recalled the day he took Charlotte out to tend to the peacocks. Half teasing in intent, he remembered her long sexy legs awkwardly maneuvering the rubber boots she had on, the way she gazed at the pretty birds that didn't come close to how beautiful she was, and how stunning her blue eyes were the first time he really looked into them. No way in hell was he going to tell her she needed to keep her hands to herself this time.

As Auggie's cell phone vibrated in his slacks, he figured it was time to make his way to his tent and get ready. Pulling his phone out, he saw a text from Penny.

  P: What is the matter with you?

Confused, he texted her back.

  A: What?

  P: Where are you?

  A: At the barn. Why?

Hopping in his truck, Auggie waited for her to text back.

  P: Charlotte is freaking out! She thinks you're not going to show up.

Firing up his engine, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

  A: On my way.

~

With the assurance that Auggie had arrived, Charlotte felt confident enough to slip her shoes on. She had waited until she was sure he was there before committing to her Marc Defang, open toe peacock blue diamond frost heels.

Glancing over at Amila and Penny, she smiled, lifting the hem of her wedding gown. Charlotte started to show off her stunning heels, when she noticed something sparkle by her foot. Reaching down, she picked up a bobby pin that had obviously fallen out of her hair. As she stood upright, a long piece of gathered hair, that it had been holding, fell across her face.

Panic instantly set in.

  "What if he showed up to tell everyone the wedding's off?"

Charlotte watched as Penny frowned at her phone and whispered something to Amila before leaving the tent.

"He changed his mind didn't he?"

  A soft smile formed on Amila's face as she stepped to Charlotte assuring, "Honey, you need to calm down."

  Shaking her head, she swore, "I can't."

  Amila continued to smile as she lifted the hair out of Charlotte's face and replaced the bobby pin asking, "If you're having second thoughts or you're not sure..."

  On the verge of tears, Charlotte confessed, "I'm afraid. I love him. If it ever ends... I..."

  Nodding, Amila placed her hand on Charlotte's shoulder imparting, "I don't think Auggie's the type of man that would be here if he didn't feel exactly the same way."

Charlotte smiled, starting to feel better.

  Giving her a light squeeze, Amila shared, "Now, I have to go see if we left your garter in the car. You can't get married without that. Talk about bad luck."

  "What?" Charlotte blurted, as Amila left the tent.

~

Penny stood in front of Auggie with her hand on her hip and a 'what do you want me to do' expression on her face.

  "I want him in here." He assured, thinking maybe she hadn't made that part clear.

  "I told him that."

"Is he gonna stand up there with me?" Auggie questioned, aggravated at the way his brother was behaving.

  Shrugging, Penny replied, "He's wearing his tux so I imagine, but if you wanna know, you go talk to Braden. I've got to get back to Charlotte."

  "Thanks, Pen." He said as she waved her hand behind her head and walked out.

Shaking his head with a deep scowl, he started to head out and look for Braden, when his mom walked in.

  "Sit down and give me your shoes." She ordered without so much as a smile.

  "I'm still gonna marry her, whether you take my shoes or not, Ma." He replied with a slight smile.

  Pursing her lips at him, Sarah swatted Auggie on the arm saying, "I realize that, son."

Doing as he was told, he watched Sarah dust the bottom of his shoes off as he handed them to her.

Handing his dress shoes over to Ailin, Auggie's mom gave Kieran two small stickers. Kieran gave Sarah a strange look as Ailin shook his head and started to laugh.

  "Go on, help him." Sarah told Kieran before looking at Auggie saying, "You've never half-assed anything in your entire life. Don't start now."

Nodding, Auggie smiled at his mom as she kissed the side of his head before exiting just as abruptly as she entered.

Forgetting about Braden for the moment, Auggie looked over to his brother and cousin to see what they were doing to his shoes. Both wore wide smiles as they showed him the soles.
'She's'
was on one and
'Mine'
was on the other. Shaking his head, he couldn't help laughing.