“You two are clearly out of his league. I’m just glad he’s locked away. How is Anderson’s father?” Rhianna asks. “I feel like he was a silent pawn in their scheme.”
I shrug. “He’s sent letters, but I haven’t opened them. I’m not really sure if I want to. Other than that, he hasn’t contacted me.”
Rhianna lifts her glass of vodka and drinks it all before she smiles at me. “You sure you don’t want to get drunk with me?” She winks.
I laugh and can already tell the difference between the twins, Rhianna has a carefree attitude about her, while Rylee is more reserved.
“No, I’m good. But thank you.”
“That’s all right, you can watch me be a hot mess instead. It’s always so much fun, especially when I get horny and Noah tries to push everyone out without being rude and puts the kids to bed.” I laugh at her openness just as the door opens to the backyard, where I can see Oliver playing with two little girls, one of them August and Rylee’s daughter, Winter, and the other must be Rhianna’s daughter.
“That’s Summer. She may or may not be annoying like me.” We laugh when we see Summer put her hands on her hips and poke her tongue out at Oliver, who just looks down at the ground.
Rylee walks in, her smile bright when she sees me. “You made it. I’m so glad he passed along the message. I would have come to invite you myself, but we have some news. Good news, actually.” Rylee steps over to Rhianna and reaches for her hand and pulls her toward the door, looking back at me. “Come, Jacinta, you’re part of our family now, too. Come out.” I know she is being nice, but I haven’t been a part of a family for a long time. August was my family, and now he is hers.
I follow her outside, and when I do, I see there are more people here than I thought. I spot August, who stands when he sees Rylee and pulls her to him as she drops her sister’s hand.
“What news?” I watch as Rylee looks up at August, her eyes fluttering and a smile on her face that would be impossible to break.
“August asked me to marry him.”
August turns her hand around as Rylee shows the ring to everyone. I watch as her family stands and wraps her in hugs.
All except one.
“Hi, Beckham,” I say, not realizing he’s sitting right next to me.
He tips his head up to me and lifts his drink to say hello, then looks away.
I watch as everyone congratulates them. When they’re done, one of the ladies comes over and smacks Beckham’s crossed leg, and he drops it.
“Sorry, Mother,” he mutters.
His mother offers me a smile, but I can see she is assessing me. “Do you plan to introduce me?” she asks.
Beckham looks to me, then back to his mother in some sort of under-no-circumstances-is-it-my-problem way.
“No. Rylee invited her. Ask her,” he says with not a care in the world as he sips his drink.
“Beckham.”
My head turns to the man who was in the office the other day. Today he’s in casual clothes rather than a police uniform.
Beckham stands and walks off with his drink in hand to where the kids are playing. Beckham’s mother offers Glenn a small hug before August steps over.
“Congrats, August. Paige would be so happy right now.” I watch as pain slices across August’s face, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared. “Beckham decided to walk off,” Glenn says and motions in the direction of Beckham.
August then notices and introduces me to Glenn. “Glenn, this is Jacinta.”
Glenn smiles. “August has told me a lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you, officially.” I blush and thank him.
“It’s so good to see you here, Glenn. I was hoping you would come,” Rylee says as she joins us. I look at the ring on her hand and smile. It has a small diamond in the middle, which is surrounded by more diamonds that then wrap around the entire ring. It's elegant and beautiful.
I feel a tug on my leg and see it’s Winter, so I smile down at her.
“Oliver wants you to come,” she says in a small voice and takes my hand. I follow after her, my hand in hers until we walk up to a treehouse. It’s high but not high enough that it scares me. I climb up the first few steps until I reach the door and can squeeze inside. When I do, Oliver is crying, and Beckham is tapping his back.
“What happened?” I ask, rushing over to grab him. “What did you do?” I yell at Beckham.
“Woman, will you calm down. He kicked his toe.” He shakes his head. “Why the fuck would you presume I did anything?”
I look down to see Oliver’s toe bleeding. “Buddy, it’s not that bad, just a little blood,” I tell him and look back to Beckham, who’s watching me now with a sour expression on his face. “Why are you in a kids’ treehouse?” I ask.
“Why are you?” he bites back. “I was here first.” I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips at his words. Winter calls for Oliver, and he scoots to the door and climbs down. His tears vanished and his pain all gone.
“You should probably leave now.” Beckham pulls out a bottle that I didn’t see and puts it to his lips. When he sees me still sitting here, he wipes at his lips, and his bad mood is obvious when he speaks again. “Do you not think it’s weird that you’re at your ex-husband’s surprise engagement party?” he asks, then takes another sip. “Hell, the first guy you stole right out from under Rylee’s feet. And the second, you didn’t so much steal but marry him. And she still gives you a job and lets you come to her family gatherings.”
“You are an asshole, you know that?”
He rears back at my words. “Oh, so she does have a backbone after all.” He chuckles, lifting the bottle again to his lips.
“At least I’m not drinking to remove the thoughts of my dead girlfriend,” I spit back at him and turn to leave, but he moves quickly and grabs my wrist.
“Keep your mouth shut about things that don’t concern you,” he says through gritted teeth.
I pull my arm free and sneer right in his face. “Fuck you, Beckham.” With quick feet, I climb down, and when I reach the bottom, his mother is waiting.
She checks me over, then looks up the tree but says nothing.
I walk past her and hope to God I can leave soon.
Chapter 7
Beckham
Sitting in a kids’ treehouse was not how I wanted to spend my day, but it’s how I plan for the rest of this party to go.
“Beckham Harley.” I groan when I hear my mother’s voice. “Get your ass down here … now.”
I could ignore her.
She may go away.
But the possibility is low.
Very low.
Because she’s a powerhouse, and my mother doesn’t walk away from much, even when it’s best she does.
I crawl to the opening, and there she is, looking up at me.
Rylee had a tough time with mother. She wanted nothing more than for her to be with Anderson, but she wasn’t aware of what a complete asshole he was to her. I almost hated my mother for that.
Almost.
“What?” I say, glaring down.
Mom taps her foot and locks eyes with me. I take a deep breath and pull myself down until I’m standing in front of her.