All I See Is You

15. Stay

Chapter fifteen

Stay

Quinn

E very second my dad and Hux spent in the house caused more and more dread to claw its way up my throat, making it hard to speak, hard to breathe. I hated being alone with Georgette. She hadn’t done anything yet, but I just had this growing, horrible feeling the longer I was around her.

“How’re you doing on that mojito, sweetie? You want another?” she asked, lounging on the couch like she was posing for Sports Illustrated or Playboy. I hadn’t been around her more than a time or two before this, and even then it had been brief, so maybe this was really her, but she hadn’t seemed so obnoxious when her and dad first met.

Whit’s words burned in my mind from earlier today. You really want him marrying her?

More and more I realized I didn’t. But again, it wasn’t about me. It was about him. He genuinely seemed happy with her. Who was I to deny him that happiness?

I held up my half drunk mojito before placing it back on the coffee table before us. “I’m good… So, I figured we could hammer out some wedding details.”

“Queenie, sweetheart, you need to let loose a bit. Sit back, relax, drink the mojito. And tell me about your boy toy!” She sat up, her gaze turning devious, the smirk on her face full of mischief. “You know, for a blind guy, he’s pretty hot.”

Anger simmered to life in my veins and I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I drew blood. Sitting on my hands to hide the trembling, I said with a calm I most certainly didn’t feel, “You do realize him being blind has nothing to do with how attractive he is, right?” Was she really that ignorant? That stupid? Did she really believe that? But most importantly, how the hell were her and my dad together? Dad wasn’t hateful like that. He wasn’t mean-spirited and close-minded. Georgette…she might just be the most awful person I’d ever met.

You’re doing this for Dad. Not her.

She at least had the decency to frown. “I’m so sorry. That came out wrong. I just—I’m sorry. I’m drunk. You must…” Her bottom lip even quivered. Oh my God, was she seriously criying? “You must think I’m awful.”

I bit back an eye roll. This was such a shit show. I wondered how Hux’s conversation with my dad was going. Was it as bad as this? Worse? God, I hoped not. Guilt bubbled in my stomach, making me feel sick.

I had just wanted to have a nice date with him, and now I was dealing with my dad’s drunk, small-minded fiancé.

“I don’t think that,” I lied through my teeth.

Her brown gaze pegged me in place. “You’re just saying that.”

Shaking my head, I said, “No, I’m not. Honest.”

Lies.

She sniffled, taking a drink from her already empty mojito, before glancing around the backyard and shouting for the poor cook who was grilling carne asada and chicken on the outdoor barbeque. “Isidor! Isidor! Another mojito when you get a moment.” She hiccuped. “Please.”

Well, at least she said please.

Even though every nerve ending in my body screamed not to, I rose from the couch and made my way over to her. “So, we really should start figuring out things for the wedding.”

She leaned her head against my shoulder. “Wedding plans can wait, my head hurts. We’ve got time.”

I fought the urge to point out maybe the headache had something to do with the four mojitos she’d had in the time I’d gotten here. Instead, I let out a nervous laugh. “Actually, we don’t. The wedding is in two Saturdays from now. We need to get things going, like, yesterday, if we want everything to be smooth sailing.”

I was under no such impulsion that there would be any smooth sailing with this event, but she didn’t need to know that.

Isidor came a few minutes later with a drink in hand for her and set it down on the table. “Here you are, Mrs. Decker.”

“Thanks, Isidor. How long for dinner?”

“Maybe fifteen more minutes, ma’am.” He turned his gaze to me, a guilty look coming over his face. He was young, probably not much older than me, and looked so nervous and stressed as he stammered out, “I’m so sorry, ma’am, can I get you something?”

I offered him a soft, reassuring smile. “No thank you, Isidor.”

An emotion shifted on his face, more guilt, I realized, as he leaned over and replied under his breath, “Actually, my name is Isidro, not Isidor, ma’am.”

I clapped a hand over my mouth. “I am so, so sorry.”

He waved me off with a genuine smile. “It’s okay, ma’am.”

I bit back the urge to glare at Georgette. Holy God, she really was the worst. She couldn’t even bother to learn his name right? It was a miracle she even knew mine at this point. And as frustrating and hard as it was, I pushed the anger I felt towards her down for the moment. I still had a job to do.

After apologizing another couple times to Isidro, I turned to Georgette. Pulling out my phone from the hidden pocket of my dress, I said, “So, what I like to do is set up a Pinterest board with some images of what vibe you’re going for.” I pulled up the app and typed in wedding inspo . “If you find anything that catches your eye, just let me know and I’ll save it in the folder so I can reference colors, themes, aesthetics.”

She clapped her hands together before ensnaring my arm with hers as she leaned her head on my shoulder once more. “Ooh! That one, save that!” A gasp. “Ooh, and this one!”

Each photo that she chose for me to add to the folder left me more and more confused. The look she was going for was all over the place. One minute she was fawning over these ultra chic, modern wedding photos, and then the next a rustic farmhouse wedding vibe. None of it blended. It all clashed, and none of it made sense in the slightest.

I held back a frustrated sigh and turned to smile at her before pocketing my phone. “I think that’s enough. I have such a great idea of what vibes we’re going for.”

More lies.

But if I spent another moment with her draped over my shoulder, reeking of alcohol as she contradicted herself from one breath to the next, I was going to go crazy. Or get ridiculously drunk myself.

I managed to shift so that she couldn’t lean on me anymore, and aimed a grin in her direction. “So, what are those absolute necessities that you have to have on the day of? Like you can’t imagine your big day without.”

Maybe this would give me a better idea of where to go.

“Well, we have to have an open bar. And one of those super awesome 360 degree cameras for the guests. Oh and a DJ, ooh but what about a live band? Your dad and I just love live music.” She pressed a hand to my leg. “Did you know that the first night you dad and I met, we were at this bar in Turks and Caicos and this amazing band was playing old eighties hits. Well, Don’t Stop Believin’ came on, and I caught him singing across the bar and he saw me, and it was just like fate brought us together.”

I honestly don’t really know what she said after that. My mind just completely ran away from me, and it was all I could do to nod and smile and insert a “wow” or “oh” every now and then to keep her talking.

How was I going to plan this wedding for her? I couldn’t figure out what she wanted. Better yet, I don’t even think she knew what she wanted. And why wasn’t my dad being a part of this? This was his day too. I know most men argued that they’d rather just elope or do something small, but my dad loved a good party, and yet he wasn’t here helping to plan it. The man who liked to have a hand in everything was just sitting back and letting Georgette call all the shots? It didn’t make sense.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to dwell on it too hard for too long. The sound of my dad’s booming, obnoxious laughter floated across the backyard, and my gaze snapped to the door he and Hux walked out of. My dad wore an easy grin on his face, and even Hux looked laid back and at ease as he carried a tumbler of whiskey in one hand and an entire handle of amber liquid in the other.

Looked like their conversation had gone infinitely better than mine and Georgette’s. At least one of us was having a good time.

I rose from the couch and moved toward Hux, like a moth to a flame. “Hey,” I said softly, coming up to him.

“Hey, darlin,” he replied, “how’s it goin’?”

A weak half laugh half sob broke past my lips before I could stop it. “It’s fine.”

His brows furrowed, disappearing beneath his sunglasses, his mouth drawing into a frown. “You wanna get outta here?” he asked quietly.

“No, it’s okay,” I said with an involuntary shrug as I grabbed his wrist and led him back toward the couch.

Dad had already sat down, Georgette wasting no time to slather on the PDA. Her manicured fingers trailed over my dad’s chest and I fought back the urge to gag.

“How was wedding planning?” Dad asked me as he hooked an arm around Georgette.

“It’s going,” I managed to reply with a feigned brightness. It was the closest thing to the truth I could give him.

He nodded, an easy grin lighting up his face. Oh, he was for sure buzzing. There was a glassiness to his gaze and a rosiness to his cheeks. “You know, I gotta say, Queenie, I wasn’t too sure about Hux at first, but I changed my mind. He’s got my stamp of approval.”

That little revelation made my heart take flight and soar. I leaned into Hux, murmuring under my breath, “What did you do? No one’s ever good enough.”

Honestly, Dad hadn’t approved of anyone I’d brought home. Not that the list was long. I think I’d introduced him to one other guy I’d dated for a few months before Devin.

Hux’s low, relaxed chuckle eased some of the worry in my chest, replacing it with a warmer, lighter feeling. “I don’t know. I guess my honesty.”

He was really honest. That made me smile. At least my dad appreciated it as well. I know I did. I grabbed his hand and squeezed gently.

“So, Hudson—” Georgette began.

“Hux,” I cut in, unable to rein in my annoyance any longer. “His. Name. Is. Hux.”

Georgette rocked back at my tone, a little hiccup escaping her. “Sorry, I’m just the worst with names, sweetie.”

I bristled, God, I was so tired of her calling me sweetie, acting like she was that much older than me when really there was only six years between us. Hux replied before I could say anything more. “Yes, ma’am?”

“So, Carl was telling me earlier that Quinn told him you were a bull rider. Is that true?”

Hux stilled beside me, and I swear it's like a blanket of silence descended on the backyard. He turned toward me, his voice low, sharp, as he asked, “You knew?”

Trepidation knotted in my stomach once more, guilt so great crashing like a tidal wave all around me. “Whit and I tried to look up your socials and I saw.”

“Saw what?” he growled out, his grip on my hand tightening a fraction. I don’t even think he realized it, but he trembled beneath my touch.

“Everything,” I breathed.

And just like that, he let go of my hand. Just like that, it felt like a rug had slipped out from beneath me.