Chapter 14
Clarabella
"You want to come with me?" His tone goes even higher when he looks at me, and I avoid looking over at him. My eyes focus on the road even though the tears make my vision blurry.
"I have two choices at this point." I wipe the corner of my eye with the tissue, turning to look at him. "I can stay here and deal with that situation, which is the last thing I want to do, by the way." Pointing behind me, I know if I would go back there, people would see me break. "Or take off far away from here with you, which is the second to last thing I want to do, for a bit and wait for the dust to settle. So I have no other options. Going with you is the lesser of two evils." I turn away from him and look at the road, dabbing my eyes. The pain and sadness are starting to build, but I don't think the anger will make it come up.
I'm angry. I'm so fucking angry that he lied to me, and I was a fool. I shake my head as the tears come. My phone buzzes in my hand, and I look down to see that the notifications are going up by the second. I walked out of the bridal suite thinking that I just needed a second to think, knowing that in five minutes, I would have to tell my family that the wedding was off. Knowing that there were going to be a million and one questions that I would have to answer. Knowing that at the end of the day, I would stand there, and people would look at me with pity in their eyes. The whispers would start and then even some finger-pointing, and to be honest, I just needed a minute to think.
Then I looked up, and he was there, even though the last person on earth I wanted to see was Luke. Standing there just looking at me like he was waiting for the doors to open. I put my head back on the seat and close my eyes, if only for a minute. While the phone goes nuts in my lap and I know that I have to answer them. They must be worried sick looking for me. "Do they know you left?" I hear Luke ask from beside me, and with my eyes focused on the road, all I do is shake my head. "Do you want me to call and just let them know you're safe?"
"It's not your concern," I scoff, my heart speeding up in my chest. I swear this dress is getting tighter and tighter as the drive goes on.
"My concern is that you're sitting in my truck, and they can call the cops and say I kidnapped you." My head whips to him, and I see him smirk.
"Don't flatter yourself,” I say, and all he does is roll his lips. I pick up the phone, seeing the red notification beside the text bubble.
Opening it up, I take a big deep breath before clicking on the top message that is a family group chat.
Shelby: We lost Clarabella!!!
Presley: What do you mean we lost Clarabella?
Travis: Define lost?
Shelby: I went back to check on her, and she's gone. Vanished.
Presley: She's wearing a ten-pound dress. How far could she have gone? She has to be somewhere.
Travis: I'll check the bar area.
Shelby: She isn't there.
Travis: Well, she isn't in the chapel.
Presley: Where is Edward?
Shelby: No idea.
Travis: You guys left her alone with him. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?
Shelby: NOT NOW, TRAVIS!
Travis: Does the phrase accessory to murder mean anything to you?
Presley: I do not look good in orange.
Presley: Can you imagine me in jail? I'm going to be someone's bitch.
Shelby: Get over yourself for a minute and focus.
Travis: You guys had one job. ONE.
Shelby: How do I remove someone from this chat?
Me: I'm fine. I left, and he was alive.
The phone rings in my hand, and I see it's Shelby, but I press decline.
Shelby: Did you seriously just fucking decline me? Well, if that doesn't scream fuck off, I don't know what does.
Me: I need some time to think.
Presley: You have two hundred people waiting for you to walk down the aisle.
Me: The wedding is off.
Travis: Shocker.
Me: Can you handle it?
Shelby: What choice do we have?
Travis: I'm not telling Mom.
Presley: Are you okay?
Travis: I'm fine. I'm just not telling Mom.
Presley: I wasn't asking you, idiot. I was asking Clarabella!
Me: I'm the least bit fine, but I'll be okay. FYI, WE HATE HIM, AND HE'S A FUCKING LIAR!
Travis: It's like the family is cursed for weddings. Presley, I'm not coming to your first wedding.
Presley: AS IF AFTER WATCHING THE TRAIN WRECK OF MY FAMILY TRYING TO GET MARRIED, I WOULD EVEN ATTEMPT IT! FUCK THAT SHIT. SINGLE WOLF FOR LIFE.
Travis: You really think you are wolf status?
Shelby: Meeting in the bridal suite now.
Presley: Shit, Edward just walked into the chapel and told everyone the wedding is off.
Travis: Well, the good news, he's alive. Bad news, I think I hear Mom screaming.
I put my phone down and put my head back. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
I look over at him. "I need a drink,” I tell the truth. "Not just a small shot, like the whole bottle."
"I don't think I have any white wine with me." He smirks at me, and I want to throat punch him, but instead, I flip him the bird and turn to look out the window, the sound of him laughing irritating me. The last thing I need is for him to pull over and dump me in the middle of nowhere. My head spins around and around as the trees pass by faster and faster while the phone vibrates in my lap.
Presley: Well, that was fun.
Shelby: If that was fun, I would hate to know what you find is really fun.
Me: How did it go?
Travis: Mom freaked out.
Me: Is she okay?
Travis: She will be okay. Harlow is with her, and I saw her take a shot of some sweet tea.
Shelby: FYI, he called you a runaway bride.
Me: Well, once a pencil dick, always a pencil dick.
Travis: I just threw up in my mouth.
Presley: It could be worse. People were comparing you to Julia Roberts.
Shelby: I love her.
Me: Could be so much worse. What happened with Mom?
Travis: She was in shock. I have to say, after the first two, I don't know why she's surprised.
Shelby: Edward's parents told her that they are going to sue you for emotional distress.
Me: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
Presley: Oh, wait, it gets better.
Shelby: Mom told them to fuck off and that they weren't leaving until they settled their tab.
Me: WHAT?
Travis: Then she looked at me and told me to tell them to suck my dick since she didn't have one.
Presley: SHE IS MY HERO.
Me: Is she okay?
Shelby: Yes.
Presley: Yes.
Travis: Absolutely not.
Shelby: TRAVIS, WHAT THE FUCK? CAN SOMEONE KICK HIM OUT?
Travis: Hey, you try talking Mom down off the ledge for the second time. Do you know what she said? She has to wear black for the rest of her life to sacrifice herself for her daughters. She even mentioned a hat and veil.
Presley: It wasn’t that bad.
Shelby: I hear glass smashing.
Travis: Oh, fuck, code black.
Me: What the hell is going on? What the hell is code black?
I look down at the phone, waiting to see if they answer. My body shakes with nerves now. Maybe walking away wasn't the best thing to do. Maybe I should have stayed and faced the music. At least told them the truth as to why I left instead of taking all the shit that was going to come my way.
Me: Hello?
Presley: Edward wanted to talk to Mom and explain himself.
Me: Why did glass break?
Travis: HE HAS A CHILD?????? WTF? WHY WOULD YOU NOT TELL ME THIS DETAIL?
Shelby: I was busy.
Presley: It was a secret.
Travis: HARLOW STEPPED IN FRONT OF MOM AND USED HER PREGNANT BODY AS A SHEILD.
Presley: OH MY GOD, SHE'S PREGNANT? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?
Travis: I was busy. It was a secret.
Shelby: Petty much?
Only my family would come in and make this whole thing about them. Forget that I ran away from my wedding. Forget that now I'll probably be labeled as the runaway bride. Forget everything except their drama. I look down at the phone, waiting to see the three dots. "Not to interrupt you,” Luke says, "but you have about ten minutes until you lose service."
I look over at him, confused. "What do you mean?" I look down at my phone and see the three bars at the top go down to two.
"It's a secluded cabin,” he explains, and still, it's like he's talking a different language. I literally don't get what he's trying to say.
"There is no Wi-Fi?" I ask, shocked. "How can that be? There are signals everywhere." I look around at the denseness of the trees. The sun has gone down, and the only lights are the headlights.
"The only thing the cabin has is running water and electricity,” he informs me.
"Is this The Hunger Games?" I ask, looking down at my phone, seeing that the two bars have gone down to one. "Fuck," I swear and just dial Shelby.
"Oh, now she calls," she says, answering the phone after one ring.
"Listen, I don't have a lot of time to talk," I start to say. "Apparently, there is no signal where I'm going."
"Oh my God. It's Squid Game," she says, and I close my eyes and put my hand to my head. "Where the hell are you even going?" she asks, and I look over at Luke.
"Where are we going?"
"Who are you with?" Shelby asks me as soon as I finish asking Luke the question. "What color is the brown bear?" she asks me, and I laugh. It was a secret code that we had when we were younger in case we were ever in trouble.
"Purple," I reply, laughing. "I'm with Luke."
"Um, excuse me," she says. "I'm sorry. You really are in a bad part of town if I just heard you say you are with Luke."
I turn my head, not wanting him to hear my conversation, but I'm in the middle of nowhere in his truck where no music is playing. "I walked out of the door, and he was standing there."
"Not waiting for her!” he shouts from his side of the truck, and I turn and glare at him.
"I'm having a private conversation," I grumble between clenched teeth.
"You aren't even whispering," he says. "You have two minutes," he points out as we get off at a dirt road.
"I'm sharing my location with you right now," I tell Shelby. "How bad is it?"
"On a scale of one to ten," she says. "It ranged about fifteen."
I close my eyes. "How can this be a fifteen when you walked down the aisle and left him there?"
"I walked down the aisle." She laughs. "You ran."
"I didn't run. I needed a break. I'm going to call you as soon as I get a signal," I say, and then the call drops. I look over at Luke. "I didn't even share my location with her!"
"I warned you," he reminds me as he turns down another road.
This one is definitely deserted, and we bounce up and down as he makes his way down the road to the little house that sits in pitch black. The lights from the car light it up. “Is this it?” I ask, not sure what else to say.
“Welcome to my cabin, Clarabella," he says softly, getting out of the truck and leaving me with my thoughts for one second before he walks over and opens the door for me. He holds out his hand for me. "Let me help you." His words make my whole body shiver. I don't move a muscle as he looks at me. "I won't bite," he says, smirking at me. "At least not unless you want me to."