I didn't look at him. I was too busy watching Lily. "It's a metaphor," I handwaved.
"Maybe I'll do that for real," Nails mused.
"Yeah, you totally should. Chicks usually go for those kind of demonstrations of your love." I paused deliberately. "I guess it does depend on the chick, though."
"You sound like you're talking from experience," Nails drawled.
"Who, me?" I leaned back again. "Nah. My tattoos are just pictures. They don't mean anything to me." Blatant fucking lie, but I guess I'm going full asshole here. It's what she expects.
Lily made a small, hurt sound and I instantly wanted to take it back. "Dad, you know, you should also maybe talk about humility."
"What?" Nails was confused. I wasn't.
"About how being in love is a two-way street and sometimes you have to let go of your own ego?"
He sighed and let his shoulder sag. "Okay, sure, write it down."
Low blow, Lily. "Write this down too, Liliana. 'I solemnly vow that I will always listen to the words you're saying and not jump to my own half-assed conclusions.' "
"Got it," Lily sneered. "I'm also putting down that you vow to never publicly humiliate her."
"Well, maybe not that," Nails grumbled. "I'm always fucking up in public."
"You'll do your best," she gritted, staring right at me.
"Sure." Nails leaned over to look at the piece of paper with Lily's scrawl all over it. "Gotta say, these are some weird fucking vows, kids."
Lily slammed her hand down on the table. "It's a start. I'll go type them up for you and we can play around with them over the next few days."
"I'll help with that too," I said, rising to my feet.
"No, I got it," she said tightly, snatching the paper away.
But my arms were longer. "I insist." I yanked it out of her hands.
"Listening to you two is giving me a headache," Nails complained. "Go do that writing shit and leave my dumb old brain to these circuits."
Lily shot from the room like a rocket. "Hey, Lil, aren't you forgetting something?" I waved the piece of paper. She bolted toward me and grabbed it from my hand, snatching so hard she left a little corner piece pinched between my fingers. I was laughing, but it wasn't a good laugh. It was the tight, tense laugh of someone verging on hysterics. She bolted from me again, tearing up the stairs toward her room, but I could take one step for every three of hers and I covered the ground between us in no time. I grabbed her arm, wheeling her around in the precise place I had kissed her three days prior. It felt like a lifetime ago.
"You want to stop hiding from me and tell me what the fuck happened at the beach?" I growled at her, heart hammering in my chest.
She looked at me, panicked. For a moment, I thought I had her. Her mouth opened and closed as all the emotions in the world battled for control of her face. My grip softened. "Lily," I pleaded.
Then she shook herself and the open book of her face slammed shut. "Nope," she said. She ducked under my arm and ran to her room. And slammed the door in my face.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Liliana
I flew to my laptop and threw it onto my bed. My fingers were already typing before my document had fully loaded.
I will always be true to you.
I will love you forever
This is my vow.
To always honor you, both in public and private.
To recognize my faults and strive to be a better man.
To love you how you deserve to be loved.
To be your best friend and make you laugh.
To cherish your body and your pleasure.
To be slow to anger and quick to forgive.
To never hold on to slights and faults, whether intended or otherwise.
To always respect your wishes and never ignore your pain.
To be your companion through thick and thin and never let the bad times get the best of us.
A drop of water hit my keypad and I looked at it, astonished, before I realized it was a tear. I pulled back and stared at the letters on the screen, the words that had just poured out of me…
I wasn't writing my father's vows. I was writing a fantasy. Just like my books with their idealized versions of Jaxson, I was writing out everything I wanted him to say to me.
And everything I wanted to say back.
Time slipped away, like it always did when I was immersed in words. When my stomach growled, I looked up to the slanting sun and realized I hadn’t eaten at all today. Blinking up from the laptop, I realized my headache had only gotten worse and I was in danger of bringing on a migraine if I didn't get some food in me, fast.
The house was strangely quiet when I emerged. Below me, a figure swathed in shawls and bangles drifted in from the kitchen and looked up at me. "Liliana, how are you feeling? Jax says you had a migraine."
I blinked, surprised that he had lied for me. "I did. They always knock me out of commission for a few days. I'm okay now, just hungry,” I said, looking around. "The place looks amazing, Annie."
It really did. The sagging, beaten-down furniture had been replaced with numerous pieces that, while they didn't match, per se, seemed to balance each other in a discordant harmony, each piece a note forming a chord. The bare walls had been hung with soft tapestries and bright art and the whole place shone with new coats of paint and polish.
Annie looked around, no small amount of pride in her gaze. "The guys have been wonderful," she said. She looked genuinely happy and appreciative.
I ducked my head guiltily. "Was there anything you wanted me to do to help?"
Annie looked at me sharply, all the softness gone from her eyes. "I did actually want to talk to you about that. I need to see the dress you're wearing."
The soft Earth Mother was gone and the steely-eyed control freak took her place. This was the terrifying Annie I was used to. "Um, now? Can I grab something to eat first?"
"I'll have Diggs make you a sandwich. I need to take care of this now before too much more time passes."
"Um, take care of what?"
"The color scheme at the altar. You're standing with your father…”
"I am?"
She shot me a look as she briskly passed me on the enormous staircase. "Of course you are. You're the best woman."
"I am?" I thought I was just going to be attending the wedding, not be a part of it. "What does that mean?"
"It means your dress can't clash with the colors I've chosen." She power-walked down the hall and pushed open my door. I ducked under her arm and just managed to close my laptop before she could catch a glimpse of the "vows" I had written.
"Go on, pull it out and show me."
God, she was terrifying. "It's… a little wrinkled…"
"We'll have it steamed," she snipped.
I pulled out the rumpled, dark green heap. It was my favorite dress, worn only once. I had always liked how the subtle sheen changed from green to orange, but Annie looked completely horrified. "Absolutely not."
"Why not?"
"The altar is blue and silver. You'll look like a fungus up there."
"Gee, thanks, Annie."
She waved her hands. "It's no matter. You'll go find another one."
"I will?" Annie had a way of making me sound like an especially stupid parrot.