Fifteen
Vic hadn’t been this nervous since he’d planned to take Aubrey’s virginity—and give up his own—the night of her senior prom. He’d booked a room at a fancy hotel in Dallas and had arranged for strawberries and champagne to be sent to the room. The butterflies in his gut were more like flying dragons when he’d picked her up at her parents’ house. He’d been positive Eddie and Mary Collins had seen the sweat on his brow for what it was—not a reaction to the Texas heat, but guilt seeping out of his every pore.
His nerves had given way the moment he and Aubrey had walked into that luxury hotel room. He’d been positive forever was in their future. He’d already purchased an engagement ring with the intention of proposing on her graduation day, which he’d ended up doing. Marriage was inevitable for them, so he saw no reason to wait another minute to actually be with her. She was his destiny, and he’d promised her an evening she’d never forget. Except she had forgotten.
Two years after that, he’d made another significant purchase and had planned another surprise for his fiancée. As fate had it, the night he’d tucked a gold key with a red ribbon into his pocket was the same night they’d argued about their future for the final time.
“I’m so tired of your mood swings, Vic Grandin!” Aubrey shouted.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Why? Who cares if your sisters overhear? Or your parents. Or everyone in the entire state of Texas!”
“Me!” he shouted back. “I care. And that ring on your finger should make you care. My sisters and parents are about to be your sisters and parents, too.”
The argument had been devolving since they’d started. It’d picked up speed since its downhill trajectory, and he’d be damned if he knew how to stop it. Making matters worse, he circled back to the comment that had started this ill-fated conversation.
“Ever since you went off to college you think you’re too good to live a lowly life as a Grandin. I could buy you anything you want, and you don’t give me credit for that, Aubrey.”
“Did it occur to you, golden boy, that I don’t require a pampered life? I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. I want to earn my own money, not have it handed to me.”
He ignored the insinuation that he didn’t work for his and instead focused on what was really bothering him.
“Becoming a teacher requires the initial bachelor’s degree you’re in the middle of attaining. Why graduate school? Why extend your college sentence another two or three years? Is the idea of marrying me and starting a family that repulsive?” He was lashing out, and he didn’t fully understand why. All he knew was that he’d been ready to marry Aubrey Collins since he’d kissed her for the first time. He’d assumed they’d be married immediately. She’d wanted to wait a few years, and he’d agreed to wait. He’d been patient, and now she wanted to put off the wedding again?
Looking back from an adult standpoint, he understood why he’d lashed out. He’d been hurt. If he’d had a brain cell in his head at the time, he’d have seen that his anger was masking inadequacy he hadn’t come to terms with. Instead, he’d yelled and defended himself. Not his finest moment.
“News flash,” Aubrey continued. “My going to graduate school has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me and what I want out of life. You’re not the only one with aspirations, Victor Grandin the Third.”
He hated when she called him that. She added “the third” whenever she was upset with him, knowing it upset him. He wasn’t a carbon copy of his grandfather and his father. He was the sole male heir in a new generation. He planned on taking the Grandin family ranch to its pinnacle. He’d make his family billions. History books would rave about how he’d exceeded everyone’s expectations. His sisters would finally have to admit he was capable and talented.
Aubrey folded her arms and pressed her lips together. Her chin quivered and her eyelashes fluttered. He didn’t recall having seen her angrier. “Admit it, Vic, we’ve grown apart.”
The accusation hit him like a sucker punch. He blinked away the red in his vision.
“You met someone, didn’t you?” he said between clenched teeth. It was the only logical explanation for her not wanting to marry him. “You met an educated guy who wants to be a professor when he grows up, and you believe common interests far outweigh the life a glorified ranch hand could give you. Admit it.”
Her mouth fell open. “You have a lot of growing up to do. And yes, that is my college experience talking. If you truly believe I’ve met someone else while still seeing you, then marrying you is the worst idea I’ve ever entertained.”
Her comment was a dagger straight to his gut. His next words weren’t thought out, and they sure as hell weren’t kind. “If that’s the way you feel, then you shouldn’t marry me. You can strut your college-educated ass off my property, but fair warning—if you walk away now, you’ll be begging to come back.”
She flinched, hurt radiating through her beautiful features, but she shored herself up a second later, tore the engagement ring from her finger and threw it at him. “Fuck you, Vic.”
He’d never once heard her drop an F-bomb, so in a way it had been a bomb. The mushroom cloud had hovered over his head as she stomped to her car. He’d followed her, shouting as she drove off that she’d come crawling back to him. He’d promised her he’d be counting down the hours until she returned.
Shame coated him as he remembered that night in graphic detail. It was like it’d been tattooed onto his skin. He’d been an entitled, arrogant asshole at the end. Was it any wonder why she’d never spoken to him again? It’d been a miracle she’d agreed to go to bed with him the night he’d bought her a drink at the Silver Saddle. It’d taken some balls to ask her for more after having been so shallow.
Hands gripping the steering wheel of his truck, he surfaced from the bad memories and focused on the road. His Aubrey with the auburn hair sat next to him, singing the words to a song on the radio. How did she remember lyrics but not one of the most significant memories from her past? In a way, it would have been easier if she’d remembered on her own—preferably during one of the nights she’d spent at his house. Then he could’ve held her close and explained how this was their second chance. He’d remind her that she’d been the one who asked for him after the accident—didn’t that count for something?
She shut off the radio when the song ended. “How much longer?”
Excitement danced in her eyes. He’d wanted to kiss her since he’d picked her up but had resisted. He had no right to take anything more from her. Not until she knew the whole truth.
Permission had come via her parents, who had spoken to Aubrey’s doctor. He’d confessed to Mary and Eddie that he couldn’t spend another moment keeping Aubrey in the dark. He loved her but couldn’t tell her. Not when she didn’t fully understand the circumstance. He’d expected a fight, but her parents had agreed. Her doctor gave the green light. Aubrey was ready.
Vic sure as hell wasn’t.
During their drive, she’d mentioned that she’d been feeling unsettled lately. He pressed gently, asking her why. She’d shared that she’d felt confused, and he’d promised she wouldn’t be confused after today. And then he told her he had a surprise for her.