I made myself a promise: if Rosalind stayed, we’d have a real wedding.
Chapter 18
Rosalind
I’d had one too many glasses of wine and collapsed into a chair with my heels in my hand. Charlotte was even more giggly than I was. She sat next to me, her hair having fallen from her updo. She was glowing. Seriously glowing.
“Thanks for those boudoir shots, by the way. I gave them to Nick last night and, well, we didn’t get much sleep.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. I’d only known her for a week, but I already felt close to her. When I’d offered to take a few pictures as her gift to Nick, she hadn’t hesitated, running home to grab his favorite lingerie set and put on a layer of makeup. We’d ended up with half a dozen pictures she’d loved. I’d learned a lot, and my passion for the art had grown.
Then my parents had shown up and rained on my parade. Their ultimatum had been on my mind since then. I’d tried to enjoy the first full week living in Springwood as Derek’s wife, but I had a big decision to make. The first part of the decision was easy. There was no way I was divorcing Derek. The question was, did I try to compromise and keep my inheritance or sayfuck itand carve my own path?
“What’s it like owning your own business?” I asked Charlotte.
She leaned back in her chair. “Stressful at first. Starting up costs a lot, and you have nothing coming in. That’s how I ended up as Nick’s roommate, trying to save money until my cafeopened. I love it, though. Can’t imagine working for someone else.”
I picked at my skirt. “I guess that’s what I’m expected to do, work for someone else, that is. My family’s business. Or at the very least, not make the business look bad. Keep up the public image.”
Charlotte straightened in her seat. “You aren’t going back to Vegas, right? You’re so good at what you do, and you and Derek just glow when you’re together.”
“How can I give up my family money, though? I’ve played by their rules for years or tried to anyway. To get nothing from that,” I trailed off.
“You get the knowledge that you don’t want that life, and you work for what you do want. If your family can’t support it, then that’s fine. Derek, Nick, and I are your family too, and we do support you.” She studied me for a moment. “Why don’t they support you anyway?”
“They think boudoir is just porn and doesn’t fit the family brand.”
Charlotte made a dismissive noise. “I’ve never felt as beautiful and confident as I did then when you had your camera pointed at me. You have a gift. It’s not porn, it’s fucking… I don’t know, liberation. Women’s bodies aren’t dirty, they are beautiful and should be celebrated.” She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hands. “Do you love my brother?”
The question caught me off guard, but all I could do was nod. It was the truth. I did love him.
“Well, that settles it. The real you loves him. And I know he loves the real you, too. Why waste time pretending when love only found you after you showed who you really are.” She hiccupped, “Ugh, I must be drunk, I’m getting all philosophical.”
Nick approached a little unsteady on his feet. “Taxi is here to take us home, my lovely bride. I want a reenactment of thosepictures you gave me.” He waggled his eyebrows. His voice was entirely too loud, and Derek happened to approach at the wrong time.
“Dude, that’s my sister.”
“And my wife,” he said with a smirk.
I knew there’d been bad blood between the two in the past, but it seemed to be all in good fun now.
Mostly.
Derek opened his mouth to reply, but I cut in. “Maybe you should take your wife home too.”
He gave me a half smile. We all said our goodbyes, and headed out. He was silent on the ride home. All I wanted was a gallon of water and a shower, but it was clear something was bothering him.
As soon as we were through the door, I caught his wrist before he could move towards the bedroom. “What’s wrong?”
“The week is almost up. We haven’t talked about your parents’ visit.”
“I haven’t decided how I want to handle it yet.” The answer sounded wrong. Charlotte’s drunken declaration made too much sense. Derek was willing to love me for richer or poorer, and I realized I was finally willing to do the same.
His face fell, and he looked away. “Well, let me know when you do.”
“Derek, wait, I—”
“I’m tired, and we’ve both been drinking. Let’s just go to sleep, okay? The problem will still be there tomorrow.”
