The Next Level: A BWWM Billionaire Marriage And Pregnancy Romance (10 page)

“
Just
be careful, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“
I
won’t. He’s breaking up with Emily today. Last night he
told me that he’d been planning to for a while. The only reason
he hadn’t was that his mother kept insisting he settle down.
After everything that happened yesterday with you and Catherine, he
decided to wait a little longer until his mom cooled off. Don’t
give me that look. He’s breaking it off with her, he really
is,” she said defensively.

Chelsea
threw up her hands. “I just hope he is.”

Sangi
seemed a bit annoyed as they walked down with each other. Usually she
would be constantly chattering, giving her every sordid detail of her
night spent in bliss. However, she didn’t say a word until they
entered the dining room to say good morning to everyone. Catherine
was talking excitedly with Matthew, her eyes bright. Chelsea decided
she would give her a chance. Maybe she really did feel bad about what
happened the other day. In any case, Matthew seemed a lot less
stressed than he had the day before. She would take her small
blessings where she could get it.

After
a while, Sangi seemed to forget she was upset as her bubbly voice
filled the room as they ate. She and Andrew kept glancing at each
other, little smiles on their lips before they looked away again.
Chelsea wondered if she’d been transported back to high school.
Just as breakfast was finishing up, Catherine announced she was
taking her and Dorothy shopping.

“
Let
the guys get a chance to know each other. Sangi, you’re welcome
to come along too.”

They
left the dining room, ready to head into town. Chelsea had her
wedding book tucked under her arm, purse on her wrist as she walked
down the stairs. She was digging around in it when she ran into
Matthew at the bottom.

“
Ouch!
Sorry, honey.”

He
kissed her forehead. “It’s okay. I see you and my mother
are getting along again. What did she say to you?”

Chelsea
shrugged. “She just apologized. I figure there’s no point
holding a grudge when we’re all about to be family.”

He
nodded, looking thoughtful. “I agree. I’m
just...surprised I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever heard
my mother say sorry.”

“
Well,”
Chelsea dragged out slowly, ”she didn’t. Not in exact
terms, but I think her heart’s in the right place.”

They
heard the clicking of heels as Catherine walked to the entrance way.
She held a small clutch purse. Sangi walked in to join them, followed
by Dorothy who had pulled out all of the stops and was dressed in a
long tropical summer dress, her salt and pepper hair pulled up and
off of her neck. They said their goodbyes then began heading for the
door when Chelsea turned back to Matthew.

“
Try
and patch things up with your brother, okay?”

Matthew
looked at her in surprise, but returned the kiss placed on his lips.
She followed the other two outside to a beautiful little red
convertible that matched Catherine’s nail polish. They all
piled in heading for a boutique in the city. It felt good to be in
the open air, it felt like freedom to Chelsea who had began to
suffocate in the stuffy house. She stretched out her hand, letting it
float through the wind like she had as a child. Since the weekend had
began, she really felt comfortable. Soft, classical music filtered
through the speakers making Chelsea yawn. It was so comfortable. Her
eyelids began to close, but she wanted to take in the scenery around
her. More houses popped up as they drove, all of them huge, some of
them much bigger than the Rawlins’ house. Chelsea could hear
her mom and Catherine talking in the front seat, but she slowly dozed
off.

Chelsea
felt a gentle shaking of her shoulders. “We’re here,
honey. Wake up.”

Slowly,
Chelsea opened her heavy eyes to see her mom smiling down at her. She
gave her a soft smile. Chelsea sat up, stretching before she followed
behind the others into the shop. The place was small, but filled with
elegant dresses of every color. As she looked at the slender dresses,
she wondered vaguely if this kind of place even bothered to sell
something besides a size two. A woman walked up to them in a thin,
black skirt and blouse. She led them over to a seating area before
handing them all glasses of champagne.

“
Isn’t
it a little early to be drinking?” Chelsea mused aloud.

“
Never.
Besides, picking out the dress is serious work, a little drink is
required,” Catherine said as she took a sip and sighed. The
others followed suit. “Now, choosing a dress is very important.
You need something that says you’re traditional and well
brought up, not too sexy. I don’t know what is with women these
days showing so much skin on their wedding day,” Catherine said
with a shake of her head.

“
Yeah,
ridiculous,” Chelsea said with a nervous chuckle.

Self
consciously, she gripped her wedding binder just a little harder. She
wasn’t going to tell Catherine she was one of those women.
Personally, she thought a well done wedding dress could be sultry and
romantic. In her binder there were already several dresses that were
hip hugging with intricate lace designs and backless. The front
dipped down low, just above the belly button and it showed off a
small amount of cleavage. Catherine seemed to have entirely different
plans. First she picked out a dress that was all white, long sleeved,
with a high collar.

“
Did
I transport in time back to the 1800’s?” Chelsea asked.

Sangi
and her mother giggled. Rolling her eyes, Catherine picked out
another dress. This one was almost as bad as the first with a huge,
puffy skirt. The sleeves puffed at the shoulders. This time it was
Dorothy that burst into laughter as she stepped out of the dressing
room.

“
Awww,
look at my little princess,” she cooed.

“
Thank
mom, appreciate the support,”

That
did nothing, but make her mother and Sangi laugh harder as she walked
back into the dressing room. She slipped the dress off, hanging it up
before she was handed another. Chelsea slipped into it before looking
at herself in the mirror. It almost had a Spanish feel. It was very
close to the dress she wanted, lace covered every inch of it in soft
flower patterns. It flared a little wide at the bottom, but it wasn’t
horrible. The dress was cinched at the waist with a small, white
ribbon. The veil flowed long and it had long sleeves. Chelsea could
tell Catherine was trying to compromise, or perhaps just not be
laughed at again as this dress let her bare her shoulders and dipped
down between her cleavage just slightly enough that none showed. She
gathered the dress before stepping out of the dressing room.

“
Holy
shit.”

“
Honey,
it’s so beautiful,” her mother said. She could see the
tears in her eyes.

“
Lovely.
I think we’ll take this one, don’t you?”

Chelsea
didn’t know how to respond. As much as she thought the dress
was nice, it still wasn’t her. Being put inside of a little
traditional bubble wouldn’t hold long either. She shrugged her
shoulders lightly, causing Catherine to raise an eyebrow as a little
frown appeared on her face.

“
I
just don’t want to make a decision right now. I mean, it’s
beautiful, but I don’t think I can agree to anything just yet.
I’m not in love with it,” Chelsea said quickly.

“
Nonsense.
Now, these dresses are one of a kind. If you don’t get it now,
it won’t be here when you come back.”

Chelsea
shrugged again, a tight smile on her face. “If it’s not
here, I guess it wasn’t meant for me to have.”

Catherine
sighed. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. How do you ladies
feel about tea? We can go over more plans there.”

Everyone
nodded in agreement. Chelsea changed back into her clothes. As she
headed out of the dressing room, she saw Catherine talking to the
woman at the counter and laughing. She wondered vaguely what she was
up to, before her eyes fell on Sangi beckoning her outside.

Chelsea
wasn’t sure she’d ever packed so fast. They’d
enjoyed tea at a little restaurant with fancy lace and soft colors.
For the most part, it would have been pleasant. That is if Catherine
stopped going on about the dress. Even her mother could see she was
becoming irritated. As soon as they were back at the house, Chelsea
excused herself before running up to her room. She didn’t even
bother packing them neatly, just tossed them into bags, stuffing them
in deeper to fit. Matthew walked in as she sat on her black suitcase
with her knees zipping the bag closed.

Matthew
raised an eyebrow at her hurried packing. “So, big outing with
my mom, I’m guessing it wasn’t great.”

“
It
was fine.”

“
Babe?”

“
Okay,
fine. I don’t know how you’ve dealt with her for all of
these years. I would have pulled my hair out before they assigned me
a mandatory straight jacket.” She dug her knees in a little
deeper, grunting as she zipped the bag closed. “I mean, she
wasn’t horrible. She’s just...your mom has a way…”

Matthew
laughed. “Yeah, a way of making people feel like ants? Or make
you feel like you don’t even have an elementary education, let
alone a college degree? She can be that way?”

Chelsea
dusted off her hands before wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m
just really eager to get back to our happy home. I miss our
apartment. I miss our neighborhood. I miss sleeping with you.”

“
I
know,” he said as he kissed her forehead, “I do too.”
He watched her walk over to the bed to start on another bag. “What
about your parents?”

“
Oh,
mom said the hospital got slammed without her. They’re begging
her to come back early,” she said handing Matthew a bag.

What
she didn’t want to tell him was that she also thought her mom
was lying. It wasn’t like the hospital didn’t sometimes
call her needing her expertise and efficiency, but it was the look on
her face when she’s said it. She could tell her mom felt the
same way about going home as soon as possible. Chelsea handed Matthew
another bag before picking up one of her own.

At
the bottom of the stairs, her parents were already chatting with the
Rawlins. Her dad excused himself to put their bags in the car after
thanking the Rawlins for having them as guests. He shook Lyle’s
hand. It didn’t take much for Chelsea to see that her dad
really liked him, she trusted his judgment of character. Chelsea gave
her mom a hug before kissing her cheek.

“
I’ll
get to see you before the wedding, right honey?” Her mom asked.

Chelsea
smiled. “Of course, we’ll grab lunch.”

“
And
you’ll attend one family dinner with Matthew here. I know how
these things go. Once you get married you’ll forget all about
us.”

Chelsea
chuckled. “Never.”

She
gave her dad a hug before she stood in the door waving as they
crunched along the graveled driveway. Sangi was at her elbow doing
the same. Chelsea sighed. The wedding was getting closer everyday. It
brought a slight fluttering in her belly. Once her parents were out
of view, Chelsea turned to see Matthew giving his mom a hug.

“
Whatever
happened to grandma?” He asked.

“
She
couldn’t make it. You know how she loves to be all
independent,” Lyle said.

Catherine
smirked. She seemed to be more than fine with grandma not attending
the weekend soiree. Chelsea wondered vaguely why that was, but more
importantly she was getting impatient. She shifted from foot to foot,
more than ready to get on the road.

“
She
will be at the wedding though, right?” Matthew asked.

“
Of
course. She said to send her love and say congrats. She’ll be
home in time for the wedding.”

Lyle gave Chelsea a tight hug before Andrew did the
same. She and Catherine nodded at each other. It was the best it was
going to get for now. Sangi and Andrew’s hug lingered a little
too long, before they broke apart, clearing their throats and trying
to appear casual. Chelsea stifled a laugh. Who were they fooling? As
they settled into the car, Chelsea let out a long sigh, leaning her
head against the seat as the summer wind rushed over her face.

“
You
survived,” Matthew said smiling.

*****

The
moment they stepped through the door, Chelsea became herself again
and so did Matthew. He played around, kicked up his feet, disregarded
clothing for the rest of the day. Chelsea settled in next to him on
the couch. Slowly, the wedding was coming together. Catherine’s
planner called later and they came to a tentative agreement. The
planner, Helen, would keep things close to what Catherine wanted, but
approve everything through Chelsea. That worked for her.