ONE WEEK LATER
Her last phone call to her father had ended abruptly and Rowyn was worried she’d given him another excuse to loathe her. Wes had been an incredible diversion but anytime she was alone, there was an empty hollow inside.
Wes’s party was that night and she couldn’t see herself having a good time without clearing things up with her dad, so she found herself sitting perched in front of the computer screen, coffee in hand, frustration growing by the minute. The service was terrible and the call wouldn’t connect no matter what she tried to do.
She set her coffee cup on the desk and slammed the laptop shut bitterly, when she heard his voice from behind.
“Geez Snoopy, what did that laptop ever do to you?”
Her body did a one hundred eighty degree turn in less than a second. “Dad!” She blinked, wanting to make sure it was true.
He stood at the front door in blue jeans and a leather jacket. He had a shaggy haircut, a guitar case and a smile that could reach the moon. She flew forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was a tall man so when he hugged her back, he lifted her clear off of the ground.
“Dad!” she said again. “I can’t believe you’re here.” She felt a knot lodge in her throat and her eyes welled with tears. “What are you doing here?”
He deposited her on her feet and kissed her on the forehead. “You really worried me after our last call. I needed to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m good now. I’m so glad you’re here.”
He stood there for a minute, immobilized before stepping into the apartment, removing his coat and draping it over the back of a chair.
“You look more and more like your mother everyday, God rest her soul. You alright? You’re giving your old man some grey hairs with how strange you were acting.”
Wow. If she’d known all she had to do was act strangely to get her father to come home, she would have done it a long time ago. “I’m okay.” She smiled and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her father’s waist. “I missed you. A lot.”
He rubbed her back. “Well good news is you won’t have to miss me for a while.”
“How long are you here for?”
“A couple of months. I’m starting to feel like touring is for young people. We’ll see how it goes but I’m beginning to think more and more that retirement might be in my near future.”
“What? Are you serious?”
He nodded. Even so, she didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Can you actually do that? I mean just stop touring and retire.”
He shrugged. “I can do whatever I want. Tom wasn’t exactly thrilled but he understands. He has a family too, Rowyn. I saw you and it felt like the last time we spoke you were my little girl and I blinked and now here you are, a beautiful young woman. I’ve missed out on a lot,” he said. “If I leave, I’ll blink and you’ll be off getting married and starting your life and I’ll be standing back here wondering what the hell happened.”
“So you’re not leaving right away?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I’m here, if you’ll have me.”
She couldn’t figure out if she wanted to scream, cry, smile, or all of the above.
“Can we go for lobster?”
“We can do whatever you want.”
“Can you give me like five minutes? I need to tell Wes.”
He arched a brow. “Wes?”
“My boy… this guy I’m sort of dating.”
“Sort of?”
“Yeah,” Rowyn said. “He’s amazing.”
“Do what you need to do. I’m going to go splash some water on my face and then I’ll be right here waiting, okay?”
“Okay.”
She could hardly believe any of this was happening. Her dad was here in the flesh and he wasn’t planning to take off at a moments notice. She had her father. She had Wes. Everything as falling perfectly into place.
She knocked on his door and it didn’t take long before it swung open, a flustered looking Wes behind it. He stuck his head out, blocking the space between the door jam and the door with his body. “Hey, baby. What’s up?”
Rowyn shone as bright as the sun. Her excitement was palpable. “Wes, you’re never going to believe it.”
Damn she was cute. She was like a little kid about to rip open a Christmas gift. “What am I never going to believe?”
“My Dad is here.”
What? He hadn’t expected that. “That’s great news.” He stepped out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him.
“The best part is that he says he is going to stay for a couple of months. Months! I haven’t seen my dad for that long since forever.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“I’m still coming to the party tonight.”
After everything he was going through, she’d better be coming tonight. “Even better. What do you have going on today?”
“Well my dad said that we could do whatever I wanted, so I thought maybe he could take me to the beach and then for lobster.”
A loud crash came from the apartment. She stepped forward but he was quick to sidestep, blocking her.
“What was that?” she asked.
He played dumb. “What was what?”
“That crash.”
“What crash?”
“Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, don’t worry.” He ran his hand through her hair, grabbed her chin with one hand and gave her a kiss.
“I’ll never get sick of that,” she said.
“Good. I’ll never get sick of doing it.”
She smiled. “I should go.”
He stepped back. “Of course. Go have fun with your dad and I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Okay.” She spun back around. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m just about perfect.”
After she walked away, he headed back inside the apartment where Keaton was crouched down with a hand held broom, gathering ceramic pieces from a lamp that had fallen from a table and shattered.
“What happened, bro? That almost got me busted.”
“The lamp decided to end things and jumped,” Keaton said sarcastically, sweeping the shards into a dust pan. “What do you think happened? The small army of people you hired aren’t exactly being careful.”
Wes looked around, surveying the situation. Keaton was right. People were everywhere. There were yards and yards of fabrics colored in blues and green and aquamarine. There were huge bags of sand of the same colors being deposited into glass vases almost as tall as Wes was.
A lanky guy approached, balancing a ream of fabric over his shoulder. “Excuse me,” he said. “Where is the rooftop access?”
“You have to go out the door and turn left. The stairs are there but you have to wait. The girl next door can’t see any of this happening.”
“Right,” the man said. “We were told this is top secret.”
“Give it like twenty more minutes. She’ll be gone by then.”
“Here.” Keaton held out a string of Christmas lights. “You can help untangle these things. My brother obviously bought them from the bargain bin.”
“It’s summer, Keaton. I had to improvise.”
Keaton nodded. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”
The idea struck him during a particularly long stretch of silence driving home from the campground and after he’d implemented his sister’s extensive shopping skills and drafted Keaton and Drew to volunteer, the rest was going according to plan. Rowyn still thought she was coming to a house party and looking around, he knew they were still on schedule.
As Keaton, the tall guy and Wes began to untangle the lights, Keaton asked. “Where’s Drew?”
“No idea. He was supposed to be here an hour ago. I’m sure he’ll show up,” Wes said. “He’s probably making peace with Mother Nature or that Copeland girl.”
Rowyn loved lobster but she rarely ate it: it wasn’t exactly prime food for solo dining so when she was awarded the opportunity to enjoy it in the company of someone else, she never turned it down.
The day had been everything she’d been missing. Maybe she was wrong about her dad, because every time someone recognized him while they were out, he would stop and proudly introduce her.
They talked about his tour, especially this last one which had kept him from home longer than normal. She told him about Wes and how she’d tried to keep him away and about how it didn’t work at all. Talking to her father came a lot easier face to face and although she was happier than she’d felt in a long time, she was sad to know she’d been missing out on the relationship for so long. Better late than never, she supposed. They’d bought a cheap painting from a street artist and watched buskers who got a major case of the nerves when they realized they were singing for Jeff Riley on a street corner.
By the time they’d eaten dinner, dark circles under her father’s eyes were defined and he was yawning.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“What time is it in Japan right now?”
He looked at his watch. “It’s 8:00 AM tomorrow morning,” he said.
“So you haven’t technically slept?”
“No. Not yet.”
“How are you still standing?”
He yawned. “It’s getting harder by the minute.”
Rowyn scooped the napkin off of her lap and set in on the table. “We should go, then,” she said. “You need to rest and I have a party to go to with Wes.”
Her father stood and wrapped an arm lazily over her shoulder. “If I weren’t so tired I’d demand to meet this Wesley character but you’ve got a good head on shoulders,” he continued. “No doubt your mother’s doing so I’ll trust that he’s good to you.”
“He is.”
He paid the bill and when they returned to the loft, her father’s eyes were bloodshot, his yawning was relentless and being near the energy he was projecting was exhausting.
A parcel sat outside the door, wrapped in brown kraft paper.
“What did you send me?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“It’s not from you?”
“Nope,” he said, stepping forward to inspect the package. He picked it up and tucked it underneath his arm. “It does have your name on it though.”
“That’s weird,” Rowyn said, opening the door.
Her dad set the parcel on the table, kissed her goodnight and told her to behave herself before heading to bed.
Who would have sent her a package? She opened the box to reveal tissue paper. Pulling the corners of the paper back, she gasped. Mint green fabric spilled from beneath it. It was a strapless gown. One hand covered her mouth while the other ran a fingertip across the small crystals that adorned the neckline.
She spoke to the empty house, removing the dress from the box. “Oh my God.”
A notecard fell out onto the ground, her name in scrolled ink. With shaky hands she opened it. “Put this on and be at my place for 8:00 P.M., XO, Wes.”
She looked at the clock. It was hardly six. That gave her two hours and she’d need every second. A dress this beautiful deserved someone who looked amazing to wear it. What kind of party was Wes hosting? She was no stranger to the social scene having attended numerous red carpet events with her father, but she’d never seen something so formal at anyone’s home, with the exception of the odd backyard wedding.
Rowyn admired her reflection in a floor length mirror one last time. Her hair was half up, half down and fell in corkscrew curls down her back. It was hard to believe she’d managed that herself. She paired the dress with a simple, teardrop crystal necklace.
Her stomach flip-flopped and her heart fluttered anxiously in her chest as she brought her hand up to knock on the door of Wes’s place.
His brother answered and looked at her appreciatively. “Hey, Rowyn.”
“Hi,” she said, peeking behind him.
“Come in,” Keaton said, sweeping his arm to the side. “Please.”
“Where is everyone?”
He didn’t reply, instead heading to the counter and removing something from a box. “Drew was supposed to do this but he’s not here, so…”
“Maybe he’s with the rest of the party,” Rowyn offered.
Keaton gave a sly smile and held out an eye mask, the same kind her father would use to sleep on overseas flights. “You’re going to have to put this on. Wes’s orders.”
“This is a weird party,” she joked.
Keaton chuckled softly. “Probably not what you expected, huh?”
“Not at all.” She slipped the mask over her eyes and felt Keaton’s hand slide into her own. “You alright?”
She nodded.
“Follow my lead, okay?”
“Okay.”
He placed himself behind her, one arm firmly gripping her, and the occasional directions of ‘stop,’ ‘left,’ ‘left,’ ‘left,’ ‘step up,’ ‘another step up,’ ‘that’s it,’ she felt a door swing open with windy force.
“Are we on the rooftop?”
Keaton’s voice was close to her. “We are. About ten steps directly ahead and you’re there.”
She counted ten steps and as he’d said, she arrived at the spot she was supposed to be because Keaton no longer gripped her elbow and a scent came to her which had become so familiar in the last couple of weeks. Salt. Sun. Sand.
“Wes?”
“Rowyn.”
“Why are we on the rooftop?”
Warm hands moved to either side of the sleep mask, tugging it upwards. “We,” he said, freeing her from the mask, “are on the rooftop to attend your not-a-prom, prom.”
It didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust. Huge strips of fabric, in purples and blues and greens were suspended in the air above them creating a tent-like roof. Hundreds, possibly thousands of lights ran from one end of the rooftop to the other and back again, creating the effect of stars in the sky. Gigantic glass cylinders held colored sand, and a lone speaker sat with an iPod docked on it.
Wes stood before her, dressed in a tux, a Gerber daisy on a mint green ribbon his hand. He slipped the ribbon over her wrist. “There,” he said. “All set.” A slow song began to play and took a formal stance, keeping one hand behind his back, and the other across his waist before bowing, rising and reaching out for her.
Rowyn settled in his arms, and he began to sway to the music. She’d never heard the song but it was soft and slow and beautiful. Her eyes were about to spill over with happy tears. “You made me a prom!”
“I did,” Wes said. “You can be my queen.”
“I can’t believe I nearly let you get away.”
Wes flashed his smile, the one she fell for the first time she laid eyes on him. “Bet you won’t make that same mistake twice, huh?”
“Never. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“Glad I can be the first,” Wes said. As his body moved with the music, she melted against him. Nothing could top this, moment. She met his eyes and held his stare. She was in awe of the lengths he’d gone through for her.
“Uh oh,” he teased, “that look is familiar.”
“It is?” She wanted to hold onto this moment for eternity.
“Just so we’re clear, you’re not falling in love with me, are you?”
“Yes,” she said, “Madly.”
******************************************************
A/N: Hey everyone! We've come to the end of Madly. Updates to Saving Cinderella will start next week so be sure to add it to your library if you want to get them! Thanks for reading!