Learning To Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 4) (23 page)

“Thank you everyone
for coming here to celebrate with us. We’re so proud of both Luke
and Olivia, and I wanted to do something extra special for them.
Could Tracy Childs please come forward?” I see Tracy walking up and
smile. “Tracy was Luke’s favorite professor and helped guide him
in his decision to become a teacher. I asked her to say a few words
and bring a surprise with her.”

“Thanks, Maggie. I’m
so pleased to be here. Luke is one of my favorite students ever, and
I’m so happy to be here to give you your diploma. I know they’re
supposed to be mailed, but I pulled some strings and got both yours
and Olivia’s early.

“I have to say, when
I asked you to tutor Olivia, I knew you’d help her graduate, but I
couldn’t imagine what else would happen. I knew about your
reputation around school, Luke, but I wasn’t worried about her
becoming one of your conquests. And she didn’t. She became so much
more. Before giving these to you, I want to congratulate you both on
your marriage.”

There’s silence,
which is quickly broken by Olivia’s mother. “Marriage? They’re
not married.”

“Oh, well, Olivia’s
diploma has ‘Griffin’ as her last name, and they were being
mailed to the same address in Summerlin, so I just thought. I mean…I
don’t know what to say now.”

I don’t look at
Olivia as I come to Tracy’s rescue. “Congratulations was enough
to say. Yes, Olivia’s my wife. We got married about two months
ago.”

“Luke! No. You
promised!”

“I promised to keep
it a secret, but the secret’s out now. We need to be honest.”

“You got married
without us, Luke?”

“Yes, Mom, I’m
sorry. I hated keeping this from you, and I’ll explain everything.”

“You’ll get an
annulment.”

“Daddy, I can’t.”

“You’ve been
with…with him? That way?”

“Did you not hear me
say that we’ve been married almost two months, sir?”

“Stay out of this.
How you coerced my daughter into this, I don’t know.”

“I asked him.”

“What? Are you crazy?
Who would want to marry him?”

“I need you to stop
talking about my son like that.” My dad is getting mad, and the
party is going downhill fast.

“We’re leaving.
Come on, Olivia. We’ll discuss this at home and figure out how to
get you out of this as fast as possible.”

“No. She’s not
going with you,” I tell him. She won’t leave me. She’ll choose
me. I know it.

“I need to talk to
them, Luke.”

“Don’t do this.”

“I have to. I’m
sorry.”

I feel like someone
just ripped my heart out as I watch her leave. I thought when push
came to shove, she’d choose me. How could I have been so stupid? I
feel arms come around me and I know it’s Candi. She wanted Ollie to
pick me, too, but she also warned me it might go this way. I should
have listened to her and not given my heart away. It didn’t work
for me in high school, so why would now be any different? At least I
know I’m unlovable.

“Thank you again for
coming, everyone. I hope you understand that we need to end the party
early. Please take some food with you.” My mom gestures to the
overflowing tables of food. There’s also a full table of desserts
from Drago Sisters.

“I’m so sorry,
Luke. I thought you just hadn’t told me. I didn’t know this was a
secret.”

“It’s not your
fault, Tracy. Thanks for everything.”

“She loves you,
Luke.”

“She has a funny way
of showing it.”

Tracy sighs before
answering. “Keep in touch, okay?”

“I will.” I hug her
and then head inside the house with my family.

When everyone’s in
the family room, I sit down and put my head in my hands. I know I
need to talk, but I also need a minute to get my emotions under
control. My wife just walked out on me less than a half hour after we
were making love upstairs. It’s a lot to deal with. No one else
speaks as they wait for me. I lift my head and begin.

“You all know how I
was tutoring Olivia and it turned into more. Well, we were pretty
much living together, but not. We alternated apartments and had
things at each other’s places. It was great, and I was pretty
satisfied. I mean, I had this wonderful woman who supported me and I
could talk to anything about. Plus, I got to wake up with her every
morning.

“Then her dad’s
party happened. I told you I was practically kicked out. She chose
them over me that night, too, or so I thought. I was sitting at my
apartment, drinking and trying to forget that she didn’t stop me
from leaving or go with me, when she came to me. She said she loved
me and was sorry. I told her I didn’t think she was committed to
our relationship. She looked me in the eye and asked me to marry her.

“Honestly, I already
had a ring. I wasn’t going to ask her yet, but I knew I would one
day. I was a little shocked, but she said she was sure that it was
what she wanted. She did specify that we couldn’t tell anyone yet,
but she wanted me to know she was completely committed to us.”

“You got married
while you were drunk? Seriously, dude?”

“No, Scott, I didn’t
get married while I was drunk. I got married the next day.”

“It was beautiful.”

“You were there,
Alex?”

“Yeah, Grandma, I
was. Rose and I helped Liv pick a wedding dress, and did her hair and
makeup. I was Uncle Luke’s witness.”

“Well, I guess it’s
good that someone from the family was there.”

“It killed me not to
have everyone there, Mom, but I thought we could do another ceremony
with everyone later. I know it was soon, but it felt so right to
marry Olivia. It was like coming home.”

“If that’s how you
felt, then it
was
right, Luke.”

“Thanks Dad, but you
saw what happened today. Her parents won’t accept me, and she won’t
break her ties with them. I mean, I get that she doesn’t want to. I
couldn’t break ties with you guys, but you also would never make me
choose.”

“No, we wouldn’t. I
wish we could have been there to see you get married, Luke, but we
can definitely host a second ceremony for you if things work out.”

“I don’t think
they’re going to, but thanks for the offer.”

“I’m so sorry,
Luke. I was hoping she’d make the right choice when it came down to
it.”

“Me too, Candi. I
guess I just don’t mean enough to her.”

“Okay, I know this is
going to be a shock coming from me, but I’ve been working on my
issues, and I think you need to give her a chance to explain. She
didn’t ask you for a divorce or some shit like that. She just said
she needed to talk to her parents. Maybe she’ll tell them off.”
It
is
a little bit of
a shock coming from Scott since he’s always been so big on loyalty,
and I wish he was right, but I don’t think he is.

“They have this crazy
hold over her. She told me that she knows she’ll never please them,
and she agreed with me when I told her they set expectations so high
that she can never meet them. But she feels she has to try. For her
and
for Rose. She
doesn’t want her sister to have the pressure moved to her. I get
it. I really do. But these past couple of months have been hard, and
I’m just done. I have to be, in order to protect what’s left of
my heart.”

“So there was nothing
good about the last two months, Uncle Luke? You were completely
unhappy?”

My niece is always the
one to call us out. I love her for it, even when it’s me she’s
calling out. “I was happier than I’ve ever been in my life.
Living in our house and knowing I’d see Olivia every night
and
every morning was Heaven. Even if she was studying and I was doing
lesson plans, we were together.”

“Then why won’t you
give her a chance?”

“I’m afraid of what
her answer will be and I need to protect myself.”

“So you’re going to
divorce her?”

I flinch at Candi’s
question. Just the thought of not being married to Olivia causes me
physical pain, but that
is
what I’m going to have to do. “Yeah. I guess I am. I need a
lawyer.”

“If that’s what you
want, I’ll get you the best. I assume you have no pre-nup.”

“No, Ry. It never
even crossed my mind.”

“Since it’s a short
marriage, I don’t think she’ll get half, but you’ll probably
have to pay her something.”

“You know I don’t
care about money.”

“She doesn’t
either. So don’t talk about her like she does.” Candi is looking
fierce, and if we weren’t so close, I’d be scared. “I love you
all, but I love her too. She’s like me in some ways, and I can tell
you that if she gets divorce papers from Luke, she’s going to try
to run and not take anyone’s help
or
money.”

“I didn’t mean to
insinuate that she cared about money, Candi. I know she didn’t
marry me for my money. She never asked for anything and insisted on
paying for half our monthly bills once we moved in together.”

“You’re sure about
the divorce, Luke? Because I already know she’s one hell of a girl,
but you just keep making her sound better and better.”

“She’s the best,
Owe, which is why it will kill me to keep coming second in her life.
I need to protect myself, so if I can get divorce papers to her as
soon as possible, that’d be great.”

No one says anything
more to me, but I see them exchanging looks with one another. It’s
my choice, though, and I know they’ll back me on it. I get up to
head home, if that’s what I can even call it anymore. I want to
pack up Olivia’s things and have them ready if she actually comes
there.

Olivia

I’m about to walk
into my parents’ house, and for the first time in years, it doesn’t
scare me. Walking out of the party without Luke was the hardest thing
I’ve ever done in my life. But I had to because I need to be alone
with my parents when I finally stand up for myself. And my husband.

They try to start in on
me as soon as I walk in the door. “You will divorce him, Olivia.”

“No, Mother. I
won’t.”

“How dare you speak
to your mother that way?”

“I should have spoken
to you both this way months ago, when Luke and I started dating. I
shouldn’t have let my fear of your disapproval cause me to hide my
love for him.”

“You don’t love
him. You can’t.”

“I
do
love him, Daddy.”

“I raised you better
than this.”

“Actually, when I was
a little girl and you still loved me, you raised me to find Luke.”

“Still loved you? We
love you. And don’t be absurd. I never encouraged you to find
someone like that classless male slut.”

I’m trying to stay
calm and explain this to them, but I want to slap my father at the
moment. “You used to read me all those stories about the princes
who saved the girls. They loved and cherished them, even if the girls
weren’t princesses. That’s Luke. He loves me and cherishes me
more than I ever believed was possible. He may have been promiscuous
in the past, but he’d never cheat on me. Ever. I’m sorry if you
don’t approve of him, but he’s my husband, and if you make me
choose, my choice will always be him.”

“Until you divorce
him, you aren’t welcome here. All this talk of princes from
fairytales is just that. Fairytales. It’s time you grew up.”

“I’m sorry that
you’re so blind to Luke, Mother, but you should know I finally
feel
like a grown-up. I love you and I’ll miss you, but you won’t
change my mind.”

“You should leave
then. Call us when you come to your senses. Until then, no one in the
family will speak to you.”

“I will,” Rose
says.

“No. I forbid it.”

“I’m eighteen, and
I can do what I want, Dad.”

“Not while you live
here, you can’t.”

“Then I’ll leave.”

“Oh, really. Where
will
you
go?”

“With me. Luke said
she’s always welcome at our house.”

“Is Luke going to pay
for her Harvard tuition, too?”

“Yes. He will.”

“He’ll have to buy
her new clothes, then, as well. Nothing I bought is leaving this
house. Both of you should leave now.”

We do exactly that,
holding hands as we walk out the front door. I can’t wait to get
home to Luke and tell him that I stood up to my parents. I know he’ll
be relieved that I finally did it. I chose him. I always knew I
would, but I’m not sure he did.

Rose and I talk all the
way to my house. She tells me how glad she is to be away from them.
She would’ve been for college in a few months, but she’s happy to
be done with the drama even earlier. I tell her I’ll take her to
the mall tomorrow. I haven’t touched our joint account for anything
other than household expenses, but I know Luke won’t mind if I buy
her some clothes.

We pull into the gates,
and I park before jumping out of the car. I’m so excited to see
Luke and tell him everything. He opens the door before I get there
and doesn’t look happy. I get it. He didn’t like me leaving the
party, but I know he’ll understand once I tell him what I did.

“I have your things
ready for you, Olivia.”

“My things?”

“I can’t come
second anymore. I packed your clothes and stuffed animals. I’ll
carry them out to the car. We should have divorce papers on Monday.
Ryan’s finding a lawyer. I’ll be fair to you in the settlement.”

It takes a strength I
didn’t know I possessed for me to stay on my feet. He packed up my
stuff and wants to divorce me? No. God, no. I have to tell him he’s
first. He’ll always be first with me.

“You’re not second,
Luke. My parents disowned me and I want to be your wife. Forever.”

“Because they
disowned you, right? That’s convenient for you. I’ve been
convenient. But I’m done.”