Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(43)

The girl pursed her lips together and looked truly torn. After a few  moments, she sighed, lifting her hands in exasperation. "It's a tie  between Colton and Brian. I keep going back and forth."

That's because you haven't met Brian, Becca thought to herself. Colton was amazing, but he wasn't Brian.

The woman, Becca assumed was Penny's mom, snapped several pictures of  Penny and Becca and then thanked Becca for her time. As the  mother-daughter duo were walking away, Penny turned back and asked  excitedly, "Is Brian coming here tonight?"

That was a good question.

"I'm not sure," Becca answered honestly as she returned to her hideout, a.k.a. the corner booth.

She'd gotten two texts from him since the show had started, the first  saying that he'd be there in ten minutes, the second saying that  something had come up and he wasn't sure when he'd be there.

The show was half over and still no Brian.

Scooting to the center of the booth, where she was clouded in almost  total darkness, she couldn't help but wish that she were invisible.  Watching herself on the show was bad enough, but seeing Brooklyn and  Brian's segments were almost more than she could stomach.

Which was totally ridiculous. She knew that there was nothing going on  between Brian and Brooklyn, and even if there was (when they'd filmed  this), it's not like anything had happened between her and Brian yet.  Still, it was killing her to see Brooklyn sit on Brian's lap wearing  nothing but a string bikini, run her fingers through his hair, and slow  dance with him on the beach under the moonlight. All of those things  made her sick, but the absolute hands-down, no-contest worst of the  worst was watching them kiss.

After last night, thinking of Brian kissing someone else was bad enough,  but seeing it on a seventy-two-inch television in HD was  heartbreakingly unbearable. No amount of logic or reasoning seemed to  help Becca process what she was feeling.

She knew what would help her-Brian. He would know just the right thing  to say to make this sick feeling, in the pit of her stomach, go away.  Heck, he might not even have to say anything. If Becca could just look  into his honey-colored eyes, she knew she would feel better.

As they came back from commercial break and Becca saw herself and Colton  when they'd been at the beach playing Frisbee on the screen, she wanted  to hide beneath the table. No one should have to see themselves in a  bikini, running through sand. It was not like Baywatch. It was not  graceful. It was not cute.

Looking down at her wrist, she saw that it was seven forty. Twenty more  minutes and she could get out of here. She'd thought about leaving with  Haley, who'd left before the show even started. Emily hadn't been  feeling well when Eddie, Haley, and Em had arrived at The Grill, and  before they'd even had a chance to order, Em had gotten sick in the  bathroom.

Haley had offered to stay and let Eddie take Em home, but Becca assured  her sister that she would be fine and she should go take care of her  family. Becca hadn't missed the relief that crossed her sister's face  when Becca let her off the hook. As much as she knew that Haley loved  her and would do anything for her, she also knew where Haley's heart  was, and it was exactly where it should be-with her husband and  daughter.

Becca knew that she could go sit with her cousins and their significant  others and families. They were at tables spread throughout the dining  area, and all of them had tried to talk her into joining them. But she  really didn't feel like watching the show with an audience.                       
       
           



       

So even after her sister had left, she'd stayed right where she was; in the back booth …  in the dark.

People probably thought she was sitting by herself because her fifteen  minutes of fame had turned her into a diva when, honestly, the exact  opposite had happened. She didn't want any attention at all.

Becca heard chuckles in the crowd and looked up to see Jax and Madison  on the screen. They were arguing over who was going to get ready in the  bathroom first. Neither of them looked to be backing down. It was  seriously comical.

Before she knew it, she was laughing, and she immediately felt bad about  it; like she was laughing behind Jax's and Maddie's backs. The only  thing that made her feel better was that she was ninety-nine percent  sure that their little tiff had been orchestrated for the cameras. She'd  heard them strategizing about what they were planning on doing to get  airtime as they all waited for their cars before they'd left on their  fairytale getaways.

A commercial came on after Madison and Jax's segment, and honestly,  Becca wanted to personally call and thank the sponsors. Not because they  were paying for the show. She was just so relieved any time her face or  Brian and Brooklyn's PDA weren't on the screen.

She heard the hostess, whose stand was just around the corner from where Becca was sitting, say, "Table for one?"

Oh thank God. Brian was here.

Becca scooted out of the booth, which ended up being a lot louder than  she'd meant it to because she was wearing shorts and her bare skin slid  against the vinyl. Luckily, no one noticed since the commercial was  about fifteen times louder than the regular show.

When she straightened, she didn't see Brian standing in front of her. But it was the next best thing. It was her mom.

Sandy was putting her keys in the side pocket of her purse (because if  she didn't do it right when she got somewhere, she would lose them) as  she explained, "Hi, sweetie. Sorry I'm late. I had a ton of loose ends  to tie up after the wedd-"

Before her mom could finish, Becca threw her arms around her mom's neck and hugged her.

Her mom hugged her back and, after a few moments, asked, "Are you okay?"

Becca nodded. "I'm fine." She felt herself getting teary and she didn't  want to cry in front of everyone in the restaurant, so even though it  was the last thing she wanted to do, she released her hold on her mom  and scooted back in the booth.

Her mom's brow knitted together as she followed her and sat beside her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Becca nodded. "I just …  I just missed you."

Her mom patted her hand, her blue eyes filled with concern. "I missed  you, too. I wanted to catch up yesterday, but you and Brian left before I  had a chance to catch my breath. I'm so glad he took you home. Those  dark circles under your eyes had me worried. Are you feeling better?"

Becca was about to answer when she heard her own voice coming from the television.

"Look how beautiful you are," her mom said, glancing up at the television.

No, thank you. If she looked up at the screen, then any minute it could  show Brooklyn and Brian playing tonsil hockey, and she'd seen enough of  that for a lifetime.

Probably sensing Becca's non-interest in the show, her mom asked  brightly, "Oooh, I've been wanting to ask you what Stone Castle was  like."

Instantly, Becca felt lighter. Everyone else wanted to know about  Colton, what she thought about Brooklyn, what it was like ‘competing'  with her ‘best friend.' But not her mom. Her mom wanted to know about  the castle, which was the one thing Becca actually didn't mind talking  about.

"It was amazing-except for the spiders," Becca answered.

Her mom's eyes widened as her face scrunched up in an "Oh no!"  expression. "I didn't even think about spiders. But it makes sense, I  mean, how long did it sit vacant?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but I know that it has stayed in the Stone family  all these years. And that William Stone's great-great-niece Avery is  now the owner. She's the one who rented it out to the show, and she said  that she plans on either opening it to the public or, she's even  considering turning it into a hotel."

"Wow. I would love to go see it." Her mom had the same look in her eyes that Haley had over Colton.

If there was one thing that Sandy Sue Sloan fan-girled over, it was  buildings and architecture. When Becca was growing up, every time her  mom would see an old, abandoned schoolhouse or church, her eyes would  light up and she would talk about how fun it would be to renovate it.  Her dad would always say that it sounded more like a lot of work than a  lot of fun. But her mom never let his Eeyore mood affect her happiness  and excitement over the endless possibilities for whatever space she was  coveting.                       
       
           



       

The bar area erupted in whistles, wooing, and shouts of, "Go Brian!"  Becca looked up at the screen and saw Brooklyn backing him up into their  hotel room, sucking his face like she was a Hoover vacuum. The door  shut, and as the camera panned around the bungalow, sounds of Brooklyn  moaning and crying out filled the restaurant.