Fallen Crest Home(92)

“That was a wedding, but I don’t know.” Though I knew what she was referring to. There were an inordinate number of tanned and fit bodies, boobs that didn’t seem all-natural, and money. There was no other way to describe it. It was present in the clothes, the mannerisms, and even just the stuffiness in the air. James Kade was wealthy and important. It made sense he’d invite similar guests to his wedding.

“The women seem stuck-up.”

Heather was putting that mildly. I grinned at her. “You don’t have to be so nice.”

“I’m not.” She took another long drag. “But I think their dad is going to make them give a speech, so I’m not sure if you wanted to hear that or not?” She finished her cigarette quickly, grinding it out.

“You know me so well.”

Heather laughed, and as we went back inside, Channing stood in the opened doorway to the ballroom. He’d been waiting for us.

“Mason just took the microphone,” he said. “James made a point of saying they had to do a speech together. He won’t allow Logan to do his own.”

Heather moved to stand next to him. “Smart.”

Mason stood on the platform behind the bridal party’s table and laughed into the mic. Logan was right next to him.

“I have to admit, I’m shocked our dad’s asked us to do a speech.” A polite smattering of laughter came from the room, but Mason ignored them. His dad had turned to see him. “You sure about this?” Mason asked.

“Logan promised to be nice.”

Mason brought the mic closer to his mouth, his voice even louder. “But I didn’t.”

The laughter doubled from the tables, but there was a tension in the air, too.

I held my breath.

Mason seemed to be considering something, then his eyes found me in the back, and a resolve settled in.

I let out that breath. I reached for the doorframe and held on.

“Okay. You asked for it, Dad.”

I didn’t look at anyone else. No one else existed at that moment.

“I know we’re all here for these two, since they’re now wedded, and hopefully wedded in bliss. But we’ll all wait and see on that, won’t we?”

There was another polite round of chuckles, but it was like the rest of them were cluing in. This might not go as most toasts do.

“I know I’m supposed to stand up here and say a bunch of nice things.” Mason’s voice grew serious; there was no forced lightness now. The room grew quiet. “But I can’t do that. I can say a bunch of things about what I hope for their future. I hope they continue to be happy. I hope they’ll remain faithful to each other. I hope Analise won’t start drinking because even though that’s not what her problem was, I know it might’ve helped. I hope she won’t do anything to tear this family apart. I hope one day Logan and I will enjoy coming to the house again, the place we grew up. I hope our father will one day apologize to our mother for the endless stream of mistresses. I hope Logan will have a relationship with his father, because he didn’t growing up. I hope Samantha won’t fear her mother one day. I hope you both will be welcomed at my wedding one day.” He looked at me then. “I hope you’ll both be doting grandparents to my future children, and I hope I’ll let you see them, and maybe even have unsupervised sleepovers. I hope for a lot of things.”

His gaze swept out over the quiet crowd. Some of the women had their hands over their mouths. Some of the men were glowering. But others weren’t reacting at all. Those were the ones who knew the real Analise and James, and a few of them looked at Mason and Logan with sympathy.

A hand grasped mine, and I looked over to see Heather giving me a reassuring smile. I realized I’d been crying. I used my other hand to wipe my tears away.

Mason’s voice gentled as he held my gaze. “I know this wasn’t the nicest speech, but I’m not one to be fake. My dad knows that, so he must’ve been expecting something like this. I can say a few good things. I can say that I used to hate my dad, and I don’t any longer.” He tore his eyes away to look at his father. “I don’t have as much anger at you as I did, so maybe you wanted to hear that?” Then he looked at my mother. “And Analise…” I heard a woman suck in her breath at the nearest table. “I can thank you for giving Sam space, but I want you to let her go.”

A ripple of murmuring rose from the room.

A couple looked at each other near me, and I heard the woman say, “How can he ask that?”

Someone else said, “Fuck this.” A chair pushed backward.

Mason ignored everyone. “The matching dress, the necklace. You’ve backed off, but she can still feel the hold from you. Let her go. Once and for all, just let her go.”