Suzy was wondering why it had taken her a month to come forward after that revelation, but held kept her silence, letting Reva finish without interruption.
“I’m not proud to say that I was still hesitant to do what I knew I had to. I’d never stood up to my parents before and the thought of doing it terrified me, but I knew that if I were ever going to be with Mark, that I couldn’t rely on him to fight my battles. Last night I told my parents the truth.” Then on the whisper, Reva admitted, “They don’t want to have anything else to do with me. I..I left there and went to Mark where I poured out the whole story. I’m going to start seeing a therapist because I know that a normal person would never have done all of the things I’ve done to Gray. I stalked him and tortured him because I was so terrified of what would happen when my parents found out about the baby. I was desperate for them to think it was Gray’s.”
“Holy crap, that’s a lot to take in. Reva, I’ll be frank and say you have put me through hell this last month and probably Gray, as well. Somehow, though, I think you have been kicked enough. It took a lot of guts to come here today and face me. How did you do that by the way?”
With a shy smile, Reva admitted, “Google Maps. Scary right?”
With a laugh, Suzy said, “You got that right. I’m sorry that your parents are being such bone heads, but it looks like Mark has your back.”
With a look of relief and gratitude, Reva reached out and took her hand. “Thank you Suzy for being so good about this. I can see why Gray loves you. I’m going to talk to him as soon as he gets home today.”
As Reva and Mark stood to leave, Suzy impulsively pulled her in for a quick hug. After a moment of hesitation, Reva returned the embrace. After she’d shut the door behind them, she fell down onto the couch and tried to process it all.
What if this made no difference? Had too much happened with Gray to start over now? Oh blah, find your backbone. That’s your man and it’s about time you stopped whining and went after him or do you need another disaster to realize how much you love him?
One fist pump in the air and Suzy had her game face on. She had a user conference tonight that she had to attend. It was the entertainment portion of the conference and consisted of drinks, dinner and live entertainment. She was going to pack a bag and when it was over, she was heading to Charleston and the man she loved. She was hitching up her big girl panties and going after what she wanted.
Chapter Twenty Six
Suzy found Beth going over the dinner menu with the caterers in the kitchen. “Is everything on schedule for tonight, sis? I don’t want any delays so let’s stay on top of things. Has the band arrived yet?”
Beth stopped to study her in surprise. This was the most animated she’d seen Suzy since her breakup with Gray. “Um, have you been drinking?”
“What? Of course not, why?”
“Well, you look kind of high or something. Are you feeling ok? Your face is all flushed, and your eyes are glassy.”
With a dramatic sigh, Suzy snickered, “I’m high on love, sis, nothing else.”
“Oh God,” Beth groaned, “You’re drunk. Couldn’t you have at least waited until we hit the dinner phase of the evening?”
“Beth, chill, I’m not drunk, geez. I’m a little more professional than that.” Then, with a little dance, she said, “Gray isn’t the father of Reva’s baby, and I’m going to Charleston tonight for some long over-due makeup sex.”
“What, how, who?”
“Close your mouth Beth before something flies in it. We’ll talk later. How about checking to make sure the band is ready to go on in about an hour, and I’ll finish here and check with the bartender next.”
Beth took off to find the band, shooting confused looks over her shoulder. She was probably still questioning her sobriety, but didn’t know what to do about it.
When she finished in the kitchen, she saw Nick standing at the bar talking to Jason. They were both due to give a brief speech tonight before the band went on. “Hey guys, how’s tricks?”
“Suzy, everything looks great. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on the setup for the conference this year. I don’t know how you do it, but you constantly come up with something new every year.”
“Thanks Jason, it’s pretty easy when you have the world’s best job. Where is Claire this evening?”