Claire stood alone with the grown-ups; all she could do was walk back to them and congratulate them. She hugged her mother and smiled; she shook Bryan’s hand, and as soon as she could, she dragged herself up the stairs and went to her room. Amy and Mario were nowhere to be found.
When she stepped onto the balcony, Chance wasn’t there. She knew he was stewing somewhere. Granted she didn’t know him that well to reasonably assume what he was doing, but she knew how he felt. She personally felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her, and she was nursing bruised ribs and shattered bones.
***
Chance sat on his bed pondering the situation until a knock on his door interrupted him. He opened the door to let his father into his room, then turned and walked back inside without saying hello to the older man.
“That’s not the usual response you get when you make a wedding announcement,” he said as he closed the door behind him.
“That’s not the usual time frame it takes normal people to get married,” Chance fired back. “Dad, you met her, what, a week ago?”
“And what does that matter? I love her.”
“Just cut the bull, Dad!” Chance shouted. “You knew I was interested in her daughter, and you didn’t say a word. Was I the only one in the dark?”
“It had nothing to do with you, Chance,” Bryan said as he walked to the balcony. “Your relationship shouldn’t have to affect mine.”
“Nothing to do with me? You married her! She is now my stepmother, and the girl I am seeing is now my stepsister! How does that not have anything to do with me? We were here, and we didn’t even get a say in it until after the fact.” Chance flung the cushion across the room out of frustration and kicked the chair from his path. “What do you mean your relationship shouldn’t affect mine?”
“Chance, don’t be so upset,” Bryan said. “I’m sorry it worked out like this, but how do you expect me to give up the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with simply because you are having a fling with the daughter?”
“It’s not a fling, and even if it was, you have made it extraordinarily uncomfortable for that fling to continue, haven’t you? So I hope she makes you happy and that it lasts forever.”
“There is no need for sarcasm, son,” Bryan told him. “But just in case, you do know that whatever was going on with her daughter can’t continue?”
“Yes, I am aware,” Chance smirked. “How many chances do you get to make me miserable? An unlimited supply? As many as your money can buy?”
“I didn’t hear you complaining about the money yesterday on the yacht,” Bryan fired back.
Chance froze in his step and kept his back to his father. “You know, if it wasn’t Mom’s, I’d have sold it.”
“You know that’s not what I meant, Chance.”
But Chance had already opened the front door and left. Bryan called after him, but Chance kept walking. The only place Chance wanted to go was to Claire, so he hurried down to the lobby and turned towards her door. He pounded on the door until she answered.
“Chance, what’s the matter?” she asked when she saw the panicked look on his face.
He didn’t respond. He simply forced himself inside, pulled her to him, and kissed her with so much passion her head spun. When she composed herself, she stepped back. “I don’t think we should be doing this, Chance.”
“Maybe they shouldn’t be doing anything,” he told her and held her to him again. “Claire, for the first time in my life I am with a woman who actually means something to me. There is no way I am going to stop this just because they decided to get married. We were right here, and they didn’t even consider us. Let’s just do what we want to do.”
“I don’t think it works like that, Chance,” Claire said and stepped away from him. “They are married now, and we are a family.”
“That’s just a technicality,” Chance pleaded. “Who knows if they will even last?”
Claire thought about that for a moment. It had been five years since her mother had been with anyone, and she had just had her heart broken by the man she was supposed to marry. “It just seems selfish to take all of this away from her, you know.”
“What? They are the selfish ones. They ran off and got married without our knowledge,” Chance persisted.
“Chance, let’s just forget about this,” she said dejectedly and sat on the bed. She curled her legs under her and hugged the pillow. “It was only meant to last for a short while anyway, and it did. We have to coexist now as a family. My mother would be so disappointed if she knew I was seeing you after this.”
“Claire, they don’t have to know,” he said. He sat next to her on the bed. “I am sure my dad will go to his estate in Los Angeles, and I have my own place. We’ll just hold them off until we figure out what to do.”