The Marriage License For Me, The Boat For His Regret Chapter 08
Kenna grabbed his arm from behind. “Nolan, calm down!”
He shoved her off. He was about to scream again when a sharp voice cut him off.
“Nolan Hayes.”
He turned. Linda Mitchell, Tessa’s mom.
“Are you here to cause trouble?”
Nolan grabbed onto her like a lifeline, stumbling forward. “Mrs. Mitchell, what’s going on?”
“Why is Tessa here? Why is she the bride?”
“We’re supposed to get our license tomorrow!”
Linda just laughed. Her eyes flicked to Kenna with obvious contempt.
“Mr. Hayes, are you kidding? Isn’t that your girlfriend?”
“What license are you getting with my daughter?”
Nolan’s face went pale.
His voice got smaller, laced with a desperation he didn’t even recognize. “No, Mrs. Mitchell, Kenna’s like a sister to me…”
“We have seven years together!”
“I already told Tessa we’d get the license tomorrow.”
Linda laughed out loud. “So you admit you’ve wasted my daughter’s time for seven years?”
“Let me ask you something. You want to marry my daughter? Where’s the wedding skiff?”
“From what I hear, you gave your first skiff away to her.”
Sweat beaded on Nolan’s forehead. He tried to explain. “No, that was just a birthday wish…”
“The skiff for Tessa is already being built. I want to marry her…”
Linda’s smile disappeared, replaced by real anger.
“Enough, Nolan. In Riverbend, a decent man doesn’t build a second skiff.”
“How many times has Tessa hinted to you over the last seven years?”
“And what did she get in return?”
Nolan staggered back. “I…”
Linda cut him off, cold. “Let me tell you.”
“Six months ago, your mom was in the hospital. Tessa took care of her for a week straight. You were out of town on a business trip with Kenna.”
“One month ago, she came to your office to see you. Your front desk called her the other woman.”
“One week ago, you gave the skiff Tessa waited seven years for to your sister in front of everyone.”
Her voice rose, and by the end, there was real hatred in her eyes.
“Tessa never tells me the bad stuff. She only tells me the good. When she finally told me all of this, do you know how I felt?”
“Tessa is the apple of my eye. How dare you treat her like garbage?”
“Nolan, today is her happy day. I won’t make a scene. But from now on, stay away from her. Or I won’t be nice.”
She turned and walked back to the shore to finish the ceremony.
Nolan couldn’t stand anymore. He grabbed a railing to hold himself up.
He wanted to argue. To say it wasn’t like that.
But no words came.
The looks from the crowd had shifted from curiosity to disgust.
“Guy wants to have his cake and eat it too.”
“Poor girl. Dodged a bullet.”
“And he still has the nerve to crash the wedding? Embarrassing.”
Kenna came to help him. “Nolan, you still have me.”
Nolan tried to push forward again. He couldn’t watch Tessa marry someone else.
But as he struggled with the security guards, Tessa noticed the commotion.
She looked at him. Just one look. Quiet.
And he froze solid.
That look had no love in it. None at all.
Just pure disgust.
It took every last bit of strength he had.
Hurting worse than anything ever had.