Taking Charge (Meet the McIntyres Book 1) Read online

  “He wanted it to stay in the family. This place, it’s our home. Has been for a long time. He knew you were the right person to take care of it. It wouldn’t destroy you and you wouldn’t destroy it.”

  “How would it get destroyed?” I had no idea what Dad was on about.

  Just as I was about to ask him if he was drunk again, he answered me. “By marrying a gold digging whore.” He said it so adamantly and politely. Like he just hadn’t called my mother a whore. It was more like a declaration of fact.

  I heard the screen door screech open and a stampede head out. Chicken shits. Obviously doing the dishes wasn’t far enough. Pushing my chair out from under the table, I rose to my feet. I needed to give these two some space. Hell, I needed some space to figure out my next move. I was the owner of a huge ass farm that I knew very little about. I didn’t even know where the boundaries were. It should have been left to Connor. At least he’d have some idea where to start.

  “I’m going to go for a drive.”

  “Beau!” Dad’s voice called out. It was serenely calm and unnerving.

  “Yeah, Dad?”

  “Don’t question this. You are the best man for the job. I always knew it. You keep following your dreams and your heart, and you’ll make the right choice. Don’t be as dumb as me and think with your dick. All you’ll get is a miserable, plastic wife who only wants her cut.”

  Slap!

  I heard it from my spot by the front door.

  Mum was standing over Dad, her whole body vibrating. I think reality just set in. She was getting nothing out of this marriage. Not a cent. Dad didn’t have any. So her claim of half was half of nothing. Not one cent worth fighting for. It was over and she’d lost. She’d lost big.

  Needing to clear my head, I stepped outside into the sun, slipped on my boots I’d left at the door, and jumped in my ute. There was only one place I wanted to be right now. Only one place that would clear my mind and quieten all this noise. I needed Payton. Sure I wanted her, that was undisputed, but I needed her too. We mightn’t be together, but that would change. And it would be changing today. She was the one person in this town I knew I could talk to and she’d tell it to me straight. Not once in all the time we’d spent together has she ever held back her opinion. Right now, that’s exactly what I needed. Her blunt, unapologetic honesty.

  And if she couldn’t talk me off this bridge, maybe she’d be able to suggest some other creative ways to keep my chaotic mind occupied.

  “What the hell?”

  I sat up quickly, too quickly, and the room spun. All of the blankets had been ripped away from me and my bare legs were freezing. That wasn’t the worst part. Someone, I think it was Satan, had opened the blinds, letting the morning sun blaze, blinding me.

  “Nope! No time for that!” an annoying high-pitched screeching scolded, yanking the pillow out of my hands. Now I was lying in little more than a pair of panties and a singlet on my bed. No pillows. No blankets. No modesty. “Up and in the shower. You have ten minutes. I’ll brew coffee. Now scram!”

  Apparently I didn’t move quite quick enough. When a smack landed on my ass, I yelped before scurrying off the bed and locking myself in the bathroom. The moment my eyes locked gazes with my reflection, regret and vodka crawled up my throat. A few minutes later, I’d emptied my stomach, cleaned my teeth, and sworn to never drink again. Staring at my straw-like hair and chapped lips, I was off with the fairies, so when a heavy bang landed on the door, I jumped with fright, managing to bite my tongue.

  “Hurry up in there, Payton! Five more minutes and I’m cutting off the hot water!”

  Flipping the bird at the closed door made me feel somewhat better, but I knew Carly well enough to know she meant business. I had exactly four and a half minutes of hot water to attempt to make me feel human again, before she blasted me with cold. Bitch.

  Jumping in the shower, I made quick work of washing my hair, shaving my legs, and scrubbing my face. Feeling a million times better, I stepped out. Because I loved torturing myself, I looked in the mirror again. It wasn’t pretty. Not at all. At least I had some colour in my cheeks now. Realising I’d forgotten clean underwear, I wrapped my towel around me tightly, tucking it in between my boobs, and padded out the door as quietly as possible.

  “Put these on!”

  “Fuck, Carly! You scared the shit out of me!”

  My heart was pounding in my chest. She’d been quietly sitting on the edge of my bed, sipping her tea, not making a damn sound. The least she could do is hum, not creep around, jumping out of the shadows, wiping years off my life. I needed those years, damn it!

  Looking at what she handed me, I was more than a little shocked. “Um?”

  “Nope. No thinking. We’re not doing that today. Hurry up! Put them on, and I don’t want to hear another word. As soon as you’re done, get out here and sit down so I can fix your hair and makeup.”

  Now I was completely lost. In my hand was a pair of white lacy boy shorts, a pair I don’t even remember buying, and a matching demi cup bra. My boobs wouldn’t be restrained by that. Not for a second. Why would I even own these?

  Carly rose from the bed, giving me the evil eye before stepping out of my bedroom. At least she has some boundaries. Not many, but some.

  “Decent yet?” she called out.

  Rolling my eyes, which thankfully she didn’t see, I tried to squish my boobs into the lacy torture contraption. This is why I don’t wear fancy underwear. It never fits properly and it sure as shit isn’t comfortable.

  Before I had a chance to reply, Carly was back in the room, staring at me, holding a steaming mug. God, I hoped that was for me. More than anything, I needed it. I’d be happy wearing nothing more than a bow and a smile, skipping down the middle of the street right now if it got me that cup. “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”

  “Sit!”

  Carly was up to something. I’d known her long enough to recognise the devious look, yet I didn’t have the strength to care right now. The vodka was still controlling my body, so she could do what she liked. With my ass perched on the corner of my bed, cradling the mug wearing nothing but a few scraps of lace, I couldn’t summon the energy to care about the rolls of flab bulging over the band of my panties. When Carly dragged a brush through my knotted hair, I whimpered. Loudly. God, it felt good. I loved my hair, it was long and thick and usually looked pretty good. But damn it was heavy. Having someone brush my hair, the prongs massaging my scalp, was heavenly.

  “Go and look in the mirror.”

  Carly’s words shocked me from my day dream. I’d been so relaxed, sipping my coffee, having my head massaged, I’d completely forgotten where I was or that there was anyone else in the room.

  I stepped up to my dresser and looked in the mirror. It wasn’t something I did often, and with my head still foggy, I was slightly afraid. Lifting my eyes, I caught my reflection and couldn’t believe what I saw. Carly had pinned half of my hair up in some kind of fancy twist, while the rest was allowed to float around freely, crazy curls going in every direction. Wiping the tear from my eye, I turned and looked at Carly, who was kneeling in the middle of my unmade bed.

  “Why?”

  “This morning you’re going to be Princess Payton.”

  “What?”

  She shot me an intriguing look. I was slightly afraid. As long as I’d known Carly, I knew she wasn’t one to pull any punches, and she was the first to be in there with some over the top, hilarious, but slightly dangerous prank. Being her best friend usually ensured I was protected, however today…today I was feeling anything but.

  “Go into the lounge. Mia’s going to do your makeup.”

  I was halfway through the door when I realised Carly had never met Mia. “How do you know…”

  “She messaged you earlier to check up on your horny ass. Something about making sure Beau hadn’t killed you. While you snored like a freight train, we had a chat. We’re besties now.”

  “God help me!”

  �
�Morning, sunshine!” Mia chirped as I stepped into the lounge room. She was squatting on the floor, my coffee table covered in makeup.

  “Would someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

  “Sit your cute butt down and let me fix your face.”

  “You’re going to need more than that,” I grumbled miserably.

  They weren’t giving me answers, and it was starting to annoy me. Since I had nothing going on today…well, no plans except finishing the tub of salted caramel ice cream in my freezer and feeling sorry for myself, I gave in. It wasn’t worth the arguing.

  Thankfully Mia was quick. Twenty minutes later I was once again staring at my reflection, barely recognising myself. I’d expected to have so much makeup caked on I looked like a clown. Mia knew me though. It was light and natural and surprisingly I didn’t hate it.

  “So what now?”

  I was standing in the middle of my lounge room wearing nothing more than a pair of panties and a bra and a truck load of makeup and I still had no clue why.

  “Put this on.”

  My heart stopped.

  Literally.

  I wanted to throw up.

  I wanted to scream.

  Carly was standing there, a serious expression on her face, cradling my wedding dress. The one I’d brought to marry her brother. The one I thought would make me feel like a million dollars. The one I thought represented the beginning of my happily ever after. It didn’t do any of those things. Instead it made my skin crawl. It physically hurt me to see it. I wished I’d thrown it away. Set fire to it. Donated it to charity. Tossed it out like rubbish the same way Hayden had tossed me away.

  Clasping my hands against my chest, I willed my breathing to calm down. “I-I-can’t.”

  Mia stepped forward and took my hands in hers. “Yes, you can. You’re going to put on this beautiful dress and then Carly is going to take some photos of you looking like a princess.”

  “It’s…it’s…”

  “It’s time to let Hayden go.”

  “I have!” I protested. Well, didn’t that just piss me off. Hayden wasn’t a part of my life anymore. He hadn’t been since the moment he walked away without even so much as a glance over his shoulder as he shattered my heart. Asshole. I couldn’t help the smile that flickered across my face.

  “Payton, it’s time for you to see yourself the same way we see you. The way Beau sees you. You need to let go of all the bad crap in your life and be happy again. The Payton standing in front of me, she’s gorgeous. She’s just forgotten it.”

  I was lost for words. Something that didn’t happen very often. Carly took my silence as agreement and held out the dress for me to step into. Almost paralysed with anxiety, they helped me into my dress and shoes before stepping back and staring, their mouths gaping open.

  I wanted to look.

  I didn’t want to look.

  Even though I’d been stupid enough to pull my dress on the other night, having my hair done and a face full of makeup took this to a whole other level. I wasn’t getting married. Hell, I didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone a sparkly diamond ring. I felt like a phoney. Well, maybe a phoney in a really pretty dress.

  “Come on,” Mia invited reaching her hand out for me to take.

  “Where are we going?”

  They had rocks in their heads if they thought for a second I was stepping foot outside my apartment. Hell would have to freeze over and the sky be full of flying pigs if they thought they were getting me outside looking like this. The last thing I needed was people seeing me play dress up. They’d think I spent my nights thinking I was Miss Havisham, alone in my apartment, eating cake. Mmm, cake. Now there was an idea.

  “Pretty.”

  Glancing around, I saw Matilda all dressed up like a princess. Or a flower girl. Fuck me! They’d gone all out.

  “Wh-what’s going on?”

  Josie stepped forward and I finally saw her. The moment my eyes caught her outfit, I knew she wasn’t here to torture me. She was in a stunning navy knee-length satin gown. It showed off every single one of her curves. I was jealous as hell at the way she looked. She was absolutely stunning. She should have been the one having her picture taken, not me.

  “Payton, we love you and we need you to trust us right now.”

  I looked around the room and caught the three sets of eyes staring at me. They were all filled with hope and pleading. I felt myself nod. I don’t know why I did it or even if I wanted to. Josie took my hand as I saw Carly dig out her enormous camera from her duffle bag in the corner.

  A moment later we were down in the bakery kitchen posing for photos.

  At first it felt stiff. Forced. Unnatural. Then we started to have some fun. Smiling, laughing. There would be photos with tongues being poked out. One of Josie tipping Matilda upside down blowing raspberries on her pale belly. Some of me posing in a wedding gown with a bouquet of wooden spoons and whisks. My favourite was the one where Matilda was in my arms feeding me a cinnamon scroll. I didn’t need to see the photo to know what it would look like. Sure, she missed my mouth and got sticky, white icing on my face, but we were both smiling and laughing. It couldn’t be anything less than perfect.

  Carly got over a hundred shots, and I knew she was talented enough to get at least one decent one. One where I didn’t look fat and frumpy.

  “Right! Enough of the princess shots…now it’s time to have some real fun.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Payton, you know I love you, right?”

  “Yeah.” The word trembled from my lips warily. Even though I trusted Carly with my life, it didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous about what her next move was. God, when I’d woken this morning hungover as hell and wishing the world would fuck off and let me sleep, she’d stuffed me into my three-thousand-dollar wedding dress and had me pose holding a bouquet of cooking utensils. It wasn’t exactly turning out to be a normal day.

  “That dress, as beautiful as it is, it needs to go.”

  “But…” As much as she was right, it was a dress that I should never put on again, I wasn’t ready to toss it into the bin. It cost too much for that.

  “Nope! No buts. We’re going to have some fun with you in that dress and you’re going to smile the whole time. That’s what it’s about.”

  “Why?”

  It was Josie’s turn to speak up. “Because it’s time you started believing that good things will happen to you and you deserve every single one of them.”

  Damn these women! It was hard enough when Mia and Josie ganged up on me, but adding Carly to the mix meant I had no hope. She knew everything there was to know about me and she wouldn’t be shy about sharing it. Not if she thought it would get her what she wanted. All I needed to do was find out what she was after.

  “I do believe. It’s just…”

  “It’s just shitty things happened to you. My brother was an idiot and a douche for what he put you through, Pay. But that’s on him. He has to live with that for the rest of his miserable STD filled life. You Payton, you get to let it go. Move on. Be happy.”

  “I don’t… I can’t…” Tears were filling my eyes.

  Something red caught my eye as it came through the air towards me. Seeing the splash on the front of my dress sent me instantly into a fit of rage. I didn’t have time to begin to rant before a strip of green landed beside it. “What the fuck?”

  “Payton, you got your princess moment. Now, I want the real Payton back. The one who wasn’t afraid of mud. The girl who used to catch the spiders and carry them out of my room. The girl who mowed the lawn in her jean skirt. I want my Payton back. The Payton before Hayden. I know he’s my brother and I have to love him, but he changed you. And you let him. Now, I’m fighting for the one who I’ve always loved to come back to me.”

  “Carly…” The tears fell freely from my eyes.

  I caught sight of the bottles of food colouring on the bench behind her and I knew. I knew what they were about to do.
They were going to turn my beautiful, white wedding gown into a rainbow of colour. And I was going to let them.

  Without a word, I held my arms, squeezed my eyes closed and waited. When the squealing began, I wanted desperately to open my eyes and see how it was turning out. The only thing stopping me was the idea of copping a faceful of dye. I didn’t need to be blinded by food colouring though. Instead, I hitched up handfuls of dress and spun in slow circles. If I was going to destroy thousands of dollars’ worth of material, I was going all in.

  “This is awesome!” That was Mia. I’d pick that high-pitched squeak anywhere. “I’m so doing this to my dress!”

  “Let’s get you married first,” Josie suggested.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  I found myself starting to laugh. Even though the dress was squishing me and I had boning digging into me from every conceivable angle, I was having fun. More than I wanted to admit. Carly had been right. I’d never tell her, but everything she said was so right it was scary. Terrifying actually. This is exactly the sort of crap we used to pull. And we’d have a ball doing it. Somewhere along the way I’d forgotten that it was okay to have fun. Under the weight of responsibility, I’d lost sight of what was important. Having fun. Being me. Being happy.

  “What’s going on here?” A deep voice questioned, silencing the giggles instantly.

  Dropping my arms, I felt the stickiness as the inside of my arms clung to the dress. I turned back around and pried open my eyes.

  “Shit!”

  I don’t know what the hell I’d walked into, but they were having a good time. There was shit everywhere and you could hear their laughter from the street. It was obvious, from the way their mouths hung open and shock registered in their eyes that they’d been so caught up in whatever this was they hadn’t even heard the bells above the door jingle.

  “Beau…” Payton’s voice hitched. She looked mortified. Her cheeks flushed as a bead of red liquid trailed down her neck and between her boobs. All it did was attract my eyes to the impressive cleavage on display. “I-I can explain.”