my response. I didn’t say anything in response because the only words in my mind to say in that moment were liar, liar, and liar.
“Jane, shall we go now?” Tate walked over to me and grabbed my hand. “We can go and do some more tourist stuff?”
“No,” I surprised myself at my own words. “We should stay.”
Tate looked shocked and his eyes narrowed as he stared at me. “What?”
“Rose.” I whispered to him. “Remember, we came for Rose.”
His expression changed to one of understanding and he pulled me into his arms. “You’re a good person, Jane Garcia.” He kissed me on the top of my head and then grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go and find my sister. It’s time for me to be honest.” We walked past his mom who was just standing there, looking like she was about to have a breakdown and we left the room. “Are you okay?” He asked me as we headed towards the stairs.
“I’m okay. How are you?”
“I’m disgusted with my mom.” He shook his head. “I’ve never known her to be this bad.”
“Oh wow.” I didn’t know what else to say. Maybe you never wanted to see it? From the stories he’d told me about his parents, it seemed to me that they’d always been that bad, but that wasn’t for me to say. Families were complicated and you couldn’t always help whom you loved.
“Rose, where are you?” He called out as we made it down the stairs and towards the kitchen. “Rose, Willow, Maybelle?” He called out all of their names, but we heard no response. “Hmm, maybe they’re still outside.” He said and we walked through the French doors at the back of the kitchen and into their backyard. “Rose.”
“Over here, Tate.” Rose called from some deck chairs next to their pool. She, and her sisters were lounging in bikinis and sipping on margaritas. “Where have you two been?”
“Rose, mom and dad were horrible to Jane.” Tate sounded annoyed. “You asked me to come here to help you, but you don’t seem to be doing much to help yourself. Why isn’t Sam here?” If he’s your fiancé then he really should be here facing mom and dad.”
“You know how they are.” Rose pouted. “Don’t be mad, Tate.” And then she looked towards me. “I’m sorry for my parents and how they’ve treated you. They can be horrid, but I hope that doesn’t reflect too badly on Tate. We’re not all that bad.” She stood up and walked over to me and gave me a quick hug. “I like you Jane. I like you a lot. I welcome you to our family with open arms.”
“So do I.” Willow jumped up and rushed over to give me a hug as well. “You’re the first girlfriend of Tate’s that we’ve ever met.” She gushed and then beamed. “Does this mean our big brother is finally getting married?”
“Oh no, we’re not dating, we’re just...” My words drifted off as Tate stared at me with a smile.
“I hadn’t made it official yet girls.” He grinned at his sisters. “I was going to ask Jane to be my girlfriend tonight.”
“Oh.” I stared at him in shock, but before I could say anything else, Maybelle had now jumped up as well and was running over to join the group hug.
“This is so exciting.” She grinned. “Welcome to the family. We’re crazy, but we’re not crazy crazy, like mom and dad.”
“So what’s going on with you and Sam?” Tate prodded on again. “Look, I know you might not want to hear this, but I don’t think he’s a good fit for you. I know you love him and want to show mom and dad you know what’s best, but I don’t think he’s the one.”
“We broke up.” Rose grinned at him. “Sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you this morning, but we broke up on Wednesday.”
“So why didn’t you let me know before I came home?” He sighed and shook his head.
“Because we wanted to see you.” Rose walked over to her brother and hugged him. “And I had a favor to ask.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Whatever it is, no.”
“Well, it’s not just for me, it’s for Willow and Maybelle as well.”
“Then even more of a no.” He looked at me with pleading eyes. “Can we leave now, please Jane?”
“I want to know what they want to ask you.” I laughed as I took the scene in. Tate was surrounded by his three beautiful sisters,