Can't Fight Fate

Chapter three

Bella

Something wasn’t right and we all knew it. She wasn’t dating anyone. She hasn’t since Bronson and after that, she shut herself off to men. Being in a relationship or talking about relationships has caused so many panic attacks, more than I could count. So, imagine my surprise when she said she was engaged.

It seemed like the only guy that could have an effect on my daughter was Dylan and even then she would never admit it, but I saw it in her face when we asked about him living with her. She still had feelings for him, she always would. He was her first love.

There’s a funny thing about those two. I know Hannah and Austin told Dylan and Archer as well as some of the other kids about how Austin was supposed to be in a contracted marriage but broke it to be with Hannah. We actually made a joke when Raegan was 13 and Dylan was 18 that we would put them through a contract marriage. We would never do that, but we joked none the less.

As a mother, I could tell when my daughter was in love and her feelings for Dylan were the real thing. You can also see the look in Dylan’s eyes when he came to us and told us he was leaving when it was her and Fin’s sixteenth birthday. We knew something had happened but we didn’t want to push them. After all, we wouldn’t have allowed them to be together until she turned 18.

When she told Eli and I that she was engaged, to say I was shocked would be a lie. I was dumbfounded. I had no words to say and, for once in my life, I was utterly speechless and, trust me, it took a lot to make me speechless. I had to physically hold Eli back from hopping on a plane and going to New York to beat the crap out of Dylan.

What was even more surprising was showing up to the house with Levi and them both announcing their engagement. I’ve known Levi ever since he was younger, before he became friends with my daughter, before they went to the same school. I knew they would eventually find one another, but I never thought in a million years like this. His family life growing up wasn’t the best. His parents were very one-sided and never listened to anyone else’s point of view but what they believed, very closed-minded people. We never got along and they tried their hardest to have him not be around Ray, so hearing about their engagement just brought even more questions.

When they told us their story, I noticed how they stuttered and picked their words just right. The others might not have noticed, but I did. My daughter is truly a very smart individual, but she sure is a smartass and she was an expert at masking her feelings and she did that well today.

Dinner was awkward, but we tried to play it off as smoothly as possible. They left after having a glass of wine and once we heard the car door shut and them driving away, we all just groaned.

“What is she thinking?” Austin asked first.

“She’s shielding her heart.” Hannah said, “It’s a simple tactic that females use. We try to avoid something that is going to hurt us, so we do something stupid to shield us from that pain.”

“What is she trying to shield herself from?” Tristian asked. Riley, Hannah and I just looked at him and rolled our eyes. “Hey, that’s not fair, it’s three against one. I can’t be the only one that is daft right now.”

“You are.” Eli and Austin said at the same time.

“Assholes, you’re supposed to agree with me no matter what. That’s why we’re best friends.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to sleep next to you every night.” Eli shrugged.

“Facts.” Austin agreed.

Tristian rolled his eyes, annoyed, “Well, since I’m an i***t, can someone spell it out for me?”

“It’s a fake engagement.” I said and Tristian’s eyes went wide, “There’s no way this is real. It can’t be. Right? I mean the timing is all off. She had no mention of any guy she was seeing. She hasn’t even dated since everything happened with Bronson. I tried to set her up but she refused every single time. Then, she finds out Dylan is coming home and then she is magically engaged to Levi no less. I’ve known Levi for years before he and Ray became friends and trust me, what I say this isn’t like him. This isn't like either of them. There’s something deeper going on.”

“I don’t know,” Hannah said, “I’ve seen them two around town. They are close. They do kiss and spend a lot of time together. She could have been hiding him because of what happened with Bronson. Yeah, the timing seems suspect, but it’s not like they have been hiding each other. They are out in public a lot, although it did look more like friendship instead of romantic, but every relationship is different.”

“If she says she’s engaged, then I believe her.” Riley said, shrugging her shoulders “I mean, there is a way to really find out.”

“What’s that?” Eli piped in.

I smiled, looking at the girls as we all magically got on the same page, “We start the wedding planning. We meet up with them and have them set a date and make it soon using the excuse of running the family business or some s**t like that. We start the dance lessons, the flower arrangements, the cake testing, everything.”

“If this is real, she’ll go through with it because she loves him. And if she’s lying, it will either make her feel guilty that we are planning it or she will come clean. Hopefully, the second one so we can know the truth of the whole situation. Or we plan an engagement party and see how it all unfolds.” Hannah said, agreeing with me.

“That’s manipulation at it’s finest and I don’t know if we should. It’s wrong. The engagement party would make more sense.” Tristian said, “Plus, when Dylan comes home later this week, I think everything will fall into place like it was supposed to the entire time.”

“I don’t think so,” Riley said, “Things will fall apart, not fall into place.”

“Sometimes, things need to fall apart to be fixed and to know the beauty of what they had before they can put it back together. I really do wish those two would finally see what’s in front of them.” Austin said, shaking his head.

“Baby, you need to understand where he’s coming from though. When Ray told him how she felt, she was only sixteen and we never would have let that happen anyway. They haven’t seen each other in years. They both went through hell and back, their own struggles. If it’s meant to be, then it will be. Because when two people who find each other time and time again, no matter the situations they end up in or how far apart they become, they always find their way back to each other. It's fate and I know for sure that they are fated.” Hannah did have a way with words.

“They don’t even know what happened to each other during the past couple of years though, so how can they find their way back to each other when they were never together in the first place?” Eli asked.

I rolled my eyes, “It’s just called fate. Destiny. They would need to tell each other what happened before anything happens between them. She needs to tell him about Bronson and he needs to tell her about what happened to him. But you’re right, planning the wedding would just make her super anxious.”

“And what do you do when they don’t believe in fate?” Austin asked.

“How do you figure they don’t?” Tristian asked.

“I know for sure my son doesn’t. I have heard him say it time and time again. He doesn’t believe in fate, he believes we write our own path and create our own future, that no matter what happens, we can always change what we believe is meant to be.” Austin groaned, “I just wish he would look at things a bit differently, but with his past, I don’t blame him.”

“The funny thing is, I am sure Ray thinks the same way,” I said sadly.

“Do you think them living together will be enough for them to realize what is really going on?” Eli asked.

“No, because we know they will end up avoiding each other at all costs,” Riley said.

Hannah started laughing, making us all confused, “So, you know how Raegan got a job at the elementary school as a speech therapist there?” they all nodded, “Dylan is the gym teacher and he is also going to be coaching the high school football team. He just doesn’t know that part yet.” She winked.

“Well, regardless, something inside me tells me that Levi and Raegan are up to something. Something just doesn’t feel right,” I said.

After we took a pause and thought about it, they all agreed. It would be hard for Raegan to admit what was really going on. It was time I spent some one on one time with my daughter and figured out what was going through her head.

Besides, if I knew my daughter as much as I know I do, I know her heart is still with Dylan and that this engagement was just a mask covering what she was really feeling. But the question is, why Levi?