Mistakes We Made

Chapter Two - Kade

Hollis Lake Plantation was large, expensive, and beautiful, which is exactly what Ella was looking for. The grounds were well kept, with 100 year old Oak trees, bright colored flowers, and the biggest pond I've ever seen, though technically not large enough to actually be considered a lake. The of course there was the house where, according to my fiancee, the reception would be held. It reminded me of Scarlet's home in Gone With the Wind and while it was pretty, it wasn't really my style.

“The ceremony would take place in the back. You two would stand under the pergola, with the pond behind you, it would be absolutely stunning,” Our wedding planner, Cindy motioned to the body of water, before leading us toward the main building.

“Is there room inside for everyone, in case it rains?” Ella asked, clutching my arm.

“Absolutely. There is a ballroom, where you can have your reception and right across the hall, is a room that would be big enough to hold the ceremony. Upstairs, is a bridal suite where you and your party can get ready.”

“How many people can it accommodate?” Ella asked as we walked up the front steps.

“Around 350, which is more than most places in this area.”

Cindy unlocked the door and ushered us inside. Ella gasped and placed her hand over her heart. Though the outside looked like a plantation home, the inside had been remodeled and was modern looking. Our wedding planner gave us a tour that had my bride squealing with delight. It was a nice place, but I just didn't understand why we needed to have such an extravagant wedding. I wanted something small, with family and close friends, but Ella wanted grand and who was I to deny her of her dream? She had probably been planning her fairytale wedding since she was 5.

Once we finished with the upstairs, we went back to the ballroom on the main floor, where Cindy said, “If you want this place for next summer, we need to book it as soon as possible.” She gave us a smile, “I’ll give you a few minutes to talk it over.”

Ella turned to face me, her excitement evident, “What do you think, Babe?”

“If you like it and want it, then so do I.”

She let out another squeal and threw her arms around my neck, “Thank you!”

I chuckled and hugged her back. She planted a sound kiss on my cheek, “I can't wait to marry you, Kade McCauley.”

I kissed her forehead and started to reply, but was interrupted by my phone ringing. I gave her an apologetic look and she waved me off.

“Go ahead and get it, I'll go tell Cindy to book us a day in June,” She said as she happily skipped off. She was very used to getting her way.

I pulled my cell out of my pocket and rolled my eyes. Jace. I sent him to voicemail and put my phone away. I loved my little brother, I really did, but I just did not have the patience to deal with him anymore. He was 23 years old and still acted like he was 16. The last time that I had seen him had been 4 months prior when he showed up at my house in the middle of the night, completely wasted, where he preceded to tell me that I was to blame for everything wrong in his life. I spent our childhood looking after him, fixing his mistakes, but it was time for him to get it together. I was getting married, I couldn't be responsible for him forever.

“Kade, you ready to go?” Ella stuck her head into the room.

“Yeah, I'm coming,” I smiled and followed her out of the house.

******

“Jace said that you're still ignoring him,” My mother, Melissa said the next evening when I stopped by her house on my way home from work.

“I've just got a lot going on right now, Mama.”

Her hands flew to her hips, “Kaden Edward, he is your brother.”

“I can't keep bailing him out of everything, every time he screws up. He's got to grow up.”

“He's trying,” She defended her younger son.

I rolled my eyes, “No offense, Mama, but Jace will tell you anything to get you off of his case.”

She frowned at me, “He really is trying, son. He's stopped drinking completely and he hasn't missed work in months.”

I snorted, now I knew she as lying. Jace drank beer like most people drank water and could never keep a job for very long. He would either show up hungover or not show up at all.

“He's even taking some online classes.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Mama, you really believe that?”

“I do. I'm the one who helped him register and he was here just last week showing your dad some of the work he's going to do during the semester.”

As much as I wanted to believe her, I just couldn't. I knew my brother too well. He was great at deceiving people. Maybe he had my parents fooled into thinking he was changing and maybe he even believed it himself, but it was only a matter of time before he screwed it all up again. It wouldn't be long before he'd call me or our parents to bail him out of some trouble. That's how it always happened. He'd get on the straight and narrow and we'd all get our hopes up, thinking - this is it, he's gonna do it this time. Then, he'd go back off the deep end. It was going to take more than a promise to stop drinking and enrolling in a few classes to convince me, but it would have been pointless to say this to my mom. She always wanted to up see the best in him, he was her baby after all.

“Maybe you're right, Mama. Maybe he's changing,” I said even though I didn't believe a word of it.

“Does that mean that you'll stop ignoring him?”

“Will it get you off of my back if I say that I'll think about it, after I ask around about him.”

She rolled her eyes, “For now, but don't expect it to last for very long.”

I stood up from the table and kissed her cheek, before taking my empty plate back to the kitchen, “Thanks for the pie. I've got to head over to Ella's, we're picking out music.”

“Already? The wedding isn't until the end of June. Oh! By the way, you'll never believe who I saw the other day,” She smiled at me. I sighed, leaving her house was never an easy feat. She always found some thing to continue talking about.

“Who?” I asked.

“Y’all’s friend, Emma. You know, her grandmother died two months ago.”

I nodded that I did in fact know and decided not to comment on that fact that she called Emma my friend. We had been way more than friends once upon a time, but now, we weren't anything. When I didn't say anything, Mama continued talking.

“Poor girl, she looked pitiful. She adored Stella, I think this is breaking her heart, and of course to top it off, her mother rolled back into town a few days ago.”

Now, that I had not heard. Everyone in town knew that Bridgit had run off at 18 and left her 3 year old daughter with her parents. She very rarely returned to Eastfield, which is how Emma preferred it. The mother and daughter had always had a strained relationship. I could imagine that her mother's presence was not comforting, if anything it was probably just making Emma feel worse.

“It is sad about her grandmother,” I said.

“I took them a casserole after the funeral, but I think I'm going to run a pot roast and a butter cake over there tomorrow afternoon and check on them. Emma told me that her little boy, John loved the cake at the last church dinner.”

“That's very nice of you, Mama.” I smiled. She drove me crazy half the time, but Melissa McCauley was a good woman. There was no denying that.

“Would you like to go with me? I know that the two of you haven't spoke in years. But I'm sure she would appreciate you stopping by. Y'all were close before you left.”

I shook my head, “I don't think so. I've got to go, Ella's waiting on me. I'll call you tomorrow.”

She offered me her cheek once more and said, “Call your brother. He's still your family, even if you don't like him sometimes.”

“Yes ma'am,” I said, even though I had no intention of listening to her.