At the balcony of Tom's bedroom, Lucy embraced Tom from behind as he silently stared into the night.
She had walked into the bedroom to see him standing out there just like that, and even when she touched him, he did not turn to look at her.
Neither of them said a word. Lucy could tell Tom was upset and didn't want to talk, and Tom could tell that Lucy understood his need for the silence even though her presence was welcome.
"Why aren't you asking me what happened?" Tom asked after some time, when he was sure he was calm enough to speak.
"I suppose I'm more interested in making sure you are fine than in satisfying my curiosity," Lucy said, and Tom sighed as he turned around to face her.
He smiled wearily as he looked into her face which was etched with worry line, "I guess I should have handled things myself instead of dragging you into it. I don't like you being blamed for any of this," Tom said, and Lucy smiled.
"Don't worry about me. I will handle it. Although I don't like confrontations, but I don't think I would mind this one very much if it comes to it," Lucy assured him.
"I don't want you having any problems with my mom..."
"I don't think it is avoidable at this point. I love and respect her, but she wants to have too much control over your life and your relationship and I am not willing to let that happen as long as I'm in your life. So we will have to deal with it woman to woman. So, why don't you relax and tell me what she said, and then I will give her a call and resolve things," Lucy suggested.
"I don't want you to talk to her. She is upset right now. Especially as my father is mad at her. She might say something to you I won't be able to forgive her for. So just let it be," Tom said calmly.
"Do you trust me?" Lucy asked, and Tom held her gaze for a moment before giving her a nod.
"Sure."
"Then let me handle this. I don't like to see you so worried," Lucy said as she took his hand and led him to the seats at the balcony and they both sat down.
"Tell me everything she said," Lucy said and Tom told her exactly what Evelyn had said.
"I guess she feels this way because I'm your girlfriend and not married to you? If I were your wife she would consider me family and wouldn't think I was wrong want to punish your grandfather," Lucy said, and Tom shook his head.
"I don't think so. I know for a fact that she considers you part of the family and thinks of you as her daughter in-law. She just wants to put the blame on you so she wouldn't feel too bad about her role in all of this," Tom said confidently.
He knew his mother well enough to know she was being all defensive and passing blames because she knew everyone was mad.
"Unfortunately for her, your grandfather isn't the only person I was trying to punish. I had her in mind when I decided that I wanted your grandfather to report himself to them. I will wait it out till morning. If she doesn't call me to express her displeasure before then, I will call her to express mine," Lucy said, and Tom sighed.
"I didn't expect you to be so calm about this," Tom said, and Lucy smiled.
"Don't worry your head over this. I have to go and join the girls. We still have to talk about the wedding plans since Candace came over for it," Lucy said as she rose from her seat. ????????????????????????????????.????????????
"I will wait up for you," he said as she kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Alright. I will try to make things snappy so I don't keep you waiting," Lucy said before walking out of the bedroom.
The moment she shut the door behind her, she saw Sonia and Bryan standing by the hallway and paused when she heard Bryan's question to Sonia.
"Are you aware that Lucy doesn't want to get married to Tom?" Bryan, who had just finished speaking with his mother and had come out to find Sonia, asked.
Sonia who caught the movement of the door some feet away from them looked up to see Lucy, and she met her gaze.
"Where did you hear that?" Lucy asked as she approached them, not wanting to put Sonia in a situation where she had to lie to Bryan.
Bryan turned to Lucy, "Is it true?" He asked just as Jade and Candace who had heard their voices stepped out of Jade's room to find out what was happening.
"Is what true?" Jade asked curiously.
"Mom just told me Lucy doesn't want to marry Tom," Bryan said, and both Jade and Candace looked at Lucy in surprise.
"Why would you not want to marry Tom?" Jade asked in confusion.
"I don't think it's any of our business. It's between her and Tom..."
Jade eyed Sonia with annoyance, "What makes you think it is okay for you to interfere in other people's business but clam up when it comes to Lucy? And how can you say this is not our business? Tom is our brother and we have every right to know..."
"No, you don't. Unless Tom wants you to know you have no business knowing about my personal business with your brother. You don't see me prying into your private lives, do I? Why does my decision have to be a subject for your entire family to debate on?" Lucy asked, feeling really annoyed now.
"Lucy," Sonia called softly, not wanting Lucy to fight with Bryan and Jade. The whole issue had escalated really quickly thanks to Evelyn's phone calls.
"What is going on here?" Tom asked as he also stepped out of his bedroom.
"We asked if it was true that Lucy doesn't want to marry you and she got offended," Jade explained and Tom glanced at Lucy, wondering where they had heard that. I think you should take a look at
"Did you hear it directly from her that she doesn't want to marry me?" Tom asked, and Bryan stepped sighed.
"That was what mom told me. She said grandfather was trying to force your hand about settling down and having a family of your own before they realized it was Lucy who was refusing to get married and not you," Bryan said, and Tom frowned.
"Is that supposed to justify their action? I have done my best to understand the way things are done in this family, but I am not going to put up with the meddling any longer. My relationship with Tom is our personal business and going forward I will appreciate it if neither of you questions me about any part of it. I doubt you will put up with your attitude if you were in my shoes, so why do you expect me to put up with it? The only person I owe any explanation in this family, is Tom, and that is exactly how it is going to remain," Lucy said in a slightly raised voice before returning to the bedroom leaving the rest of them standing there.
"Why is she overreacting when we only asked a question?" Jade asked with a frown.
"I don't think she is overreacting. And even if she is, what she said is on point. You need to know when to stop meddling. I guess there will be no wedding planning tonight. I will be in my bedroom if you need me," Candace said before walking away.
"You both should come with me," Tom said to Bryan and Jade, and they followed him, while Sonia decided to go talk to Lucy.
Tom led them to the bar, and they all sat down, "I didn't mean to upset her. I was surprised to hear that from mom so I had to ask. And I wasn't even asking her. I was asking Sonia before she showed up," Bryan said defensively.
"Why do you keep things away from us? Aren't you supposed to talk to us if you are having a problem? Why would you rather talk to Lucy and Harry and leave us out? Do you think they care about you more than we do?" Jade asked, feeling very annoyed by all that was happening.
"Are you alright?" Bryan asked when Tom remained silent for some time.
Tom sighed, "I'm not sure what I want to say to you both, but if either of you decides to take mom's side on this, I will be very pissed and won't take it lightly with you. The decision whether or not Lucy and I are going to get married is solely ours. It shouldn't affect any one of you..."
"But...."
"No buts Jade. When your boyfriend died you didn't want us to ask you any questions or pry and I respected that. Now I'm saying I need you to respect my relationship with Lucy and not pry or meddle. We don't need any more dramas." Having said that, Tom rose and walked away, leaving Bryan and Jade.
"Why do they make it sound like we've been meddling in their relationship this whole time? I have never shown any interest in it until tonight," Jade said irritably and Bryan sighed.
"It doesn't matter. Let's just listen to them and keep our nose out of their business. And I agree with him. Mother was wrong. I can't side with her on this..."
"What exactly happened? What did mother tell you?" Jade asked and Bryan explained the whole situation to her, also telling her how upset their father was.
"I don't support what grandfather did either. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything to help the situation," Jade said reasonably.
"What can we do?"
"We can start by letting mother know that she was wrong. If she sees that we are all mad at her, she will realize how much she screwed up and she will apologize rather than try to pass the blame," Jade suggested.
"I already told her that much. So I guess you have to give her a call yourself and give her a piece of your mind," Bryan said and Jade nodded.
"I will do just that."
"You are not mad at Sonia, are you?" Bryan asked, and she scowled.
"I'm not. It just annoys me how she doesn't mind prying into other people's business but when it comes to Lucy she acts like her moral compass is so high," Jade said and Bryan sighed.
"That is only because it is Lucy's business. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you prying into her business. Since Lucy isn't the type to meddle in other people's business unless she is involved, Sonia is just trying to have Lucy's back," Bryan said defensively and Jade eyed him.
"Why are you defending her when you were mad at her earlier?" Jade asked and he smiled.
"I'm not that mad at her. I understand why she did what she did. I just like to see her beg and try to make peace," Bryan said and Jade shook her head.
"Where is Matt anyway?" She asked and Bryan chuckled.
"I completely forgot he is here. I should probably go find him and show him to his bedroom," Bryan said as they both rose.
"Why would Lucy not want to marry Tom?" Jade asked, and Bryan gave her a pointed look.
"I don't know. I'm sure she has her reasons and I'm sure Tom has his reasons for sticking with her. So, stay out of it," Bryan warned before walking away.
Jade sighed as she looked around her for her phone so she would give her mother a call and then check if Harry had gotten home, but she realized that she had left it in her bedroom.
As she returned upstairs she couldn't help but wonder what Lucy's reason was for not wanting to marry Tom. It was weird.
Did Harry know about it? She mused, and then remembered something about Harry asking her not to brag about her and Bryan getting married before Tom.
Was that why he had said that? That had to be it. Of course, Harry must know everything that had to do with Tom and Lucy. She was just going to ask him about it. Not because she was prying or wanting to meddle but because she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity.
She decided that once she was done with the phone calls, she would apologize to Lucy and get the girls together so they could discuss the wedding preparations as planned.
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