The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 83

Max motioned to the nurse who hadn’t really left, and she immediately came to his side.

“As soon as the service is done, we can go. You can get the team ready, and I’ll be out in thirty minutes. I’m going to walk out though with the casket since I’m a pallbearer so take the chair now and I’ll sit in the pew with my family until it’s time to walk out the doors.”

“Of course, Mr. Villeneuve.”

He rose up and moved to sit in the pew where his maman earlier had told him they’d be seated, not paying any further mind to the woman taking the chair away. He felt Johan flop down beside him.

“Ollie’s pissed at me.”

“Too bad for Ollie. I think you’re doing the right thing.”

“You do?” Johan seemed surprised.

“Yes. I lost too much time with Lark because I never spoke the truth. f**k, I almost got her killed.”

“You can’t swear in the chapel,” Johan giggled.

“Pretty sure you shouldn’t be drunk in a chapel.”

“Jesus turned water into wine.”

“Wine not bourbon,” he laughed as Johan dropped his head on Max’s shoulder. “Buddy you are tanked.”

“Tried to keep up with your dad and Grady. Grady gave me his blessing to help watch over Gracie. I think I’m going to relocate to Houston for awhile.”

“You can work remotely from anywhere, Johan. Your company is strong.”

“You seem quiet. Too quiet for Max.”

“It’s just a hard day,” he whispered softly. “I have a lot on my mind and the woman who I used to talk to when my brain got noisy is gone. Nana Prue always had the best words of wisdom.”

“She really did.” Johan sighed regretfully. “I miss her.”

“Me too.” He looked at Lark who was talking to her father and holding a bottle of water up. Grady was smiling widely at Lark as he took the bottle and drained it before hugging hugged her tight. She was such a good woman. He coerced her into agreeing to get married. What had he done?

The entire conversation from the conversations in the week were rebounding in his head. Throughout the rest of the funerary process, the sermon and then the eulogy which was delivered by Everly with such emotion the entire congregation was sobbing pitifully, his eyes never left Lark.

His desperation to keep her close, to not lose her again and to make up for the lost time was pressuring her into doing what she didn’t want. He reminded himself he should have stuck with his original plan. They slept together too soon. They became too intimate too quickly. If he’d taken his time, wooed her and gingerly worked his way back into her life then maybe she wouldn’t think he was such a coercive person. He wanted her to move in with him from the moment they made love. He’d been planning their future and thinking of how beautiful their babies would be, admittedly it was something he thought of from the time they were kids too.

Memories of Ollie hopping all around them when they were seven and eight singing, Max and Lark, sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g reverberated in his head as he recalled every time as a boy, he dreamed of growing up to marry Lark Hoffman and living right in the treehouse in their parent’s back yard. They could use his mother’s kitchen and the shower when they needed. Eight-year-old Max had tons of ideas of how happy they would be living in the back yard. Grown-up Max found the perfect solution in a house right on the other side of the fence line. She thought it was a bribe.

“Max, you alright?” Ollie asked as she squeezed his hand, tears streaming down her face as the eulogy came to an end. “Yes why?”

“Because everyone else is sobbing and ugly crying and you’re dry-eyed and you’re typically like Papa. You cry more than the rest of us.”

“I’m fine,” he leaned sideways and kissed her temple hugging her close. “You have enough tears for us both today.”

“What’s wrong?” she squeezed his fingers. “You can’t hide it from me.”

“She doesn’t really want to marry me. I blackmailed her into it, and I didn’t even realize it until she told me.”

Ollie looked to where Lark was holding Fallon who was a veritable wreck. “She wants to marry you Max. She and I were talking about it.”

“I’m not holding her to it.” He said quietly. “I’ll have a chat with her before she goes back to Houston to sit with Gracie.” Ollie looked up at him incredulously, “Max, are you kidding me? Yesterday, when I came down to talk to you, you were over the moon. You love her,” she pointed her finger in Lark’s direction ignoring the hiss from their parents to stop talking.

“I do love her. More than I love myself. I f****d up, Ollie. I moved her too fast. Being terrified of losing her and losing out on a single second of time with her made me panic and I forced her hand. I can’t force the woman I love to marry me,” he said solemnly.

“You’re not forcing her.”