Dirty Secret

by Elizabeth Lynx

  "Where is it?"

  "Look inside." I pointed to the first oven door.

  She pulled open the door and her eyes widened. Reaching in, she pulled out a gold ring with a small diamond on top.

  I let go of Kat's mouth and dropped to one knee. "I know this week hasn't been great for you, and that's why I wanted to do this now. Hopefully, I can make you smile. Which I can't tell if I have at the moment because you are covering your mouth with your hands." Heidi instantly dropped her hands and had a large grin on her face.

  "That's better. Now I can see your beautiful face. Today is Thanksgiving. It's a time to give thanks, and there is nothing I'm more thankful for than the people in this room. But I guess I'm greedy because I want more . . . I would be eternally thankful if you, Heidi White, would do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

  "And my stepmom!" Kat yelled causing everyone to laugh.

  "And my wonderful daughter-in-law."

  Heidi frowned, and my heart stopped. Was this too much? The oven, all that's happened to her family, and now the ring. Maybe I should have waited until the new year or Valentine's Day like Kat suggested.

  I keep trying to make her happy today, but I keep screwing it up.

  "Yes. I will marry you, Max Brighton."

  I jumped up to my feet and lifted her in the air. She yelped but soon laughed. And when she slid down to the ground, I brought my lips to hers, thankful she had brushed her teeth, and kissed her until she was light-headed.

  "Enough kissing. Let's have Thanksgiving dinner!" Kat announced.

  "You all made dinner?" Heidi looked around her kitchen.

  "We bought frozen dinners for everyone. It didn't come with cranberry sauce, so I bought the canned kind."

  The more Heidi frowned in horror, the harder it was to keep a straight face.

  Rubbing her forehead, Heidi looked like she was about to pass out. "It's fine, I guess. At least I can bake the pie. And in my new oven."

  That brought the color back to her face. It was a shame I was going to have to ruin her happiness once again.

  "We didn't want you to have to get your new oven stained . . . so we already have pie."

  "What?" Heidi took a deep breath and straightened. "Did you get it from a bakery or a farm?"

  "No, I made it." I pushed back my shoulders with pride.

  Heidi's brow etched in worry. "But we never finished our pie making lessons."

  "Don't worry, I looked it up on the Internet. I mean, how hard could it be to bake a pumpkin pie? And it was fun, too. I got to improvise. I shouldn't be telling you this, but in one of the comments they suggested adding chili powder and a dash of garlic."

  "No," she groaned.

  "I know it sounds weird, but they swore it would make it extra delicious. I'll just scrape off all the black parts."

  I couldn't hold it back any longer. My dad, Kat, and I dissolved into laughter. As the humor of the moment faded, I turned to Heidi, who was giving me the stink eye. I leaned into her ear and said, "I love my future wife too much to refuse her pie."

  Epilogue

  Heidi

  "YOU DON'T WORK TODAY. There's a wedding or had you forgotten?" Nadyia said, the corner of her eyes crinkled with amusement.

  "That's why I'm at the bakery. To pick up the wedding cake." I peered around the white kitchen. The long stainless-steel tables covered with various pastries, but nothing that resembled a wedding cake.

  I knew what the cake was to look like as I helped Nadyia in the design. It's hard to imagine I've been working here for almost six months. Right after the Children's Gala, Nadyia reached out to me and wanted me for her new bakery she would open in the new year.

  I nearly blew her eardrum screaming into the phone from excitement. To apologize for almost sending her to the hospital and thanking her for hiring me, I invited her to my home for dinner. Nadyia was so impressed by the restoration work and interior design I implemented in my house that she began to ask my opinion on the bakery décor.

  When Nadyia's Sweet Corner opened in January, I told Max I wanted my wedding at the bakery. Kat agreed with me, but Max said it was too small for all the guests.

  "I bet you're excited to head up north to start filming your baking show."

  Nadyia was contacted a couple of months ago by the Food TV Channel to create her own baking show. She picks rural bakeries or diners and takes over for a few months. I wish I could come with her, but she's leaving me in charge of the bakery while she's gone. I can't say I wasn't excited for the opportunity to run a bakery.

  She nodded but didn't say anything more. That wasn't like her. Whenever I brought up her show, she would go on about it for at least ten minutes.

  "The cake isn't here." She turned back to the metal bowl she was stirring when I arrived.

  I stared at her back, blinking in shock.

  "There's no wedding cake? What happened?"

  Felipe was going to lose it when he hears there won't be cake at the reception. He explained the only reason he attends weddings was for the cake.

  "Some men took it." She pointed to the back door that led to the alley. "They came in here, picked it up, and left with the pale blue cake."

  Then Nadyia did something that caused me to gasp, she shrugged. As if someone stealing a wedding cake was no big deal.

  "And you let them? Nadyia! I paid for that cake. I made a promise to—"

  Her laughter caused me to choke on my own words. This wasn't the Nadyia I had grown close to over the past year. Where was the kind, fun-loving, talented woman I'd come to know?

  She turned, covering her mouth as she giggled in that cute way she always had. Her adorableness wasn't going to trick me. What happened was serious. The wedding was in two hours.

  "At the very least tell me you called the police or started on a new cake? I'll go put on an apron. We can do this if we work together." I began to move to the front of the kitchen where the white aprons were hung, before her warm hand gently wrapped around my arm.

  "I’m sorry. I couldn't keep it up any longer." she managed to get out between gasps of laughter.

  "Keep what up? You aren't making sense." I lifted my hand to her forehead. "How do you feel? You don't seem to have a temperature."

  "Max, I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry," Nadyia yelled, and I saw the plastic flaps that separated the front of the bakery to the kitchen move.

  Max stepped into the kitchen, and my breath escaped my lungs. He was dressed in a black tuxedo. And it wasn't the old tux he had altered that he wore to the gala. It was a new one and fit him like a glove.

  "I don't remember Felipe's wedding invitation saying black tie only?" I asked trying to piece together what was happening.

  First, the cake was stolen, and now Max was in a tuxedo.

  "It's not. But my father and Felipe wouldn't let me get married in anything else."

  I stepped away from Nadyia. None of that made sense. Raising my hand to my forehead I realized the more questions I asked, the more confused I became.

  "I think I'm having a mental breakdown. Tell Felipe I have to go to the hospital and can't be at his wedding."

  When Jacob proposed to Felipe on top of a mountain in Maine, I was surprised and thrilled. The shock was more from Felipe saying yes to his gorgeous boyfriend. I never thought he would settle down.

  I couldn't wait for their wedding and as a gift to them, said I would pay for and help design their wedding cake. I was surprised Felipe wanted such a cake simply designed as he usually goes for over the top designed confections. He has several boards on Pinterest that feature ornate desserts.

  No matter what the cake looked like I now wouldn't be there to watch Felipe and Jacob lovingly smash it into each other's faces.

  Max's arms enveloped me. He leaned close, and shivers ran down my spine as his hot breath tickled my ear.

  "I have a surprise for you."

  He straightened and guided me out of the kitchen. The bakery was alit with stringed lights, and every su
rface held beautiful pink roses. I saw Max's dad, Kat, Felipe, his brother and sister-in-law, Marco, Jacob, and a man I didn't recognize holding a book, sitting in chairs.

  "Are we having a private ceremony before the wedding brunch?"

  None of this helped my confusion—someone needed to call the doctor.

  Felipe stood and came over to me.

  "Do you think I would want a simple blue wedding cake for my wedding?" He took my hands in his and smiled.

  "It didn't seem like your taste, but I figured it was Jacob's influence," I said to my best friend.

  He shook his head. "Today is your wedding day, not mine. That is your cake." He pointed behind me, and I turned to see Nadyia walk out with the beautiful, simple blue cake and place it on the counter.

  "But what about your wedding?" I turned back to Felipe.

  "It's not until next month. Your fiancé is a little trickster. We printed up fake wedding announcements to fool you."

  I stepped back and hit the display case. Everyone lied to me. I turned my gaze up to Max. "Why would you lie about our wedding?"

  This was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. When we first met, he lied. And now, as we would take vows to be together always, he had lied once again.

  "Because I love you. You wanted to have the wedding here, and I couldn't deny you that happiness." Max moved toward me, placing his hands on my shoulders.

  "It doesn't matter to me where I pledge my love to you. We could get married in a sewer, and all I would see was you, Heidi. Today I wanted to make you happy. I wanted to make sure you worried about nothing and didn't have to lift a finger. All these people here love you too and were eager to help make your dream wedding come true."

  I gazed at everyone's faces. The surprise was wearing off, and I finally could see the love in the curve of their lips and shine from their eyes.

  But when I glanced up at Max, everyone else melted away. The man I fell head over heels in love with was standing in front of me, willing to work hard and take a risk to make my dream come true.

  When I first saw him outside my house walking by, I imagined he was kind to the people around him and sexy as hell in the bedroom. But I was wrong.

  He's a hundred times more than that. He's kind, strong, will do anything for the people he loved even risking his reputation, the best father, and sexier than a top model dipped in chocolate.

  "What do you say, Heidi? Want to get married to a plumber today?"

  I stared up into his azure eyes and nodded. "More than anything in the world."

  THE END

  THANK YOU for taking the time to read Dirty Secret. Want to find out about the mysterious Fitzwilliam family mentioned by the reporter? Then you will have to read my upcoming book Cabin Fever, coming out in March.

  Read Cabin Fever teaser now!

  HAVE A DESTINATION wedding, they said. The mountains are so romantic, they said. They’ve obviously never been a runaway bride.

  Olivia Love has it all. She’s rich, spoiled, and about to marry the man of her dreams—until she witnesses her fiancée with someone else, sending her on a little run. Down the side of a mountain. In her wedding dress.

  When she finds a cabin in the woods, her relief is short-lived at discovering it to be empty. No phone, no heat, and no way back to her perfect little life. That is until a gun-toting mountain man fills the space and sends her heart rate skyrocketing.

  Carter Fitzwilliam likes the simple things in life. His sheep farm, his privacy, and man’s best friend are all he needs until a smart-mouthed beauty in a white dress breaks into his cabin and threatens to complicate the hell out of everything.

  She’s lost, looking for help. He’s hiding, never wanting to be left alone. Will she be the one person his heart needs to find?

  If you like outrageously funny characters, sexy heroes, and a juicy opposites-attract story than you’ll love the first book in the Lost & Found series, Cabin Fever is the first standalone, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy book in the Lost & Found series by Elizabeth Lynx.

  Preorder Cabin Fever now!

  SNEAK PEEK: CABIN FEVER

  CABIN FEVER comes out on March 22nd, 2019. It’s about a spoiled runaway bride who stumbles upon a cabin in the woods. What she doesn’t realize is the owner is a big, hardened man that doesn’t deal well with strangers. When he comes home to find her eating his food, things go from bad to, well, I’ll let you read and find out.

  “THERE IT IS AGAIN.” I pushed against the solid and, hopefully, blood-thirsty animal proof front door. Despite the loud thumping of my heart, I kept my ears perked until I heard a click.

  Never had I believed the clank of a doorknob snapping into the frame would sound delicious, calming, and triumphant all at the same time. If I could make out, using tongue of course, with this door, I would. But there’d be splinters, and that wouldn’t be fun for my mouth.

  I wasn’t what most people would call gutsy. Handling tough situations with ease was not my thing. I once encountered a spider. Contemplated burning down the house, but my sister stopped me before the matches were in my hand. That bathroom had been dead to me since.

  The wild, guttural cries that drove me to hobble with surprising speed into the cabin started back up. They sounded muffled now. Further away.

  “Good door.” I patted the wood, then attempted to hug the entrance in appreciation.

  The air was crisp, despite having a protective roof over my head. My breath, a lingering fog as I exhaled with relief.

  Don’t people use heat here in the mountains?

  Allowing my legs to give, I slid down the door. For the first time in hours, I sat. My knees creaked, and I winced from shooting pain in my left leg, but sitting my butt on the mud-stained wood floor felt glorious.

  Olivia Jane Holiday Love, you are safe.

  I reveled in letting my limbs throb from spending a good part of the day trekking through a mountain. It looks like I won’t need to exercise again for at least a decade.

  Tugging at the large pink parka, I grabbed before exiting the lodge this morning I watched as steam rose from the grimy lace covering my chest. I rubbed the delicate fabric and gasped. “It’s gone.”

  No, oh no, no, no. My grandmother’s necklace. I stared at the door as if I could see through it. It must be out there. I put it on this morning, and now it’s gone, lost in the wilderness.

  This was all my fault.

  “Damn it. What have I done?”

  I knew what I had done. There was no lying to myself. I had destroyed my life, lost a family heirloom, possibly ruined my family’s lives, and opened a hornet’s nest of chaos so big I’d probably become a legend back in DC. And not the suitable type of legend either. No. My tale was spreading with hushed tones, secretive whispers, and wide eyes.

  Did I have a choice? Yes. I didn’t have to run.

  I wiped at my tears of shame and anger. My fingers covered in filthy wetness. Laughter bubbled up from my throat. “Did you believe Derrick loved you, Olivia? Like attracts like, as my father always said. Derrick was handsome. More than handsome. He looked like a runway model.”

  I hiccupped and lifted two fingers in the air, “And number two. Wait. Was I counting?” Shaking my head, “It doesn’t matter. Number two. Derrick was smart.” My dad told me how he worked his way up from the mailroom to be distribution manager of my father’s company, Love Foods.

  “That brings me to number three.” I lifted my middle finger, “Everyone loved Derrick.” Well, everyone but my sister, Bea. “He’s the life of the party and the friend who would be there when you needed him.”

  I once saw him cradle a squirrel in his palm. It was in shock from almost being run over. Then with gentle ease, Derrick placed the creature on the grass.

  “He’s a freaking animal savior for God’s sake! How did I react to animals? I ran screaming and hid in some stranger’s home. Only to plop my dirty butt on their floor and start a conversation with myself.”

  Which reminded
me, I should introduce myself to the owner of this place.

  “Hello?”

  With a wince and a breath, I stood from the floor. With a quick scan of the sparsely furnished room, I did my best to brush the dirt from my white gown and a brightly colored coat.

  I took a step further into the room. There was a wood burning stove immediately off to my left, cold and unlit. Along the wall next to it was a kitchenette. The cabinets, the counters, almost everything made of the same wood as the cabin itself. The only thing not made of wood was the porcelain farmhouse sink.

  In the middle of the room was a small, square table with two wooden chairs. I knew cabins were meant to be rustic but it looked like an Oak tree and a Walnut tree loved each other a little too much.

  “Is anyone here?”

  There was only silence. And wood. Lots and lots of wood.

  Did someone live in this place?

  As much as I had no desire to piss off the owner of this home, I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, alone.

  Maybe they’re out for the day. I turned to gaze out the small window by the door. The sun was disappearing behind the trees. It must be late in the afternoon. If the person who lived here went out earlier, perhaps he or she would return soon.

  Then what do I say? I hope you don’t mind I broke into your house because I thought a pack of killer animals were after me?

  I was almost sure that the person wouldn’t think I was crazy and call the police.

  At least if the authorities were contacted, I could go home. But do I want to go back?

  Not really.

  “Great Olivia! Make up your mind. Do you want to be found or do you wish to remain lost?”

  I rubbed at the tiny crease that rose between my eyes willing a clarifying answer. Nothing came.

  A few strands of my golden hair stuck to my mouth as I shook my head, “Focus. Need to find someone or something to help me. Maybe there’s a phone here.”

  And yes, I do talk out loud in times of stress.