Corey's Catch

by Jill Sanders

  “I agree. That’s why his name wasn’t on our lists,” Corey said, looking at her and waiting until she nodded.

  “Thank you, sheriff for filling us in.” She felt her shoulders relax, knowing that the man responsible was behind bars. “What happens now?”

  “Well, we have his computers. He was able to log into your aunt’s accounts, but hadn’t been able to transfer the money out because of the company’s strict policies of adding and changing bank information. We’ll have him for the federal crime of hacking into her account. I’m sure there’s enough proof on his computer to go to trial.”

  “Either way, we have his confession and enough proof against him that he’ll be locked up for a while,” Wes added.

  “So, he didn’t get into Betty’s accounts?” Corey asked.

  “No, apparently there’s another security password,” Wes answered.

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it all out. Besides, all you’ll have to do is contact the brokerage account,” the sheriff added. “Well, we’d better leave you to rest. We have a lot of paperwork to finish. We just wanted to stop by and check in on you and give you the scoop.”

  “Thank you.” Bella smiled and shook the sheriff’s hand.

  “Anytime.” He tipped his hat and the two men left.

  “So.” Corey turned to her. “Think you can still love me even if you’re a millionaire?”

  She giggled and shook her head. “I’m not getting my hopes up without all the facts.”

  He smiled. “You know, wouldn’t it just serve your family right, knowing that your aunt chose to live the life she wanted and still out-shined them all?”

  Bella smiled and tugged on his arm until he moved close enough for their breaths to mix.

  “That is exactly the reason I love you.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

  “What?” He smiled.

  “Because you have a way of looking at things and seeing through them the way I do.” She leaned up and kissed him.

  His lips were warm over hers and felt like home. She didn’t ever want to let go.

  When she heard someone clear their throat, she didn’t even flinch until she heard her father’s voice and jumped when he said,

  “What in the hell is going on?”

  Chapter Twenty

  It took all of Corey’s patience to sit next to Bella and listen to her parents argue with her. He didn’t think it was his place to say anything, so he remained silent.

  That was until her father started demanding she return to Austin with them. Then he stood up and quickly introduced himself.

  “I don’t care who you are,” her father said. Corey guessed that the man’s suit had cost more than Corey’s truck. But that didn’t make him any less of an ass.

  “I’m the man that’s going to marry your daughter.” He stood his ground and crossed his arms over his chest. He vaguely registered hearing Bella chuckle but was more interested in the shocked look on both of her parent’s faces. “Now, if you are done arguing over what your grown daughter should do with her own life, I’ll ask you to leave so Bella can rest after the terrible ordeal she’s been through today. You did hear that she was kidnapped, locked in the trunk of a car, and had to walk almost seven miles in almost a hundred degrees?” He moved to sit down again, but stopped. “Maybe you’re just too selfish to care about what your daughter has been through. Maybe you should think about someone else first, instead of yourselves.” He sat down and took her hand in his, not giving her parents any more attention.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked her gently. He saw the worried look on her face, knowing her folks were still standing there, glaring at them both. His anger vibrated deep inside, but he tried to release it so Bella wouldn’t see it.

  “I could use another sip of water.” She nodded towards the glass next to him. He reached over, his eyes moving to her parents, until finally, they turned and left without saying another word.

  “Here you go.” He held the water for her and watched as she took a few sips from the straw. “Better?” he asked when she was done.

  She nodded and pushed the glass away. When he set it down, she asked, “Did you really mean what you said?”

  He chuckled. “I said a lot of things.” He smiled as he took her hand in his once more.

  “About marrying me?” She looked down at their hands.

  He felt his mouth go dry. “I didn’t mean to blurt it out, but yes. I have every intention of marrying you.” He pulled her chin up with his finger, until her blue eyes locked on his. “Bella, will you marry me?” He held his breath.

  She blinked a few times, and then slowly she smiled. “I’d love to.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her. This time when someone cleared their throat at the door, he held up his hand, signaling them to wait as he took his time kissing his fiancée.

  “What?” he asked, when the kiss broke, his eyes still on Bella’s.

  “You have some more visitors,” someone said. When Corey turned around, he saw several people standing in the doorway, flowers and balloons in hand.

  For the next hour, it seemed the entire town of Fairplay shuffled in and out of the small room. He was kind of happy they did, since he could officially tell everyone they were getting married.

  Bella seemed to enjoy the attention for a while, but when he noticed her eyes growing heavy, he tried to get everyone out of her room so she could rest. He turned the lights lower.

  “Can you stay?” she asked as she made herself more comfortable.

  “Chase is going to take the dogs and cats over to his place for the night and check on the other animals. I’m sticking around unless they haul me out of here.” He smiled as he toed off his shoes and crawled into the bed next to her.

  “Corey,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder.

  “Hmmm?” He loved the feeling of holding her close.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you right back.” He smiled and listened to her slow breathing until he closed his eyes.

  The next morning, he was woken up when a nurse walked in once more to take her vitals.

  Bella was already awake and appeared to feel much better.

  “Bella, you have visitors waiting,” the nurse said.

  “This early?” she asked, glancing at him as he stood up and stretched.

  “They’ve been waiting for almost an hour. I wanted to make sure you got enough sleep.” The nurse smiled and winked at him. “It’s your parents,” she said as she turned and walked out.

  He moved to open the door and go talk to them, but Bella stopped him.

  “No, I’ll talk to them. I’m much stronger today.” She held her hand out until he walked over and took it. “Why don’t you run across the way and get some breakfast at Mama’s. I need to have a few moments with them alone. Besides, I’d really like to shower as well.” He frowned. “I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with them for twenty-four years on my own.”

  He sighed and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, I’ll be back in an hour.”

  Corey walked across the street to Mama’s. The place was packed this early in the morning. Everyone was talking about what had happened and he had to listen to some of the questions and rumors running around.

  “Is it true that old Betty was a millionaire?” everyone asked.

  Some of the more elaborate rumors were that Betty had hidden a million dollars in cash in the old house. Of course, he kept his mouth shut since they weren’t even sure the sheriff’s information was true, at least not until Bella had a chance to talk to the broker.

  When he was done eating his food, Grant and Alex walked in with their two kids. Grant helped Alex get the kids settled and then made his way over to where he was sitting.

  “I know you’ve have a busy week, but when you have some time, I’d like to talk to you about your dad.”

  “I have some time now.” He glanced towards Alex, who was smiling over at him. “If you do?”

>   Grant glanced back at his wife, who just nodded. “Okay.” He turned back towards him. “It sounds like they might have found out what’s wrong with your dad.”

  His heart skipped. “And?”

  “Well, the way they described it to me, and after I did a little research on it, it appears your dad has a chemical imbalance. He’s showing signs of anxiety, depression, and paranoid delusions. He really believes he was shooting a bear that day instead of Dutch.”

  Corey sat up a little. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Neither did I until they put him on some new medication and told him why he was there. He broke down and cried as he asked how Dutch was. Sounds like he really liked the dog.”

  Corey nodded. “He loves all animals. Which is why I knew it was time to do something drastic.”

  “Well, they want to keep him up in Tyler for a little longer. You know, to make sure the medicine is working. He’s agreed to stay for as long as it will take.”

  “Sure.” Corey thought about it and leaned back.

  “He asked about having you visit,” Grant said.

  Corey’s eyes moved over to where Grant’s youngest was. Emma started fussing as she looked over towards her daddy.

  “Sounds like your family is calling.” He chuckled as the little girl threw her head back and started kicking as she cried, “Daddy,” over and over.

  “Yeah.” Grant stood up. “Think about visiting him. I think it will do you both some good.”

  Corey nodded and shook Grant’s hand. “Thanks again.”

  Later that evening, Corey drove them back out to her house. When she walked in, she noticed the empty spot where her new sofa and other furniture had been. Other than that, the place was spotless.

  “They had a cleaning service come in,” Corey said beside her. “We can go furniture shopping this weekend if you want.”

  “Willing to do that again this soon, are you?”

  He smiled. “With you, anytime.”

  When they went upstairs, they decided to sleep in the guest room, since the big mattress had been destroyed and removed.

  Corey sat next to her. “So, how did it go with your parents?” She knew he’d been dying to ask earlier but had held back until she felt ready to talk.

  “Well, they know I’m going to stay here. And that we’re getting married.” She smiled.

  “And?” He took her hand and placed a kiss on her fingers.

  “And, they are disappointed in me but have decided to keep their opinions to themselves after today. They did mention that I shouldn’t expect anything from them. Financially.” She giggled as she leaned her head back against the bed frame. The bed was much smaller, and with three dogs and two cats trying to muscle their way on it, she doubted she would have enough room for the night. But it didn’t matter and she wouldn’t want it any other way. “I’ll call the broker tomorrow.” She closed her eyes and felt Corey shift and pull her into his arms. “I have enough in savings and in my account to hold me over for a while. Even if this whole thing is just a rumor.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” he said, his voice vibrating in his chest, making her feel warm. “Rest, you need it.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be here and we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

  She nodded and felt herself slipping into sleep.

  The next morning, Corey woke her up with breakfast in bed. Of course, it was hard to enjoy eating in bed when the animals were all begging for a bite of her bacon.

  After showering and dressing, she went downstairs and sat at the bar and made the call. She kept her phone on speaker, so Corey could hear.

  The broker wanted a copy of her aunt’s will and death certificate sent over before he could discuss anything with her. She used her laptop and her aunt’s scanner to send it over and then waited for the man to call her back.

  Less than five minutes later, her phone rang.

  “Okay, Miss Thompson, it appears as if everything is in order. If you want, I will send you a new password for your aunt’s online account.”

  She entered the website and log-in information into her browser and waited as her internet crunched. When the screen popped up, she felt her head spin.

  “What you should be seeing is your main log-in page. The cash balance is in the top left and any open positions your aunt had are on the next tab.”

  She listened as he rolled through the screens. But her mind was playing over the cash balance she’d seen on the first page.

  “To transfer funds out of this account, you will need to first update your bank information, since I assume your aunt’s account has been closed.”

  “Yes,” she confirmed.

  “To do that, you will go to the funding tab and click on the update bank information link. Then enter your information.”

  “That’s it?” She blinked. “That’s all I have to do to move the money from this account to another?”

  “Yes, we try and make our process as simple as possible.”

  She thought of everything she’d had to go through. How easy it would have been for Chris to take the close to two million sitting in her aunt’s accounts if he’d just had the right passwords. She felt her head start to throb and held herself back from yelling at the man that, because of this, she had suffered. But instead, she thanked him and hung up.

  “Well,” Corey said from beside her, “it’s funny.”

  “What?” She spun around and smiled at him.

  “You woke up this morning not knowing if you were going to be able to afford to stay in Fairplay, and now, you’re easily one of the richest people in town.”

  She chuckled. “Don’t you mean that we’re one of the richest couples in town?” She stood up and laughed as he spun her around in circles.

  “I love you,” she said over and over again.

  “I love you right back.” He kissed her until she became breathless.

  Epilogue

  Bella almost tripped on the long skirt when the newest member of her family decided she wanted to chew on the hem. “Star,” she scolded as she reached down and picked up the white fluff ball of a puppy. “Go bug your father.” She walked over and opened the door, then set the small dog down and knew that she the she’d find her way downstairs with the rest of the animals.

  “Are you ready?” Savannah walked in, her long dress flowing around her very large belly.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Bella took one last look at herself in the mirror. The simple white dress clung to her skin. Its off-the-shoulder lace accented the beautiful neckline. Her aunt’s string of pearls hung lower and rested just above her breasts. The matching earrings dangled down. Her long hair was tied up in an intricate bun and braids that wrapped around her head.

  Walking over, she plucked the white rose bouquet up and took a deep breath.

  Her only wish for the day had been that her aunt could be there to see how happy she was. Her parents chose to avoid what was easily the happiest day of her life. But she knew that everyone who mattered was present.

  When she stepped out of the back door into her new beautifully remodeled back yard, she couldn’t contain her excitement.

  There were over a hundred white chairs, all filled with the people she’d grown to love in the last year. Down the long aisle, standing under an arch of while roses and wisteria, stood Corey, the man of her dreams.

  As the doors shut behind her, Corey’s father, Martin, stepped up and offered him her arm. She smiled at her soon-to-be father-in-law and easily wrapped her hand through his arm.

  “You look beautiful.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek.

  “Thank you.” She smiled. The man was slowly becoming the father she’d always dreamed of having. Now that he was taking his medicine regularly, his life had stabilized and he was back living in his own home, next door.

  “I don’t know what you see in that boy of mine,” he said, causing several people around them to chuckle.

  “Shut up old man and bri
ng me my bride,” Corey joked, causing more laughter.

  Martin smiled as he shook his head. “Impatient. Isn’t he?”

  She smiled and nodded. “He’s waited long enough. Wouldn’t you say?”

  Martin nodded, and they started walking down the aisle together.

  When they reached the end, Corey shook his father’s hand and then took her arm.

  “I’ve waited a lifetime for you,” he whispered. “Now that I’ve caught you, I’m never going to let go,” he said, just before he kissed her.

  If you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review where you purchased it. Thanks! —Jill

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  Preview: Last Resort

  She was running for her life. Knowing what she would see if she looked back, she kept her eyes trained forward. She tried to avoid roots or limbs that might trip her up, taking each step as carefully as she could at this speed. Her mind flashed to images of what she’d witnessed minutes before, yet she was oddly clear about what she needed to do for a seven-year-old.

  Branches scraped her legs and arms as she ran, and her breath hitched with every step she took. Her ears were straining to hear if she was being chased, but she couldn’t hear anything beyond her breathing and her loud heartbeat.

  When she couldn’t run any longer, she ducked behind a large tree and squatted until she was in a tight ball. She tried to slow her breathing down so she could listen, but it took forever to get her breath under control. She didn’t hear the footsteps until a shadow fell a few feet from her.