Forever Guarded

by Kathleen Brooks

“Babe, I hate to cut our talk short, but I have to go. Promise me you won’t drive.”

  “I won’t. I love you, Aiden.”

  “I love you too.”

  Piper pulled up her phone and called her cousin Layne for a ride. Her physical therapy office was nearby and that made her just minutes away and prime to bum a ride. Layne screamed when Piper told her about perfecting FAVOR, and seconds after that a town text went out. Party at the café that night.

  Layne arrived minutes after they hung up, the same time as the armored car appeared. Piper might have been a little tipsy, but she compared identifications, called the armored car service, and only once she was sure they were who they said they were did she hand over FAVOR. She watched as the taillights disappeared down the street and sighed. In eight hours, FAVOR would be in the hands of the pharmaceutical company and for the most part, out of her hands. She would stay involved as a consultant and creator, but mass production and testing were now the company’s responsibility. In the grant papers, Piper had signed over fifty percent of the ownership of FAVOR, which meant, in ten years or so, she would be a very rich woman when FAVOR hit the market. But instead of smiling, she frowned.

  “What’s the matter?” Layne asked as Dudley, Sada, and Piper gulped down the last of the bottle of bourbon and made their way into Layne’s backseat.

  “I miss Aiden. I wish he were here to celebrate with me.”

  Layne hugged her and Piper rested her head on her shoulder. “I know. But if it’s love, it’ll work out. You’ll find a way to be together.”

  “I’m thinking of moving my lab to London,” Piper admitted. She felt Layne stiffen, but Layne didn’t discourage her.

  “I’ll miss you, but I want you to be as happy as I am. Besides, I’ve always wanted to tour England. Now I’ll have my own personal guide.”

  “Thanks, Layne,” Piper said, giving her cousin a hug.

  “But now we party. You earned it.”

  Piper got into the front seat and soon they were laughing as they drove to Keeneston with music blaring. Even as Piper laughed and sang, a part of her heart wasn’t in it. That part was always with Aiden.

  * * *

  Layne cursed and turned down the music. “Something’s wrong, y’all. The car just died.”

  Piper noticed that the car was cruising to a stop just outside of downtown. While only steps from the town center, they were still on a narrow two-lane country road. Layne pulled as far over onto the grass as possible and let out a string of curses anyone from the military would be proud of.

  “Can you call for a tow? My phone is dead,” Layne said as she popped the hood.

  Piper reached for her phone and frowned. She patted her pockets, emptied her purse, and then jumped out of the car and looked all around the floorboards. No phone.

  “Can I borrow your phone?” she asked Dudley.

  “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

  Piper would have to ask Aiden to find it for her. She knew he still had a tracker on it. For some reason it made her feel better having that connection to him. She tried to turn on the phone. Nothing.

  “It’s dead. Are you kidding me?” Piper handed it back to Dudley. “Sada?”

  “I don’t have international calling. This would cost me a fortune. Isn’t the town right there? Just walk.”

  Yes, it was. It was literally less than a quarter mile away. More like two hundred yards. Piper grabbed her purse and coat to ward off the cold night air. Layne’s head was stuck under the hood as she cursed again.

  “I’m just going to run to the café. I’ll send help,” Piper said, annoyed that her happy buzz was wearing off. She’d get some special Rose sisters’ tea when she got to the café to help her forget Aiden wasn’t here to celebrate with her.

  “Okay. Thanks, Piper. Sorry,” Layne said sadly.

  “It’s not your fault. It’ll only take a minute.”

  Piper jogged down the side of the road and around the corner to the beginning of Main Street. The town was awash in the yellow glow of the lights. Thanksgiving was coming and everyone had decorations up. Piper passed the insurance agency, the art gallery, and then slowed. There was a light on in the building that had been for sale. There was talk that Norma from the Fluff and Buff was going to buy it and move down there since it was a much bigger location.

  And if it was Norma, she could call her brother who could come tow Piper’s car. Piper hurried her steps, but then they stopped. She was frozen in place. For it wasn’t a sign for Fluff and Buff on the window. Instead, it read CREED SECURITY SERVICES, International Headquarters.

  Piper’s breathing stopped as Aiden’s reflection appeared in the window behind her. “Hello, luv.”

  Piper put her hand to her head and shook it. Was she that drunk? But then she felt his hands on her shoulder turning her toward him. And when she looked up, it was into the eyes of the man she loved.

  “What are you—what is going—are you really here?”

  Aiden smiled and Piper didn’t care what was going on. She jumped into his arms and kissed him. They’d only been apart for five days, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t matter if they were apart for a few hours. Her heart would always skip a beat for him.

  “I missed you!”

  “I missed you too,” Aiden said as he laughed at her eager kiss and kissed her in return. “It seems we’ve both been busy this week.”

  “What is this?” Piper asked, turning to the building.

  “Something I had to do so I could do this.”

  “Do what?” Piper asked, turning back around to find Aiden on one knee with a ring between his fingertips.

  “To ask you to marry me.”

  “Yes!” Piper shouted.

  Aiden’s eyes crinkled with laughter as his lips split into a large grin. “Wait a minute, Piper. I have this all planned out.”

  Piper shifted from foot to foot, her heart racing, her eyes tearing up as Aiden grabbed her hand. “I never wanted love. I saw how it broke my mother’s heart after my father died. But she told me one day a love so strong would walk into my life, and I wouldn’t be able to live without it. I thought it was silly until I met you. Until you crashed into my life with bullets flying and a town ready to do battle to save you. I knew I was in danger that first night—in danger of losing my heart to you. And I did, but imagine my surprise when it wasn’t trouble, but overwhelming joy and happiness. It was love. I never questioned it because I knew it the second I saw you. I knew then I loved you and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Aiden took a breath and held the ring close to her finger. “Piper Davies, my love, will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” Piper said again, this time not screaming because tears ran down her face. As Aiden slipped on the ring, which was a band of diamonds woven into a double helix around her finger, Piper became aware of the sounds of clapping. From the café the patrons stood fanned out along the sidewalk and into the street, and then the group of Layne, Sada, and Dudley were happily clapping from beside Layne’s now perfectly operational car.

  “You did all this?” Piper asked, looking around. “How did you know I would fix FAVOR tonight?”

  “I had faith in you. And I didn’t do it all tonight. I’ve been setting up offices in Los Angeles and New York City. I’ve also been getting Eddie settled as the head of the London office. It’s been a very busy five days. Your father had the lettering for this building ready to go. I bought it the night we left for Lynton. He was keeping me up to date on your progress so I could make it back in time to surprise you. I never doubted you, so I knew I had to move fast.”

  “You did all of this to be with me?” Piper had never felt so loved.

  “I’d move heaven and earth to be with you,” Aiden whispered as he covered her lips with his. He pulled her tightly against him as he kissed her with all the promise of the future.

  30

  “Come on, you two, we have an engagement party in here,” Tammy called out. Aiden
looked up to where his future mother-in-law stood with his own mother and wrapped his arm around his fiancée. His mother had been right. Finding love changed you. Everything before Piper was just that: the past. But now, now the future held all the promise in the world.

  Aiden shook hands and received hugs from all his soon-to-be cousins. It was strange coming from being an only child into this huge family that incorporated more than just family, but a whole town. He thought it would be overwhelming. Instead it was a warm blanket on a cold night.

  “Now that you’re part of the family, how do you feel about tinkering?” Pierce asked as he held baby Cricket in his arms.

  “I tinker with explosives,” Aiden said.

  “I was thinking more of farm equipment, but I do have an old building that needs to come down. You can blow that up if you’d like.”

  “Dad!” Dylan complained, joining them as he gently took Cricket from Pierce. “You told me I could blow it up.”

  Aiden laughed as Dylan gently rocked his baby sister. So, this was what it was like to have a brother.

  “You two can do it together,” Pierce said with a roll of his eyes.

  “And we can go shooting together,” Jackson added as he joined them and held out his hands for baby Cricket.

  “Now, isn’t that a sight?” a woman said from behind Aiden as Dylan kissed Cricket’s forehead and handed her over to Jackson.

  “Abby!” Piper screamed as she raced across the café to hug her friend. Aiden turned and smiled as he recognized the woman everyone knew of, but so few actually knew anything about.

  Abby and Piper joined him. Abby looked straight to his package. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “Abby!” Piper, Jackson, and Dylan admonished.

  Aiden raised an eyebrow at Piper who blushed the truth. He should feel embarrassed, but he quite liked the idea of being worthy of girl talk. His father-in-law didn’t look as pleased, though.

  “What are y’all talking about?” Cassidy asked as she joined the group. Jace did too, and Aiden just shook his head.

  “Nothing!” Pierce practically shouted, drawing Tammy’s attention.

  “Are you talking about a wedding date?” Tammy asked as suddenly the circle around them grew.

  Dylan grinned largely. “I already won the bet on the engagement. Go ahead and make me the winner of the wedding date.”

  “We haven’t talked about it yet. I’ve been engaged for all of one hour,” Piper said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Well, you two settle on the date while we attend to some business,” Miss Lily said, pulling a reluctant Cady with her to the center of the room. “We have a drawing for a romantic dinner to announce. Cady.”

  “The winner is,” Cade pulled out a card and read it. “DeAndre Drews.”

  Aniyah screamed and leapt into DeAndre’s arms. Of course, she was five-foot-nothing and DeAndre seemed to tower over her, but he sweetly bent down and kissed her.

  “So, when do you want to get married?” Piper asked.

  “Now?”

  Piper laughed and Aiden’s heart seemed to expand even more. “Wait, you’re not joking.”

  “I’ll marry you as soon as I can get you.”

  “Right before Christmas would be lovely. Your mother could stay and help plan the wedding,” Tammy offered.

  “That’s brill,” his mother said to Tammy as Tammy looked at her in confusion. “Brilliant,” his mom clarified before turning to the couple. “But, this is your decision. I wouldn’t want to interfere.”

  “Don’t worry about that. You’ll learn soon enough how to interfere,” the woman Aiden knew as Kenna called out as all the other mothers nodded their agreement.

  “It’s not interfering. It’s motherly love,” Morgan, Miles’s wife, said with a grin.

  “It’s motherly love that you ask me every week if I’m pregnant yet?” Layne asked.

  Morgan smiled pleasantly. “Yes. I want you to know motherly love too.”

  “Malarkey,” Sydney, one of Piper’s cousins, said. “You believe in karma. All y’all want to sit back and laugh as we make our way through parenthood while you get to play the doting grandparents.”

  The parents took great interest in their shoes and drinks. Piper just shook her head. “Well, sorry, Mom, you’ll have to wait a little while until you’re a grandmother. But luckily you have a little one to occupy yourself with in the meantime.”

  “If I can ever get her back,” Tammy said with a fake pout. Her daughter was currently being passed around among Sydney, Mila, Sophie, Riley, and Reagan.

  “I think a Christmas wedding would be lovely. Your mom can help me pick out a dress, and we can hold the ceremony at Cady’s distillery. With all the Christmas decorations, it’ll be magical.” Piper began to imagine it all as though she were already there.

  Aiden pulled out his phone and looked at the calendar. “December nineteenth?”

  “Sure. We need to send out invitations right away, though. But I guess most everyone is here right now,” Piper laughed.

  “So, we have an official wedding date?” Poppy asked.

  When Aiden and Piper nodded, Poppy called out, “December nineteenth is the winner.”

  “Yes!”

  “Father Ben?” Piper questioned as the young man jumped up and down and high-fived an older priest. Aiden thought he looked familiar but couldn’t remember why.

  “He looks familiar, doesn’t he?” Walker asked.

  “Yeah, but I can’t place it,” Aiden whispered back.

  “I don’t know if it’s him specifically or if it’s his build.”

  “Definitely his build. Was he Special Forces?” Aiden asked Walker.

  Walker shrugged. “No one knows. But he fights like he was.”

  “Hmm. Well, he’s not now unless he’s undercover.”

  “He swears he’s a priest.”

  “Well, he could be both, I guess.”

  “Witness protection,” Cassidy added. “That’s my guess.”

  “Either way, he’ll marry us on the nineteenth,” Piper told them with a roll of her eyes. “He’ll tell us about his past when he’s ready.”

  “Now,” Tammy said with Aiden’s mother in tow, “what colors do you both love? I see green and gold. You both have the most beautiful eyes.” And with that Aiden wrapped his arm around his future bride and planned a wedding as if he were planning an attack. But it turned out Keeneston had a lot of practice, and in less than two hours, his whole wedding was laid out in front of him. Now all he had to do was say I will.

  “Oh, Sugarbear!” Aniyah gasped as they walked into the uppermost floor of the distillery. A large window overlooked the landscape: the snow-covered fields, the running creek, and the white lights decorating the evergreen trees.

  The tour had been so interesting as Cady talked about what she’d done and what she planned to do. The property was so historic and romantic that Aniyah couldn’t stop touching her Sugarbear.

  DeAndre pulled out a chair at the table set for two overlooking the beauty of nature and Aniyah took her place at the table. A red candle sat in the middle of the table as red, green, silver, and gold candles bathed the entire room in a warm glow. On the far side of the room, three musicians serenaded them.

  “I thought you’d like it better if I kept out of the way, so I put everything on the table including a bell. You just ring it when you’re ready for dessert.”

  “Thank you, Cady.” DeAndre smiled as Cady hurried from the room.

  “Alone at last.” Aniyah took her honey’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “This has just been the most romantic thing ever. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I brought a bottle of champagne and forgot it. I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be right back.” DeAndre hurried from the room and ran into a wall of elderly ladies on the other side of the door.

  “Are you ready?” Miss Lily asked as she dug around in her purse for the ring.

  “Why am I so nervous?” DeAndre asked as he wiped
his palms on his black dress pants.

  “Here’s the champagne,” Miss Violet said, shoving the bottle at him.

  “Now, do it just as we practiced,” Miss Daisy said with a smile.

  “Ah, here it is,” Miss Lily said, producing the small black box. “You’ve got this. We’ve gone over it again and again.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got this,” DeAndre said, putting the box in his pocket and psyching himself up.

  DeAndre turned and headed back to the table. As the door closed, the Rose sisters exhaustedly slumped against the wall to listen.

  “You know I love pink champagne!” Aniyah cried as DeAndre popped the bottle.

  “Nothing is too good for my baby.” DeAndre took a breath as he lifted his glass to her. “Aniyah, you are a force in my life. A force of love, happiness, and I wouldn’t be me without you.”

  The Rose sisters pushed the door open a little to peer out. “He’s doing it!”

  “Hush, Lil.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do, Vi.”

  Daisy smacked them both as they all glared at each other before looking back at the couple at the table who seemed blind to everything but each other.

  “Oh, Sugarbear!” Aniyah said, wiping at her eyes. She was beautiful that night in a Sydney-created red dress that hugged her perfect, generous curves. Sydney had called it an early Christmas present, but it was really all part of the master plan.

  “I should have done this long ago, but I kept thinking you’d leave me. I wasn’t good enough for someone so full of life and love as you. You take care of me, love me, and drag me out of my shell to make me a better man. I only wish I could be the man you deserve,” DeAndre continued.

  “Do what?” Aniyah asked. “Are you breaking up with me?”

  “No, baby,” DeAndre said, sliding out of his chair and kneeling beside her. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

  DeAndre opened the box to show the heart-shaped pink sapphire and Aniyah screamed so loudly the Rose sisters could hear her without their hearing aids. “Yes!” She screamed as she knocked the chair over and leapt up with excitement. “Yes, yes, yes!”