Freedom

by Mary Crawford

  Phoenix shrugs and blushes. “I try. Sometimes, my overactive, analytical brain does me some favors.”

  “Well, I for one am happy for the way your brain works. I was feeling so stuck and you just came up with the perfect answer. Hey, I could even die my hair rainbow colored again and no one would care. I could choose to work in scrubs if I wanted to. That’s what I did in high school when I worked at the vet clinic. They are the most comfortable clothes on the planet. I’m so excited. I could have some made with my business name,” I ramble. “Wait a minute! I don’t even have a business name. What am I thinking? There would be so much to do to set up everything,” I add with a sigh.

  “Whoa! Take a minute to catch your breath. You might want to hold off on dying your hair until after Katie’s wedding. Don’t worry about figuring out everything all at once. I make enough money right now to support the two of us. I’ll make even more with my promotion. So, you can take your time and design whatever type of business you want.”

  “But … moving across the country will be outrageously expensive. Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to be a burden.”

  Phoenix turns toward me and cups my face. “I thought I made it clear. You’re not a burden. Ever. You are my key to freedom.”

  “Freedom?” I ask.

  Phoenix nods solemnly. “Yeah, freedom. At first I thought freedom was being able to ride my bike across the country. It would’ve been fun, but I don’t think I would’ve experienced freedom the way I feel it with you. I have the freedom to be myself and not hide who I am. I have the freedom to be braver than I’ve ever been. I’m free to pursue my dreams without feeling like I'm going to disappoint everyone. What you’ve given me is priceless.”

  “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t think I did all that much, but I’m glad your life is better because I’m it.”

  Phoenix stands up and pulls me to my feet. He takes a few moments to straighten out dog leashes and then kisses me soundly.

  “My life is amazing because you’re in it. Please never forget that. For the first time in my life, I am looking forward to a new adventure. I’m glad you’re going on it with me.”

  Katie holds a dress up against me and frowns. “Why does this have to be so hard? I like it on the hangar, but it clashes with your hair.”

  “Don’t ask me! The last time I was supposed to be a bridesmaid in a wedding, it was yours. You’re lucky I like you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even wear a dress. They’re kind of not my thing. I did like my dress the last time though.”

  “What color was it?” Niana, one of Logan’s sisters asks.

  “It was probably the best thing to come out of that debacle with my brother. For once, I had a sophisticated LBD.”

  Sonia, another of Logan’s sisters, responds. “I hate to break this to you, but black is a no go. It’s considered bad luck in our culture.”

  Logan’s little sister, Riya playfully slaps Katie on the forearm. “Yeah, you had your share of bad luck during your last wedding. You don’t need to tempt fate.”

  Katie is quiet for a moment before she says, “When my whole wedding came crashing down, I was devastated. But, meeting your brother and falling in love with him is the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  “Good point. But, you guys are so much in love that it makes us single ladies a tad nauseous. Isn’t that right, Zoe?” Riya asks me with a playful grin.

  Katie chuckles. “Oh, that’s right you guys don’t know. Quiet little Zoe has landed herself a sexy motorcycle dude. She is going to move to Oregon with him. I’ll finally have some of my friends in my neighborhood for a change.”

  All the women in the wedding party focus their attention on me. For a moment, I don’t know what to say. Finally I admit, “Yeah, he’s pretty sexy. But, he’s more of a computer nerd than a motorcycle dude.”

  “Well, he’s hot enough he could be on the cover of any bad-boy romance novel,” Katie jokes as she fans herself. “Seriously, how is it going?”

  I look down at the floor and let out a breath. “It’s hard. I hate to say it, but it’s way more complicated than I ever expected. Everything about my life is up in the air. I think I’m in love with a guy who has a hard time with relationships. To make matters worse, my parents have disowned me. I don’t know where I’m going to live or how exactly I’ll support myself.”

  Katie reaches out and hugs me. “Oh, honey. I totally know what you mean. I felt like that when I moved to be near Logan. But it all came together fabulously. Give it a chance. I think it will work out for you too.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  PHOENIX

  “THESE CUFFLINKS ARE THE DEFINITION of pure evil, I swear,” Logan mutters as he tries to fasten mine. “My hands are just too big for this kind of stuff.”

  “Can’t say I’ve ever worn them before,” I answer.

  “I don’t know how to thank you for being in the wedding.”

  I shrug. “Standing up in front of a group of people is not my favorite thing to do. But, if it makes Zoe happy then it’s worth it.”

  “I have a feeling our women are going to think we look like rock stars,” Aidan predicts as he straightens his tie.

  “Says the actual rock star,” quips Cody. “The rest of us may not fare so well.”

  Logan’s coworker Nick looks up from where he’s polishing his shoes. “Speak for yourself. Sonia was eyeing me before I even put on this monkey suit.”

  Logan grins. “I hate to burst your bubble, buddy. Knowing Sonia, she was just calculating how long it would take the two of you to walk up the aisle based on your height. She is an engineering student on the honor roll. It’s kinda what she does.”

  Cody laughs out loud at Logan’s statement.

  “I might not laugh so loud if I were you,” I caution. “I met Niana in the parking lot. I understand she’s a psychologist.”

  “Funny, from a guy who gets to walk his actual girlfriend up the aisle.”

  Dylan Palmer, who served with Katie on the force snickers at Cody’s remark. “Hey, I’m not complaining. I got the hot musician.”

  “Dude!” Logan says. “Those are my little sisters you’re talking about. I don’t need to know that you think they’re hot.”

  “Newsflash - your sisters are hot,” Cody says. He holds up a can of pop and salutes Logan. “Here’s hoping your wedding is less dramatic than Katie’s last attempt at this.”

  “I wouldn’t bank on it,” mutters Aidan.

  “What do you mean by that?” Logan asks with alarm.

  “It’s probably nothing but when Tara was on the phone with Katie, it seemed like they were plotting something. When she realized I was reading her lips, she turned away. So, I wasn’t able to eavesdrop.”

  I always forget Aidan is completely deaf without his cochlear implants. “How does that work? Do you always lip read her conversations with people?”

  Aidan winks at me. “Only when Tara’s being secretive and mischievous.”

  “I see,” I answer, even though his answer isn’t very clear.

  Logan sets down the lint brush he’s been using on Cody’s jacket. “Okay, is everybody ready? I probably need to go rescue my lovely bride before she starts remembering what a nightmare her last wedding was.”

  The urge to fiddle with my collar is almost irresistible. Fortunately for me Katie and Logan thought it was a great idea to include Bruiser in the wedding so I am able to focus on the sensation of his weight on my foot. Actually, it’s the most unusual wedding I’ve ever attended. Not only do I have Bruiser with me, Darya has Dozer with her and John, Ketki’s father brought his guide dog, Tuffy. In a testament to Zoe’s training prowess, all three service dogs are staying on task. In fact, I think Bruiser is handling this high stress situation far better than I am. I hate people looking at me and the whole audience is watching Logan and his groomsmen.

  Before I can unravel further, Jude starts to play the acoustic guitar. I smile when I see Tara coming up the aisle holding her daughter
Madeleine. Maddie has a difficult time walking. Her birth mother had a stroke while Maddie was being born and as a result Madeleine has cerebral palsy. As Tara is walking down the aisle Maddie is throwing petals from a small basket. Inexplicably, Tara stops about three quarters of the way up the aisle. She appears to be waiting.

  Riya walks up the aisle followed by her sisters Sonia and Niana. As Riya reaches up to brush her bangs out of her face, I notice her hands are beautifully painted with mehedi. The intricate design is stunning. I am so captivated by the artwork I almost miss the fact that all three women stop beside Tara.

  I have to catch my breath when I catch sight of Zoe. I’m used to her wearing casual clothes. Her dress today is anything but casual. Its deep jewel color accentuates her beautiful eyes and athletic build. When she catches my eye, she smiles broadly. I can’t wait until she gets up here with me. Yet, like the others she stops.

  Mindy, Aidan’s honorary niece sits at the piano and plays the traditional wedding march. Katie starts to walk up the aisle. She is wearing a strapless dress and her mehedi trails up her arms in a dramatic pattern. When she stops in the middle of the aisle, Logan lets out a groan.

  Katie grins as she stands there quietly.

  Out of the corner of my eye I see Jude, a member of Aidan’s band wink at Mindy and they began to play the classic hit from the Rolling Stones, Wild Horses. All of us look around and try to figure out what’s going on.

  Madeleine pulls a rolled up piece of paper from her basket and hands it to Riya. She starts to unfurl it and hand the other end to Sofia. They hold the banner up so Logan can see. When he reads “Wild horses couldn’t drive me away from this wedding. Love Katelyn”, he laughs out loud and yells at her, “I love you too”. The sisters turn around and show the audience what he’s laughing at. Then, they put the banner down on a chair and all five women sprint toward the stage.

  Zoe stops in front of me for a moment. Then she seductively slides her hands up my body and cups my face as she gives me a theatrical kiss. As I return the kiss and pull away, I notice Aidan and Tara are still in the middle of a passionate kiss. Cody looks amused while Nick and Dylan look like they’ve been struck by a Mack truck.

  Sonia pulls a compact mirror and lipstick from a pocket in her dress. She begins to make a big show of fixing her smeared lipstick while Nick looks completely befuddled. I’m tempted to laugh at him — but I suppose I have the same expression on my face. Sonia turns toward the audience and quips, “Well, that was a bit messier than I expected but I have to say this is the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding.”

  I lean down and whisper in Zoe’s ear, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

  “That was quite a number you pulled on us,” I comment as I sit behind Zoe and place my arms around her waist. “You took all of us by surprise.”

  “I know. Wasn’t it the craziest thing? We came up with the idea while we picked up our bridesmaids’ dresses. I guess Logan used to tease Katie that he was planning to handcuff her to the pulpit to make sure she didn’t run away from her wedding this time.”

  “Oh right … I remember now. When Katie was on the run from your brother after he went crazy at the wedding, she met Logan at a bar, right? I think I remember reading about the way they met. I didn’t put two and two together.”

  “Yeah, she was wearing a wedding dress the day Logan met her. She drank so much Jack Daniels that night to try to forget my brother, she almost didn’t recognize Logan. So, they started using Katie’s status as a runaway bride as a running joke between them.”

  “It makes perfect sense, if you know the whole story. But still, this is the strangest wedding I’ve ever been to.”

  “According to Tara, all of her friends specialize in bizarre weddings. It’s funny because Jessica said the same thing about her friends.”

  “Someday, I hope someone tells us our wedding was the most entertaining thing they’ve ever been to.”

  “Seriously, it would be hard for anyone to do better than this. I mean look at the dance floor. Aidan O’Brien and his whole band are the entertainment. I never thought I would see anything like this.”

  I smile. “I guess there are perks to being Aidan O’Brien’s personal bodyguards,” I remark as I stand up and brush off the back of my pants. I loosen my tie and shed my jacket. I stick the cufflinks in my pocket and roll up my sleeves.

  “I guess so, but I’ve heard that Aidan is right up there with Tristan on the nice guy scale.”

  I tie Bruiser’s leash to the base of the tree behind us and extend my hand to Zoe. When she wobbles as she tries to stand, she kicks off her high heels.

  “Would you like to dance, milady?” I ask as I bow a courtly bow.

  “Umm … sure … I guess so. I’m a little nervous because Tara used to be a professional dancer. The dance moves I learned in high school are not very impressive, trust me.”

  I glance over at the makeshift dance floor. “Judging by what I see, I don’t think it’ll be an issue. There appear to be lots of different experience levels having fun.”

  As we start to walk toward the dance floor, Bruiser growls aggressively. I hold up my index finger to Zoe as I say, “Hold on a second, I think I better let Bruiser do his business before we get lost on the dance floor.”

  Zoe puts my jacket over her shoulders and leans against the tree. “That’s okay. I’m probably more comfortable watching everyone else.”

  When I unhook Bruiser from the tree, he takes off running toward the sheds. He is dragging me behind him like a trailer with a broken wheel.

  As we approach the outbuildings, I notice the shed door where I keep my motorcycle is propped open slightly. My stomach drops to my toes. This cannot be good. Bruiser drops down and army crawls until his nose is right under the door. His hackles raise, and his growl becomes even more commanding. I cautiously approach the door to the shed while I use the building for cover. As I peek through the crack in the door, my heart about stops when I recognize the man vandalizing my motorcycle. How the hell did Vincent know Zoe was going to be here today?

  Out of the corner of my eye I see a piece of two by four. I reach out and catch it with my foot and drag it toward me as I keep an eye on Vincent. Quietly, I slide the door shut and slide the two by four through the handles.

  I don’t know how long that will hold. Out of desperation I drag a heavy meat smoker in front of the door. I grab Bruiser’s leash and run back to the wedding party as fast as I can.

  As I pass the beverage table, I see Darya standing with Dylan and Cody. Darya is the first to notice my panicked expression. “What happened? Is Zoe hurt?” she asks me in short staccato questions.

  I shake my head as I try to catch my breath. “Call 911. Have them send as many officers as they can spare.”

  “Oh man! Please tell me this doesn’t involve Katie again,” Cody says.

  I shake my head as I blurt, “I’ve got Vincent trapped in the shed. I think he was messing around with my motorcycle.”

  “Vincent Hurlington as in Zoe’s brother, a convicted felon and suspect at large?” Dylan asks me as he takes off running toward the sheds. Cody follows close behind.

  “The very one,” I answer with a labored breath.

  “Oh man! Katie’s going to hate me. I promised her there’d be no official police call at this wedding,” Cody laments as he pulls his cell phone out of his pants pocket and calls 911.

  My knees are shaking so violently I can barely stand as I hold Zoe to my chest. I don’t think I’ve seen so many law enforcement vehicles in my whole life. I guess that’s what happens when you go on the lam in the middle of your trial.

  Zoe slumps when she sees the tactical team running across the yard. “This won't end well for my brother, will it?” she whispers tearfully.

  “I think everything will be resolved quickly. There are enough ex-military and current police officers here to ensure a good outcome,” I respond with more conviction than I feel. I place my arms around her waist and give
her a light squeeze. “Everyone is a professional. No one wants anything to happen to your brother. He needs to face justice for all the things he’s done.”

  Just as I comment, Vincent is being escorted across the lawn against his will. His arms are handcuffed in front of him, Cody and Dylan flank him. Darya has a gun trained on him from behind.

  When Zoe sees her disheveled brother, she lets out an involuntary cry. Vincent starts yelling profanities and death threats at Zoe. He takes advantage of the momentary distraction and swings his arms around to hit Dylan in the face with his shackled hands. The metal in his cuffs slice a gash in Dylan’s face. Vincent takes off running. Darya issues a command in German and Dozer transforms from a lackadaisical couch puppy to a lean, mean weapon. He takes chase and tackles Vincent a few yards away from where he broke away. Vincent is screaming for his mama as Dozer clamps his jaw down on his arm.

  Between the blood on Dylan’s face and the lacerations on Vincent, it’s amazing I’m still upright.

  Darya issues another command as the tactical team reaches them and subdues Vincent. Reluctantly, Dozer releases the perpetrator and walks quietly over to Darya and sits down at her feet.

  Zoe has had enough of the scene in front of her so she turns around and buries her head in my chest as she sobs.

  “What’s wrong Zoey-Pie? Is this a little too much truth for you? Are you embarrassed to be my sister?” Vincent taunts as he charges toward her. Three or four burly officers in dark clothing restrain Vincent as he struggles to get at her.

  Zoe’s stands up straight and marches closer to her brother. “You want my truth? I’ll give it to you. I am embarrassed to be related to you. You had the best of everything and you threw it away so you could pretend to have power over someone else. Well, I’m done giving you power over my life. You can rot in hell for all I care.”