Needing Happily Ever After

by Elena Aitken

  “Katie?” The reason he was there jerked him back into the reality of his present predicament. “What does this have to do with Katie?”

  For the first time, his father’s smile reached his eyes. “With the two of you, I see true love. The type your mother and I shared. A deep bond that can hardly even be explained because of the intensity of which you feel it in your heart.”

  “Dad, I have to tell you something.” It was time to end this. Past time. He needed to come clean. “I should have—”

  “If I hadn’t been so goddamned angry years ago, I’m sure I would have seen it then,” he continued, not hearing Damon. “Your love for Katie, that’s the real deal, my son. Anyone can see it. And I couldn’t be happier for you. And that’s why I’m giving you ElkView.” Anthony laughed a little, but it quickly turned into a deep cough.

  Damon moved closer and handed his dad the cup of water that sat on the table next to him. He waited patiently until his dad regained his composure.

  “What do you mean, you’re giving me ElkView?”

  “I’m doing what I should have done in the first place. This is your home, Damon. There is no one who deserves this place more than you do. And I know you have the money to buy it. Hell, you have the money to buy ten of these places. But that’s not the point.”

  His dad reached out, and Damon took his hand in his. It felt light and papery, as though it might break if he squeezed too hard.

  “This is your home. And now it’s yours. I had my lawyers draw up new paperwork earlier today. Tear that up.” He gestured to the papers Damon still held. “I want you and Katie to raise your own family here. It’s my gift to you both.”

  “But you said—”

  “Forget what I said.” He pulled his hand away. “Like it or not, it’s done. As of eight o’clock this morning.”

  ElkView was his? Just like that?

  Damon could hardly believe what his dad was saying to him.

  He looked straight into Damon’s eyes and a tear finally slipped down his age-spotted cheek. Suddenly, his dad looked much older than his years. “I’m sorry, son. I hope you can forgive me.”

  Guilt flooded through Damon. It was all too much. He sank into the chair in front of his dad, heavy with the truth. “I hope you can forgive me,” he said. “Dad, I need to tell you something. Katie and I…well, it’s not what it looks like. I asked her to—”

  “I already know what you’re going to say.”

  “There’s no way you could.” Damon shook his head.

  “Do you think I’m stupid, son? Do you think I was as successful as I was in business by trusting blindly in what people told me? Or do you think that maybe I did a little bit of research on my own?”

  Damon sat back and assessed his father, who continued to talk.

  “I know you and Katie weren’t a real couple.”

  “You did?”

  Anthony chuckled, but it turned into another cough. When he finally composed himself, he continued. “Of course I did. But I also saw that it was what the two of you finally needed to realize your own feelings after all this time.” He shook his head in wonder. “Two more stubborn and clueless people as to what is right in front of them, I’ve never met.”

  “But…we—you let us go through with the wedding…”

  “Like I said, son. Sometimes people need a little nudge.”

  It was a nudge, all right.

  “But now Katie and I…well…we’re not really…”

  “You’ll fix it.” Anthony raised his arm to signal his nurse. “A love like yours doesn’t come along every day.” He nodded. “Yes, you’ll fix it. And then you’ll live here and raise your family.”

  Damon watched in silence as his father’s nurse collected him and started to wheel him out of the room. Before he left, Damon stood and called after him. “Dad?” The nurse turned him so Anthony could look at his son. “Thank you.”

  It was gratitude for so much more than ElkView, and they both knew it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Faith felt like she was on a mini-vacation. After her meeting with Brody earlier, she’d been certain that she’d return to the ranch to see that Logan hadn’t taken care of even half of her to-do list. She’d been wrong.

  He’d not only taken care of her list, but even a few other things that she hadn’t thought to ask him about. If she wasn’t so perpetually irritated by him, she might have even considered thanking him. Of course, he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  Now, as much as she thought she would enjoy the little break from work, Faith couldn’t help but feel bored. She’d tried to busy herself around the house and had spent the rest of her morning lingering over coffee and cleaning the already spotless kitchen. Now, with the rest of the day ahead of her, she couldn’t think of a thing to do.

  She sat down hard at the kitchen table again and picked at the corner of a placemat before reaching for her cell phone.

  * * *

  You up?

  * * *

  She typed the simple message to her sister and waited. Seconds later, the phone rang.

  * * *

  “Oh good,” Faith said into the receiver. “You’re up.”

  “It’s five in the afternoon here.” Hope laughed. “And I’m not much of a napper, so yes, I’m up. Everything okay?”

  Faith sighed and leaned back in the chair. “Of course things are okay. Why wouldn’t they be okay?”

  “Because you don’t usually text me in the morning. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” It was an honest answer, so she added, “That’s the problem. I don’t have a wedding this weekend, and everything else is done and I’m—”

  “Bored.”

  Faith nodded. Her sister knew her well. “It’s the craziest thing. I mean, I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I think I’m actually getting used to this whole wedding thing.”

  “You mean, you’re enjoying it?”

  “No.” She laughed, but it was sort of a lie. “But I don’t totally hate it.”

  On the other end of the line, Hope gasped dramatically. “Did you just say that?”

  “Don’t tell anyone!”

  “Your secret is safe with me, sis. Now fill me in on the gossip. I miss everyone.”

  Faith resisted the urge to tell her sister to come home if she missed them so much. That would be useless, so, instead, she did her best to fill her in on what as going on around town, as well as the details of Damon and Katie’s super simple, but beautiful ceremony. She couldn’t help but add that she herself had pulled off that wedding all on her own. It didn’t matter that there were less than ten people in attendance.

  “I still can’t believe those two got married so quickly,” Hope said. “I feel like it was just yesterday that Katie was telling us about it.”

  “So crazy.” She shook her head. “But it seems to be working. Well, except last night was weird.”

  The night before had been weird, and normally Faith wouldn’t have thought much about it, except they had all been gathered to raise their glasses in a toast to the happy newlyweds and then they’d both just taken off without an explanation, leaving everyone to wonder what exactly had happened.

  “Weird how?”

  “We were all celebrating with them, and then Katie went to the bathroom and Damon went to get more drinks.” She didn’t bother mentioning that he’d never come back with those drinks. “The last I saw him, he was talking to some guy at the bar.”

  “Some guy?”

  Faith nodded. “We found out later he’s a friend of Damon’s from the city. He came over to introduce himself.” She didn’t bother telling her sister that Damon’s friend, Nick, was super-hot and ridiculously flirty. “Anyway, I never did see Damon again, but Sarah said she saw Katie take off in a hurry, so…” She shrugged. “Like I said, it was weird.”

  “That does sound weird.” The sisters talked it over for a few minutes, and then switched gears while Hope filled her in on their travels. They were
currently in France, and it sounded absolutely heavenly. Faith had never given it much thought before, but maybe she should consider doing some travel on her own. She let her thoughts drift for a moment but the sound of a truck entering her yard distracted her.

  “Hey, Hope?” Faith sat up straight in her chair as she looked out the window at her visitor. “I think I’m going to have to let you go.”

  “Why? What’s—”

  She didn’t hear the rest of her sister’s question because a second later, Logan Langdon, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him, flung open her kitchen door and crashed his way into her kitchen. “I’m going to fucking kill him!”

  The rain was just starting to come down as Damon made his way down Main Street. Talking to his father had been a good start, but he still had more to do. But before he could do anything, he needed to think. And he couldn’t do that at ElkView. So he’d made his way down to town and had started walking. He’d lingered outside Sweetie Pies but couldn’t make himself go in. A honey bun would only remind him of Katie and the mess they were in. So he’d kept walking.

  But it was no use, because every single thing in town reminded him of Katie. All of his memories were wrapped up in her. He walked past the Big Rock Inn where, only a few days ago, they’d had their first fight. She’d told him then that there was nothing going on with her and Jeremy. Had she been lying? In his heart, if he could see past his jealousy, Damon knew she hadn’t been lying to him. Katie never lied to him.

  He’d overreacted.

  He’d ruined everything.

  And he knew it.

  What he didn’t know was how to make it right. She hadn’t answered any of his phone calls or texts all morning, and although he knew he could drive over to her ranch and demand that she talk to him, he also knew that approach would probably not go over well with her. Or her family.

  “Hey, Banks!”

  Damon’s head shot up to see his buddy Nick walking out the front door of the Big Rock Inn. He instantly felt a flash of guilt. He’d forgotten about Nick, and that was a shitty thing to do considering Nick had come to Glacier Falls for him.

  “Where the hell did you go last night?” Nick joined him on the sidewalk. “Don’t tell me that dude was—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “No way.” Nick shook his head. “Shit, Damon. I was kidding. I didn’t think that your new bride really would—”

  “She didn’t!” His temper flared, but he caught himself. “Sorry, Nick. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. And I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything last night. I just…”

  Nick slapped his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, man. Really. I found your friends and introduced myself.”

  Damon couldn’t help but smile. Of course Nick would have made himself at home.

  “You didn’t tell me about the blonde hottie.”

  Damon looked at his friend in confusion. “The blonde…”

  “Yay tall…” Nick held out his hand. “Curvy, sexy, blue eyes, and…hey, she looks a lot like that woman.”

  Damon turned to see Logan’s truck, with Faith in the passenger seat, screech to a halt in front of them. He registered the look on Logan’s face, only seconds before the man flung the truck door open and ran toward him.

  “What the fuck, Banks?” He lunged for him, but somehow Damon managed to dodge him. Nick, who’d initially only had eyes for Faith, jumped into action, and put himself between the hulking angry man and his buddy. “Move,” Logan growled. “Or I’ll go through you.”

  “Whoa.” Nick held his hands up. “I think we should all calm down.”

  Damon’s mind raced, but he didn't have to think too hard to know exactly what Logan was mad about. Katie. He just didn’t know what about Katie Logan was mad about. “You need to talk to me, Logan. What’s going on?”

  “Logan, stop it!” Faith joined Nick standing between Logan and the source of his anger. “You need to calm down. I’m sorry, Damon.” She turned her head to look at him. “I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  “I’m going to kill you!”

  “You aren’t going to kill anyone.” Faith turned back to him and to Damon’s surprise, Logan’s face actually softened a little when he looked at her. But not enough, because he still looked as though he did, in fact, intend to kill him.

  “I don’t know what you think I—”

  “You fucking lied, Damon. About all of it.”

  Ahh. So the truth was totally out. Damon nodded once but didn’t have time to speak.

  “You used her.” Logan wasn’t done. “You hurt my little sister and that means you need to hurt.”

  “Enough!” Faith grabbed Logan by both arms and pushed him back a step to give them some distance.

  Instead of using that distance, Damon stepped around Nick and toward Logan. “You’re right,” he said. “I did hurt her. But it wasn’t my intention,” he added quickly. “The last thing I would ever want is to hurt her, Logan.”

  Logan wasn’t buying it. He shook his head and clenched his fists.

  “It’s true.” Damon wouldn’t have blamed the man if he punched him. Hell, he almost wanted Logan to punch him. He deserved it. But more than that, what he really wanted was to make things okay again. Better than okay. He needed everyone to know how he really felt and more than that, he needed Katie to know how he really felt. “I love her, Logan.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, he smiled. And then despite himself and the situation he was in, he laughed and said it again. Louder this time. “I love her. I love Katie Langdon.”

  But then, just like that, the laughter was gone, and the smile dropped off his face as reality crashed back in. Damon stared at Logan, Faith, and Nick, who all looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. He scrubbed a hand over his face and tugged at his hair before speaking again. “I screwed up,” he said as honestly as he could. “I know that.” Logan snorted and shook his head, but Damon kept talking. “I need to fix things,” he said. “And I think I’m going to need your help.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I cannot believe you talked me into this.” Katie turned from the mirror where she’d been staring at her reflection for the last five minutes, to Faith, who’d just walked into her bedroom. It had been two days since the blow-up fight she’d had with Damon. And despite all the texts and phone calls from him that she’d ignored the morning after, she hadn’t heard from him. Except once. The day before. An envelope had arrived by courier. It held the paperwork making the Hub legally hers. And a note:

  * * *

  It always would have been yours. No matter what.

  * * *

  She’d almost called him then. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was still so hurt.

  What was almost as bad as not talking to Damon was that nobody was talking about him. At least not to her.

  It was bizarre.

  Especially because they all knew that the wedding was a fake. Well, maybe they didn’t all know. But Logan had overheard her telling her mother, and of course he’d run off to tell Faith, whom, from what she understood, had talked him out of going to find Damon and punching him out. But beyond that little bit of information, no one had so much as mentioned Damon, the fact that they’d lied to everyone, or the fact that she was now living back at home.

  And that’s what was bizarre. It wasn’t like her family not to push an issue, especially a major one. If she cared more, she might have asked them about it, but if she was being honest, Katie was enjoying the reprieve from reality when it came to Damon.

  Except this.

  She looked back to the mirror and once again took in the image of herself in her wedding dress, her hair done and her makeup carefully applied. This was a little too close to reality for her liking.

  “You look gorgeous.” Katie caught Faith’s grin in the mirror’s reflection. “Thank you for doing this. It’s probably not the easiest thing to…” She let the thought drift away, which was pro
bably for the best because there was definitely nothing easy about playing dress-up in her wedding gown—for a photo shoot, of all things—when her actual marriage was a complete and total train wreck.

  To put it mildly.

  “Well, I hope it helps,” was all Katie could say. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Faith had called the night before and asked whether she’d help her out with the photos for a new marketing campaign she’d been thinking about, and considering Katie really had nothing else to do but sit around and feel sorry for herself, she’d agreed. It was a choice she was regretting, especially because putting on the gown had brought back way more feelings than she’d expected it to. The last tine she’d worn it, she’d married Damon. And despite the fact that it was all supposed to have been a big lie, it hadn’t felt like a lie when she’d held his hands, looked in his eyes, and vowed to marry him. And that’s because it wasn’t a lie. It was the most honest thing she’d ever done.

  Tears threatened to spill, but Katie refused to let them fall. She blinked hard and forced a smile and turned to face Faith, who seemed oblivious of the emotional tornado taking place inside her.

  “This is going to be the best ad campaign ever.” Faith grabbed her hand and led her from the room. “Hope will be so surprised when she sees it because I know she hasn’t even thought about marketing on social media yet, and I don’t understand why not.” She stopped to grab her folder from the kitchen table, and without letting go of her hand, kept half dragging, half leading Katie from the kitchen and out to her waiting SUV. The entire time, she yammered on and on about ads and images and slogans, and Katie was really only half listening as she got into Faith’s passenger seat.

  Katie couldn’t help but be impressed as Faith kept up a stream of chatter all the way to Ever After Ranch, barely pausing for her to react to anything she was saying. Which was probably for the best, because Katie couldn’t imagine she would have much of a reaction at all. She was about to pretend that she was a bride, only days after her own marriage—real or not—had imploded. What would she say?