“Oh, sweetheart,” Heather said. “We’re the Donaldsons. We don’t date. We tend to get married and worry about the other stuff later. Matt proposed to you while you were trapped. So it’s a done deal. No getting out of it now.”
“He didn’t propose, he ordered me.”
“Same difference.” Heather seemed unconcerned.
“Doesn’t it bother you that your son wants to marry me?” Jena demanded. “I’m a mess. My house is rubble. I have fourteen dollars, I mean pounds, in the bank. I don’t have a proper job and I can’t teach dance like this. My mother can’t stand me. My ex-boyfriend tried to kidnap me and turn me into his pet stripper.” Her bottom lip wobbled. “I just found out I’m living here illegally. All of my belongings are now under a house. I don’t even know where my clothes are. I know I was wearing some when I was rescued. On top of that, everything I touch breaks. And everyone around me gets hurt at some point. I’m the last person you should want your son to marry.”
The tears came. She couldn’t stop them. She was a joke. A useless waste of space. No good for anything.
“No.” At Matt’s voice, Jena’s head snapped to the door. “You’re not the last person I should marry. You’re the only person I should marry. You’re the only woman I want to marry.”
He stepped into the room. His eyes only for her. Jena chewed her bottom lip as tears fell. She was so relieved to see him. At the same time she knew he should run far, far away from her. “You’re only saying that because you feel sorry for me.”
Matt burst out laughing. “Silly girl.” He stepped up to the bed, sat on the edge and put his palm on her cheek. His thumb brushed away her tears. “You make me laugh. You make me take things less seriously. Your enthusiasm and sense of adventure means every day around you is fun. You’re hard-working. You’re kind. You’re so optimistic you make the sun shine just by being you. You look out for everyone.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “You are incredibly sexy. You’re unpredictable. Eager to learn. Slightly mad and seriously accident-prone.”
Jena gave a sad little laugh.
Matt’s beautiful blue eyes held hers. She saw in them the truth of every word. She saw the depth of feeling he had for her. It was all there. Raw and open for her to read.
“Don’t send me away, princess,” he whispered. His voice husky with emotion. “I need you. Without you I’ll become one of those sad, uptight old men who only cares about rules, regulations and how neat his house is. I need you to drive me crazy every day of my life and remind me what I’m living for.” He kissed her lips ever so gently. “I’m living for you, princess. You’re my soul mate. Don’t take that from me.”
“I love you so much,” Jena whispered. “But I don’t deserve you.”
He smiled at her, making her heart melt further. She was defenceless against him. “I’ll remind you of those words frequently.”
She shook her head at him. Matt looked over his shoulder towards the door. “Come on in,” he called.
From the looks on his family’s faces, they were none the wiser about who he was talking to either. The door opened and the vicar of Invertary Presbyterian Church walked in. Jena shot a confused look at Matt. He held her uninjured hand tight and pinned her with his gaze.
“We’re getting married. Now. Here. Don’t argue. It’s a done deal. Just accept it,” he said.
“What?” Jena gaped at the vicar. “Shouldn’t I agree to this first?”
“Generally, yes,” the vicar said, but didn’t seem at all bothered that she hadn’t.
Meanwhile, Matt’s mum burst into tears as she hugged Matt. “This is wonderful. I love it. Your dad would have loved it. It’s exactly the kind of thing he would have done.”
She wiped a tear from her eye before giving Jena an equally enthusiastic hug. Jena winced, and Matt’s hand shot out to pull his mom back. “Remember her ribs are cracked.”
“Oh, sorry, Jena.” His mother fussed over her, and it was kind of nice.
“Right, let’s get this over with,” Reverend Morrison said.
“Hey,” Matt said. “Attitude.”
The old man rolled his eyes. “I’ve got the paperwork. There aren’t any rings. So all we need to do is say the vows, sign the certificate and you’re done here.”
Matt scowled at him before smiling at Jena. “We can have another wedding when you feel better. A proper one. We can go shopping for rings together.”
Jena blinked at him. “Is this really happening?”
Heather and the twins laughed as Matt smiled at her. “Oh yes,” he said.
“Does she have concussion?” the minister said. “Is she in her right mind? I can’t marry her off to you if she doesn’t know what she’s agreeing to.”
“Jena, tell the man you want to marry me,” Matt ordered.
She stared at him for a long couple of minutes while everyone in the room seemed to hold their breaths. “Yes, I absolutely want to marry this idiot,” she said.
The women squealed with delight. The vicar sighed heavily and Matt winked at her. “Good decision. Well done. But how about less of the idiot stuff?”
Before she could answer, the vicar cleared his throat. “Dearly beloved,” he started, and Jena didn’t hear anything else.
All she could see, all she was aware of, was Matt’s smiling face and his eyes full of love.
Love for her.
Jena Morgan had found a home at last.
Epilogue—six months later
The frame for their new house was going up, and Jena couldn’t wait to see it happen.
“Get up.” She bounced on the bed beside Matt.
He groaned and shoved his head under the pillow. “Go away. This is my first day off in months.”
“Liar. You were off last weekend.”
“I was on call last weekend. There’s a difference.”
She grabbed the pillow and lobbed it over the room. “You need to get dressed. We have to get to the building site. I want to see the house go up.”
Matt rolled onto his back, momentarily distracting her with his pecs. Yum. She shook her head. No. Not yum. There was no time for yum. His eyes sparkled as he guessed what she was thinking.
“Why don’t we stay here for a while instead?” He reached for her, but she jumped out of his way.
“I don’t want to miss this. Get up and get dressed right now.”
He groaned. “Explain to me why I have to be there so you can see it. You can see it perfectly well without me.”
“Matthew Donaldson, this is our first home. Probably our last home. We’ve been planning it for months. This is important. It’s something we need to share together.”
“Fine, I’ll get up, but you owe me.”
She clapped her hands and bounced some more as he hauled himself out of bed. “You shower, I’ll get your clothes. Hurry.” She shooed him in the direction of the bathroom.
Apart from the fact it was exciting to see their house being built, she was also excited that there was an end in sight to living in Matt’s horrible police-issue house. No matter how much colour and mess she threw at it, it still seemed sterile. Not to mention the orange glass windows made her want to vomit. She did a little twirl as she waited for Matt to finish in the bathroom. Normally she would have climbed into the shower with him, but she actually wanted to leave the house sometime before lunch.
She could never have guessed how fabulously things had turned out. Her old house had building insurance. It wasn’t enough to cover building a new home, but it had been damn close. Then the government had gotten in touch. It turned out they planned to pay damages for the fact her property sat on an unsafe mine. It meant Jena and Matt had more than enough to build the house of their dreams. Not that Matt was bothered. He kept telling her that his savings were now her savings. Which was great, kind, generous, all of those things. She still felt better sharing his savings when she had something for them to share too.
An arm wrapped around her waist and Mat
t buried his face in the crook of her neck.
“Delicious,” he rumbled against her skin. He kissed her shoulder before nuzzling the spot behind her ear that made her go weak at the knees.
She stepped away, thrusting his clothes at him. “No distracting me.”
He laughed, the devil. “Are Gordon and Brenda coming?”
Jena nodded. “They’re meeting us there.”
“I hope they’re bringing food.”
Jena ignored him. Everything revolved around food for Matt. She was pleased Gordon would be there for the start of their house. He’d really taken her under his wing at the hardware store. She’d learned so much the past few months, and after her house had blown up, Gordon started paying her in money rather than materials. She loved it. She loved everything DIY, and Gordon was talking about her becoming a partner in the business. He said he wanted to change the sign above the door to “Stewart and Daughter”. It made her cry—much to Matt’s amusement.
“Hurry up,” she told him.
“I’d go faster with coffee,” he grumbled.
She held up the to-go cup she’d put on the dresser. His eyes lit up.
“Have I told you I love you?” He reached for the coffee.
“Once or twice.” She laughed.
At last they managed to get down the stairs and out of the house. Jena wriggled in her seat all the way through a town that looked pretty empty for the time of the morning. Highland folk tended to start their days early, yet there was no one in sight.
“Just think,” Jena said, “in a few short months the house will be finished and decorated and we can move in.” She grinned wickedly. “Then, of course, we’ll have to christen every room.”
“Evil woman,” he said.
They drove up the quiet country lane towards her land, and Jena could see the field the council had been working in. They were filling the holes the mine made. By the time they finished, the area would be stable and safe. It was slow work, but at some point the field would be covered in grass once again. As they turned the corner to their new build, Jena’s jaw dropped. The road was filled with people. It seemed like the whole town was there.
Jena turned to Matt. “Did you know about this?”
“Nope, but are you really surprised?”
Surprised didn’t cover it. She was shocked as hell. They squeezed into a parking spot and climbed out to cheers. People were milling around drinking coffee from flasks and chatting.
The Donaldsons descended on the pair. Jena was engulfed in a hug from Heather, who insisted Jena call her Mum. Something Jena loved to do.
“Isn’t it exciting?” Heather said.
“Aye, so exciting that Jena hardly slept last night. I’m knackered from all her bouncing around.”
“I don’t want to hear about what you two do in bed, son,” Heather said with a twinkle in her eye.
Claire took her turn to hug them, and Jena grabbed the opportunity to have another look at her ring. Grunt had gone all out on a diamond and sapphire combination. “It is so beautiful.” Jena sighed.
Claire looked up at Grunt with adoration. “I love it too. I couldn’t have done what you two did. It was romantic, the rush wedding in the hospital, but I’m glad we’re going the more traditional route. I’m having a great time planning the wedding, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on the ring.”
Matt stiffened beside her. “I can get you an engagement ring if you want one.”
Jena rolled her eyes. “It’s a bit late for that, He-Man.”
“I don’t want you to feel you missed out.”
“I don’t.” She grinned up at him. “Still, if you want to make it up to me, I saw a real cute ankle bracelet the other day. It would go a long way towards fixing any hurt feelings that may be hiding deep inside.”
“Minx.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“When’s the wedding?” Jena asked Claire.
“Next May. That gives us the year to plan. Plus, I want a spring wedding.”
“Let me know if I can help.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Claire gaped at her. “You’re one of the bridesmaids. I thought you knew.”
Jena blinked at her. “You didn’t tell me.”
“You’re family.” Claire shrugged. “I assumed you’d figure it out.”
Jena was about ten seconds away from smacking her insane sister-in-law. “I’ve never had a family. How am I supposed to know these things?”
“My bad.” Claire winced. “In future I won’t assume.”
“Good,” Jena said. Then pulled Claire in for another hug.
“Any word on the court case?” Grunt asked.
“It’ll be another few months yet,” Matt said grimly.
The men shared a look that made clear exactly how much they wished they’d dealt with the Frank problem themselves rather than handing it over to the courts. The stupid, dangerous man had eventually figured out the loch didn’t lead to Glasgow. He then abandoned the boat as far away from Invertary as he could and tried to walk over a gorse-filled hill. He’d been chased by a herd of Highland cattle. Lake’s men waited until he’d tired of running from the cows, and then they’d transported him to Fort William’s jail. He was being charged with a whole slew of things, including kidnapping, acts of terrorism and attempted murder. Neither Matt nor Grunt had seen him when he’d been caught, and both of them were still holding a grudge over it. Jena was just pleased it was Frank in jail and not her husband for killing her ex-boyfriend. Last she’d heard, Frank had tried to get the New Jersey mob to help him. They’d disowned him. The strip club he’d “managed” had gone bust. And Candy the stripper was working at McDonald’s. Jena grinned at the thought.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Dougal boomed over the noise. The crowd went quiet. “We’re here to christen Matt and Jena’s new home.”
Jena blushed, and Matt threw an arm around her shoulder. “Not the way you mean,” he whispered in her ear.
“As you all know,” Dougal carried on, “we weren’t invited to the shotgun wedding they had in the hospital.” There were good-natured boos. “So we thought we’d turn this into the wedding reception you never had. Even if it is at an ungodly hour of the morning.” The crowd parted to reveal a long table covered in food and drink. There was a banner above it saying “Welcome home, Jena and Matt”.
Jena felt her throat tighten as tears threatened.
“Please join me in raising your glasses to the happy couple.” Glasses, mugs and cups were held high. “Here’s to Matt and Jena. May you have a long and happy life together. And here’s to your new home in Invertary—may it never blow up.” There was laughter.
“To Matt and Jena,” peopled shouted.
“Welcome home, princess,” Matt said as Jena grinned so wide her face began to hurt.
As she looked around her friends and family, she realised she’d found in Scotland the thing she’d longed for most.
She’d found her family.
She was home at last.
Thank you for reading my work.
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Invertary Books
Lingerie Wars, Invertary Book 1
Goody Two Shoes, Invertary Book 2
Magenta Mine, Invertary Book 3
Calamity Jena, Invertary Book 4
Bad Boy, Invertary Book 5 (coming late 2015)
Caught, Invertary Book 6 (coming early 2016)
Other Books
Mad Love, London Book 1
Laura’s Big Break, London Book 2
The Davina Code
coming next
After a career ending injury, soccer star Flynn Boyle goes home to Invertary. Having never thought beyond playing football, he has no idea what to do with himself and options are limit
ed for the bad boy of the European leagues. Abby McKenzie is a widow with a four year old daughter and a business that has just been destroyed in a freak accident. She’s starting over, again, and to get the money for that new start she sells part of her land to Flynn Boyle. The man is supposed to be building a house. Instead, he’s turning Abby’s life upside down.
about the author
I’m a Scot, living in New Zealand and married to a Dutch man. I write contemporary romance with a humorous bent – this is mainly due to the fact I have an odd sense of humour and can’t keep it out of anything I do! If I wasn’t a writer, I’d like to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Indiana Jones. Unfortunately, both these roles have already been filled. Which may be a good thing as I have no fighting skills, wouldn’t know a precious relic if it hit me in the face and have an aversion to blood. When I’m not living in my head, I’m a mother to two kids, one pet sheep, one dog, two cats, three alpacas and an escape artist chicken. If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, which happens sporadically – usually when books are being released – click on this link. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my books!
You can use this contact form to get in touch or email me at [email protected]
copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Janet Kortlever
ISBN:978-0-473-32451-3
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the publisher is unlawful privacy and theft of the author's intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior permission can be obtained by contacting the author through her website. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.
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