“I don’t mind. Do you, Abby?” She said that she didn’t either, and it was settled. “Thank you, Clayton. We’ll make this place a home that people will want to come to. All of you guys again.”
“I don’t know, Mars. There is a lot of bad memories here. But if you can fix it up like you’re saying, then I think I might be happy here again.” Clayton looked around, then back at him. “Yes, I think I could be very happy here with you two making it a home and not a tribute to an old man that didn’t die with any sort of happiness in his heart.”
~*~
Abby was glad for the distraction of the wedding that she was photographing. There was too much going on at the house for her to get a moment’s peace. Then there was the paperwork that seemed to come in daily on things that she and Mars now owned. And there was more than what they’d been told at the funeral home.
“Abby, are you all right?” Smiling at the bride, whose name she could no longer remember, she took another picture. “You’ve been quiet all afternoon. You’re not ill, are you? I don’t want to be sick on my honeymoon.”
“No, not sick. Just concentrating on things here.” Abby didn’t like the bride and despised her mother. “Now, if you ladies are ready, it’s time that we took a few pictures of you in front of the church.”
“Oh, I’m not going out in this heat again.” Abby barely caught herself from telling them that it was something that they had asked for. “Just to get here for this was difficult enough. I don’t know why you’ve scheduled all this for the day before my wedding. I thought that you’d be here then taking the pictures.”
“This is what you set up.” Abby looked through her lens to give herself a moment. “You wanted the pictures taken the day before of you with your bridesmaids inside the church so that I’d not be in your way. You also contacted me to take several more shots outside in the lovely weather. Also of you and your bridesmaids. Then later today, the men will show up, and I’ll be taking their pictures while they’re pretending to get ready for the big day.”
“Well, I’ve changed my mind. I want you here tomorrow when we’re actually getting ready. If you’re in the way, we’ll just tell you to move or something.” Abby was shaking her head before the bride from hell finished. “What do you mean, no? I’m the one in charge of this, even though my daddy is paying for it, and that is what I want to be done.”
“I’m under contract with you, but I’m the one in charge. If you want to change your mind, it’s much too late for that. You had to do it three days ago, not the day of. Besides, I think it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so the pictures you want will be soggy.” Bride from Hell, or BH as she started to call her, said that it would not dare rain on her big day. “I don’t think that the weather will care what’s going on. But if you think that will work, go for it.”
“Honey. Darling. Why don’t you take a little break and let me talk to the nice lady who doesn’t seem to understand who is in charge?” Abby told BH’s mother that she was a professional photographer. “Yes, well, that remains to be seen. I want you to do what Phoenix wants in the way of pictures. That’s what we paid for, and that is what we’ll get. If you’d like to argue more with me, then good luck trying to get paid.”
Phoenix? Abby decided that BH suited the bride and her mother so much better. Pulling out her cell phone, she called Mr. Bride. He had told her three days ago that this might happen, and when it did, she was to call him directly. Abby didn’t know what his plans were for this thing, but he seemed to be amused about it when he spoke to her. He answered on the first ring and asked in the way of greeting who was giving her the worst time.
“Both, actually. My contract states that I’m to take pictures inside of the bride and party. Then in two hours, I’m to do the same with the groom and his party. Nothing is happening, and I’m ready to throw in the towel. Also, your missus threatened me with no payment if I don’t do it her way. I don’t work like that.” He said that no one worked like that. “I’ve been here for nearly three hours, and I’ve only taken about a dozen pictures. Mostly they’ve been studio shots of everyone here, including the bride’s shoes. I don’t do glamour shots, nor do I share pictures that I take on social media. I will sue if it comes to that.”
“Yes, of course. How much longer are you supposed to be there, Mrs. Wilkerson?” She told him that she had about forty minutes left. “Good. I’m on my way. In fact, I’m not all that far from you right now. I’m going to go in, and you and I will have a little fun. Then you’ll go home with full payment, and I’ll be tickled pink because then my daughter and wife won’t speak to me for a month.”
“What about the wedding? I’m sure that if you send me home, they won’t get the few pictures that I’ve managed to take today.” He told her that he had that handled as well. “If you say so. I’ll be right here when you arrive.”
She and Mars had been married just yesterday morning. It had been a short and fun affair, with Shawn as her man of honor and witness and North as Mars’s best man. They might have another more formal one later, after the house was finished, but she didn’t care. They were married, and that was all she cared about. Until she had to get up and fly nearly halfway across the United States to have to deal with this shit.
It should have been an easy in and out deal. She’d be here for two days, and she and Mars would get to see a little of California too. Sort of a paid honeymoon, they’d figured. But so far, after getting lost twice to get to the church and dealing with BH about being late, Abby wanted to chuck the entire thing and just go back home.
“Daddy? What are you doing here?” Everyone looked in her direction, and Abby smiled back at them. “She’s not doing what I want, Daddy. She keeps telling me no. I don’t like being told no. Make her do what I want. Please, Daddy?”
Gone was the bride from hell voice, and now she was talking like a five-year-old that hadn’t gotten her nap. Abby wanted to tell her to stomp her foot, and it would be perfect. Instead, she waited to see what would happen now. Mr. BH asked to see her pictures so far.
Just as she’d told him, there were only about a dozen of them. He didn’t seem all that impressed, because the bulk of them were of the bridesmaids doing kissy faces at her, and there were the shoe ones as well. He asked BH what was going on with those.
“That was her idea, Daddy. She said it would boost her career.” Abby answered Daddy when he asked her about her contract. “She never said a thing about a contract. Just kept snapping away at us.”
“Abby Wilkerson is a professional, Phoenix. I don’t think she’d be taking pictures like this without good reason. Did you happen to be that reason?” Daddy waited for an answer, and that was when Mommy stepped in with answers. Hers weren’t that much different than the daughter’s. It was all her fault, and Abby had refused to do what they wanted. “We paid her to do what you wanted, Phoenix. You picked out the package that you wanted, picked the dates, and you also told her that she’d take the pictures or she’d never work again. I was there, remember? Now here she is, ready and willing to take what you asked for, and you’re not allowing her to do that. How is that very productive?”
“Daddy? I don’t want to have her hanging around collecting gossip. She’ll sell it to the tabloids, and where will that leave us? With a bad name. Daddy, make her do what I want, and I’ll not ask you for anything else. I’ll even allow my sister, Amy, to come to the wedding.” He handed her a thick file, and then he handed one to his wife. “Where did you get these? Where the hell did you get these? Mother fuck, she did this, didn’t she? Little miss snoop, Amy, did this to me. How could she? Dad, she’s just jealous of me and my big wedding plans. I bet she had these photoshopped so that you’d be mad at me about this. Well, I don’t care what happens. I’m still getting my way, and Amy can go straight to hell.”
“Those are pictures of you fucking three of the groomsmen. Last night, Phoenix. There are some with you
r mother fucking them as well, and you standing over them while she does it. Amy had nothing to do with these. I had them taken. And as such, there will not only be no wedding but nothing more for either of you.” Phoenix said she was still getting married. “I don’t think that Doug will want you now, darling. You see, he’s seen these as well. And I have to tell you, I don’t know which of us was more surprised by this, him or his daddy, who owns nearly all this end of the United States.”
While the bride, or the ex-bride, was having a meltdown, Mommy dearest was begging her husband to give her a second chance. All he did was hand her another folder, and Abby would bet anything that there was not just her second chance in the pictures, but more like fourth, fifth, and sixth too.
Not only did Abby get her money, but a bonus for helping out dear old Daddy. She was calling Mars to let him know about the events when the limo that had picked her up at the hotel this morning was back to take her hotel.
“We’ll take a couple of more days out here, then head home. All right?” Abby told Mars it sounded perfect. “You’ll love this too. When they were tearing out the walls in Eita’s room, they found her stash of jewels and cash. Her run money, she called it. Uncle Clayton said to add it to the remodeling fund and have a good time with it. I told him that we’d do just that.”
“I love you so much, Mars Wilkerson.” He told her that he loved her, as well. “When I get back there, I’m going to jump your bones again. You’re all healed up, and I’m needy again. This morning just didn’t cut it all the way for me.”
He was still laughing when she closed the connection. She was married. Happy and having the time of her life. Abby didn’t think anything could go wrong and was happy that Mars met her in the lobby when she got to him. She wanted to celebrate so much, and he was the perfect man to have fun with.
Before You Go…
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Kathi Barton, a winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement award as well as a best-selling author on Amazon and All Romance books, lives in Nashport, Ohio, with her husband, Paul. When not creating new worlds and romance, Kathi and her husband enjoy camping and going to auctions. She can also be seen at county fairs with her husband, who is an artist and potter.
Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman, brings her stories to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance, with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans. [email protected].
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Marsden (Wilkerson Dynasty Book 1) Page 16
