by Lori Ryan
Chapter Eight
They’d gotten bits and pieces of the story, and oddly, Jesse’s slippers played a key role. Well, not exactly her slippers, but thousands of pairs just like them. It seemed the shoe salesmen were mafia. They were into prostitution and drugs and who knew what else. And, their shoe stores were one of the major ways they distributed their product all over the country undetected. Because, who checks slippers? The drugs came into the country in Miami and then were cut and packaged for street sale. Small bags of prepackaged cocaine were slipped into the seam between the cushy one and a half inch of memory foam and the sole of the slipper.
When the slippers arrived at their destination stores, the drugs were removed and put into circulation. The slippers were sold.
Apparently, the police had taken advantage of the fact that the owners of the warehouses and shoe stores were all away on the annual trip to Vermont to raid them and confiscate a recent shipment of drugs. On Jesse’s wedding weekend. Wonderful. And, apparently, when Tommy had seen the police arrive, he’d slipped into the banquet hall and taken advantage of the large fireplace in the room. He’d tossed the briefcase—and all of the evidence it presumably held—into the fire. For good measure, he’d dragged the two Christmas trees that flanked the fireplace in front of the fire and shoved them in as far as he could. Which, it turned out, wasn’t very far before the smoke overwhelmed him and he made a run for it.
After listening to profuse amounts of apologizing from the hotel’s manager and event staff after the fire was put out, Jesse and the rest of her family and close friends checked out. The fire had been isolated to the banquet hall so the hotel remained open and some of their friends would stay in the rooms there. The rest of the group caravanned up a nearby mountain to the cabins that Jack, Andrew, and a few of their friends owned.
The “mountain compound” as Jesse had begun to jokingly call it a year ago, was centered around one large cabin with a large center room and kitchen combination that was surrounded by several small bedrooms. This was the original cabin and it was now used mostly for guests and as a main gathering area when all of the couples were staying on the mountain at once. In the last few years, the couples had each built separate cabins around the main one that had anywhere from one to three bedrooms and a small kitchenette and bathroom. Hence, Jesse’s dubbing it the compound.
She couldn’t help but smile as they pulled up the road that led to the cabins and she spotted the old pair of skis that hung in a crisscross on the outer wall of the main building. It was a bittersweet smile as she realized she should have taken Jack and Kelly’s initial offer to hold the wedding here, on top of their mountain. If she had, perhaps she and Zach would be married now. Zach continued to pull the car around toward the back of the main building, in front of one of the small cabins. They would be spending the night in Jack’s friends’ cabin. Liz and her husband Gregg hadn’t been able to come for the wedding since she was expecting their first baby in about a week. Jack assured Jesse and Zach that the couple wouldn’t mind them spending a few nights in their place so they would have privacy.
“Ready, baby?” Zach said, breaking her out of her thoughts. He’d of course already assured her that they could either get married quietly at home when they got back to Connecticut or they could put things off until next winter and try again. He said he didn’t care when or how they got married, so long as they got to be together. Jesse understood how he felt, but she couldn’t help being sad at seeing the wedding she’d always dreamed of as a child literally go up in flames.
She nodded her head and Zach squeezed her hand before exiting the car and coming around to lift her out and carry her up the stairs.
“This wasn’t exactly how I pictured being carried over the threshold on my wedding night,” Jesse said.
Zach dropped a kiss to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Jess,” he whispered against her lips, settling onto the couch with her in his lap.
“It’s really okay.” Jesse frowned but tried to shove a smile into place on her face. She had a feeling she only succeeded in scrunching up her face with the attempt. “It just wasn’t meant to be. For whatever reason, this weekend was cursed from the get-go.”
“We’ll do it even better the next time, Jesse.” Zach’s thumb traced circles on her back as he held her tightly and drew her head to his shoulder. “Maybe we’ll pick a tropical destination next time. We could get married on the beach at sunset. That way, we only have to worry that a hurricane or tsunami might interrupt things. We can deal with hurricanes and tsunamis, right?”
Jesse couldn’t help but laugh. Zach was always able to do that for her; to pull her out of herself when she was feeling down or frustrated or angry. She didn’t know how he did it, but he had this calming effect on her. And, it didn’t hurt that he always seemed to be able to make her laugh or smile.
“How about I heat up something for dinner and we throw in a movie?”
Jesse smiled at Zach and her heart filled with warmth. Wedding or no wedding, she was truly blessed. That was what she would choose to focus on right now. She had her health, her family, her friends, and the love of her life. That’s all she needed.
“Sounds perfect,” she said.
She listened as Zach rustled around in the kitchen for a bit.
“Score!” Zach peeked over the kitchen counter at her, a container in his hand. “Liz stocked the freezer with her chicken chili and there’s also frozen bags of cornbread in here.”
Jesse grinned at him and snuggled into the throw she’d draped over herself as he began pulling a pot out of the cabinet. Liz really did make the most amazing chicken chili.
***
Jesse and Zach had long ago polished off the chili and cornbread and sat on the couch watching the end of Sixteen Candles. They’d already watched Say Anything; Zach was letting her get her eighties fix. She had her feet tucked under his leg to keep her toes warm and a small fire in the wood-burning stove in the corner warmed the room. Every once in a while, it would hit Jesse that they should be starting their honeymoon in the morning and instead they were here. Zach seemed to sense when this happened and he’d squeeze her closer as if he could ward off the sadness.
It was close to midnight when they heard a knock on the door. With a puzzled look at each other, they pulled apart and Jesse paused the movie while Zach went to the door. She heard hushed voices and tilted her head at Zach in question when he came back in, shutting the door with a strange smile on his face.
“Come put your coat on, Angel Face. You need to see this.” He held a hand out to her, but she just narrowed her eyes at him.
“You really want me to get up off the soft, warm couch and go outside. Now? Are you nuts?”
Now he was grinning as he nodded. “You really need to see this. I promise.”
Jesse got off the couch and went to the door where Zach held her coat up for her and then each mitten as she slipped her hands into them. “This had better be more than a black bear. You know I’ve seen a black bear up here before. That’s not new to me.”
Zach laughed. “It’s not a black bear.”
He opened the door and Jesse froze. The pathway leading from their cabin door was lined on either side with those small paper bags and candles. The kind of thing people line their streets with for Halloween or Christmas. They created a path out to one of the large trees that filled the space between the cabins.
And there, under the tree that had been decorated with strand after strand of white lights, stood her friends and family. All of them. Everyone that had been at the hotel with them now formed a loose gathering around the tree, each holding candles. At the center stood the minister that would have married them at the hotel earlier today.
“We thought, why not have your winter wonderland wedding up here? It might not be everything you ever dreamed, but we just wanted you to have the chance if you want to. If you don’t, that’s okay, too,” Kelly said hurriedly to Jesse as she took her sister’s hands in hers and looked
over her shoulder to all of the people gathered under the tree.
Jesse knew that maybe she should care that she was in her boots and parka for her wedding, or that her hair was pulled back in a plain ponytail and she probably had chili breath. Or that she didn’t have her cake or the Mokara orchids floating in a pool of stones and water she had chosen for her centerpieces. But, it didn’t matter.
“You did all of this?” she asked Kelly as Zach stood with his hand on her lower back, as if waiting for her decision.
“With a lot of help,” Kelly said with a laugh. “But, it’s really okay if you don’t want to do it.”
Jesse looked up at Zach. “I love it.”
“Then I love it, too.”
“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that?”
“Nope. It’s beautiful and perfect and it means I get to make you my wife right now. And, that’s all I really need.”
“It really is beautiful,” Jesse said, looking at the breathtaking view of the snow-covered branches and the candle flames flickering in the cold night.
“That’s a yes?” Kelly asked, looking ecstatic.
“That’s a yes,” Jesse said as Zach lifted her and carried her down the path toward all of the people who mattered to them in their world.
Kelly followed them and took her place with her husband and the rest of the wedding party gathered near the minister. There was no music, but the hushed tones of the mountain night were all Jesse needed as a smile stretched from ear to ear on her face. She couldn’t hold back the happiness and peace she felt inside as they stood together in front of the minister and said the vows that would bind them to one another for the rest of their lives.
THE END
A Letter from the Author:
Thank you so much for reading and for continuing this journey through the world of Sutton Capital with me. Legal Ease was my first book and there are still so many characters in the series that are so near and dear to my heart.
I wrote this novella at the request of one of my street team members and it was such a fantastic way to revisit old friends as well as introduce a character for a future book. People ask me all the time if there will be more Sutton Capital books, and the answer is, absolutely! As long as you want them, I’ll keep writing them. If you remember Samantha from Legal Ease and The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams, then you should be happy to know she has a book coming soon. She was the computer genius who helps Chad when Kelly is kidnapped and PJ is being stalked. I hope to get you at least two more Sutton books in 2015. Maybe three if things really come together and the stars align.
Thank you again for reading! Please come connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or my website. I love to hear from readers. And, if you’ve read a book of mine and loved it, please consider leaving a review on the retailer of your choice or on Goodreads.
Hope to see you online, my friends!
Lori
Sutton Capital Series Character Guide (contains spoilers!)
Jack and Kelly Sutton: Jack and Kelly met and fell in love in Legal Ease, book one of the Sutton Capital series when they married one another for business and financial reasons (I’m a sucker for a marriage-of-convenience story!). They have a daughter named Maddie. Jack is the CEO of Sutton Capital and Kelly is a law school student. Jack is best friends with Andrew Weston and cousin to Chad Thompson. Kelly is best friends with Jennie Thompson and is sisters with Jesse Bradley. Her brothers are Liam and David Bradley and parents are Betty and Jim Bradley.
Andrew and Jill Weston: Andrew and Jill knew each other in their teens and ran into each other again in Penalty Clause, book two in the series. They adopted twin boys in The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams, book four in the series. Andrew is best friends with Jack Sutton and Chad Thompson. He is the Chief Financial Officer of Sutton Capital. Jill is a freelance photographer.
Chad and Jennie Thompson: Chad and Jennie first met in LEGAL EASE but didn’t fall in love until book three of the series, Negotiation Tactics – or didn’t admit to it! Chad is the head of security at Sutton Capital and is a former Army Ranger. Jennie works with Chad in the security division at Sutton Capital. They have a daughter named Ella.
Zach Harris and Jesse Bradley: The stars of this book! Zach owns his own private security and protection firm and Jesse owns a bakery/deli in the lobby of the Sutton Capital building. Jesse and Zach’s story began in The Baker’s Bodyguard. To read this novella for free, go to my website (www.loriryanromance.com) and sign up for my newsletter. You’ll get the book to download after you confirm your subscription via email.
Gabe Sawyer and PJ Cantrell: Gabe Sawyer made his first appearance in Penalty Clause. He and PJ fell in love in The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams. Gabe made his fortune building an international chain of hotels before deciding to settle down in Connecticut near the Sutton Capital gang. PJ is a country singer turned pop star, who spent her teens and twenties on the road traveling for tours.
Mrs. Poole: Jack Sutton’s housekeeper and pseudo mother/grandmother to everyone.
Mabry Thompson: Chad’s mother and Jack’s aunt.
Logan Stone: Logan is making his first appearance in The Baker, the Bodyguard, and the Wedding Bell Blues. This sexy former Navy SEAL will have his own book soon!
Samantha Page: Samantha has appeared as a side character in Legal Ease and The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams. She works at Sutton Capital with Chad in security and is his computer guru. She’ll have her own book in 2015!
