I just was.
Mostly, it was due to the fact that I didn’t want to go to my own brother’s wedding. Because going to the wedding meant that I would have to see my family.
Family that either didn’t care enough about me to check on me—my mother’s side of the family that lived a couple of hours away—or chose my father when there were sides chosen—my father’s side, which included nearly all of my father’s immediate family.
And, spoiler alert, none of my family chose me except for Murphy, and apparently him choosing me meant that my family never thought twice about me.
Which was okay with me, honestly.
I’d rather have a true family member—one that stuck with me no matter what—like Murphy than any of the other two-faced assholes I’d once called Uncle or Aunt.
“Whoa there,” Murphy said as he walked out onto the porch. “You look pissed. You have that.” He raised his gnarled hand and encompassed his face with a pass, then grinned. “Resting bitch face going on. Everything okay?”
I felt my belly roll. “Actually, yes. I’m fine. It’s just that I keep thinking of who I’m going to see tonight. I haven’t seen Uncle Roger in six years. I didn’t even get invited to Roger Junior’s graduation. Or Christmas at their house. It’s just… I don’t really want to see them, and now I’m overthinking everything.”
Murphy started to shuffle slowly to his car, which I’d been using over the past few days since I still couldn’t make a decision on what I wanted to buy.
“Get inside and grab a beer to calm down. I’m driving,” he urged, shooing me away with a flick of his wrist.
I did what he said, honestly feeling that I could seriously use the mellowing out right about now.
I’d been on edge ever since Zach had left, and it was getting to the point that I just couldn’t handle it anymore.
Seriously, the anxiety of not knowing how today was going to go, whether I was going to get into a confrontation with my family, was beginning to make me sick.
Walking to Murphy’s stash of beer that was inside his fridge, I caught up two Silver Bullets and thought better of it and put one back.
There would be no way in hell with the way my grandfather drove that I would be able to drink both of them before I got to the church.
Walking to his dish rack, I grabbed up the largest coffee mug that he had sitting there, one I’d bought him for Christmas that said ‘don’t call me grandpa’ and poured as much of the beer into it that I could.
The rest I downed as I walked out of the store and out into the night.
Murphy’s car was already idling, and I had to toss the empty beer into the trash beside the door, and place my cup of beer on the railing, to get at the lock for the door.
When I turned around, keys in hand, fingers extended to reach for my beer, I saw a flash of dark brown out of the corner of my eye at the far side of the building.
Frowning hard, I focused a little harder to see if I could spot the movement again but didn’t spot anything.
Now really feeling a bit freaked out, I grabbed my beer and walked the long way around, avoiding that corner of the building as I walked out wide and around the back of Murphy’s car.
When I arrived at the passenger side door, I squinted my eyes into the darkness but saw no movement whatsoever, not even a change in the shadows.
So I chalked the earlier flash of movement up to my imagination—because lord knew it was going crazy tonight—and yanked open Murphy’s car door and got inside.
“Do you think,” I said as I took a sip of beer and then handed it off for him to hold. “Here, hold this.” I belted myself in. When I was done, I took my coffee cup back. “Do you think that tonight’s going to go bad? Or am I just overthinking things?”
Murphy started to back out of the spot I’d pulled into and then accelerated much too fast down the road for my liking before he answered.
“I think that your stepmother is a selfish creature,” he began. “And I think that, if given the opportunity, she’ll cause a scene because she just can’t help herself. The only thing that would stop her from being selfish is her own daughter’s wedding, and even then, I’m not sure that she could help herself the entire night. So yes, I do think she’ll do something that’ll piss everyone off. Ultimately, I think you’re right for worrying.”
I was glad it wasn’t just me.
“Why do you think my dad married her?” I asked curiously before taking a sip of my beer.
It tasted weird after not having any alcohol in so long.
Beer had never been my favorite, but right then, it really tasted bitter.
“I think your dad saw tits and ass and a woman that would give him something he’d been missing since your mother’s death,” he said. “He saw convenience, an instant mother to his children, and opportunity.”
“Do you wish that you’d told him not to do it? Not get married to her?” I asked.
I wished that all the damn time. I wished that I’d asked my dad not to marry her. I wished that I’d spoken up and told him not to do it.
But, at the time, I hadn’t realized how majorly my life was going to change.
I’d been too wrapped up in myself, didn’t think about the consequences of my father getting married until it was already a done deal.
“I wish that he’d seen what he was marrying, yes.” He paused. “But I wouldn’t have told him not to do it. Not when it brought us closer together. I’m a selfish old man, and I like that he kicked you to the curb. I like that he showed his true colors. I like that you’re here, with me, and that you’re not there with him. Because then I would’ve never gotten to see you.”
He was right.
When Murphy had gone to prison, my father had pretty much disowned him.
Still, to this day, they didn’t talk much to each other because of things that I still wasn’t privy to.
Things that I’d asked about, and neither one of them would tell me.
Things that, after careful consideration over the last few years, I’d decided that I didn’t need to know about.
I took a sip of beer and then cringed when I saw the parking lot at the church where the event was being held.
There were so many people there already.
My soon to be sister-in-law, and my brother, were both very well known in the community. So that meant a shit ton of people were invited to their wedding.
Danny and Belinda spared no expense, and that had a lot to do with my dad’s wealth paying for things, and Belinda’s parents—who were well off as well—covering what my dad couldn’t or wouldn’t pick up.
Needless to say, there was going to be a lot of fancy-schmancy people at the wedding, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
Luckily, I wasn’t in the wedding party.
So there were small miracles.
“Thank God for handicap parking,” Murphy said as he whipped into the parking lot and found a spot almost directly next to the front entrance.
I agreed.
“You meeting your date out here?” he asked curiously once he put the car into park.
I nodded my head. “I am.”
“Okay, well then I’m headed inside,” he said.
I chose to finish my beer in the car, then pulled out a stick of cinnamon gum to chew on as I got out of the car.
When I stood up outside, my feet wobbled, and I cursed the stupid black heels that I could barely walk in.
My sister had assured me, however, that they needed to be worn.
Which was fuckin’ awful because I would’ve been happier in ballet flats.
Especially if this night went like my brain thought it might.
“What’s that look for?”
I blinked, looking up to see my sister standing there.
“Uh,” I hesitated. “The heels. They’re already bothering me.”
She looked down at my heels, then back up at me. “You look great, though.”
I did look great.
<
br /> The added running I’d been doing, paired with the killer dress that tucked, flattened, and lifted, made me look wonderful. Even I had to admit it.
The material was tight at the top, sucking everything in and pushing my breasts up to look almost perky. But then it flowed into a flowy skirt once it reached my hips, making it look all swishy and cute.
And with the added running, my legs were looking toned and tanned.
Yeah, I had to admit, they really did look good.
“I gotta go inside,” my sister said. “But seriously, they look great on you. The whole outfit looks wonderful. You’ll look awesome in the pictures later.”
Then she was gone, leaving me alone once again.
I sighed and looked over at the people that were making their way inside from the parking lot.
I was so lost in thought as I did that when my phone vibrated in my pocket—yes, the dress was even more awesome because it had pockets!—I jumped.
Pulling it out, I frowned hard when I saw Laric’s name on the screen.
“Son of a bitch,” I grumbled as I glared at the message.
Laric: shit came up. I’m sending a replacement. Forgive me.
Wonderful.
I had a feeling his ‘replacement’ was somebody I wasn’t going to like, or he would’ve told me who his supposed replacement was.
As it got closer and closer to the time for the wedding to start, the more nervous I became.
Laric’s replacement wasn’t there yet, and I had to get inside soon, or I would be noticed when I did come inside and try to sit next to Murphy who’d likely gotten a front row seat.
With one last look at my watch, I decided to head inside, and hope that Laric’s replacement would be able to find me.
Likely, he would.
Also, likely he…
A flash of white caught my eye, and I stilled.
My head tilted to the side, and I stared in utter fascination as my mother, father, and little sister came walking through the parking lot.
My back went ramrod straight, and I was moving before my brain even consciously processed what I was seeing.
Oh, fuck no.
My heels click-clacked against the concrete as I all but stomped toward them.
When I got close enough for them to hear me, they all turned and watched me come one by one but didn’t slow their pace.
My father caught my sister’s hand and tugged her closer, as if I was going to walk up and punch her in the face or something.
Like I would ever do that to my sister.
Now his wife…
“I seriously will punch you in the throat,” I said to my stepmother. “You are not going in here wearing that dress.”
She was wearing a white floor-length dress that was embroidered at the top with clear crystals. It had a plunging neckline that showed off her ten-thousand-dollar boob job, and white high heels to finish off the ensemble.
To make matters worse, she had her makeup done professionally, and her hair up in a complicated updo with a fuckin’ tiara wound into her hair.
My stepmother’s outraged gasp filled the air. “I will, too!”
I was already shaking my head. “I’m not sure on what fucked-up planet you wearing a white dress, that looks remarkably like Belinda’s, to Belinda and Danny’s wedding would be okay. But on this planet, you know, planet Earth? That’s not going to fucking fly. You’re not getting in there, and I will seriously get violent if you try.”
My father shifted on his feet, and I could tell right then and there that he’d said something to her about her dress but hadn’t thought the fight was worth it so he’d given up.
Well, it was worth it to me, and I would not, under any circumstances, be okay with it.
“Crock…” Rockett started, but I turned on her with a glare. “How about you head inside.”
Rockett took one look at me, her parents, and then she hurried inside.
At least she had the wherewithal to wear something that wasn’t going to cause offense.
The smart girl.
I turned back to my stepmother to see her shaking her fist at me.
“I will go in there, and you won’t stop me,” she said.
That’s when I balled up my fist.
I was seconds away from letting it fly when a large hand wrapped around my fist.
“You!” my stepmother hissed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I didn’t need to guess who Laric’s replacement was anymore.
Mostly because Zach’s mirth-filled laughter filled the air around me.
“I’m her date and she may not stop you but I will,” Zach said. “And, just sayin’, but if she doesn’t want you in there wearing that, you’re not getting in.”
The way Zach said it let her know that he would be stopping her if he had to.
I had a feeling he might very well have to.
“You can try,” my father said, sounding like he was a lot more confident than he actually appeared.
“I don’t even have to try,” Zach said. “They’re locking the doors as we speak. We’ll just enjoy the wedding from out here if we have to.”
Sure enough, when I looked up, it was to find my sister locking the damn door.
I gave her a thumb’s up, and she winked before walking away.
I would be sad that I missed my brother’s wedding, but if it kept my stepmother out, then so be it.
At least he would have a perfect day.
“The nerve!” Melody gasped. “I can’t…”
“You can,” Dad said as he wrapped his hand around hers. “Darling, I told you this might happen. Crockett was always really good about putting on a show.”
I was good at putting on a show? Really?
“You think so?” I asked casually. “You ain’t seen nothing yet then.”
CHAPTER 10
Alexa, take out the trash. Oh, and tell Juniper to go fuck herself.
-Zach’s secret thoughts
ZACH
After visiting Laric earlier this afternoon, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest.
After the night that Crockett went on her date with him, my mind had been so preoccupied with everything Crockett that I hadn’t been able to even visit her for fear that I’d crack.
So I’d done what I thought was right, stayed away, and ultimately kept myself out of sight just in case things didn’t go as planned.
Then, I’d seen her in her dress, modeling it in front of her bedroom window.
Everything, every single bit of doubt, from the smallest to the biggest, went right out the fuckin’ window upon seeing her in that dress.
In jeans and a t-shirt Crockett was a knockout.
In shorts and a racerback tank, Crockett was to die for.
But in a dress that hugged her upper body like a glove, but flared out around her beautiful, shapely hips and juicy ass? Yeah, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The moment that I’d seen her through her window, I’d known there was no way in hell that I could allow Laric to take her.
Even if all he felt was just a general attraction to her, in that dress the attraction might change.
And I couldn’t allow it to change.
Not and be honest with myself.
I had a thing for her.
I had a really big thing for her.
She was what I thought about in the morning when I woke up, and the last thing I thought about when I went to bed.
In the middle of the night when I’d wake up, like clockwork I’d walk to the bedroom window and peer out, making sure that all looked okay before doing my usual round around my house.
Only, the last couple of nights I’d woken up twice. Once in the middle of the night, and once when I knew that she’d be leaving her house and heading to her store.
From my bedroom window, I’d watch her walk out of her house, lock it, and then go to Murphy’s car.
Murphy’s car that was barely better th
an her last one.
“By the way,” I said. “Crockett is the most level-headed person I know. She can literally stand in the face of a screaming six-foot-four giant, which I saw her do last week, and not even flinch a muscle. So, for her to be upset about this—which I do admit is kind of shitty—she has good reason. Who shows up at her stepson’s wedding wearing a dress that looks practically like a wedding gown?”
Once again, the man’s eyes narrowed on me.
He did not like me.
Even worse, when I slung my arm around his daughter’s shoulder, he got an even more narrow-eyed look to him.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“His name is Zach,” Crockett said. “And he is a part of a local motorcycle club. The Souls Chapel Revenants MC. You heard of them?”
I wasn’t wearing my cut tonight.
That made two times that I’d managed to forget it when it came to this woman.
I felt naked without it now that I knew it was missing, but not naked enough to leave and go get it.
“He’s also a criminal,” Melody chimed in. “He admitted it with his own lips.”
I looked from Melody to Murphy Junior, who didn’t look like a Murphy at all. He looked more like a Dick.
“That’s true,” I admitted. “I am a criminal. An ex-con. I killed a man on purpose and went to jail for it.”
My father’s eyes widened, and I saw indecision in his eyes.
He now seriously did not like the fact that I was near his daughter.
Or maybe it was due to wishful thinking that I thought I saw that. What was more likely was that he was worried about my proximity to him and his wife.
“You sound proud of it.” He swallowed.
“I’m not upset about it,” I admitted. “When my fingers were on that glass in the man’s heart, I had a moment of doubt. But then I thought about what he’d done to someone that I’d cared about, and I just couldn’t stop myself. I had to jiggle that glass.”
Do I wish that I could go back and change time?
No.
In the end, it’d not only been for Juniper’s sake, but another person that I was beginning to count as family. A man and a woman that had gone through enough. The last thing they needed to worry about was the asshole that had stalked them and tried to kill them multiple times.
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