Hide (Lakefield Book 2)

by Jennifer Vester

  Aiden waved as he exited the room and said, “I’ll leave you to it, Julia. Take care of my best man. If we have to have the damn wedding here, we will.”

  I looked down at Holden who was flinching as he moved his right shoulder into a more comfortable position.

  “What happened?” he asked. “One of the guys said Roger was dead when we were in the ambulance but didn’t say how.”

  “I shot him.”

  Holden’s eyebrow arched. “Really? And he died?”

  I bat my eyes at him and smiled. “Three times.”

  He coughed. “No barn. Ever.”

  I leaned down and kissed him softly then nipped at his earlobe.

  “Angel, if you’re going to start that, you’d better be willing to finish it.”

  He grabbed my hand and moved it to his crotch. He was rock hard.

  I laughed. “Seriously? Even with the injury?”

  “Always. When you’re around.”

  Logan walked in and I removed my hand quickly.

  He cleared his throat. “Julia, don’t molest the patients.”

  I felt my face burn with embarrassment.

  Holden smirked. “Hey doc. When can I get out of here and don’t say three days from now because I will shoot someone.”

  “Not with your right arm, you won’t. I can release you tomorrow afternoon but you won’t be able to lift anything without experiencing extreme pain for the next two weeks as an estimate. After which, it won’t be feeling well enough to do more than lift a remote control for the next four to six weeks. A few months from now, you might actually have full use again with some rehabilitation. You’re lucky that shot didn’t hit any bone, but it did hit muscle. You may never be able to shoot as well with that arm again.”

  I blinked several times at the news.

  Holden wouldn’t be able to do his job if that was the case. It was central to who he was. Would he even be able to return if he couldn’t shoot straight?

  This was my fault.

  “So, will he still be able to train his guys?” I asked.

  The doctor thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, he’ll still be able to do a lot of different things. I’m sure he’ll be back in the mud at the training site before he even should. I would advise against it though. A few months should be fine, possibly a year and he’ll be good. It’s just certain things he may not be able to do. We won’t be able to tell until we get to that point. Luckily, we have a physical rehab center here that he can go to.”

  Holden squeezed my hand. “That’s fine. I had plans to retire anyway and start making babies. Several. With blonde hair. First, I need to marry my wife. Which sounds like a big fucking ordeal but you’re invited to the wedding doc.”

  I eyed Holden and he chuckled. “You’re not retiring. You would drive me nuts. Let’s just call it medical leave for now.”

  He winked at me. “Any aversion to having five kids?”

  I sighed. He was trying to kill me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I wheeled Holden over to a table beside the wedding cake. He looked nice, even though his arm was wrapped heavily and he was a little dopey on pain medication.

  Our escape from the hospital had been a little harrowing. After a night spent with Holden complaining that he needed to get out and several incidents involving angry nurses, I had told the staff that he just needed a roll around the hallway.

  Jake had assisted in the plan grudgingly. He was still sore about my own hospital breakout. I was certain he would get over it eventually.

  So, I had taken Holden for a stroll without his IVs. Which Logan had approved. Whether he suspected the plan or not was anyone’s guess.

  I had wheeled Holden down several hallways slowly. Chatting about what we should eat at our wedding and the fact that I was still missing a ring. He had it in one of his multiple bags that he had brought back from New Mexico and because of the pain meds, hadn’t quite been able to recall which one. That news, nearly got him wheeled back to his hospital bed. He had assured me though, that it was back at his house.

  Holden had called Jake earlier in the day and without going into too many details instructed him to wait outside with a car at a specified time. When that time rolled around, we had made a mad dash for the entrance and loaded Holden in the backseat without too much yelling. The hospital staff we left on the sidewalk had looked horrified.

  I adjusted Holden’s jacket over his right arm.

  The left one we were able to get his arm through, but the right one just sat over his shoulder. It worked. Instead of his usual black attire, Jake had brought him a nice grey one. I preferred the black but only because he looked sexy as hell in it.

  Allie, who had stayed for the wedding, had brought me a nice blue, draped front summer dress. Holden hadn’t liked the cleavage but he was in no shape to argue.

  His head lolled to the side a little. “Angel, can you bring me some water? These meds are making my mouth dry. I may not be able to open my mouth here soon.”

  I gave him a teasing look. “Oh, that would be a shame.”

  His eyes started to close then he shook his head. “Everything else works. I’ll show you later.”

  I rolled my eyes and went to the bar to get a water. We had missed the actual wedding but had made it in time for the reception. The bride and groom hadn’t made it in yet.

  The reception was being hosted at a local country club. It was the only place in the city that could accommodate the amount of guests that Aiden and Olivia had invited. Liv had told me that originally, they had talked about having it on their land but I assumed when the numbers grew to three-hundred, they decided against it. I had yet to visit their new house so I was a little disappointed. Now that I was permanently back, I was looking forward to visiting more.

  I wandered back to the table Holden was napping at. The wedding planner had done a fantastic job. There was seating indoors and outdoors, with large tents that were connected by stone pathways. Everything was decorated in black, purple and white with a ton of flowers and a lot of tulle. Nice, but still very girly. The wedding cake was a sight to behold. There were several tables with cakes but the official one was a beast, with what looked like nine layers and took up an entire round table. There was an actual clock in the center of it that was keeping the exact time. For what purpose, I had no idea.

  Liv’s weird idea. Had to be.

  Holden jerked and shook his head again. “Shit. Need to get off this stuff.”

  I patted his back and handed an open bottle of water to him. “Need a straw babe?”

  “No, I do not. Don’t encourage the guys. This is going to be bad enough without them hearing you too.”

  I giggled.

  “My straw works if you’re like a demonstration.”

  I was confused for a second. “Holden, that doesn’t even make sense. I think those meds have made you loopy.”

  He shrugged and winced.

  “This sucks,” he said, then his eyes closed again.

  “Hey Julia,” Kate said as she came up to our table smiling. “Oh! Sorry, wait, isn’t he supposed to be at the hospital?”

  She was wearing a simple pink empire waist dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her figure. The pearl choker around her neck was just the right amount of jewelry to highlight her face. She sat down on the other side of Holden.

  I looked around, “Uhm. Logan said he could leave today. He just didn’t specify a time, so we may have just left. Holden doesn’t do well in hospitals. The staff was probably throwing a party afterward. Poor nurses.”

  “Vampires,” Holden said, then went back to snoozing.

  Kate looked at him. “Meds?”

  “Yeah. Pretty potent. He just took a dose.”

  “Well,” she said smiling, “the good news is you can come see me for his physical therapy sessions. I mean, at least he would be working with someone he kind of knows.”

  I gave her a serious look. “You realize that he’s an asshole somet
imes, right? He’ll likely be bitchy, threaten to shoot you, and won’t do what he’s told. And that’s the way he behaves when he actually likes someone.”

  She shrugged. “I’ll just threaten to call you. I figure that will be motivation enough.”

  I laughed. “Great idea!”

  “So,” I paused, not sure how to ask about Logan, “at the bar, I saw Logan walking you out. Everything good?”

  She huffed. “I guess. His girlfriend is a meanie.”

  “Err, a bitch?”

  “Yeah, except that, to call her one, would be an insult to dogs. He was just trying to get me to the door and she told him he was being a—uhm. Well, she was insulting him. Then as soon as we got outside he acted like I disgusted him or something because he was looking at my dress and said I should burn it. Then he went back over to that woman. Why does he hate me?”

  I opened my mouth to speak but Brock interrupted me.

  “Ladies,” he said and sat down beside Kate. He was carrying three flutes of champagne and set them down in front of us.

  He turned on his best flashy smile. “Hello Kate, you look amazing.”

  She looked confused. “Uhm, hi?”

  “I’m Brock,” he extended his hand. “I work with the guys.”

  She took it warily. “Oh! Yeah, Holden told me.”

  He smiled and turned her hand over to kiss the back of it. “Mmm, vanilla.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Cut it out Brock.”

  He ignored me and eyed Holden. “Looks like he’s out for the count.”

  “Meds,” Kate and I said together.

  Logan approached our table looking murderous. He was wearing a nice tuxedo that fit him well. He stared at Kate for a moment and I saw his jaw clench. His eyes swept to Brock then to me. “Julia, wait for the papers next time. It takes a lot of backpedaling when you kidnap a patient. The entire hospital was in an uproar. Please tell me he left the bandages on.”

  “Sorry, he needed out of there or those poor nurses were going to kill him. You know how he gets. He’s fine though. Just doped up. He took two pills before we came.”

  “He will need to see Dr. Tyson for the follow up. Make sure he gets there. The appointment is the day after tomorrow. No strenuous activity.”

  “Hey Logan,” Brock said, while inching closer to Kate.

  Logan scowled and looked between them. “Brock. I see you actually joined the living for once. When are you going back?”

  Kate blinked, downed her champagne in one gulp and gave me a pleading look.

  I piped up. “Brock just brought us some drinks. I was wondering that myself. Brock?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, I was thinking about taking some time off and spending it with you good people.”

  “Shit,” Logan mumbled. “Go do things, I’m sure there’s stuff you can find to “monitor” at the local lingerie store.”

  “Kill him,” Holden mumbled, then started snoring.

  Logan eyed Holden.

  Brock, Kate and I all said, “Meds.”

  Brock smiled. “I’m good doc. I was going to take this lovely creature to dance in a minute.”

  Logan leaned over the table and growled at him. “Stop fucking around, Brock.”

  Cade coughed behind the doctor and pulled him back from the table. He threw a look at Brock and walked Logan over to the food.

  Brock looked over at me and arched his eyebrow. “Interesting.”

  “Uh-huh,” I replied.

  Kate started sniffing and stood up. She mumbled a quick goodbye then left the tent.

  I called after her but she didn’t look back.

  Brock watched her go. “Also, interesting. She seems nice enough. Clean record. Her background though is a mess. I can see why Logan likes her. Not quite my type though. She’s a little too soft.”

  “Brock! Stay out of people’s lives. It’s weird and kind of creepy.”

  He took over Kate’s seat and leaned over the table in front of Holden’s chair. “It’s my job Julia. Frankly, there are days I don’t want to know but someone has to do it and I’m qualified. So, about those pictures—”

  Holden sat up grabbed a tiny condiment fork off the table and plunged it into Brock’s leg.

  “Get away from my wife, asshole!”

  Brock jumped back and said, “FUCK that hurts! Damnit Holden!”

  A woman in a red dress walked by, eyeing the commotion. Brock turned and followed her, limping. “Miss, can you help me tend a wound?”

  I turned to Holden. “Are you awake again?”

  He growled and watched Brock being fawned over by four women several tables down. “I am now.”

  I giggled. “You’re terrible.”

  He smirked, “You like it. Can we leave yet? Where’s Aiden?”

  I pointed through the opening in the tent. “Not yet. It looks like they just got here. The band just started playing. I should talk to Liv about not performing.”

  “No angel, you should play.”

  “Hmm, maybe.”

  He winced trying to sit up more. “Babe, can you get into the pocket on my right side?”

  Cade came back to the table. “Uh, have a slight situation. I’m going to take Logan home. I can’t say for sure, but I think he’s on something. He’s acting weird. Definitely not drunk.”

  My fingers found a round object in the bottom of Holden’s pocket.

  “We’ll talk later,” Holden said.

  Cade nodded and walked off.

  I lifted my fingers and looked at what I had found. It was a ring, exquisitely crafted in gold with rubies inlaid into the band.

  I looked up at Holden.

  He smiled, “Put it on before I pass out again. If I miss your songs, then you’ll know I’m always with you. Jake dug that out of one of my bags when he was at the house looking for my suit.”

  I slid it around my finger and it was a perfect fit. The rubies twinkled back and forth as the light hit them. “Oh, Holden.”

  “If you don’t like it, I’ll buy you something different. I have money. Been stashing it away for a long time.”

  “No, stop it. You know I don’t care about all that. Although, it might help with supporting our five children,” I smiled and kissed him.

  “You like it then?” he mumbled against my mouth and nipped at my bottom lip.

  I grinned. “I love it. It’s perfect.”

  “I love you. Sorry I couldn’t do something spectacular.”

  I kissed his face. “I don’t need that, I just need you.”

  He pulled back and smirked. “Does this mean I get head later?”

  I rolled my eyes and punched him in his left arm. “You’re such an ass!”

  The End

  About the Author

  Jennifer Vester is a romance author whose ambition is to entertain readers with quirky, off-beat female characters and the men that love them. Her work is infused with humor and suspense, while exploring relationships from the female perspective. Characters are often facing difficulties in life and love.

  For more information, please visit: https://vesterbooks.wixsite.com/jennifervester

  Facebook: facebook.com/authorjennifervester/

  Coming Soon!

  “Break” by Jennifer Vester

  (The story of Kate and Logan)

  Turning to the sink I saw Logan digging something out of the freezer. I started some cold water flowing from the tap and put my hand under it. It looked red and aggravated.

  Logan spun me around by my hip and crowded into my space. My back ended up against the sink.

  His hand took hold of my jaw and when I looked at his face he seemed angry. He eyed my mouth, then held up an ice cube to it. It felt good on my lip, even though I was feeling overwhelmed by his proximity. Other than the time I had accidentally tripped into him, I hadn’t been this close to him at all.

  His nostrils flared with, I assumed, some unspoken irritation.

  He rubbed the ice gently over the sore sp
ot, back and forth. His eyes were concentrated so much on it that I couldn’t really fathom what he was thinking. I took a deep inhale of his scent. He smelled clean, with a mixture of antibacterial soap and his signature cologne.

  He moved and I realized that his thigh was against mine. I felt tingles shoot through my body with that small intimate touch.

  My eyes dropped to his mouth. I wanted him to be different, to like me enough to kiss me but this small moment wasn’t going to last and I knew it.

  Sometimes, when I had a great moment happen, I would memorize it and tuck it away in the back of my head. The smell, the feel, the surroundings, and the way it made me feel. I tucked this one back to remember later. I knew it would never happen again.

  My mouth opened a fraction.

  He looked up at me and my eyes raised from his mouth.