by Candis Terry
Exactly why Jackson had invited him over for the process remained a mystery, other than maybe to break things up in case punches flew. But since he did construction on the side, he had a few suggestions that might deter the calling of names and the raising of fists.
“Maybe there’s another way,” Mike said, and all three heads swiveled in his direction. “You can temporarily anchor it by adding a bottom brace and staking it into the ground. Then when you’re ready to move it, you just remove the stakes and the bottom brace.”
He smiled, figuring he’d just solved the issue before the men came to blows. But they all looked at him like he’d grown an extra head. Hell. Maybe they just liked to argue.
“We need to think about this some more.” Jackson reached into the ice chest and tossed fresh bottles of Shiner Bock Ale to his brothers and a bottle of Pepsi to Mike.
Mike twisted the top off and took a swallow. The soda was crisp and cold and slid down his throat in a parade of carbonated bubbles.
He didn’t drink anymore.
Ever.
And he appreciated friends like the Wilder brothers, who understood his past and respected him enough to never push alcohol in front of him. Not that he’d weaken. He’d long ago passed the stage where he craved the stuff to numb the pain.
Things were looking up in his world. In fact, at the moment they were looking damn good. And as long as his family members kept the insanity to a dull roar, maybe the pain would become a lost memory.
“Thinking won’t get it done, jackass.” Jesse’s grin took the sting from his words as he opened his beer. “And if we aren’t going to work, then I’d rather be at home.”
Reno punched Jesse’s arm in attaboy fashion. “You keep that up, and your girl won’t be able to walk.”
“Well, keeping it up is exactly what I aim to do, so if you jayholes don’t come up with something quick, I’m outta here.”
Mike had to laugh. All the banter wasn’t much different from being at the station, where the camaraderie often went from one of exhaustion to giving each other shit in a split second.
Despite Jesse’s threat to bail, they all ended up sprawled out in a set of Adirondack chairs beneath the shade of a huge oak tree, shooting the shit.
“You hear anything more from baby brother?” Jesse asked Jackson.
Jackson took a long pull from his Shiner and shook his head. “He’s still trying to work out a leave for the wedding. Says he’ll be here, though, even if he has to go AWOL.”
“Hope Jake can make it without doing jail time,” Mike said. He and Heather had gotten married in the courthouse, without a single friend or family member present. They’d even had to pull in a couple of witnesses from the clerk’s office. It had been cold and impersonal. Much like their marriage.
“Wouldn’t be his first time in the gray bar hotel,” Reno said. “But don’t tell Mom. She doesn’t know we bailed his ass out.”
Mike laughed. “What’d he get thrown in for?”
“Drunken stupidity.” Laughing, Jackson slapped his knee. Obviously the memory was quite humorous. “The night of his high-school graduation, he and a bunch of buddies drove into San Antonio to hit up some strip clubs. He was eighteen and full of himself. Thought every girl on the stage wanted him.”
“Yeah.” Jesse grinned. “The only one who really wanted a piece of him was one of the dancer’s boyfriends, who took offense when Jake got a little too up close and personal with his girl.”
“Such a total dumb shit.” Reno shook his head, but Mike could tell the comment was made with affection.
Mike looked around at the men in his company. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that to them, love and loyalty were as important as air. And that was what continuously raised the question in Mike’s mind about why Jackson and Fiona had parted ways. They were both good people who obviously cared deeply for each other and respected a family environment. Fiona had more heart and spunk than anyone he’d met in a long time. She was truly someone special. And Mike felt guilty as hell sitting there acting like a buddy while at the same time deceiving his friend.
His thoughts were interrupted by a head butt to his shoulder. He turned to find Jana’s goat standing there, decked out in a bright green ribbon.
“Meh-eh-eh.”
The brothers laughed, while Mike stroked her long brown neck.
“I’d tell you if you don’t have a date for the wedding you could bring Miss Giddy.” Laughing, Jackson pointed at the amorous animal. “Except Abby’s already got her signed up to be the ring bearer.”
“Are you shitting me?” Reno’s eyes went wide.
“Nope.”
“I smell Mom’s influence here,” Jesse added.
“Well . . .” Jackson looked at his brothers. “Mom had a good hand in putting us all together with our women, so who are we to call her out?”
So Jana had played matchmaker with her sons?
Mike continued to pet Miss Giddy because she pretty much threw a bleating fit when he stopped. He thought back to the day he’d been summoned to Jana Wilder’s kitchen and the words she’d used that he initially hadn’t understood.
“I have bigger plans for you,” she’d said. “And not a single one of my boys can fulfill this particular . . . desire.”
Was she playing matchmaker with him and Fiona?
If so, how would Jackson feel about that?
Hell, did Jana’s matchmaking efforts even matter? Because the moment he’d informed Jackson’s ex-wife he wanted a chance to prove himself to be the man she wanted, he’d blown the guy code sky-high.
The atmosphere at Charli and Reno’s house registered high on the fun meter as all the girls gathered to make the Mason-jar candleholders and flower vases for Abby and Jackson’s wedding. With everyone fighting over who got to hold Annie’s new baby boy, Izzy running around with Charli and Reno’s dogs Bear and Pumpkin, the radio blasting Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” and several different conversations going on at once, it was uncontrolled chaos.
Fiona loved it.
Since the grand opening, things were still going strong. But she’d been locked up in the kitchen all alone for hours and hours and had begun to go a little stir-crazy without anyone but the customers to talk to in spits and spurts. Being in the company of good friends had been just what she needed.
Plus there was the little drama that Mike hadn’t called since he’d driven away the night she’d given him the green light. Since then, she’d spent far too many solitary hours pouring batter and frosting cupcakes with nothing to do but wonder why he hadn’t called or come by. It wasn’t like she could ask Jackson about him or he’d guess what was—or wasn’t—going on.
She’d needed a diversion.
Six crazy country girls were a great place to start.
“I’m going for simple country,” Abby told everyone as she wrapped wire around a blue jar. “Everything except the clothes and flowers has come from barns, attics, and secondhand stores.”
“I wish my Seattle clients had been as easy to please as you.” Allison, previously a wedding planner, had saved the day for Charli and Reno’s wedding. As a newlywed, Allison was probably glad Abby had decided to keep her wedding on the modest side.
Fiona sat back and thought about her wedding to Jackson, which hadn’t been much of a wedding at all. Once he’d decided they needed to get married, they’d gone down to the courthouse and with strangers as witnesses, they’d numbly recited their vows and signed the license. Jana had pitched a fit that they hadn’t told the family. Then she’d thrown them an over-the-top reception a few weeks later. By then, the mean-girl gossip from the jealous females in the area had spread like a spring flood that Fiona had planned the pregnancy to trap one of Sweet’s most desirable bachelors.
If only it had been that simple.
Nothing had been planned. Both of them at the time had felt trapped. It wasn’t until the birth of adorable Izzy that the residents of Sweet forgave her.
<
br /> The unstoppable beam on Abby’s face genuinely made Fiona happy that this time around, Jackson would have what he’d wanted all along. A real wedding to the woman he’d been in love with most of his life. Fiona had always been a sucker for a happy ending. Jackson and Abby would finally have theirs.
As for her?
Who knew.
“Fi has agreed to make our wedding cake.” Abby announced it so proudly, Fiona couldn’t help blush. “We’ve decided to go completely against the grain. Both the cake and frosting will be chocolate and decorated with gold sugar pearls.”
“Chocolate!” Jana looked up from rocking baby Max.
The expression on Abby’s face went from joy to holy shit in .2 seconds. The back of Fiona’s neck broke out in a sweat. Jana wasn’t the type to interfere in other people’s details. In fact, unless it involved meddling in her son’s love lives, she pretty much shrugged and let things go. But she was as traditional as a person could get, so maybe the idea of an all-chocolate wedding cake was too much for her to handle.
“Whose idea was that?” Jana asked.
“Jackson and I decided together,” Abby answered.
“That’s not very traditional.”
“Neither is the way we’ve done anything else,” Abby declared.
Jana’s gaze found Fiona across the room, and it wasn’t hard to tell what path her thoughts had taken. Both Jackson and Abby had been married and divorced before they found each other again. And Jana was wondering how this whole wedding thing affected Fiona. Time to step in and ease the pressure.
“I was really happy Abby suggested chocolate,” Fiona said. “I’ve made a ton of wedding cakes, and there’s really only so much you can do with fillings and ganache. I think Abby and Jackson deserve something a little more special, don’t you?”
Jana caught her grin and returned the gesture.
“Chocolate, huh? Guess that’s about the tastiest idea I’ve heard in a long time. In fact, I’d best get the first piece.”
Relieved, everyone laughed, and the conversations started up again with asking about the honeymoon location and, of course, the bachelorette party.
The previous uproar in the living room, where the dogs and Izzy had been romping about, got way too quiet. Fiona went to investigate. She wasn’t surprised to find Izzy fast asleep in the middle of the big rug with the dogs snuggled up against her. Not a single eye cracked open as Fiona approached, bent down, and kissed Izzy’s forehead. That unique, sweaty-little-kid smell clung to her like a dirty sock. But Fi knew she was out for the night, so a bath would have to wait until morning.
“I remember the night she was born like it was yesterday.”
Fiona looked up as Jana entered the room. Apparently, she’d handed off baby Max to someone else as her arms were empty, but her smile was huge.
“Me too.” Fiona chuckled as she stood. “I’d never seen anything so pink, wiggly, and loud in my life.”
“You gave us all something very special that night, and I’ll forever be grateful.” Jana hugged her tight.
Fiona hugged back. “I was lucky to get all of you in the process. None of you ever made me feel bad for the way things happened. Even if the rest of the town thought different.”
“Oh, sugarplum. Don’t you ever pay any mind to what everyone else thinks. It’ll stop you right in your tracks from living the good life. Some things are just meant to happen, and it’s not for us to question why.”
Fiona’s heart squeezed. The comment made her think of the son and husband Jana had lost. Some things might be meant to happen, but it didn’t make them fair.
“I think it’s wonderful of you to agree to make their cake.” Jana tucked a lock of Fiona’s hair behind her ear in a motherly gesture. “Are you sure you’re really okay with all this? Because as much as I’m happy for my son and Abby, who, just like you, has always been like a daughter to me, it would break my heart if you had—”
“Reservations?” Fiona asked.
“Doubts. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t be able to handle seeing their ex get married again. At least not at such a close distance.”
Gosh. Would that question—that worry—ever end?
“Jana, I’m not just okay, I’m thrilled for them. I know it might seem odd to the outside world that Jackson and I get along so well and that Abby has become one of my dearest friends. But Jackson and I . . . I don’t know. I guess it’s hard to explain. He means so much to me. I love him with all my heart. But, you know, in love just never happened for us. He and Abby are so perfect together. They’re so in love. How could I not be happy for them?”
“It’s that selflessness that assures me you’ll find that kind of love too.” Jana cupped her cheek. “Of that I have no doubt.”
Fiona covered Jana’s hand with her own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know what the universe has planned for me. But for now, I’ve got my hands full. And I’m happy.”
The grin that stretched across Jana’s face almost made Fiona laugh.
“Call it a mother’s intuition, but . . .” Jana winked. “Something tells me you’re about to get a whole lot happier.”
Chapter 11
A week had never crawled by more slowly than the past seven days. Mike had paid hell, and he knew there’d be more hell to pay at his next stop.
For whatever reason, whether because of the alignment of the stars or someone in the heavens messing with his life, things had not gone according to plan. He had a sense of humor, but he also had a limit before he didn’t find that shit funny anymore.
A quick cruise down Main Street told him most of the shops were closed up tight. Even his destination. But as he passed the century-old building, he saw a light in the back and pulled around to the alley.
Sure enough, Fiona’s rental car was parked in the alley, and the door to the shop was propped open by a big white bucket. He shook his head. Hadn’t she promised to keep the door locked?
He parked his SUV next to her car, got out, and opened the door to Miranda Lambert’s “Fastest Girl in Town” blasting on the radio. At the stainless prep table, Fiona was busy singing along, swinging her hips, and squeezing the frosting from a decorating bag onto a tray of cupcakes.
Instead of interrupting, he leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb, folded his arms, and stood back to watch.
For days, he’d shuffled through airports, spoken to people of authority and in general, dealt with the giant shitstorm his sister Celina had stirred up in California. How one woman could manage to piss off so many people and end up behind bars for her trouble boggled his mind. She’d been such a sweet kid, who’d loved to read, and color, and ride her little pink bike. Unfortunately, she’d left those days behind with an extended middle finger and a propensity for wheelin’ and dealin’ her way right to the top of the LAPD’s most wanted list. And he, her big brother, was always expected to come along with a shovel and a trash can like the guy at the end of a parade and pick up after her mess.
The sight of Fiona dancing in a pair of snug jeans, bared midriff tank top, and a pair of neon pink sneakers was a much-appreciated breath of fresh air.
His gaze took a slow ride up from the soles of her shoes, to her long, shapely legs and trim waist. From where he stood, he was denied seeing how the front of that tank top hugged her curves, so his eyes kept moving.
Her hair was gathered up on top of her head, and for the first time he noticed the small tattoo on the back of her neck just below her hairline. Feathered angel wings hugged a heart with Isabella’s name inked in script in the center. In his mind, if a person wanted to permanently mark their body, it should have a deeper meaning than a cartoon character or an NFL team logo. Apparently, Fiona was of the same belief.
With a little hip wiggle to the music, she set down the decorating bag, dug a small scoop into a container of coconut, and sprinkled a layer on top of the frosting in perfectly measured amounts. He’d never been a fan of coconut, but if he could spread it all over her b
ody in a layer of frosting and lick it off, he’d be willing to change his mind.
She dropped the scoop in the coconut and grabbed a squirt bottle, which looked to be filled with chocolate.
Yeah, he’d like to lick that off her too.
A chuckle rose from deep in his chest where it resided beside a healthy dose of lust.
Startled, she turned and gasped. “I didn’t know you were standing there.”
“Aren’t you supposed to keep the doors locked when you’re alone?”
“The kitchen got too hot. I had to let some of the heat out.”
Was she kidding?
Things were just starting to heat up.
Now that she’d turned to face him, he couldn’t miss the way that snug tank top fit over her luscious breasts. Her cheeks were flushed from the hot kitchen, and a fine sheen of moisture dampened her forehead and chest. In typical fashion, all he could imagine was the numerous ways he’d like to strip her down and get her heart pumping.
He glanced at the commercial oven and saw that it was filled with several trays of cupcakes. Apparently, she was working overtime.
Just like his imagination.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
When wariness darkened her eyes, he knew the rest of that question was “And where the hell have you been?”
He moved into the room, inhaling the sweetly scented air that only enhanced his fantasies. He couldn’t say he was obsessed with her, but he might very well be heading in that direction.
“I came to apologize.”
“For?”
“Leaving your house last week without telling you I’d call you. And then for not calling you.”
The stiffness in her smooth shoulders told him she wasn’t quite pleased with his disappearance after he’d clearly stated his intentions. She must think he was a total loser. And he might be. Aside from the situation that arose in the past weeks, he really had to get a handle on this dating thing all over again. It had been a long, long time, and he was more than out of practice.
