by Anna Scott
"No, mom, geez." Amber defended quickly.
Nodding Miranda directed us back to her point, "Okay then, as I was saying. It's sweet that you want to get married so soon, Trent, but it just can't be done. I am thrilled that you love my little girl so much that you want to be her husband so soon. We just can't pull it off. I think July is too soon, how about the end of September or October?"
She was trying to placate us, but no fucking way was I going to give into that bullshit.
"If you mean the end of THIS month or next, then yes, absolutely, if you are trying to go for next year, then hell no." I tried, I really did, to not yell at my future mother-in-law, but I think I failed if Amber's expression was any indication.
"You want to get married in a month?" Amber shouted, total exasperation clear on her beautiful face.
"That sounds good. Why not?"
"Well dear," Amber sneered mockingly. "The dress alone will take a few months to find, order and alter. The soonest would be June, and that's if we rushed it."
"Oh, come on, you work at Indulgence. They may not carry wedding dresses, but I'm sure you have an in with someone." I knew I was right when she smirked and looked away.
Snapping my fingers, I pointed to her lips and yelled "ah-ha!" much to the shock of both women.
"And the bridesmaids, the tuxes, the flowers, the venue, the church, all of it takes time, Trent." Miranda chided. This woman was not winning points with me.
I noticed that Amber had gone silent, either she was about to rage, or she realized my wisdom. I shouldn't have been so hopeful.
"Damn it, Trent, if you're going to be this obstinate, maybe-" I cut that shit off quickly. Grabbing her, I slammed my mouth down on hers, our eyes open and furious, then I hefted her up at the waist and carried her, still against my mouth into her bedroom and kicked the door closed behind me.
Tossing Amber onto the bed, she bounced and let out a little shriek. "What the hell?"
Prowling toward her, I crowded her, until she leaned back onto her elbows and I brought my nose just an inch from hers.
"You are my entire life, Amber, I need you to be wholly mine, not in a year - now," I growled, dragging one finger across her collar bone, then up her neck, feeling the soft skin quiver beneath. Leaning in, I kissed the tip of her nose, drug my lips across her cheek and laved her earlobe with my tongue.
"I love you, sweetness, I need you, I want you, don't make me wait," I whispered just before I kissed from her ear, back down her neck following the path my finger had just traveled. I could feel the flesh beneath my mouth tighten as her pulse rate increased. I knew if I looked up, her eyes would be filled with lust.
"You're not fighting fair."
"I'll never fight fair when I'm fighting for you. No one is going to stop me from making you all mine, not even you."
"I'm all yours already." She moaned as I sucked lightly at the bared skin on her shoulder.
"You are, but I want you to be my wife. You can have any kind of wedding you want, but I want to begin our marriage."
One of Amber's hands had snuck up and gripped the back of my head as I lavished her skin with my love and I knew I was going to get my way. I wasn't fighting fair, I knew it, but I couldn't stand waiting so long. A looming fear gripped me that she'd somehow slip through my fingers. We'd been separated for so long, and I couldn't live through that again.
"Okay, but you have to help. None of that crap that Luke pulled."
A wide grin spread across my face as my tongue poked out to lick a trail back up to her mouth before I kissed her with all the love in my heart. Amber was going to be my wife.
"We need to stop, my mom is still in the other room," Amber reminded me as she pulled back from my hungry mouth.
Reaching down, I grabbed her hands and pulled her to me. With my girl tucked tight into my side, we walked back into the living room to break the news to Miranda.
Of course, my mom joined in the chaos of wedding planning and fortunately for me, the mothers, Amber, and Natalie seemed to have it all under control. I would marry my Amber on November 12th, and I couldn't wait.
Fortunately, Amber's parents were still attending the same church where they were married. The pastor who married them was still there, though partially retired and it only took thirty minutes for that detail to be settled. The man who married her parents and who baptized my girl would marry us. He had been a fixture in my future wife's entire life. It seemed perfect.
Chapter 11
Amber
"My god, how many times a day can that woman call me?" I asked Aurora, completely exasperated with my own mother. I knew she was helping and honestly she was a huge help, but she was driving me crazy. I had been engaged for six weeks, and we had just about a month to go before the big day.
Patting my shoulder, Aurora pointed to a costume she pulled up on the store's computer. We were getting ready for Scare on the Square. It was the annual Halloween event in McKinney. The city really did it up, and the local businesses seriously got into the spirit. Aurora and I both loved Halloween, so we would stay open late, dress up and decorate the store to get ready for the kids coming through to trick or treat.
She was directing me to a Little Bo Peep costume, complete with staph. "Funny, I'm not sure that's what I was looking for."
Laughing, she shook her head and agreed, "true, if you put that on, Trent would probably drag you out and hide you in his vampire's cave."
"What are you going to go with?" I asked, glancing down at the slutty vamp one. "That one would be good," I giggled, pointing down at it.
"Oh hell no, I don't think I could pull that thing off. I think it's smaller than my underwear."
"That's pretty bad, I've seen your underwear." I teased Aurora, knowing her obsession with pretty frilly panties, not that mine was much different. However, I didn't have to match mine to my outfits like she did.
"Yeah, well, I've seen yours too, remember the white satin ones with the little red heart on the front?" Aurora gave it right back to me, giggling, both our gazes shot up to the front door when Gillian ran inside. The wild and terrified look in her eyes worried me, and I knew, just knew that something had happened to her cousin Missy and little Kelly.
"What is it?" I gasped, moving around the counter to meet her.
"Missy's gone again, and this time, the neighbor called Child Protective Services. I just got off the phone with the case worker." Gillian paused and gasped for air before continuing. "If they can't find Missy, they want to take Kelly into protective custody."
Aurora's stunned expression caught mine and Gillian's attention, but quickly, I focused on Gillian once more.
"Did you call my dad? Can you get temporary custody?"
Gillian went on to explain that she did, in fact, call my father. He was a family lawyer who was helping her. She was fighting to take little Kelly, her cousin's two-year-old daughter, until Missy, her cousin could get her life back on track. Unfortunately, Missy's parents had passed away, Gillian's parents had retired and had buried their head firmly in the sand when it came to Missy's trouble. Gillian had no support, save Aurora and me.
"Okay, take a breath. Wait for Dad to call you, how long are they going to wait?"
"They'll give her until Friday. I offered to come get Kelly, but the neighbor said that she was okay. Kelly is used to being there, so it won't upset her to stay there a couple of more days."
Once we finished consoling Gillian, her phone rang. It was my father, so she left the store with a little wave and walked back down to the cafe.
Within fifteen minutes, Reed came in. Like the knight in shining armor he was, he had take-out bags in hand and proceeded to entertain us. The store was pretty quiet, so his presence helped the long hours pass quickly. I had to laugh though when he sat in one of the armchairs and eyed the infamous pink chaise dubiously. Apparently, everyone knew about what Luke and Aurora got up to, on that thing.
A laugh escaped my lips, and when Aurora's hard glare mov
ed from Reed to me, I laughed harder.
"What is it with you two?" She demanded, hands on hips, one foot turned out. She was in her pissed off woman stance, it was too damn funny.
"Everyone knows about that couch thing," Reed tried to explain waving at the beautiful chenille chaise in disgust.
"What about it?" Aurora sounded defensive and a little worried about his answer all at the same time.
"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed, giving her the raised brow with a nod. Indicating to her that yes, we all knew the truth.
Aurora's face turned bright red, and she finally got it. "Everyone?"
"Everyone," Reed confirmed, digging into his food.
Abruptly, Aurora turned her back, stomped to the counter, grabbed her cell phone from underneath and marched to the back room. Within seconds, we could hear her shouting, presumably at Luke, over the phone. "You're worse than a gossiping old grandma," we heard bellowed, before the door to the office slammed so loud, it just about shook the walls.
"Well, he's in a little trouble." Reed shared, his statement was so blatantly ridiculous, I rolled my eyes just before I began to chuckle.
I never spent much time with Reed alone. I saw him with Aurora, with Trent or among the group, but we never had the chance to sit and talk. When I mentioned Gillian and his obvious attraction to her, I could have sworn that his cheeks colored just a little bit. Looking down at his now empty take out container, he seemed to think for a minute before looking up and responding.
"I don't know. I can't seem to nail her down. She's really busy with the cafe, you know?"
"Have you asked her out?"
"Not directly, just asked about her plans, stuff like that. Every time I do, though she gives me this laundry list of stuff, she's got going on. Maybe that's just a brush off."
Damn, that was the most I could ever remember hearing Reed say about his thing for Gillian and truly, I felt honored that he'd be so candid with me. I loved it that he called her 'Gilli' too. It said something about him and the way he felt about her that he gave her a nickname already.
"She hasn't talked to me about it, so I'm not sure, but maybe you should try being direct," I suggested, wondering why he hadn't already done that. They had been dancing around each other for about a year already. "I don't think she's just putting you off, though. I mean, I don't know her thoughts on it, but she is really busy. She's got some stuff going on in her personal life too that takes up a lot of her time." No way I'd tell him about Gillian's cousin Missy or little Kelly, it wasn't my business to share, but I knew Reed to be a good guy and thought they might be a good fit if she gave it a chance.
"Maybe, I'll see how it goes." He seemed almost defeated and even a little sad about it.
"She's really shy, you know. I don't think she dates much at all." As I said those words, I looked at Reed more closely, the gentle giant had a sweet smile on his full lips, and I knew he was thinking about her. He was friendly with our group, but only really close with Aurora, and the guys, and I wondered if maybe he was just a little shy too.
"Yeah, I get it," he seemed resigned, but a flicker of determination shone on his face that I hadn't seen there before.
"Uh! I'm going to cut him off for a week!" Aurora snarled as she stomped back into the front of the store.
"Well, that might be good, give the pink chair thing a rest," Reed retorted, though his tongue in cheek response didn't seem to go over so well with her.
Clutching her throat with one hand and her stomach with the other, she turned and bolted for the back of the store again. She'd been doing that more and more lately. I knew that the early stages of pregnancy were doing a number on her. She wasn't overly sick, but it happened often enough.
"Oh, damn, that's disgusting." Reed's contorted face was comical as he looked toward the door to the back. Thankfully, the bathroom was far enough away that the sounds of retching couldn't be heard from where we were sitting.
Before long, Aurora joined us once again. Though her eyes were a little glassy, she was none the worse for wear. Reed stood, giving each of us a perfunctory kiss on the top of our heads and was gone. He had to get back to work. Apparently, he had just made some deal before he came in and had to lay low for a while before he went back in. I knew he worked for the ATF, but I really had no clue what the hell he did. I had a reasonable idea of Trent's job, but Reed's was still a mystery to me.
Turning to face my friend, I had to ask, "So, you called Luke and bitched him out because of the sex chaise?"
"The sex chaise, oh my god, that sounds so much worse than it was. Come on, you can't call it that." Her laughter and smiling face were all I needed to see, to know that she was really fine. Everyone in our group knew everything about everyone anyway.
"Why the hell not, it's perfect."
Laughter ensued as we phased back into work mode. With Aurora pregnant, and Luke acting like the over protective daddy-to-be that he was, she had been forbidden to pick up anything heavier than her purse. That meant that Luke popped by most days to help 'move shit' as he muttered every time he walked in.
Their exchanges were priceless. She acted put out with his overbearing behavior, and he acted grumpy about everything. Beneath the surface, I knew that they were absolutely thrilled with the pregnancy and their life in general.
I had watched Aurora on the few occasions Luke was around before things heated up between them. Her eyes followed him wherever he went. She hadn't ever confided in me about her feelings for him, but I knew they were there. I also noticed him watching her too, and the hungry look on his face gave away his feelings too.
Things were settling around us. Dawn and Gavin were getting married soon. Hope and Jake were married with that sweet baby boy. Luke and Aurora were blissfully pregnant, and Trent, and I were moving in together and engaged. As Reed had said on the lake all those weeks ago, he was the only one left. A cold chill swept up my spine, though I didn't have any idea why. Sadly, I knew things couldn't be perfect forever.
The weeks passed quickly until it was finally Halloween. Aurora's nausea hadn't subsided, forcing her to take a few days off each week to recuperate. Luke hovered over her incessantly, lovingly but I knew that his overbearing concern was weighing on my friend.
Mom had come to meet me for lunch a few times. I began to see her, to see her obsessive worry for me in a new light. We formed a deeper bond, and understanding between us. I loved our new relationship. She and Dad respected Trent and appreciated seeing the ease of our relationship. Mom now saw me as a woman. We had moved from a mother-daughter relationship to friends.
Trent's sister, Natalie and I grew closer. We were forging a new friendship, independent of Trent. After I had asked her to become a bridesmaid, I watched as tears filled her eyes. She was so happy, happy for us, happy to see the changes in her brother and thrilled to be included in our very special day.
With our wedding fast approaching, we all worked hard to make everything perfect. In just two short weeks, I'd be saying 'I do' and would become Mrs. Amber Harris. With each day that passed, bringing me one step closer to that magical moment, my steps lightened as I looked longingly toward our future together.
Trent and I had closed escrow on our new house. Since some renovations were being completed, we agreed to move in officially after our marriage. We wanted our new start, our new home to be where we began our life together officially.
I began packing up my house, selecting the items I would take with me and starting to rid myself of things I wouldn't. The Salvation Army truck was scheduled to arrive for a large donation in just five short days, leaving us with the bare necessities.
In addition to wedding madness, mass shopping had ensued to furnish the house in a way that would best reflect the two of us together. I was determined that Trent's minimalist style would work with my more flamboyant one, and I'd found a way.
A beautiful chocolate brown Davenport style sofa had been ordered, complete with detailed antiqued nail head accents and intricately
crafted wooden legs. To add my own flair to the room, I picked out two large wingback chairs with wide arms, wooden legs, similar nailhead accents. It was covered with a beautiful dark red, burnt orange and yellow tapestry fabric. The love seat which would sit opposite the sofa was in the exact same brown leather, with pillows and a chenille throw that matched the chairs.
The accent tables had stumped me until I found a set sturdily built, but with stunning old fashioned scrollwork on the legs. The natural cherry finished pulled all the colors together perfectly. The accouterments that scattered the room were chosen to bring out the reds, oranges, and yellows, brightening up the space perfectly. Once everything had been placed, I stood back and took in the space. I could see decades of family activities in that room. The coffee table was large enough for children to play board games. The furniture wouldn't show stains easily, and I knew that no one would feel uncomfortable relaxing against the soft, overstuffed cushions.
The one piece that hadn't yet been placed was the picture that would hang over the mantle. The fireplace was large, the wood and stone detailing were beautiful. It was the focal point of the room.
I was saving the best for last - Trent's wedding present. It was a picture of the two of us, taken at his birthday party. When most of the guests had left and just the select few hanging around, he had pulled me into his arms, and we swayed to the music piped in over the speakers in the ceiling. Trent had rested his forehead to mine and was staring lovingly into my eyes as the old Randy Travis song, "Written in Stone," played in the background. Dawn had snapped the photo with her camera and had given it to me the following week at the store.
As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect. All the love in the world shown in our eyes as we had gazed at one another. Since he'd never seen it, I made her promise to keep it under wraps. I had it blown up huge by a really good photoshop in Dallas. Now, it was mounted and framed in a beautifully simple frame, hiding at my parents' house.
