Head Over Heels (The Bridesmaids Club Book 3)

by Leeanna Morgan

  “They did when they tried to leave,” Todd said. “Once the police confirmed that everyone at the wedding was legitimate, they were free to go.”

  “Were Carolyn and Wayne upset?” Sally had felt really bad that their wedding had turned into a news item on the local television channel.

  Todd shook his head. “Carolyn was excited. She said she felt like a reality TV star.”

  Sally wasn’t sure she would have been quite as forgiving, but as long as the bride and groom were happy, that’s all that mattered. She looked at her watch. It was midnight and much too late to be having any type of conversation. “Go home, all of you. Todd will take me back to my apartment.”

  Matthew stepped forward and started to say something.

  Sean grabbed hold of his twin’s arm and interrupted him. “You’re not going anywhere with Todd. If it wasn’t for him, no one would have tried to kidnap you.”

  Sally rolled her eyes at her brothers. “Don’t be crazy. Those people would have kidnapped their own grandmother if there’d been the right incentive.”

  “Your brothers are right,” Todd said quietly. “If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be here. You should go home with your parents.”

  Sally sat straighter in the bed and stared at her family. “I love you all, but you need to leave me alone. I can look after myself.”

  Matthew grabbed the doctor’s clipboard off the end of her bed. Everyone else stayed where they were.

  “Is anyone listening to me?”

  The curtain opened again, and Sally’s doctor froze. She looked at the faces around her and frowned. Sally had to admit that the men in her cubicle filled the space to overflowing. The Gray men weren’t known for their slim builds and short stature. Her dad and brothers were all over six-foot-five and built like tree trunks.

  And then there was Todd.

  Samantha Everland, her doctor, looked as though she’d been struck by lightning. “Are you all Sally’s family?”

  “Not me,” Todd said from the side of the room. He pushed off from the wall and stood closer to Sally.

  Matthew and Sean glared at him. Sally’s dad didn’t look much better. Luckily Jenny Gray, Sally’s mom, had more common sense than the men in their family. She poked her husband in the ribs and gave him one of her stares.

  Samantha found her voice amongst all of the male testosterone floating in the air. “We can’t have more than two people in here with Sally. If some of you could wait outside in the reception area, I’d appreciate it.

  “When will Sally be able to go home?” her mom asked.

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer. I overheard you talking about where Sally was going to stay tonight.” All eyes swiveled toward Sally’s doctor. “I might have a solution for you.”

  Sean and Matthew looked wearily at Samantha. Sally knew how her brothers’ minds worked. They were only happy with an outcome if it was in their best interests. Having only just met Samantha, they weren’t sure which side of the fence her idea would fall. If she sided with them, they’d be her friend for life. If she didn’t, they’d fight tooth and nail to make everyone agree with them.

  Samantha cleared her throat. Sally was fast developing a newfound respect for the five-foot-nothing doctor. “Special Agent McDonald is waiting outside with Sergeant O’Grady from the Bozeman Police Department. They’ll be looking after Sally for the next few days.”

  Sean and Matthew glanced at their father, then across at Todd. Some male telepathy was hurtling around the room, and Sally didn’t have a clue what it all meant.

  Matthew kissed Sally on the side of her face. The side that wasn’t swollen like a puffer fish. “As long as you’ve got an FBI agent and a police officer looking after you, we’re happy.”

  “Yeah,” Sean added with a kiss of his own. “Just don’t go stabbing anyone with your shoe again.”

  Sally’s mom frowned. “Stabbing? What are you talking about?”

  Sally sent her brothers a ferocious glare. She thought she’d made sure no one in her family heard about the stiletto incident. Someone had spilled the beans, and it hadn’t been her or Todd. “It was nothing, mom. Sean’s exaggerating.”

  Sean sent her a sweet as pie smile.

  Matthew grabbed his brother's arm and yanked him out the door. “See you tomorrow, scissorhands.”

  “You’re showing your age,” Sally yelled after them.

  Sally’s mom put her hands on her hips. “Do you want to tell me what Matthew and Sean are talking about?”

  “It was nothing, mom.” She looked at Todd, hoping for some moral support. Or at least a little underhand collaboration.

  Todd raised his eyebrows, but didn’t look away. “I was going to get a cup of coffee, would you like one?”

  She shook her head.

  Todd turned to her mom. He smiled so sweetly that Sally wouldn’t have known he had an ulterior motive. “Would you like to come with me, Mrs. Gray? We’ll probably have to use a coffee machine, but it shouldn’t taste too bad.”

  “I brought up four sons, Todd. I know when a man’s diverting my attention away from something my daughter doesn’t want me to know.” Jenny glanced at the daughter in question. “I’ll pass on the coffee, but I have to give you credit for looking after Sally. It’s more than her brothers do at times.”

  Todd’s hands relaxed against the metal rail on the side of Sally’s bed. “Thank you.”

  Sally’s mom turned to her husband. “Let’s go home, Paul. Tomorrow’s soon enough to find out what your daughter’s been up to.”

  Sally’s dad smiled. He kissed the side of her face and rubbed her arm. “Bye, honey. We’ll see you in the morning. ” He turned to Todd. “I don’t care how many special agents or police officers take her home. Make sure she gets there in one piece.”

  He didn’t have to say, this time. Sally could see the message pass between the two men as thick and unwelcome as the first blanket of snow.

  Todd didn’t react to the worry on her father’s face. “Yes, sir.”

  Sally’s mom picked up her jacket and bag. “If you need anything, we’re only a phone call away.”

  “Thanks, mom.” Sally watched her parents leave with a heavy heart. She looked at Todd and sighed. “Do you think they’re going to hate me when they know I stabbed a woman.”

  “I think they’d be more worried if you hadn’t defended yourself.”

  Sally’s doctor cleared her throat. “Has anyone told you what happened to the lady you stabbed.”

  Sally winced at the ‘S’ word. “No, not yet.”

  “I’m probably not supposed to say anything, but she’s okay. You didn’t kill her.”

  Sally breathed a sigh of relief. “Did she need stitches?”

  “A few. The throat is one of the most vulnerable parts of our bodies. She could have been a lot worse than she was.”

  “How did the police find her?”

  “They didn’t,” Samantha whispered. “She told a couple from the wedding that she’d tripped on a fence post on the ranch. They brought her to the hospital. On the way down the highway, she saw the police cars rushing to the ranch. She called her accomplice and he tried to leave.”

  Samantha looked over her shoulder as the curtain opened.

  Special Agent Alastair McDonald walked into the cubicle and frowned at Sally’s doctor. “How’s everything going?”

  Samantha’s cheeks turned bright red. “Fine. We were just discussing…”

  “Something you shouldn’t be?”

  “Of course not,” Samantha lied. “Sally can go home, now.”

  “I can?” Sally asked.

  “As soon as I sign your release, you’re free to go. Just don’t do too much for the next few days. And try not to stab anyone.”

  Sally looked down at the hospital gown she’d changed into.

  Alastair put a small suitcase on the end of her bed. “Your dad left this with me. He went to your apartment with your mom before they came here.”

  �
�That was so thoughtful.” Sally blinked back the tears in her eyes.

  Alastair looked at Todd. “Yeah, I thought so, too.”

  Todd picked up his jacket. “I’ll wait for you on the other side of the curtain.”

  Sally nodded and watched Todd and Alastair leave.

  “You’re lucky to have such a good friend,” Samantha said. “Now let’s get you ready to go home.”

  Sally opened the case and looked at what her parents had packed. She was lucky to have Todd as a friend. Luckier than she had realized.

  ***

  Todd rang Dylan’s doorbell and waited. He took a step back and stared at the home shrouded in darkness. A light turned on in an upstairs room. Another wait, then the front door opened.

  “You look terrible,” Dylan said. “What’s wrong?”

  Todd frowned at Dylan’s bare chest and rumpled hair. “You were asleep. I’ll come back tomorrow.” He turned to leave. He shouldn’t have come here tonight. Dylan had his own life to deal with, issues that were every bit as hard as the one Todd was facing.

  “When did you leave the hospital?”

  Todd stopped on the top step of the porch. He looked at his watch and sighed. “Two hours ago.”

  Dylan grabbed a jacket off a peg on the wall and walked outside. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  Talking was what Todd had come here to do. He needed to speak to someone, sort out the mess his life had become. Dylan was his friend, the one person in the world who knew him better than anyone else. But now that he was here, he didn’t know where to begin.

  “I’ve got to leave Montana.”

  Dylan didn’t say anything. He zipped his jacket to his chin, sat on the top stair, and looked at the night sky.

  Todd sat beside him, glad of his company, worried about what he might say.

  “You’ve thought this through?”

  Todd nodded. “Sally could have been killed tonight. I can’t risk anything happening to her.”

  “Mitch Zambezi’s a scumbag. He won’t be worried about her now. He’s got other issues he’s dealing with.”

  “You don’t know that,” Todd said heavily. “Other men will take his place. They’ll try and stop me testifying against him.”

  Todd leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Mitch Zambezi’s empire is falling apart. Two rough-necks from his ranks are vying for the top position. If he’s not careful, he’s going to lose everything.”

  “How do you know that’s happening?”

  Dylan looked uncomfortable. “I have my sources. Believe me, Mitch has other things on his mind. He can run his business from inside any prison, but he needs people he can trust. He hasn’t got that at the moment.”

  Todd looked down and saw a cat coming toward them. It was Boxer, a boisterous, cheeky male kitten that ruled the roost in Dylan’s home.

  “Blinky and Boots won’t be far away.” Dylan scratched under Boxer’s chin.

  They listened to Boxer’s loud purr of contentment. Sally had convinced Dylan that he needed to fill his home with shelter animals. The three kittens had been a short-term fostering solution that had lasted longer than anyone expected. And now, with a fiancée who was smitten with him and his cats, there was no way Dylan would be sending them back to the shelter.

  Blinky and Boots meowed their way across to their brother. With only two hands and three kittens to accommodate, Dylan’s services as a chin scratcher were in hot demand. Boots decided to try her luck with Todd. She patted Todd’s hands with her paw and he automatically reached down and rubbed her back. Within seconds he had a kitten on his lap, purring like a soloist in a choir.

  “Come inside,” Dylan said softly. “I want to show you something.”

  Todd lifted Boots off his lap and followed his friend into his home. They turned left down a short hallway that led to the garage.

  “You’re not the only person that has doubts,” Dylan said as they walked into his garage. “Sometimes I worry that all of the good things in my life are going to end.” He pulled a wooden box off a shelf and handed it to Todd.

  It was small, about the size of a child’s shoe box. Someone had carved a heart into the lid. Todd turned it around and read the inscription. “My love for you is a journey; starting at forever and ending at never.”

  “Annie made it for me,” Dylan said. “When I need to remember the good things in life I find somewhere quiet and open the lid. It reminds me of what’s important.”

  Todd looked down at the box. “You’re okay with me opening it?”

  “You’ll probably understand what’s in there better than most.”

  Todd opened the lid. He picked up a photo. Annie and Dylan were smiling at the camera, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  “That was taken a couple of hours after I proposed to Annie,” Dylan said. “I was so scared she’d say no, that I hadn’t thought about what would happen if she said yes.”

  Todd put the photo on the shelf beside him. The next thing he took out was a silver swimming medal.

  “That belonged to Franky, from Pastor Steven’s youth group. He won the medal at a swim meet a few months after he nearly drowned. It meant a lot to him.”

  It had taken Dylan years to get used to being around water. While he was in the Army, he’d been captured by the Taliban, tortured, and left for dead. A lot of the torture involved water. Most people wouldn’t have recovered, but Dylan had pushed himself into situations that involved getting wet. It didn’t matter whether it was swimming events, triathlons, or anything else he could find. He wanted to prove that what had happened hadn’t changed him. That theory had worked really well, until he’d had a panic attack in a lake. That hadn’t turned out too well.

  But when Franky, a young boy who’d become their little shadow, nearly drowned, Dylan had been the first in the pool. He’d dragged Franky to safety, then paid for swimming lessons for all of the youth group.

  Todd smiled as he pulled a one dollar note out of the box. “Tell me the story behind this.”

  “It was the first dollar Annie earned in her new business. It’s to remind me that dreams come true.”

  There was a dried flower that had been carefully pressed, a button that had come off someone’s clothes.

  “Don’t ask about the button,” Dylan said. “That one’s a bit x-rated.”

  Todd dropped the button back in the box and picked up a plastic star.

  “It glows in the dark,” Dylan said with a grin. “And no, it’s not x-rated. When Annie and I hadn’t known each other very long, I had a panic attack.”

  Todd stared at him.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m a psychiatrist’s dream come true.”

  “You and me both,” Todd muttered.

  Dylan leaned against the shelving unit beside them. “Sally didn’t judge me. Afterward, we sat under a big oak tree and looked up at the stars. It was the first time I’d felt at peace in a long time.”

  Todd turned the star over and ran his finger over the flat surface. “When did you know you loved her?”

  Dylan looked at the star and frowned. “I don’t know. It kind of snuck up on me. A year ago I couldn’t touch anyone without hyperventilating. Now I’m in love with a woman I can’t stop touching.”

  “That’s too much information.”

  Dylan sighed. “I can’t imagine my life without her.”

  Todd put everything back in the box and put it on the shelf. “Thank you. You didn’t need to tell me about any of that.”

  “Did it help?”

  Todd nodded.

  “Leaving Montana won’t change what’s happened. It won’t change who you are.”

  “But it might keep Sally safe.”

  Dylan shrugged his shoulders. “You’re talking to someone who deals with security issues all of the time. Believe me, nowhere is safe if someone wants to hurt you.”

  “Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”

  “Maybe I’m trying to make you feel. Life d
oesn’t come with guarantees and neither does Mitch Zambezi. Even if he’d put money on your head, which he hasn’t, it doesn’t mean your life is over. It means you need to be careful.”

  “I can be careful in Wyoming.”

  “You’re going home?”

  Todd hadn’t thought of Wyoming as his home for so long that it felt uncomfortable. His parents owned a ranch near Worland. He’d been born and raised in the small rural community that ran alongside the Big Horn River. He’d met his wife at the local high school, married her, and buried her in the local cemetery beside her folks.

  Todd looked blankly at the Corvette sitting in the garage, thinking about the rest of his family. “It’s my only option. I’ve got some things to sort out and then I’m leaving.”

  Dylan pointed to the small box. “Remember what’s important. I didn’t think I had any options, either. I was wrong.”

  ***

  A week after nearly being kidnapped, Sally was with her friends in The Bridesmaids Club headquarters. Her face still didn’t look great, but at least the swelling had gone down.

  She pulled another dress out of the box in front of her. “How many dresses do you think they squeezed in here?”

  Molly peered over her shoulder. “Maybe another two?”

  Tess looked up from the spreadsheet she was working on. “You’re kidding? Six in one box must be a record.”

  “It is, especially when the skirts are as puffy as these ones are,” Sally said. She held the pale pink dress in her hands and swung it around. “Does this go in the Cinderella Collection or the Winter Romance Collection?”

  Molly tilted her head sideways. “If it had a little shawl or bolero jacket to go with it, I’d put it in the Winter Romance Collection. But as it is, I’d leave it with the other Cinderella dresses. Someone’s going to look amazing in it.”

  “As long as they have a small waist,” Sally said critically. “A gathered waistband is murder on your figure.”

  Molly reached into the box and pulled the next dress out. “And why would you be worried about your waistline, Sally Gray? You’ve lost so much weight over the last little while that I’m beginning to think you’ll be fading away to a shadow.”