by Becky McGraw
Yet another tear tracked its way down her face, and Leigh Ann sucked in a shuddering breath trying to hold the rest back. Turning back to the vanity on the other side of the room to fix her makeup, Leigh Ann caught the heavy tiara her mother had insisted she wear, before it fell off of her head. You would almost think this was a royal wedding the darned thing was so big. Her neck hurt from trying to hold both it and her updone hair up on her tired neck. If she tripped on the heavy train on her dress, she was afraid she was going to pitch forward and break her neck.
Maybe that would be the solution to this whole mess.
Wouldn't that make some interesting headlines tomorrow? She wondered what her mother would do, what Lester would do then. Maybe they'd marry each other, because misery did love company, and she had never seen two more miserable people in her life.
Leigh Ann reached up a hand to wipe away yet another tear. The new ten-carat engagement ring that Lester had slid on her finger last night felt like a ball and chain. It was gaudy and screamed it, just like the peacock of a man she was marrying.
And if all that wasn't bad enough, she had gotten a single rose, a yellow rose, yesterday, but it wasn't from Lester. Someone had delivered it to the church, and one of the parishioners had brought it out to Lester's house where she was staying.
Leigh Ann had a bad feeling she knew exactly who had sent it too. Redmond Jones was out of jail now, and he had heard about the wedding, so he sent that rose to send a message to her. You're mine.
That's what the notes that accompanied the roses before said. This time he had skipped the note, because last time that is what busted him. He had left his fingerprints on the card. With those prints and handwriting analysis they had proven he was the man harassing her, and she had gotten the restraining order.
Because she was scared, terrified actually, Leigh Ann told her mother and Lester about it last night, but both had blown her off. Lester told her that he would have enough security here today to fortify Fort Knox, and she didn't need to worry her pretty little head about it. After those condescending words from her husband-to-be, Leigh Ann vowed not to tell the bastard if she got a dozen of those roses from Red Jones, but she did get a small can of mace that she tucked between her breasts. That gave her some level of comfort, unlike the piece of paper that was supposed to restrain the man, but obviously meant nothing to Red.
She would protect herself on two fronts. If Red showed up, she would show him that she wasn't afraid of him anymore, and if Lester tried to put his hands on her, she was going to empty the can on him.
Just the thought of either man touching her curdled her stomach.
Someone knocked at the door, and Leigh Ann glanced at the clock. Nine-Thirty. The witching hour had arrived. That must be her escort to the festivities, she thought as she grabbed the heavy train of her dress in her hand, and walked toward the door. Leigh Ann felt like Anne Boleyn must've felt when the executioner came to get her the morning of her beheading. And like the infamous queen she lifted her chin as she twisted the knob. She only wished they would give her a sack to cover her face, so she didn't have to look at Lester Fallon when she married him.
Flanked by a stone-faced guard on either side, the wedding planner held Leigh Ann's heavy train as she walked down the hallway to stand in the anteroom outside the archway into the church sanctum. The woman dropped it to shove a bouquet of white roses into her hand, then moved behind her to fluff and spread out the massive train. When she was satisfied, she fluffed Leigh Ann's veil, then pulled the blusher down over her eyes.
"You look like a queen today...you must be very excited," the woman chirped then stood back from her inspecting her with a critical eye.
"Oh, yes, I'm just thrilled to pieces," Leigh Ann replied sarcastically, but the woman evidently missed it. She buzzed around her a minute more, then walked to the door to let the organist know they were ready.
The wedding planner might be ready, but Leigh Ann sure wasn't. Panic settled in her chest, and between that and the corset, she couldn't breathe. The lack of oxygen made her dizzy and she teetered on the four-inch heels her mother had picked out to go with the heavy dress. Spots danced before her eyes and Leigh Ann tried to push them away, but they just got more numerous and closer together. Suddenly, a black curtain covered her vision and she couldn't see anything. The music got farther and farther away, as Leigh Ann's knees got weak, right before she felt herself falling.
A really strong scent teased her senses, dragging Leigh Ann out of the nice dream she had been having. Wes had come to rescue her. He had run right up the aisle of the church and told Lester Fallon and her mother she wasn't going to marry Lester. He told her that he loved her, and wanted to marry her instead. Such a wonderful dream, and so far from reality she realized, as she opened her eyes to see her mother's agitated face hovering over her.
The only one that would save her from disaster today was herself. Leigh Ann was alone now, nobody was watching out for her. Not even her own mother, she thought watching her stare at her with angry blue eyes.
Leigh Ann figured out from the way Trudy Baker had been acting since they got to Dallas, that her mother's only concern was for her own self, and getting out of the situation she was in with Lester. It had probably always been that way, she just hadn't realized it. Roxanne had realized that a long time ago, and her sister had tried to tell her. Grandma Nell had tried to tell her. Her own daddy had tried to tell her.
But because Leigh Ann had been beaten down and manipulated by her mother so long, she hadn't believed them. She was in this situation, because she had been too blind to see it for so long.
"Leigh Ann wake up, you're making a scene," Trudy Baker hissed, slapping Leigh Ann's cheek hard.
"Ouch." That slap had been a lot harder than was necessary, and not only that, her mother's breath smelled of alcohol of some sort. It was ten o'clock in the morning and her mother was drinking?
It's five o'clock somewhere.
She thought her mother had kicked her problem, she told Leigh Ann she had years ago. It looked like Trudy Baker had lied. Her mother was skunk-drunk, and obviously pissed that she had the ill manners to pass out, before she could marry Lester Fallon to pay off her debt.
Anger mixed with disgust shot through Leigh Ann as she sat up. Her head swam, but with the help of the two security guards who were standing behind her mother, she was able to get vertical. The jury was still out as to whether she would stay that way, but she rounded on her mother. "Get them out of here. I want to talk to you in the dressing room now." Leigh Ann was shocked at the venom in her voice, her mother must have been too, because her mouth dropped open, her eyebrows lifted and she stepped back.
Trudy wasn't stunned long though, she stepped forward to grab Leigh Ann's arm, then tried to force her toward the doorway to the church. "The guests are wait---"
Leigh Ann jerked her arm away to hiss, "The guests can wait til the cows come home, because I am not marrying Lester Fallon, Mama!"
Trudy gasped and put her hand to her throat. Leigh Ann heard voices inside the church, and then she heard the priest tap on the mike. "It seems there's a bit of a delay folks...the bride needs a moment more. Please be patient."
Trudy leaned close to her ear and growled, "Leigh Ann Baker, you need to get your ass in that church. You are marrying Lester, and that's final." She made another grab for Leigh Ann's arm, but she sidestepped her.
"No, Mother, I'm not. You can go in there and marry him, but I won't. This is your problem, not mine. You need to be a big girl and deal with your own problems." Just like Leigh Ann was going to do from here on out. She had been trying to do that since she left her mother, but now she wasn't going to try. She was going to do it.
Her mother had squandered every penny of the considerable life insurance money her daddy had left her to make sure she could take care of Leigh Ann and her sister. It was about time for her to be an adult and get a job like every other person in the world. "If you need money Mama, get yourself a j
ob, because you aren't going to sell me into bondage to Lester Fallon to pay off your debt to him."
"I've done everything I could for you, and this is how you pay me back?" Trudy wailed, her voice raising an octave higher with every word. Her mother's chest heaved beneath the silver mother-of-the-bride dress she wore. "You are ungrateful, Leigh Ann Baker. You owe me everything you are. You owe me this."
"I don't owe you a damned thing. You owe me for using me to live out your fantasies for so many years, for living your life through me." Leigh Ann was so filled with emotion, overcome by it, she had to stop and collect herself. "I love someone else, so I am not going to marry Lester Fallon today or any other day. You can tell him that." Leigh Ann contorted herself to try and grab the zipper at the back of her dress, but couldn't reach it.
Grabbing the train in her fist, she dragged it as she stomped over to one of the two silent guards standing behind her mother.
"Unzip me, now!" she demanded forcefully. The man's eyebrows shot up, but he did as she asked then quickly stepped back from her.
"You promised!" her mother wailed, flailing her hands. It looked like her mother was about to have a stroke, her face was so red. Leigh Ann stepped out of the dress, so she was standing there in her thong, thigh high stockings, corset and four-inch heels. She unpinned the crown from her head and dropped it on top of the wedding dress.
"Promises were made to be broken, Mother. You should know that, you broke enough of yours to our daddy, and I'm not following in your footsteps." Leigh Ann wanted off of this roller coaster ride her mother had held her hostage on all her life. She was through with the drama and demands. Leigh Ann wanted peace, and knew exactly where she could find it.
With a sad shake of her head, Leigh Ann turned and walked toward the front door of the church. When she stepped outside, the fresh air invigorated her. Leigh Ann drew the first deep breath she'd had in three days. She moved to the top step of the church, and felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Rolling her shoulders, the tension in her neck eased. Her blood felt like champagne in her veins as she put her foot on the first step to freedom. By the time she reached the bottom step, she was practically euphoric.
Traffic buzzed by on the street in front of the church, and she knew the drivers must think she had lost her mind. Several of them swerved when they saw her standing there in her underwear, one or two honked as she made her way along the hedges lining the front of the church to make her way to the sidewalk.
Those people were wrong, Leigh Ann hadn't lost her mind, she had finally found it. Her own mind. She didn't know where she was going, but she was the only one who would decide that from now on. Leigh Ann kept on walking purposefully toward her future. She was too blocks from the church, when she heard someone call her name.
Leigh Ann didn't stop, nobody in that church meant a damned thing to her. The people who meant something to her were in Amarillo, and that is where she was going. Stopping at the curb, Leigh Ann waited for the walk signal across the street.
A beat-up burgundy car turned the corner and stopped at the curb. She backed up a step, because the car had almost driven up on the curb and hit her. Before she could draw a breath, a man shot out of the driver's side of the car and ran toward her.
Prickles of unease lifted the hair at her nape. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him. Leigh Ann listened to her intuition. She spun on her heel and took off running back toward the church, but she only made a few strides when arms closed around her waist and she was jerked back against a hard chest.
"You've betrayed me, Leigh Ann. You are mine, not Lester Fallon's," a gruff voice hissed into her ear, as she was dragged backwards. He turned her toward the car and she saw his crystal clear, almost colorless eyes. Red Jones opened the passenger door then tried to shove her inside, but Leigh Ann braced her arms against the doorframe and fought him. She screamed, so loud everyone in Dallas could probably hear her, then brought her elbow back into his stomach hard.
Satisfaction poured through her when she heard Red's oomph, right before his arms released her. She had seen that move in a movie, ironically enough about a beauty queen. It worked! Leigh Ann skirted away from Red Jones, who was trying to get up off of the ground. Reaching between her breasts she pulled out the can of mace that thankfully hadn't fallen out when she took off the wedding dress.
She held it up, aimed it at his eyes, then pressed the button. "I'm tired of people messing with me," she said gruffly. Red screamed and fell back to his knees rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, before he pitched over on the ground writhing in pain.
Leigh Ann walked over to him and kicked him in the side. It felt damned good to be able to protect herself. "You should have more respect for women. Remember that next time, Bucko."
"I'll sure remember it," someone said behind her and Leigh Ann spun around.
"Wes..." she whispered and tears shot to her eyes.
"Hey, gorgeous," he said, taking a step forward to pull her to him and put his arms around her protectively. "I forgot to tell you something before you left."
Her heart fluttered in her chest. "Yeah? It must be important if you came all the way here to tell me," she replied, her voice trembling as she put her hand on his chest. His heart beat wildly beneath her palm, almost as crazily as hers was beating from the adrenaline pumping through her system.
Wes turned her to him and looked deeply into her eyes. "It's the most important thing I've ever said in my life, baby...I love you, Leigh Ann." Leigh Ann whimpered, as Wes emphasized his words with a gentle kiss.
Roxanne came up behind Wes, followed by Ethan and two of the guards who had been inside the church. Leigh Ann heard sirens blaring in the distance, and looked toward the church to see the first of a long line of squad cars skid to a stop.
"Well, I'll be damned," Roxanne said looking down at Red who was still writhing on the ground wailing. "Good job, baby sister."
"See, I can take care of myself," Leigh Ann replied with a laugh, then kicked the can of mace she had dropped when she saw Wes. "I only wished I had used half the can on Lester, before I left the church."
"Is this how you're going to dress for our wedding, sweetheart?" Wes asked with a leer after his eyes moved over her from head to toe.
"Our wedding?" she replied with a squeak.
"Lester left and told me I could have you. He said you were too much trouble," Wes informed her with a chuckle. "I guess that means you have to marry me now, because I love trouble. Every second of it you want to dish out for the rest of our lives."
Leigh Ann's heart melted, as tears of happiness shot to her eyes. With a watery chuckle she replied, "I want peace, Wes. No more trouble." She took a swipe at her eyes and came back with mascara streaks on the back of her hands. "Damn, I've cried more on my wedding day than I have in my life."
Wes smiled and wiped her cheek with his thumb, then his eyes widened as he evidently realized what she had just said. "So, you'll marry me?"
Leigh Ann's lips wobbled again, as she told him, her voice filled with promise, "Every day, including Sunday. But I don't want to do it without Trey being there, so not today...definitely tomorrow though."
"Putting me off, huh?" Wes grumbled hugging her to him.
"No, I just want my whole family there when we get married." Trey would be a part of her family now, her son. Her heart filled with so much happiness she couldn't stop the new tears that tracked down her cheek.
Wes's eyes filled and he cleared his throat. "Okay then we'll wait. But since you're already dressed for it, the honeymoon can start tonight," he growled, as he leaned in to give her a kiss that melted her stockings.
EPILOGUE
Leigh Ann couldn't believe she was doing this the night before her wedding. But it was too important to miss. Trey was doing so good, was so excited, she couldn't let him down, even though Wes told her he would handle it. Since, after tomorrow, she would officially be Trey's mother, she was not go
ing to miss Parent-Teacher night at his school.
But she was late, very late, because she had been held up in a client makeover conference at the ranch. Her fourth of the day. She should have been relaxing and getting a makeover herself, or at least a massage, because her shoulders were so tense she felt like someone had put a lead weight in the shoulder pads of her lavender suit.
Juggling the wedding, her new job at the ranch, and her new family for the last three weeks had about worn her out. But she also felt better than she had in her entire life, in control of her own destiny and direction.
Wes was feeling better too. The people who owed him money, the ones she set up payment plans with, were actually paying him now. She helped him develop a plan to create the foundation they talked about. Yesterday, she'd made preliminary calls, and people were darned excited about the idea and wanted to help.
Leigh Ann pulled on the front door of the school and was immediately hit with so much noise it made her head hurt. Pushing past a couple of people blocking the doorway while they talked, she was relieved when she finally had a little space in the hallway to herself. She straightened her suit, then stiffened her spine and took a deep breath. Scanning the hallway, she located room 16b, which was near the end. She also saw Wes's cowboy hat in the line of people standing outside the door. With a little lift of her chin, she started down the hall, her heels clicking in rhythm on the highly polished tile floor.
Wes looked up, their eyes met, and she smiled holding his gaze until she stopped beside him. The noise level in the hallway had lowered considerably as she made her way toward him. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw most of the couples outside of the other doors had stopped talking and started either staring or whispering.
