“Addie,” my mother prompted me so I shook off my thoughts and grabbed the envelope.
“Okay, unless you have questions, we’re all done here.” The lawyer folded his hands in front of him and gazed at us. I shook my head, so far the process had been painless, and I was ready to get out of there. Mom could see my eagerness and asked him, “If we have a question later, can we call?”
“Of course. Feel free to call.”
“Thank you.” She nodded and stood up so I took that as my cue to head to the door. We walked out of the air conditioned office and were slapped in the face by sweltering humidity. It didn’t take her long to ask.
“Are you going to read it?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, the damn letter still in my hand. “I don’t really care, but it seems ugly to ignore a man’s final words.”
“If he was smart that letter is him begging forgiveness for being a terrible husband and father,” she retorted, frowning.
I had to smile at her expected response even as I told her, “I kinda doubt it is though.”
She sighed and glanced at it. “Probably not. Are you coming home? We should probably talk about what you’re going to do with the cabin.”
“Yeah, we need to talk, but not tonight. It’s the rehearsal dinner, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. And the wedding is tomorrow. Well, I guess it isn’t going anywhere. But you will need to do something about it. It cost money to own a cabin like that and no telling when someone last went out there to take care of it.”
“I know, Mom. But we have time. I don’t want to do anything without at least seeing it.”
“I know that. I didn’t say that, now did I?”
“No, but I know you’re thinking it.” I threw my arms around her shoulders, hugging her as she frowned. “You’re kind of predictable like that.”
“Well, leave it to your father to leave you a money pit instead of a money tree.” I laughed at her annoyance with a dead man, but privately had to agree. He’d left more than a money pit behind with this inheritance. There was a decades old mystery to go along with it. One it seemed I was expected to solve.
Chapter Four
“So glad we didn’t have to dress up for the rehearsal dinner. The heels she wants us to wear hurt.” I whined to Jake as we huddled at the door of the church waiting on everyone to get organized. I was wearing flip flops, cutoff jeans and a tank top. It might have been excessively casual for a rehearsal dinner, but no one had bothered to leave the air conditioning on in the church for the rehearsal and it was burning up. I fanned myself with a brochure I found in the vestibule and watched them fuss over how they wanted to proceed.
“You won’t have to wear them long,” Jake soothed, sweat beading on his forehead. He’d come straight from work and was still wearing his dress slacks and button down. “I wish they’d hurry up. We’re going to miss the reservation at this rate.”
Danny pulled up on his motorcycle then, running late since he’d just gotten off from work. I turned to see Carly eyeing him as he shrugged out of the leather jacket he wore when he rode and there was no mistaking her interest. The other bridesmaid, Nichole, also gave him a complete onceover and I saw Carly stiffen.
“Did you see that?” I whispered to Jake, trying and failing to hide my glee.
“Yep,” he answered dryly. “Leather clad bad boys are all the rage at weddings these days.”
I punched his arm and hissed, “I meant Carly is jealous!”
“I thought we already knew that she still wanted him?”
“Yes, but this is an outward sign,” I explained, keeping my eyes glued on them even as I tried to look casual. “Maybe Carly will finally talk to him. This wedding could be the trigger!”
“Or not,” Jake replied as we watched Carly turn her back to Danny as he walked up. “That was brutal.”
I groaned and closed my eyes. “Why won’t she give him a chance? The girl obsessed over him for months and now acts like he has the plague.”
“You know why. He punched her in the face.”
“Yes, but he punched me too and I forgave him.”
“Yeah, but you don’t want to date him.” He paused and narrowed his eyes at me. “Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Want to date him?”
“Who? Danny?” I was shocked by his question and my reply might have come out a tad insulting. “No way. I’d never date Danny.”
“That seems to be the status quo for me,” Danny rumbled behind us and I jumped.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I rushed to assure him, embarrassed at being overheard. “I’m a one man woman.” I paused to make sure I’d stated it correctly and Danny gave me a wry grin.
“No need to explain. You and Jake,” he shook his head and shrugged. “You just are.”
A grin flashed across my face as I leaned into Jake, pleased at Danny’s minimalist description. It might have been one of the most emotionally touching things he’d ever said.
“Are we discussing the disgustingly perfect romance of Jake and Addie?” Connor joined our conversation ready to bash on his best friends. “The one that makes every other relationship seem like a pale comparison? As in, when your fiancée wants to know if you’d spend days by their hospital bed, talking till you’re hoarse just because you promised her you’d never let her go?” He paused as we stared at him. “I personally think that’s borderline stalker behavior, but what do I know? Apparently I think romance is dead.”
“Jules giving you hell?”
“How could you tell?” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “I’ve been fussed at for wearing shorts, even though it’s damn near a hundred degrees in here. I haven’t offered any suggestions, which is a damn lie, she just doesn’t like them. And I better be planning to shave before the wedding if I expect to have a wedding night.” He rubbed the barely there golden scruff on his cheek as we all tried not to laugh.
My smile disappeared though as he said, “Oh, and I was sent over here to tell Addie to come give her opinion.” I shrank behind Jake, trying to disappear and Connor shook his head, grinning. “Too late, little girl. She knows you’re here and you’re going over there. I don’t need any more bad PR tonight.”
I pouted, but his expression didn’t shift. He was gonna drag me over to Jules if he had to. I relented, straightening my spine as I went to face the firing squad. A glance back revealed them all watching me with various levels of sympathy. Connor seemed more relieved than sympathetic, but as I drew closer to Jules and her waspish voice I could understand why.
“No, it can’t go like that. First, Tyler then Nichole and Wade. No, I don’t want to hear it, Carly. You’re walking with Danny and that’s that. You look perfect together and I don’t care about your issues,” Jules snapped and I stopped short. Now, I loved Jules but bridezilla had to go.
“Jules, a word.” I crooked a finger at her and she immediately began to protest. “Now.”
Her mouth snapped shut and she came over to me.
“You need to chill. It’s a hundred fucking degrees out here, your fiancé thinks you don’t want to marry him, and nobody cares who goes first.” I shook my head when she tried to argue. “You’re being a bitch and I know this is your wedding and you’re stressed, but acting like this isn’t helping. We’re going to march through this rehearsal as quickly as possible and go the restaurant where I will order you the biggest margarita they have.”
After a moment of shock, she threw her arms around me and sniffled.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m being crazy. I want everything to be perfect but it’s so fast.” She wailed the last part and I patted her back.
“It will be perfect. I promise. In fact, ask me.” I grinned as she looked at me hopefully. “Go on, you know you want to.”
“Does he love me?” The question was unexpected but the answer was not.
“More than anything. If there was a way to measure his love, it would break the scale.�
��
Her smile was a little damp but it beamed bright enough to light the room.
“He’s staying at Jake’s tonight and I thought it was because he was having second thoughts about marrying me.” She admitted in a rush and I shook my head.
“Silly goose, he’s doing it for you. All that stuff you said about the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding. He wanted to make sure your day was perfect.”
“Oh, I’ve made everyone hate me, haven’t I?”
“I can assure you, you have not.” I gave her a little shake. “But the longer everyone stands in this heat, the more likely that will be to happen.”
Jules let out a laugh and within a few minutes we’d been told where to stand for the procession and started a run through.
“You’re a miracle worker,” Connor whispered as Jules giggled at something Tyler said.
“Nah, more like a realist. Sometimes you just have tell someone when they’re being a bitch.”
Connor choked and I threw him a wink as I headed back toward Jake. We were leaving early to set up at the restaurant, and I was ready to get out of the heat.
“Can we make our escape now?” Jake gave me a hopeful smile and I nodded. Danny overheard and slipped toward us.
“We can go?” He asked, giving a quick glance at Carly, who was studiously ignoring his presence.
“Yeah, keep her on her toes,” I murmured, standing on my toes to make sure the headcount was correct. “You’re coming to the restaurant, right?”
“Is Carly going to be there?”
“Yes,” I replied brightly, not entirely sure she was, but I knew for a fact if she knew he would be there then she wouldn’t be there. “But let’s not tell her you’re going, okay? In fact, when you leave the parking lot go the opposite direction and loop around and meet us there.”
“Really? You think there’s a need for all the subterfuge?” Jake asked wryly, to which I adamantly nodded yes.
“She’s a stubborn one. Better to divert and conquer.”
“I think its divide and conquer,” Danny mentioned, smiling.
“Same difference,” I said, waving my hand. “Play along,” I hissed, waving at him as I grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him to the car. “Bye, Danny.”
He lifted his hand in response, trying not to smirk at my theatrics, but I knew he’d thank me later when he discovered I’d decided on assigned seats and he was sitting next to Carly.
“Sometimes your deviousness frightens me,” Jake said as he opened the truck door for me. I grinned and brushed a kiss against his cheek.
“Good. Keep you on your toes.” I hopped in his truck, privately missing the Camaro he’d driven when we first met. The car had been part of his cover when he infiltrated my high school looking for drug dealers, and I still missed its sleek speed.
When we left the church I checked to make sure Danny did as I said and went the other way. I knew Carly would be watching because the girl excelled at stalking. I sat back, satisfied, as his motorcycle roared in the opposite direction.
“What’s to say he doesn’t just go home? Give up on Carly completely?” Jake inquired, watching me.
“Well, your questions for one,” I told him with a grin, as I saw the strength of Danny’s determination. “But he’s given up so many times in the past.” I met Jake’s eyes for a split second before he looked back at the road. “This time he doesn’t want to give up. He thinks she’s worth fighting for, and if that’s not reason enough to give him all the help in the world then I don’t know what is.”
Jake reached for my hand and said, “He’s not the only one who thinks that way, you know.” His sideways glance had me squirming in my seat. “I know something is going on in that head of yours. I’m here, Addie. Talk to me so I can help.”
My head thunked against the seat as I thought about his words. I hadn’t told him about my dad or the cabin or Wade’s drawing and it was eating me up. I normally told him everything since it was almost impossible for him to keep a secret hidden from me. It never felt right for me to withhold information from him, but that’s exactly what I’d been doing, and I didn’t know why.
I could say it was the wedding and with everything going on it never seemed like the right time, but Wade knew most of it so that was a poor excuse. I cleared my throat, determined to spit it all out, but the words stuck.
“Do you think I’ll react badly?” I could see how carefully he’d worded his question, a habit I noticed he’d perfected. We’d discovered I could become overwhelmed by questions, practically catatonic if was too much. Jake always took care when asking me questions and tried to avoid them as much as possible because of it. This question was deliberate, a way to show me he’d accept anything I said. A fact I already knew, but was still grateful for the reminder.
“My dad died.” The words stumbled out with no thought or intention on my part. I hadn’t planned on stating it so bluntly, or even starting with his death.
Jake flipped on his blinker and turned into an empty parking lot of a bank. He parked and turned to me.
“How do you feel about that?”
His question revealed emotions I’d been ignoring since the day my mom had told me.
Namely, anger.
“I’m pissed,” I admitted to him and myself. “He was never there and that was okay, but now when he’s dead, I suddenly have to deal with him. What the hell?”
Jake pulled me to him, cradling my head in the curve of his neck and I inhaled his scent. The familiar scent of his detergent mingled with cotton and a faint hint of sweat from his heated skin. His arms felt safe and the tension I’d been carrying subsided.
I snuggled closer, suddenly appreciating the absence of a gear shift between us. He tightened his arms around me, not asking any more questions and leaving me to tell him what I wanted to.
“He died of colon cancer so my mom is in a tizzy wanting me to get checked out because it increases my chance of getting colon cancer.”
Jake’s chest rumbled as he laughed at my mom’s immediate concern. He really couldn’t say much though. His dad had a minor stroke and his mom had sent all of her children in for physicals and called them almost daily to check on them.
“He left me a cabin.” My inflection must have tipped him off there was more to it because he didn’t immediately respond. I swallowed, and buried my head against him more firmly. “Wade drew the cabin.” I felt more than heard his sharp inhale and kept going. Better to rip the band aid off. “Someone died there. A girl. They think my uncle killed her.”
A long exhale followed my words and his arm rubbed circles on my back as he absorbed everything I told him. I could feel the weight of his next question or maybe it was only my guilty conscience, but I told him before he could ask.
“Two weeks,” I admitted, tucking my head down a little lower as if I could hide from his disappointment in me.
“I’m not upset. A little concerned you didn’t tell and told Wade, but not upset. Not with you. Never with you.”
“I didn’t tell Wade really,” I blurted out, trying to redeem myself as I sat up to face him. “He’d shown me the drawing, later that night my mom told me about my dad and there was a photo of the cabin. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the same place. I showed the picture to Wade. That’s all. I never meant to tell him and not tell you.” I paused, and blinked rapidly as I felt tears form. I reached up to dab away the evidence, but felt his finger catch the moisture before I could. I glanced up at him through my eyelashes and his understanding expression almost did me in. “I just….I didn’t know how to tell you. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything sooner.” I fumbled my way through, not really sure what to say, how to explain something I didn’t fully understand myself.
“It’s okay.” He tilted my head up so I’d look at him. “It is. We all have things that are hard to talk about. You don’t have to be an exception. I know you try to be completely honest with me because of your gift. You think it’s unfair, but it�
�s a part of who you are. A part I love and accept for the amazing thing it is.”
I closed my eyes at his words, the weight lifting at his understanding. I hadn’t realized how much not telling him had affected me. I let out the breath I’d been holding and threw myself back into his arms. He grunted at the force of me slamming into him, but squeezed me gently anyway. I pressed my lips into his neck, my tongue darting out to taste the salty skin and he groaned.
“Don’t start that. It’s been too long and Connor is staying at my place tonight,” he warned, his hands running up and down my sides, the edge of his palms brushing my breasts with each stroke. I smiled against his skin and he cursed. “I just waved a damn flag in front of you, didn’t I?”
I laughed and wiggled even closer, running my lips over his jawline and to his mouth. I whispered against his lips, “You did.” His palms slid under my tank top as he pulled me fully into his lap and our tongues melted together. My hands tangled in his hair as my breasts pressed against him. He cupped my ass, settling me more firmly against him. His teeth nipped the edge of my lip before his tongue soothed the tiny mark. We were lost in our own little world until a loud tapping interrupted us.
My cheeks heated as I realized we’d fogged the windows with our impromptu make out session. Jake chuckled at my embarrassment as he rolled down the window.
I snorted as I saw who was on the other side. It was Jake’s turn to flush as Connor smirked at us.
“Now, I know the thought of wedded bliss has you all horny and shit. I also know I’m stealing your couch for the night, but do you think you could manage to tone it down long enough to get through dinner?”
“Screw you,” Jake snarled back, shifting in his seat. “What are you doing here anyway?”
Connor leaned on the window, squinting against the late summer sun. “Your sister. Who else? It’s not like I particularly enjoy driving around looking for your truck and catching you playing grab ass with Addie.”
Hidden Secrets (The Hidden Series Book 3) Page 4
