The Devoted Groom

by Cami Checketts

  “Oh!” She pushed at him with their clasped hands. “So cocky. My goodness gracious. You’re definitely going to get teased about that one.”

  “Just don’t share it with Navy.”

  “Ooh. That’s a brilliant idea.” She laughed as he pulled a face. “Just kidding. I won’t rat you out. I’m sure Navy already has plenty to tease you about.”

  “Sadly, she does. Being the oldest she remembers stupid stuff we did all too well.”

  “Like syrup on footballs?”

  “Hey, you gotta admit that was pretty brilliant for a ten-year-old.”

  Bree giggled. She loved being held by him and able to just talk without worrying he would push her for more. She’d rather be kissing him and touching his chest, but she thought it was amazing and impressive that he’d been in control enough to stop. Very few boys or men in her life had wanted to stop, and some hadn’t even when she’d fought and begged.

  “Tell me all about you,” Ryder asked.

  Bree’s thoughts had just gone to a dark place, and she didn’t know what to say. “It’s not very exciting. I was moved from house to house a lot. Usually, the moms didn’t like me much because of the way their husbands or sons reacted to my face.”

  Ryder’s eyes darkened. “I can understand other women being jealous, but Bree”—his arms tightened around her—“no one hurt you, did they?”

  Bree couldn’t meet his gaze. He’d joined her in her dark place. “A f-few did,” she said quietly.

  “Aw, no.” Ryder buried his head in her neck, and she could feel his body shudder against hers. Bree didn’t know what to think as he held her and didn’t say anything more. It was in the past. She’d healed and moved on. It was horrible, and she didn’t let herself think about her past very often.

  He finally glanced up at her, his gaze protective and his mouth set in a firm line. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

  Bree framed his face with her hands. “I’m okay, Ry. It was years ago. I’ve gotten counseling and help from above. I’ve moved past it. I know it wasn’t my fault, and I am very cautious about who I trust.”

  He smiled sadly at her and took one of her hands off his face, turning and pressing a kiss to her palm. “If only I could’ve known you earlier and protected you.”

  She loved him. It was crazy to even think, but this big tough football player was more tender and protective than any man she’d ever encountered.

  “What made you go into speech pathology?” he asked.

  Bree loved him even more for the change in conversation. Neither of them could do anything about the awful events of her past. He’d expressed how he cared, and she knew instinctively she could trust him with her secret and trust him to treat her with respect. He was amazing.

  “Jasmine used to have a speech impediment when she was younger. She couldn’t say her r’s or s’s. She spoke perfectly tonight though, didn’t she?” The sadness rushed over her again. She’d never have a relationship with her sister.

  “Yeah, she did. That’s great you wanted to help other kids like her.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Mack couldn’t form his l’s when he was little, and he stopped talking completely for a while.” He shook his head. “A lot of kids teased him, and he was such a gentle giant he’d never do anything about it. The rest of us brothers thumped the kids and got detention.” He smiled.

  Bree wanted to be part of his family. How would that feel? “So you’ve always been close to your brothers and Navy?”

  “Oh, yeah. We didn’t need other friends because we had each other. They supported me in everything, except for Jessica.”

  Bree straightened so she could see him better. It wasn’t easy in the comfy chair. “Why wouldn’t they support you and your wife?”

  Ryder’s mouth twisted. “Have you ever seen the first Thor movie?”

  She thought through the Thor movies she’d seen. “Yeah. Where he’s a punk who just wants to fight and his dad banishes him?”

  “That’s the one. His dad needs him to learn to be unselfish, and that happens when he offers to give his life for his friends, right?”

  Bree had no clue what this had to do with him and his wife, but she nodded.

  His lips pressed into a thin line before he said, “I was worse than Thor in high school.”

  “You liked to fight?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t mind a good fight. My brothers and I made our mom nuts wrestling everywhere, but it was more about me just being a cocky jerk. I thought I was better than everybody else, and I thought I was pretty cool being the football hero with the most sought-after girl in the school being my girlfriend.”

  “Jessica?”

  “Yeah.” He shook his head. “The two of us fought about everything. Honestly, I’m not sure why either of us stayed in the relationship, but we were touted throughout high school and then college as ‘the perfect couple,’ and I think that was more important to us than actually being happy.” He rolled his eyes. “My brothers, Navy, and my parents were all pretty vocal about not liking Jessica, knowing I wouldn’t be happy with her, but I’m pretty stubborn. Them trying to warn me away just made me try to love her more, like some stupid Romeo and Juliet deal.” He guffawed. “She used to claim we were like them.”

  Bree was stunned by everything he was revealing.

  “Sorry.” He looked down at her. “You don’t need to hear my pathetic story.”

  “I want to hear it. If you want to share.”

  “It’s pretty lame. We got married after our senior year of college. She was thrilled that I’d been drafted by the Titans. She’d been raised with a lot of money. Her parents gave us a dream wedding and a two-week honeymoon to Fiji.” He cleared his throat and looked away. “We fought a lot on that trip. I hadn’t fully realized how spoiled we both were and how grumpy and irritable she was. Even though we’d dated for so many years, we hadn’t spent two weeks alone like that. We were always at some party or with a crowd of friends. It hit me then how stupid I’d been, wanting to marry someone for an image. Everyone but my family thought we were perfect together.”

  “But you stayed married.” It was very characteristic of Ryder to not give up on something.

  “I thought about an annulment quite a bit that first month, but then I got insanely busy with football and she was expecting Tate.” He smiled sardonically. “She was so ticked off about being pregnant, but when she had Tate, she fell in love with him as much as I did. He’s the reason I finally grew up. He was also the only thing Jessica and I had in common at the end.”

  At least, Tate had been loved by his mother. Bree’s analytical brain was spinning though. If Jessica had been miserable with Ryder, would she have tried to poison Tate against his own father? Even as a small child, Tate would’ve felt the animosity between his parents. It could’ve been the switch that stopped him from wanting to speak. In theory.

  “She died from cancer,” Bree stated.

  “Yeah. Breast cancer. It made her so mad. For the first time in her life, she didn’t look perfect. Even when she was pregnant, she looked like she walked out of a magazine every day … but the cancer. It robbed her of her hair, her eyelashes and eyebrows, her breasts, her dignity. She hated it, and it made her even more bitter towards me. I heard her begging her parents to let her and Tate come live with them, but her parents told her no repeatedly. They didn’t want the responsibility of a sick person and a small child.”

  That made her heart ache for Jessica. Her parents hadn’t cared enough to take care of her just like all of the adults in Bree’s life.

  “Lucky for me,” he said. “Or I would’ve had to fight for Tate. Jessica pretty much couldn’t stand the sight of me near the end, so I hired a few full-time nurses to take shifts with her and only saw her when I’d take Tate in to visit her.”

  “Would you stay in the room during those visits?” Bree probably should’ve been comforting him right now, but instead, her mind was whirring.

  “No.”
He shook his head. “The nurse would buzz me when Jessica was worn out from holding Tate. When I’d go get him …” He hung his head. “She’d curse me and scream at me that I’d stolen her life and now I was stealing her child.”

  “Oh, Ry.” She pulled him closer and trailed her hands through his hair. “I’m so sorry.” The ideas that were churning could wait until tomorrow. Right now, she needed to comfort him.

  “Thanks.” He shifted and turned more fully toward her. “You know my mama used to bemoan that I was pathetic at choosing women because I’d chosen Jessica.”

  “That’s horrible,” she said.

  “Mama doesn’t mince words. That’s for sure. I used to worry she was right though, that I’d only choose women who weren’t good for me.” He smiled. “I can’t wait for her to meet you.”

  Bree’s stomach hopped. “Why?”

  He leaned closer. “Because then she’ll know that I’ve finally learned my lessons, and now I’m brilliant.”

  She laughed. “What makes you so brilliant now?”

  “Because I’ve found the most perfect, kind, smart, beautiful, and amazing woman in the world.”

  Bree didn’t have a chance to thank him or worry that things were moving too fast as he claimed her lips with his own.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ryder heard Tate’s screams and jumped like he always did. Bree cried out in surprise, and his eyes widened. They’d fallen asleep in the chair. He reached down and lifted her to her feet. The lamps were still on. He’d forced himself to stop kissing her again, and they’d fallen asleep talking about their pasts and cuddling. Everything about her was so beautiful.

  “Tate,” she said, and he loved how concerned she was for his son.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and escorted her up the stairs to Tate’s room. As they reached the top stair, the door to the upstairs hallway burst open. Navy hurried in. When she saw the two of them in the glow of the nightlight she stopped. “Whoa! Please tell me this isn’t as fun as it looks.”

  Ryder released Bree and picked up Tate. His son’s cries settled to a whimper, and he cuddled against his chest. Ryder felt peace and contentment swirl through him. He would do anything for this boy. He glanced over at Bree who was smiling at Navy.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Bree said sassily, placing a hand on her hip.

  “Whoo-hoo.” Navy laughed. “Spicy, aren’t you?”

  Bree grinned. “I’m just teasing. We were talking and fell asleep.”

  “Talking, eh? I like talks like that.” She winked at Ryder. “Well, it looks like my little man is back asleep already. I’m going to try to fall back to sleep myself so I don’t look like a saggy old woman on national television tomorrow.”

  “They’re televising your conference?” Ryder asked, rocking slowly with Tate.

  “Yes, sir. You know I’m famous, right?” She winked.

  “More famous than me, that’s for sure.”

  “Yeah, right. Football trumps all!” She jabbed her fists into the air. “Goodnight, cute Bree and my most famous brother.” She giggled because they all knew Kaleb, the country singer, was much more famous than any of them. She slipped out of the room.

  Bree glanced at Ryder. “He’s zonked out,” she said.

  Ryder nodded. “You go get some rest. I’ll just hold him for a bit.”

  “Are you worried about the threat Jasmine poses to him?”

  “No. I told you I have great security in place. We’ll be fine.”

  Bree started to walk toward the door. “Hey, I have some ideas I want to look into. Do you have contact info for the nurses who stayed with Jessica?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. Could we make appointments to meet with each of them?”

  “Sure.” His brow furrowed. “Why?”

  “Just some ideas I have. We’ll look into it in the morning. Goodnight.”

  “Night.” Ryder stayed holding his son, wondering what Bree’s ideas were. He’d been truthful that his fame and money was more worrisome than her association with a sister who didn’t appear to run with the best crowd. All the same, before he found the nurses’ info in the morning, he was going to up his security around his property. He now had double the number of important people in his life to keep safe.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bree woke late, but she jumped quickly out of bed, excited to see if her ideas had any truth to them and even more excited to spend time with Ryder and Tate. She hurried out her door and checked on Tate first. He was still asleep. She padded back down the hallway, seeing that the guest room was empty. Navy was already gone. She heard weights clanking in the gym and headed in that direction.

  Ryder was doing a reverse fly with the cable machine. She could see the muscles in his back working through his fitted t-shirt. My, oh my, he was a beautiful man.

  He paused and turned to her. A droplet of sweat trickled down his forehead. He brushed it away and grinned. “Hey, sleeping beauty.”

  “Ah!” Bree grunted in protest. “One day, I don’t get up at five a.m., and you tease me.”

  He laughed. “You almost slept longer than Tate today.”

  “Nah, my little man is still asleep.”

  Ryder picked up a clean hand towel off the stack and wiped his face. “Your little man, eh?”

  Bree’s eyes widened. Had she overstepped boundaries with that comment?

  Ryder smiled. “I like that.”

  Bree returned the smile. Her mind was churning with the romantic kisses, and the ideas of last night. “Do you think we could talk with those nurses sometime today?”

  He nodded. “I called the company, and they texted me appointments for each of them to come by today, two this afternoon and one tonight.”

  “Thank you.” He was with it. “Talking to them face to face will help a lot.”

  He drank from a water bottle and then asked, “What is it you want to ask them about?”

  Bree hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt him if there was no truth to her theories, but this was his home and his family. She needed his approval. “I’m wondering if Jessica convinced Tate not to talk.”

  Ryder froze with the water bottle in his hand. He clutched it so tightly it crumpled. The pressure of his hand on the water bottle was nothing compared to the look of anguish that crossed his face. Shock, anger, and finally resignation. Bree didn’t move or say anything while he processed her accusation.

  He passed a hand over his face and leaned against the cable machine as if it was too hard to support himself. “You … really think she could’ve done that?”

  Bree shrugged, feeling like a horrible person for even thinking it, but last night and this morning, it wouldn’t leave her mind. “I didn’t know her, but maybe the cancer and the anguish of leaving her baby twisted her thoughts around.”

  Ryder straightened, and his blue eyes darkened. “You misunderstood my question. I know Jessica would be capable of something like that. What I’m asking is, based on your training, could a child as young as Tate be convinced not to speak?”

  “Yes.” Bree nodded. “Grief and influence by someone they love. I think it’s more than possible.”

  “So you want to speak with the nurses to see if they overheard Jessica trying to brainwash my son?” He scrubbed at his face again.

  Bree strode across the distance. “I’m sorry, Ry. I wouldn’t put you through this if I didn’t think we could find some answers.”

  “You’re sorry?” Ryder slowly shook his head and pointed at her. “You come in here like this angel helping me and Tate, bringing happiness and love back into our lives and you’re sorry? You’re the last person in the world who should be sorry. If I wasn’t all sweaty and disgusting, I’d be grabbing you and showing you exactly how grateful I am for you.”

  Bree grinned, relief and joy rushing through her. Ryder was pretty much perfect to her, and he kept acting like she was their savior or something. What if her theory didn’t pan out? Even if it did, would
they be any closer to helping Tate speak? She pushed her worries away and put a hand on her hip. “Well, maybe after you shower, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  Ryder laughed and winked. “Plan on it.”

  Bree turned toward the door. “I’ll go shower in case Tate wakes up.”

  “Thanks.”

  She glanced back over her shoulder before she got to the door. He was watching her go, a look of open admiration on his face, but it wasn’t just admiration of her physical traits, which she’d seen so often, it was admiration of her brain and her spirit. She loved him. When would she dare tell him that?

  Ryder was optimistic but scared to hear what the nurses had to say. The first two who came in were very kind, excited to see Tate, sorry he wasn’t speaking, but had no insight whatsoever. They seemed a little put off by Bree even asking if they’d heard Jessica ask Tate not to speak once she was gone. The second one got downright defiant.

  “Now, you see here. Miss Jessica was mighty grumpy at the end, but she was dying and leaving her loved ones behind. You’ll burn for speaking ill of the dead like this.”

  Bree reared back. “I’m sorry you feel that way, ma’am. I’m not trying to speak ill of anyone. I’m trying to help a little boy speak.”

  The woman huffed out of the house a few minutes later. They’d had Tate in the dining room coloring throughout both interviews, so he didn’t have to hear everything. Now, he clung to Ryder’s neck as if he knew how desperate and frustrated his father was feeling.

  Bree leaned back against the sofa and blew out a breath. Her hair was in fine, huge form today, and he loved the white long-sleeved shirt and fitted jeans she wore, but her lovely face was filled with stress.

  “I’m sorry, Ry. Maybe I was wrong.”

  Ryder stood with Tate in his left arm. He extended his right hand to Bree. He pulled her up. In her heels, she was taller than her usual five-six. He wouldn’t have to lean down too far to kiss her. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her. They hadn’t had a chance to follow through with their flirtations in the gym this morning. He didn’t know if kissing in front of Tate would be a good thing though. Ryder didn’t want to do anything to upset him.