“Damn, you look beautiful,” he said.
“Is that your answer?”
“Tuesday, you look so damn sexy in that bridesmaid’s dress, I can’t even remember your question.”
Nolan, Jason, Nick, Ethan, Levi, and Lenox all chuckled. I looked around Nolan’s study, which I’d been told used to be a playroom for Jackson until he was too old for toys, and then Nolan had taken it over, and I was taken aback by the hotness that surrounded me. Mercy was in Nolan and Reagan’s master bedroom with the women getting ready for her big day and she’d sent me down to talk to her groom.
“Sweetness,” he growled.
“Sorry. Sorry.” I waved a hand in front of my face. “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen so many good-looking men in the same room.”
“Tuesday,” he warned.
“I mean, I’ve been backstage during fashion shows. And those can get pretty wild. Men in all stages of undress while they change into their next outfit. But a room full of fully dressed men? Hands down, never seen a hotter bunch.”
“Why are you here?” he clipped.
“To annoy you?” I smiled.
“Now you’re being cute.”
“As much as this is fun and all, I need you to take something to Mercy for me,” Jason cut in.
“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” I stepped farther into the room and held out a small box and card in Jason’s direction.
“Damn,” Jason murmured, overcome with emotion and handed me an envelope.
“She looks beautiful,” I whispered.
“I have no doubt; she’s beautiful every day.”
“She can’t wait to be your wife,” I told him. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Tuesday, for taking care of her until I found her.”
I pinched my lips together and willed myself not to cry. God, I totally loved Jason Walker.
“Come on, Sweetness, I’ll walk you back.”
Jackson tucked me close and kissed the top of my head. Something I will never, ever, take for granted again.
“I love you, Tuesday.”
I stopped midstride and looked up at him. “Uh, duh. I love you, too, Jack.”
“Only you would be a smartass when I’m telling you I love you for the first time.”
“It’s not the first time.”
“Sweetness, I’ve never said those words. Not to you or anybody.”
“I didn’t need the words. You told me when you didn’t give up on me. You told me when you held me in your arms when I cried. You told me when you took my back with my mom, and by how you treat Gran. And when you carried me through a blazing fire. But, mostly, you tell me every time you look at me like I’m something special. I never need the words, Jack. I just need you.”
“Fuck,” he growled. “Never gonna be able to top that, babe. Never in my life will I ever be able to give you back anything close to what you just said.”
* * *
I watched Jasper Walker walk my best friend down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams. There wasn’t a dry eye as we surrounded the couple while they said their vows. There was no wedding party, or maybe there were no guests and only wedding attendants because we’d all participated in their ceremony.
Mercy had everything she wanted. And Jason Walker looked like he was floating on sunshine and rainbows he was so happy. His sweet mom had cried before, during, and especially after Jason and Mercy were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Walker. It was then she pulled Mercy into a hug and told her she was the answer to their prayers.
No one wanted to bring Kayla, Jason’s first wife, into the day, but I knew something no one else did. Mercy had visited Kayla’s grave first thing this morning. She also had an old gold locket that had belonged to her tucked into her flowers. Mercy’s something borrowed. No one else may’ve agreed, but Mercy wanted Kayla there. Jason and Kayla may’ve been ending their marriage before she’d passed away, but they were best friends and that hadn’t changed throughout their marriage, their separation, or her death. One day, I was sure she’d tell Jason. Just not today.
“What are you thinking about?” Jackson asked when he sat next to me.
It was the first time I’d sat down all day and I was exhausted.
“How beautiful the day turned out,” I told him.
“It was perfect,” he agreed.
Almost perfect, but there was something seriously wrong with Delaney, though I wouldn’t tell Jackson that and thankfully everyone was having such a great time no one seemed to notice. Except for Jasper, he was keeping a close eye on his daughter. The only time his gaze seemed to veer off her was when they landed on Carter Lenox. He’d barely made the wedding by the skin of his teeth. He’d rushed in with less than five minutes to spare. Rushed may’ve been an over exaggeration, it was more like he’d limped in, but he’d done it quickly.
Carter was eyeing Delaney, too. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact something was going on between the two of them, I just didn’t know what that something was. But Carter’s patience looked to be wearing thin as Delaney had avoided him all day.
“So, I was thinking. Gran’s finished movin’ out of The Manor and since everything I owned is now gone, I was wondering . . .” I paused and looked around the makeshift dance floor in front of us. Honor Lenox was spinning Carson around, Honor’s tiny baby bump evident in her form-fitted bridesmaid’s dress. “Would you like to move into The Manor with me? I know it’s soon,” I rushed out. “But these last two weeks I’ve been living with you at your condo and, honestly, I don’t want that to end.”
I slid my eyes from the dance floor and chanced looking at Jackson. I wasn’t sure what I thought I’d find, but his blinding smile calmed my racing heart.
* * *
Jackson
Tuesday was full of surprises.
Each day she opened up more and it was a thing of beauty.
But I was hoping this conversation could have been put off for a while. Not because I wasn’t ready, I was. However, I wanted a few things to happen before we moved into The Manor together. Or at least one thing.
As Tuesday liked to say, we’d only been together a hot minute, but like any member of my family would remind her, I’m a man who knows what he wants. And when I find it, I go for it.
The first chords of Dan+Shay’s “Speechless” started playing, and Mercy and Jason walked to the dance floor for their first dance. The song was perfect. Both for them, and for Tuesday and me. Every time I saw Tuesday’s beautiful smile light up a room I was, indeed, speechless. She took my breath and, in its place, left something so warm and content I could survive on that feeling alone.
I turned and scooted my chair around so I was directly facing her. Our knees were touching, and I gathered both of her hands in mine.
“I didn’t want to have this conversation here,” I started. Her smile faltered, but that was okay. “I wanted this to be special. I figured I’d take you out to your orchard and listen to you tell me stories of your childhood, surrounded by all the goodness and love your grandparents gave you. But, maybe now is better, surrounded by all the people who love us.” I transferred both of her hands into one of mine and reached into my pocket. “Yes, I want to move into The Manor with you, on one condition. That house is more than a house, it’s where we will start and grow our family. It’s the place where we’ll take what your grandparents started and continue the tradition of filling it with so much love it overflows.” I pulled the ring I’d been carrying around since the day it was finished from my pocket and held it out for her to see. “Gran’s diamonds from her engagement set and my mother’s emeralds from her anniversary band make up this ring. I’ll move in with you, but only after you’re my wife.”
“Are you—”
“Yes, Sweetness. I’m asking you if you’ll marry me.”
Tuesday’s eyes hadn’t left my trembling hand, and I started to doubt my timing. Today was supposed to be about Jason and Mercy. Their wedding day. Maybe she wanted her own day, her own sp
ecial time to remember.
Shit.
“Yes.” She spoke so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly.
“Yes?”
“Yes, Jackson. One condition.”
“What’s that, Sweetness?”
There it was, her smile. The one that’d changed my life. My weakness. My future. The smile she’d pass down to my children, and I’d get to see for the rest of my life.
“I don’t want to wait. When I was in that bathtub waiting for my life to end, I realized something. I’ve wasted too much time. I had so many regrets. And when I thought I was going to die, my biggest regret was you and the time we’d never have. So, yes, I want to marry you, but I want to do it soon. I want to start our life, our family. You’re sure, I’m sure, and there is no need to postpone getting married.”
“We can absolutely not wait,” I told her and slipped the ring on her finger.
Mercy and Jason were dancing off to the side, lost in their moment and everyone was watching them as they finished their first dance. All but three, that was. My mom, Gran, and my dad had their eyes set on us. All three smiling. Two of them wiping tears of joy. My dad gave me a lift of his chin, my mom a shaky, but no less happy, smile, and Gran looked over the moon her beloved granddaughter was getting her happy ever after.
“I love you, Jackson.”
“Love you, Sweetness.”
And finally, she leaned closer and kissed me.
* * *
Delaney
The day had been beautiful, exactly as my new sister-in-law, Mercy, had intended. My dad had walked her down the cream runner that had been laid over the grass and had given her to my brother. She’d told me she’d married the man of her dreams. And by the way she looked at my brother, I believed her. I couldn’t have been happier for the pair. There was so much love in the air it was contagious. Lucky for me I was no longer susceptible to the affliction.
Once upon a time, I’d thought we’d have all of this. A happy ending to our rocky start.
Carter Lenox.
My one and only.
The only man I’d ever loved. A sweet and innocent love that had grown over the years until it had consumed me. Every part of my life had revolved around when I’d see him next, when he’d call, when he’d email me. I couldn’t remember a time I didn’t love him.
Then it ended.
Not the love, the innocence of it. All that was left was pain and misery. Tainted love and shattered dreams. I couldn’t forgive him, and he’d never forgive me if he knew what I’d done.
What I’d lost.
So, I was doing the only thing I could do, I was trying to move on. From the memories, from love, from Carter. It was time—well beyond time. Our story wouldn’t end with a happily ever after.
I’d thought I was moving toward my new normal, settling into a life that no longer included Carter, when he barged back in. Just like he’d always done.
He was home from whatever mission he’d been sent on, a mission he’d never tell me about, a part of his life he’d gone to great pains to keep me away from. I knew Carter Lenox the man, not Lenox the deadly Navy SEAL. I’d never known that part of him and I never would.
I didn’t know his friends, never seen where he lived in Virginia. He had stuff at my house and what wasn’t hanging in my closet was still at his parents’.
So, now he was here, he’d made the trip to see Jason and Mercy get married. Carter, the man I’ve been trying to avoid all night, was standing across the dance floor from me talking to my dad and brother, but his eyes were on me. For as long as I could remember I’d dreamt about the next time I’d have his attention. And when I had Carter, I had all of him. Nothing in the world felt as good as being in his arms, having all his focus solely on me. But then he’d leave and I’d have nothing.
Now it didn’t feel good—it felt like a dagger.
Carter broke away from my brother and started toward me. His steps were deliberate, and he had a look full of fierce determination. I glanced over Carter’s shoulder to see Mercy grab Jason’s bicep, halting his progress. Damn her. I didn’t want to do this here. Why couldn’t Carter leave it alone? Everyone would know. The secret we’d kept all these years would be for naught.
Without warning or permission, he grabbed my hand, threaded our fingers together, and pulled me smack in the middle of the dance floor. And with our families watching, he tucked me close and started to sway.
I started to pull back to leave an acceptable distance between us when he spoke. “No more.”
“No more?”
“That shit is done,” he growled.
“What are you talking about?”
“Me giving you space.”
“Space? All you’ve ever given me is space, Carter.”
“And that shit is done, too.”
“I agree. It’s done. We’re done.”
“We are never done, Laney.”
This was not going to happen here.
“Let go of me,” I hissed.
“That’s never going to happen either.”
“You’re unbelievable. You say you love me, but you don’t care how badly this is hurting me.”
“I love you, with every fiber of my soul. It started the day I understood what the emotion was, and it will be true until the day I die,” he told me.
I’d heard that for years, and it was always followed by a “but.”
But I’m not good enough for you, Laney.
But I can’t have you, Laney.
But you deserve better, Laney.
I waited for the pain to slice through me and when it did, I used it.
I cut Carter Lenox straight through and I hated every second of it.
“You’re too late, Carter. We’re done. I’m sorry, I just don’t love you anymore.” I jerked out of his arms, my eyes met his furious ones, and I used the anguish that caused, too. “Take care of yourself.”
He didn’t come after me.
No one did.
I made it home from Mercy and Jason’s perfect day, and once and for all, I mourned the loss of young, innocent love.
The weight of it was astounding.
And I’d never be the same.
Delaney and Carter are coming soon in Adoring Delaney.
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Also by Riley Edwards
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The 707 Freedom Series
Free
Freeing Jasper
Finally Free
Freedom
The Next Generation (707 spinoff)
Saving Meadow
Chasing Honor
Finding Mercy
Claiming Tuesday
Adoring Delaney
The Collective
Unbroken
Trust
About the Author
Riley Edwards is a bestselling multi-genre author, wife, and military mom. Riley was born and raised in Los Angeles but now resides on the east coast with her fantastic husband and children.
Riley writes heart-stopping romance with sexy alpha heroes and even stronger heroines. Riley's favorite genres to write are romantic suspense and military romance.
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