Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (20 page)

Over the next few weeks, the men continued to woo me and I loved every second of it. I was careful to take things very slow with them. Despite being told that shifters were loyal and mated for life, I wanted to feel more solid in our relationship. It felt odd at first to date two men at once…strange, but very exciting.

I told my mother that I was seeing a man. Of course I didn’t tell her I was seeing two men, but do you blame me? She had a fit when I told her I was dating one, but she’d finally accepted it. I don’t know why, but I still felt guilty leaving her to go out at night. Knowing her heart was healthy helped a lot though. After I told her I’d read the doctor’s report on her heart, she stopped jumping on my case so much. I knew she was afraid I would move out.

John Platt called me more than a few times nagging me to get back together with him. It was crazy how the more I distanced myself from him, the more he wanted me. He even showed up at my work a few times. But John was dead to me as far as a relationship went. Conrad and Kurtis had shown me what caring men were like and I would never go back to a relationship like the one I’d had with John.

The two men treated me like gold. They liked to open doors for me, pay for everything, and compliment me on how pretty I was. Yes, it was old fashioned, but I loved it. Plus, they understood my need to go slow. Though we kissed and cuddled, that was the extent of it.

The men had invited me to visit their hometown, Shifter Villages, several times. I finally accepted. I made sure to prepare meals in advance for my mother and I tried not to listen when she complained about her ailments. I needed this weekend with my men—this getaway. Though they offered to pick me up, I decided to drive there myself.

Driving to Shifter Villages was exciting. Both Sherry and Judith had described the town to me and I had seen photos so I knew what to expect. The town had a mix of old ramshackle buildings and new modern structures.

The drive was a few hours from my home but I was so excited that time flew. Before I knew it, I was in SV. Shifter Villages wasn’t that big and my phone app guided me to the C and K Realty building quickly. As I pulled my car into one of the parking spaces in front of the building, I let out a deep exhale. I couldn’t wait to see them. It would be so good to spend time with the men on their turf for a change and get to know them even better.

Kurtis opened the door to the building before I even knocked. It made me feel good that he was so excited about our meeting he was looking out for me. As he ushered me in the door, Conrad greeted me with a wide smile. He was standing next to an older woman with a deeply dimpled face, rouged cheeks and lips, and bright blue eyes. I knew this had to be their mother. I recognized the pretty eyes. They were just a shade of blue lighter than her sons’.

“This is our mother, Pansy.”

I had to wonder what she thought of her sons sharing a girlfriend, but if I had any qualms they were quickly put to rest by her beaming face.

Her perfume greeted me before she did. As she looked at me I noticed her colorful clothing; a floral skirt, frilly blouse, and red patent shoes.

“Oh gracious, it’s so wonderful to meet you,” Pansy said.

“And it’s so nice to meet you,” I smiled at her. “I love your red shoes, Mrs. Anderson.”

“Oh, poof! Call me Pansy, please. Yes, these are my favorite. I feel like Dorothy in Oz.” She clicked her heels together.

“Mom, we’re going to take Jill out to see the town. You two will have time to get to know one another better later.”

“Alright, alright, I understand. You three run along and have fun. I’ll take care of everything here and later this week I’ll have you all over to my house for my specialty pot roast.” She gazed at her two sons proudly. “I’m so glad the twins have finally met their mate. You’re very pretty.”

A flutter went through my belly. I knew the men were interested in me as their mate, the one that would complete their triad, but to hear their mother say it was thrilling. They must have spoken to her about me. And she’d called me pretty! Conrad and Kurtis told me I was beautiful constantly but I knew my fuller figure was not society’s ideal. Sometimes I felt self-conscious about it. It didn’t help that my mom was always telling me how big I was. But apparently, this family liked me the way I was.

“Thank you for your kindness, Mrs. Anderson.”

“Pansy, please call me Pansy. It was such a pleasure to meet you, dear. Oh…I will be leaving early tonight if you don’t mind, boys.”

“Are you going to Kane’s?” Conrad asked.

Pansy nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm, that’s three weeks in a row you’ve asked to leave early on Friday. Are you meeting someone special there?” Kurtis teased.

Pansy giggled. “Well…I…”

Conrad’s brows shot up. “Mom, you met someone?”

“He’s just a friend.” It was obvious from the way Pansy said the words she thought of whomever she was meeting at Kane’s as much more than that.

“Who is it?” Kurtis asked.

Pansy’s face started to flush. “I…ah…now, don’t be nosey.”

“Ma…?” Kurtis arched his brows.

“I’m not telling you and that’s that,” Pansy’s upper lip jutted out as she set her chin firmly.

“I know that look,” Conrad said, “but ma, there’s some crazy shit going on around town.”

“Oh fizzle. Don’t you worry about me,” Pansy insisted. “You boys are too much. I can take care of myself. I can’t hide under a rock.”

“Well, you be careful. With everything going on in town…” Kurtis shook his head.

“Yeah, and if there’s any funny business…” Conrad added.

Pansy waved her hand at us. “I’m at Kane’s Bar and Grill. It’s a busy place. It’s not like we’re alone.

“Alright, alright…” Kurtis gave his mother a stern but affectionate look. “But if you have any troub…”

“Pffft, I’ll be fine. Now, run along instead of gabbing to me.”

Conrad shook his head. “Ma, you’re so stubborn. You just be careful.” He turned towards me. “Come on, we’ll show you around town. We’ll take our car and you can leave yours here for now.”

We all gave Pansy a goodbye peck on the cheek. Kurtis grabbed one of my hands and Conrad took the other as they led me to their car.

“She’s so adorable,” I said.

“Yes, she’s a wonderful mother,” Kurtis said, opening the passenger door for me. “But as you can see, she’s as stubborn as a mule.”

“I wonder why she didn’t want you to know who she’s seeing?”

“That’s probably because Conrad always finds something wrong with them,” Kurtis said, grinning. “No one is good enough for his momma.”

“Come on,” Conrad said, “so far they have all been screwballs. She had a guy that snorted all the time, another one that said ‘excuse me’ constantly…”

“Now, he wasn’t so bad,” Kurtis said, opening the passenger side door for me.

“Ha!” Conrad grunted. “Bunch of weirdos.”

After I climbed in, Kurtis shut the door and slid into the back seat while Conrad got into the driver’s seat.

“Mom’s a wonderful woman. She deserves someone nice,” Conrad said, buckling his seat belt. “And she works her ass off for us. Don’t let her sweet face fool you. That woman knows the realty business better than we do.”

“So, where do you want to go?” Kurtis asked from the back seat as Conrad turned on the car and gunned the engine. “Do you want the grand tour of Shifter Villages?”

“I sure would! It would be great to see the town. I’d really like to see Kane’s Bar and Grill and all the other places I’ve heard my friends Sherry and Judith talk about. And of course I want to see the Big Bull, where I’ll be staying.”

“Well,” Conrad sighed, “we can drive by Kane’s Bar and Grill, but what you’re going to see on the way isn’t very pretty!”

“Oh my God! That’s just awful!”

“Isn’t it though…” Kurtis said from the back seat, his voice tinged with sadness.

I was looking out the window at the charred remains of a building. Just a few buildings down I could see damage had been done to another one also.

“That mess you are looking at is the Dixie Diner. It’s been totally wiped out. And that,” Conrad removed his left hand from the steering wheel, pointing towards the damaged building near it, “is our old C and K Realty office building. It was set on fire a few weeks before the diner was.”

“That’s horrible,” I gasped. How anyone could deliberately set a fire was beyond comprehension.

“It was bad, but not nearly as bad as the fire at the Dixie Diner. We were at least able to salvage some of our records and office equipment.”

“Geez, that’s terrible, though,” I shook my head.

“We were lucky the fire was caught early. It could have been a lot worse,” Kurtis said. “There have been several other fires set and they all resulted in more damage than the fire at our building.”

“But none as bad as the one at the Dixie Diner,” Conrad chimed in.

“Is the owner planning to rebuild?”

Conrad shook his head. “Mel Thomas, the owner, decided to retire early. He’s going to put the building and land up for sale as is.”

“Are you planning to bid on it?” I asked.

Conrad nodded, “It would have to be a low ball offer as it will take several hundred thousand to rebuild the property and restore the land to a healthy condition.”

“I would love to see that happen,” I said. “It’s such a beautiful area. It would be a shame to leave that building in the condition it’s in now.”

“We’d love to buy it and restore it. We’re sure we could make good money leasing it out, but it’s not like we’d win the bid anyway,” Conrad said sourly.

“Why not?”

“Well,” Conrad scratched his head, “take the ‘Crazy Cakes Bakery building. The old building Grant and Evan the bakers were in before we found the new one for them.”

“Uh huh?”

Kurtis and I put a bid on it, but we didn’t get it.”

“Ugh, I don’t even want to talk about that. I have no idea what happened there,” Kurtis said glumly.

I arched my brows. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Conrad scratched his chin. “It was kind of weird. We made an offer for the building—a good offer. And we thought we had it in the bag. But a day or so later as the owners were mulling it over, someone else came along and offered just a little more than we did. It was odd.”

“I’m sorry, but I guess that happens,” I said.

“But it has happened to us now on three different occasions in the past few weeks. We make an offer, someone comes along and offers just a little more than us right before we are about to close the deal.”

“Could it be a coincidence?” I wondered out loud.

“It’s pretty unlikely,” Conrad pursed his lips. “I mean, these are sealed bids. The winner beats us out by just a very small amount. It’s as if they know exactly how much we are offering.”

“Maybe someone is spying on you?”

“It’s very odd,” Kurtis replied. “But we just put in a bid on the old post office building.”

“The post office?”

“Yeah,” Kurtis said, “Shifter Villages is developing and the post office outgrew the building they were in. They built a new one and put the old one up for sale. We think it’s a great location for a coffee shop or a sandwich place.” Kurtis shook his head. “We put in a bid and if we are outbid again this time…then something fishy is going on for sure.”

“Speaking of sandwiches and coffee,” Conrad piped up, “I could use some food right now. Do you want to stop at the ‘Crazy Cakes Bakery’ for a latte and pastry, Jill? Their new location is just up the street.”

“That sounds yummy! Maybe we’ll see Judith too!” I exclaimed. I’d eaten a light breakfast before traveling to Shifter Villages but my excitement must have burned it off. I was starving! I had plans to meet up with Judith later during the weekend but it would be great to see her sooner. I knew Judith helped out her baker bear hubbies Grant and Evan Myles, the owners of Crazy Cakes Bakery, on occasion. Maybe she would be working today.

Conrad pulled the car into the bakery and I had barely gotten out of the vehicle when the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon bread and chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven wafted towards me.

The assortment of goodies in the window was a feast for sore eyes. Trays held soft croissants, crisp baguettes, gooey fudge brownies, chunky oatmeal cookies, and cupcakes—tons of cupcakes, from simple vanilla, to peanut butter and jelly, to coconut—and so much more. The Crazy Cakes Bakery storefront window was a visual spectacle.

“Well, Jill, you look like you see something you like,” Kurtis teased, noticing the hungry glint in my eyes. “So, what do you want?”

“Gosh, I don’t know,” I moaned, studying the goodies. “There are so many choices. I think I’m ready to lick the window.” I had a weakness for sweets and could see there was no sense in trying to be strong now.

Conrad laughed. “Come on, baby. I’ll choose for you.”

He grabbed my hand firmly in his large palm. Kurtis grabbed the other and the men led me into the store.

When we walked in I saw Judith right away. She looked radiantly happy, and despite working in the heat of the bakery not a hair was out of place. Good ole’ Judith, she always looked so put together. Her eyes arched in surprise when she saw me.

“Don’t look so shocked, Judith. I told you I was coming.”

Judith grinned, shaking her head. “I know you did. I just didn’t believe it. These two must be something really special to get you to leave your mother.”

I nodded. “They are.” As I said the words, Conrad and Kurtis moved in closer towards me, their bodies brushing against mine. I knew they liked what they heard.

“So, are we still on for lunch tomorrow?” Judith asked.

“Yep, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up!”

“Sounds great!”

Judith looked at me quizzically. “Should I pick you up at the Big Bull Inn?”

“Yeah, um, that should be good I guess.” I turned to look at the two men.

“Great, and what can I get you all now?” Judith flipped her hand towards the display case.

“Decisions, decisions…everything looks so good.”

“We will take one of each,” Kurtis said firmly, pointing to the pastries.

“Kurtis! That’s nuts! These things must pack a zillion calories.”

Conrad winked at me. “Just eat the pastries standing up. Calories don’t count if you eat standing up.”

“Wha…!”

“Yeah, they go to your feet and you walk them off,” Kurtis chimed in.

“You two are crazy,” I gave them both an affectionate smack on the shoulders.

“Uh huh…we’re crazy for you,” Kurtis growled.

Kurtis’s words were sweeter than any pastry could possibly be, and a little flutter went through my belly.

“I’ll just have a cinnamon roll. I say ‘just have,’ but that thing is massive!” I watched as Judith used tongs to lift out a basketball sized gooey cinnamon roll and place it in a white bag with the ‘Crazy Cakes’ logo. “It’s big enough for all of us.”

“Hmmm, maybe you think so,” Conrad rubbed his stomach, “but I have a big appetite and I know what I like...” As he said the words ‘big appetite and I know what I like’ he looked directly at me. His eyes were filled with desire and my stomach did more flip-flops. These men were driving me wild. I tried to focus on the desserts instead of my other cravings.

Conrad ordered a raspberry and cheese Danish and Kurtis ordered a buttery, almond flavored bear claw for his pastry. My eyes widened as they also placed an order for a half a dozen oatmeal raisin bars and a dozen sweet macaroon cookies.

After Judith packaged the order and we said our goodbyes we headed for the car.

“How about having a cup of coffee at our place before we go on the tour of SV?” Conrad asked. “I’ll make lattes.”

“That sounds yummy,” I agreed.

The drive to their house was a short one but by the time we got there they had devoured the oatmeal raisin bars and macaroon cookies. It was obvious they had voracious appetites!

“Well, I’m glad to see you saved your pastries,” I teased, “I mean, you do want something to eat with your coffee, don’t you?”

The men laughed and led me into their apartment. It was a typical man lair with a large sofa, over-stuffed chair, big screen TV and some sporting goods in a chest on the floor. It was comfy and homey but needed a woman’s touch.

“Have a seat, baby,” Kurtis said.

I snuggled into the middle of the oversized couch.

As Conrad and Kurtis went into the kitchen to make our snack, I looked closer around the room. A photo of their mother was on display on a side table. I picked it up and looked at it. Mrs. Anderson—Pansy, was such a sweet woman and she showered her sons with affection. I wished my mother felt and acted that way towards me.

I put the photo back down on the table as the men came in the room. Conrad was carrying steaming cups of coffee on a tray and Kurtis had another platter holding our pastries.

The two men set the treats down on the coffee table and sat down, one on either side of me.

“Sweets for the sweet,” Kurtis said, lifting a dessert off the platter and handing it to me.

“Kurtis,” I cried out laughing as I looked at the huge cinnamon roll in front of me. “I can’t eat all of that!” As I looked at the pastry, feelings of guilt flooded through me. My mother harassed me a lot about my size. When I wanted a treat, I had to eat it in private or she would make comments like “why are you eating that when you should be on a diet?” or “no wonder you’re so fat.” It was hard to enjoy and savor the taste with those comments. I stared at the roll, licking my lips. I wanted it. Why couldn’t I get her words out of my head?

Kurtis noticed my hesitation. “Just eat as much as you want, baby.”

I had to stop letting my mother play with my mind all the time. I closed my eyes and bit into the roll, savoring the chewy texture of the bun and the gooey sweetness of the icing. It tasted so good.

“Here’s your coffee,” Conrad said, handing me a latte. I took a sip. The warm liquid chased the sticky, sweet bun down my throat. The combination was yummy.

“Mmm,” Kurtis smiled, “I love watching you taste that bun. You’re so sexy, Jill.”

“Aww…thank you.” I could feel my skin flushing.

It felt so good to sit between my two delicious men and enjoy the tasty treats.

“Is Judith really going to pick you up at the Big Bull Inn?” Kurtis asked.

“Why yes…why?”

“Well, we were hoping you’d stay with us instead of at the Big Bull,” Kurtis said, eying me intently.

“I…I think that I....” God, I wanted these two men. I’d been dating Kurtis and Conrad for a while now and I was ready to go to the next level. The prospect of sleeping with them more than excited me… I had a quick fantasy of Kurtis licking my breasts while Conrad’s fingers played with my rear end. But taking that step frightened me also. I looked down at the scar on my wrist. The constant reminder I wore of the day that I fell—the same day my father had left my mother and me. What if they slept with me and then dumped me?

“Yes, there’s a spare bedroom you can stay in down the hall,” Conrad said.

“Oh…” My heart slid. While it was very obvious that Kurtis was asking me if I wanted to sleep with him and his brother, it appeared that Conrad did not have the same desire towards me. It didn’t seem that he was ready to take it to the next level after all. I guess I should have felt happy because I was nervous about the next step, but I just felt a deep, resounding sense of disappointment.

But then Conrad added shyly, “Unless of course, you would like to join us in the bedroom, Jill?”