Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (22 page)

“It’s so beautiful.” I moaned out loud. Despite reading the description and looking at it dozens of times, I couldn’t help but look at the wedding gown I’d just ordered online one more time. The bridal site had dozens of dresses but the minute I saw it, I knew this was it—
the
dress.  It was gorgeous; a beautiful Cinderella style dress in diamond white. It had a voluminous tulle skirt and a sweetheart neckline that led to a lace bodice accented with metallic embroidery and glittering crystals. I absolutely loved it! I’d ordered satin heels and a sparkling tiara to wear with it too.

I closed my eyes as I visualized my two men waiting for me at the church alter. Although we were mated, they wanted me to have the wedding of my dreams. I needed time to give notice at work and tell my mother I was moving out and getting married. We’d decided not to move in together till after the wedding. It was hard to wait. My body ached every night and every day for their touch, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

Kurtis and Conrad had insisted on paying for everything. We’d decided to hold the reception at Kane’s Bar and Grill. Though I had never been to a wedding reception there, I’d seen pictures of Sherry and Judith’s receptions and they were beautiful. Because they were having so many weddings lately, the bar and grill now had an events coordinator to help plan them and other functions. I’d met with the new events coordinator, Sabrina, to plan everything. Sabrina was Kane Foster’s sister. He was the owner of Kane’s Bar and Grill. She told me she had come to SV to visit her brother for a short time but ended up staying longer due to a broken leg. During her stay she fell in love with Shifter Villages. She enjoyed working at the restaurant and was tired of her high pressure job. When Kane asked her to stay in SV and run the events for his restaurant, she had gladly agreed. I felt so lucky to have her help me coordinate everything. She had an eye for detail. It was so much fun working with her, and the assistant manager of the restaurant, Marcie Shore, on the event.

The two women helped me plan a wonderful time for the guests. I was excited just thinking about it. Guests would sit at long tables covered in satin damask tablecloths in white pearl. Gold rimmed china, silverware, and crystal stemware would be the perfect place settings, and cream candles would lend soft lighting to the affair. Ivory and blush pink roses mixed with white lilacs, cream hydrangeas and soft greenery capped off the table and matched the bouquet I would carry. Plus, I made sure there would be twinkling lights throughout the room. Sabrina said that Marcie Shore, who had recently married Kane, had them at her wedding and they made the place magical.

Magical—I loved the sound of that. I was going to have a magical wedding…a princess wedding. But there was one thing that would be missing—my father. He would not be there to walk me down the aisle, and that was very sad. Lately, I’d been thinking more and more about trying to track him down. When he’d first left, I was so hurt and angry I’d done nothing. As time passed I’d just assumed he wouldn’t want to see me. The few times I’d said something to mom about looking for him she’d knocked the idea down, telling me he didn’t want to see me and I would be dumb for trying to find him. I tried to accept it, yet there was always this nagging inside of me, wanting to know why he had deserted us…had I said something? Was he fed up with my mother for once and for all? I had so many questions. But this wasn’t the time to think about it. Right now I had to deal with my other parent—my mother.

I opened my dresser drawer and took out the green velvet box. Popping it open, I couldn’t help but smile at the sparkling ring nestled inside. It was so beautiful. Just this past weekend, Kurtis and Conrad had presented me with the ring. I was so surprised and elated. Of course I’d said yes. I’d taken the ring off when I got home. I didn’t want my mother to see it before I’d had a chance to explain everything to her. But now was the time. I slipped the ring on my finger. The light caught the sparkle and reflected it back to me. It was so beautiful, just like I knew my life with Kurtis and Conrad would be. But there was one thing that I knew was not going to be so beautiful—and that was the discussion I was about to have with my mom.

~ * ~

“Mom? Mom…why is it so dark in here?”

I’d knocked on my mother’s bedroom door, and when she hadn’t answered I’d worried that something was wrong so I’d opened it.

“It’s about time, Jill. You’ve been gone all weekend. You came home and barely said boo to me,” she croaked out.

I glanced over towards my mother. The draperies were drawn and the air smelled stale. I walked over and opened one of the curtains.

“Sorry, I…I’ve been preoccupied.”

“I’ll say you have. That man you’re dating has been taking all of your time away. At least John Platt didn’t do that. He didn’t take you away from me all of the time.”

“Oh mom…” I sighed. “The reason John Platt wasn’t around that much was because he was busy cheating on me. I’ve spent plenty of time with you.”

“Humph.”

God, I could see this was
not
a good time to talk to her…but would there ever be a good time? As I mulled over what to say next, her eyes widened and I followed her gaze. She’d spotted the ring on my finger.

I lowered my hand and started to move it behind my back.

“What’s that?” she demanded.

“Well…ah…I…ah…” oh what the hell, she was going to find out sooner or later.

“I got engaged.”

“You did what!”

“I’m going to be married...in a few weeks.”

“Jill Lambert! How dare you get engaged without asking my permission first?”

“Mom,” I said soothingly, trying to stay calm. “I’m a grown woman. I can decide if I should get engaged or not.”

Mom frowned, shaking her head. “After all I’ve done for you, raising you single-handedly with my heart condition.”

“Mom, dad didn’t leave till I was sixteen, and I saw the letter from your doctor. Your heart is healthy. You don’t have a heart condition.”

“Well, what does he know?”

I rolled my eyes. Despite her being nasty and picking on me, deep down I really felt she loved me. But it was so hard to reason with her. And then I brought up what I’d been thinking about for some time.

“I…ah…I want to track down dad.”

Mom’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”

“I’m getting married, mom. Dad raised me for most of my life. Yes, it hurt when he left and I was angry, but I want to see him and talk to him. And maybe…just maybe, ask him to walk me down the aisle.”

“Your dad doesn’t want to see you,” Mom said bluntly.

Her words stung. These were the same words she’d said in the past. But this time I felt stronger. This time I was not going to let her shoot me down.

“Maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I said. I was determined to at least try.

“Well, you shouldn’t bother to waste your time. I know for a fact he won’t want to see you.” She nodded her head as an expression of certainty crossed her face.

“How do you know?” I pushed.

“I just know, that’s all,” she said, tight-lipped.

This was the first time I had ever pushed her, and I had a feeling she knew more than what she was letting on. “I am leaving right now. I will pack my things and walk out of this house. And I won’t come back unless you tell me,” I threatened.

Mom let out a deep breath. I rarely argued with her. She knew when I did I wasn’t going to back down.

“I know he doesn’t want to see you…because…” she hesitated.

“What mom, what is it? Why doesn’t he want to see me?”

“He doesn’t want to see you because he can’t.”

“He can’t?” I was puzzled.

“No, he can’t,” Mom said sourly.

“Why not?” I asked, with bated breath.

As my mother responded, I could feel my head reeling in shock!

“Shit!” I peered into the rearview mirror again. Was that who I thought it was? The car behind me sure looked like John Platt’s car, but with the sun reflecting off of the mirror’s shiny surface, I couldn’t be sure. As I rounded a corner I slowed down and quickly jerked my head around. It was him all right.

Over the past couple of weeks, John had been harassing me constantly about our break up with phone calls and text messages. But now it appeared he was following me. That was all I needed—another thing to think about.

My mind flashed back to the conversation I’d had with my mother. My mother admitted that she had been lying to me all these years. My father had never deserted us—he had died. He had gone out of town that day on a business trip and was killed in an auto accident. The police contacted mom but it was never reported in the paper. Everyone believed her when she said he’d left us. When I asked her why she’d lied to me, she said she thought it would hurt me more if I knew he’d died. In my heart, I think she thought I would stop idolizing him so much if I thought he’d deserted us. It was a hard pill to swallow. I’d always thought he was out there, but now I knew he was gone and never coming back. I’d never had time to grieve.

And it wasn’t just that shocking news. Lately, I’d noticed Conrad and Kurtis seemed distracted. It concerned me. Were they tired of me? Did they no longer want me?

I was on my way to meet the two of them at the park in Shifter Villages for a picnic lunch and I planned to talk to them about it then. Now it looked like John had followed me all the way from Pennsylvania. I’d been so absorbed with thinking about my father, my mother’s lies, my two men and the upcoming wedding I hadn’t noticed him till just minutes ago. The park’s parking lot was just up ahead and as I turned off the road to enter it, I mentally steeled myself for what I would say to John. I just hoped it didn’t get too ugly.

John’s car followed mine into the lot and we both got out of our cars at the same time.

“What are you doing here, John?” I shook my head. He had some nerve following me.

“What do you think I’m doing, Jill? I came after you.”

“John, I have told you over and over, I am not interested in you.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. I need you in my life,” John said firmly.

“You should have thought about that when you were cheating on me. I’m not interested in you anymore, period.”

“Just give me another chance, Jill…please,” John pleaded.

It was almost comical to hear John beg…all those nights I’d spent in tears because I wanted him to want me so badly. Now when I had zero interest in him, he was begging me to take him back.

“You want to throw away everything we have? What the hell are you thinking, Jill?”

“John, we’re done. Don’t call me or text me again and don’t follow me.” I turned on my heel to walk towards the park.

But if I’d thought John would leave, I was wrong. “What’s wrong with you, woman? You’re giving me up to be with those shifter brothers?”

I stopped in my tracks. John knew I was dating Conrad and Kurtis and he knew they were shifters…What was he doing—stalking me?

I whipped my body around to face him. “How do you know who I’m dating? And what business is it of yours?”

John walked towards me. “Look, Jill, I think you and I could build a future together…get married and have kids.” He reached his hand towards my shoulder. “I need you, Jill.”

I slapped John’s hand away. “Don’t touch me. Get your hand off of me.”

John’s eyes grew dark. “You are a stupid bitch. We could have had everything together. You want to give me up for some dumb animal dudes?”

I shook my head. He was insane. He cheated on me and now he was telling me we could have had a beautiful life together?
And
he was insulting Conrad and Kurtis. He wasn’t even worth talking to.

“Get a life, John.” I turned back towards the park.

“You’ll be sorry. I hear those two loser boyfriends of yours are constantly being outbid on the properties they are trying to buy. Hell, they were just outbid on the old post office. They won’t make any money if they don’t have any property. Yeah, C and K Realty is going down the tubes. They’re going to be bankrupt soon, and you’ll be miserable, living in poverty.”

“Piss off!” I shouted. Why did everything come down to money with John? Even if the men were flat broke I would love them. I would rather eat rice with them then roast with John.

And how did John know they lost the bid? I knew that the men had lost out on purchasing the old Crazy Cakes Bakery building along with some other properties—someone had outbid them by just a small amount. It had hurt their bottom line and their self-esteem. But according to John, they had lost out on the old post office building too. They hadn’t told me that.

“You little bitch,” John grabbed my shoulder and twirled me around. “You listen to me now.”

“Ow! Let me go, that hurts!”

John’s face was twisted and he looked so sinister it was frightening.

Before I had a chance to say anything more I heard a deep howl and a sleek, muscular wolf appeared in front of me.

“Kurtis!”

John pulled his hand quickly from my shoulder as Kurtis circled him, hissing. He bared his sharp teeth, his tail arching in the air.

I had seen Kurtis in his wolf before, but never like this. The anger emanating from his furry body was shocking. He looked like he was ready to pounce on John and rip him to shreds.

“Kurtis…don’t. You’ll get locked up. He’s not worth it.”

John had seemed frozen to the ground but now he regained his senses. He put up his hands and started backing away. “Ok, ok…easy there.” He walked backwards eying Kurtis the entire time, then slid into his car and slammed the door. He rolled down the window and yelled out to me. “You’ll be sorry, bitch!” He turned on the car and gunned it, squealing his tires as he drove out of the parking lot.

I was trembling as Kurtis changed back into his man. He was stark naked but oblivious that we were in a public park. He only had eyes for me. Thankfully, no one else was around.

“Are you ok, Jill?” Kurtis wrapped his muscular arms around me.

I visibly relaxed as I melted into his body. Even though Kurtis was naked and it was a cool day, his body felt warm and loving. “He…he just makes me sick.”

Kurtis held me for a few minutes till I stopped shaking and then he went to pull on his clothes which were next to some trees a short distance away.

He shook his head as he rejoined me. “That guy seems like a nut bag. If he ever comes round you again…let me know. I’ll make short work of him. I let him off easy this time.” As he spoke, Conrad’s truck drove into the parking lot.

“Looks like Conrad’s here.” Kurtis said, “He had to finish some paperwork at the office so he was running late.”

As Conrad got out of the car and came towards us, I tried to quiet my mind but it was racing. Was it true what John said? Were Kurtis and Conrad outbid on the old post office building, and if so, how did he know?

“Are you ready for a picnic?” Conrad asked, grinning as he walked towards me.

“Yes, I have all the picnic food in the car.”

Conrad sniffed the air and frowned as he neared me. “Are you ok? What just happened?”

It was incredible how sensitive he and Kurtis were to my scent. I knew Conrad could smell that another man had been near me and my lingering fear.

“I’m fine. My ex-boyfriend made a surprise visit. I’ll tell you about it at lunch.”

Conrad grimaced, “Jill…wha?”

I gave him a light kiss on the lips. “We’ll talk about it at lunch.”

Conrad grunted.

“Are you two hungry? Get the basket!”

The two men pulled the blanket and picnic basket out of the car and we headed towards a sunny spot in the park.

After the two men laid out the blanket, I took the food out of the basket. I’d always imagined what it would be like to go on a romantic picnic, but John never wanted to eat anywhere but fancy restaurants. But now here I was with my two hunks. I had brought crusty French bread, Gruyère cheese, a green salad, red grapes, a chocolate torte for dessert, and of course a bottle of red wine to wash it all down. But my hands shook a little and I had trouble focusing on the food. John had frightened me but my guts told me after being face to face with Kurtis he was unlikely to come near me again. But why hadn’t my men told me about their business trouble? We were supposed to be life partners, after all!