You got to Me (Love on Tour #3) (19 page)

Epilogue

I look at myself in the mirror and sigh. “I look ridiculous.”

“You look beautiful,” Dani says.

“Your father wants to come in,” my mom says.

“Is he carrying a shotgun?”

“Don’t be so melodramatic.”

I put a hand on my massive belly. The dress designer tried to make it drape gracefully over the thing. But I’m over eight months pregnant, and there isn’t much hope.

“You could’ve waited,” Dani says. “Or eloped six months ago when Sam proposed.”

I could have. But I had two problems. The first was that I wanted this big fancy wedding. Roger and I had gotten married in a courthouse because it was practical, of course. I had this idiotic notion that if Sam and I had a big affair it would stick. So Sam had gone all out to give me the wedding of my dreams, and I loved him for it. But I had also insisted that the paper be signed and the deal sealed before giving birth.

I take a breath and remember the way Sam proposed.

“I know I made you a promise Lisa, that I wouldn’t propose to you. But I have to go back on that now. I love you so much and I don’t want to live a single moment without you. I can give all the money away if you want. I’ll do anything, if you’ll marry me.

I was certain Dani was reading my mind because the next thing she said was, “Oh, I almost forgot.” She takes me by the shoulders. “I officially let you out of the pact.”

It was a good thing, too, because I had not insisted that Sam give all the money away. Though I did make him give a large donation to the National Parks Foundation as an engagement gift.

“Never thought you’d say that, did you?” I smirked.

“Not really.”

“What’s the pact?” Stacey asks, putting yet more hairspray on me. She’s doing a great job, considering one of her arms is in a bright purple cast.

“That we would never marry rich dudes,” Dani says.

“Oh. Hell, I thought for a second that maybe it was that you’d never marry brothers.” She smiles. “Rich dudes aren’t so bad. I wouldn’t mind having one.”

“Brad is eligible and rich. We could keep it all in the family,” my mother suggests.

“Not interested,” Stacey responds. “No offense, Mrs. Roberts.”

“It’s Ms. Roberts, and none taken.” But she definitely looks pissed off.

Dani turns to my mom. “Mom, Sean is waiting to take you to your seat. I’ll go get him and let dad in.”

I grab Dani’s arm. “No way. Sean in a tux is too much for you. You’ll never come back.”

“I’m on it,” Stacey says.

My mom gives me one last hug and leaves the room with Stacey.

“You okay?” Dani asks me.

I am gripping my stomach. It’s been giving me major pains all day. But I’ve been told this is part of the deal when you get close to your due date. I take several deep breaths, and it stops.

“Fine, just a little nervous. Hey, where’s Bell?”

Dani points to the door of the bathroom. “She’s been in there for a while.”

We watch as Bell comes stumbling out of the room, her hand on her stomach. “Damn it. Hank’s spawn is really giving me a hard time.”

“It’ll get easier in about a month,” Dani says.

“It better, or I am taking it out on Hank’s ass.”

I look in the mirror again. And despite my massive size, I look pretty great. Stacey has done a killer job on my hair and make-up. And this dress is really pretty. I am about to do this… for the second time. Only this time it will be completely different.

“Hey pumpkin,” my dad says, walking into the room. He kisses me on the cheek and stands back to assess me. “You look so beautiful.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Okay,” Dani says. “Let’s do this thing.”

I follow them all out into the lobby of the church. We stand out of sight and I watch as Stacey, Bell, and Dani, walk down the aisle. They all look great in their pale blue dresses, hair in curly updos on top of their heads.

“Come on, kiddo,” my dad says, holding out his arm. I take a deep breath, then grab my dad’s arm and walk in.

I scan the room, starting on my right. I brush past the audience, all staring at me, and find Mike standing at the end of the row of men at the altar. He looks like he was born to wear a tux. Beside him, Henry looks uncomfortable. He’s wearing the same tux he bought for his own wedding three months ago, so it fits him well, but you’d think he was being poked by sticks. Beside Henry is Sean, looking very much out of place. His custom-made tux somehow only makes him look bigger. But no tattoos are showing, and his long hair is contained in a neat ponytail.

Then I look at Sam. He is so handsome and perfect. He’s smiling at me, watching me approach. He looks exactly like I imagined he would.

“Oh shit!” I double over in pain.

The entire wedding party rushes forward, along with my mom, little Henry in hand.

“Lisa,” Sam says, concern written all over him.

“What is it?” “Are you okay?” “Lisa, what happened?” They are all coming at me, circled in tight.

I take a few breaths and straighten up. “I’m fine. Everybody just relax. And please, God, give me some space.”

They move back, just a fraction of an inch. But not Sam, he stays right there in front me, holding my arms in his hands. He’s leaned over, looking into my face.

“I’m okay now. Let’s do this,” I tell him.

“Are you serious?” Dani asks.

“It’s just the Braxton-whatever. It’ll be fine. Come on.”

I start moving toward the altar and the minister. The entire crowd follows me. I manage to get up to the top step. Dani reaches down and picks up the train of my dress.

“Holy shit!”

“Danielle, we are in a church,” my mother scolds.

“Her water broke!”

I had been hoping no one would notice.

“Lisa, we have to go to the hospital, now!” Sam says, frantic.

“Sam, we probably still have hours. We haven’t even started timing – oh shit.” I bend over again.

“Three minutes,” Mike says, looking at his watch.

It couldn’t possibly have taken me three minutes to get up to the altar. But then again, I was waddling like a duck and encumbered by my entire family.

“Sam, I am not going to the hospital until I am married.”

“Sorry, sweetie. We don’t have time for you to be stubborn,” Sam says.

“Bus is ready,” Tony calls from the back of the church.

What the hell? We’d been planning to use the bus, instead of a limo, to go the reception, but it was sitting at the far end of the lot, silent, when I’d arrived at the church. When I’d walked down the aisle, just moments ago, Tony was sitting near the rear, looking very respectable in a brown suit. When did he go start the damn bus?

“Let’s go, Leese,” Dani says.

Dani and Sam usher me back down the aisle and out to the bus. I have another contraction on the steps.

“Do not have that baby in here,” Tony warns.

“Not if you drive fast enough,” Sam responds.

“There are actually two babies,” my mother says to Tony. “Identical twins.”

“Yeah well, don’t have either one of them in here.”

Sam and Dani settle me on the bed. Half the church piles onto the bus. Both my parents, both Sam’s parents, Bell and Henry, Sean and Dani, Brad, Stacey, Mike, and even little Henry are all squished in by the time Tony closes the door and starts rolling down the road.

“I brought someone with me,” Mike says.

He is standing in the aisle way, and he moves aside so I can see the minister behind him.

“Perfect. Let’s do this.”

“What?!” About four people all shout at the same time, including Sam.

“We can do it at the hospital,” Sam says.

“No, because when we get to the hospital I am immediately having an epidural. Then I’ll be strapped to a gurney with my legs in the air. And no one is allowed in but you, Dani, and Mom.”

“Lisa…”

“Sammy, we are surrounded, very literally, by our loved ones. And what better place is there than the bus? It seems so appropriate, doesn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Owww. Shit!” I wade through another contraction, then I look up at Sam. I’m all sweaty and out of breath. “Don’t you want to marry me?” It is so manipulative. But for some reason I don’t care. Maybe it’s the hormones.

“But what about the big dream wedding you wanted?”

“Over it. Reverend, are you good?”

The bus takes a fast turn and the reverend is nearly knocked on his ass. Mike rights him again.

“I have what I need.” He pats his bible.

“Okay?” I ask Sam.

He nods.

It’s a crazy ceremony, and a quick one at that. While Tony drives like a maniac, the reverend tries to remain standing and reads his passages. I lie on the bed, Sam sitting beside me. And the whole thing is punctuated with contractions. But by the time we are pulling into the hospital, I’m married.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the reverend says. “You may kiss the bride.”

Sam kisses me, long and hard. He doesn’t stop until I get another contraction.

“I love you, Leese,” he says, pulling away.

“Son of a bitch, that hurts! I mean, I love you, too.”

THE END

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Other Titles by Kay Harris

Love on the Rocks (Book 1 of the Love on Tour series)

I knew who they were the moment they walked in. It was three in the morning in a town the size of a football field, so they felt no need to wear sunglasses or baseball hats. They were both in t-shirts and jeans, with scrubby black boots. I watched as the two men strolled casually through the quiet diner and took the table right beside me. I returned my gaze to my omelet.

I listened hard as chairs scuffed the linoleum floor and the table was shifted to accommodate their heights. Without looking, I could tell that they’d settled into opposite sides of the table. I could hear the flip, flip, as they paged through the laminated menus.

The minutes seemed to drag by as I resisted the urge to look up at them, my gaze concentrated on the yellow glob of egg and cheese on my plate.

“Hi there.”

My head snapped up in surprise.

Hank Tolk was tall, lean, and muscular. He wore his hair short and cropped close to his head. He had a handful of tattoos on his upper arms. He was known for his severe sobriety, at least for the last ten years or so.

He was definitely looking at me, right at me.

“Um, hi,” I mumbled.

Hank grinned a playboy grin. He was, objectively, a beautiful man.

“I’m Hank, and this is my buddy Sean,” he pointed his thumb at the man across from him.

Sean Rush was even more terrifying-looking in person than he was on the album covers. He was absolutely massive, standing 6’6, and covered head-to-toe in muscles, which were deeply tanned and sported a variety of tattoos that ran from his wrist to his shoulder on both arms, as well covering the backs of both calves. On that night, his long black hair was tied back in a ponytail, but in the music videos I’d seen of him it flew wild and hung below his shoulders.

“I’m Dani,” I managed to squeak out.

Play Me (Book 2 of the Love on Tour series)

“I don’t understand, Hank. How did this happen exactly?”

Really? She’s going to drill me about this now? I am sitting in an airport, barefoot, in terrible need of a shower, and I’ve just lost the best thing that ever happened to me.

“It’s a long story,” I grumble.

“Well, my flight landed early and my stupid brother isn’t here to pick me up yet. So you might as well tell me.”

I was just sitting here in the baggage claim when she showed up. I had completely forgotten that Stacey was flying in this morning for a week long visit with her brother and his wife.

I hadn’t come here looking for her. I’d come here on a doomed mission. Her finding me was just a huge coincidence. The fact that she’d somehow managed to spot me in the middle of LAX was something of a miracle. 

I was feeling very alone when I’d first sat down in this uncomfortable chair. But now Stacey is here. She’s practically family, so I take a little comfort in her presence. The truth is, I probably need a shoulder to lean on right now, whether I am willing to admit it or not.

“Why are you such a mess?” She looks me up and down, taking in my crazy mussed-up hair, sweaty t-shirt, and workout shorts.

I don’t answer her. I just hang my head in my hands. When she’d first sat down next to me I’d told to her that I’d run through the airport like a madman, but despite my efforts I’d missed the damn plane, and now I’m waiting for my ride.

But she wants to know how I’d gotten into this fucked up situation in the first place. Explaining it to her seems almost impossible. How can I put into words how badly I’d screwed up? How can I tell her all the stupid I things I’d done, things that had led to this very moment.

“Hank?”

I look at Stacey. She is a beautiful woman. At one time she’d tried to get me interested in her. And it would have worked, too, if she wasn’t my best friend’s little sister.

“Don’t worry about Sean coming to get you. We’ll take you to his place.”

“Okay.” She clicks away on her phone for a second. “I’m texting Sean.” When she’s done she slips the phone into her purse and looks up at me expectantly. “Done. We have plenty of time.”

She leans back in the plastic airport chair and folds her arms. It’s a move Sean pulls all the time. It usually works, too. When he stands like that, arms crossed over his chest, intimidating look on his face, people spill all their secrets.

I run my hand through my hair and sit back in my own chair. “I don’t know where to start.”

Stacey had been touring around the country with her play, so she’d missed everything that had happened over the last two months. Sean or his wife had probably told her a few things on the phone. But I was sure that she didn’t know the half of it.

“Well, while I’m dying to know where your shoes are,” she glances at my bare feet, “I suspect that part of the story comes near the end. So you might as well start at the beginning.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you the whole story,” I say. “It all started with your stupid brother…”

The Man You Need (Book 4 of the Love on Tour series)

“I sympathize with you, Stacey. I do.” Alonso picks at the label on his beer bottle. “But I’m afraid you’ve fallen down the same rabbit hole as your brother.”

“Shit.” I lean my head up against the wall behind me. “You’re right, I’m screwed.”

He laughs, his brown eyes dancing. Once upon a time I thought Alonso was so hot. But now, he doesn’t hold a candle to the man I really want, the man I love, the man I just lost. If I’d hooked up with Alonso like I’d wanted to a couple months ago, we’d have had a fling, and in the morning, I would have walked away, happy and satisfied. No strings, and no damn feelings.

But that’s not what had happened.

“I’m not sure Sean would see it that way,” he says. “He’s one happy dude.”

After a string of meaningless relationships, my big brother had fallen in love with a park ranger. And despite the fact that I see love as a giant horrible monster at the moment, Sean certainly doesn’t see it that way. He’s been on cloud nine ever since.

“I did not want this to happen. Fuck.” I take a long swig of my strong drink. “I feel like I just my had my heart ripped out of my chest.”

I had spent most of my thirty-one years of life trying to prevent this very thing from happening to me. Hence the attempt to have a casual fling with Alonso once upon a time.

“Yeah, that sucks,” Alonso says.

“Yeah, it’s a bitch.”

“So he walked out on you?”

“Yes. He actually said, ‘have a nice life.’”

“Damn, what did you do?”

“It’s a long story.”

Alonso leans back in his chair. “I got time. And I plan to drink a few more of these,” he says, hefting his beer bottle. “Wait,” he looks around the bar, “does your brother know where you are?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, Sean knows where I am.”

“And who you’re with? Because I do not need that kind of heat.”

“Relax, would you? I told him I was coming down here to get a drink with you. He didn’t even have a fit.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“We’re still in the damn hotel. He can always come and check on me.” I look toward the door. But Sean is leaving me alone for the moment. Thank God.

“Okay, well, as long as you stay on your side of the table, no matter how drunk we get. I like my face the way it is. And so do the ladies.”

This is exactly why I hadn’t hooked up with Alonso when we’d first started this tour – my over protective big brother. He was the one who’d made me join him on his rock tour, and he was the one who had cock-blocked me every time I tried to hook up with one of the musicians. But he was thrilled to death when I started a thing with the man who broke my heart tonight. Thanks a lot, big brother.

“Come on Stacey, spill. What happened?”

“Okay.” I take another long pull of my drink, and then motion for the waitress. Once I order another round, I turn back to Alonso. “It started at the wedding reception.”

“Lisa and Sam’s wedding?” He asked, referring to my little brother and his wife.

“Yeah, you were there.”

“I was. What happened?”

“I met Evan Light. You know him?”

Alonso laughs. “That little punk. Sure, I know him. He’s like a puppy at Hank’s heel.”

It was true. My big brother, Sean, and his best friend, Hank, were looked up to by lots of young musicians. Evan had been no exception. He had somehow weaseled his way into an invite to the wedding reception. And that’s where I’d run into him.

“What does he have to do with this? You hook up with Evan or something?” Alonso asks.

“He’s the start of it all, the reason I came on this stupid tour to begin with. Just listen. I’ll tell you the whole thing.”