Unintentional

“Miss Lawson, most bank managers usually only approach their top clients. Would you happen to be in that category?”

  Everyone stills as they wait for my answer. I’ve never told anyone about my inheritance before. I was concerned people would treat me differently. When I made my initial deposit, I made it clear to Mr. Huntington, the bank manager, it was to be strictly confidential. I even had my name changed to numbers as a precaution. He assured me no one else, even the staff, would have access to my information.

  Now I wonder if Douglas somehow was able to uncover my secret. Damn. That means, if it’s true, Douglas knew all along about my money, and he was play-acting the whole time. The sweet guy, who I felt horrible about hurting, was possibly only after my money.

  “Um, yes, I think I would be in that category.” I take Cade’s hand. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about this. I was planning to. I don’t usually even think about it.”

  Cade squeezes my hand. “Don’t worry about it, Laurel. It’s not important. I don’t care if you have a little money or a lot. It doesn’t make a difference.”

  Detective Roberts asks, “When you say you might be a top client, can you give me a general idea of what we’re looking at here? Would it be enough for someone to go to elaborate lengths to trick you into dating them? To attempt murder? Are we talking a couple hundred thousand, or millions?”

  All eyes are on me. I don’t want to keep secrets from the people I care about anymore. I’ve learned to trust, thanks to Cade. I say quietly, “Millions.”

  There’s a hush in the room.

  “Miss Lawson, can you give us an estimate? How many?”

  “Thirty-four.”

  “Did you say four? Holy crap! You snagged yourself a rich babe, Cade!” Scott gives Cade a loud smack on his back.

  “She didn’t say four. She said thirty-four.”

  Scott’s face goes blank. “Thirty-four?”

  Sophie, who’d entered the waiting room during the last part of the conversation, says, “I had a feeling, Laurel. I’m overpaid, and you know it. Still, I think I’m going to need some combat pay for these past couple weeks. My rosary beads have worn out with all the flying back and forth.”

  I laugh as I hug her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  She shakes her head. “Of course I knew. I didn’t know the exact amount, but I knew. I didn’t ask you about it because, one, it doesn’t matter, and two, who cares?”

  Cade takes my hand again. “It doesn’t matter to me either. As far as I’m concerned, you can give it all away. I really don’t care.”

  Detective Hanson addresses our group. “If you’re right about this, it shouldn’t be too hard to collect the evidence. We have the fingerprint, and if we can find the tools the culprit used, we’ll have a solid case. Don’t worry, whomever it turns out to be, will be put away for a good, long time.”

  We all thank the detectives as they leave to work on their case.

  A part of me doesn’t want to believe Douglas orchestrated this, but in my heart, I know the truth. Once everything was laid out, it became apparent to me the role he played in this. What I mistook as genuine interest was only him trying to win me by doing everything I wanted. He always complained about his job. I guess greed got the better of him. He could be spending a lot of time in prison, giving him plenty of time to think about his mistakes.

  Cade wraps his arms around me, drawing me close. “It looks like this will be resolved soon. I’m so sorry, Laurel. I know you probably trusted Douglas and considered him a friend. I can’t imagine how you must feel.”

  I tighten my arms around him. “Thanks. I’m just glad this is almost over.”

  I close my eyes and lay my head against his shoulder. I feel awful, but I’m rapidly recovering with Cade’s comforting touch. Inhaling deeply, I savor his masculine scent. Ahh, that’s even better. Clean cotton with a hint of leather – he smells heavenly.

  Cade whispers into my ear. “I’m writing you a song. The words are flowing. They won’t leave me alone.”

  I turn to look at him. “Really? For me?” I’ve never had a song written for me. The excitement shows on my face.

  “Yes. Do you want to hear the title?”

  “Yes!”

  “She Didn’t Run.”

  Tears fill my eyes. I didn’t run. I’ll never run from him again.

  “The next song will be Stubborn Love.”

  Now I’m crying and laughing.

  He continues. “The song after that will be Unintentional.” He becomes serious. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I should have never agreed to help Mattie. I wasn’t thinking clearly. It must have been horrible for you to hear me say those words.”

  “It was, but you know, I can understand why you did it.” I tug on his shirt. “But don’t scare me like that again.”

  “Scare you? No, Laurel, I win the award for that. My life flashed before my eyes—a life without you—and I didn’t like it. I hated it.” He holds me again.

  “You and I, we’ll be together forever.”

  “Are you proposing to me, Mr. Michaels?” I joke.

  “Actually, yes, I am.” He bends down on one knee and takes a small, black satin box out of his pocket.

  “I was going to wait for a more romantic setting, but this will do.” He smiles broadly.

  I hear a squeal coming from his sister as she holds her mouth, jumping up and down. Sophie joins her, and, as a pair, they are making a scene. Scott, Ayden, and Mica come closer, not wanting to miss out.

  “Do you remember the first day I met you?”

  I nod.

  “I don’t remember a lot from that day, but I do remember telling you I’d choose you.” He laughs. “It wasn’t the best of circumstances, but even then, I knew you were the one. From the start, we had this overpowering pull that wouldn’t go away, even though we both tried. But, do you want to know when I really knew I loved you?”

  Words have escaped me, so shake my head.

  “I knew it when Skype became the highlight of my day. I counted down the minutes until I could talk to you. Getting to know you, the real you, the person you don’t show to many people, that’s when I knew my feelings for you were genuine. I love that you’re stubborn and feisty. I love that you challenge me, making me a better person. I love your streak.” He reaches up and touches it gently, almost reverently.

  “We’re going to have a lifetime of adventures together, and I can’t wait to get started. You have me, all of me. I’m madly in love with you, Laurel. Will you marry me?”

  I get down on my knees and face him. I want my lips next to his. “Yes. A million times, yes!”

  “You mean thirty-four million times?” Scott quips.

  “Shut up, Scott!” we both say together.

  Everyone laughs.

  And, as I hoped, his lips meet mine.

  Epilogue

  Cade

  Four Months Later

  Sand flies into my face, going straight up my nose. I sit up quickly, taking the towel and try to remove it. Colton. He’s at it again. Mattie runs over, or tries to run. She’s almost six months pregnant now and it’s slowing her down a bit. Colton, on the other hand, has actually sped up. I didn’t think it was possible, but that boy has all of us on our toes.

  We’re taking a break from our tour schedule and are relaxing, or trying to relax, at Cannon Beach in Oregon. Mattie picked out the destination because it’s her favorite vacation spot. She wanted to share it with all of us, and I’m so glad she suggested it.

  Jeremy has healed from his injuries almost completely. He still has a slight limp in his right leg, but the doctors said, with physical therapy, it should be completely gone in a few months.

  “Colton!” Mattie calls.

  He giggles again. “Uncle Quade wants to play, right?”

  “Yes, Uncle Quade wants to play. Go back and sit down, Mattie. I have this covered.”

  She smiles, mouths thank you, and sits back down next to Jeremy.

&nbs
p; This has been a great trip for all of us. The past three and a half months have been a whirlwind of activity for our band. Eighty cities in one hundred days. Laurel warned us all beforehand that it would be grueling, but we weren’t prepared for all the media attention.

  Our first release has made it into the top ten, which meant television, radio, and personal meet-and-greets with all the “Important People.” I’m able to take it all in stride because I know it’s part of the package.

  Laurel has been instrumental in keeping us all sane, and almost completely bullshit-free. She organizes all of our appearances, weeding out the gossip sites and trashy television entertainment shows. She knows fame isn’t important to me, but we’ll need to play the game if we want to sell albums. What’s most important to me are the music and our fans. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with them on tour. It’s been a blast.

  We’ve started to get recognized by fans in some of the larger cities when we’re out sightseeing. To me, it’s a little unnerving, although I have enjoyed watching Scott soak it up. Ayden and Mica prefer to stand back, which suits Scott just fine. He loves every minute of it.

  Colton eventually gets bored building sand castles with me. He toddles back over to Mattie and plops down next to her. He puts his head on her lap, and she mindlessly runs her fingers through his hair.

  I catch Laurel watching them.

  “Two more years?” I ask.

  She smiles at me and nods. We’ve talked about children a few times. We both know we want a family together, but we plan to get our travel-lust out of the way first.

  After our two-week break, we’re headed to Europe. I’m especially excited for this leg of our tour, because, when we stop in Italy, Laurel and I plan to get married. We haven’t chosen the church or location yet because we want to pick a church we both connect with. We intend to live our life full of adventures, so why not start at the beginning?

  The one thing I do know for certain is the songs that I’ll be singing to Laurel for the ceremony. I have two of my own songs I’ve written for her, along with John Legend’s All of Me. I’ve heard Laurel humming the melody off and on for the past few months, so I already know she likes the song. The words describe how I feel about her as if I’d written the lyrics myself. I’ve never been happier.

  I hear a loud squeal to my right. Scott has just dumped a pail of water on Sophie.

  “What?” he says. “You said you were hot.” He pauses. “And you are so hot, Sophie.” His eyebrows wag up and down. Won’t he ever give up?

  I look over at Allix and Ayden, who are both scowling over Scott’s latest attempt to get Sophie’s attention.

  Laurel and I have both talked at length with Sophie, Scott, and Ayden. We don’t want this to blow up in our faces, ruining the tour. Sophie assures us she’s not interested in a relationship. I think she’s taking her time, sitting back, enjoying having two men vie for her.

  Scott and Ayden have somewhat of a truce going. They sat down and came to an agreement. “May the best man win.” So the battle continues.

  Allix joined us a few days ago. It’s obvious she’s still not over her childhood crush on Scott. She’s tried everything to get him to notice her, but he still treats her like a ten-year-old. I even saw him walk by and ruffle up her hair. I had to laugh at the outrageous look she gave him. I think she’s probably a little like me. She doesn’t want to give up.

  Douglas is in jail, probably for a good, long time. The case against him is going to trial in a few months. From what they’ve told us, they have a pretty air-tight case against him. The prosecutors have his fingerprint along with the tool he used to cut the brake hoses. Rodney also verified it was his voice who called him repeatedly.

  Laurel sits down next to me and takes my hand. We’re sitting in the sand, our feet just out of reach from the lapping waves. The smell of the ocean tints the air.

  “Isn’t this great? I’m glad Mattie suggested this place. It’s so beautiful. We should have a bonfire tonight!” Laurel’s bright eyes draw me in, sharing her excitement.

  “Sure, that sounds like fun,” I answer.

  Sophie, Scott, Mica, Ayden, and Allix come and sit next to us.

  “What sounds like fun?” Allix asks.

  The only bad part of this vacation is that it’s hard to get any alone time with Laurel. When we’re able to sneak a kiss or hold hands, they like to groan and tease us mercilessly.

  “A bonfire.” I tell them. Maybe they’ll leave now.

  Laurel squeezes my hand, looks into my eyes, and says softly, “Something.”

  I smile and lean over to kiss her. I don’t care if they all groan and make their gagging noises. That word means a lot to both of us. It brings me right back to the moment in the elevator when I knew she returned my feelings. It’s her code for saying she loves me.

  I sit back, enjoying the sensation of the wind as it drifts lazily through my hair. Contentment washes over me. I tip my face to the sun and say, “And anywhere, I will follow you.”

  The End

  Dear Readers,

  First – a big thank you for reading Unintentional. I have enjoyed this process so much!

  I would also like to thank the readers who’ve contacted me with words of encouragement and support. I love getting emails and Facebook messages! I wrote Cade’s story for all of you ☺

  As you’ve probably noticed, I like to keep my “evil” characters a mystery. What makes a person resort to deceit, crime or attempted murder? Could it be entirely to please a father who expected too much?

  Next up, Complicated. A book from Douglas’s point of view. Will he avoid prison? Will he create more havoc in Cade and Laurel’s life? What motivates him? Will he ever redeem himself? Hmm. Also, what will happen with Sophie, Scott, Ayden and Allix? What a mess – but won’t it be fun to see how it all works out?

  You can contact me anytime – I’d love to hear from you!

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/marilyn.wellnitz

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review at Amazon.com or Goodreads.com. It’s the only way for an Indie author to get noticed. THANK YOU!