Anything For Love

by Melissa Foster

  Silence.

  “Savannah! Brianna!”

  Giggles came from somewhere ahead of her in the darkness, and the water rippled against the shore. Relieved, and slightly pissed over their silence, she tried her hardest to find a modicum of control, but her voice burst from her lungs.

  “Goddamn it! Where are you?”

  She stepped forward, nearly tripping on a pile of clothes. Splashing sounded somewhere in front of her. Putting two and two together, she didn’t know whether to laugh or strangle them.

  “Get out of there. You shouldn’t be skinny-dipping!”

  “Come in, Ri!” Savannah yelled. “Nothing feels as good as this.”

  “Except sex!” Brianna yelled. Their laughter filled the air.

  Riley grabbed their clothes, realizing how out of character everything Brianna had said tonight had been, and…Holy hell. Mom!

  “You guys, get out here now. You’re totally stoned! The brownies had pot in them!” She had to find her mother. Hopefully she and the others were sleeping it off somewhere.

  More giggling ensued.

  “This isn’t funny. You shouldn’t be swimming when you’re high. Get out of there!” Her every nerve was on fire, and she was holding on to her last shred of control. When they laughed again, she nearly blew her top. “I’ll come in there and drag you out before I let you drown the night before my wedding!”

  More giggling, splashing, and then their smiling faces appeared in a streak of moonlight.

  “Fine,” Brianna grumbled. She and Savannah strode out of the water naked, oblivious to the chilly night air. “What were you yelling about the brownies?”

  “Did you find more? I want more brownies,” Savannah said with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

  “No more brownies.” She shoved their clothes into their hands. “We have to find the others. There was pot in the brownies, and you guys are completely stoned.”

  “Pfft.” Savannah strutted ahead of her, buck-naked, clutching her clothes to her chest. “We are not.”

  “Nope,” Brianna agreed. She stumbled and grabbed Riley’s shirt, pulling them both down to the ground. Brianna rolled in the grass, laughing hysterically, while Riley pushed to her feet with a protective hand over her belly, glad she’d landed on her butt.

  Savannah stared absently up at the moon. She lifted her hand and began opening and closing her fingers. “I can’t grab it.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? This is my pre-wedding night? Babysitting two stoned women?”

  Brianna stopped laughing, then started again, still lying on the ground. Her hands and legs were stretched out as far as they could go. “Vannah! Come here!”

  Savannah turned, and Riley grabbed her arm. “Oh, no, you don’t. No more stargazing for you two.” She reached down and pulled Brianna up by her arm. “We have to go find the others. And get you towels, clothes, and beds.”

  “I’m not tired,” Brianna complained. “I’m hungry.”

  Several long, frustrating minutes later Riley finally managed to get them to comply, and they headed up to the kitchen. “Stand on the deck and I’ll be right back with towels.”

  She ran upstairs and grabbed two towels, then ran back downstairs and gave them to the girls. “I have to find—”

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  She lifted her eyes toward the noise coming from upstairs, wondering what the hell that was. “Dry off and go upstairs to our suite, okay? I have to check on that noise.”

  Hurrying upstairs, Riley followed the sounds. She had no idea how the men and children could sleep through the banging. Following the sounds down the wide hallway to the suite where they were staying, she pushed the heavy double doors open and nearly lost her lunch. Her mother stood by an enormous hole in the wall, holding a lamp like a baseball bat. The lampshade and lightbulb lay forgotten a few feet away. Max swung a shoe at the broken drywall, chipping off another piece. And Lacy, whose face was smeared with something that looked like lipstick, was…chanting.

  Holy mother of all things crazy, what the flip was going on now?

  Her mother swung the lamp.

  “Stop!” Riley commanded, and three sets of eyes turned to her. She grabbed the lamp from her mother’s hands. “Stop. Don’t move. Don’t swing, hit, or chant.” She took the shoe from Max’s hands, which were covered in red, like Lacy’s face. “Why would you do this?”

  Max wiped her face, smearing red across her nose and cheeks. “We’re excavating the ghosts.”

  Lacy nodded, wide-eyed.

  “Exorcising, sweetie,” her mother said, stumbling backward.

  “Oh God. This is Charlotte’s house.” She felt sick to her stomach. “You’ve put a hole in her house.”

  Her mother stumbled to the bed and flopped down. “We did her a favor. Freeing the ghosts.”

  Lacy grabbed Riley’s arm. “We had to do it, or who knows what the ghosts would do. They could have been evil, or like…like…that movie The Entity. Yeah. They could have been like that.” She looked around the room with a serious expression. “Where’s Savannah? I have to tell her it’s safe now.” She headed for the door, and Riley grabbed her.

  “Oh no, you don’t. You need to go into the bathroom and wash off whatever that is on your face.”

  Lacy palmed her face and shook her head, smearing the red onto her neck. “I’m not taking off my aura! Max worked hard to fix me, and Dane will love my red aura. It’s passionate!”

  Max ran to her side. “You’re right, you’re not. No, Riley. She needs to be red.”

  “Passionate,” her mother said from where she was now lying on the bed on her back, her legs hanging halfway off the edge.

  How the hell did she get from her moment of glory downstairs to this? She was being punked. Or in a nightmare. She pinched herself, and it hurt like hell. Nope. Not a nightmare.

  “Jaaaack.” Savannah’s voice filtered up the hall.

  “Shit. Stay here,” Riley commanded, and ran out of the suite, only to find Savannah disappearing, naked, into Riley’s parents’ bedroom.

  Thump, thump sounded behind her.

  Riley stopped cold in the hallway, midway between the bedroom where her father was about to be woken up by a naked woman and the suite where the wall was being demolished. In the space of a few panicked seconds, she figured her father waking up to a naked woman in his bed was worse than the wall getting even more damaged. She ran toward her parents’ bedroom, tossing up another prayer that the kids wouldn’t wake up, and flew into the room. Good fucking Lord, her night had just gone from bizarre to outrageous. Savannah was fast asleep beside her father, her long arm draped across his chest, and somehow, by the grace of God and all things magical, her father was still sleeping.

  She peeled Savannah off of her father as quietly and carefully as she could, while cringing with each thump coming from down the hall.

  “Jack,” Savannah complained.

  “Shh, honey, that’s not Jack,” she whispered. And I don’t think Jack would appreciate this one bit. She grabbed a throw blanket from a chair and draped it around Savannah. Once outside her father’s room, she closed the door and breathed a little easier, although the thunderous noises coming from down the hall ratcheted up her panic. She draped one arm around Savannah’s waist and the other beneath her arm and guided her toward the suite.

  “Jack,” Savannah said again.

  “I’ll get Jack.” Once inside the suite, she closed the doors and set Savannah on the edge of the bed. “Stay,” she commanded, and turned to her mother, who was standing with her knees slightly bent, lamp in hands, choked up like a pro ball player. Max and Lacy were gone, but Riley heard voices coming from the bathroom.

  “Mom! Stop!” Riley yelled.

  Her mother stopped midswing and lowered the lamp, her eyes suddenly filling with recognition. “Riley Roo. Do you think the vortex is big enough now?” She dropped the lamp and set her hands on her hips, eyeing the hole in the wall with pride. Wiping her brow, she let out
a loud sigh. “Perfect. Now those spirits can fly free.”

  Resigning herself to a night of crazy, Riley nodded in agreement. “Yup. You sure did a good job. Now, let’s just lie down, okay, Mom? I have to find Max and Lacy.” She guided her mother back to the bed, where she flopped down on her back beside Savannah. The two of them gazed up at the ceiling. Short burst of giggles escaped their lips. She draped a blanket over Savannah’s naked body and hoped she and her mom would fall asleep.

  Savannah’s hand snuck out from beneath the cover, and she grabbed Riley’s mother’s hand. “Do you think she’s here? Looking down on us? If she’s here, I don’t want her to go out the vortex.”

  Riley’s throat swelled. A strange feeling came over her, realizing for maybe the first time ever the connection between her mother and Savannah’s mother. She knew her. She wasn’t her best friend, like Jade’s mother had been, but she knew her. The realization that her mother knew the woman Josh and his siblings never had a chance to brought tears to her eyes and made her want to share her mother with them more than she already had. It also made her appreciate the time she had with her mother even more. She had the strange and sudden urge to tell her about the baby, and she realized she wanted the pieces of her mother Josh and Savannah could never have with their own. That brought a wave of guilt so strong she reached for the dresser to stabilize herself.

  “Did you hear that?” Lacy’s voice trailed out of the bathroom, dragging Riley from her thoughts, right back into crazyland.

  Pushing her emotions down deep, she headed for the bathroom, where she found Max and Lacy drawing on the walls with lipstick. She closed her eyes for a beat, reminding herself this was the marijuana and alcohol taking over. Her friends had not suddenly lost their minds. When she opened them, they were using that lipstick to paint each other’s toenails.

  Perfect.

  At least there were no lamps involved.

  Riley stepped quietly from the bathroom and closed the door, hoping to keep them in one place long enough for them to stay out of trouble while she went in search of Brianna.

  On the way to the stairs she heard Jade’s voice. Oh crap! She’d forgotten all about Jade. She followed the sound of her friend’s voice down to…Josh’s bedroom? Pushing the door open, she found Jade on the bed, where she was lying beside Brianna, who was sprawled out on her stomach, still naked, with only a towel covering her butt.

  Riley couldn’t even begin to take apart this situation. “Where’s Josh?”

  Jade giggled and pointed to Brianna.

  Riley crossed her arms and glared at her. “Not Brianna. Josh. My future husband. That is if I don’t slaughter everyone tonight.”

  Jade shrugged and settled in beside Brianna, with one arm draped protectively over her back.

  Closing the door behind her, Riley stepped from the room and blew out a breath. Where the hell was Josh? She knocked on Rex’s door, and when he didn’t answer, she knocked louder. The man must sleep like the dead. She pushed the door open and went to the side of the bed, where Rex lay in nothing but a pair of tight briefs, one arm stretched over his eyes. Holy fucking hell. She forced her eyes to remain above his waist. She hadn’t thought about how awkward this would be. The man was built like the Incredible Hulk. All he needed was green paint.

  “Rex,” she whispered.

  He didn’t move.

  “Rex!” she said louder, nudging his arm.

  His eyes blinked open, and he bolted upright. “What’s wrong? Are Jade and my boy okay?”

  “Little Hal’s sleeping. And if you call ‘high as a kite and sleeping with Brianna, who’s buck naked, okay,’ then yeah. I’d say Jade’s just dandy.”

  In three seconds flat he pulled on his jeans and was out the bedroom door. “High? Jade doesn’t smoke or do drugs. She doesn’t even drink much anymore.”

  Riley ran after him, holding his massive arm to stop him from barging into any bedrooms. “Hold on. Bree’s naked. I should have gotten Hugh first, but I didn’t think of it.”

  “Riley, you have three seconds to tell me why you said my wife is high or I’m going in anyway.”

  “She ate brownies laced with marijuana. They all did.” She crossed her arms to protect herself from the death stare he was giving her. “It’s not my fault! Elisabeth gave them to me by accident. Just…Stay here.” Not knowing what stage of undress Hugh slept in, she quickly changed her mind. “Wait. I’ll stay here. You get Hugh. I’ve seen enough Braden skivvies for one night. Except my man’s. God, I need him right now.”

  Rex’s biceps flexed, a sure sign of his fighting the urge to barge into the bedroom and claim his wife.

  “I’ll go in with her,” she promised. “Please get your brothers and Jack. Please?”

  He reluctantly strode away, barreling into Hugh’s room without even knocking. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but heard their low baritone voices. Riley peeked into the room where Jade and Brianna were sleeping, and found them in the same position she’d left them.

  Seconds later Hugh came out of the bedroom carrying a bathrobe. Rex was on his heels, and without a word, they disappeared into Treat and Jack’s rooms. In what felt like only ten more seconds, all of Josh’s brothers and Jack were looming over her, peppering her with questions. She held up her hands to silence them.

  “Elisabeth sent brownies. They were laced with pot. We didn’t know, and they ate them. And half the kitchen. Hugh, you better go in first and get Brianna dressed. Rex, when he comes out, you go in.” She looked at the others and motioned for them to follow her. “It’s not pretty in there,” she said outside the door to the suite.

  Treat reached for the door.

  “Wait,” Riley said. “Jack, you go first, because Savannah was also naked.”

  Jack made a growling noise that sent goose bumps racing up Riley’s arm.

  “It’s not my fault,” she reiterated.

  Jack disappeared into the room for what felt like forever but in reality was only a minute or two. He appeared again cradling Savannah in his arms with the blanket tucked around her. “It’s a mess in there,” he said to Treat.

  With a glance at Hugh and Dane, Treat pushed past Jack and led them inside. Riley’s mother was fast asleep on the bed.

  “Where is she?” Treat demanded.

  Riley pointed to the bathroom door. “With Lacy.”

  “Oh, sweetness,” Treat whispered with so much emotion it made Riley ache.

  “Baby,” Dane said, following his brother toward the bathroom.

  “Thanks, Riley,” Jack said. “You going to be okay?”

  Riley nodded, but in truth, she was about a hundred different types of not okay. She was tired and still in shock from the night from hell. What if she’d eaten the brownies? What if the kids had gotten into them? And poor Charlotte’s house was ruined. She was so far from okay, she couldn’t even spell it.

  Jack and Treat both promised to help her clean up in the morning as they carried their wives out of the bedroom. Dane was the last to leave the room, having taken the time to wash the lipstick off of Lacy’s face.

  “Ri,” he said with Lacy in his arms. “Don’t sweat any of this. Josh already called our cousin Beau and made arrangements for him to spend a few weeks shoring up things around here for Char. We’ll add the wall and the bathroom to the list. We’ve got this, okay?”

  She nodded, more grateful for her soon-to-be husband’s and his brother’s thoughtfulness than they could possibly know.

  “Dane,” Lacy said sleepily. “My aura is red, right?”

  He kissed her forehead. “Yes, babe.”

  “Do you know where Josh is?” Riley asked. “He wasn’t in his room.”

  A pained look crossed Dane’s face. Lacy stirred in his arms, and he whispered, “He’s in the east wing, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

  With that mysterious answer swirling around in her mind, and the mayhem calmed, she decided not to wake her mother, and headed down the back staircase toward
the east wing.

  Chapter Five

  TWO HOURS. THAT’S how long Josh had been holed up alone in a suite with Riley’s wedding gown and an ancient sewing machine. Most of that time was spent sketching and perfecting the redesign of Riley’s wedding dress, and the rest was spent pacing, trying to talk himself into making that first cut into her gorgeous gown. Scissors in hand, he approached the long wooden table where the dress was spread out like a sacrificial lamb waiting for slaughter. He raised the scissors, and the pang in his gut he’d been struggling against returned. He couldn’t take scissors to the dress they’d spent months designing. He ran his fingers over the colorful stick figures along the center of the skirt and smiled. What if it were their child who had “decorated” the dress? Would he want to cast their creations away simply because the child had chosen the wrong canvas?

  The answer came easily. No way.

  Raking a hand through his thick hair, Josh knew what he had to do. He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about how he should break the news to Riley. But no matter how he tried to cushion it, she would be devastated, because beneath her strong exterior was a sweet, sensitive heart that had been dead set on wearing this sparkling-white wedding gown when they exchanged their vows.

  He set the scissors down beside the dress, rested his hands on the table, and sighed, allowing his shoulders to relax and his head to fall forward. He closed his eyes, grasping once again for the right words to explain the situation, and the guts to go find Riley.

  “Josh?”

  Josh’s eyes sprang open at the sound of Riley’s shaky voice. He turned, immediately struck by her frazzled state. Her eyes were wide and troubled and her hair was tousled, framing her tight expression. Her gaze dropped to the dress spread out on the table, and confusion filled her eyes.

  “Babe.” He reached for her, but she walked past his extended hand as if in a daze, her eyes scanning the length of the gown, hovering over the children’s drawings. “I can explain.”

  Her jaw gaped, and she shifted her eyes to him, closed her mouth tightly, and looked at the dress again.