by Mia Ashlinn
Jared took her cold hand in his, bringing it to his warm lips and kissing it lightly. “I wish I could tell you nothing will ever happen to us, but I don’t know the future. I can, however, swear that we will fight like hell to get back to you, no matter what.”
Jared gently laid her hand on the bedspread but didn’t let go. He held on securely, making her smile despite the tension. “We want our happily ever after with you, too.”
Following her gut instinct, Shannon found herself saying something that shocked everyone in the room, including her. “Let’s make a deal.”
Chapter 29
The following Saturday night…
Shannon climbed the stairs to Jaycee’s house then mounted the front porch, her steps slow and soft against the wooden boards. With a sigh, she crossed over to one of the old-fashioned rockers and dropped into the cold, hard seat.
After the week she had, Shannon wasn’t in the mood for the surprise party waiting for her on the other side of the door. She preferred to be alone, even for just a minute or two. She needed to think and breathe without someone hovering over her and bombarding her with questions that she did not want or know how to answer.
Man, I sound like an ungrateful wench. Shannon felt horrible that she didn’t want to be here with the people she loved most and half the townspeople she was quickly getting to know. But she couldn’t help it. Pretending to be surprised when she wasn’t did not appeal to her. Yeah, well. I shouldn’t have snooped and spied. Now should I have? Mentally, Shannon gave a self-deprecating snort. Like I would have kept my nose out of my own birthday plans.
Closing her eyes, Shannon leaned her head against the rigid slats across the back of the rocker. The last couple of days had been filled with cops and paperwork. Since the moment she’d been able to be questioned by Belle until an hour ago, Shannon hadn’t been given a second of solitude. If it weren’t for the party, she wouldn’t be allowed now.
At first, she’d liked having everyone surrounding her all the time. However, after a while, she’d started to want to run screaming from the room when people entered it. Even her three closest friends and men had been suffocating her—if only a little.
Jared, Drew, and Randy didn’t seem to comprehend that she’d never been taken care of. As much as it pained her to admit it, other than her two best friends and Sarah, she’d had no one since she’d been a teen. Even then, she’d been more alone than she’d ever realized.
Now Shannon felt overwhelmed with all the attention and the tender care from three men. Frankly, it was a hell of a lot harder than she’d thought it would be when she’d agreed in the hospital to be with them. She wasn’t willing to give them up by any means, but she needed to adjust to the new status quo in her life.
Her men and friends were not the only ones smothering her with their constant presence. Not one single person had spent more time with her than the town sheriff. Belle had worked her ass off to get Mary where she belonged—behind bars.
Thinking back to her talk with Belle this afternoon, Shannon couldn’t help the vindictive glee that flooded her. Belle had told her that Mary’s arraignment had occurred earlier in the day. Ever the hard-ass, Judge Caldwell had denied her bail. So Mary was in the county jail, awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for next week. With her multiple felony charges, it didn’t look like she would get out of jail anytime soon. Thank God.
The front door opening and closing quietly alerted Shannon to a person’s presence on the porch with her. When she popped open her eyes, she noticed that it wasn’t one person. It was three. Jared, Drew, and Randy stood by the door, making no move toward her.
Seeing the men did what it always had—took her breath away. She wanted to jump from her seat and launch herself at them. She wanted to run straight into their arms and hold them close. But, more than anything, she wanted to go home with them so she could lie in their arms and silently enjoy the feeling of warmth they provided her. Not talking or thinking, just feeling their love surrounding her.
Finally, after several heartbeats of silence, Jared asked, “Do you need more time alone or can we join you?”
That’s the million dollar question, Prince Charming. Before they had stepped outside, she’d thought she wanted to be alone. However, seeing them had changed her mind, and Shannon realized that she didn’t ever want to be alone again. She wanted these men with her. She wanted her friends around her. And she wanted those things always.
“No,” Shannon replied with a tremulous smile. “I’m good. Come join me for a minute then we’ll head inside.”
Her three sinfully sexy men headed toward her. Though, none of them made a move to touch her. Instead they all shuffled across the porch and leaned against the wood railing directly in front of her.
Jared cleared his throat. “Princess, we know we’ve been suffocating you.”
“Yeah,” Randy agreed with his oldest brother. “We can’t seem to help ourselves. Even when we want to give you space, we end up needing you so badly that our willpower disintegrates.” He sighed, the audible breath sounding weary and sad. “It isn’t fair to you.”
“No guys,” Shannon said as she held onto the arms of the chair with a firm grip, rocking herself back and forth nervously. “I thought I wanted space, but I don’t. When we were in the hospital, I promised you that we were a team. Well, I guess I haven’t been a team player for the past couple of days.”
“It’s understandable,” Jared assured her. “We know that.”
Shannon frowned. “It might be understandable, but it isn’t right.” Shifting in her seat, she attempted to get more comfortable. She had things to say, and she didn’t want any distractions that could get in her way. “I guess that I didn’t understand until a moment ago what being in a ménage truly meant. Hell, I didn’t get any of the relationship gibberish and unconditional mumbo jumbo that you guys kept talking about, but I do now. It’s the four of us against the world until the end of our time on Earth. I’m still me, and I will always be me. However, I am a part of you, too. I need that, and I need you three forever.”
Drew’s dark face lit up with a happy smile. “We know that, munchkin.”
“I wasn’t sure if you did,” she replied in an embarrassingly small voice. Only she found that she wasn’t really embarrassed, not in the least. With a smile, she added, “So what are you three going to do about it then? If I want to spend my life with you, and you want to spend your life with me…”
“No, you don’t, Shannon Roberts,” Drew said. “We are not playing that game with you. When the time is right, we will show you exactly what we’re going to do to keep you with us for the rest of our lives. Not the other way around. Now come on. You have a party to get to.”
Shannon mock pouted, but she was just doing it for shits and giggles. None of the men reacted to her fake fit of sullenness. Instead Jared and Randy disappeared inside Jaycee’s house while Drew strode toward her and bent down. He scooped her up, and with a kiss, he carried her to the front door that his brothers had shut only seconds before.
“Knock,” Drew commanded in a deep, compelling voice, and she listened.
Tapping on the door, Shannon waited for someone to answer. When Jaycee opened up, she squealed, “Happy Birthday, Shan!”
Drew lowered Shannon to the ground, and she rushed toward Jaycee. Flinging their arms around each other, they danced around happily like children. Pulling away first, Shannon asked, “Where is everybody?”
As soon as the words crossed her lips, Cade sauntered up behind his wife and curled an arm around her slim waist then tucked her to his side. “Jaycee wanted to invite the whole goddamn town, but I figured that you wouldn’t be in the mood for something like that tonight.”
Shannon’s jaw dropped unexpectedly. Whoa baby. She would have never suspected that Cade could anticipate her feelings that well. He always had with Gray and Jaycee but never with anyone else.
Once her shock had waned, Shannon closed her jaw and murmured, “You thoug
ht right. I need some time with just the gang.”
Cade gasped with a mocking grin. “Wow. I never thought you would admit that I was right about something.”
There’s the Cade I know. Shannon snickered but didn’t respond. With Cade it was always best for her to let things go. Otherwise, he would drive her up the wall with his antics. He and Randy had that in common.
“I wouldn’t get used to it, Cade,” Randy replied as he and Jared joined them. “She won’t repeat those words again anytime soon.”
Cade stepped away from his wife and shut the front door once Drew had moved completely inside. “No shit,” he grumbled.
Peering over her shoulder at Cade, Shannon snarled, “Bite me.”
“No, thank you,” Cade shot back in a teasing tone. “I generally try to avoid pissing off my spouses and three brothers-in-law, but I appreciate the offer.”
The moment Cade finished his bogus statement, four people responded at the same time.
“Smart move,” Jared muttered.
“Good thing,” Drew grumbled.
Shannon coughed. “Bullshit.”
Jaycee snorted. “Sure you do. I think we need to have a chat with Gray about that.”
The only person who didn’t have something to say to Cade was Randy. He ignored everyone except her completely as he playfully bared his teeth. “Chomp, chomp.”
Bite me, Romeo. Bite me real good. Shannon blew Randy an air kiss, and he grinned then looked past her to Cade. “Has the game started yet?” he asked.
Shannon rolled her eyes. Randy, Cade, and Landon were the sports fanatics around here. With the Tennessee Titans playing the Indianapolis Colts, they’d just lost the three men for the next several hours. At least they are all so darn cute when’re in sport mode.
“Nope,” Cade replied, “but kickoff is in five minutes. We need to get moving so we don’t lose our seats. When I left, Landon had sprawled out on our spots on the couch. I don’t want him hogging the whole damn thing.”
“No shit,” Randy said. Before a second had passed, he and all of the other men had disappeared down the hallway and into the den without a word to them.
Jaycee shook her head. “Men!”
“We can’t live with them, and we can’t live without them,” Shannon told her annoyed friend cheekily. She put her arm around Jaycee’s shoulders and ushered her toward the room where their men were. “Is everyone here?”
An odd expression crossed Jaycee’s face, causing Shannon’s heart to jump. Jaycee shook her head with a fierce jerk, and Shannon suddenly felt more than a little uncomfortable. “No. Actually, Katie-Anne hasn’t gotten here yet. When I talked to her earlier, she said she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Seriously?” Shannon asked in surprise. “I don’t buy that bullshit. She’s never sick.”
“I know,” Jaycee agreed with a deep frown. “Hopefully, she will be here soon, and we can all talk.”
Shannon laughed as they entered the den, but she sounded choked rather than not amused. “Then, maybe, we won’t have to suffer through the entire football game with these bloodthirsty sports fans,” she joked.
No one replied. Probably because she loved football as much as they did, and everyone knew it.
Shannon strolled across the room to where Jared lounged next to Drew on one of the loveseats. Sitting down on Jared’s lap, she murmured, “At least you two aren’t big on sports. We can talk.”
Drew reached down and grasped her ankles. Picking them up, he guided her legs across his lap with Jared helping him pivot her on his lap. “That’s better,” Drew murmured then slipped his hands underneath the hem of her ankle-length skirt. Rather than doing something naughty, Drew massaged her legs. “Munchkin, you won’t be talking. You’ll be too busy screaming at the referees on the television.”
“Good point,” she remarked with a sheepish smile. “We can talk later.”
Jared pressed his lips to her temple and said, “Yes, we can. We have plenty of time.”
“And we will talk,” Randy called out from his spot on the couch between Landon and Cade.
“Mmmm,” she hummed. “You can take that to the bank.”
“Shhh,” Cade shushed them as he cranked the television up. After that, there was no more talking for anyone.
Chapter 30
Nearly two hours later, the football game reached halftime. All of the men jumped up from their seats around the flat-screen television and scattered like the wind. Some of them left the den in search of the beer and food while others huddled together to discuss each and every play in minute detail.
Standing, Shannon stretched her stiff muscles with a long groan. Once her joints had stopped popping and she felt human again, she made her way over to Jaycee, who’d fallen asleep in Cade’s leather recliner.
Kneeling down in front of her friend, Shannon gently shook Jaycee. “Wake up, J. We need to check on Katie-Anne. I’m getting worried about her.”
Yawning, Jaycee sat up slowly. “I need to talk to you about that…about something…about Katie-Anne.” She tilted her head to the side and tacked on, “In the kitchen.”
Oh, shit. What had Katie-Anne done?
Since all of the men were occupied or missing, Shannon and Jaycee didn’t say anything. They just left.
Shannon pulled a bleary-eyed Jaycee in the kitchen. “What the bloody hell is going on, J?” she asked before the door had even swung closed.
Rather than responding, Jaycee moved away from her. She stumbled around the kitchen, opening and shutting cabinets randomly. Each time she handled a door was harsher than the last. The doors were flying open and bouncing on the hinges then slamming closed with jolting bangs.
Jaycee jerked open the refrigerator door before she disappeared inside it, making it impossible for Shannon to see her. When she reappeared several minutes later, she had nothing in her hands. Continuing to avoid Shannon’s eyes, Jaycee bustled around the room. She picked at the food on every single tray. However, other than shuffling it around on the silver platters, she did nothing to it.
“How did things go with Stellina yesterday?” Jaycee asked without glancing Shannon’s way. Her pitiful attempt to dodge Shannon’s question did not go unnoticed. However, Shannon figured she should play along so Jaycee would get on with telling her what was actually wrong.
“Good.”
Keeping her back to Shannon, Jaycee huffed. “Did you get the job or not?”
“Yes, I did,” Shannon replied in a clipped tone. Since she knew how Jaycee worked, Shannon filled her best friend in. Otherwise, they would spend the next hour talking about her new job rather than addressing the Katie-Anne issue. “Stellina needs a temporary cook at Dolce Serenità. With her granddaughter, Magdalena, moving here to open a new Italian eatery, she is going to be insanely busy. After that is when things are going to get interesting. Stellina wants me to be the head chef at Maggie’s restaurant. Apparently, her granddaughter is a terrible cook so she needs someone to cook while she handles the business side. Stellina thinks I am perfect for the job.”
A giddy thrill shot through Shannon as she uttered the words, despite the tenseness in the room. As another one of her dreams came true, she couldn’t help but be happy about it.
“Congrats,” Jaycee exclaimed then cursed unexpectedly, “Fuck.”
Her friend’s spontaneous profanity caught Shannon off guard, and she asked, “What?”
“I knew I forgot something,” Jaycee muttered then stalked back over to the refrigerator and flung the door open a second time. Pulling out a handful of Coca-Cola cans before spinning around, she dropped them onto the counter with a clang. Closing the door, she finally turned to face Shannon, but rather than speak, she stood there awkwardly.
What the hell is wrong with you? Biting her tongue, Shannon held back that question along with several others she desperately wanted to ask. She tried to distract herself by picking at her already too-short nails. When that didn’t work, she went to the fridge and retrieved dri
nks that would not explode when someone opened them.
Jaycee sighed. “Well, see. Here’s the thing,” she started but paused to pop a piece of cubed cheese in her mouth. “I, um, found some papers that I don’t think Katie-Anne wanted me or anyone else to see.”
Shannon’s stomach dropped to the floor. “What kind of papers are we talking about?” she inquired hesitantly.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Jaycee replied.
Shannon seriously considered throttling her best friend. If it weren’t for the twins in Jaycee’s stomach, she would have. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Why the hell did you bring me in here, if you weren’t planning to tell me what is going on with her?”
“I want to tell you,” Jaycee said. Sighing, she lowered herself onto the kitchen stool next to her. “Man, do I ever want to tell you, but this doozy isn’t mine to share.”
Like that makes me feel better. Shannon walked over to the stool beside Jaycee’s and sat down. “What exactly do you want me to do?”
Jaycee shrugged. “I don’t know of a damn thing we can do to help her with this one, and it’s killing me.”
“Fuck,” Shannon cursed.
“My sentiments exactly.”
“And you’re not going to tell me what you found, are you?”
Jaycee picked up a handful of potato chips and started eating them, one at a time. “Nope.”
“Bitch,” Shannon mumbled. Grabbing a can from the counter next to her, Shannon popped the top and took a drink of the cool liquid. After only a couple of sips, she came up with the perfect solution—Sarah.
Sitting her drink down, Shannon smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Oh,” she breathed. “Now I feel stupid. We need to talk to Sarah. She spends a lot of time with Katie-Anne, and she’ll know everything. She is one of those people. You know what I’m talking about? She is the person that everyone tells everything. She probably knows all the dirty secrets in Serenity. It’s a gift, and she doesn’t even know she has it.”