“I’m concerned about you, Decker. What—”
“We already went over this, Dad.”
“What terms?” Russ demanded.
Kendall stood and walked over to them. “Decker will be acting CEO until my father’s company is back on track. Do you have a problem with that?”
Russ took in her bandaged eye and her defiant stance and then turned back to Decker. “Did you take control of the company?”
“No, but Bernard will let me run it.”
Kendall watched Russ simmer with anger, but to his credit he remained calm. And then his anger dissipated as though something else had dawned on him.
“I never thought I’d see the day when a woman would influence your decisions,” Russ said.
Decker visibly flinched, though it was so subtle that she doubted Russ even noticed. But she had. Kendall had obviously influenced his decision not to take control. What did that mean as far as his feelings for her? She bet he struggled with that right now.
“I’m not saying that’s not good,” Russ went on. “In fact, it might motivate you even more.” He chuckled, glancing over at Kendall. “My son is falling in love.”
Decker’s face went still.
Russ gave him a hard pat on his back. “Just make sure you turn a profit on that investment, son.”
With another chuckle, Russ headed for the door, opened it and looked back. “See you at the wedding.”
Chapter 17
Standing next to Kendall with her in a V-neck, fitted black dress and her hair in a sexy updo, Decker couldn’t stop his dad’s words from running through his mind, over and over.
My son is falling in love.
He had sounded so definitive. And for his father—the almighty Russ Colton—to say such a thing meant he really believed it. He believed Decker was falling in love.
He was barely aware of the quaint old courthouse where they had gathered with other guests, waiting for Liam and Sloane’s wedding to begin. Decker glanced toward the front doors. No sign of the happy couple. The weather had warmed and the sun sparkled in a clear blue sky, a great day for a wedding.
Turning the other way, he looked through the open double doors where wooden seating had been adorned with flowers, brightening the courtroom. He and Kendall would have a church wedding, but this was a unique idea, as well.
Kendall glanced over at him and he met her look, one eye still covered but with a smaller bandage. The blemish didn’t matter to him, and her other eye conveyed plenty. That sizzling heat they had, that seemed to have intensified since last night, hit him now. He turned away and caught his older brother Wyatt looking at him, as well as Russ. Decker ignored them.
Although the bride and the groom and little Chloe weren’t here yet, Decker and Kendall stood with the rest of the family. Russ and Mara laughed at something Wyatt said, probably joking about Decker falling in love.
Decker had always looked up to his big brother. Tall and wearing his cream Stetson with strands of dark brown hair stuck out from the edge, hints of gray at the temples, he had a rugged look, appropriate for a rancher. He’d always followed his own path.
Bailey Norton, Wyatt’s soon-to-be wife, stood beside him, her laugh carrying through the lobby of the courthouse. She moved her long, straight brownish-blond hair back over her shoulder, her dark eyes sparkling.
The twins Skye and Phoebe carried on their own conversation. He sometimes wondered what they shared. They were close, as anyone would expect from twins.
Decker’s adopted brother Fox Colton talked with Wyatt and their parents. Decker’s younger brother Blaine was absent. Wyatt and Fox had a lot in common, both ranchers and both loving the outdoors.
A family member of Liam’s gave the indication that it was time to enter the courtroom.
Decker let Kendall go ahead and sat on the bride’s side. Wyatt sat beside him, his veterinarian fiancée beside him.
“Mom told me about your wedding,” Wyatt said. “You sure that’s what you want?”
His question ground in his dad’s comment deeper. “Yes.” Why did he feel a stab of apprehension? He hadn’t felt that before. Why did falling in love give him that feeling?
“You’re not doing it for Dad, are you?”
Having sat in front of them, Russ and Mara twisted to look back.
“Not anymore he isn’t,” Russ said. “You saw the way he looks at her.”
“Yeah. Hard to miss.” Wyatt looked at Bailey and winked.
The two made an attractive couple, but Decker wasn’t in the mood to admire that right now. He didn’t like being teased about his growing feelings for Kendall.
Kendall had observed the exchange and Decker saw her tiny smile.
“She seems pretty pleased with that, son,” Russ said.
He must have noticed her expression, too.
“Go easy on him, Russ,” Mara said. “He’s never been in love before. This has to be a daunting experience for him.”
Wyatt chuckled along with Bailey.
The others quieted and Decker was glad to see Liam enter the courthouse. Sloane waited at the doorway with her daughter Chloe in front of her, holding a basket of flowers. Sloane looked beautiful in a simple white wedding dress. Her dark brown hair had been swept up with a few highlighted tendrils dangling down. She wore a hat with lace. Her daughter wore a matching dress and hat. So adorable.
The magistrate stood in front of his bench, waiting for them, and a harpist began plucking a tune.
In a black suit and tie, Liam reached the magistrate and shook his hand before turning to face Sloane and Chloe.
Sloane bent to talk to little two-year-old Chloe. The girl began walking toward Liam, clumsily sprinkling red flower petals on the floor.
Reaching Liam, she stopped and turned at his guidance toward her mother.
Smiling, Sloane began her walk down the courthouse aisle. When she reached Liam, she took her daughter’s hand and they faced the magistrate.
After a brief introductory statement, the magistrate let Liam and Sloane recite the vows they had written for each other and then pronounced them husband and wife. They signed their marriage certificate and faced the small crowd hand in hand.
Decker clapped with everyone else.
* * *
Decker’s family teasing him had amused Kendall. She sensed a closeness among them, something she wouldn’t have expected. The Coltons had such an affluent reputation, and Russ hadn’t exactly presented himself as a humble man. But his affection for Decker showed, as did the brotherly love between Wyatt and Decker.
She stood beside Decker at the wedding reception, held at Russ and Mara’s mansion in the lower-level rec room. Country music played in the background.
Decker was in the midst of chatting with the groom while Bailey and Wyatt had begun an intimate game of pool. Russ and Mara talked business, sitting on the sectional before a giant screen that was currently dark. Skye and Fox played a game of darts as though this were another casual family gathering and Phoebe sat on a tall stool watching them.
“How is your eye?” Sloane asked Kendall.
Kendall looked at Sloane’s pretty heart-shaped face “Oh, it’s fine. I have cosmetic surgery scheduled. The doctors are confident the scarring will be minimal to nonexistent.”
“What a relief. Who would do such a thing?” Sloane asked. “I know Trey said it could be racially motivated, but still.”
“Yeah. Some people are so scary.” Kendall looked at Decker, thinking of her stalker and thankful she had him to help keep her safe.
“My former in-laws tried to off me, so believe me, I know,” Sloane said. “Liam saved me.” She sent her new husband a warm smile.
He returned it and slipped his arm around her, light green eyes sparkling in his youthful face. “It was nothing.”
The conversation fell into
a lull while Liam and Sloane shared a silent exchange of love with only their eyes. Kendall saw Wyatt and Bailey behaving similarly and admired them for a while. Wyatt was tall and ruggedly handsome and Bailey slender and sexy, something Wyatt clearly noticed with the way he looked at her and the way his hand occasionally touched her as they moved around the pool table to take shots.
“What’s going on with the Rouge murder case?” Decker asked Liam.
“Still no new leads.”
“Do you think Bianca was kidnapped before she was killed and left at Wyatt’s ranch?” Kendall asked.
“We’re not ruling it out.”
There was so much going on in Roaring Springs, unusual things. The town was normally a quiet getaway and now a woman had been murdered and another disappeared. For a moment, Kendall wondered if her stalker could be involved in either, but quickly dismissed that, since Emilio Elardi most likely had hired the man.
“You still concerned about a decline in reservations?” Liam asked.
“I haven’t seen a notable improvement.” He glanced at Kendall. “We’ve set up a charity event for next month. Advertising for that seems to be generating a lot of interest, so maybe in the next few weeks we’ll see some more traffic. It’s good PR and good to support a cause as worthy as helping victims of sex trafficking.”
Chloe tugged on her mother’s dress. “I have to go.”
“Bathroom time.” Sloane took Chloe’s hand and walked away. Fox came over and started talking to Liam. Those two wandered over to the bar, leaving Kendall alone with Decker.
Kendall resumed watching Wyatt and Bailey and in her peripheral vision saw Decker follow where she looked.
“How did they meet?” she asked.
“Wyatt was a bull rider in the rodeo and Bailey was a barrel racer. That was before she went to college to become a veterinarian.”
“A barrel racer?” She looked at him. “They’ve been together that long? I thought—”
“No,” he interrupted. “They were married a long time ago and just got back together. Bailey had some issues with her past and needed some time to sort that out. At least, that’s what Wyatt told me.”
What did she have to sort out? From the looks of them, they should have never parted ways.
“Do we look like that together?” she asked.
He turned his head sharply toward her. Maybe she was pushing him too much. He’d already endured his family’s poking.
“They’re so in love,” she added.
“I don’t know. Do we look like that together?” he asked, throwing the ball back in her court.
She thought of all the times she felt all warm and tingly with him. “Yes, but I don’t think anyone has seen us like that.”
“According to my family, they have.” He sounded annoyed.
She laughed lightly and faced him, sliding her hands onto his chest. “Don’t worry. There are worse things that can happen to you than falling in love.”
The set of his mouth and eyes told her he wasn’t happy to hear that. “Wyatt and Bailey like each other.”
“No.” She jabbed her thumb in the other couple’s direction. “That is love.”
He put his hands on her waist.
“Why do you fight it so much?” she asked softly.
“I’m not.”
“So you truly believe you aren’t falling in love?”
“I’m beginning to doubt that,” he finally admitted.
Kendall was sure his father had the most influence on his change of heart. Decker hadn’t admitted he was falling for her, but she’d take the next best thing.
She smiled up at him but her joy dimmed when she noticed that Mara and Russ’s conversation had turned heated. Decker stepped back from Kendall and faced them along with everyone else in the room. Mara was clearly upset about something.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded of her husband.
Russ appeared contrite. “I’m sorry. He asked me not to say anything.”
“And you thought that included me? I’m his mother. I have every bit as much right to know what he tells you as you do.”
“Mara—”
Mara stood. “Don’t Mara me. Go away!”
Russ stood. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
Decker walked over to them. “Give us a minute, Dad.”
Russ looked from his wife to Decker.
“Give her some space for a little while,” Decker said.
Russ grumbled something and then left the room.
“Mom, what happened?” Decker asked.
“Blaine called him.” Her voice trembled she was so upset. “He told Russ he’s back in the States.”
Decker’s youngest brother had joined the army and none of them had seen him in almost two years.
“He called Russ but not me,” Mara complained, obviously injured that her son had chosen Russ over her. “He wouldn’t tell Russ where he had been all this time, only that he was part of Special Forces.”
“Maybe he can’t talk about what he does, Mom,” Decker soothed. “If he’s in Special Forces, his missions might be classified.”
“I know, but he could have called his own mother to let her know he was all right and he would be coming home soon.”
Kendall wouldn’t argue that. If she had a son in the military, she’d worry every minute of the day if he was all right.
“Knowing Blaine, he didn’t mean to upset you. He called Dad because you would have pried information out of him that he isn’t at liberty to share. You’re his mother. He loves you. You have to know that.”
Mara began to calm. “Russ should have told me he called.”
“Yes, he should have,” Decker agreed.
“I’m not speaking to him for a long time.”
Decker chuckled and brought his mother in for a brief hug. “You’ll get over it. Dad didn’t mean to hurt you, either.”
“Sometimes I wonder.”
Russ’s first love would always be his company, but when it came to their kids, he should have known better than to keep a secret like that from Mara.
* * *
After a delightful evening that had improved after Mara forgave Russ about an hour later, Decker held the front door of the mansion open for Kendall and they stepped out into the night. The temperature had cooled considerably.
After helping Kendall into the passenger side, Decker got behind the wheel and drove away from the mansion. He merged onto the dark highway and kept to the speed limit, but he couldn’t wait to get back to The Lodge so he could be alone with his beautiful fiancée. She leaned back against the seat of the McLaren, looking content and a little sleepy. He was beginning to recognize her moods and he adored every one of them. He would do anything for her, he realized. Anything to make her happy. He was happy if she was happy.
Was that love?
If he never knew with absolute certainty, how would he ever know? He always came back to the same dilemma. When he had admitted his growing doubt that his original conviction might be wrong, he saw how much that had meant to Kendall and probably explained her contentment.
A loud bang erupted followed by another and Decker lost control of the car. It felt like two of his tires had just blown out. Kendall let out a startled shriek as the car swerved off the road. The tires caught on something just before he drove over a rock that the low-framed McLaren couldn’t clear.
The bump jolted him and Kendall and Decker couldn’t bring the car back onto the highway. It ran into a tree.
Seconds later, he shook off his faint disorientation and quickly checked on Kendall. She put her hand to her head near her bandage.
“Are you okay?” He unfastened his seat belt and leaned over to her.
“My head hit the window,” she said. “What happened?”
“That’s what I’
m about to find out.” Decker couldn’t tell if her head had broken the glass or the impact had. The passenger door had bent and now hung open to the cooling air. He unfastened her seat belt, worried what had caused his tires to blow. He searched around and didn’t see anyone. The bangs had sounded like gunshots.
He took out his phone and called Trey. As he did that, he spotted a shadow in the rearview mirror, which was still aligned on the cracked windshield.
“Decker? Everything all right?” he heard Trey say.
“He’s attacking us on the highway!” He got out of the car as a man ran to Kendall’s side. Decker sprinted around the car, but not before the guy dragged Kendall out of it. She struggled and the fellow was about to point a gun to her head.
“You had to go and meddle, didn’t you,” the attacker hissed. “It’s because of you that I can’t go home. I can’t go anywhere! You deserve to die for that.”
“We’re on the highway on the way to The Lodge!” Decker shouted and then threw his phone with Trey still talking, hitting the man in the eye. Kendall got away, running to Decker and then behind the McLaren.
Reaching the stranger as he began to bring the pistol around, Decker knocked his hand hard and blocked the other from swinging to hit him. He had a clear view of his face. He had dark hair and eyes and an acne-scarred face. He was shorter than Decker by only a half inch or so.
“No way you live!” the man roared. “Both of you are going to die!”
Decker grabbed the guy’s wrist and slammed it down on the edge of the bent door.
The man hollered in pain and the gun fell into the McLaren.
Decker slammed a punch into the attacker’s stomach. He had to maintain the upper hand. This man was a trained killer.
He kicked the guy as he was hunched over, knocking him to the ground. Then Decker bent inside the McLaren for the gun. Retrieving that, he felt the man hook an arm around his neck and begin to choke him.
Then suddenly the man eased away and fell down.
Decker turned with the gun and saw Kendall had picked up a rock she had used to hit the man on the head.
Colton's Convenient Bride Page 20