Wrecked for You

by Mayer, Kristin

  I couldn’t believe it.

  One by one, Hayden was making all of my dreams come true. This morning, I’d had a bath in the famous pink bathroom. We would have the house to ourselves for nearly an entire week after his family flew back to Alaska. I couldn’t believe Hayden had rented out the house. We were going to spend our honeymoon in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in this amazing house.

  After the wedding, Drake and Alexa were leaving to officially start their honeymoon. It blew my mind how the entire family had rearranged their schedules at the beginning of December to be part of our big day.

  We were to be married on the back terrace. I’d always wanted a love like Shelby had with Jackson. And I’d found it.

  Amie walked in with a garment bag draped over her arm. “Are you ready to see it?”

  “Yes.”

  She placed the bag on the bed. Hayden had asked for the wedding to be a surprise, and that’s what I wanted, too. Amie, Alexa, and Devney were in charge of all the arrangements. There was nothing I’d want to change. I never imagined I wouldn’t want to be involved in the details, but when the time came last night for me to decide, I only wanted to focus on enjoying every second.

  Amie unzipped the bag, and the dress spilled out. I touched the soft fabric, blown away by its beauty. “We had Alexa try on the dress to make sure it would fit since you guys are the same size. I hope that’s okay. She made notes of which dresses you liked as you talked. I hope you like this one.”

  I held up the dress, mesmerized. It shimmered in the light. The white fabric was fitted up top and then flowed out from the waistline. As I had helped Alexa, this dress had been my favorite. I bit my lip, and Amie touched my arm. “Oh no, is everything okay?”

  I turned to her and threw my arms around her neck. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s breathtaking.”

  She held me close. “You’re breathtaking.”

  We were both sniffling as she pulled back. “Let’s get you ready. You have a very anxious soon-to-be husband.”

  Before we got dressed, I took Amie’s hand. “Thank you for welcoming me into your family. I will spend every day of my life loving your son.”

  “I know. You are such a blessing to all of us. I couldn’t ask for a better wife for Hayden. You were made for each other.”

  I hugged her to me again. “Thank you.”

  “Let me go check on things.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Having her there helped ease the ache of not having my own mother. I stared out the window and sighed. It was hard not having Mother here even after all they’d done. Over the last few weeks, I had come to terms with everything and truly forgiven them. I refused to let the anger fester within me anymore. In the end, I had been blessed in immeasurable ways. But I remained hopeful that someday we’d be able to see each other again.

  Someday…

  I glanced at the ashes left in the garbage can and smiled. New beginnings. Hayden and I would always be partners in everything.

  The door opened, and I peered over my shoulder to see who it was. Devney came in, looking white as a ghost. “Hey, you okay?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

  “What’s wrong?” Maybe I should call for Hollis.

  I went to get up, and Devney grabbed me. “I think I messed up.”

  “What happened?”

  She gulped. “I’m pregnant.” She began to cry. “I’m so sorry I’m doing this on your wedding day. I just had to talk to someone.”

  I heard footsteps approaching on the stairs that led to the second floor. Alexa called out to let someone downstairs know she was checking on me. Devney tightened her grip on my arm. “Please don’t tell Hollis.”

  I took a deep breath. “It’s not my place to tell. But Hollis will be the best person to work through this with. He understands that a pregnancy is a chance anyone takes. He probably knows the statistics.”

  Devney gave a small smile. “Probably.” She sighed. “I told him last night I wasn’t moving to Washington. He was so sweet and told me he loved me. And now I’m going to mess everything up. He’s going to think I stayed because I knew I was pregnant.”

  “Devney, it’s going to be fine. Just talk to Hollis. He’ll believe you.”

  She wiped away the tears. “What if he thinks I’ve trapped him? We’re not ready for a baby. We barely made it through our first crisis.”

  The footsteps grew louder, and panic raced across her face. “Don’t tell anyone. Please, Kory. Don’t say a word.”

  “I won’t. You guys are going to figure this out.”

  “I hope so because I want this baby. And if I have to be a single mother, I will be.” She searched her purse. “I need my fake glasses so no one knows I’ve been crying.”

  She put them on, and we both laughed. We needed to defuse the situation before Alexa came in and sensed something was wrong. “They definitely had me fooled.”

  “Good to know.”

  The door opened, and Amie stepped in with Alexa behind her. Alexa looked at Devney, who was still a little tearstained. The glasses weren’t able to hide everything. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Weddings make me an emotional mess.”

  That was a good recovery. Amie looked at me. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes. I’ve never been more ready in my entire life.”

  The girls helped me down the stairs. Though Ike had offered to walk me down the aisle, I had chosen to walk by myself. It had been a hard choice, but in the end, I was the one choosing to be with Hayden and giving myself to him. It was symbolic of the road we’d traveled.

  At the bottom of the stairs, I took a deep breath. Amie gave me one last hug. “Welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you. It’s an honor. Truly.”

  The girls left the room, and I took a moment for myself. This is it. The soft sounds of an orchestra played. That was my cue. With each step, I smiled bigger until I got to the double glass doors. Drake and Kane opened them, and I stopped to savor the look on Hayden’s face as he saw me for the first time.

  His eyes lit up, and his smile was contagious. It was that same look I’d longed for at Drake and Alexa’s wedding. My Prince Charming was gazing at me with nothing but love and adoration.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Hayden

  I barely heard a word of what the preacher said as I looked into Kory’s eyes. She was stunning and soon to be mine. Forever.

  “You may now kiss the bride.”

  Without waiting another second, I took her mouth to claim it. Possessiveness coursed through me.

  Kory was mine to protect.

  Mine to cherish.

  Mine to love.

  I loved her with my entire being. I never dreamed that settling down with someone would bring me such peace, but I wanted this. I wanted it all with Kory—a house full of children and laughter. Family cheered around us and I pulled back ever so slightly. Happiness shone in her eyes, which made me feel like the king of the world.

  “I love you more than life itself,” I murmured against her lips.

  “You have completed my life in a way I never imagined. Forever and always,” she whispered back.

  “Forever and always.”

  * * *

  It was early as fuck the next morning as I made my way to the door. I had kept my wife up until all hours of the night making love to her. Wife. It was the best sound in the world. I opened the door and there was a mail carrier. “Kory or Hayden Foster?”

  “Yeah, I’m Hayden Foster.”

  “This is for you.” The man handed me an envelope, turned, and walked away.

  I shut the door to find Kory standing in the hallway, wearing my dress shirt from yesterday. “Who was that?”

  “He brought us a letter.”

  On the outside were our names. “Who’s it from?”

  We sat on the couch, and I opened the letter and began to read.

  Kory and Hayden,

  We heard of
your wedding. This was the first chance we had to send any communication undetected. The order to not contact us has been given, and we want you to follow that. Please don’t send us any communication. We still have the phone. If it ever becomes safe again, we will reach out.

  We wanted you to know we do love our daughter and know you will have a happy life together. We’re relieved you’re able to be free of this life you never wanted. It’s the one thing we can give you.

  Be happy.

  Live your life.

  And know that despite everything we did, we do love you.

  Your mother and father

  Holy shit. I let the contents of the letter settle in before I said anything. Kory kept staring at it, reading it again.

  She wrapped her arms around my waist. “They love me.”

  “Yes.” It still was all sorts of fucked up, but I wasn’t going to restate something Kory already knew. Cautiously, I proceeded. “How do you feel?”

  She thought for a second. “I know this is going to sound strange, but it’s closure. I know they love me. And this is their gift to me.”

  “That is a great way to look at it.”

  Kory’s strength would never cease to amaze me.

  * * *

  After getting out of the house for a little bit, we strolled through the streets of Natchitoches. If I had my choice, we’d stay in the bedroom the entire time. However, Kory wanted to see the town. Since reading the letter from her parents, Kory seemed lighter. I respected her parents for giving her the closure she needed. I never would agree with their methods or what they did to Kory. However, we had to let the past be in the past if we were going to move forward in our future.

  Kory came out of the next shop carrying a small shopping bag. When I’d tried to go in the store with her, she asked me to stay on the sidewalk. “What’s in the bag?”

  “You’ll see.”

  I laughed. “Should we head home now?”

  She leaned up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss. “As long as you promise to make love to me.”

  I picked her up, cradling her in my arms as I strode back to the house. “That’s a promise I can keep right this instant.”

  Kory’s laughter made my heart so full.

  * * *

  We canceled the dinner I’d arranged and instead, we made spaghetti together. I loved every fucking minute of it. To think that once upon a time, I’d been so scared of committing. Now, I couldn’t imagine not having Kory in my life.

  I hit play on the remote, and the beginning of Steel Magnolias began to play. Kory snuggled closer to me. “I never want this feeling to go away,” she murmured.

  “It won’t. I’m going to spend every day making sure it never does.”

  She looked up at me with love shining in her eyes. “Thank you for giving me my happy ending. Do you remember that it was what you told me to toast to that first night?”

  I held up my beer to Kory’s wine glass. “And now I want to toast to our happily ever after.”

  “To our happily ever after. I love you, Hayden Foster.”

  “And I love you, Kory Foster.” I leaned down to taste her lips.

  Kory would forever be my world.

  I had been wrecked by Kory in the best possible way.

  Epilogue

  Changed by You

  Kane

  The night was cold as hell as I parked my truck in front of the cabin my friend, Butch, had rented out. He’d asked if I could help the tenant if there were any problems while he was away, and he’d given my information to the tenant. Of course, there would be problems with some stupid city slicker renting it out. Butch owed me big.

  I’d gotten twenty text messages stating the heater was out. Twenty damn text messages. Who sends that many? I had just as many voicemails but hadn’t listened to one. I got the picture from one. No need for twenty.

  Shit.

  And it was some guy named Teske. What kind of name is that? I bet this guy wore some shiny-ass loafers with his business suit. It was the middle of January. Normally, this was my time to be away from all these jokers and recharge for the hunting season. Instead, I was here, dealing with a heating issue. Teske probably couldn’t find the pilot to save his life.

  I slammed my truck door shut before I clomped up the stairs. It was cold. Worse than cold. Skagway was having one of the coldest winters in history. We were getting so much damn snow no one could keep up with it.

  I had too much shit to do.

  The FBI was on my ass to find someone they believed could be a serial killer. There had been murders all throughout Alaska. The last one had been in Juneau, which was too fucking close for comfort. In exchange for my help, I’d bartered with the FBI to agree to leave Kory and Hayden alone regarding all the shit that happened. No more questions. No more irritation. Nothing.

  So far, they’d been true to their word.

  But they wanted me to pull a rabbit out of my ass and make whoever this was appear out of thin air.

  News flash—rabbits weren’t in people’s asses. At least not in mine.

  I needed a fresh crime scene to track. The ones I’d been to were too tainted. In some cases, it had been four months since the murder. Juneau was four weeks ago. By the time they brought me on board, the crime scene had been ruined. The pictures they took were shit. The whole case was a disaster. And they had no idea who was behind it.

  He’d gotten the nickname Lumberjack Killer among the agents. What the fuck ever.

  I pounded on the door. In the next second, it shot open. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here! I was about to become a Popsicle.”

  For a second, I was frozen. I hadn’t been expecting a woman to answer the door. Butch said there was only one occupant, and I’d assumed it was a man. She had on so much fur, it was hard to see much else. It was like what Hollis considered a Paul Bunyan hat on steroids.

  “I’m looking for Teske,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “Teske. That’s what the text said.”

  She laughed. “No, that was supposed to say Teale. But my hands were so cold, my fingers probably slipped. And I can’t see much. I’m freezing.”

  I stepped inside and was disappointed to find it was just as cold as outside. That wasn’t good. “Why didn’t you start a fire?”

  The poor girl was shivering. “Umm… I couldn’t find the remote.”

  “Remote?”

  “Uhh… yeah. At home I push a button and voilà… let there be fire. There wasn’t a remote or button to push.”

  Well, shit.

  I wanted to laugh, but I kept a straight face. A remote? Is she serious? Even Hollis would be able to figure out the fireplace needed wood and matches.

  “Let me check out the heater.”

  “Okay.”

  I walked to the back of the house and found it in a closet.

  Double shit.

  This thing was old as dirt. It looked like a rusted tin bucket. What the hell? Butch should know better. I screwed around with it for a few minutes, but the damn thing was completely shot. We needed to come up with a plan B.

  I walked into the room where Teale had another blanket wrapped around her. There was a hell of a lot of luggage at the door. Maybe she hadn’t had time to unpack. I wasn’t going to concern myself with it. “Well, the heater is shot. Let me see if I can find some space heaters. We can get a fire going. You should be good to go until I can get the parts to fix it.”

  “Okay… sure.”

  I went to search the different closets, and I heard the front door open and close. When I walked back into the living room, Teale was gone. I looked out the window and saw her heaving one of her suitcases into the bed of my truck.

  No. No. No. This isn’t going to happen.

  I opened the door. “What are you doing?”

  She folded her arms over her chest. The damn fur obscured her face. “I’m going anywhere but here. I’ll freeze to death. You do not want my death on your conscience. I’ll come back to ha
unt you. I can be very scary.”

  For the second time today, I wanted to laugh, but I refused. That never happened. She wasn’t coming with me. No way. “No, we’ll start a fire and get you a space heater.”

  She opened the passenger door. “Hey, puppy. Don’t bite me. I just don’t want to freeze to death.” Mariah looked toward me, and I shook my head.

  “Teale, be reasonable.”

  “Nope. I’m going with you.”

  This was getting us nowhere. I would get her back in the house and show her how warm I could make it. Calmly, I walked toward the truck. Right as I got there, the door locks engaged.

  Motherfucker. She yelled through the window, “I need you to get the rest of my luggage first. Then I’ll let you in the truck.”

  “Teale, get out of my truck.” I was tired of playing the games.

  “Nope. Sorry. Luggage first. I’m coming with you.”

  “Teale, I will get the house warm again.”

  She cocked her head to the side and smiled at me. “Will you please get my luggage, Mr. Foster? Then you can take me into town. The one thing I do know is that I’m not staying in this house a second longer.”

  This woman was going to be the death of me. Fine. I’d take her to the hotel and be done with this shit. Hopefully the roads were clearer today.

  I pulled out my phone and texted Dad. He was the closest to where we were.

  Me: Heard anything about the roads?

  Dad: If you were thinking about coming into town, I wouldn’t. They’re still bad.

  Me: Thanks.

  Dad: Everything okay?

  Me: Yep. Just had a few errands to run.