by K. C. Crowne
Built and Bearded
Bearded Bros Series, Book Three
K.C. Crowne
Contents
1. Dax
2. Oakley
3. Dax
4. Oakley
5. Dax
6. Oakley
7. Dax
8. Oakley
9. Dax
10. Oakley
11. Dax
12. Oakley
13. Dax
14. Oakley
15. Dax
16. Oakley
17. Dax
18. Oakley
19. Oakley
20. Dax
21. Oakley
22. Dax
23. Oakley
24. Dax
25. Dax
26. Dax
27. Dax
28. Oakley
29. Dax
30. Oakley
31. Dax
32. Oakley
33. Dax
Epilogue
Beauty and The Beard Preview
Copyright © 2018 by K.C. Crowne
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Dax
Buzz... Buzz...
Who would be calling this fucking early?
Groaning, I reached over and felt for my phone on the end table, searching until my fingers clasped onto the vibrating mechanism. Slowly, I put it up to my ear.
“Hello?” I grunted, still half asleep.
“Dax, it’s Brad,” the voice on the other end answered.
“Brad? Why are you calling me so early? The sun isn’t even up yet. Is something wrong?” I asked.
I squinted at the red numbers on the alarm clock. 6:04 a.m. A full hour before I had planned on being up.
“No, nothing is wrong. Sorry to wake you up so early, Sunshine.”
“Well if nothing’s wrong then why the hell are you calling me?”
“I just got an email confirmation from Congresswoman Stone’s office. They have chosen us to host their son’s wedding. This is huge!” Brad’s excited voice boomed through the receiver.
I tried to wrap my tired mind around what he was telling me. My brain was finally starting to wake up and register his words. “That’s great,” I answered.
“Let’s start the meeting early this morning. We need time to discuss this and I have a lot going on today,” Brad suggested.
“Alright. I’ll get up,” I offered, a bit unhappily. I wasn’t a morning person.
“Okay, see you at seven? I’m calling everyone,” he informed me.
“I’m sure they’ll be as thrilled to hear your happy ass as I am this early.”
My oldest brother chuckled and hung up.
I peered at the cell phone’s excessively bright screen until the call ended. The room went dark again. Guess I have to get up. I swung my feet off the bed and placed them on the cold, wooden floor. I needed a shower.
Reaching into the dresser for a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt, I got a glimpse of my tired self in the mirror. Wow, I look like shit, I thought.
My normally clear blue eyes were bloodshot and sleepy. Sandy blond hair hung over my shoulders and down my back, disheveled from tossing and turning. I realized that I was slouching and instantly straightened up to my full six feet. I flexed my biceps and admired my toned reflection in the mirror. The sight of my bulging muscles made it all better. With a lazy grin, I headed to the bathroom.
After my shower, I combed the knots out of my thick, wavy hair, pulling the front strands back to secure them in a ponytail, leaving the rest to hang long. I used trimmers to even out my cropped beard and well-kept mustache and sideburns. I liked to be well-groomed. Taking one last look at my appearance in the mirror, I liked what I saw.
Thirty-two huh? Don’t look a day past twenty-five, I thought, tilting my chin to admire my beard.
I pulled on a blue plaid flannel shirt over my tight-fitting black t-shirt along with my favorite pair of worn out blue jeans. Finally, I slid my wide feet into work boots and I was ready to go.
At 7:05, I drove my black GMC Sierra down to the resort and pulled into the lot. I saw that my brothers’ trucks had already been abandoned. Everyone must be inside. I hurried into The River Room and all heads turned to stare at me.
“Dax, you look like you just woke up,” my younger brother, Harley, laughed. My hair was still slightly wet from the shower.
Reid and Bryce, my seventeen-year-old twin nephews, giggled in unison like they often did.
“Least I made it,” I retorted, giving each of them a playful glare. “I need some coffee.”
“Thanks for coming early, Dax,” Brad said, grinning at me.
“Yeah, yeah.” I put on my best smile for them all as I poured myself a strong cup of coffee from the side coffee bar. “So, what’s got everyone all riled up so bright and early?” I asked, taking my seat at the long table.
“We’re gonna be on the news!” Bryce chimed in.
Obviously, Brad had been filling the twins in with all the details.
I nodded at them. “The news, eh?” I repeated, looking at Brad.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a publicized event,” Brad confirmed.
“Great publicity for the resort,” Harley added.
“Yep,” my brother Cole agreed.
I looked from person to person. How are they all so awake so early? I wondered, drinking my hot coffee in gulps trying to catch up to their level of alertness and excitement.
I just wasn’t feeling it. Not yet.
Don’t get me wrong; I knew what an event of this magnitude meant for the resort. But I needed time to wake the hell up before I could wrap my mind around all of the possibilities. I guess that I had stayed up too late last night. Maybe drank one too many beers. The fog in my brain was barely lifting.
I sat back in my seat and listened to Brad excitedly rant over the upcoming ceremony. Hosting a wedding of a prominent family meant that I’d be in charge of publicizing it on the resort’s website and social media pages. It was bragging rights, for sure.
“Their wedding planner, a woman by the name of Oakley Padin, will arrive first. This Thursday, in fact. The family wants her here a week prior of their arrival to get everything organized and set up to their liking. She will come with all of the details,” Brad was saying.
“Whoa, wait, this is happening in less than two weeks?” I asked, incredulous.
“Yeah, the Stones’ son didn’t want a big long engagement, so this is happening pretty fast,” Harley answered.
I didn’t know much about Congresswoman Stone or her family other than what I caught on the news occasionally. And I’d have to look up his Oakley Padin person so I could write some eye-catching blogs and social media posts about the family and how they chose Hunter’s Mountain Ski Resort for their special day.
“Dax, you’re going to be working directly with the wedding planner,” I caught Brad saying.
I sat up straight in my chair. “Say what? I asked, shocked. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I have a lot to work out with guest relations this week. And I need to make sure that everything goes as planned. I can’t be stuck with the wedding planner. So, I’ll need you to help the Padin woman get everything ready.”
I raised my eyebrow at Brad. Me help the Padin woman? Is he serious?
Brad continued “Help with set up, ordering the flowers, planning the menu. Stuff like that. Whatever she needs,” he info
rmed me.
Damn, he was serious.
“Why me?” I protested. “Why can’t Harley or Cole do it?” I asked him, waving my arm in their direction. “I’ve never planned a wedding before, you know.”
Brad always worked with the guests. I was the media man around here.
I saw the look that Cole gave me, and I smiled at him.
“No way,” Cole replied, shaking his head. He didn’t return my smile.
I glanced at Harley.
“I’ve got to plan and work the events,” Harley quickly informed me. “Plus, I got my regular activities goin’ on. You are the only one who has the extra time.”
I sighed. I was no wedding planner, butut seeing that I didn’t really have a choice, I reluctantly agreed.
“Whatever you need,” I told them, frowning.
Cole looked relieved, like a huge stone was just lifted from his back. I got why Brad didn’t ask him to do it. He wasn’t exactly a people person. But what about my sisters-in-law Angela and Lindsay? Either of them could handle it.
Just as I was about to suggest for one of them to help out the wedding planner, Lindsay looked right at me.
“I’m photographing the event, including the setup. The family wants the entire affair caught on camera from start to finish,” she informed me.
I looked at Angela.
“Reid and Bryce have SATs coming up. It’s really bad timing. I’ll help out as much as I can though,” she promised me.
SATs? Geeze. I guess I’m stuck with the lady.
Little Abby -- Brad and Angela’s four-year-old daughter -- was watching my face closely. She caught me working it all out in my head. I just happened to look over at her and caught her intense gaze. I stuck out my tongue. She giggled, and I returned a smile, trying to lighten up.
No way I was getting out of it so I might as well just accept it. I caught my mom, Mary Beth, smiling at me. She gave me a knowing nod when our eyes met before returning to feeding little Raini, Cole and Lindsay’s two-year old.
I sighed and scooped some eggs onto my plate as the restaurant’s Head Chef, Michael, laid out several large platters of breakfast foods. Ms. Everette, our eldest staff member and a dear family friend, poured OJ into each of our glasses.
I thanked her and guzzled down half of my glass in one gulp. She instantly refilled it for me and I beamed up at her.
After another hour of listening to Brad spew out all of the details, I was finally released to spend my last few days of freedom how I chose. I was dreading Thursday, that was for sure.
Trying to take my mind off the situation for a while, I headed to the resort’s small fitness room for a workout.
Oakley
I hung up the phone and jumped up and down with joy. I can’t believe it! I finally landed the big one!
“The big one” being the wedding of no other than the infamous Jackson Stone and his fiancée, Bethany Lincoln. And I was chosen to be their wedding planner!
I had applied for the position months ago and had not heard a word. I hadn’t really expected to if I was being real. I was an up and coming wedding planner with several big events under my belt, but none that rivaled what this would be.. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I’d be chosen out of the hundreds of qualified candidates for a wedding of this magnitude.
Jackson was the eldest son of Congresswoman Noel Stone. But that’s not what made him famous. Well, not entirely.
Jackson and his fiancée were the stars of a reality TV show; an escapade of their high school-sweetheart-romance and long-term relationship. Their fans just loved them.
Of course, making it all possible was Congresswoman Stone who had been a well-respected member of the community, as well as a glowing character herself. She’d always made sure that her family had been in the spotlight and well-publicized over the years since she’d been in office.
After staring into space for a moment, absorbed in a full-on daydream about the big event, I remembered that I needed to call Hailey ASAP.
Hailey Voortman had been my best friend since pre-school. She was not only my partner in crime, but she worked as my assistant as well. I couldn’t have made my business what it was today without the help of Hailey, and I owed her big time.
Since I was a young girl, I had been in love with the idea of marriage. I imagined myself as a radiant bride; a beautiful young woman wearing a graceful white-laced wedding dress. Walking down the aisle holding a pink bouquet of fresh flowers, a long silky train flowing behind me. I had imagined my groom to be the most handsome man on earth. Tall and muscular, a man who could sweep me off of my feet.
Of course, the entire dream hadn’t yet come true. At twenty-eight-years old, I remain unmarried. I’d learned to accept that I might not be wife-material after all. I was too driven. Men often didn’t know how to take an overly confident woman. In my experience, they were all looking for that damsel in distress that needed to be saved.
Not me. I would never need to be saved by anyone buy myself.
Growing up, I watched my parents struggle. Not having money caused a lot of stress in my family and I watched as my parents’ relationship slowly unhinged. One day, my mom packed her bags and walked out on my father and my sister and me.
Even though I didn’t blame my mom for leaving, I wished that she could have taken my little sister Alice and me with her. But she had no money. She was always a housewife, staying home to care for Alice and me. She had no education nor any work skills.
So, we stayed with Dad. My mom visited as much as she could, but I missed having a mother figure around all of the time. I didn’t have anyone to talk “girl talk” with. Alice was too young. Since we lived in a small ski town of Alta, Utah, I immersed myself in skiing in order to forget all of my family problems. I joined the high school ski team, and by the time I was a Junior, was captain of the team.
I was determined that I would never need a man to take care of me. But since I got barely passing grades in high school, I couldn’t get accepted anywhere but the local community college.
That wasn’t going to fly.
So, I skipped college altogether. Good thing that I had a brilliant imagination along with motivation and passion. I was able to secure a loan to start my own business and had the determination to make it thrive.
Since I was a people person, I found it easy to book my first gig. It was at the time when a lot of my friends were getting married, so I begged several of them to let me plan their weddings. I even did the first couple weddings for free with the agreement that I could document the entire event for advertisements and my new website.
My best friend Hailey was good with computers and had some programming and web developing under her belt. Thankfully, she took care of my website. Soon, my business boomed and I was able to move out of my childhood home.
Soon after, I was booking bigger weddings and even other events. I needed an assistant. Hailey agreed, and we’d been working together ever since. Since Hailey and I were both avid skiers, we started to pick up a lot of outdoor and ski resort weddings, helping in the planning of outdoor activities. Life had been good.
And now this! This wedding would be the feather in my cap that I needed to catapult my business to the next level.
I excitedly dialed Hailey’s number and impatiently waited for her to pick up.
“Hello Oakley,” she answered on the third ring.
“What took you so long to answer?” I didn’t try to hold back my impatience.
“I was eating. Why? What’s going on?” she asked, interested now.
“I just got off of the phone with Congresswoman Stone’s assistant! We got the gig!” I shouted into the phone.
Hailey didn’t seem to mind. “Are you serious? No way.”
“Yes, way!” I replied enthusiastically. “We need to be on location this Thursday.”
“This Thursday?” Hailey asked. “Like in three days?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, talk about short n
otice. But, okay,” Hailey agreed. She sounded excited too now. “Where are we going, anyway?” she asked.
“To a ski resort in Colorado,” I told her.
“Colorado!” Hailey exclaimed. “Why in Colorado?”
“Because Bethany’s elderly parents live nearby the resort and they can’t travel too far, I guess. Plus, some of her other family lives there.”
“I see,” said Hailey. “Sounds like we’re going to Colorado then! Cool!”
We made some final arrangements before hanging up. I was still on cloud nine well into the late hours of the evening and couldn’t sleep.
Hunter’s Mountain Ski Resort in Blue Haven, Colorado was where the wedding would be taking place. I’d heard of lots of big-time ski resorts in Colorado, but I’d never heard of the place. Must be a smaller, family operated resort.
Odd, I thought. You’d think that a family with all the money in the world would choose a big, fancy place. But who knew how fancy this place was? It was clearly enough for the Stones to have chosen it.
I decided to get out of bed since I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon and look it up. I Googled the name of the resort and it popped up first in the search. That’s good, I thought. They’re big enough to have their own webpage.
I clicked on the page and began sifting through the information and pictures. It turned out to be a cozy, picturesque, family-oriented resort way up in the mountains. In fact, there was one road in and out. Seclusion at its finest.
For me, I‘d always looked forward to my events taking me to the larger cities. Living in a small town myself for all of my life, I enjoyed getting away now and then and seeing more action. A nightlife. A reason to wear party clothes and hit the town.