The background music changed and John walked toward the altar with his groomsmen. He looked nervous.
A few minutes later, the bridal march began. John looked down the aisle and a smile replaced his worried frown. He was a man in love and it showed.
Bella, John’s daughter, was the first to appear. She grinned at the people she passed and dropped rose petals on the floor.
Four bridesmaids followed Bella. Their bright dresses matched the flowers, creating a rainbow of color in the middle of a cold winter’s day.
Something inside of Tanner stilled as Rachel moved slowly past him. The only word he could find to describe the way she looked was radiant. Her eyes sparkled with happiness as she smiled shyly at John.
Tanner didn’t know if he was capable of loving someone as much as Rachel and John loved each other. He’d grown up alone, unsure of what it meant to love or be loved. His last disastrous relationship had almost sealed his fate. His girlfriend had told him he couldn’t give her what she needed. He thought they’d been in love, that what they had was special.
He’d been wrong.
Kelly nudged his arm. “Cheer up. It’s not as bad as you think.”
He looked into her smiling face and frowned. If he couldn’t tell the difference between love and infatuation after a twelve-month relationship, what hope was there that he’d ever be able to?
***
Kelly looked around the dance floor. Couples were waltzing like seasoned professionals in the ballroom at the Baxter Hotel.
John and Rachel’s wedding had been beautiful. Their simple, heartfelt vows had touched her heart and brought tears to her eyes.
Finding the kind of love they had was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and at the rate she was going, she’d never find it. Especially if she had to dance with her brother again.
She pulled Luke forward, directly into the path of Tanner and his new dance partner.
“I’m supposed to be leading,” Luke growled. “Quit pulling me where you want to go.”
“I’m helping Tanner. Another woman’s batting her eyelashes at him.”
Luke spun her into a quarter turn to see who she was looking at. “It’s Stella. He should be worried.”
“We’ll don’t just stand here…move.”
Luke’s navigation skills didn’t impress Kelly. He did move toward Tanner, but he managed to get stuck behind three other couples. By the time they’d extracted themselves from the road block, Stella was gazing adoringly into Tanner’s eyes.
“You’ll have to ask if she can dance with you.”
Luke snorted. “I’m not cutting in on Tanner’s dance.”
“Stella is a nice person.”
“Yeah…she’s nice to a whole lot of people.”
Kelly pinched her brother’s shoulder. “Be careful. Most of the gossip about her is untrue.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because I talked to her at a craft market a couple of months ago. She made some mistakes that tarnished her reputation, but they weren’t all her fault.”
“I wonder if the wives of her tarnished past would agree with you?”
Kelly smiled at Nick Costas as he waltzed past her with Mia, his granddaughter. “You’re too quick to judge people, Luke. Just smile and pretend you’re a nice person.”
Before her brother realized what she was doing, she tapped Tanner’s dance partner on the arm. “Hi, Stella. Do you mind if I cut in?”
The smile on Stella’s face was wide and welcoming. “Kelly! It’s great to see you.” She turned to Luke and dimples appeared in her cheeks. “Hi.”
Kelly nudged her brother.
He frowned at Stella, but still held out his hand. “I promise not to stand on your toes.”
“I’m not worried. I can move fast when I need to.”
Kelly could have sworn her brother blushed.
Tanner pulled her into his arms and danced away from Luke and Stella. “Thank you.”
“I thought you seemed a little worried.”
“Stella’s okay. She saved me from Mrs. Murray. Apparently, she has a granddaughter called Louisa who’s a corporate lawyer in San Diego. She’s coming home for Christmas.”
“And she wants you to be Louisa’s Christmas present?”
Tanner’s eyebrows rose about a foot off his face. “Are you enjoying yourself more than you should be?”
“Only a little. It must be hard being such a catch.”
“You haven’t been short of a dance partner or two, either.”
“I’m surprised you noticed.”
“I notice more than you think.”
“Well, in that case, you would have noticed that Luke has hardly left my side. Apart from you, the only men I’ve danced with are happily married.”
Tanner grunted and pulled her closer.
She tried to ignore the tangy freshness of his aftershave and the hard muscles beneath her hands. He might be everything she’d ever looked for in a boyfriend, but he was the kind of man her older sister always warned her about.
Apart from having an allergic reaction to anything resembling a relationship he was focused on his career.
He worked all over the country, spending more time out of Bozeman than in it. The last few weeks had been the longest he’d been in town. After Christmas, he was heading to Malaysia with a client and then coming back to a job in Chicago and another in Las Vegas.
Kelly didn’t want to begin something that would end in tears. Long-distance relationships never worked and the only relationship she could have with Tanner would be long distance.
She looked at the other couples on the dance floor. “Nick Costas called me yesterday. The staff at the Smithsonian are making steady progress with the painting. They’ll send us some photos of what they’ve done next week.”
“That’s good.”
“I still can’t find any record of Abagail’s life. I didn’t expect to find a birth certificate, but I thought I might find something to say she was in Montreal.”
“Finding more information won’t be easy. Have you heard from Senator Jackson?”
“Not yet. I emailed him yesterday and told him I wouldn’t give him the journal. I’ll probably hear from his lawyer on Monday.”
“Call me as soon as he makes contact with you. I’ve spoken to one of the legal team at Fletcher Security. Senator Jackson can’t look at the journal without your permission.”
Kelly watched the other couples on the dance floor. She wished the only thing on her mind was enjoying the wedding, but it wasn’t.
Tanner squeezed her hand. “The cogs of your brain are spinning. What else haven’t you told me?”
“Detective Callahan called. They still don’t know who broke into my building.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. You’re safe with me.”
“But I won’t be staying with you after Christmas. What if they come back?”
“You’re staying with your family for a few days after Christmas. Hopefully, by the new year, we’ll know who broke into your apartment and why. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll reassess your options. You could always adopt a shelter dog. A Rottweiler or German Shepherd would stop most people from coming in uninvited.”
“I feel like I’m the person who did the wrong thing.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong except win the auction.”
Kelly smiled. “It felt great winning against you.”
“There’s a reason that doesn’t often happen.”
“I’m more selective in my bids.”
“You’re more cautious,” Tanner said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of people could learn a thing or two by analyzing your auction strategy.”
This time Kelly laughed. “My strategy involves beating you.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much. If I had more money I’d really be able to push you to the limit.”
“You do now,” Tanner muttered.
“In my
defense, I was raised with five older brothers. I see life a little differently to most people.” She looked over Tanner’s shoulder as they passed Luke.
Her brother was still dancing with Stella and he wasn’t smiling. “I need to rescue Luke.”
“I’ll be sitting with Tank and Hayley if you need me.” He spun her in a circle before letting her go. “Luke’s lucky having a sister like you. I hope Stella behaved herself.”
“It’s a wedding,” she said with a smile. “What could go wrong?”
“Plenty.” Tanner nodded toward Stella. A man wearing a tuxedo had just tapped Luke on the shoulder. “It looks as though he doesn’t need rescuing anymore.”
Kelly watched Stella’s reaction to the tall, blond man. “No, but Stella does.” And before Tanner could stop her, she moved quickly across the dance floor to help her friend.
***
Tanner handed Kelly a cup of coffee. “Remind me not to come to another wedding with you. It’s bad for my health.” They were sitting on the upstairs landing of the Baxter Hotel.
“A gentleman wouldn’t remind a lady of how many times she stepped on his toes.”
“It’s not my toes I’m talking about. You stood between a man who was itching for a fight and the woman he was looking for.”
“You stood in front of me.”
“I’ve got a few more life skills than you have.”
“If your life skills include that super-cool arm lock you pulled him into I want to learn those skills. I thought calling his brother to pick him up was a little dangerous. He could have shared the same temperament.”
“His brother’s name is Jeremy. He’s the complete opposite of Stella’s ex-boyfriend.”
Kelly sipped her coffee. “Stella was grateful for your help. I don’t think many people even realized what was happening.”
“That had more to do with the security detail at John’s wedding than me.”
“I didn’t see anyone who looked like a bodyguard.”
“We did our job, then.”
Kelly’s eyes widened. “Wait…are you telling me the people who stood beside us weren’t wedding guests?”
“That’s right.”
“But they acted like they were friends of John and Rachel’s.”
“We work together, so technically they are friends. But they were at the wedding for another reason.”
Kelly frowned. “Who has bodyguards at a wedding?”
“A billionaire who’s getting married in a small, downtown hotel in the middle of Montana.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
The ballroom doors opened and Rachel came toward them. A very sleepy Bella held her hand. “There you are.”
Kelly patted the seat beside her. “We thought we’d have coffee out here.”
“You missed the birdy dance,” Bella said with a yawn. “It was awesome.”
Tanner glanced at the man and woman standing beside the same doors that Rachel had come through.
Most of the people in the room didn’t know about the work that had gone into making the wedding venue secure. A team at Fletcher Security had planned the entire day with military precision. John wasn’t leaving anything to chance and neither were the people who worked for him.
Rachel took the extra precautions in her stride and Bella didn’t know any different.
Bella hugged Kelly tight. “Thank you for my necklace and tiara. I look like a real princess.”
Tanner studied Bella’s tiara. He assumed they’d bought their jewelry from an exclusive, big city store.
Rachel touched her sparkly necklace. “They all look amazing. Everyone’s going to be placing orders for more pieces, especially if photos of our wedding hit the Internet. You’d better be ready for a jump in sales.”
“As long as it’s after Christmas I’ll be okay. I’ve been so busy in the store that I haven’t had time to make more jewelry.”
Tanner frowned at Kelly. “Did you make all of the jewelry?”
She nodded. “Tess, Sally, Molly, and Annie decided on their dresses months ago. It made it easier to design individual pieces for them. I started work on Rachel and Bella’s necklaces about four weeks ago.”
Bella yawned again.
Rachel smiled at her step-daughter. “We’d better find your dad. I think it’s time we went home.” She gave Kelly another hug. “Thank you for all you did for us. I really appreciate it.”
“That’s okay. Give me a call when you’re back from Disneyland. I’d love to see your photos.”
Rachel and Bella stood up. “I will. Take care.”
Tanner watched them walk into the ballroom. “They’re happy.”
“Yes, they are.” Kelly tilted her head to the side. “You’re not starting to believe in the magic of love, are you?”
“I never stopped believing. I just don’t think it’s for me.”
“One day, Tanner Sutherland, the love bug is going to find you and take a big bite out of your stubborn pride.”
He smiled and stood up. “I’d like to see him try.”
Kelly laughed. “I’d like to see him try, too. It would almost be better than beating you in an auction.”
He held Kelly’s arm as they walked across the landing. What she didn’t know was that the love bug had already bitten him, but he had the best antidote known to mankind—his past.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kelly had wondered how long it would take her mom to visit her and Luke. Tanner, much to her surprise, took the unexpected arrival of her mom in his stride.
She didn’t know whether that was because he was an accommodating kind of guy or because of the fudge brownies her mom brought with her. Her guess was that the fudge brownies won the day.
For the last hour, they’d talked about the Christmas decorations in Tanner’s home, Rachel and John’s wedding, Tanner’s job, and how busy Kelly’s store was. But something about the way her mom kept looking at her made Kelly uneasy.
Denise left her coffee mug on the table. “No one’s mentioned what happened in your store, so I will.”
Kelly’s gaze shot to Luke. He seemed as surprised as she was.
“There’s no point looking at your brother like that, Kelly. Luke didn’t say anything. Did you really think no one would notice three patrol cars parked outside your store? Your father and I had at least a dozen people call us to see if everything was okay. You weren’t answering your phone, so we called the police station. Goodness knows what Detective Callahan thought when he returned our call.”
Kelly took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, mom. You’re right—I should have told you what happened. But I didn’t want you to worry about me. Tanner brought me here while the police finished their crime scene investigation. He didn’t think it was a good idea for me to live in my apartment before Christmas, so I’m staying with him. Luke offered to spend time here, too. I wasn’t hurt and it doesn’t look as though anything was stolen.”
“Doesn’t that worry you just a little bit?”
“More than a little,” Kelly said softly.
Tanner sat forward. “I know you must be upset, but Kelly didn’t tell you what happened for all the right reasons. The police still don’t know who broke into her building, but they’re doing everything they can to find out. If the people who broke in were looking for the journal, they won’t find it.”
Denise frowned. “Ethan told us about the senator. His phone call must have been upsetting.”
“It was, but everything will be all right, mom. Tanner and Luke are here. From next week, I’m staying on the ranch while the store is closed. One way or another, by the time I reopen, this will all be over.”
Her mom’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by ‘one way or another’?”
Kelly glanced at Tanner. She hadn’t told him everything the art curators at the Smithsonian had talked about. “The portrait of Mary Jackson is being restored to the original painting. Once it’s finished, I’ve agreed to let the Smithsonian displ
ay everything I won at the auction. They’re going to include a full translation of the journal. They also want to include the family trees of Abagail and the Jackson family.”
Tanner scowled. “That’s a bad idea. If you think Senator Jackson is annoyed now, he’s going to be ten times worse if the Smithsonian include everything in their display.”
“There’s nothing in the journal that could harm him.”
“Apart from the small issue of Anton Jackson’s death. Alexander Jackson, or whoever he was, was a pillar of American society. Senator Jackson will have some explaining to do if there is even a hint of murder and corruption in his family.”
“It could work in his favor,” Kelly insisted.
Tanner’s mouth set in a grim line. “If he becomes the next Minority Leader of the Senate he will be one of the most powerful people in the country. You don’t mess with someone like that and come out unscathed.”
Denise stared at her daughter. “You should listen to Tanner.”
“But—”
“No buts,” her mom said. “This is serious. You can’t allow the Smithsonian to publish anything that could put your life in danger.”
Luke refilled his coffee. “Has Senator Jackson seen a copy of the journal?”
Kelly shook her head.
“Don’t you think it’s time you showed him? If it were me, I’d want to know what it said.”
“He doesn’t just want to know what it says, he wants the original journal. If he gets his hands on it, no one will see it again.”
“You don’t know that,” Luke said slowly. “I vote for contacting him to see why he wants the journal.”
Kelly crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Abagail didn’t want the Jackson family to have her journal. If she did, she would have given it to them before she died. She wanted the journal to be given to the eldest daughter in each generation of her family. She knew they would look after it.”
Denise Harris sighed. “What Abagail didn’t anticipate was the danger she could put someone in if they discovered what the journal said.”
“I think you’re wrong.” Kelly looked directly at her mom, hoping she would understand how much this meant to her. “Abagail wrote the journal in code. She knew exactly how dangerous the information could be in the wrong hands. She must have wanted her story to be told, but I guess it was never the right time.”
Just Breathe (The Protectors Book 2) Page 14