Hidden Secrets (The Hidden Series Book 3)

by Kristin Coley

  Chapter Two

  “About damn time you showed up.” Connor smothered me in one of his bear hugs the second I walked through the door, leaving Wade to stand awkwardly behind me. “And you brought James Earl Jones with you! Man, I want to thank you again for last week. We were chasing our tails with that asshole.” Conner released me to shake hands with Wade and I stumbled off, relieved to find none of my ribs had been cracked.

  A sexy smile greeted me as I stepped into the living room and I couldn’t stop my own answering one. His caramel hair was messed up as usual and his hazel eyes were more green than brown at the moment. I liked to think it was because he loved me that the green in his eyes deepened, but it could also be the purple shirt he had on.

  I leaned down to give him a peck on the cheek, but he pulled me down on his lap and the peck I intended became deeper as he brushed his tongue across the seam of my lips.

  A throat cleared loudly, once and then twice, before Connor smacked the back of Jake’s head to get his attention.

  “Dude, I sit on that chair. Do not make out with your girlfriend where I watch football.”

  Laughter broke out as Jake reluctantly pulled his lips from mine, but instead of letting me up he just adjusted me on his lap so I faced the room.

  Wade lifted his eyebrow at me, the sketch folded in his hand and I shook my head slightly. Let Jules and Connor make their announcement before we brought up what was sure to be a depressing conversation. He nodded and tucked it into his pocket before leaning back. Carly was sitting on the couch Indian style, looking more relaxed than I’d seen her in ages. I remembered a time when being around everyone would have had her tense and uncomfortable, but after everything we’d gone through together she’d finally felt accepted by my new circle of friends. It probably didn’t hurt that Danny wasn’t here. I knew he’d been invited and it was yet to be determined if he’d show. Carly used to have a massive crush on him, one I knew was still there, but she’d been pushing him away since the day he’d been forced to hurt us in an attempt to save us.

  It hadn’t helped that Danny’s efforts had been the catalyst to me winding up in a coma. It’d taken him time to forgive himself and I wasn’t sure he had completely. I’d forgiven him immediately. I understood the position he’d been in, but Carly was wary of trusting him again. Part of me couldn’t blame her. Danny had played his part well and only my ability had clued me in that he was on our side, a fact I hadn’t been able to share with Carly. He’d been forced to punch her in the face, knocking her out, and the physical violence had left a wedge between them.

  I hoped they could find their way past it because I knew it was tearing Danny up inside. I hadn’t been his biggest fan at first. Danny had been a drug dealer and indirectly responsible for his brother’s kidnapping and eventual murder. Those events had changed Danny completely and once I’d seen who he truly was I’d become his number one fan. Carly had seen the truth long before me though and I’d often made fun of her for her crush on him.

  Now, the tables were turned and I was trying to get her to see him as that guy once again. Danny had enough bad luck in his life. He didn’t need to lose the girl too.

  A quiet knock interrupted my thoughts and Jules sashayed her way to the door, opening it to reveal a scruffy Danny. He must have come straight from work because his white t-shirt was filthy and he had a vaguely burnt smell to him. He’d taken a welding apprenticeship on the docks and was doing really well. His steel toed boats clunked across the floor as he came into the living room. A quick glance at Carly revealed she’s shuttered her expression and I frowned in response.

  Danny leaned down toward me, bumping my shoulder with his as he gave a Jake a fist bump.

  “Hey,” they said, giving each other acknowledging nods. Danny glanced at the space on the couch next to Carly but as she stiffened he moved to the corner of the room, propping his shoulder on the wall instead.

  “Great, everyone’s here. Finally.” Jules gushed and Danny lifted his shoulder slightly. “I know you had to work,” she rushed to assure him, not that he cared. “So, Connor and I wanted to tell everyone we’re getting married.”

  Dead silence met this announcement as we glanced at each other in puzzlement. I finally raised my hand and said, “Uh, Jules, pretty sure we were all there when Connor finally managed to get down on one knee.”

  Connor threw a pillow at me and Jake blocked it before it could hit me in the face.

  “I know that!” Jules looked flustered, an unusual look for her since she was normally the one who had it all together. I blamed her normally unflappable ways on growing up with two brothers and being engaged to Connor. “We’re getting married in two weeks.”

  This time the silence was more the stunned variety and I was sure I’d heard her wrong.

  “Two weeks?” I asked carefully, praying I was wrong.

  “Yes,” she said with a surprisingly happy expression on her face. The same woman who’d told us last month that the wedding had to be at least a year in the future so she could plan it properly.

  “Are you pregnant?” Carly burst out in confusion. “Because no one cares these days.” I flinched, almost afraid to glance at Jules, knowing how sensitive she could be to pregnancy comments. Only four of us in the room knew she couldn’t get pregnant, and I understood Carly’s thought process, but when I glanced at Jules she just smiled and shook her head. I saw Connor had taken her hand though.

  “No, not pregnant,” she explained. “Our priest is retiring.”

  “They can do that?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yes, Addie, they can do that.” Connor mocked and it was my turn to throw the pillow. “God, don’t be such a heathen. Jake, you should really take her to church sometime.”

  “Oh, you’re one to talk.” I chortled. “Weren’t you the one who stole all the communion crackers and asked for seconds on the grape juice last time Jules brought you?”

  “How was I supposed to know you only take one?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe by watching the other people?” I snipped at him, still offended by the heathen comment.

  “Settle down, you two,” Jake replied, ever the peacemaker.

  “Yeah, cause we have more important things to discuss like the fact that I’m getting married in two weeks.” Jules ended with a shriek, drawing all of our attention to her.

  “Is it that important for your priest to marry you?” Wade asked the logical question even as Connor shook his head frantically mouthing, “Abort.”

  Jules turned her head toward Wade and we all held our breath. This could go one of two ways. Anyone besides Wade, and I would have automatically assumed they were getting their head bit off, but Jules had a soft spot for Wade and his deep voice, and knowing Jules she also had a need for him.

  “He baptized me, he’s been my priest my entire life and this is my only chance to have him marry me. So, yes, it is that important to me.” We could all see she was trying extremely hard to control her temper since it was Wade, but the pressure to plan her perfect wedding in two weeks was already showing. “Any more questions?” I had no doubt it was meant to be rhetorical, but Wade dived right in.

  “Did you need me to help with anything?”

  I slumped back into Jake, relieved. He chuckled softly in my ear and rubbed my shoulder.

  “Worried about him?” He whispered and I nodded.

  “It took some convincing to get him here. I’d hate for harpy Jules to run him off.”

  “Harpy?” He muffled his laugh to keep the harpy from turning her attention toward us. “That’s my sister, you know.”

  “And one of my best friends, but we both know how the next two weeks are about to go.”

  “True.” He sighed and nuzzled my neck, causing me to duck my head as his stubble tickled me. “I’m not going to see you, am I?”

  “Probably not,” I said, letting out a depressed sigh. I’d just finished my sophomore year of college and had anticipated spending the summer reading b
y the pool and hanging out with Jake. We’d barely seen each other the last few weeks as I crammed for exams and he wrapped up cases. Now, it looked like all of my plans were on hold for another two weeks as I became Jules’ slave.

  Her laser beam gaze landed on me just then and I jolted up, striving for a serious expression. Jake grinned, but quickly ducked behind me when his sister turned her gaze toward him.

  “I need you to help me,” she said, her eyes resembling those of a zealot spotting the holy land. I nodded mutely, too scared to speak and only took a breath when she turned her gaze away. “You too, Carly.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I mean, Jules.” Carly replied instantly, hiding behind the crazy mess she called hair. I was always equal parts envious and relieved I didn’t have her hair. It was wild and beautiful, but also intimidating. Carly wasn’t particularly tall, but her hair made up the difference in our heights.

  “Wade and Danny I’ll need you to be groomsmen,” Jules fired off to their surprise. “Jake, of course, will be the best man.” Connor cleared his throat, interrupting her.

  “I think it’s my job to ask them since I’m the groom and all.”

  “I don’t have time for you to get around to asking them. They’re here. Now, Addie will be my maid of honor and Carly and Nichole will be bridesmaids. I’ve been friends with Nichole for years,” she explained, making notes in a binder on her lap. “The reception will be at the church since there will nothing available on such short notice and in June.” She let out a sigh and pushed on. “So, no alcohol, but I do want it catered. We’ll have to call everyone in the phonebook to see what our options are.”

  “My mom can do it,” Carly piped up. “She used to cater before she had kids.”

  “Are you serious?” Jules face lit up like the fourth of July and it almost looked like she was about to launch herself at Carly. Connor grabbed her arm as Carly nodded.

  “Yep. I’ll talk to her tonight.”

  “Thank you!” She scratched another note. “Cake, flowers, chairs and tables, music.”

  “I can handle the music if a DJ is okay.” Wade interrupted her as she muttered to herself. “I DJ’d in high school and college.”

  “I could kiss you,” Jules breathed, but a quick glance at Connor had her amending her words. “But I’m not. However, I’ll take you up on the DJ.” More notes went into her binder and I thought over her list.

  “Jules,” I said slowly. “What about the dress?”

  “Dress?” Her head came up and horror dawned on her face. “The dress.”

  I nodded and added, “Also tuxedos and bridesmaids dresses.”

  “Hang on, a monkey suit?” Danny had been silent the entire time, content to watch the drama play out, but mention of a tuxedo had him straightening.

  “Yes, you will wear a tuxedo.” Jules glared at him and then pointed between him and Carly. “You will also walk Carly down the aisle.” Carly popped up to protest and Jules gave her the evil eye. “Nope, no arguments.” She glanced at Danny and said, “You’re welcome.”

  He settled back against the wall, silenced, and I could tell Carly wanted to argue but didn’t dare. Instead, she gave me her ‘save me’ expression, but since this played right into my plans, I ignored her.

  “The guys and I will go get fitted for the tuxes tomorrow. We’ll have to rent them since it’s such short notice,” Jake offered and Connor sent him a grateful smile. “The ladies can go dress shopping.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, elbowing him.

  “Anytime,” he murmured back, squeezing my leg. “Something short to show off your legs.”

  “I will be at the mercy of your sister. It could be a burlap tent when she’s done.” He snorted, but cut it off when Jules turned toward us again.

  “She wouldn’t do that to me,” he lowered his voice even further. “I’m her favorite brother after all.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with John and Natalie not being in the wedding?” John was their older brother, and Natalie was their sister-in-law.

  “Too soon. Especially with Natalie’s pregnancy. But I think she planned to have Tyler be the ring bearer.” My phone dinged and since the majority of the people who texted me where in the room, I assumed it was my mom as I dug my phone out of my pocket.

  “I have news, come home after you’re done at Jules.” The text read and I frowned. I’d planned to come home, but it wasn’t unusual for me to stay at Jake’s either. However, my mom never texted me requesting I come home. Either her news was very good or very bad.

  “Good or bad?” I texted back, unwilling to wait to find out.

  “Both?” She responded almost instantly. “I don’t want to do this over text. We’ll talk about it when you get home.”

  I didn’t really like the implication, but I also couldn’t do much about it. I needed Jake to drive me and Jules would not take kindly to both of us disappearing so soon.

  “Something wrong?” Jake asked curiously.

  “I don’t know,” I replied, my brow furrowed as I considered what she might want to tell me that could be both good and bad news.

  “Do you want to go?” he asked, taking the award for world’s most thoughtful boyfriend. Also, bravest since he’d have to face down his sister if we did leave.

  “Yes, but we can’t.” I patted his hand. “It’s fine. It can obviously wait.” I thought about it and knowing my mother it would be just like her to put off telling me bad news. I dragged my phone back out of my pocket and quickly texted, “PawPaw is alright?”

  I waited impatiently for her response, which took forever because I needed to know. He’d lived with us for the past three years, ever since MawMaw died unexpectedly, and if anything happened to him… Well, I didn’t know what I’d do.

  “He’s fine,” came back finally and I let out a sigh of relief.

  “We’re good,” I told Jake, feeling much better. “Whatever she needs to tell me isn’t that bad.”

  “If you’re sure.” He’d watched me type the message and knew how I felt about my grandfather so he understood my worst case scenario wasn’t an issue this go around.

  “No point in riling the beast if it isn’t absolutely necessary,” I muttered, glancing at Jules.

  “What about the cake?” I threw in. “We might be able to order one on short notice or we could do something different like cupcakes.”

  “I like that.” Jules jotted it down and I could see she’d already filled up a few pages.

  “Connor, can you go get your laptop?” I asked, knowing it was going to be a long night and we might as well get some of this researched. He nodded and headed for the spare bedroom they used as an office.

  A few hours later, we’d split into two groups, guys on one side and girls on the other, and I was pretty sure the guys were goofing off while Carly and I slaved away. But they did think to order pizza so I couldn’t complain too much.

  “Alright, Jules, my eyes are crossing,” I finally said, standing up to stretch. My bra was cutting into me, and I desperately wanted to take it off. I was well endowed and needed the support an underwire provided, but wearing it for eighteen hours straight wasn’t my idea of fun.

  “But we still need to go over….” I tuned the rest of what she said out, because it didn’t matter. I was leaving and it could wait till tomorrow.

  “Jules, did you pop an Adderall or something?” I cut her off and she gaped at me. I relaxed my expression because I knew what this meant to her. “Look, we got a ton accomplished and we’ll get even more done tomorrow, but we need a break. Sleep. A shower.”

  “She’s right, babe.” Connor came to my rescue, resting his hands on her shoulders. “The guys and I came up with a playlist for the wedding and reception.” My mouth dropped open in tandem with Jules and Carly, but he kept going. “You can look at it tomorrow and see what you might want to change, but for now let’s call it a night.”

  “I second that.”

  Jules looked torn so I took the opportunity to make my es
cape. I hooked my arm around Jake’s and dragged him to the door. Wade, Danny, and Carly were hot on our heels as Connor distracted Jules.

  “Socialize more.” Wade mocked, pitching his deep voice higher.

  “Shut up,” I grunted, in no mood to hear his shit.

  “Do you need a ride?” Danny asked Carly and she shook her head quickly.

  “I’m good.” She darted off through the cars in the parking lot as Danny watched in frustration.

  “Hang in there, lover boy. She’ll come around.” I paused and considered how long he’d already been waiting. “Eventually.”

  “You sure about that?” He said it so low I barely caught it. Danny wasn’t really the type to go after a girl. His dark good looks and tendency to wear leather usually had them flocking to him, but he’d made an exception in Carly’s case. It hadn’t really worked out though and I didn’t know what else to tell him.

  “Yeah, don’t give up.” Wade spoke out of nowhere, staring off after Carly before glancing at Danny. He gave him an encouraging smile and Danny nodded slowly. I wanted to roll my eyes and shout, “Yeah, you believe him, but not me!” I refrained though because I wasn’t childish.

  Who am I kidding? I was absolutely that childish but in the case of Wade, we all took what he said seriously. How could we not when we knew what he could see? And he’d seen something in Carly’s aura to give Danny hope. Wade wouldn’t just jerk a friend around like that and his words had given me hope as well.

  I’d been avoiding any questions that might indicate Carly’s feelings for Danny lately, fearful they’d disappeared and I’d have to break it to him. I didn’t think I could. Not after everything we’d been through.

  Danny straddled his motorcycle and before he pulled on his helmet he asked, “You think I should follow her to make sure she gets home safe?”

  “No, if she sees you she’ll assume you’re a stalker,” I told him, understanding where he came from but also knowing Carly and how well she could overreact.