by Taylor Hart
Duke pointed to the papers. “I was reading all of this most of the night, and it’s evil. It’s so evil.” Tears formed in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly. “My father and the men in this organization need to burn for what they did to my mother. For what they tried to do to Jaycee.”
Jaycee stood, moving to Duke's side and putting her hand on Duke’s shoulder. “Duke,” she said softly.
Jack scowled at Duke. "I said it's going to take time, we can't do anything rash and risk too many lives here."
Duke clenched a hand into a fist and shook his head.
"It's okay, Duke." Jaycee tried to soothe. "We'll figure it out. They will help us."
He pulled away, moving down the hallway. “I need a minute.”
Jaycee watched him go, wishing she could do something to help him.
Jack sighed. “Something that runs this deep is going to take some time to figure out.”
Frustration coursed through Jaycee. “I know. It’s just a lot to take in for us.”
Another SEAL, John, interrupted them, directing Jack back to the computers. "I need to show you something."
It was clear that Jaycee was not part of their little meeting.
She turned back to Shay and sat.
He linked his hand through hers, giving her a knowing look.
Dirk, one of the other SEALS, plopped down two plates of food in front of them, loaded with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
“Thank you,” Jaycee whispered, but she couldn’t even fathom eating. She stared out the large windows that showed a huge deck with a swimming pool and a hot tub. Behind it all were stables and mountains. It was gorgeous.
“Let’s eat,” Shay said, patting her on the back.
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“You have to. It won’t do anyone any good if you can’t keep your strength up.”
Reluctantly, she began picking at some eggs.
She and Shay stayed at the table the next two hours, trying to gather some information from the screens or from overheard conversations between Jack, Dirk, John, and Tim. But it felt useless.
Finally, Shay scooted his chair closer to hers, turning his full attention to her. "Are you okay?"
She leaned into him, putting her head on his chest. “It feels like a dream and a nightmare.” She thought of everything she’d discovered about her father, and she cringed.
“It’s going to be okay, Jaycee. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you. No one is swooping in and taking you away from me this time.” He kissed her neck softly.
Emotion hit her, and she sniffled like a baby.
“What?” Shay asked, pulling back and touching one of her stray tears. “No crying so early in the morning.”
“I just can’t believe we’re here and that you love me. For so long, I really had thought I’d imagined it all.”
He leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. “I know. I know. There were so many days that I thought I would go crazy, wondering if all of those intense feelings could really be true. If …” He trailed off.
“I’m sorry you had to go through all of this.” She put her hands over his.
A smile played at his lips, and he brushed her lips with a kiss. “It was worth it, just for right now.”
She let out a giggle. “We’re getting married.”
Shay put his hand up. “Jack, did you hear that? We’re engaged.”
The whole room ground to a halt, leaving a moment of awkward quiet.
Jack turned to face Shay, his eyes swept between them. He nodded. "Okay, let's just untangle this other engagement for you, okay?"
Jaycee felt embarrassed. "Right."
Shay waved a hand at Jack and stood. “When I spoke to Texas last night before I got here, I asked if we could ride his horses, he said he would appreciate them getting exercised. Wanna get out of here and go for a ride?”
Chapter 19
After a two hour ride, sitting atop a mountain that showed a valley that stretched for what felt like forever, Shay and Jaycee sat on their horses, and their hands were linked.
It was a tricky maneuver, trying to hold hands on horses, but they managed it. The view was gorgeous. Texas’s land went on for hundreds of acres, and Shay was sold—when he could afford it, he wanted his own ranch in Jackson.
She laughed. “You want to live here, don’t you?”
He turned to her, a grin on his face. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I can already see you coming up with your dream for your own ranch. Oh,” she said, snapping her fingers. “Summerville Compound, more like it. Because I’m sure you’ll have to have houses for all your siblings and parents, right?”
“That’s a great idea.” Inspiration struck, and Shay pointed to the east. “Texas said his property stretched forty acres that way. I wonder who owns the land over there.”
“Hey, what about your wife? Doesn’t she get any say in the matter?”
He was an idiot. “Of course. Where do you want to live?”
She cocked her head to side, as if pondering it in great detail. “Wherever you are,” she said softly.
Their eyes met and he felt such love. Such hope. The future right in front of him.
He wanted to kiss her so much, but kissing on a horse was another matter, and Jaycee wasn’t an experienced enough rider to pull that off. “No matter where I am?”
“I know it's going to sound silly, but the only thing I’ve ever really wanted in my life was to be a mother. To be the kind of mother my mother was." She sighed. "But to have a husband I love and that loves me." Tears filled her eyes. "I want to raise a family. A large family.” She blushed.
He wanted to kiss her, ravage her, something … This woman was every dream he’d ever had. She was the only dream. “How many kids? We never talked about that.”
She gasped, and her other hand went to her mouth. “I just realized you have twins in your family.”
“True.” He hadn’t really thought about that either.
“I want as many kids as the Summervilles have.”
He lifted his brows, then laughed. “Nine? You want nine kids?”
“Why not? You’re a famous rock star now; you can afford it. We’ll teach them to sing and play the guitar and all of it.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, feeling a tad overwhelmed. “Don’t I get a say in what we teach them?”
“Of course. What do you want to teach them?”
He squeezed her hand. “How wonderful their mother is.”
For a moment, they gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Sing for me,” she whispered.
“What?”
“You haven’t broken into song yet today.”
He laughed and loved her all over again. “What should I sing?”
She let out a breath, then started singing. “We ran off into the night. It was dark and cold. We ran off into the night, never knowing how it would unfold.” She paused. “Your turn.”
He chuckled, hoping he could match her as a wordsmith. “Two kids with dreams of gold, but they were dashed untold. Two kids with dreams of gold, but they slowly went cold.” He held the note for a bit longer, waiting.
“Destiny brought them back together, like the sands of time. It was tricky and was hard, but it all came into rhyme.” She held the note.
He chuckled at her lyric and tried to think of a chorus. “In the beginning, you never know how the end will be. In the beginning, you never know the light that wants to be.”
She took over. “Though time came between us, our lives are now anew. Because you saved me from the darkness.”
“You saved me from the darkness.” Chills washed over him, and he was blown away at how easy this was. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, after losing her last year, he’d forgotten how creating with her was as natural as breathing.
She sang. “And darkness was light. Taking off into flight. The darkness was brighter than the sun.”
He took over. “When the s
un shined upon them, they came as one. No more darkness could touch them.”
“Because of love.”
“Because of love.” He winked at her. “In Vegas.”
“Or on a ranch.”
“Oh, I like that.” Unable to stop himself, Shay dismounted the horse and went to her side, reaching up for her. She slid off the horse and into his arms, laughing as he smothered her with kisses.
They launched into full-on make-out mode, his hand roamed down her back to her hips. He needed her closer.
She broke away and gasped for air. “We need to get married soon.”
So much happiness burned inside of him. “Then let’s do it. Today or tomorrow.”
She laughed. "Today or tomorrow?"
"I don't want to wait any longer."
She brushed her lips to his. "I don't either."
Chapter 20
Jaycee clung to her brother’s arm and couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. She didn’t know how they had pulled a wedding in so short a time.
Most of the heavy lifting—of having the Summervilles all flown out—had actually been Jack calling in a bunch of favors. She had called Mr. Stetson, and she and Duke had taken an undercover trip into Jackson with one of Jack’s SEAL guys. They’d shopped and shopped and shopped. She’d found the perfect dress and tuxes for the guys.
The next morning, everyone had arrived, including all of the Summervilles and Tauni. Jaycee and Tauni had squealed when they hugged. Now, as Jaycee faced the group, Mr. Stetson stood at the front, ready to marry them.
When she'd asked Mr. Stetson if he could do that, he'd told her he would fill out an online thing and work it out.
She smiled. Mr. Stetson was a good guy.
Shay stood in front of him with a trail of brothers to his side, and a trail of Shay’s sisters stood next to Tauni on the other side.
“You can’t cry,” Duke whispered.
She met his eyes. “Why are you crying?”
He reached out and gently wiped away her tears. “Because you look beautiful, and I wasted so many years being such a doofus to you.”
She was touched, and more forgiveness filled her heart. “It’s okay, Duke. You can spend the rest of our lives making up for it.”
He grunted and wiped his own eyes. “I will, too.”
Even though the plan for how they would take down their father was still coming together, today was a good day. She thought of the man who should be walking her down the aisle, and her heart grew heavy.
“Hey, you okay? You sure you want to do this? Because if you’re having any kind of second thoughts, I have no problem telling Summerville to take a hike.” Duke's tone was serious, yet playful.
She sniffed and couldn’t help but laugh. She stared at Shay, who had just turned and caught her eyes. He gave her a little wave, and she beamed at him. “I love him so much, Duke.” Every part of her felt it.
Duke sighed. “I know.”
“I just wish things were different with Dad.”
“Me, too.” Duke patted her hand. “But you deserve to be happy. You know that, Jaycee, right?”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” She thought of all the uncertainty they faced right now. She and Duke had spent the day going over and over everything they knew so far, wondering if they would have to join witness protection or what, but they still had no answers.
The Bluetooth speaker that Shay had brought from the house started playing the wedding song. Leah, the master of sound, beamed at Jaycee.
It was incredible. Jaycee couldn’t wait to join their family.
“Let’s do this,” Duke said.
"Ready?" Kira said softly from behind them.
Even though Kira wasn't that little, at sixteen, she was still the youngest girl and she'd volunteered to be the flower girl.
Jaycee smiled at her. "Ready?"
They took off down the aisle. Jaycee’s attention was fixed on Shay, dazed as she was by the surrealness of the situation. The man was gorgeous, his blue eyes piercing her to the core. She thought of that first day, when the tow truck had barreled toward her, and she grinned wider. The man had been fierce then, but a year later, he was her knight in shining armor.
And she marveled at how tender he was. How Shay never made her feel weak. He always made her feel somehow stronger, better than she could be. Invincible. Oh, that would be a good song title. She would have to sing it to him later. She smiled to herself.
When they reached the end of the aisle, Shay met Duke’s eyes, and she saw the hesitation in them.
Duke cocked an eyebrow at him. “Treat her well, Summerville, or you’ll contend with me.”
“I wouldn’t expect less.”
Once their hands were linked, it was like everyone else disappeared around them, leaving only the two of them. It was that feeling she’d always had with him, like their souls were connected.
“Love you,” he whispered, but everyone else definitely heard it.
She giggled; they were as gleeful as little kids when they were together. “Love you, too.”
They turned to Mr. Stetson. He was wearing fancy cowboy gear, including a nice hat, a belt buckle, and boots. “Well, folks, I am privileged to to this wedding. I did know the mother of the bride, and I can say,” he said, giving Jaycee a huge grin, “that I think your mother would have loved this day.”
At the mention of her mother, warmth filled the center of Jaycee's chest and tears filled her eyes.
“The bride is already crying,” Mr. Stetson said. “And now I’m tearing up, and that’s not a good thing.”
Jaycee couldn’t help but think how much her mother would have loved Shay. She would have been delighted to hear them singing together. Her mother always told her she had the voice of an angel.
Mr. Stetson did some traditional wedding ceremony stuff, then turned to Shay and said, “Do you, Shay Summerville, take this woman to be your bride, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?”
He nodded, his face serious. “I do.”
“Do you, Jaycee McCade, take this man, Shay Summerville, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in heath as long as you both shall live?”
She laughed, unable to believe that this was really happening. “I do.”
A little whoop went up from the small crowd.
“By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Before Mr. Stetson even got the last words out, Shay was pushing her backward for a dramatic dip as he kissed her.
Everyone cheered around them.
When he finally pulled back, he murmured, “I love you, Jaycee. Forever.”
“Forever,” she said, before kissing him again.
Chapter 21
It wasn’t the setup Shay had imagined for their wedding night, but it would work. After the ceremony, they’d all gone back to Texas’s home and danced, and his mother had brought a ton of food that they had out on tables.
Lights were strung up around the deck.
Honestly, it was a perfect wedding for Shay. He had the woman he loved in his arms and the people he loved most around him.
By the end of the night, they all hovered around, talking about old times. Jack and Tauni were the sole ones out on the deck by the pool, slowly dancing to the music Leah had left on for them.
Shay smiled at them.
“What is their story?”
Shay laughed and shook his head. “It’s too long to tell now, you’ll have to wait for later.”
Jaycee frowned. “Okay, seems like it’s going to be a good story.”
Shay grunted. “Unbelievable.”
Shay and Jaycee headed out to the private guest house not far from the main house. He swept her off her feet and into his arms.
She laughed. “Guess you’re sweeping me off my feet already, Mr. Summerville.”
He couldn’t believe he was actually married to her. “That’s right, Mrs. Su
mmerville.” He turned the knob and then kicked the door open to carry her inside.
The little guesthouse was very comfortable. His sisters and Tauni had been out here prepping it. It smelled amazing, and there were candles lit throughout and flower petals scattered down the hallway.
As soon as he set her down, she wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a kiss. All of his usual boundaries evaporated, and now he really allowed himself to feel everything he had inside of him for this woman.
She pulled back, smiling at him. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous.”
“No room for that.” He tugged her down the hallway, but he stopped at the bedroom door and kissed the back of her hand. “I’m going to make love to you … slowly. And you’re going to like it.”
Her eyes turned mischievous. “Am I?”
He took his time with the buttons of her dress, planting kisses as he undid them. “You’re really going to like it.”
Just before her lips met his, she giggled and breathed, “I think you’re right, Mr. Summerville. I already like it.”
Chapter 22
Jaycee was startled awake by the sound of someone pounding on the door.
“What the heck?” Shay sat up.
“Shay! We need to evacuate! ASAP!” It was Jack’s voice.
Shay jumped from the bed, reaching for his jeans. “Coming!” he called out.
Jaycee scrambled out of bed, too, reaching for the bag of clothes that had been left in the room for them. She put on jeans and a t-shirt, leaving her wedding dress on the floor. Not fifteen seconds passed before they were rushing out of the room.
Jack sternly looked them up and down. “Five minutes. The helo is getting ready. Grab what you got, and let’s go. Everyone is coming.” He turned and rushed out. “Meet you out there.”
Jaycee trembled. “Where are we going?”
Shay rushed to her, pulling her into his arms. He brushed some hair out of her face. “I don’t know, but we’ll be together, and Jack and his team have it handled. We have to trust that.” He brushed his lips against hers.
She put her hands to his face and held the kiss longer than she’d intended.