The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 4-2

The day of the wedding brought a houseful of commotion and lively chatter. The night before, Brad came to bed later than usual. His brothers had dragged him out to the old house where the ranch hands stayed with a few bottles of whiskey, and had their own impromptu bachelor party. Brad had woken her when he stumbled in at 4am, a little unsteady, and landed on the bed in his clothes. Emily had thought it might be the first night that her lacy, purple nightgown would remain where it was, on her, but she was soon proved mistaken when he peeled off the baby doll and moved her on top of him. He slid his hands over her silky, pale skin as she helped him off with his boots and clothes. As Emily slid on top of him, Brad watched her silhouette against the moon through the sheer curtains around them, and with his hands he worshipped her and loved her.

Now, this morning, Emily allowed the hairdresser who Becky had hired to pamper her, pin up her curled hair and fasten the long, shimmering veil to the back of her head. Emily stared at the face reflected in the mirror and was stunned by the beauty that radiated back of a woman who had fought her entire life to hold onto the dream of being loved deeply by a man who took her breath away; a man who was her first thought in the morning and her last at night. Now he was soon to be her husband.

Emily let out a shaky breath as the door popped open and Becky peeked in, looking radiant in a yellow taffeta dress and matching jacket. Behind her trailed her good friend, Gina.

“Oh, Emily, you look absolutely beautiful.” Gina moved to stand directly behind Emily. She was dressed in a long, dark blue dress with short cap sleeves, showing a deep cleavage. Her dark, shoulder-length hair fell in shimmering ringlets and diamond-studded earrings sparkled in her ears.

Becky lifted Emily’s wedding dress from the back of the door, which she’d insisted the girl buy yesterday after discovering that she hadn’t got one. Emily had planned on wearing a peach dress that Brad had bought her a few months earlier.

Emily stared at the white ball gown with sheer shoulder straps, full tulle skirt, and long train that hung from the waist. It was stunning, and she still didn’t quite know how Becky had organized it. Yesterday Becky had pulled out her cell phone and made some calls, and the next thing Emily knew, she was in the back of the Mercedes, and Rodney was driving them to Olympia where several gowns were waiting.

Emily had not been allowed to look at the price tags on the dresses. Instead, she was fitted and then whisked away for lunch; assured that the reception and all of the details were being taken care of back at the ranch. Even Brad, true to his word, had hauled the junkyard away from the front of the house, with the help of Jed and Neil.

Now, as Emily slipped on her dress with the high waist that nicely hid her rounded belly, she felt like a princess living her very own fairytale. As she spun around, it was Becky who said, “Oh, Emily, you are absolutely beautiful, and that son of mine is going to be a babbling fool when he sets eyes on you.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Gina hurried over, cracked it open and peeked out. “What?” she uttered in annoyance.

Gina pulled the door open further, and Brad shouldered his way in, dressed in a black tux and with his hair slicked back. He looked like a gentlemen, but Emily took one look at the hardness in his face and her heart sank.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, not noticing the stylist slip out and a shorter man with dark, curly hair and dark-rimmed glasses until he stood beside Brad.

Brad touched her shoulder and then firmed his lips into a fine white line. He glanced at the shorter man before answering, “We have a problem. We can’t get married today.”

Gina and Becky both shouted, “Why?”

Emily couldn’t get her brain to formulate a reasonable word. Her ears were ringing and she felt dizzy. “I need to sit down.”

She must have gone pale, because she felt beads of sweat on her forehead, just as Brad whisked her into his arms and sat her on the bed, propping a pillow behind her.

“Are you okay, Emily?”

“Brad, did you change your mind? Don’t you want to marry me?” Her voice sounded strangely distant, like a lost little girl. Her throat ached as she fought to hold back the tears as she felt her fairy tale dream being wrenched away.

“Oh my god, Emily, is that what you think?” he asked. “No, dammit, I want to marry you!”

The stranger stepped up from behind Brad. “Emily, I’m Keith, Brad’s lawyer and friend. Just so you know, Brad’s already threatened to beat the hell out of me. But you can’t marry him today, because you’re still married to Bob.”

She sat upright. “What?”

Gina swore in the background and Becky’s eyes widened, but she said nothing.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. We’re divorced. The papers were filed and I signed them—you’re mistaken, Keith.”

When she glanced back at Brad, his eyes flashed with a fury she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Apparently, that asshole held onto the papers and then sent them back unsigned to your lawyer, who apparently took a month off with his family to tour Ireland. His secretary contacted Keith this morning when she was opening the mail and realized what he’d done.”

Brad glanced back at Keith.

“Emily, until we get a court date or get him to agree to sign the divorce papers, I’m afraid you’re still married to him and that means the wedding cannot happen today.”

Emily glanced down at her rounded belly and rested her hand over the fluttering movement inside. Brad lifted her chin with his long fingers, but his image was blurry before her. She couldn’t fight the sheen of tears that filled her eyes and spilled down her powdered cheeks, ruining her makeup.

“I’ll call Bob and get him to sign,” said Emily.

Emily didn’t how or why he’d done this. Bob hadn’t said a word when he picked Katy up the previous weekend. But then he had stopped speaking to Emily, and after the first time Brad had informed her soon-to-be ex that he was marrying her when the divorce was final, Bob had avoided eye contact all together. She’d just shrugged it off as being down to his prickly personality and self-inflicted misery.

“You don’t think this was deliberate?” she asked. “No, of course it isn’t. He’d never do something like that. Or would he?”

Brad held up his cell phone. “Emily, I called him just now, and it was intentional.”

Keith jumped in before Brad could say another word. “I’ll get to work on him, Emily, but unfortunately you two just can’t get married today. Soon…”

Emily just stared, first at Keith and then at Brad, feeling numb. Brad didn’t move, but she could feel how tense he was. She could also tell, by the darkness that had fallen over him, that he was hiding something from her; something really bad. When he glanced away, Emily knew he didn’t want to tell her.

“Tell me everything, Brad,” Emily insisted. “And don’t you think for a minute that I don’t know you’re hiding something.”

He grunted and exhaled so hard that he almost sounded like one of his bulls. “That prick wants money.”

“What? He said he wants you to pay him for me?” she snapped.

“No, my dear, he’s playing a very dangerous game. He said he will not sign because he wants to renegotiate, and maybe he’d like to share custody of Katy. He didn’t come right out and say money. He didn’t have too; he can stall, and cause trouble and upset for you, so I’ll pay him to go away.” Brad stood up and paced across the empty room.

Emily slid off the bed, and then realized that everyone had left and the door was closed. “Well, I better get changed.” She listened to the chatter of the guests downstairs and outside of the house on this warm day, waiting for a wedding. Emily shut her eyes because she couldn’t bear to face them and tell them there wouldn’t be a wedding, and then have to explain why.

“No, just relax. I want you to rest. I’ll take care of the guests,” said Brad, pulling open the bedroom door. He lingered for a minute, and watched from across the room in a private, uncertain moment that was theirs and filled with such disappointment. Then he left, shutting the door behind him. Emily wept.