Fate Interrupted 3 (19 page)

Chapter
Thirty-Nine

Dean slammed
into the wire rack of dry goods, taking straws and napkins to the floor with
him. He pulled his hand from his shoulder, staring at the blood in horror as
napkins seesawed through the air around him like giant snowflakes. He tried to
get up, grimacing in pain. His vision doubled and he fell back into the rack,
nearly toppling it over onto him.

Megan pushed off
the wall and collected her senses, blood oozing down her face from a nasty gash
in her forehead. She teetered on wobbly legs and pointed the gun at Brooke and
Ben as they skidded to a stop in the kitchen, alarm engraved into their faces.

“Inside
shitheads!” she ordered, gesturing with the smoking gun.

“What the hell
is this?” Ben asked, stepping in front of Brooke and raising his hands half way
into the air.

“This is an
intervention!” Megan said, spitting blood to the floor.

Evy pulled her
pants up, eyes glued to the shaky gun. “Stay back, Ben!”

“You crazy ass,
bitch,” Brooke muttered, trying to get around Ben’s human shield.

“Fuck you,
shorty
!” Megan cocked the hammer back and wrapped her index
finger around the trigger.

“You’re even
crazier than your dad.”

“Brooke,” Ben
warned, pushing her back, boot heels digging into the tiles. He glanced at Dean
and Evy. “Just put down the gun and let’s talk. Dean needs an ambulance. He’s
hit.”

Megan aimed at
Brooke’s head and barred her teeth. “He’s going to need a coroner if you don’t
get over there. Now get mo-”

Evy drove Megan
into the cinderblock wall. Megan cried out in surprise. The gun went off, this
time hitting the ceiling. White powder rained down on Brooke and Ben.

Ben dove for the
gun in Megan’s hand, but she fought him tooth and nail. It went off again. This
time Ben screamed as the bullet grazed his ear and found the wall clock behind
him, shattering it into pieces. Brooke rushed over to help. Her heels slipped in
the spilt milk, sending her flying onto her butt.

Evy drove a fist
into Megan’s face, opening the gash in her forehead a little wider. Ben pried
the gun from Megan’s bony fingers, his biceps at full attention, while Evy
brought down an arching blow into Megan’s nose. There was a loud crack and
blood splattered against the wall. Ben scrambled to his feet, blood dripping
from his ear as he pulled Evy back. She swung again with a scream, her fist catching
Megan in the mouth, cutting Evy’s knuckles. “Evy!” Ben shouted, holding the gun
with one hand, tugging on her arm with the other.

Evy fought like
hell to get back on top of Megan and finish the job, desperate to end this once
and for all. She struggled against Ben’s strong arms and screamed something
unintelligible, fire brimming in her eyes. Then she saw Dean slumped on the
floor against the wire rack, blood pooling in his lap.

Chapter
Forty

Thunder cracked
outside, shaking the building on its foundation. Megan lay in the fetal
position with blood oozing from her face in multiple spots. Wet whimpering
sounds trickled from her already swollen lips. She tried pushing herself up and
collapsed back to the floor in a heap.

“Oh my God, are
you okay?” Evy dropped to her knees and scanned the bloody hole in Dean’s
shoulder, terror wrenching her face.

“I’m all right.”
His breath rushed out in wet bursts. “How bad is it?”

She helped him
lean forward and checked his back. “There’s an exit wound,” she said, hoping
that was a good sign but not really knowing for sure. She turned to Ben, who
was tucking the gun into the small of his back and keeping a close eye on Megan.
“Call 911!”

“I’m on it!”
Brooke replied, cell phone pressed to her ear. When someone answered on the
second ring, she began talking way too fast and had to repeat it all over again.

Evy grabbed an
apron and wadded it into a ball. “You’re going to be okay. Help is on the way,”
she said, firmly pressing the apron against the wound.

He tensed,
moaning in pain. His labored breathing came in ragged gasps, but his eyes were
alert. “I’m sorry.”

She covered him
with his shirt. “You just sit still.”

“They’re on
their way,” Brooke said, setting her phone down by the sink.
“Fucking
bitch!”
She pulled a green high heel back and Ben grabbed her at the
last second. The heel swiped through the air, narrowly missing Megan’s ribs.

Megan lifted her
head up and it wobbled like a newborn’s. “Can somebody call me a cab? I’ll be
good.
I
promiff
.”
She fell
back to the tiles and started laughing. It echoed off the walls and went on for
what seemed like an eternity.

Dean watched
her, slowly shaking his head. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in
the water…”

Evy brushed hair
from his eyes, finding his gaze. His eyes brightened as she kissed him on the
lips, pressing the bloody apron against his wound.

Brooke put a
towel to Ben’s ear, careful not to slip and fall again. She pulled it away to
examine the flesh wound. “Oh my God, you could have been killed, Benjamin! What
were you thinking?”

He glanced over
his shoulder to Dean and Evy, heart racing. “Next time, let’s just do it in the
truck.”

Chapter
Forty-One

It was quiet
outside the sanctuary. Inside, family and friends filled the pews with stoked
anticipation and soft murmurs floating on the air. The air-conditioning hummed
in Evy’s ears. She clutched the bouquet of white roses tighter in her hands,
staring at the closed double doors ahead of her. It was so quiet she could hear
her heart thumping in her chest. She looked down and smoothed her white dress,
which was tight and cut just above the knees. The silky material hugged her in
all the right places and suddenly felt like it was hugging a little too tight.
She took a deep breath and released it, staring vacantly at her roses.

“You look
beautiful.”

Evy jerked her
gaze over to find her father’s warm smile. She blushed and straightened his
skinny, black necktie. “You are so handsome.” Her voice sounded like someone
else’s in her head.

Will brushed
lint from his tux, admiring his get up. “I feel like James Bond.” He grinned at
the elderly fellow manning the arched double doors in front of them. The thin man’s
oversized gray suit hanged from his bones like loose elephant skin. Will smelled
the yellow carnation pinned to his lapel. “Don’t worry, I’m not packing heat,”
he said to the man, winking at Evy and then speaking out the corner of his
mouth.
“As far as he knows.”

A car skidded to
a stop just outside the church’s glass front doors. The three of them turned to
see Shaun and Carrie hop out and scurry inside.

“Oh, shit! I am
so sorry, Evy,” Shaun panted, tucking his sunglasses inside his black tux coat.
“Fucking kids.”

Carrie flashed
Shaun a cautious look. “My mom got sick so we had to drop the girls off at the
other grandma’s house.”

“Who lives way
on the other side of
town.
” Shaun shook Will’s hand.
“Mr. Bond I presume.”

Will’s face lit
up.
“Why yes, my good man.”

“I’m just glad
you’re here,” Evy said, setting a hand on Carrie’s wrist. “I need a drink.”

“Already two
ahead of ya,” Shaun muttered, pulling his black slacks up.

Carrie took a
step back and placed a hand over her chest, covering a silver pendent pinned to
her bridesmaids dress. “You look just beautiful, honey!”

“Thank you, so
do you.”

“Is that the new
Stingray?”

Shaun followed
Will’s gaping stare out the front doors to the black Corvette glimmering in the
hot sunshine. A smile crept from one ear to the other. “Oh, you mean that fully
loaded, black on black symbol of American muscle?
Yep, just
picked that bad boy up yesterday.”

“Wow,” Will
murmured
. “Your beers must really be flying off the shelves.”

“Just
signed a deal with Champs.”

“Congratulations,
Shaun,” Evy said with a big smile. “That is huge!”

Carrie took him
by the elbow. “We should get inside.”

“Can I drive
it?”

Shaun stared
blankly at Will for a second or two and then extended the keys. Will reached
out, his face beaming. Shaun yanked the keys back at the last second. “Are you
high?” he laughed, towing Carrie by the hand toward a side door into the
sanctuary. “You’re not ready for that kind of power yet!”

Will’s jaw
dropped. “I had a
Camaro
in high school!” He watched them
disappear down the hall. “
Sonofa
…”

“Wow,” Evy said,
admiring the sleek sports car out front. “Last year at this time he was selling
his prized Corvette just to put food on the table. Now look at him.”

Will smiled at
her, eyes gleaming. “That’s why you never give up, honey. Opportunity always
comes back around.
Always
.”

She pressed her
lips together. “Thank you so much for being here, dad.”

He let out a
reflective sigh, his face softening around the edges. “I can’t believe my baby
girl is all grown up.” He fought back the tears welling in his eyes. “It seems
like just yesterday you were watching cartoons and eating cereal on the floor.”

“I still do
that.” She twisted the ring Dean had paid a scuba diver to find in the lake. It
had only taken the guy forty-five minutes to locate and had cost three hundred
dollars to do so. She had tried to pay for it but Dean insisted upon having
something to hold over her head down the road.

“You’re getting
married, Brooke is pregnant…I just can’t believe it.” Will sighed again,
clasping his hands in front of him. “Your mother and I have empty nest syndrome
and it’s not good.”

“I’m so happy
for Brooke and Ben. They deserve it.”

“They really do.”

“They will be
such fun parents.”

He stared
vacantly at the doors before them. “I’m going to be a grandpa.”

Evy looked up at
her father, a tear building in the corner of her eye. “I’m so happy for you,
too.”

Will
smiled
proudly.
“And a boy to boot.”
He squeezed his daughter’s hand. “I just want you to know that when you and Dean
have a little one someday, I will build you a tree house as well.
Even if it’s a girl.”

“
Aww
, that’s so sweet.
Thank you, daddy.”

“Ben wants a
Jacuzzi with a skylight in theirs.” Will clicked his tongue against the roof of
his mouth.
“Tall order.”

She chuckled
softly and checked her dress again before taking another calming breath. She
let it out and repeated, imagining Dean in his classic black tux and skinny
necktie. A warm shudder coursed through her body from head to toe. She couldn’t
wait to see him.

“You okay?”

Evy nodded
tightly.

The elderly man
flashed them a crooked smile and adjusted the pink carnation pinned to his
lapel. The quiet hummed in Evy’s ears like a charm of hummingbirds hovering around
her head. She felt dizzy. This was really happening. How had this day gotten
here so fast? How had it gotten here at all? It was nothing short of divine
intervention. She snorted. Sooner or later, fate has a way of finding us all.

Will squeezed
her hand. “You’ve got a great guy waiting for you on the other side of those
doors.”

“I know.”

Will’s smile
spread into the one she remembered as a child. The one he would shed if her
French silk pie won a blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair or if she got an A in
Algebra. “Your happily-ever-after is just beginning,” he said, his eyes
watering.

She nodded, trying
her best not to cry and ruin her makeup.

“Amazing things
are waiting for you in there,” he whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek. “And
I couldn’t be happier to be a part of your next chapter.”

“It’s going to
be the best one yet.” She blinked a tear down her cheek and Will wiped it away
with a soft thumb.

He cupped her
cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. “I know it will, baby girl.”

The sanctuary
organ fired up, stirring Evy’s nerves with a single keystroke. The elderly man
came to attention, ready to perform his part of the ceremony without fail.

Will
straightened his coat and rolled his shoulders. “You ready, princess?”

Evy wiped away
another tear and took a heavy breath that made her chest swell even more than
it already had. “I’m ready.”

Will
nodded
to the older gentleman. “Open the doors, my good man!”

Evy looped her
hand through Will’s elbow, thankful for something to hang onto. The doors swung
wide open and the organist broke into
Here
Comes the Bride
. Everyone stood and turned to face them. Blood pumped
thickly in her temples as she scanned their smiling faces. After exchanging a
quick look with her father, they stepped inside.

It was cooler in
the sanctuary and that felt good. Mrs. Johansen smiled at Evy from beneath a
wide brimmed lavender hat, fanning herself with a gloved hand. She brushed away
a tear as Evy slowly paraded past. Mayor Andrews gave her a smile as big as his
heart, his pressed suit complimenting his wife’s sparkly dress. He had helped
save Sugars from closure and, subsequently, taken them under his wing, stopping
in nearly every day for his lifetime supply of free cupcakes and coffee. If Evy
didn’t already have the world’s greatest dad, she would have wanted Mayor
Andrews for a father. He was a good man who genuinely cared about the people in
this town, and government needed more like him. Evy sent him a pretty smile and
tightened her grip on Will’s arm, willing her legs to keep moving without tripping
over her own two feet.

Faces passed by
in a slow blur. Her mom dabbed tears from her eyes with a purple handkerchief
that matched her dark green dress. Her lips pulled down at the corners as she
shook her head.
So beautiful
, Laura
mouthed. Evy looked away, determined to avoid anymore tears.

One foot in
front of the other, one
breath
after the last.

Up by the altar,
Brooke stood beside Tasha and Carrie, their candy apple red dresses showing off
their arms and legs. They watched Evy as she came closer with tears in their
eyes. Evy looked away before she could cry, concentrating on one foot in front
of the other, thankful she wasn’t wearing a long dress she could trip over.

Her eyes swung
across the elevated stage and found Ben, Jon, and Shaun – all of whom stood
smiling in tuxes with their hands clasped in front of their belts like secret agents
with MI6.

Ben elbowed Jon
in the ribs, his grazed ear little more than a lasting scar. “You’re next.”

Jon grunted and
looked over at Tasha. She sensed his eyes upon her and turned to him. He shot
her a coy wink that made her blush.

Evy was certain
her heart would explode at any second. Even with her pulse racing at warp speed,
she took a moment to give thanks for the people in her life. Without them, she would
not be who she is today. Without them, there would be no…

Then her misty
eyes landed on
him
.

Everything
slowed down except her heart.

A smile curled
the corners of his lips when their eyes met, a silent understanding passing
between them that would last a lifetime. His slicked back hair glistened in the
sunlight spilling through the massive stained-glass window behind him, his
classic tux setting off the blue carnation pinned to his lapel. Her body
tingled, light as a feather. With his arm in a black sling, he gave her a
reassuring nod. Even in this cavernous church, in front of all these people, he
could still make her feel like the only person in the room. Her feet glided
down the red aisle, suddenly floating on air with the greatest of ease. It was
perfect and she was almost to him now. Blood rushed in her ears. A stubborn tear
broke loose and Evy let it have its freedom. This time, nothing could stop them
from being together. Joy danced in her eyes without shame. Even Megan would
forever hold her peace – at least for the next several years.

At the carpeted
steps, Will humbly handed his first born off to Dean. Evy took Dean’s arm,
smiling up into his eyes, breathing him in.

“You look
beautiful,” he whispered, ushering her to the podium. “More beautiful than any
man deserves.”

The way he
looked at her made her feel good and she loved him for that.

They joined
hands and turned to face Pastor
Kirkman
, united until
the day they died. Another tear rolled down Evy’s pink cheek. It was a new
chapter all right and she couldn’t wait to turn the next page. The pastor
spread his arms and welcomed everyone there. Brooke traded a happy smile with
her big sister and then it passed it on to Ben. She set a soft hand on her
belly and he gave her a comforting wink.

Dean stole
another look at his bride-to-be, unable to contain himself.

Evy caught him
and squeezed his hand.

He squeezed
back.

Laura Burnett
wept.