Fighter (Outsider Series) (9 page)

Authors: Micalea Smeltzer

The waitress handed us menus and I perused
it. Everything sounded so good. I loved seafood, but rarely had a chance to eat it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I finally settled on a salmon meal, my belly already growling
at the thought of the delicious meal. With all the excitement from the day, I had forgotten to eat lunch.

We had just given our orders
, when my phone beeped. I checked the text message and saw it was a picture of wedding invites. I took one look at the monstrosity and texted back.

No way.
I wrote my mom.

She sent another picture. Promising. I leaned over and showed it to Caeden. His face wrinkled in disgust. “It’s too feminine.”

Not that one.
I told her.

When the next picture came through I nearly jumped out of my seat. “It’s perfect!” I screamed and
the people from around us turned to look at me. I shoved my phone in Caeden’s face. “This is the one!”

Caeden grinned. “Poppies.”

I nodded. “Poppies.”

I stared at the picture one more time. The envelopes were green and the invitations were white with red poppies and green lettering.

“Are you okay with them?”

He smiled and put his arm across the back of my chair. “They’re not pink
, so it’s good with me.”

I texted my mom back that those were perfect
, and also suggested that the flowers in the wedding be poppies and the cake have poppies too. She probably thought I was crazy, since she didn’t understand the significance of it.

I put my hand on Caeden’s thigh and leaned my head against his shoulder. I couldn’t believe that a year ago at this time, I didn’t even know him, and now here we
are getting married. But I couldn’t be happier. Even with the whole Travis thing, this was the happiest I’d ever been, and I wouldn’t take it back for anything. It was all worth it. Caeden, was worth it.

* * *

Time was passing quickly and our time at the beach was almost over. I was almost scared to leave this sanctuary. Once we got back home, I didn’t just have wedding plans to worry about, I had something much worse. Travis.

I dug my toes
in the sand, studying the variations in color, just to get my mind off of things. I wanted to enjoy these last few days of peace.

The sun soaked into my skin and I
basked in the warmth. With the salty breeze, I didn’t get too hot.

Caeden got off his phone and plopped next to
me, kicking up sand around us.

“Your mom?”

“Yeah,” he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I hope she never goes into the wedding planning business full time. She’s a
nightmare
. If she calls me one more time, I think I might explode.”

I laughed and bumped his shoulder with mine. “She’s not that bad.”

“Are you kidding me?” he turned his blue eyed gaze to me. “She keeps asking me about the cake, the food, and the music. And then she always starts crying!”

“Caeden,” I scolded. “This is an emotional time for her. Her oldest son is getting married.” I rubbed his back.

“Ugh, I know,” he rubbed his eyes. “Your mom seems a lot calmer about all of this.”

I shrugged. “
She’s okay, as of right now, but I think when it’s the day of the wedding and she sees me in the dress, the altar, the whole shebang… I think it’ll hit her then.”

“We better make sure they stock up on tissues,” he chuckled.

“Maybe, we can make Bryce carry a tray of tissues around,” I laughed at the image my mind had conjured up.

Caeden rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “Ugh, enough wedding talk,” he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me down into the sand.

“Oh no!” My eyes widened and I feigned shock. “Please tell me you aren’t going to be one of
those
guys.”

He laughed at my sarcasm. “And what’s one of
those
guys?”

“You know… the ones who put everythi
ng off on the bride-to-be and are the real reason she turns into a bridezilla.”

He rubbed his nose tantalizingly against my neck. “Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you. I just know that once we get home
, it’s going to be non-stop wedding talk. I’d prefer not to think about it right now.”

I laughed. “I kinda have to agree. My mom’s already reminded me six times that we have an appointment at the bakery when we get back.”

Caeden smiled. “Now, cake is something I can handle.” He rubbed his flat stomach.

“Don’t get too excited,” I warned him. “I already know what flavor I want.”

He shook his head. “Just don’t tell
them
that. I still want to eat some free samples.”

“You and your stomach,” I pushed his
sun-warmed shoulder.

He draped his arms over his knees. “I don’t know any sane guy that would pass up the chance to eat free cake samples.”

“You’re probably right,” I picked up some sand and watched it fall through my fingers. “Caeden…” I swallowed, suddenly serious.

“Yeah,” he looked over at me, his eyes squinted from the bright sunlight.

“Promise me nothing’s going to change,” I reached over and cupped his face with my hand. “Please promise, that once we’re married, we’ll still be Caeden and Sophie.”

He leaned into my hand. “Babe, that’s an easy promise to
keep.”

“Good,” I licked my dry lips and pulled away. I hated broaching this subject
, because I knew it upset Caeden, but I wanted, no, I
needed
to know. “Would your dad have liked me?” My voice was soft, almost child-like, as I asked the question.

“Of course,” he answered immediately, one brow raised. “He would’ve thought you were wonderful. I’m sure he would’ve tried to drag you fishing with him. He could never get mom to go with him. You know, I’ve been thinking,” he said slowly, like he was almost afraid to voice his thoughts aloud. “I think they were mates all along
, and didn’t know it. They were always so in love,” he stared off at the ocean. “When they were in a room together their eyes never strayed far from one another.” He swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed. I rubbed his back, knowing he was getting emotional. My hair blew around me and tickled my shoulders. “I’ve seen my mom look at my dad the same way you sometimes look at me, and it’s a look of the purest, most true love out there.” A tear slid down his cheek.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. He didn’t shake as he silently cried into my shoulders
, but I felt the tears staining my skin. I tangled my fingers in the edges of his hair that was hidden by a baseball cap he’d flipped backwards.

I knew Caeden was hurt by his dad’s death but he’d never shown me. I was thankful that he was finally letting me see this part of him. We may turn into wolves but at the end of the day we
are
human.

He pulled away and gave me a sheepish glance. “Sorry about that.”

“Never, ever, apologize for that,” I massaged his neck. I removed my hand from his neck and leaned my head against his shoulder. “Never be afraid to show me that side of you.”

“Thank you,”
he breathed, and in his eyes, I knew he meant those words.

eight.

I sat on top of my suitcase trying to get it to squish down to the point that I could zip it.

Caeden came out of the bathroom and snorted laughter. “Sophie! What are you doing?”

I wiggled my butt around.
“Ugh! It’s Christian’s fault! If she hadn’t convinced me to buy all that stuff, my suitcase would close just fine.” I twisted my butt again and this time it could be zipped. “Caeden! Come here and zip this up!”

He chuckled, shaking his head, but did as I
asked.

When the suitcase was zipped
, I climbed off of it and let out a breath. “I am never going shopping with her
ever
again.”

Caeden leaned towards me until our eyes met. “But if you hadn’t gone shopping
, you would’ve never found such a beautiful dress.”

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. “You didn’t!?”

He grinned. “Nah, I didn’t peek but your reaction was awfully cute.”

“Cute? Cute?” I put my hands on my hips. “I prefer to think it was ferocious.”

“What ever floats your boat.”

I laughed and grabbed my suitcase off the bed. Despite the fact that I was perfectly capable of carrying it on my own, I shoved it at Caeden’s chest. “Take this to the car.”

“Yes ma’am,” he kissed my cheek and disappeared from the master bedroom.

While he was gone
, I took the time to look around the master bedroom. Right now, it looked like a hurricane had hit it. We’d removed the bed sheets, so that the cleaning service wouldn’t have to when they stopped by. Items still needing to be put in the car were strewn across the room.

And yet, it was still beautiful.

I really hoped we could make it a tradition to come back here every summer.

I scurried around the room, making sure we had packed everything, and grabbed the dresses from the closet. I didn’t trust Caeden to carry them and not peek
, so I was going to take them myself.

I hung the dresses up in the backseat of the Jeep. Chris would just have to sit in the middle.

Caeden came out the door with Murphy and Archie at his heels.

Caeden led Murphy to the trunk and helped the large dog into the cage.

Archie sauntered over to me, wagging his tail, and I picked him up.

Bentley and Chris came out with their dogs and closed the door behind them.

My heart began to race. We were leaving. Going home. In one week, I wouldn’t be Sophie Beaumont anymore. I’d be Sophie Williams. Wow.

Once all the dogs were in the car
, we started down the road. I slept most of the way with Archie snoozing in my lap. Sometime, during the ride home I felt Caeden’s hand reach for mine. He entwined our fingers and lifted my hand to his lips where he placed a single, soft kiss.

Believing that I was still asleep he whispered, “I will fix this. I promise.”

But at what cost?

*
* *

We had barely been home an hour and we were being dragged to the bakery.

“I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea,” I said to Caeden. I drove my car and followed Amy and my mom in the car ahead of us.

He chuckled. “Can you imagine if the wedding was a year from now? At least we only have to put up
with this for a few more days.”

“Wait!” I said suddenly realizing where we were pulling into. “Ah, hell to the no.”

Caeden snorted. “Lucinda’s.”

I parked and leaned my head on the steering wheel. “Are they crazy! Gram makes cupcakes not cakes!”

“This ought to be fun,” Caeden said as he slipped from the car.

The store was closed for business but Gram had set up the front for us. Samples covered a table and she motioned for us to sit down.

“Gram,” I started. “What’s going on?”

She smiled. “Well, it only seems fitting that I make my only grandbaby’s wedding cake.”

“But you make cupcakes.”

She shook her head. “I can make a cake just as easily as cupcakes. This is something I want to do
for ya’ll. Besides, no one can bake a better cake than me.”

“I agree with that,” Caeden lifted an empty plate and I glanced over to see that there were three other empty plates beside him. So much for the samples.

“Trust me,” Gram said. “I can do this.”

I sighed. I couldn’t exactly tell my Gram that she couldn’t make my wedding cake.
Also, with such short notice, most people wouldn’t want to tackle it.

I smiled. “You win.”

“Yes!” She clapped her hands. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and fondant poppies.”

Gram sat back with a piece of paper and began to sketch. When she finished she slid the piece of paper across the table to me.

She had sketched a four-tier cake with cascading rows of poppies. It was simple, but elegant.

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“And do I get any say in this?” Caeden asked around a bite of cake.

I snorted, “Why should you? You’ll eat anything.”

“True,” he shrugged.

“That was easy enough,” Amy said from beside Caeden.

My mom laughed.
“That’s Sophie. No nonsense and straight to the point.”

Gram cleared her throat, calling for our attention.