Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (18 page)

“Oh, Marcie,” Bree gasped. “You look so beautiful. You’re glowing with happiness.”

“Thank you so much,” I murmured. It was so good to have a dear friend like Bree and I was so excited to be married to her brother. Though Kane and I had bonded and there was no need for an official ceremony, Kane had wanted me to have a fairytale wedding—the type of wedding I’d wanted ever since I was a little girl but never dreamed possible.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My dress was a strapless, white lace with intricate embroidered details. It made me feel like a princess. I spun around in my scalloped peep-toe shoes, letting the full skirt flair out. A lock of hair fell to my forehead and I pushed it back, patting it in place. My curly hair was twisted into a low bun, accented with a pretty gold and ivory pearl hair comb.

The wedding ceremony had gone flawlessly. When I walked down the aisle to join Kane at the alter, my heart was singing. The expression on his face was one of sheer, utter love and happiness. We were both nervous and we stumbled over a word or two, but it didn’t matter. The memory of our union was one I would never forget. It was burned deep in my heart. And now it was time to continue our celebration of love with the reception.

“I can’t believe you and Kane planned the whole reception party without me. I have no idea what it will be like!”

“Trust me,” Bree grinned. “It will be wonderful; and you, my dear, will love it.”

Kane and Bree wanted me to relax and take time for myself, so after Kane and I picked a date to marry, the siblings asked me if they could plan the reception and surprise me. How could I say no to my two best friends? I trusted they would do something special, and I couldn’t wait to find out what it was. I had to admit, I’d spent the last week trying to peek into the restaurant banquet room in an attempt to see what they’d been planning.

“Are you ready?” Bree asked. “I think the whole town is waiting for you in there.”

I smiled. “Everybody except Mr. ‘You Know Who.’”

Bree giggled. “You’re right. I don’t think Brad will be showing his face today.”

A flash of Brad’s stunned face flashed through my mind. When the man delivering the new copy machine shared that he’d bashed into a fancy black car in the unloading zone, we’d all immediately known it was Brad’s car. Brad started raging. He pitched a temper tantrum that was unbelievable. Maybe—probably-I’d never see the five hundred dollars that Brad had stolen from me and used to buy that silly keychain, but things had a way of working out. Karma could sure be a bitch.

Sheriff Matthews showed up right after the fight broke up between Kane and Brad. The Sheriff said Brad was parked illegally so he was liable for all damages, and since he wasn’t sure which man was to blame for the fight, he wouldn’t arrest either one of them. Kane agreed not to press charges against Brad for causing a ruckus in his restaurant so long as he stayed a good distance away from me. Though a wolf almost always wins in a war with a coyote, Brad knew it wasn’t the case this time. Kane would have bested him if they’d kept fighting—we all knew it. Brad was nursing a bloody, torn up leg and a bruised ego. He didn’t argue with the condition to stay away from me.

“Come back to earth, Mrs. Foster,” Bree said. She took me by the hand and led me to the banquet room. Kane was waiting for me by the door.

“Here’s your lovely bride, Kane.”

“Thanks, sis. I appreciate all the help you’ve given me this past week in planning this.”

But as Kane spoke, he wasn’t looking at his sister. He only had eyes for me. I felt amazing as I stood before him. This was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

“I love you, babe.” He wrapped his strong arms around me and gave me a deep, loving kiss. Then he covered my eyes with his hands.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!” I squealed.

I heard the sound of someone pushing the doors to the banquet hall open. Kane released his hands from my eyes and I gasped in shock! The room was swarming with townspeople and it had been transformed into a magical fairyland.

“Do you like it?” Kane asked hopefully.

“I love it!” I whispered excitedly. I pressed my body closer to Kane’s as I looked around the room. Small, twinkling lights decorated miniature trees that were dotted about, and lush flowers and greenery surrounded glowing candles on the table.

“What are those?” I pointed to scrolls on the table.

“These are the menus,” Kane said. He picked one up and unrolled it.  Today’s fare is baby beet salad, crab cakes with herb remoulade, sliced tenderloin, cremini mushrooms, and rosemary roasted potatoes with asparagus. And of course, I have hor d’ oeuvres of assorted cheeses, lamb lollipops, mini prosciutto biscuits, and fig and brie pie bites. And do you want to hear about the decadent desserts from Crazy Cakes Bakery? I have…”

“Stop it, stop it! You are making me full and I haven’t eaten anything! And I love the music.” Despite the voices of the crowd, I could hear the sounds of a band in the background.

Kane laughed. “Yep, I hired a wonderful group of musicians too. Would you like a drink? Champagne, wine…”

Kane led me over to the head table. “For my queen,” Kane pointed to a chair. I started to sit down in my seat, which was dressed like a throne.

“Not so fast, my lady,” Kane pulled me towards him and embraced me.

I could hear the crowd cheering in the background as he kissed me deeply.

“My beautiful, precious Marcie, thank you for giving me a chance. I love you so much.”

“Oh, Kane…I love you.” As I snuggled closer to Kane, I heard a soft meowing sound. I could feel Elvis rubbing against the bottom of my dress.

“Wha…?”

“I went to your apartment earlier today and picked him up. He’s going to give the toast!”

I laughed as I looked down at Elvis, so happy to see my little guy who had been with me through so much.

I was deeply in love with my man—and my cat! What more could a girl ask for?

The End

I was always daddy’s little girl. My father treated me like a princess, showering me with love. When he came home from work I would rush into his arms. He would hold me and tell me how beautiful I was and say that he loved me. On weekends we would go for walks or play in the park.

My mother, on the other hand, nagged and picked at me. Nothing I ever did seemed to be good enough for her. It didn’t help that I was always big for my age and she constantly commented on my size, urging me to go on a diet.

Mother and father argued constantly. On most nights I would hear my father talking in low tones, trying to reason with my mother as she yelled at him for not making enough money, not being good enough to her, and not doing more. I would cover my ears and hide to try and escape from the noise. One night I heard my father threaten to leave. My mother screamed at him that if he left he would never see me again. I stepped out of the shadows where I had been hiding and tearfully begged him not to go. My father wrapped me tightly in his arms and swore he would never leave me. He said he loved me far too much to ever let me go.

But after that things seemed to escalate further downhill between my parents. Every day I could see the sadness in my father’s eyes as he tried to make a life with my mother.

My mother made it very clear that she’d never intended to have a child and that my birth had resulted in almost every ailment known to man. She had a weak heart, weak bladder, painful joints…all because of me. Worst of all, I could see the resentment in her eyes when my father’s face lit up every time he saw me.

As I grew older things grew even worse between my parents. One morning a few days before I turned sixteen, their argument was particularly heated. I went to school as usual but was distracted. At lunchtime I decided to grab some fresh air and walk outside the building. I wasn’t paying attention and tripped and fell on some construction that was near the schoolyard. I fell right on top of some wiring that ripped into my skin. Bleeding and in pain I rushed to the nurses office. Most of the scratches were superficial but there was a wound in my wrist. The nurse patched it up as best as she could and told me I would need a few stitches. She called my parents but no one answered. She finally agreed to let me go home on the condition I have my parents take me to the hospital. I walked the three blocks to my house, holding my arm.

I was still in pain when I arrived home, but when I walked through the door the pain from my wrist was forgotten. An even greater pain greeted me. My mother told me my father had left us. I couldn’t believe he would just leave like that—without saying a word to me. I was sure he would return, but days went by, then weeks, months, and years, and I never heard a word from him. I couldn’t believe my father, the man I loved with every part of my being, had deserted me—but he was gone, and my trust in men was shattered.  It didn’t help that my mother constantly rubbed in my face that my father had left us. I never did go to the hospital to get stitches and I was left with a quarter size scar on my wrist. Every time I looked at it, it reminded me of that day. The day my father left me and the world as I knew it changed forever.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to marry a man just like my father. When he left, it crushed me. I didn’t think I would ever put my faith in a man again. But in the last two years, I’d brushed my doubts about men aside and dated John Platt, a man fifteen years my senior. It broke my heart when he turned out to be a womanizer. My father had left me and my only love had cheated on me. Yes, I wanted a fairy tale life with a wonderful partner, but I wasn’t sure I could ever open my heart and trust a man fully again.
My name is Jill Lambert and this is my story…my confession…

~ * ~

“Oh my God!” my mouth dropped open as I checked my email. There were at least twelve messages from men who’d seen my profile on the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies Marriage Mates’ site. When I’d put my bio and pic on the site last night, I’d had no idea the response would be so fast—and so damn hot!

When my father deserted my mother and me it had killed something inside me. I was afraid to give my heart to someone—afraid they might leave me. But I was a romantic at heart and when I met John Platt one day as I was out running errands I finally opened up. My mother was totally against me dating, telling me I would only be hurt. Ignoring my mother’s wishes, I dated him and fell in love. But sadly, her prediction turned out to be right…

John was in real estate and made a good living buying and selling property. He was handsome, confident, charming and smooth, but he had that cheating gene. It seems like some men have it and others don’t. John was one who had it and in spades. He’d lavish me with attention, but after a while he’d cheat on me. I spent many a night fighting back the tears and muffling my sobs in my pillow so my mother didn’t hear. Each time I swore I would never let him hurt me again, but every time he’d managed to sweet talk his way back into my life. I tried to be strong and hold my ground but I was weak when it came to him. But when I found out he’d cheated on me with one of my so-called ‘best friends’, that finally did it. I cried that night like I’d never cried before. The next day I told him I never wanted to see him again. He begged me to take him back but my feelings for him would never be the same. I was bruised and broken. Of course it didn’t help that my mother had found out about it and rubbed it in my face that she had been right all along.

I’d given up on trusting a man and finding love when I heard about the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies Marriage Mates’ site. Two former co-workers and friends of mine, Judith Banks and Sherry Cole, had found their mates on the site. They encouraged me to try it. I said no way, I just couldn’t handle being deserted or cheated on. But when they told me that shifters mate forever, I thought it couldn’t hurt just to see what was out there. I wasn’t sure I could actually date someone right now, but at least I would know what the possibilities were.

I put my profile on the site and the response…well… I couldn’t help drooling as I read one sexy shifter’s message after another and ogled at their photos. Who knew there was such an abundance of hunky shifter men looking for their forever mate? The first message I had opened was from a hot, blonde wolf shifter. The next message came from a sexy bear man. One after another I’d opened the emails to find handsome guys with bulging biceps and dazzling smiles. It felt good that these guys liked my profile enough to write me.

“I choose you, you, and you!” I giggled pointing to the computer screen. I’d take them all! Of course, I wasn’t sure I would actually date any of them. It was hard to believe that shifters mate forever, despite what Sherry and Judith said. And my mother would have such a shit fit it probably wasn’t worth it. Still, one could dream of the possibilities.

I sighed as I thought of my mother. She had a way of getting me to do whatever she wanted. After my dad left us, my mom said she was lonely. She used her loneliness and her ailing heart to make me feel guilty when I did something she disapproved of—which was often.

My mother told me that dad left because I was a pain in the butt. Of course I didn’t believe her, but as the days passed and he didn’t come home I started to wonder. I wracked my brain thinking of every word we’d exchanged before he left. Had I said something wrong? Maybe he didn’t think I loved him enough?

Mother became more demanding as time passed. Though I tried to support her and be a dutiful daughter, I needed a life. I wanted more than just going to work every day only to come home, sit around the house with her, eat an early dinner, watch reruns, and repeat everything the next day. Even more than that, I wanted someone to love me.

I clicked open the last email and my eyes widened in surprise. A photograph of the same mega-hot guy stared back at me from both the left and right hand sides of the screen. He had inky black hair, ocean blue eyes, sculpted cheekbones and a strong jawline. What an arrogant way to get attention…post your sexy picture twice. But as I read the bio, I realized it was not one man but two—identical twins, Conrad and Kurtis Anderson. The brothers were wolf shifters. According to their description, the two men were looking for a special mate to complete their triad. A shiver ran through my body as I had a flash of one of the men pressing his warm chest against my breasts in front and the other pushing his body against my ass. I brushed it aside. One man was enough for me to handle. But whoa! I bet that would be one hot, wild ride for the woman who wound up with them.

“Geez,” I grunted as I studied their bio further. They were real estate agents and the owners of C and K Realty. John Platt, the man who’d owned my heart for the past couple of years, was also a real estate agent.

I scrolled back through all of the emails, studying each one. I couldn’t help but wonder which man I would go out with if I actually took the next step. The ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies Marriage Mates’ site used a heart ranking system based on personality quizzes to show compatibility with a potential mate. At the bottom of each person’s bio there were ten empty hearts. These little empty hearts would fill with red according to how good a match you were with the person; one being the least compatible, and ten the best possible. You could write to anyone you saw on the site, but the ‘Luscious’ site suggested dating six-heart matches and above for the best possible results. I made a point not to look at the heart match, which was all the way at the bottom of the screen, for each of the bios. I wanted to guess for myself and then compare the results.

Pulling out a notebook, I wrote down the names of the twelve men that had written me. I loved crunching numbers. I would try to figure out which one would be the best possible match by assigning them a score based on what they liked to do and what I was looking for in a man. Then, I would look at the heart rate match the ‘Luscious’ site assigned us.

“What are you doing in there, Jill?” a sharp voice called out from the other room.

“I’m just finishing up a report for work, mom.” Ok, it was a little white lie, but if she knew what I was really doing she would have a fit. No sense getting her all worked up.

“Ok, well don’t take too long. Our show comes on in half an hour.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ok, mom, I’ll be there soon.” Ugh. Another episode of a bad TV sitcom filled with poor acting and canned laughter.

I started making quick notes on the paper, assigning points to each of the men who’d emailed me based on their occupations, physical characteristics that appealed to me, and other information shared in their bios. I gave Kurtis and Conrad, the twin shifters, a one for being realtors. That was the same job John had and I didn’t want to be reminded of it. I also gave them a one because there were two of them. One man was all I needed. After I assigned points to all of the men, I added them up. Most of the men scored at least a six to an eight, but because of how low I’d ranked their job and the fact there were two of them, Kurtis and Conrad wound up much lower.

“So there,” I said, wagging a finger at their photos, “just because you are friggin’ delicious to look at does not mean you are right for me.”

Now it was time to see what the ‘Luscious’ site thought. I pulled up each man’s profile and scrolled to the bottom where the hearts were. As I checked each one, I saw that I wasn’t too far off in my guesses. Though the site ranked on personality, my system seemed pretty accurate too. The men all had six to eight filled hearts. But when I pulled up Kurtis and Conrad’s bio and looked at the heart match, my eyes almost popped out of my head; according to the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies’ site we were a ten-heart match!

In an instant, a flash of me with the two men flickered through my brain. One was smiling at me, his electric blue eyes looking deep into mine as he held me. The other was pressed against my back, his soft lips grazing my neck. A shiver ran through me. I shook my head, brushing the thoughts aside.

“No way!” I said out loud as I gazed at the two men on the screen. “Two’s company, but three’s a crowd!”