Page 67

Even in a cut-and-dried case such as this one, it was still labor intensive. Particularly since it was a murder that also involved a hostage situation in a separate county. So lots of hours of extra communicating and paperwork.

Whitaker showed up right before dawn to take over everything. Tanner let out a sigh of relief. He really hadn’t wanted to miss his own wedding and honeymoon.

“Thank you, Richard,” Tanner said as he shook the man’s hand. He hadn’t been required to come, since this wasn’t the normal section of the county he worked in. He’d done so without anyone asking him to.

“I figured it was better for me to miss the wedding than you. But seriously, the next dead body? Please do not let it have anything to do with you or your bride.”

“Deal.”

By that point, there hadn’t been any point in trying to get any sleep. Tanner tried to call Bree, to make sure she was okay.

He had no idea what he was supposed to say to a bride a few hours before her wedding when there was a dead body on top of her wedding dress. Even when he knew that bride probably better than anyone else in the world.

He just wanted to assure her that he was willing to do whatever she wanted to do. If she wanted to reschedule the whole thing, he would do that. If she wanted to get married in their jeans and T-shirts, he would do that. If she wanted not to have a big wedding at all, he would drag her in front of the judge in the next five minutes.

He just wanted her to know that he loved her.

But he didn’t get to talk to Bree. Cassandra had answered the phone and explained to him what the women of the town were doing. She told him to hang out with Noah and to be at the church on time.

His breakfast with Noah had been pretty somber. A man was dead. And neither of them felt bad about it.

“Do you think Marilyn is going to be okay?” he asked in between bites of the breakfast food they had to get at the next town over because the Sunrise was currently a wedding dress factory.

“She’ll have her ups and downs. Even knowing this was the only way she and the kids would truly be safe, it will still weigh on her. Make her wonder if there might’ve been a different way.”

“Not in the eyes of the law. Ellis had every intent of hurting her and Bree, or worse.”

Noah nodded. “That doesn’t mean someone as tenderhearted as Marilyn won’t still struggle with it. I would’ve taken that burden from her if I could.”

Tanner wondered how long it would be before his brother realized he was in love with this woman. “I know you would, bro, but believe it or not, not all burdens are meant for you to carry.”

“That woman has carried enough. She damn well doesn’t need to carry any more.”

Neither did Noah, not that he was going to be able to hear that. “Take a word of advice from your wise younger brother.”

Noah snickered. “And what’s that?”

“You two find a way of sharing the burden. I know that was one of the most fundamental lessons your time in the Special Forces taught you. A shared burden is easier to carry.”

Noah nodded, then sat back and stared at him. “Dude, you’re getting married in a couple hours. You nervous?”

“No.” Tanner didn’t hesitate. Didn’t have any doubt. There was nowhere on earth he’d rather be than at that church watching Bree walked down the aisle.

And that was where he was two hours later when the wedding march played and Bree walked toward him slowly, escorted by Dan and Cheryl on either side of her.

Tanner knew he should look at her gown. Knew the women of the town had worked all night for Bree to have something to wear. But all he could see was her. It wouldn’t have mattered what she’d been wearing—hell, it could’ve been a ten-thousand-dollar gown or a trash bag and he wouldn’t have noticed.

She was stunning. She was perfect.

She was his.

And with every step she took toward him he was more in awe of that fact. When Dan flipped her veil over her head and she turned to him, trust and love shining out of those green eyes, Tanner felt it in every fiber of his being.

The minister said words, and Tanner repeated what he was supposed to and completed the tasks he was asked.

His eyes never drifted from Bree’s face.

Only when it came time for the vows did he get snapped back into the ceremony. Bree had been nervous about this. With everything that had happened, they hadn’t had much more time to talk about it.