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“What signs?” Riggs leaned up and ran his hand down her arm. It made her shiver but with the heat cranked up, I knew it wasn’t from the cold.
“I’ll explain. First, why my profile picture was in a wedding dress. It was from the photo shoot the day before. So, after I was left with no husband at the altar, the wedding was called off. He wasn’t there. The bridesmaids were ready. The church was packed. Everything was perfect. But I had no groom. I stood there while one of his cousins came out and tried to tell me to… I don’t even remember what she said exactly, but before I knew it, the officiant was announcing that the bride and the groom had decided not to have the wedding. A wedding is supposed to be the most important day of a person’s life and yet, it was all happening to me instead of me being in it. Gods, I’m not making sense.”
“You are.” I took her hand in mine and, to my surprise, she didn’t pull away. In fact, she placed her other hand on top and squeezed. Gods, she was shaking. The whole situation had done a number on her. “It’s okay. Take all the time you need. We are listening.”
After a few long breaths, she swiped at some tears. If I wasn’t driving, I would’ve taken them from her. Riggs handed her a tissue from the back seat.
“I ran for it. Everyone was whispering, and some were snickering and looking at their phones, and some people I didn’t know snapped a few pictures of me while my world was crashing down around me. I remember looking for someone to anchor me. Someone to be on my side but when I turned, the only thing I saw was the door. Next thing I know, I’m stuffing myself in that godawful dress into the limo and telling him to go to a place where I could drink and no one would find me. The limo driver did as he was told. I ended up in a shifter bar, although I didn’t realize it at the time. The bartenders helped me. And somewhere between the shots of tequila and taking off my wedding dress in favor of leggings and a T-shirt with the bar logo, I somehow got signed up for the app.”
We stayed silent, letting her story hang in the air, along with its sadness and the fury I felt in my chest.
“Are you still getting over him?” Riggs asked. His eyes and mine connected in the rearview mirror. It was a fair question.
“No. Now that I know everything, I realize I was taking the steps but they weren’t mine. I was doing what I thought was expected of me. The god-awful meringue dress. The gaudy veil. The three-hundred-dollar-per-person plates being served at the reception. The way his cousin told me not to make a scene. I was a pawn in their life when I should’ve been a queen in my own story.”
We got off the main highway and moved to a gravel road. “What happened? Why did he leave you?”
She smiled. “Claude left me for another man. The dream of his lover. A man who wasn’t free to be with him. They were having a relationship while Carl, his lover, was still married to a woman, and they had children. I think Claude believed that if he didn’t marry me that Carl would change his mind and divorce his wife. Hell, I don’t know what he was thinking. But I’m glad he made the decision.”
“We are, too,” Riggs said. “Why are you happy about it?”
Marney looked out the window and commented on all the snow while a smile grew on her face. “Because we dodged a bullet. All the humiliation and shame I felt was better than having him marry me and years later realizing that it was all a mistake. Before we had children or established a family of our own. Not getting married was better than him realizing he resented me and himself for living a fake life.”
Gods, this woman was wise beyond her years.
The ride from that point to the cabin was silent. Once we turned onto the driveway, I let her know that this was the way to our home.
“It’s gorgeous. All of it. And we haven’t even gotten home—I mean to your home.”
“It’s your home, too, now, Marney. At least, we hope you decide to make it your home. Here we are.”
I stopped in front of the cabin. Puffs of smoke came from the chimney since we left a fire banked that morning. It must’ve been only embers by now. From my view, it was perfect but I waited for her assessment, hanging on every word she said since she got in the car.
“This is where you live?”
Riggs unlocked the truck. “Where we live. Come on. Let’s get you inside and fed. I can smell your hunger.” She had only eaten a bit of cake, telling them she’d eat the giant sandwich later. I was sure she’d have managed it in the car without making a big mess, but sometimes the females were dainty.
He walked around and opened the door for her while I grabbed her bags. Once we were inside, she stood right inside the door, turning in circles, her eyes wide. “It’s right out of a movie,” she whispered. “You two built this, right? I saw that on your profile.”
Riggs nodded and took her coat. “We did. We have some roast and potatoes in the slow cooker. Why don’t you take a seat?”
She made her way to the table and chose the seat in the middle—right where she belonged. “Oh, I can fix my plate.”
“No. You can’t. We shifters like to make our…it’s our honor to serve you a meal. It’s important for us. I hope you don’t mind.”
A laugh poured from her mouth. “Do I mind being served amazing-smelling food by two gorgeous men? Yeah, it’s so much trouble.”
Riggs and I glanced at each other, but neither of us said a word about her calling us gorgeous. None of us left any food on our plates.
“I need to get more dough going tonight,” I remarked as we took the plates to the sink.
“Wait a damned minute. You baked that bread?” Marney asked.
I chuffed and may have puffed my chest out a bit, thinking she was happy with our lifestyle. “I did. We don’t get to the store much, so we had to learn to bake and make things from scratch. We keep a lot of ingredients but not a lot of processed things. Are you impressed, female?”
A soft smile graced her full lips. “I am.” A yawn followed her approval.
“Are you tired?” Riggs asked as he finished washing the dishes. “You must be exhausted.”
