Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (23 page)

“Why are you so quiet, Jill?” Kurtis asked as I munched on a slice of bread.

Though it was a clear, beautiful day in the park, it was hard to enjoy it. The fact that they were keeping secrets from me cast a dark cloud over my mood.

I shook my head.

“Jill…” Kurtis pursed his lips.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Of course we do,” Conrad said. “What’s going on?”

“You two seem so distracted lately. Did I do something to upset you? Did you change your mind about me?”

“No, of course not, Jill, we love you.” Kurtis said.

“Then why are you keeping secrets from me?”

“Secrets?” Kurtis gazed at me.

“Ok,” I took a deep breath. “Is it true you lost the bid on buying the old post office property?”

The two men exchanged glances.

Conrad’s eyes widened. “Who told you that?”

“John Platt.”

“Ah, John Platt—that’s your ex-boyfriend who’s in the real estate business,” Conrad said.

Kurtis grimaced, “It’s true we lost the bid on that property, and a bunch of other ones.”

I shook my head. “I just don’t understand why it was him that told me and not one of you. And how would he know anyway?”

“Everyone in the real estate business seems to know everyone else’s business, or they can easily look it up. We keep the properties we are interested in and our bids quiet, but once the bidding is over it becomes public record.”

“He probably did look it up,” I sighed. “He seems to be following me around these days. But now that he’s met Kurtis up close…I think he will stay far away.”

“You bet he will.” Kurtis said bluntly. “Or I’ll kick his ass.” He pursed his lips. “Sorry we didn’t tell you about the bids. We just didn’t want you to concern yourself with the business stuff.”

“Not concern myself? I’m supposed to be your life partner—your mate! It wasn’t fun hearing about your dealings from my ex-boyfriend.” I was bummed that the two weren’t telling me about their business troubles. What other secrets were they keeping from me? I glanced down at the small scar on my wrist. I had opened myself up to them fully. Had I made a mistake?

Kurtis put his arm around my shoulder. “You’re right. We’ve lost a lot of deals lately. We really just didn’t want you to be worried.”

“Are you keeping other things from me?” I asked.

“No, no, Jill. Please don’t think that. We just didn’t share the business stuff. If we’ve seemed distracted, it’s been because of the business. I won’t lie, it’s hurt us financially. And we didn’t want to worry you with it. But it has nothing to do with our feelings for you. We love you,” Kurtis squeezed my shoulder. “Trust me, we love you totally.”

I let out a sigh of relief. It sucked that they were having business problems, but I was thankful the reason they had been so distracted lately wasn’t because they had lost their feelings for me. “Well, in future, please share with me. I want to be a part of your life in every way.”

“Well…if you really want to know.” Conrad said.

“I do! Please don’t keep secrets from me.”

“Business has been so bad lately,” Conrad groaned. “We’ve been outbid by just a small amount on every single deal. Somehow whoever this is knows exactly what properties we are bidding on and how much.”

“Do you know who it is?” I asked.

“We have no idea,” Kurtis replied. “They’re using a corporate name but when we looked them up, there was no information on them. It’s like they came out of nowhere.”

“Well, if they outbid you by just a small amount, they must know the amount that you are bidding.”

“Exactly,” Kurtis said.

“And who has access to that information?”

Kurtis shook his head. “No one knows that except Conrad and me.”

I pursed my lips. “No one else knows?”

“Well, Mom knows,” Conrad said, “But that’s it.”

“So,” I said, wincing, “unless they are breaking in your office to see what your bids are, it has to be your Mom.”

“Mom would never tell anyone,” Kurtis rubbed his forehead.

“Maybe not intentionally…” I said.

“I think we need to talk to her,” Conrad replied grimacing.

I nodded, “I think you do too.”

~ * ~

Pansy Anderson looked like she was in a cheerful mood when we entered the C and K Realty office. She was dressed to the nines in a colorful skirt and bright blouse and her cheeks and lips were rouged.

“You look pretty ma,” Kurtis said, “and so happy.”

Pansy beamed. “Thank you.”

“It’s Friday night,” Conrad grinned, “that’s why she looks so happy.”

“Yes, I’m meeting my friend again tonight at Kane’s,” Pansy giggled. “I can’t wait.”

Conrad smiled, “That’s great. And yes, you can go early.” Then his face grew more serious. “Listen, you know we lost a lot of business deals we thought we had in the bag. We were outbid by just a slim margin. The old post office was the most shocking. Our competitor outbid us by just a few dollars.”

“Yes, I know.” Pansy replied. “I feel really bad about it.”

“You haven’t said anything to anyone about the buildings we are bidding on or the amount we are bidding, have you?” Conrad stared intently at his mother.

“Why, no of course I haven’t,” Pansy frowned.

“See there, I knew ma would never say anything,” Kurtis said.

“No, of course I wouldn’t. I haven’t talked about it to anyone…” Pansy’s voice trailed off and she looked down at the floor.

“Ma…?” Kurtis looked at her quizzically.

“Well, my new friend and I talk about it, but only because he likes to know about my day…”

“Mom…what did you tell him?” Conrad’s jaw tightened.

Pansy swallowed. “Well, I did tell him about the properties and all, but…”

“Mom, did you tell him what properties we were bidding on and how much?” Conrad asked.

“Well, come to think of it, I may have mentioned it,” Pansy winced. “Ok, yes, yes I did. But he likes talking about my day and what I’ve been doing. He’s from out of town and he has no interest in bidding on property in Shifter Villages.”

“Who is it?” Kurtis asked.

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

Conrad shook his head, “Ma?”

Pansy glanced from one of her sons to the other.

“Ok, ok…he’s a lot younger than me,” Pansy bit her lower lip. “I…I was embarrassed and I didn’t want to share that with you.”

“What’s his name, ma?” Kurtis asked.

“Well, he told me his name was J.P., but I saw the name on his credit card when he was paying for something. It’s short for his full name—John Platt.”

“John Platt!” My mouth dropped open. “That’s my ex-boyfriend.”

“He’s your ex-boyfriend!” Pansy’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know. I…I mean we just talked and he seemed really nice,” her shoulders slumped. “I guess he was just playing me for a fool.”

“I’m sorry, ma,” Kurtis groaned, “but it sounds like he was using you to run our business into the ground. When you told him about the properties we were bidding on and our bid amount, he would outbid us by just a little bit.”

Pansy shook her head sadly. “I guess he was jealous that the two of you were with Jill. He wanted to ruin your business so things would be rough for the three of you.”

“Yeah…” Conrad scratched his chin. “That bastard stole a lot of our deals which cost us a lot of money in the long run. Well, that’s not going to happen again.”

“Geez, he has been harassing me lately, but I never dreamed he’d stoop this low,” I tapped my finger on my lip. “I did wonder how he knew so much about C and K Realty’s business. I mean, even though he’s in real estate and word gets around about different business dealings; his company is in Pennsylvania, not Shifter Villages.”

“Now we know,” Conrad said, looking at his mother.

“I’m so sorry,” Pansy sniffled. I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

“No, ma…it’s not your fault. He was trying to take advantage,” Kurtis said soothingly.

“Mistakes happen,” Conrad wrapped his arm around his mother, giving her a gentle squeeze. “I’m just sorry he tried to trick you.”

I felt bad for Pansy. She looked so forlorn. I was happy her sons were so loving and comforting towards her.

“I think I’ll have a talk to Sheriff Matthews about all this,” Kurtis said. “Platt needs to be locked up for stealing our information.”

“But there’s no proof he did anything wrong,” Conrad shook his head. “It’s not like he broke into our office. Mom gave him the information freely. He used it. How could he get locked up for that?”

“Well, he was pretending to be someone named J.P.,” I said.

“He’s not going to get locked up for using his initials,” Conrad said.

Pansy’s eyes narrowed. “He deserves to get his for trying to trick me.”

“He does,” I agreed, “but there’s not much we can do.” John really did need to be taught a lesson. What he did was wrong. Not only was he trying to hurt the business, but he was deceiving Pansy. That just wasn’t right.

“Hmm,” Pansy said thoughtfully, “there has to be something we can do.”

“We’ll think of something,” Conrad said. “We can’t let him get away with this shit.”

“You know, I have an idea,” Pansy said, smiling. “I think we can teach J.P.—John Platt that is, a thing or two and make him think twice before he ever tries to pull a fast one like this again.”

~*~

“I’m ruined! You fucking bitch!” John Platt yelled.

“Oh…” I said sweetly as if I had no clue what he was talking about.

“Don’t act so innocent, bitch. Now I have all my money tied up in the Dixie Diner. My other loans were called in and most of the properties will be in foreclosure soon!”

“Well, John, you made your bed. Now you’re gonna have to lie in it.”

John ignored me as he continued to rant, “I’m going to sue Pansy! She’s ruined me. You all have ruined me—you and those asshole wolf men boyfriends of yours.”

I held the phone away from my ear. John Platt sure could scream loudly. And to think I used to see him as sophisticated and hot. Ick!

“Oh, you are going to sue Pansy, that sweet, dear lady?” I chuckled. “And in court do you plan to tell everyone how you pretended like you had romantic feelings towards her when in reality you were just trying to get information?”

“No one will believe that,” John said sourly.

“I think they will, and if they don’t believe it coming from her, I’m sure the people who work at Kane’s Bar and Grill will testify that they saw you chatting her up.”

“Why, you little bitch.”

Despite his words, I could tell from John’s tone he felt defeated.

“Don’t be calling me again, John. And don’t come near me either because my men might just rip you apart.” I hung up the phone. Ah, revenge was so sweet. Pansy had come up with the idea of telling John that C and K Realty was going to bid a super high amount on the old Dixie Diner property—way, way more than what it was worth. Of course it wasn’t true, but if she convinced him it was, he might bid.

She met with John at Kane’s on Friday night and acted like she had no idea she’d discovered who he really was and what he was trying to do. Then she let him sweet talk her about her day. As they talked, she gave him the false information that C and K Realty was planning to bid hundreds of thousands of dollars on the diner. He seemed surprised, but to quell his doubts she told him that Kurtis and Conrad had inside information that a group of Middle Eastern investors were planning to start buying property in Shifter Villages in the near future and prices would sky rocket.

John fell for it and went way overboard, bidding over a million dollars for the location. Now his money was tied up in a property worth very little.

I had a feeling John would be very busy trying to clean up the mess he’d created and wouldn’t be bothering me again. And if he did, my two hunks would take care of him. Revenge sure felt good!

“May I?” Vic asked.

I grinned at him. “Yes, you may.” I looped my arm in Vic’s and we turned to walk down the aisle. The church was packed. It looked like everyone from Shifter Villages was there.

“You look so beautiful,” Vic whispered.

I glanced down at the little scar on my wrist. I knew my dad couldn’t be with me physically, but I knew he was with me in spirit. Vic Harris, the owner of the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies Marriage Mates’ site had offered to escort me down the aisle, and I figured why not? I’d gotten to know Vic during my visits to SV. He was a great guy, and he was the reason I’d met my mates after all.

“Thank you.” I felt like a fairytale princess in my ball gown wedding dress as I walked down the aisle. I blinked back tears as I saw the two shifters waiting for me at the alter. They looked so handsome in their black tuxedos.

As the ceremony progressed I felt like I was going to faint. I could hardly believe that I was getting married to the two most wonderful men in the world.

“With this ring…” I heard Kurtis and Conrad repeat together as they slid a thick gold band on my finger. I stared down at the yellow and white gold wedding band that matched their two toned bands. It was just perfect. I twisted it on my finger as my mind floated happily, thinking of our future lives together.

“I now pronounce you husbands and wife,” the minister declared. “You may kiss the bride.”

As the flashes from cameras went off and the entire room cheered, the two men leaned in to kiss me, one from each side.

It was my dream come true!

~ * ~

Kane’s Bar and Grill had been transformed into a beautiful castle.

Sabrina rushed over towards me. “What do you think?”

“I love it!” I squealed.

The room was stunning. Gold and white balloons hung from the ceiling, soft lights twinkled around the room, the tables looked magnificent with the china and crystal settings—everything was just perfect!

As I walked around the room with Conrad and Kurtis on either side of me, I felt like the belle of the ball. I oohed and aahed at all of Sabrina’s little touches. There was an archway decorated in greenery for us to walk through, gorgeous flowers everywhere—there was so much to look at.

When I saw the cake I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. The bakers, Evan and Grant had outdone themselves. They had built a castle! The three tiered cake was layered in white icing and garnished with blush pink and ivory roses that matched my flowers.

Grant and his brother Evan were standing behind the cake.

“It’s gorgeous,” I breathed, “way too pretty to eat.”

“It’s all edible,” Grant replied.

“Really, even those?” Kurtis pointed to the turrets that capped the top of the creation.

“Even those,” Evan nodded. “They are made from ice cream cones covered in buttercream frosting.”

“Yum!”

“You sound like you are ready to eat dessert before dinner,” Conrad teased. “Let’s go look at the buffet.”

We made our way over to the buffet and my mouth salivated as I admired the dishes. A standing rib roast accompanied by a number of side dishes including Caesar salad, baby roasted potatoes, green beans with caramelized onions, and sautéed button mushrooms awaited us.

“Let’s eat!” Conrad said.

“Yeah, my stomach is growling.” Kurtis moaned.

“It all looks so yummy!” I’d been so nervous getting ready for the wedding, I’d barely eaten anything and I was starving.

We piled plates high with food and took them to the head table. After we sat down I looked around the room. I couldn’t help but think about how perfect everything was. The place looked amazing and so many residents of Shifter Villages had come out to share our special day. Even my mother had dragged herself out of the house to come. Of course she had complained the whole time—but she came. I giggled inwardly as I remembered her face the day I told her I was marrying not one, but two shifters. She was beyond shocked! The pain she’d caused me over the years had been very hurtful. I was determined to be as loving to her as I could—but she was never going to rule my life again.

“Oh, there you are, darling!”

“Mrs. Anderson!”

Pansy looked so cheerful in a mother of the groom long silk blue dress. Of course, she had added some colorful touches to complete the outfit—a red flower in her hair and bright red shoes. She was beaming from ear to ear.

“This is my friend, Marvin,” she gushed.

She lowered her head towards me and whispered, “We just met at Kane’s last week and I think he likes me.”

I smiled as I whispered back, “I bet he does.” I was glad to see she wasn’t wasting any time thinking about John Platt.

After giving her sons a hug she left and I turned my attention back to the men. “This is just awesome,” I said.

“You’re the awesome one,” Conrad winked at me. “We love you.”

“We love you, Jill,” Kurtis said quietly, “we love you deeply and completely.”

My stomach flip-flopped with joy at their words. I knew I was in for a lifetime of happiness and pleasure with Conrad and Kurtis. This was only the beginning!

The End