Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (53 page)

“You loved that
dress.  Don’t you dare deny it,” Maggie retorted, unmoved by Honor’s censorious
look.

“Of course I loved
it!  It was Vera Wang, Maggie!” Honor returned, shaking her head.

“So?” Maggie
shrugged.

“Maggie, that dress
was thousands of dollars!  It was spotlighted in Cosmo, for heaven’s sake!”

“I’m rich, Honor,”
Maggie returned in a bored voice. 

“We’re not!” Honor
hissed, nearly vibrating in her seat.

“Honor,” Maggie said,
softening her voice as she stared at the younger woman, “I loved my mother, but
she’s gone now.  I have a brother I barely know, don’t see or speak to, and
you’ve met my bastard of a father.  The only thing my mother was able to leave
me was her money, and I can’t take it with me when I die, hon.  You, Patience,
Faith, Harmony and Aunt Orla are the family I got to choose.  Just like Cain,
Abel, and Daddy Seth.  I saw your face light up when you saw that dress last
month, girl.  It was
the
dress.  It was written all over your face.  I
had the power to make that particular dream come true, so I made it happen.  It
made me happy.  Let me have that, sweetie.”

“Lord, I sound like a
brat,” Honor groaned, reaching out for Maggie’s hand.  “I
am
grateful,
Mags.  I love you to the moon and back, but you should save your money for when
you get married and have you own kids…”

Maggie recoiled at
that, a look a dismay descending over her face.  “Take that back, Honor McKinnon!”

“What?” Honor asked
blankly, her eyes widening.

Maggie straightened
in her chair in much the same way a queen would shift on her throne, pulling
her shoulders back and lifting her chin regally.  “Much like parenthood, I will
not be doing
that
.  Sacrificing myself at the matrimonial altar doesn’t
sound nearly like the party you McKinnon ladies have purported it to be.”

“Mags, with the right
man, a baby is a gift from God.  So is a husband,” Faith enthused as she
propped her chin in her hand and stared at the other woman with a serene smile.

Maggie titled her
head as she stared at the optimistic woman.  “Tell the truth, Faith.  You take
valium, don’t you?  Or maybe a little Xanax?”

“Maggie!” Honor
admonished, nearly choking on her laugh.

“What?  Nobody can be
that freaking happy
all
the time without medical intervention,” Maggie
insisted.

“Preach,” Patience
agreed, nodding energetically with a wide grin.

“Yoga, a macrobiotic
diet, and clean living,” Faith asserted.  “Those are my only drugs, my friend.

“Sure, but you follow
all that up with an Ativan chaser at night, right?” Maggie questioned sweetly.

“I don’t care what
you say.  A baby would be good for you,” Faith proclaimed, ignoring Maggie’s
playful verbal jabs.  “Look how much it’s softened Patience over here,” she
claimed, jerking her head toward her now fuming sibling.

“Oh, those are
fightin’ words,” Aunt Orla cackled, rubbing her hands together.

“Oh, heck, everybody
grab your glass of sweet tea,” Harmony ordered, smoothly reaching out to snag
her heavy, sweating glass from the table as Patience stiffened.

“Excuse me!” the
McKinnon sister in question barked.  “I am STILL a hard ass!”

“Is that why I caught
you singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider instead of AC/DC this morning while you were
washing dishes?  For heaven’s sake, Pitty Pat, you’re even wearing a Rainbow
Brite tee shirt instead of one of those obnoxious band shirts you used to wear
every day.  Not softened, my hiney!”

Seeing her sister’s
eyes dilating, Honor laid a calming hand on the woman’s arm.  “Patience,
remember, you’re holding a baby.  Use your big girl mommy words.”

“I’ll have you know
this shirt was a gift from my husband last week because my orange highlights
reminded him of Rainbow Brite!” Patience growled.  “And Rainbow Brite is
badass.”

“Yeah, I bet she can
blow a rainbow right out her hoo-ha,” Aunt Orla declared with a straight face.

Clearing her throat,
Maggie held up a hand.  “My point is that other than you insane fools, I have
no family, Honor.  If I wanna buy you a wedding dress that makes even me want
to bow before the couture angels, I’m gonna do it and you’re gonna like it! 
Got it?”

“Got it,” Honor
agreed with a soft smile.  “And thank you.  I’ll treasure it always.  And you
never know, maybe one day, you can wear it in your wedding – like a kind of
tradition.”

“I don’t think so.
Marriage would require a man, sweetie, and a man would require me to at least
try
to act like I care about what he thinks.  Over the years, I’ve found that I’m
not a very good actress,” Maggie replied easily, smoothing the seam over of
expensive pencil skirt down the side of her legs.

“With the right guy
maybe you wouldn’t have to pretend,” Harmony pointed out. 

“You can’t deny that
you and my future brother-in-law seem to have a certain… chemistry,” Honor
suggested delicately.  It was true, too.  For the last six weeks of family
dinners, when Maggie and Ice got within yelling distance of each other, sparks
flew.  They rubbed each other the wrong way… or, maybe they rubbed it each
other just the
right
way.  Honor wasn’t sure yet.  The only certain
thing was that where Maggie was concerned, Honor had seen genuine interest
burning in Ice’s usually chilling gaze over the last several weeks.

“The Manolo murdering
prick?  Not interested,” Maggie retorted, her cheeks darkening with color as
her eyes narrowed.

“She’ll never forgive
that man for her shoes,” Patience said sadly.

Honor grinned.  It
was probably true.  A couple years back, Ice had driven by Maggie when she’d
been pulled over on the side of the road checking her tire and ruined one of
her prized couture outfits, shoes included.  And if there was one thing Maggie
couldn’t forgive, it was ruining one of her prized outfits.  It didn’t matter
that she could buy a dozen more to replace the one she lost.  The contents of
her closets were her treasured possessions, and she hadn’t taken kindly to
Ice’s marked lack of concern over his social faux paus. 

“He killed those
heels in cold blood, Patience.  There is no forgiveness when you desecrate a pair
of Manolo Blahniks!”

“You tell ‘em,
sister,” Harmony said sympathetically before tapping her pad again.  “One last
thing, and we can go.  Honor, we’ve got to book a band.  Take these,” she said,
passing her sister two DVDs without cases. 

“What are they?”
Honor asked, reaching for the discs.

“Those are DVDs of
two very good bands at weddings they played last winter.  Pick which one you
like so that we can book one.  Please?”  Harmony shot her sister a pleading
look.  “Otherwise, the only band you’ll get is Buddy Fitzpatrick strumming his
banjo.”

“I’ll do it tonight. 
I’ve got to make some orders out for the restaurant this afternoon.  I’ll put
them on in the kitchen and watch while I work.”

 “Great!” Harmony
announced, slapping her hand against the table.  “Then I think we’re done
here.”

“On that note, I
hereby declare this meeting of the matrimonial minds adjourned,” Honor
pronounced, pumping her fist into the air as the women began to scatter.

 Distracted
waitresses ran between tables freshening their customers’ coffee while the lone
cook of the afternoon took a brief break to come out to the dining room and
visit with his wife. None of them - certainly not the chattering McKinnon
family - were aware of the tall man keeping to the shadows along the wall as he
made his way toward the café’s kitchen. 

No one saw his
arrogant smirk when he slipped into the restaurant’s office, unnoticed, and
drop a seemingly harmless DVD of his own in the center of the neat desk.  No
one saw him trail his gloved fingers against the service as he reached for the
sweater Honor had left hanging on the back of her chair.  No one saw him lift
the soft material to his nose and inhale deeply, groaning low in his throat as if
he was in ecstasy.

And still, no one saw
him slip out just a few moments later, unobserved by anyone, to go on with his
day.

But
everyone
would later wonder how the hell they missed seeing the man responsible for
nearly destroying Honor McKinnon for the second time in her life.

August 18, 2016 –
The McKinnon Barn

4:30 pm

Zeke

“Seriously?  A barn?”
Slade Cansler grunted, offering his favorite cousin’s man a disbelieving
sidelong look.  “This was her idea?  For real?  Because I know I’ve been gone
for a while, but I just can’t imagine little Honor agreeing to marry your ass
in a
barn
.  Of course, when I left to take that construction job down in
Savannah, I never imagined when I got back you’d have convinced her to marry
you, either, so what do I know?” he continued, clapping Zeke on the shoulder
good-naturedly.  “Can’t say I’m disappointed, though.  I know you’ll take good
care of her.”

“He better,” Uncle
Jethro’s aging voice threatened as he leaned heavily on his cane.

“Oh, he will,” Jake
Stone declared, crossing his arms over his chest.  “He’s got three strapping
brothers-in-law that will collectively kick his ass if he steps out of line,”
his deep voice warned.

Zeke rolled his eyes
at Jake’s threat as his gaze shifted from Jake to Abel to Cain.  “You morons
do
realize that I played a role in getting all three of you asshats hitched to
the McKinnon woman of your dreams, right?”

All three men
blustered and Zeke snorted as he propped his hands on his lean hips.  “Cain,
without me talking Honor into pleading your case, you’d never have gotten your
second chance with Faith,” he informed the scarred doctor with a glare.  “True
or false?”

Cain’s lips
twitched.  “I like to think my charm would have eventually won her over, but I
suppose you’ve got a point.”

“And you, Mister
Former Undercover DEA Agent who thought it’d be a good idea to
lie
to
the woman he loved about who he was for
months
,” Zeke growled to Jake. 
“If I hadn’t pled your case before the Court of McKinnon, you’d
still
be
trying to beg your way back into Harmony’s bed, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d have eventually
gotten there,” Jake grumbled. “Wildcat would have eventually forgiven me.”

“Maybe.  But she
forgave you a fuck of a lot faster, though, when I took your case before Honor,
didn’t she?”  Seeing Jake’s jerky nod of acceptance, Zeke moved on to the last
man and narrowed his eyes on Patience’s husband, Abel.  “And then there’s
you
,”
he remarked to the town’s attorney.  “I’ve done you the biggest favor of all.”

Abel merely arched an
eyebrow as he unbuttoned his suit coat.  “Is that so?” he inquired dryly.

“Patience had the
spot picked out, Abel.”

“What spot?” Abel
grunted, shoving his hand into his slacks as he tilted his head to the side.

“The one where she
was going to dispose of your body.  Pretty place, too.  Lots of shade.  If not
for me you’d be pushing up dirt on the acreage on the back side of the fuckin’
property,” Zeke barked, gesturing toward the southern end of the McKinnon
lands.

“That’s true,” Ice
interjected conversationally, shooting a grin toward Abel.  “She showed it to
me once when we took the kids out for a walk a couple of months ago.”

“Fuck off, Ice.  Stop
taking leisurely walks with my wife and kids,” the attorney demanded, his old
rivalry with Zeke’s brother over Patience still very much alive and well.  Ice
and Patience were just friends, and that’s all they’d ever have been regardless
of whether she’d married Abel or not, but that didn’t seem to matter much to
the good lawyer.  What mattered to him was that, in Abel’s book, Ice was very
close to encroaching on sacred territory – territory reserved strictly for husbands.

“Abel, he’s trying to
piss you off, man,” Zeke said in a low voice, shooting his troublemaking
sibling a hard look. 

“It’s working,” Abel
snarled, focusing his own glare on an unaffected Ice.

Zeke looked to the
heavens and prayed for patience.  Mostly because if he asked the Almighty for
strength, he felt certain he’d end up beating at least one of these morons to a
bloody pulp. 

And that would piss
his Honor off to high heaven.

“Point is that all
you assholes owe
me
for your current state of wedded bliss.  I think I’m
the last person you all need to issue any kind of warning.  I make the threats,
remember?”

Jethro chuckled.  “We
know you’ll do Honor right, boy.  We’re just yankin’ your chain.”

“Except about getting
married in a barn,” Slade said, bringing the conversation full circle.  “I
still don’t get that,” he asserted, staring at the huge, freshly painted red
and white barn.

“The barn’s a special
place to me and Honor.  It’s got meaning, Slade,” Zeke said quietly as he
looked at the building with a sense of deep pride and satisfaction.

“Dude, you store
tractors and animals in it,” Slade pointed out.

“Not if you’re Zeke
and Honor,” Ice returned with a sly smile and glittering eyes.  “Why don’t you
tell the guys why this place is so special, little brother?”

“As Abel previously
directed, fuck off, Ice,” Zeke snarled.  “Suffice it to say that this barn is
where my life began after six long years of waiting.  It’s where Honor wants to
say her vows to me and in this case and as you’ll find in most cases, what a
McKinnon woman wants, a McKinnon woman gets.”

“Amen to that,” Jake
testified with a nod as the other husbands murmured their agreement while both
Ice and Slade stared at them with amusement.

Looking at Slade, Ice
shook his head.  “I don’t know about you, man, but I’ve never been happier that
my dick is a free agent.”

“Ain’t that the
truth,” Slade returned with a rare grin.

“We’ll see if you two
are still sayin’ that when you meet your match,” Cain asserted.  “It’s all fun
and games until your dick only starts rising for one woman.”

“You have my
permission to shoot me if that ever happens,” Ice informed Zeke with a shudder
as the men began walking into the barn to get a look at the progress.

Entering through the
wide sliding double doors onto a gleaming hardwood floor that he’d had laid
especially for the wedding, Zeke felt a sense of pride as he looked around. 
This would be the path Honor took when she walked down the aisle to him… to
their future.  And even with the threats still looming over her, he couldn’t
wait for that future to begin.  And it would… in just a little over two months.

They’d finally
decided on the day they’d officially join their lives together.  It was a
formality though as far as Zeke was concerned because in his heart he’d been
married to her for years.

Honor had chosen
October 22, 2016 as the date she’d go from being Honor Grace McKinnon to Honor
Grace Monroe.

He still felt a pang
when that date went through his mind.  He knew that would change with time, but
for now, it still had the ability to steal his breath.

For years, October 22
had been a day he dreaded seeing arrive on his calendar, and he knew that
feeling was even stronger in Honor.  It was the anniversary of the day she’d
been kidnapped.  It was the day her life had been irreversibly altered and
forever changed.  When she’d suggested it as their wedding day, he’d initially
balked, repulsed by the idea of sharing the happiest day of their lives with
what he fervently hoped would go down as their worst. 

But when Honor had
climbed into his lap and settled her head against his chest, and began to
explain that she needed to replace the shadow that day had created with a new
memory… one so good and so pure that it eradicated the old ghosts of that day
and replaced the darkness with light, he understood.   His brilliant woman had
looked him in the eye and said, ‘Where a light shines, no shadow can live.’ 
Those words she’d said to him had stayed with him for days, whispering to his
soul… so much so that he’d made a visit to Hunter Quaid’s tattoo studio and had
them inked on his skin above her name.  She’d nearly lost her mind when she’d
seen it, and his sweet, shy girl had become a tigress in the bed they now
shared.  Next to marrying Honor, that tattoo was probably the smartest thing
he’d ever do.

Inhaling deeply as
they walked deeper into the warm interior of the barn, everything smelled fresh
and new, and honestly, it was exactly what he’d wanted... what he’d designed
for them.  Construction still went on above their heads as a team reinforced
the floor of the barn’s lofts.  That was where he intended to have whatever
band Honor and Harmony hired for the reception set up and play.  Once the
wedding was performed and the chairs were cleared away, the area where they
stood would double as a dance floor.  Yes, he was pouring a lot of money into
the remodel, but later, after he and Honor had settled, he knew that one day
this was the place where his kids would play.  He wanted it to be safe and
sound for them.  “So, what do y’all think?” he asked his friends.

“I think you’re
makin’ us all look bad,” Abel answered grouchily as he looked around.  “Swear
to God, Sheriff, if I have to build Patience a barn, you and I are gonna have
problems.”

“I feel ya,” Jake
agreed with Abel.  “Harmony’s already making noises about how
romantic
this all is.”  Glaring at Zeke, Jake frowned.  “Now, I have to build a fuckin’
gazebo to prove
my
affection.  Thanks for that, Sheriff.”

Zeke laughed.  “I’m
sure you both will survive.”

“Did you decide on a
honeymoon location yet?” Cain asked as he leaned against one of the support
beams.

Zeke nodded.  “Yeah,
but if even one of you idiots breathes a word…”

“Our lips are sealed,
man,” Ice growled.  “Where are you taking her?”

“Ireland.  She’s
always talked about wanting to see an Irish village.  Although, she thinks
we’re just renting a cabin in Gatlinburg,” Zeke shared with a devious grin. 

Uncle Jethro smiled. 
“’Bout time my gal got something good out of life.  Orla and I always knew you
were exactly what she needed, Ezekiel, even if Honor didn’t.  I’m grateful I
lived long enough to see you both happy together, son.”

“Thank you, sir. 
I’ll always do my best to always make sure she’s happy, safe, and loved.  Two
of those are easy.  Making sure she’s safe… that’s my primary goal right now.”

“Any new leads?”
Slade questioned.

Zeke’s jaw clenched,
his fury mounting.  “She got flowers last week delivered at the café.  Verlena
was able to intercept them before they got to Honor.  The sick shit that fucker
said in the note… let’s just say that I owe Verlena huge for getting to that
fuckin’ bouquet.  I contacted the local florist, but the order was placed
online and he paid with a prepaid debit card.  The IP address was the goddamn
town library.  It could have literally been anybody with a library card, man. 
This fucker is smart.”

“We both know that
eventually the prick will screw up, Zeke,” Jake reminded the sheriff calmly. 
“You just gotta stay patient.”

“Eight years, Jake. 
I’ve been waiting to get these last two fucks for eight goddamn years.  My
patience has worn pretty fucking thin.”  Shaking his head, Zeke’s face
hardened.  “News of our engagement has sent this asshole into a tailspin.  The
number of hang-ups she’s getting both at work, at home and on her cell has
spiked.  His fuckin’ notes keep turning up all over town with any and everybody
that knows her.”

“Yeah, whoever the
fucker is, he left one on Maggie’s desk last week.  It had a picture from that night
with it,” Abel shared with a grimace to a pissed looking Slade.  “I thought my
office manager was gonna come unhinged.”

“Your office manager
is
unhinged,” Ice grumbled in a mutter.

“Lay off Maggie,
asshole,” Abel ordered, scowling at Zeke’s brother.  

“Dude, the woman is
holding a grudge over a skirt and a pair of fuckin’ shoes.  That’s the
definition of a whack job,” Ice contended with a small grin.

“Yeah, well, Mags
likes her duds, and you upset her when you didn’t even apologize for ruining
them,” Cain interjected, squaring his shoulders.

“Ice, I’ve warned you
before.  Cain and Abel might as well be Maggie’s brothers.  If I was you, I’d
be real careful right about now.”

Clearing his throat,
Jethro stared at Zeke.  “You’re keeping somebody on her all the time though
right?  Honor, I mean.”

Zeke nodded.  “If I’m
not with her, I’ve either got Deputy Hightower or Diego close or she’s with one
of the men standing in this barn.  I’m okay with that.  We all know Hightower
or Diego would take a bullet for her if it came down to it.  In fact, Diego is
at the café now since my deputy needed to take his mother to the cardiologist
over in Knoxville.”

Jake nodded.  “I
never thought I’d say this, but for a former drug cartel captain, Diego Fuentes
turned out to be a pretty damn good addition to the town of Paradise and the
McKinnon family.”

Zeke nodded.  “Honor
says she’s always felt safe with him, and that’s all I care about.  Those are
big words coming from my woman and I don’t take ‘em lightly.”

“Well, now that I’m
home, put me on rotation, too.  Although if the choice is ever guard duty or
taking out one of these fuckers that hurt her, you know which one I’d rather,”
Slade growled.