CHAPTER 26
Wedding Day…
Saying goodbye to the man she loved was the hardest thing Morgan ever experienced, until today. She loved her friends; Colton and Meg, were perfect for each other, but it was hard to celebrate such joy when you hadn’t an ounce of your own. Her heart was in two, a wound she didn’t think could, or would, ever heal.
It hadn’t been easy to send Guy, or Beck, away, but it was the right thing to do. He was Beckman McCain, gazillionaire. He didn’t belong in McKenzie Ridge any more than he belonged at Pinecrest, mucking stalls. It would have been selfish to let him stay. Too many people depended on him, needed him as much as she did, for various reasons.
Chappy explained how he knew him as a boy and suspected he was Beck all along. Turns out, he looks just like his grandfather, go figure. Chappy said he saw the magic
, literally using that word, and didn’t want to interrupt fate.
She wanted to be mad at Chappy for letting her fall in love with Beck, knowing exactly who he was and what the outcome would likely be. But, she couldn’t be mad; his heart was in the right place. Besides, she was greedy and would take those three months over again, knowing the outcome, if she could. They had been the best days of her life, and something she would cherish, always. It didn’t make it easier though, acknowledging that. It was damn painful. Here she was, in a fancy dress, hand full of flowers, her hair and makeup done to perfection, ready for wedding party pictures, but there was one person missing. Beck. With her best superficial smile plastered on, she walked down the steps of her front porch to meet the gang across the lawn, near the ridge. The ceremony was to take place there, as were many of the photos. She may have lost her joy, for now, but the sight of their group, dressed to the nines, ready to celebrate the union of two of their own, made what was left of her heart skip a beat. All eyes on her, the sympathetic looks weren’t lost on her at all. They saw right through her. Failing miserably at her attempt to defraud them with a brighter smile, she finally gave in.
“Look guys, I get it. You feel bad, but please. All the looks and faces aren’t helping,” she admitted. “I’ll get over it, but for now, I just need you guys to give me a few days to get my shit together.”
“He’s having a hard time too,” Blake interjected, grabbing everyone’s attention. “You should at least call the guy back.”
“You…spoke to him? Is that where you’ve been? You saw him?” There was no hiding the desperation in her voice, she wanted details.
“Yeah. That tool, Pete? Tried to kill him. Long story, we got him taken care of, and the asshole won’t be hurting anyone again.” Tact was not one of Blake’s strong suits when it came to communication and referring to his tactical maneuvers. It earned him a round of dramatic gasps and sighs.
“You killed Pete?” Morgan questioned, in utter surprise.
“No…wanted to, but didn’t have to. He’s sitting in jail with a few bullet holes in him. Blondie is there too, but not as long as Pete will be.”
“I knew it. She was a real piece of work…both were. Assholes,” Jessie interrupted with an incensed energy.
“They were going to kill Gu…Beck? You said kill him, right?” Morgan’s jaw dropped and mind went numb when he nodded his head.
“The us
in your shenanigans wouldn’t happen to include my wily brothers, now would it?” Blake smiled at Carigan’s question, telling her all she needed to know. “Oh those boys! I should’ve known when I heard from each of them in a handful of days and with each one, Beck’s name came up. Those rotten scoundrels.”
Everyone laughed when Carigan’s Irish roots rang loud and her matching accent kicked in.
Meg, looking absolutely stunning in her beautiful white gown stepped forward, and grabbed Morgan’s hands. “Honey, go to him. You’ll feel better seeing him for yourself. Go now…before you lose the sun and have to drive in the dark.”
“I, I…can’t,” the first tear streaked her cheek, compliments of Meg’s loving kindness, and the new fear in her heart for Beck, “your wedding. Seattle…”
“Stop. You’re right! It is
my wedding and I can’t have my dear friend upset and worried. Go get your man, honey.”
Looking at each of their hopeful smiling faces, Morgan couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope herself.
“Really?”
In unison, the group replied, “Really…go!”
A decision had been made. Morgan was going to Seattle. Before she could say her goodbyes and run off to pack a bag, a large black truck came into view, driving right toward them.
Unfamiliar to any of them as an early guest, the oversized truck, brand new as the missing plates indicated, parked right at the edge of the grass. Holding their breath in anticipation, a cheer erupted when the driver exited the vehicle. Beck.
The group quickly moved to greet him hello, before stepping aside and letting Morgan and Beck have their not so private moment. Morgan hid her smile behind a half assed grin, trying not to show all her cards at once.
“What are you doing here, city slicker? Were your ears ringing?”
Finding her brash and sassy confrontation cute and completely her, Beck chuckled and stated the obvious. “Wedding. I’m supposed to be in it. I’m a man of my word, so here I am.”
He turned to Colton and Meg with a quick wink, letting them know that although in the midst of a game with Morgan, and ultimately there for Morgan, he was there for them too.
“You?” he asked, as if her attire and their surrounding didn’t state the obvious. “Oh, I’m all dressed up for a trip to Seattle. There’s this guy who lives there. I was on my way to see him.”
A smile a mile wide crossed his face. “Is that right? And what were you going to say this guy
when you got there?”
His smiled faded, and her eyes filled with tears. “That I should have never let him go. That he belongs here with me, or I belong in Seattle with him…Whatever way… We need to be together.”
“Funny, I heard your guy
sold his ridiculous little sports car, bought a big ass ranching truck, and planned to move to McKenzie Ridge…for good.”
“What about his booming empire?”
“Oh, he has people
for that
.”
Morgan launched herself in his arms, where he swung her around, kissing her hard, prompting the kids to say, “Ewww…” from across the grass.
He placed her on her feet and told her what he should have a week ago. “Morgan, you’re my everything. I’d forgotten who I was, literally,” the group chuckled at his choice of words, “until I found you. This…this whole place, all of its people… you… This is me.”
Sweeping her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, he wiped the tears that were flowing. He left his hands, holding her face, kissing her forehead sweetly before finishing his heart felt devotion for her.
“A wise man once told me, I could have any life I wanted.” He looked to Blake with an appreciative nod. “I choose you, Morgie, a hundred times over…I choose you. I choose us.”
“What about Seattle? It’s not exactly a short commute from here.”
“I would only need to go back on occasion, I can work remotely. I was thinking a hangar and landing strip would fit right nice on the south side of Pinecrest.”
She couldn’t smile any brighter. This man was willing to give up his world, just to share one with her.
“And the black truck?”
His low ornery laugh coursed through her, sending a jolt to her core as she thought back to their last night together.
“Why I thought it’d be perfect for trips over to the cabin.”
“Good answer.” She smacked his ass, for a change, and kissed his cheek. “Now, come on. I know where your tux is. I’ll help you…with the tie.”
Hand in hand, they walked to the main house as if for the first time, but certainly not for the last. They both had found the piece that completed them in the other. Fate won this one; they’d have to thank Chappy later for that.
“Hey, wedding’s in an hour. Make it snappy,” Jessie hollered after them, “and don’t mess up your hair or Priss Pants will have a fit on her wedding day!” Beck swept Morgan up in his arms, carrying her up the drive to the house. Her head fell back in laughter at his gesture while waving her bouquet of Iris’s at their
friends until they made it up the steps and disappeared into the house to start their happily ever after.
THE END