“Hi, I’m Greer. It’s so nice to meet you,” the girl-next-door who was a secret badass said with a huge smile on her face.
“Greer, behave,” Ryker called out from where he stood, thanking Reverend Winston.
Greer rolled her eyes. “Where’s the fun in that?” she whispered before sliding her arm through Kenzie’s and leaning close so they couldn’t be overheard. “Now, tell me everything! Kale got an apple pie already for telling my grandmother about the engagement. If I can bring back some gossip, I might get one, too.”
Kenzie laughed as Tinsley joined them and together they all talked before the hulking man Ryker had called his cousin Dylan joined them with a smile that made him devastatingly sexy. “Did an alligator really kill the guy who had threatened you?”
“Bubba?” Greer gasped.
“He did. He’s my hero,” Kenzie told them.
“What about me?” Ryker asked as he joined them. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. She loved the feel of him and the way she could lean against him, knowing he was always there to support her.
“I mean, you were there, but Bubba ate a guy for me. Can you say that?”
Greer laughed and turned to Tinsley. “You’re right, she’s perfect for him.”
“She definitely is,” Ryker said as he looked into her eyes. “She’s my angel.”
Kenzie rose up on her toes and placed a kiss on Ryker’s lips. The haunted man he’d been before was gone. She wasn’t under the misperception that he was a changed man. Ryker was simply free now. Free to love, free to move forward, free to step from the shadows. She couldn’t wait to show him the bright side of life as they started their lives together.
31
Four months later . . .
“Are you sure about this?” Kenzie asked as she walked down Main Street with Gavin.
“Yes. You’ve been accepted into the nurse practitioners’ program in Charleston and are already through the first semester. You’ll start your internship with me after the wedding. Now is the perfect time to work on your sewing skills. Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby told me they have an embroidery circle every week at this time. It would be a good refresher for me and help you get used to using a needle so you’ll be all ready to stitch your first patient,” Gavin told her as they walked up the stairs to the church.
It had been a very interesting three months. The Charleston FBI and Shadows Landing Sheriff’s Department had landed in the international news for taking down the two largest mob bosses in the United States.
Ryker and the mysterious Sebastian Abel had met with Nico several times in New York City as he transitioned into power. Ryker reported that Mary Alice was having a blast whipping everyone into shape and being the most popular woman at the nuns’ weekly pinochle game. Word had gotten around that Nico was protected by nuns, and for the safety of their eternal souls, any pissed-off relatives or competitors hoping to steal the power had backed off.
A week after everything had gone down, Kenzie and Ryker had had their first argument when she had discovered he’d paid off her student loans. She’d stormed into his office and had given him a piece of her mind. He’d infuriated her by refusing to allow her to pay him back, but his sweet words about believing in her and investing in the health of her patients made her fall in love with him a little more. Then she’d discovered the power of make-up sex. While in an orgasm-induced coma, Ryker had told her he’d already paid for grad school so that she could go full-time.
Kenzie loved being back in school. With years of on-the-job training, she found she could easily plan the wedding and keep up with the coursework. She’d taken her last final that morning and was excited about moving forward with her career and her life. She was going to marry Ryker in five days. She decided to use this embroidery class to make him a wedding present.
“Oh good! You can join us,” Miss Winnie said, smiling up at them as they walked into the cozy room to the right side of the church.
“Good evening, ladies. It’s good to be back,” Gavin said, smiling at Miss Winnie, Miss Ruby, and Miss Mitzy.
“It’s been ten years, Gavin. I don’t know if that’s coming back or starting over,” Miss Ruby commented. “Let’s see if you remember how to stitch.”
Gavin pulled out a chair for Kenzie. She reached into her bag and brought out the beginner’s kit the ladies told her to buy. Gavin sat down and pulled out a similar but more advanced-looking kit. It had obviously been used before—probably about ten years ago.
“I think I can manage,” Gavin said with a smile.
“Yes, the work you did on Turtle’s pecker after the snapping turtle incident was very good,” Miss Mitzy said, bobbing her head as she kept her eyes on her embroidery.
“Thank you. Are you making a cat, Miss Mitzy?” Gavin asked. Over the past months, Kenzie had gotten to know all of the people in Shadows Landing and had learned that Miss Mitzy was a cat lady. Everything she wore had cats on it. She also rescued them and Kenzie and Ryker had taken a few of the kittens over to Christabelle’s to live.
“A pussy,” Miss Mitzy said, concentrating on her stitches.
“Yes, a pussy cat,” Gavin said with a little roll of his eyes to Kenzie.
“As a doctor, I thought you’d know what a pussy is,” Miss Mitzy said, turning her embroidery around and showing them.
Kenzie stared in surprise and had to blink several times before nodding. “That’s a very detailed one. I also like the pink nail polish on the feet in the stirrups.”
Gavin, meanwhile, was still staring in surprise.
“My niece is a gynecologist. I’m making this for her office,” Miss Mitzy said, returning to her embroidery of a woman waiting for a pelvic exam.
“What are you making, Miss Winnie?” Kenzie asked.
Miss Winnie turned hers around. The bottom half was taken up by a series of images. The first was of grapevines. The second was a buddle of ripe grapes. The third was a wine barrel. The fourth was a bottle of wine. Kenzie then looked to the beautiful script above the scenes and read it. Sex is like a fine wine. It only gets better with age.
“That’s something to look forward to,” Gavin whispered next to her. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what are you making, Miss Ruby?”
“Well,” Miss Ruby said, threading the neon green thread through the eye of her needle. “After the success of my knitted alien penis on that sell-your-crafts online store, I have lots of orders for alien erotica. People pay a fortune for it. So, this little guy,” she said, turning around her embroidery and showing them a ripped human form outlined in neon green, but with one glaring difference, “is going to make me three hundred dollars.”
“I don’t think little is how I’d describe it,” Kenzie said, cocking her head, taking in the very large penis. “Does it have studs in it?”
Gavin choked and buried his laughter in his embroidery bag.
“They’re an advanced species,” Miss Ruby said with a nod of her head. “Now, let’s teach you how to embroider. What were you thinking of starting out with?”