“See, what did I tell you?” J.D. said. “You’re the best, Dutch.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Dutchy replied with a weak smile.
“You okay, Dutch?” The mechanic asked out of the blue.
“Me?” She shrugged. “Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing … you seem tired.”
Anna Victoria couldn’t help but notice it too. Dutchy’s skin seemed pale and sallow, plus it looked like she had lost weight. “You missed yoga twice in a row. You eating okay, Dutch?”
“Just stressed with work,” she snapped, then covered her mouth with her hands. “I’m sorry, ladies. Really. It’s been a busy couple of days.” She sighed, then popped the end of her pen between her teeth. “I’ll make more alterations and deliver this to you in a week. Does that work?”
“It does, thank you. Shall I see you for yoga next week?”
Dutchy chewed on her pen harder. “I’ll see. I’m so sorry, Anna Victoria. I know you’re trying to get your business started … I promise I’ll drop by for a class sometime, okay?”
“Of course. Whenever you’re ready.” Anna Victoria’s roster of students and class offerings had grown over the last three months that she felt confident enough to start her own studio. She already had an appointment at the bank for a loan as soon as she got back from her honeymoon, and Catherine Lennox had even offered to become a partner and possibly put her own business degree to use by helping her manage the place.
After getting dressed, she and J.D. bid Dutchy goodbye and headed back to town. Dutchy worked out of her house, which was in a quiet little neighborhood on the west side of Blackstone.
“Are we finally done?” J.D. whined as they got into her truck. “I’m starving!”
“You’re always starving.” Anna Victoria rolled her eyes. “If I ate like you or Damon or Gabriel, you’d have to roll me around in a cart.”
“Shifter metabolism,” J.D. said proudly.
“I don’t even know where you put it.” She gestured to J.D.’s svelte figure. “In human or your animal form.”
“We do not talk about that,” J.D. said glumly. “I only told you what I was because I wanted you to pick me as maid of honor.”
“As if I would ever pick anyone else,” she retorted. “If anything, Damon and I were competing for you. He was hell-bent on having you as his best woman.”
“If I had known that maid of honor duties included all these boring errands, I would have gone to his side.”
“Well, I’m glad I won.”
J.D. started the engine. “So, Rosie’s?”
Anna Victoria laughed. “Of course.” While she knew J.D. wasn’t into the girly wedding stuff, she was glad that she agreed to be her maid of honor. J.D. had become her best friend too. Truly, she felt honored that the other woman trusted her enough to show her, her animal. It had been a surprise, to say the least, but she promised J.D. to never tell a soul.
As they made their way to Main Street, Anna Victoria could hardly believe winter was truly behind them. Though she missed sitting on the porch watching the white stuff come down and cover everything, everything was turning green. Spring felt like a new beginning—which was especially apt because she had put the ugliness of her past behind her.
After that night Jameson had come to Blackstone, he was quickly extradited back to New Mexico, where he stood trial for the murder of Police Chief Ryan, among other crimes. Anna Victoria had gone back for the trials, and her testimony had been one of the things that finally convinced a jury to put him away for life. During her trips back, she saw her father only once. He had been cold and angry at her, probably because he was still broke, and his businesses had gone under. Though she had cried about how he had treated her, she knew that part of her life was essentially dead. Damon had soothed her, and told her everything was going to be all right.
And it was. When the ugliness of the trial was done, he took her on a trip to Hawaii, where he proposed. She, of course, said yes.
So now, here she was, planning her wedding. Neither of them wanted to wait too long, so they decided to have the ceremony as soon as they could book the church, reception hall, and get all the dresses and tuxes ready. Frankly, she’d have married him in the courthouse, but Damon’s parents, his mother especially, were looking forward to having a wedding, so she didn’t want to disappoint them. Carrie and Robert Cooper had come to visit twice already since they became mated, and Anna Victoria quickly grew to love them, too, and they accepted her wholeheartedly.
Finally, they reached Main Street and pulled up to the parking lot behind their destination. When they got there, Gabriel and Damon were already seated at a booth, so they joined them.
“Move,” J.D. demanded at Gabriel. “I want to be next to the window.”
Gabriel grumbled but got up anyway, letting J.D. into the inner side.
“Everything go okay?” Damon asked as he made room for her on his side of the booth.
As she cuddled up to kiss him on the cheek, that familiar warmth enveloped her. It was strange, but comforting. There was no way to describe the feeling she had when she was around him. From the warmth in his eyes as their gazes locked, she knew he felt it too.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’re all set. The catering manager at the hotel just wanted to go over a few things with me.”
“Hey, ladies,” Rosie greeted as she came over. “Do you know what you want?”
“I hope you didn’t finish all of the special pies, Russel,” J.D. nodded at the empty plates in front of Gabriel.
“They might have one or two left,” Gabriel said. “Rosie, my love, I gotta tell you, that cantaloupe pie was amazing.”
Rosie chuckled. “Are there any of the new pies you don’t like? You’re here a couple times a week now. People might start talking,” she
