“You’re always beautiful, Tiff.” Morti gave me her rare Mona Lisa smile.
“Thank you, ladies, so much. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
“It’s time, babe,” Harm said.
“Oh, God.” I swallowed hard.
“You’ll be fine. You’ve got this.” Zoe hugged me followed by the other two.
“I’ll text you when Matt is on his way.” Harm led the way out the door, and then they were gone.
I couldn’t sit still, so I stood and paced. My stomach twinged, and I rubbed the spot, crooning softly to my babies. It was so strange to me how I already felt like a mother after thirty-two weeks. They hadn’t even been born, yet I felt like I already knew them and loved them unconditionally.
I now realized my mother had given me to my grandmother because she would do anything for her children. She thought she was doing what was best for me. I also now knew my grandmother had done the same in her own way, as wrong as that may be.
I’d learned to forgive and let go of the past.
It was freeing.
I was working on letting go of what Bud had done to me, and proposing to Matt was the first step. He was everything that Bud wasn’t, and I deserved to be happy. No more being afraid. No more hiding behind walls. No more denying my feelings.
I was in love with Matthew McGinnis, and it was time he knew.
The doorknob at the front door jiggled, and I jumped. He was here. Smoothing a hand down the front of my dress, I rushed over to greet him. Opening the door, I smiled wide…but then my smile vanished.
“Bud?” I’d never seen him so unkempt and disheveled. “What are you doing here? You know what, I don’t care. The answer is no. Get out.” I started to shut the door, but he stuck his foot in the way and barged in.
“You ruined my life, you bitch.” His face twisted with rage. “I want what’s mine. Give me money, or I’ll make you pay like you have me.” He took a menacing step toward me. “I can’t go to jail. I would never survive.”
I stumbled back a few steps. “I didn’t do anything to you. You did it to yourself. Trying to burn down my spa. Stealing from Matt and trying to burn down his pub. What is wrong with you? You’re not acting like yourself.” He’d made bad decisions in the past, like starting a business that failed, and then losing a fortune gambling, but this time he looked different. “Are you high?”
“Shut up.” He shoved me until my back hit the wall, and I gasped.
“You’re hurting me.” I carefully covered my stomach with my hands. “What do you want?”
“Money and your car keys. Give me my share, and I’ll leave the country. You’ll never see me again.”
“Yer damn right she won’t, because ye won’t be around to see anything, laddy.” Matt’s voice was deep and deadly.
Bud whirled around to face Matt, and I slipped away from the wall and dialed 911. His eyes were crazy and glazed over as he stared down Matt. “You’re not so tough. You’re all talk. A big, dumb primate. I box.” He held up his fists.
“I bite.” Matt snapped his teeth.
Bud’s fists slipped. “You’re a gold digger.”
Matt sneered, baring his teeth. “Yer as fake as yer bad back.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, and Bud made a run for the door.
Matt grabbed him by the jacket, and Bud turned around then punched Matt in the chest hard. “Self-defense, laddy. Thank ye fer that.” Matt chuckled deeply, his grin coming slow and sweet. “Time to go night-night. Lights out.” With one blow to Bud’s face that didn’t even look that hard, Bud tumbled to the floor in an unconscious heap just as Officer Pickles arrived.
The next hour was spent arresting Bud and his girlfriend, who was dumb enough to have stayed in the getaway car out front. Matt and I both gave our statements, and finally, the police left. My nerves were shot.
Bud has always been a nuisance, but he’d never been dangerous. He had to be addicted to drugs. That explained why he was so desperate for money this time. I was just glad that part of my life was finally over, and I refused to let my past dictate my future.
I would not let Bud win.
“This is not how I had planned on tonight going.” I looked down at my wrinkled outfit and messed-up hairdo. No matter what it took, I was going to salvage this night.
Matt looked at me as if just now recognizing how I was dressed. His gaze ran around the room, pausing on the sparkling grape juice and strawberries. He looked back at me. “Wow, that’s quite a dress fer hanging an angel on a tree.”
“I have plans tonight…after.”
His brow puckered and then narrowed. “I see. With anyone I know?”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of him.” I winked. “He’s a legend.”
His eyes widened. “Tiffany, what is this?”
I started to lower myself to one knee and thought better of it.
Matt grabbed my arm before I could fall.
“Matthew McGinnis, you are the most stubborn man I know.” I still held onto his arms.
He arched a brow. “I believe the proper thing to say is thank ye.”
“Let me finish, Sasquatch.”
