“Yeah, they took his name off of everything,” Memphis said. “Printed new business cards. Changed the signs out front. Painted over the wall with his face on it. Updated the website. Anything with ‘Jones’ on it was probably burned.”
I didn’t doubt that.
After Dr. Jones was killed, they found evidence linking him to nearly every crime scene in his house. The clothes that he wore. The gun that he used. Hell, even the dog that he took with him.
He sure was arrogant, but in the end, justice was served for those officers, their wives, and the children.
“That’s not a surprise. They’d had to do a lot of ass kissing to keep most of their clients. The only thing they had going for them was that they dominate the area. We’d have to drive to Dallas to find a doctor in our network,” I told them all.
Mercy made a sound of agreement. “Same here. We’re using Miller’s insurance, and they wouldn’t accept anyone else unless we wanted to pay nearly twice as much for out of network.”
I grimaced.
“Let’s change the subject to something better. Nikki doesn’t need this on her wedding day,” Blake yawned loudly.
I snickered.
“Tired, Blake?” I asked teasingly.
She rolled her head in my direction. “Yes. That man of mine doesn’t care that my hours aren’t the same as his. He only sees my ass in the air and wants to touch it. Then touching leads to other things. And then I’m out two hours of sleep. Sleep that I needed because his baby seems to think I’m a superhero, demanding all this energy, food, and drink.”
“You’re not having a boy. Boys are horrible,” Reese said, closing her eyes and smiling fondly at something only she could see.
“Boys aren’t horrible. But, I do feel fine,” Lennox said.
We all rolled our eyes. Lennox thought that everything was ‘fine.’
She loved being pregnant…most likely because her first pregnancy was a breeze, despite the complications from when she was hurt by a deranged woman.
She just had no clue how bad a pregnancy could be because she was always floating on cloud nine with the unicorns, her glowing skin, and ample energy.
She was still in the ‘I have a positive pregnancy test’ stage. The stage where she was floating on air, and loved to put on pregnancy clothes.
Clothes she didn’t need yet.
“Hey, what color are you doing?” The man between my legs asked.
“Purple and pink,” I said. “Alternating.”
He rolled his eyes.
Pietro was used to my quirks.
I’d been seeing him every two weeks for a year now.
He knew all about Michael. Knew all about my family. Knew about my love of color. My job. The new home Michael and I were building.
A home that should be done very, very soon, in fact.
“Why do you always get the muscled guy who has good hands?” Georgia asked, narrowing her eyes.
I shrugged. “I found him first.”
“Ladies, ladies. No need to fight over me. I’m just loyal to my girl here,” he teased.
“Nikki delivered his baby. That’s why he loves her so much,” Georgia informed the rest of the ladies.
I did. He was my second baby.
Him and his wife, Trudy, had been contemplating a home birth over a hospital birth for over six months before they’d finally decided to call my mentor, Annalise, in for an evaluation.
And three months later, I’d delivered my second child ever as a midwife with Pietro at my side.
Twenty minutes later, I was done and heading to get my hair and makeup done when I was called by our contractor.
“You’re officially done!” Alex crowed.
I screamed. “Yes!”
We weren’t sure if it’d be done in time, seeing as I’d been so nitpicky about everything.
I’d had to choose the tile, the paint, the stain for the wood floors in the kitchen, cabinets, counter tops.
I’d wanted to be a huge part of everything, and I was.
Which annoyed the hell out of Michael.
He was all for customization, but I didn’t think he knew what he was getting into when he offered me the huge book of paint chips.
But he knew now.
“That’s great!” I exclaimed. “What do you need from me?”
“Nothing. I just dropped it all off at your parent’s place. The keys are yours, my dear!” Alex informed me.
I smiled. “Wonderful. I’m so happy, thank you so much, Alex.”
After hanging up, I immediately called Michael.
“Guess what!” I said, bouncing up and down in excitement. “They finished!”
Michael’s smooth, deep voice sent shivers through me. “That’s good, baby. He said he’d do it.”
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the way it felt to listen to his voice.
The way joy spread through me. The way I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around him.
My fiancé and soon to be husband.
“You catching anything?” I asked after I composed myself.
“Sun. That’s about fucking it,” he growled. “But that’s the way of it, isn’t it?”
I agreed. I hated going fishing, just for the sheer fact that we never caught anything.
Or maybe we would had I any patience.
“Well, I just wanted to tell you that. Go back to catching your sun,” I said softly, as Pietro made his way into the room with his huge package of bobby pins, hair rollers, and other odds and ends to start fixing my hair.
“Okay, baby. Love you,” he murmured.
“Love you more.”***The moment I saw him as I walked down the aisle, a smile burst over my lips, and my hand came up to cover my mouth.
“Oh, my God,” I said, turning to Georgia with wide eyes.
Her eyes were filled with her own tears of laughter as she caught a look at my man as well.
“Jesus,” I said, shaking my head. “What the hell is wrong with that man?”
He wasn’t lying about catching sun.
He caught a whole lot of it.
Georgia snorted, and my father gave out a strangled laugh of his own.
“Let’s get you to him, honey. He’ll think you can’t handle him for better or for worse if you’re not careful.”
Georgia was the final one to leave, and I was left with my father.
“You look beautiful, baby,” he said softly.
I smiled at him, seeing the truth in his eyes.