The Wedding Blues (7 Brides for 7 Brothers Book 9) Read online

  Introduction

  The Wedding Blues

  A Novella

  The 9th Book in the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers Series

  Another Steward is getting married. Davy and Caz postponed their wedding after Lacey left town to prevent Brodie from knowing she was pregnant.

  Things are back on schedule. It’s June. The wedding is three weeks away. The plans are made. No one is leaving town but that doesn’t mean that all things are going to be smooth sailing for the duo.

  They’ll have to get over a few bumps in the road to say their wedding vows. But in the end, Davy will marry his sweetheart if he must carry her to the altar for Shawn Martin to do the deed.

  This alpha, take command side of Davy is someone that Caz has never seen before. She kind of likes him.

  The Wedding Blues

  A Novella

  In the

  7 Brides for 7 Brothers Series

  by

  Lee Wardlow

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is coincidental. Use of any actual organization although real is used in a purely fictional context for the story line not for promotion or any other purposes.

  Copyright © 2017 by Lee Wardlow. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, redistribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

  Dedication

  My daughter, grandkids, nieces and nephews who are just married or are going to get married in the future. I wish you the life that I create for my characters from my imagination.

  A perfect one, of course after all the drama ends and the couple gets married. Love you guys.

  Caz Chapman’s Wedding Blues

  Chapter 1

  A June bride was traditional. I had wanted to be an April bride but my maid of honor who also happens to be my sister ran away right before my wedding. She was pregnant with my groom’s brother’s baby and didn’t want him to know. She didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t even tell me.

  So, I postponed the wedding with Davy’s blessing. I couldn’t get married without Lacey by my side. I had no clue where she was because my uncle, Eddie lied when I called to see if she had shown up at his place in the Florida Keys.

  I knew they all thought the way, I was acting, it was as if I had ended the world by postponing my wedding. I saw Lacey rolling her eyes at me.

  “Caz, you postponed it by two months. I didn’t ask you to do it. Will you stop?”

  “I didn’t have a maid of honor,” I snapped at her.

  Lacey was happy. She was eight weeks away from giving birth to hers and Brodie’s, baby boy. They were engaged, and she now sported a hefty sparkler on her ring finger, but they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get married. Although, I had heard Brodie inform Lacey that they were getting married before the baby came to which my sister replied, “We’ll see.” She had Brodie Steward wrapped around her little finger, but she was also making him grovel, just a little.

  Was I jealous?

  I sat down on the platform, yards of material fluffed up around my body. Lacey frowned at me. “What are you doing?” I had lost too much weight and was supposed to be getting fitted for my wedding dress then we were going to find another similar dress to the other bridesmaids’ dress I had for Lacey to wear that no longer fit her either. Her protruding belly was the obstacle.

  “I don’t know,” I replied.

  “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “I mean, I don’t know,” I snapped at my sister.

  Lacey was now frowning at me. “Get up and let the girl finish fitting your dress. We’ll talk later.” I rose and stepped back up on the platform. “You look stunning, Caz.”

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  I turned to the mirror and gazed at myself. The dress fit my curves. I wasn’t as slender as my sister, but I was almost as tall as her. I wasn’t as blonde as Lacey either. I considered myself just average while Lacey was stunning like our uncle Eddie.

  The dress was strapless revealing my ample cleavage. I had that over Lacey. The lace of her gown was intricate and beautiful. “I want more.”

  “More what?” Lacey asked puzzled by my statement.

  “I see how Brodie looks at you. How Finlay looks at Greer. Gray at Cameron. Hugh at Kyle. I want more.”

  “Do you think that Davy doesn’t love you?” Lacey asked me.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “He’s so…”

  “Davy?”

  “Sensible,” I countered.

  “Boring,” Lacey said under her breath.

  “Hey,” I was hurt by that remark.

  My Davy was…well Davy was not dramatic or emotional. He wasn’t romantic or intense. He was casual. He was easy-going. He was boring, like my sister said but he loved me.

  I knew that but after seeing how the other Steward men loved their women why couldn’t Davy love me like that?

  “What do you see the other brothers do that Davy doesn’t do?” Lacey asked me.

  I was fidgeting while the woman was sticking pins in the dress where she wanted to pull it in and she stuck me. I couldn’t help myself, I yelped. “I’m so sorry,” the seamstress said.

  “It’s my fault. I’m restless.

  “Yes, you are.” She rolled her eyes at me and went back to work on my dress.

  I glanced over my shoulder at her. I couldn’t really tell Lacey that Davy wasn’t as passionate as the brothers appeared to be. Something had changed in the last two months and I wasn’t sure what.

  “When Brodie kisses you Lacey, his big hands cup your face and he doesn’t care who else is in the room he stares at you, like you’re the only two in the room, like he wants to devour you, then his head dips and he nuzzles your nose for a moment then his lips slowly brush across yours,” I said.

  Lacey smiled. “Yes, he does.”

  The woman sighed. I shot her a look over my shoulder again. “Sorry, I’m right here not like I can close my ears.”

  “It’s like Davy is holding back all the time. Afraid he’ll show me too much of what is inside. I think sometimes that Ewan is the only one who really knows Davy”

  “Have you told him that?” My sister asked me.

  I cocked my head to the side and stared at Lacey. “How can I complain?” I asked her. I held out my hand and showed my sister the ring that Davy had given to me when he asked me to marry him. “The house, that I live in now is amazing.”

  “It is,” Lacey agreed.

  “He spoils me,” I informed her. “The girls at work are always complaining about the things that Davy does that their husbands don’t do. The things that he buys me, not even expensive things. Thoughtful things that shows he’s been thinking of me.”

  “But,” Lacey said.

  “I want him to drop his walls,” I replied. “To show me the him that is beneath that armor he uses to protect himself.”

  “Maybe the wedding should wait for a little longer.”

  I scowled at my sister. That isn’t what I wanted to hear either. “Maybe you should just be quiet,” I informed Lacey.

  “Just trying to help.”

  Lacey folded her hands across her belly and smiled, the baby must be moving which only darkened my mood. She was going to have a perfect life with Brodie Steward. Not that I didn’t want my sister to be happy. I really did. I just wanted to feel as titillated about Davy as Lacey did about Brodie.

  Then I was swamped by feelings of guilt.

  “Hey, we’re meeting Georgie, Dallis, Kyle and Greer for di
nner still, aren’t we? They just texted me to confirm.”

  “Sure,” I replied absently.

  The seamstress finished fitting my bridal gown and started on dresses that Lacey could fit into that were similar in color and style to what we had before.

  She was my only bridesmaid while all of Davy’s brothers were standing next to him. He couldn’t just pick one. The dress was teal colored, and column shaped with a square neck and inch thick straps.

  The sales associate came up with a teal dress, one-inch thick straps, square neckline like the bridesmaid dress we had already purchased and an empire waist to accommodate Lacey’s growing belly.

  “Do you like it?” Lacey modeled for me on the platform. My sister looked amazing and gorgeous and happy while I was miserable.

  “It’s pretty.”

  “Get changed. I’m starving.”

  **

  Her dress tucked safely in the back of Lacey’s new car, a Mom van that was sporty with a black, shiny pearl finish and gray leather interior that was a gift from Brodie. I watched her put the back down and we walked across the street to Mia’s Diner where we were meeting the Baird sisters, some now had the last name Steward.

  This should be awkward under normal circumstances but for some reason it wasn’t. We had all become great friends which Lacey and I needed with Eddie and Ricky in the Florida Keys.

  Dallis had slept with Brodie, Lacey’s fiancé. Georgie had slept with Davy, my fiancé but none of us seemed to care or be awkward around each other. We avoided conversations that got too close to the personal topics that included the men in our lives that concerned past dating or sexual history.

  The sisters were already there. They rose when Lacey and I arrived. Hugs were exchanged. Everyone told Lacey how beautiful she looked.

  I gazed at my sister. She did look stunning, pregnant with Brodie’s baby. My sister was one of those people, pregnancy only made her more beautiful. I was disgusted by Lacey. Jealous of Lacey and I hated myself for it.

  I sat down in my seat and glanced at the menu grumbling about what I could eat if I wanted to fit in my wedding dress. I ordered the spinach salad without croutons, grilled chicken, lots of vegetables, dressing on the side. The sisters and my sister were looking at me in disgust. “I have to fit in that dress the seamstress just stuck me a million times for.”

  Lacey shook her head. “You’ve been eating rabbit food since I returned from Florida. That is why you had to do a second fitting because the dress was too large, Caz.”

  Lacey ordered a steak, medium. A loaded baked potato and so she could tell Brodie that she ate something that was somewhat healthy steamed broccoli.

  I had seen the pictures Finlay took of Lacey on the beach in a tiny bikini at eighteen or nineteen weeks pregnant. No one should look like that nearly halfway through their pregnancy.

  “Any stretch marks yet?” Greer asked her.

  Her sister looked contrite. “Are you kidding?” I replied for my sister. I had seen her as she tried on dresses tonight. “After she gives birth to Brodie’s whopper of a son she’ll go right back a size two.”

  Lacey scowled at me. “I was never a size two.”

  “A four then?” I asked with sarcasm. I don’t know why I was being mean to Lacey. I felt so unsettled and I was taking it out on her.

  The Baird sisters were gazing at each other in concern then looking between the two of us.

  “Try sometimes a six and most often an eight, Caz,” Lacey snapped at me. Typical sisters sniping at each other from time to time.

  “Try mostly a ten or a twelve over here,” I replied, pointing at myself.

  “Okay, what is going on with you two?” Dallis asked.

  “Typical, Caz drama.” Lacey rolled her eyes at me.

  “Bull,” I replied. “Look at her. Has anyone noticed how Brodie gazes at her? It’s enough to make a person want to puke. I mean he’s practically begging her to marry him like she’s some sort of goddess when she’s just a welder from his plant.” Lacey gasped. I never knew when to keep my mouth shut and kept right on going. “She’s always been like this. Men fall at her feet.”

  “Oh, for the love of god, they do not,” Lacey snapped. “Your memory must be going which is amazing since you’re only twenty-nine, Caz. I guess you’ve forgotten that I was abused by my last boyfriend who was cheating on me.” She deliberately didn’t say his name because Machara, the Baird’s sister had dated him too. Another awkward connection.

  “And just a few months ago, Brodie kicked me out of his life and his hospital room.”

  People were beginning to stare at us because both Lacey and I were raising our voices.

  “Caz, what’s wrong?” Dallis asked me.

  “I don’t think Davy is as attracted to me as he was in the beginning,” I complained sniffing back tears. There I said it. Something was happening with Davy over the last few months. I could feel it and I was concerned.

  “I told her that maybe she should postpone the wedding.”

  I glared at my sister. “And I told you to be quiet,” I snapped.

  “Stop, you two,” Georgie said in a calm tone of voice. My sister and I both got quiet. “Davy is just being Davy. Even before I slept with him, I knew him well. Caz, you have to keep him on his toes or he’ll get complacent.”

  This was the area that we silently agreed to never tread on but honestly, I needed Georgie’s advice. “I don’t understand.”

  She sighed. “He’s the nerdy one. Always interested in numbers, key performance indicators,” she said. I had heard him talk about that before. Repeatedly. “He’s not happy unless he’s talking about business. Sometimes, you need to shake Davy up. Remind him what is important.”

  Georgie had me thinking. Maybe when I got home tonight? I could spice things up a little?

  Chapter 2

  At home, I ran through the laundry room that connected to the garage. In the hallway, I called Davy’s name. He didn’t respond. I walked towards the entry where his study was. I found the door closed.

  I hung my purse off the knob at the bottom of the stairs and slipped off my flip flops leaving them neatly on the last step. They had to be perfect. I opened the door and there he was; behind his desk. Engrossed in something on his laptop.

  Walking towards the desk I ran my fingers through my short, mousy brown hair to fluff it up. I straightened the girls, so they were spilling over the top my bra. I peeked down and unbuttoned a few buttons. Then I slid across his lap blocking his view of the laptop. Only then did he notice me.

  “Hey babe, what’s up?” He smiled at me.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and he slipped his arm around my waist. His deep, brown eyes were hidden by a pair of thick, black framed glasses that he used for reading when he worked. I slipped them off. They were hiding an amazing pair of eyes framed by thick, black lashes. I reached behind me and laid them on the desk.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi,” he replied.

  I leaned in and pressed my lips to Davy’s. His hand slid up my spine and cupped the back of my head holding me close. His tongue teased my lips and my girlie parts took notice. It had been at least a week since we had made love. Then he broke away quickly leaving me cold.

  “Hold on a moment,” he shoved me to my feet. “I have to save this file. I don’t want to lose my analysis.”

  It was like doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Not a lot of fun. I shivered as if a cold, wind blew through me. I turned and walked out of his office and he didn’t even try to stop me.

  I grabbed my purse and my shoes at the bottom of the stairs, fighting back tears, I ran upstairs. In our room, I tossed my stuff on our bed and what a bed it was. Davy’s bed. A big, beautiful, four post bed, an antique he found somewhere in Logan, Ohio.

  The quilt covering it was Davy’s too. A beautiful, patchwork in vivid purples and golds. I glanced around at the room.

  Dark, walnut furniture with marble tops. Beautiful stuff and expensive. He had
cleared out a nightstand and a dresser just for me. I went to the closet, the walk-in, and looked around. Davy had cleared out this closet for me too.

  Why was I so unhappy?

  I stripped down naked and went to the bathroom drawing myself a bath in the clawfoot tub. A shower stall was tucked into the corner where Davy took most of his showers. We had taken a bath together once. He wasn’t much for baths, bubble or otherwise. We never took showers together. He thought the stall was too small. My Davy was not an adventurous soul.

  I filled the tub with bubbles then shut off the water. Climbing in, I eased myself into the hot water and laid my phone on the small table next to it. Then, I leaned back against the tub and closed my eyes.

  When I first met Davy, the passion burned hot between us. We were ripping each other’s clothes off at the front door. Making love on the stairs unable to make it to the bedroom before we were screwing each other’s brains out.

  He didn’t wait long to propose. I thought it was because we both just knew but maybe I was a replacement for Georgie.

  She had married Hunter Cole. Georgie and Davy seemed like just good friends now. I knew she didn’t have feelings for Davy, but did he still have feelings for her?

  Something had changed between us. We went from making love four or more times a week to once a week if we were lucky. We had only known each other nine months. Maybe we were rushing into a wedding. Maybe we needed more time like Lacey suggested.

  Maybe Davy felt like his time was running out. He was thirty-two. Maybe he wanted to be like his brothers who were married and having children.

  I knew Davy wanted commitment. He liked being monogamous. He liked what he had with Georgie so if he couldn’t have her, was I second best?

  I reached for a towel and dried my hands. Then I grabbed my phone and called the voice of reason. I had no such voice in my head. When that unreasonable, paranoid voice was taking over and making up the crazy, I called Uncle Eddie. He usually straightened me out pretty, quickly.

  “Eddie, how are you?” I said when he answered the phone.