Cade was every inch the spectacularly handsome specimen as he stood waiting for me at the end of the makeshift aisle. Behind him I could see the lush green lawn, lit up with lanterns outside in preparation for the reception. The sun was setting, casting his features aglow and highlighting the planes of his face. A smile danced on his lips as he drank me in, an answering smile ghosting my own as I couldn’t take my eyes of my soon to be husband. I had wanted a bit of a nod to my heritage, and as such I had incorporated several unapologetically Irish traditions into our wedding. I had not told my parents, wanting them and the rest of our family and friends to not know until it happened. Which is why once the wedding march stopped, my dad and I began to walk down the aisle; much to the confusion of everyone. Then the bell chimed, with each step, as Nikki stood proudly ringing it every few seconds. When I was about halfway down the aisle two more bel

I traded my pants in for a sleek pencil skirt and some dressier shoes, deciding on a pair of classic high heels. Cade appraised me with an approving eye when I walked out, finding him waiting by the door. He opened the door for me, a smirk playing on his lips. Breezing through I headed toward his car with him hot on my heels. We slid in silently and he began to drive, the car headed toward our destination in no hurry. Unconsciously I began to fidget with my hands, picking at the cuticles on my nails; Cade’s free hand covered mine.“Stop fussing Sloane” he said knowingly, his eyes cutting to me briefly then down to our linked hands. I sighed.“I can’t,” I huffed out. He knew it too, he knew exactly why. His mother put me on edge, and not just a little bit; but something about her seriously gave me majorly bad feelings. I alway

SLOANEI was in the shower, rinsing the terrible dream away. Cade had been there when I woke up, and I told him I wanted to clean off first, he had given me a puzzled look but I needed a minute. My head was trying to make sense of these dreams with this particular woman. What was wrong with me I wondered, as I scrubbed my face clean. Who was this woman who haunted me, her and her past; was she real or a figment of my apparently overactive imagination?Turning the shower off I toweled off before wrapping myself in a fluffy robe and heading toward the smell of bliss. Cade was pouring me a cup of coffee, and gave me an almost shy smile as he held it out to me. I took it gratefully and met his eyes, which held something akin to nervousness. “You were talking in your sleep” he stated quietly, his eyes on mine. 

SLOANEThe days both flew and dragged by at the same time. I had never been so bored, house arrest clearly didn’t suit me. I had, in fact, been so bored I had taken up cooking, something to occupy my mind as well as reading. I had requested paints and canvases as well as paper and pen. I would quite honestly do anything to keep myself from going insane out of sheer cabin fever. I had started out drawing stick figures, and I had noticed they had gradually improved, as had everything else I had been trying my hand at. The workout DVDs I had requested had also been brought, which was a nice physical release for me. I also had gotten DVDs of TV shows, movies and it was nice being brought what I wanted. It just wasn't nice being stuck here. They had made sure to be very thorough in not allowing me any sort of internet access, not risking me being able to contact people; and this included any streaming services as well. I was w

CADE Lulu was not the person I wanted to deal with, so it figured I would have to. The woman was nothing short of psychotic, and if she was involved it only spelled trouble. More eccentric than Theo and just as old she was sneaky, manipulative, completely and utterly obnoxious. Where Theo lived in luxury Lulu lived on a houseboat in Boston Harbour, with her alligator Clarence, who terrorized the local duck population. We had waited until it was an acceptable time to be seen knocking on her door before piling in the car. Emily was less than thrilled while Theo was practically bouncing out of his seat at the thought of seeing Lulu, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. The car bumped along the road to the harbor and I steeled myself. Lulu appeared straightforward while being anything but, the woman talked in riddles. She was fierce, older than Theo but not by much; she was not anyone I wanted t