Folding Hearts (27 page)

Chapter 25

Miranda

I guess most girls would imagine having a huge wedding with fancy dresses and
a room full of people that celebrate the coming together of two people that love each other. My wedding was nothing like that at all. We applied for
the license and two days later
we were walking into the court house. I don’t know where he found the time, but Ty had gone out and got us two matching white gold bands. His parents and Bella went with us. Ty held her the whole time, even though the Justice of the Peace guy thought she was a distraction. He probably thought we were crazy, or maybe I was pregnant again.

Ty carried me out of the court house. We went out to dinner and went home just like every normal day. Except for the piece of paper, nothing felt different between us. I was
ecstatic
that I was Ty’s wife, but he already had my heart regardless.  Ty’s mother, my ne
w mother in law, helped me make
the necessary calls about having Bella’s name changed to Mitchell. I had to fill out a bunch of forms and then contact social security administration to get a new card for her. Because there was no father listed on the birth certificate, it was easy to have it done. I lied and said he was the father on every piece of paper. I wasn’t worried about Tucker ever coming around. He never wanted her in the first place.

Ty and I decided that if he ever came around we would deal with it then. In my heart I knew that he was Bella’s daddy in every way that counted. They didn’t need blood to have that father daughter bond. She was his before he was ever on my radar.

Sometimes I had to laugh at how it all had happened. Perhaps Ty had been right when he
said we were always meant to be together. I had never believed that before, but I started to think back to our first time in church. The unanswered prayers had worked to our advantage and now we had each other.

As we both started to prepare for Colt and Savanna’s wedding and our official coming out, things became stressful. It didn’t put a strain on our relationship, but it was obvious that we were both worried. There was no way of getting out of the visit. We were both in the wedding party. Ty had asked Colt to have Conner be his best man. He had a few reasons behind his decision. I think the first one was that he hated Brina, who was Van’s maid of honor. The second reason was that he insisted on being paired up with me in the bridal party. I liked that part of his reasoning the most. The third being that if the family
overreacted
and we had to leave, they could go on without us and have to change nothing.

I was trying to be optimistic, but my brother was a dick and there was no getting around the fact that he told Ty to stay away from me and he promised that he would.  When it came to my brother accepting us, I knew it
wasn’t
going to happen. He was still sending Ty random text
messages
about it, like he was reminding him.

The day we packed up the jeep was beyond nerve strickening. Since we were in the wedding party we had to go a week earlier than Ty’s parents on account of wedding festivities. We decided that at first
we
weren’t going to say anything. There was no need to cause drama before the big day. We would keep our distance and act like friends. The problem was that I couldn’t be in the same room with Ty and not look at him like he was my whole life. Not to mention that Bella called him Daddy all of the time. In fact since he had been promoting it
.
S
he had
completely
forgotten that he
had
any other name. 

Ty tried to keep my spirits up on the way there. He tickled my leg and reached over to kiss me at stop lights, but my nerves were shot. I wanted to vomit.  I was supposed to be living at the farm as a temporary situation. Not only was I sleeping with whom they thought was the devil, but I had up and married him, and filled out the paperwork to change Bella’s name.

Our web of secrets was going to give me an early heart attack.

“Baby you need to calm down. No matter what happens, we are going to be together. If they don’t accept it right away, we can deal with it. They will come around once we prove that this is real. I promise.”

“Maybe you should just pretend that you are still upset about the wedding and go home.”

“Are you seriously telling me to drop you off and drive all the way home without you?”

When he put it that way it sounded pretty stupid. “You know Bella will spill the beans.”

“So what if she does. I have nothing to hide. They can’t do anything to us now.”

Ty was starting to talk with his hands. He only did that when he was frustrated.  I tried to ignore it, but it was making me more nervous.
“Oh yeah? Who says?”

“The state of North Carolina for starters.”

“I am sure that our family will be glad that the state o
f North Carolina is on our side,
” I said sarcastically.

Aside from worrying about all of this, I was also worried about the Tucker situation. Things had been quiet, but I knew the whole town knew about Colt
’
s upcoming wedding. Word travels and Tucker would know I would be there. Ty knew it was on my mind, and reassured me a thousand times that I was safe. It was just hard not to worry.

“I think you need one of Van’s pills.”

I rolled my eyes. “
I’m
glad you find this so entertaining.”

“Its….” Ty was interrupted by Bella screaming his name.

Apparently her daddy thought it was cool to teach her that when she saw the golden arches she could have fries. Her little finger pointed toward a
McDonald’s
billboard with a picture of fries. “Daddy. Daddy fri fri.”

Of course Ty forgot about what he was saying mid sentence. “Daddy will get you fri fri’s baby.”

She started clapping in the backseat. “Yay!”

I shook my head. “You know if you give her everything she wants she will expect it.”

“So what. I can’t help it. She h
as me wrapped around her finger,” h
e teased.

“
Obviously
.”

Once Bella got her fries, she concentrated on shoving them in her mouth. To prevent her from choking in the back of the car, I only gave her three at a time.

By the time we got to
the
ranch, she was sound asleep. I was relieved that I could at least get hugs and kisses before she woke up and called Ty Daddy.  Before getting out of the car, Ty grabbed my hand. “We should probably take off our rings.”

As much as I hated hearing him say that, I knew it had to be done. “I hate this.”

“I bet they are going to make me stay at Colt’s. How fucked up would that be?” Ty whispered.

He was tryin
g
not to use bad language around our daughter.

I saw Lucy and my aunt coming out of the house toward the Jeep.

“Shit! I don’t even get a kiss.”

“I love you Ty.” I gave his hand one last
squeeze
.

“I love you too.”

The door swung open and the hugging had begun. Ty ran over and grabbed his aunt, spinning her around. “Aunt
J
.
Your favorite nephew is here,” h
e teased, knowing my brother was also her nephew. In fact she and Colt were our only connection.

Lucy and OUR
aunt looked
in the back at Bella. “Oh my goodness she is so big.”

They
hadn’t seen her in almost two and a half months. I couldn’t tell how much she had changed, but I
wasn’t
surprised they thought she had.

“How was the drive?” She asked Ty.

“It was fine.”

Bella started to stir in the ba
ckseat and I saw Ty turn as whit
e as a sheet.
“
Why don’t you guys go inside. I can get the car unloaded
,” h
e suggested.

He tried not to look at me and I tried not to look at him. This was impossible.

I grabbed Bella out of the car while Ty stood where she couldn’t see. “So where is my mother?”

“She is down at the house. You should go surprise her on the golf cart. She has missed you so much. Speak
ing
of that. When will that job be over? It was nice of you to offer to help out, but we want you to come home.”

Oh no, not this already…

“I miss you all too. I think surprising my mom is a great idea. Just have Ty put my stuff in my room for now. We will be back soon.” I almost ran away from them. When I said Ty’s name Bella’s started looking around for him.

I hopped on the golf cart and started driving toward my mother’s house. Ty was going to have to go to Colt’s. He was going to be pissed at me. “Shit…Shit…Shit!”

“Shit!” Bella repeated.

“Oh God! Honey that is a bad word. No, no!”

“Shit.”

I am doomed!

My mother came outside and met us. She scooped up Bella and showered her with kisses. “Hi pretty girl. How is my baby?”

She grabbed me
for a hug while still holding Bella. “Hey Mom. How has everyone been?”

She gave me a funny once over. “You look fantastic honey. I think being away from guy drama has done wonders for you.”

If she only knew.
Shoot me now..please.

“Thank you.”

“Shit.”

My mother looked down at my now potty mouthed daughter. “Has she been spending time with Tyler?”

Thank God she said Tyler. Bella didn’t recognize him being called that. “No, she learned that from her mother. I just dropped something and for the past ten minutes she hasn’t stopped sayin
’
it.”

“Well they pick up on everything at this age. Their minds are like sponges.”

We walked in the house and saw my brother standing there. “What’s up sis?” Standing behind him was Courtney aka Miss Kentucky. Her hands were tucked into his back pockets.

She saw me and rolled her eyes.

“Are you
kiddin
’
me right now?”

“Something I need to know about?” My mother asked.

Conner gave me a warning look like he would hurt me if I told my mother about his bitch
ass girlfriend. “No it’s
nothin
’
.”

“So did the dickhead keep his hands off you on the ride here?” He asked.

“Watch your mouth around my daughter.”

“Sorry.” He came up and nudged my side. “Did he?”

Bella went running toward my mother
and she took her into the other room
. I looked him right in the eyes. “No, we pulled over and fucked for over an hour at least three times. Bella cried the whole time
,
but we didn’t care
at all
that she was watchin’ us.” I shoved my brother
clear across the room. “
Nothin
’
changes with you. What the hell is
that bitch doing in our house?”

He turned around and looked at Courtney. She was standing there with her hands on her hips. All I could think about was her swooning over Ty. I hated her even more now than before
.
“
We are kind of
seein
’
each other. Be nice to her.”

“Screw you.”

“Have you
talked to Van today?” He changed the subject.

“No. Why?”

“Her and Colt decided to have a coed bachelor party. You know how Colt is. Anyway
,
we are all going out tonight together. I can’t wait til Ty see’s who my date is.”

“Why would he care?” I probably should have just been quiet, but it pissed me off that Courtney not only was here with my brother, but he was implying that Ty would want to hook up with her.

“Why are you
takin
’ up for him?
Somethin
’
I need to know about?”

“No!
”
I looked right at Courtney and just couldn’t help myself. “
Last time he was here h
e told me that she was
an
annoyin
’
drama queen and there was no way in hell he would hit that.”

Courtney looked pissed. I got happy. Point for me.

“Why would he tell you that?”

“Because we are friends. Friends talk about things. Obviously, you must only have
acquaintances
.”

Conner grabbed my arm and stared at me. After a few seconds, I pulled out of his
arms. “Mom, do you care if I ru
n over to Van’s real quick? I need to talk to her about tonight
.
”