Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(56)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Miranda started laughing. I was glad to have her take over for the next part. “Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with my clothing choice. I started dancing with these two guys and Ty got all protective. He forced me to pretend that I was his girlfriend so that I wouldn’t be approached by anyone else. But….there was one little problem with that. The more we were pretendin’ the more real it got. Ty pulled away from me and distanced us. I swear he did.”

I shook my head just thinking back on that night. “She’s right. I pushed her away. I pulled her out of that party and headed home. The thing was, I felt so bad about kissing her that I pulled over to talk about it. That’s when we both realized there were real feelings involved. The rest is history.”

There was no way in hell I was going to tell them about that first night. Miranda and I had experienced many hot nights since then, but that topped them all. The anticipation alone was insane.

“In other words, you screwed her twenty four hours after she got there.”

“Come on Conner can you be respectful please.” Colt was starting to get as annoyed as I was at him.

“It’s the damn truth,” he added.

“Well, since you know, what do want to do about it? She is my wife Conner. I did right by her and Izzy. There isn’t another man on this planet that could love them like I do. That child is mine in every way that it counts. If you hate me for that, then I am not going to apologize. In fact, I’m not apologizing for any of it. I’ve never been more happy. They are my whole world. I’m just sorry that you can’t understand it.”

Finally what I said seemed to hit a nerve. Conner went flying back out of the door and this time he didn’t stay close.

I took a deep breath. “That went better than expected.”

“Boy, if you were a stranger you would be in deeper shit than you already are.” My aunt chimed in.

“Shit!” Izzy said her new favorite word.

My aunt put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Mom, I kind of need to know what you are thinkin’ over there. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I need to know that you will support us.”

She put both of her hands flat on the table and looked from Miranda to me. I could tell she was really trying to think about what she said. “I’m really hurt, but I understand why you felt the need to do things the way you did. I just always pictured my daughter having a real wedding. Aside from the shock, I want you to be happy. I know Ty has made mistakes, but I can’t deny that it’s obvious you love each other.”

“I think I have an idea to make this all easier on all of us to take. If I can arrange it, would you be willing to renew your vows tomorrow night?” My aunt asked.

“They can get re-married in the barn. It’s already half way decorated.” Van added.

Colt turned to look at her. “You sure that is okay darlin’?”

She nodded. “I think it will be fun. Besides, after how I have been treating them, I kind of owe them.”

“So how about it you two? You up for letting that hard headed brother of yours walk you down the aisle, so he can have some kind of redemption?”

Miranda started laughing. “I don’t know if he will want to do it, but of course I am up for it. I would marry Ty a million times.”

I loved that she looked right at me when she said it. It was like watching someone throwing a kiss and the other person catches it and puts the invisible kiss on their chest. Well, it was something like that.

“Then it is settled. We are now in double wedding mode. Everyone help clean up breakfast. Us girls have to go out shopping for a dress and the guys need to finish getting that barn decorated.” My aunt stood up and everyone followed suit.

Miranda and I just looked at each other. “I guess we are getting married again.”

“I really hope we don’t have to sleep in separate rooms tonight,” I joked.

“I heard that Ty. I think pretending you aren’t married yet would be a fantastic idea,” Miranda’s mother noted.

I shook my head and decided I needed a laugh.. “That’s just mean Aunt Karen. Cousins should be allowed to sleep together before they are married. Everyone does it.”

She threw a dish towel at me. “Tyler!”

“Shit! Shit!”

“Thanks Aunt J for teaching my daughter cuss words!” I announced.

“Miranda you really have your hands full with this one,” she said as she came up behind me and kissed me. “My hard headed nephew.”

Chapter 29

Miranda

One minute I felt like I was being disowned and the next I was being pampered. After our family meeting, my aunt and mother drug me out to find a last minute dress. Ty insisted on keeping Bella so that I could relax and enjoy my day. I think he wanted her around so that my brother would be reluctant to start trouble.

He and Colt were put on decoration duty. As an added surprise, I called Ty’s parents and begged them to come. It wasn’t just my idea, in fact my aunt sprung for them to fly. She called the airline and bought two round trip tickets like it was nothing.

She had more money than she knew what to do with and she never spent it unless she had a reason. I suppose my wedding was a good enough reason for her. We had lived on the ranch since my father died when I was ten. I was the closest thing to a daughter that she would ever have. She and my mother weren’t just sisters, they were best friends. The two of them made me try on so many dresses.

I didn’t want anything big and formal. They seemed upset that I didn’t want a real wedding dress, so we settled for a dress that was white and long. It was strapless and had a light purple beaded design over the top and around the waist. It was very straight and came down to my feet. After trying it on, I knew it was perfect.

They also insisted on buying Bella a different dress than she was wearing In Colt’s wedding. We found her a little white dress that had purple beads just like mine. It was so cute and I knew she would get a kick out of us matching.

Just to set my mind at ease, Ty agreed to send me random text messages letting me know that he was alive. Of course I should have known that every single one would be totally inappropriate.

Make sure you buy crotchless underwear. –Ty

I don’t plan on wearing any. – M

Even better.-Ty

Everything okay? – M

Izzy and I decided to go cow tipping- Ty

I love when you teach your daughter about nature –M

I love when you are naked. – Ty