Part 1

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There was that feeling again. It was the one that felt like a knot in her stomach. The feeling that said something was going to happen today. It could be good, but most likely, something, or someone, was going to give her grief. Lydia Adams walked slowly towards the quaint little boutique she owned. The Central Texas sky was deep azure, the clouds light and fluffy, and the sun was shining brightly. But Lydia could only feel the knot in her belly. She unlocked the back door, listening to the familiar squeak of the hinges. After disconnecting the alarm, she headed for the small office at the top of the back stairs.

Her cell phone rang just as she sat behind her ancient desk. She pulled her deep red hair back into a quick up flip and answered the phone. It was her best friend, Josie Timmons. Josie always knew when she arrived, and Lydia would have been more shocked if the phone hadn't rung.

"Good morning. What's the count for today?" Lydia asked her friend.

"Twelve days and counting. Can you believe it? I cannot believe it," her friend gushed. "I am finally going to be Mrs. Josiah Todd." Lydia was happy for Josie, but couldn't stand the gushy sentiment. She hoped when her time came she wasn't this gross.

"I still think it's weird that's y'all's names are so close. I think it's eerie," she teased her. Lydia shuffled some papers on her desk, looking for the invoices she had left last night.

"Ha, ha. I know. But I need a favor. Actually, Josiah and I need a favor. We have an unexpected guest coming and I was wondering if we could put him in the guesthouse," Josie inquired.

The guest house was their nickname for the apartment above Lydia's ancient garage. Josie herself had lived there when Lydia bought the house. They became such good friends, Lydia never kicked her out. She had only recently moved to a much larger house, bought by Josie's soon to be husband. The apartment was tiny with one bedroom, one bath, a tiny living room, and a kitchen. Lydia didn't know how Josie had lived in it for so long.

"When is he getting here? I'd like to freshen it up first," Lydia replied.

"He's already here. He came pulling up this morning. You may know him. Josiah said he went to school with y'all. His name is Tyler Wickham."

Lydia felt her vision narrow down to a pin point at the mention of Tyler's name. It had been eight years since she had seen or heard from Wicked Wickham. Eight years since she had been broken hearted and, worse, broken spirited. More had happened to her in that time than she could have ever wanted. She had been young and vulnerable, and desperate for someone to love her. She'd wanted it to be him, but that hadn't been in his plans.

"Lydia, are you there?" Josie asked, concern in her voice.

"Y-yes I'm here. I was looking at an invoice, sorry," she replied, trying not to feel guilty for lying to her friend. "Yeah, I remember him. Tall, dark hair, right?"

"And so much more than that now," her friend laughed. "If I didn't already have Josiah, I might go after him. He has this dangerous, come get me if you can, thing going on that is too sexy."

Lydia was all too aware of Tyler's dangerous side. It was what had attracted her to him. It was what attracted all women to him. It was the dangerous things he did that got him the nickname Wicked.

"Anyway, I'll send him over about six. Is that ok?"

Lydia barely remembered the rest of the conversation. All she could think of was that Tyler Wickham was going to be back in her life. He would be way too close for comfort. And she was scared as hell.


Tyler sipped his coffee, watching the birds fly and play in the back yard. It was quiet and peaceful and it was grating on his nerves already. He didn't usually do weddings. And he definitely wouldn't have shown up when he did, if there hadn't been a week's worth of activities leading up to the wedding. But it was Josiah that was getting married. The only other human being to care if he lived or died. And Tyler had to be here for him, he was the best man.

He hadn't told Josiah he was coming. He just showed up. That was the way he operated. Josiah knew it, because he hadn't asked anyone else to be his best man. He had four brothers and any one of them would have been more than happy to stand by him. But he had chosen Tyler, and Tyler wasn't going to let him down.

"We got you a place to stay," Josiah's deep voice broke through his reverie. "It's a friend of Josie's."


That's as far as I got. I know it needs some polish, but I am not open to bad critique's. A little help would be much appreciated.