Free Chocolate Kisses and Love Filled Wishes: Kissing Bridge Mountain - Book 3 by Linda West Page B
Authors: Linda West
consider now that Tanner’s entire courtship had merely been a sham to get closer to her fame—
to use her for his cause.
All of those loving words of heartfelt feelings and having a future of serving and traveling the world together seemed to have flown out the window now that she appeared broken.
Now she was a just role model for his cause, but what did that mean for her heart? For their future?
She wasn’t sure she could handle the truth about this relationship with Tanner. After all the pain she had felt over the loss of Brody, she thought that she had finally found her soul mate in Tanner. As he continued to shoot video of her so thoughtlessly, Kacey was forced to acknowledge how very wrong she had been, once again.
As the sun blared through the clouds, Kacey noticed for the first time the hardness around Tanner’s eyes. The set of his lip curled in satisfaction as he got the video shots he wanted and manipulated them to mean whatever he chose. He was, in fact, everything that he hated about the ‘establishment.’
A fake.
Tanner continued to shoot footage of the hospital and now close-ups of Justine as well, holding onto her wheelchair.
“Do you think you could wheel her around a bit for an action shot, Sweetheart?”
Before poor Justine could say anything, Kacey leaned to her side and whispered to her, “Just follow my lead, Justine.” Justine nodded.
Now, Kacey Anderson had grown up the youngest of five children. She was the only girl and the baby of the family and so had had to endure life with four older brothers ruling the nest. Kacey learned a lot of things from her brothers.
She’d learned how to snowboard like a guy, how to hide the last cookie, pogo off the back of a truck, and how to play poker like a pro.
Late nights at the Anderson house would often find the five siblings seated around the fireplace playing poker with household chores as their chips.
Kacey would bet her laundry chores, Jason the floors, Jeremy the polishing, Jordan the dishes and Brad would bet his snowplowing the driveway. (Nobody wanted that one.) All in all, she had learned a lot from those late night poker games with her wily brothers, and one of those things she learned was how to bluff when you wanted someone to lie down their hand.
So . . . Kacey decided to bluff.
“Tanner, my love,” she said sweetly, “… Aren’t you concerned about us traveling the world and you having to push me in this wheelchair? Won’t it hold you back?”
Tanner struggled to keep a smile on his face.
He at least had the decency to put the camera down and knelt down beside her to deliver the bad news.
“You mean this….” He motioned to the wheelchair and her inert legs “… might be for good?”
Kacey bit her lip.
“It’s possible…?”
Tanner looked blank.
Kacey pressed on.
“Does it make a difference in how you feel?’
Tanner tried to compose himself.
He looked around at Justine still holding the wheelchair. He cleared his throat loudly.
A few times.
“No, Baby, of course not. I love you for always. Just… I’ve been thinking about our engagement… and well, I’ve got places to go, things to do, and they involve legs and not really . . . marriage.”
Kacey got choked up, but it wasn’t on tears.
She wanted to barf at his shallowness.
“You understand?” Tanner continued.
“Of course,” Kacey smiled bravely, “Legs are good.”
Tanner smiled broadly, now relieved. He packed up his camera equipment and prepared for a quick exit.
“So we’ll keep in touch. I’ll send you a text from the Maldives.”
With that, he scrambled into his bright red mustang car and drove away in the snow storm (which was actually illegal during a white-out, but had been allowed, as he had come to pick up Kacey.)
Kacey watched as his flashy red mustang
to use her for his cause.
All of those loving words of heartfelt feelings and having a future of serving and traveling the world together seemed to have flown out the window now that she appeared broken.
Now she was a just role model for his cause, but what did that mean for her heart? For their future?
She wasn’t sure she could handle the truth about this relationship with Tanner. After all the pain she had felt over the loss of Brody, she thought that she had finally found her soul mate in Tanner. As he continued to shoot video of her so thoughtlessly, Kacey was forced to acknowledge how very wrong she had been, once again.
As the sun blared through the clouds, Kacey noticed for the first time the hardness around Tanner’s eyes. The set of his lip curled in satisfaction as he got the video shots he wanted and manipulated them to mean whatever he chose. He was, in fact, everything that he hated about the ‘establishment.’
A fake.
Tanner continued to shoot footage of the hospital and now close-ups of Justine as well, holding onto her wheelchair.
“Do you think you could wheel her around a bit for an action shot, Sweetheart?”
Before poor Justine could say anything, Kacey leaned to her side and whispered to her, “Just follow my lead, Justine.” Justine nodded.
Now, Kacey Anderson had grown up the youngest of five children. She was the only girl and the baby of the family and so had had to endure life with four older brothers ruling the nest. Kacey learned a lot of things from her brothers.
She’d learned how to snowboard like a guy, how to hide the last cookie, pogo off the back of a truck, and how to play poker like a pro.
Late nights at the Anderson house would often find the five siblings seated around the fireplace playing poker with household chores as their chips.
Kacey would bet her laundry chores, Jason the floors, Jeremy the polishing, Jordan the dishes and Brad would bet his snowplowing the driveway. (Nobody wanted that one.) All in all, she had learned a lot from those late night poker games with her wily brothers, and one of those things she learned was how to bluff when you wanted someone to lie down their hand.
So . . . Kacey decided to bluff.
“Tanner, my love,” she said sweetly, “… Aren’t you concerned about us traveling the world and you having to push me in this wheelchair? Won’t it hold you back?”
Tanner struggled to keep a smile on his face.
He at least had the decency to put the camera down and knelt down beside her to deliver the bad news.
“You mean this….” He motioned to the wheelchair and her inert legs “… might be for good?”
Kacey bit her lip.
“It’s possible…?”
Tanner looked blank.
Kacey pressed on.
“Does it make a difference in how you feel?’
Tanner tried to compose himself.
He looked around at Justine still holding the wheelchair. He cleared his throat loudly.
A few times.
“No, Baby, of course not. I love you for always. Just… I’ve been thinking about our engagement… and well, I’ve got places to go, things to do, and they involve legs and not really . . . marriage.”
Kacey got choked up, but it wasn’t on tears.
She wanted to barf at his shallowness.
“You understand?” Tanner continued.
“Of course,” Kacey smiled bravely, “Legs are good.”
Tanner smiled broadly, now relieved. He packed up his camera equipment and prepared for a quick exit.
“So we’ll keep in touch. I’ll send you a text from the Maldives.”
With that, he scrambled into his bright red mustang car and drove away in the snow storm (which was actually illegal during a white-out, but had been allowed, as he had come to pick up Kacey.)
Kacey watched as his flashy red mustang
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