Somewhere Safe (Sterling Ridge #3)

Prologue

Iris

I kept reminding myself that I was doing this for my family’s legacy. I had set this entire plan in motion a year ago and it was finally going to pay off. All I had to do was show up, marry the guy in front of his family, and then we could talk about my return to the farm.

Simple and easy.

My wedding dress hung on the back of the door of my hotel room.

It was ivory, simple, mid-lengthen with a slight flair at the waist, a slit that was borderline inappropriate—if I moved the wrong way—and sleeves that hung off my shoulder.

I felt sophisticated in it. My hair was curled, and I had on minimal makeup.

All that was left to do was put the dress and shoes on, but that felt like the final nail in the coffin that I wasn’t ready to succumb to just yet.

I was going to be a married woman by the end of the day, but I held on to these last minutes of freedom like they were my lifeline.

My phone sat in my hand as I yearned to call one of my brothers or anyone, so they knew what was happening.

Getting married alone isn’t how I thought it would happen.

I reminded myself for the hundredth time that I was doing this for a reason.

My endgame was to keep my family farm in our family, obviously not completely in our family, but sometimes we have to pivot and do our best with the shit cards life dealt us.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, centered myself so that I could get through this day with the Yarbroughs. The dress fit like a glove, tight in all the right places, but still elegant and demure. I didn’t shop with my future husband in mind, but I wanted him to admire me at least a little.

Hell, I wish he would kick himself in the ass for being such an asshole for the last couple of months since we had found out we were marrying each other.

Considering it was my wedding day I treated myself to a driver to get me to the courthouse and she was sweet enough to compliment me. It gave me the boost I needed to get out of the car and walk up to the family waiting for me.

Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough were standing on the steps with their oldest son, Brooks, who I wished I was marrying, looking absolutely gorgeous in his suit.

He was almost ten years older than me, but kind, responsible and he didn’t ignore my calls.

Brooks was the kind of man I could see myself marrying while I ran the farm.

He was a hard worker who knew what a hard day's work was like, and he wasn’t afraid to put the time and effort into doing what needed to be done, unlike his pain in the ass brother.

My driver was sweet enough to help me out of the car. The April weather in Lubbock was perfect on this Friday, not a cloud in the sky, and a cool seventy degrees.

“Thank you,” I said, exiting the car.

She squeezed my hand and wished me good luck.

I adjusted my dress, giving myself a second before going up to say hello to my future in-laws.

I looked up, Brooks held out his hand, waiting for me.

A blush quickly ran up my neck from his attention.

The Yarbrough men were handsome, too handsome, disarming me with their charms and good looks while I had grown immune to their father.

Brooks and Nash still seemed to catch me off guard more than I liked with their dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and height.

They looked so similar, but Brooks had that boy next door look and Nash was ruggedly handsome, like the boy you made bad decisions with after you snuck out of your room to meet with him.

“Thank you,” I said, placing my hand in his.

“You look stunning, Iris,” Brooks said softly.

“Thanks,” I said, keeping my gaze down as my blush surely deepened.

We walked up the steps in silence to his parents as I took a quick look around for my husband-to-be, wondering if he was going to show up.

“Interesting choice for your dress, darling,” Mrs. Yarbrough said, giving me air kisses sweetly.

This woman had a knack for saying the most horrible things with a smile on her face, like she was complimenting you.

“Thank you, I was gathering inspiration from your era,” I said, not willing to play nice.

Brooks coughed as Mrs. Yarbrough narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at me. I gave her my sweetest smile, sweeter than the molasses she used in the pies she pretended to bake.

“Nash seems to be running late, but after the nuptials are finished, I thought we could go have a nice dinner to celebrate,” Mr. Yarbrough said, checking his watch.

“That sounds lovely,” I said, hoping Nash had other plans.

Sometimes I didn’t know what was the lesser evil, Nash or his parents. The unknown made me nervous, and I hated that I had to rely on these people.

“You did tell your brother that today was the day?” Mr. Yarbrough snapped at Brooks.

“I talked to him this morning,” Brooks said calmly. “He was coming in from Dallas.”

“Leave it to your—”

“Son of a bitch!”

We turned around to see Nash Yarbrough at the bottom of the stairs on the phone, looking furious. “I said I would be there,” he snapped, ending the call.

He ran his hands through his longish blond hair that curled up at the collar of his shirt, looking like he had just walked off a photo shoot for a rodeo magazine.

Leave it to Nash to show up to our wedding in black wranglers—that looked like sin on those thighs and ass—a black button down and black boots, holding a black Stetson with goatee, I’d hate to admit looked good.

Was this man trying to intimidate me in black or was he making a statement that this felt like a funeral?

When he flashed those baby blues up at me, I really thought I might lose my nerve.

Nash Yarbrough glared at me like all this was my fault.

I wanted to shrink back behind his brother, away from his hateful gaze, to point at his parents.

They were the ones who wanted this. I was fine with selling and continuing to work on the farm.

I squared my shoulders, willing myself not to back down, but years of being the “good girl” made me look away.

“It’s about time—”

“Let’s get this over with, Ivy”, Nash interrupted his father, grabbing me by my forearm and pulling me up.

I wasn’t ready for the abrupt movement and tripped on the first step, almost falling when Brooks' arm wrapped around my waist and caught me as my purse fell on the floor.

“Watch it,” Brooks snapped at Nash.

I bent down to grab my things as the tension between the family skyrocketed.

It was downright uncomfortable as I straightened out, so I grabbed Nash’s bicep to draw his attention away from his brother.

This family was a mess and the last thing I needed was an argument in front of the courthouse, even though I wanted to correct him on my name.

Nash walked off, leaving me with his family and entered the courthouse without a backwards glance.

Brooks sighed as his father muttered something as we followed.

We arrived just in time for our appointment, getting the paperwork done before we were told to take a seat and that they would call us when they were ready.

Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough sat next to each other, speaking in low voices. Brooks and I sat across from them and Nash looked out the only window they had. Waiting was torture. I didn’t dare pull out my phone because I knew I would text someone I was about to do something stupid.

So, I did what anyone would do and snuck glances at my future husband, wondering what kind of future awaited us. He was a bronc rider, but that was as much as I knew. Would I move back immediately? I really hoped he didn’t expect me to go out on the road with him.

“Yarbrough!”

I flinched, my heart rate soared, my hands grew clammy and I froze.

Brooks and his parents stood up as I had my mini crisis.

Nash stood in front of me, his face stoic with his hand held out for me, a small olive branch I was grateful for.

I placed my hand in his, his warmth giving me the push I needed to get up.

We walked to a small room that had a small podium where a judge waited for us. He asked Nash and me to stand in the middle, right across from each other, and he started the ceremony.

I heard little as Nash and I stared at each other. We weren’t at odds with each other, but for just a moment, we were just two people in the same situation.

“Nash, do you take this person, Iris, to be your lawful wedded spouse? Do you promise to love and comfort her, to honor her and keep her in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her?”

“I do,” he said, after a long pause.

“Iris, do you take this person, Nash, to be your lawful wedded spouse? Do you promise to love and comfort him, to honor him and keep him in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him?”

“I…I do,” I said.

“Nash, place and hold the ring on the ring finger of your partner’s left hand and repeat after me.”

Nash pulled a ring out of his pocket, gently taking hold of my hand and placing the ring on my finger. It was the same white gold as our engagement ring, but this had a row of three diamonds on it.

“This ring I thee give, in token and pledge of my constant faith and enduring love. With this ring, I thee wed,” he said, sliding the ring so it fit perfectly against the engagement ring.

They were stunning together.

“Iris, place and hold the ring on the ring finger of your partner’s left hand and repeat after me.”

I turned around to grab my purse from Mrs. Yarbrough, opened the ring box, and pulled out the black titanium ring I purchased that had one silver ring in the middle. I grabbed his hand, placing the ring on his finger.

“This ring I thee give, in token and pledge of my constant faith and enduring love. With this ring, I thee wed,” I said, sliding the ring the rest of the way.

“Now that you have joined yourselves in solemn matrimony, may you strive all your lives to meet this commitment with the same love and devotion that you now possess. By the authority vested in me as Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriages, I now pronounce you married under the laws of the State of Texas,” he said with a big smile. “You may kiss your bride.”

Nash leaned forward and I followed his lead.

He kissed me softly, my heart fluttering from the gentleness I was not expecting.

The kiss ended too soon, leaving me wanting more.

Nash’s parents and Brooks offered their congratulations.

A piece of me felt like shit that I didn’t have my family with me.

“I have reservations at—”

“I have to go,” Nash said as we exited the courthouse.

“Excuse me?” Mr. Yarbrough snapped.

“I did what was asked of me and now I have a circuit I need to be at tomorrow,” Nash said, stepping away from us.

“Nash…” Brooks sighed.

“I kept my end of the deal,” he said, walking down a few steps.

“What are you going to do with your wife?” Mr. Yarbrough pointed at me.

“Excuse me?” I growled.

“Look, I have to go,” he said, walking away. “It was great seeing y’all. See you later, Orchid!”

“Nash!” Mr. Yarbrough yelled, following him as Mrs. Yarbrough followed her husband.

My throat tightened from the absurd scene before me.

I didn’t know what I had expected from marrying Nash Yarbrough, but our moment of truce was officially over, and I couldn’t believe I thought we might have end up on the same page.

I walked away from the steps of the courthouse, reminding myself that this was all for my family farm and that stupid man could go fuck himself for all I cared, as long as I got what was promised to me.