MIRANDA POV
I can’t wait to see my gorgeous soon-to-be husband, Brady Clover, I thought excitedly as I drove toward Lake Arrow where he was out fishing for the day. Just like he did every day. Perhaps with this awesome picnic and the champagne I have packed, he will finally be ready to talk about setting a wedding date.
It had become a bit of a joke between everyone who knew us. Not that anyone ever really got to know me and Brady for long, because his work always had us moving around the country like crazy, chasing the next best fishing spot. He told me that was one of the pluses of working for himself. He didn’t need to report to anyone, so he could pick up and take off wherever the fish took him. It was fine… I mean, I didn’t mind it too much. It made our lives adventurous. And his free spirit was what drew me to him in the first place, so I couldn’t exactly be mad about it now, could I? Since we never struggled financially, I could only assume that he knew what he was doing. So I went along with it.
But just because he couldn’t commit to one place for us to live, didn’t mean he would never commit to me. It wasn’t like a wedding was the biggest deal, because we already shared a six-year-old son. Timothy would always keep us together. But I had to admit, I was ready to swap the flashy diamond engagement ring for something simpler, like a wedding band.
I wanted to take that next step. The idea of being Mrs. Clover thrilled me to the core. I just wanted to be tethered to him for the rest of my life. I couldn’t wait for the world to know he was mine and I was his. That we were us.
I checked my watch, glad Brady and I were going to have a good few hours alone together before I had to pick up Timothy from school. It would give us the perfect chance for any deep conversations that needed to be had. Whatever they might be about.
Especially here—Lake Arrowhead was something else! Gorgeous, glittery water shining in the sun, mountains piercing the sky, and dark green trees adding a glorious peacefulness to the atmosphere. I could see why Brady particularly liked fishing here. It was so private, so intimate. There was a real feeling like the rest of the world didn’t even exist. It was so remote, I started getting some naughty ideas.
What if I laid the picnic out on the grass, giving us plenty of space to roll around together? Outside, but hopefully where no one could see us. I liked the idea of it a lot. I couldn’t contain the smile spreading across my face.
I climbed eagerly out of the car, glad Brady wasn’t in sight for the moment so I could get all of this ready to really surprise him. I hoped he was going to love it. He had been stressed out recently—I could only assume the fishing wasn’t going great for him—so I wanted to do my best to remind him that he still had Timothy and me no matter what.
Humming to myself, I soaked up the sun shine and the happiness of the atmosphere, feeling really positive about this. Life had gotten so complicated recently, so busy, it was going to be nice for us to take this time to be together, just the two of us.
When we first met, I had just graduated from college, and I was working part time in a coffee shop as I tried to plan my next move in life. It really felt in that moment that the world was my oyster and I could do whatever I wanted, be whatever I wanted.
Perhaps it was that hopefulness, shining out like a beacon, that drew the sexy elusive fisherman back into the coffee shop every single day. The people I worked with told me he only came in for me, but I was too shy at the time to accept any kind of compliment. I hadn’t exactly gone through college getting endless attention from guys. I kind of blended into the background, preferring to focus on my studies.
But Brady never gave up, and one day, he shocked me by kissing me over the counter in front of everyone. From that moment on, I was his, and it had been the best time of my life. Even all the moving around wasn’t that much of a problem because I got to be with him.
Although, cool as I was with the free spirit, practically I didn’t want it to last forever. Timothy was going to need to settle down somewhere soon to help him with school. That was something else I would have to discuss with Brady once we had a wedding date set.
A tight knot formed in my stomach. Talk of settling down made Brady think he wouldn’t be able to chase the best fish all the time, but he was going to have to think about his family at some point…right? There had to be a part of him that was already well aware of that. I hoped.
I stepped back with a slight frown playing on my lips. Was this good enough? I really wanted this to be perfect, to show Brady just how much he meant to me.
Splashing, from the lake below the hill I was standing on, captured my attention. Excitement bloomed in my chest. It had to be Brady!
I spotted his boat and parted my lips to yell out to him, so he would know I had come to make his day better, but a weird feeling stopped me. I just watched and waited, a strange sense of anticipation and trepidation flowing through my veins.
What was he doing? Why did Brady look so…strange? It was almost like there was a dark aura surrounding him and it freaked me out to see it.
It took every ounce of will power I had not to scream as a shock of red hair flopped over the side of the boat. Did Brady have a woman in his boat with him? Was he using the secluded nature of Lake Arrowhead to get kinky with someone who wasn’t me?
I was in shock, and my knees buckled underneath me. How the hell could I have been so naïve, thinking Brady and I had this amazing relationship, planning a wedding, just for him to cheat? And what about Timothy? How could he do this to his son?
As I realized that my family was about to break up, or had already broken up, depending on how I wanted to view it, I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t seem to matter how much air I tried to suck into my lungs, it didn’t make a difference. I couldn’t stop feeling so horrendously dizzy.
Brady Clover had cheated on me. The world as I knew it had just turned upside down.
What the hell was I going to do now? Brady didn’t like me having a job, which he said was because of the constant moving around, but I knew was a male pride thing, because he wanted to take care of his woman. But now that left me with very little money. Plus, I didn’t really have anyone I was close to, so I was really alone. And now that this had happened, I was about to be even more alone.
“What the fuck?” I couldn’t stop myself from muttering as Brady lifted the redhaired woman as if she weighed nothing, but it wasn’t in the throes of passion. A bitter ball of bile lodged itself in the base of my throat as I noticed she wasn’t interacting with him at all.
She was lifeless, her skin having no color to it. Holy shit. What the hell was Brady doing with a dead woman in his boat? And why was he stroking her cheeks like he had some kind of sick connection to her? I found myself backing away as a million questions flooded my brain. None of this made any sense; I couldn’t make the pieces fit at all. But I was trying my hardest.
And then he tossed the lifeless body over the side of the boat and smirked to himself as he watched her sink. Like she meant nothing to him, like she was just a rock.
I did not know who Brady was, that much was clear.
It was also strikingly obvious that I needed to get the hell away from him, and now. If he could potentially murder a woman and toss her over the boat, there was no telling what he would do to me. No one was safe with a man like that.
Once I managed to wrench my gaze away from the scene of absolute horror unfolding in front of me, I ran back to my car without looking back. I didn’t want to see him again, ever, not even to confirm that the sight I had just seen was true. My gut knew it was. I needed to get Timothy out of school and get out of here before Brady got to him. I wouldn’t put it past that man to do anything now.