Dreams of the Future by Laura Hunsaker

Dreams of the Future

by Laura Hunsaker

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Book Blurb: 

Kate Landry is soon to be Kate Donovan, if only the groom would show up… 

 

Maid of honor Cara Nguyen wants everything to go smoothly for her best friend's wedding, yet almost immediately, the wedding turns into a fiasco. Kate and Kyle deserve to have the wedding of their dreams, and Cara wants to make it happen. How can she pull off the wedding of their dreams when the flowers are delivered to the wrong location, the groom is missing, and the lovely sunny day has become a sweltering hot mess? There’s a lot to do, and so little time to do it. She definitely doesn’t have time to get distracted by a sexy groomsman in a kilt. 

Kyle Donovan is ready to marry the love of his life, but first he has to get back to the church… 

Dash Helms is in the small town of Chester, California for his friend Kyle’s wedding. This should be a happy event, yet it seems everything is going haywire. A caravan of wedding guests breaks down on their way to the venue, one of the groomsmen misses his flight, and the wedding has to be moved inside. Yet the beautiful maid of honor is the only thing he can concentrate on. When Dash is asked to step in at the last minute as a replacement groomsman, of course he says yes. While the striking brunette walking down the aisle ahead of him wants nothing to do with him, even she can’t deny the sparks that fly between them. 

 With everything seeming to go wrong, what can go right? 

In this wedding short story written for Kate and Kyle from Dark Past, the cast of the Fatal Instincts series comes together to celebrate their friends. With everyone in the same place at once, and romance in the air, can this small town handle them? 

Excerpt:

 Chapter 1 

The weather was gorgeous. A light fog wrapped around the gazebo, snaking its fingers in between the leaves and flowers that were woven into the slats decorating it. One last cool foggy touch before the morning sun burned it off.  

The warm, buttery yellow sunlight hitting the tall trees of the Sierra Nevada was the most beautiful backdrop she could think of for the day she married her love. Although she could marry him inside an old shed, and she wouldn’t care. She just wanted to start her new life.  

And after the year she had had? She deserved something nice. They all did. She wanted the day to go smoothly, not so much for herself, but for her fiancé Kyle. He had risked his life for her; he knew all her secrets and every skeleton in her closet, and miracle of miracles, he loved her. She wanted today to be perfect.  

She glanced up at the picturesque view once more. She would never tire of the beauty here. The fires had torn through the California mountains a couple of seasons ago, but the new growth was coming in, and this area still had a lot of tall trees standing. It was beyond beautiful. They had survived. So, too, would she. Kate closed her eyes, and she tipped her face to the sun. And she would thrive.  

One more deep breath in, one more glance at the majestic scene, one more day as Kate Landry. From the looks of it, today would be perfect.  

Kate smiled to herself before turning back inside, her white satin robe whispering against her legs as she walked. She trusted that her family and friends had a handle on things. She could breathe, if not relax. She wasn’t feeling the stress she associated with weddings at all. Maybe because it was her own wedding? She shrugged to herself as she walked to the bridal suite to meet her bridesmaids. With a deep breath, she released the shadows of her past, and looked steadfastly to her future. Today was going to be fine.  

*** 

 

Nothing was fine. 

The flowers had been delivered to the wrong location. How on earth had the flowers been delivered to the wrong place? The town had 2,000 people on a good day, so how had they been delivered to the wrong location? 

Cara Nguyen was sweating in her bridesmaid gown as she contemplated the flower situation. She and the other bridesmaids had walked over from the hotel across the street, and didn’t have a rental car to go get the flowers. Topping it off, the lovely morning had become a miserable, sweltering day. The humidity was ridiculous, and she was worried the flowers would wilt if they weren’t brought into the air conditioning. Could the air conditioning even keep up with the outside heat? She didn’t know, but she prayed it could. 

The maid of honor was supposed to have a stressful job, she knew that, but this? This was beyond stress. 

One of the bridesmaids, Jenny, popped her head in. “The flowers are here. I called the company and when they refused to re-deliver them, even though it was their mistake, Scott rallied the guys and they brought the flowers over. Our bouquets are in the fridge in the reception hall.” 

Thank goodness. Cara wanted to sink into a chair and let her nerves settle. She really wanted this day to be perfect for Kate. She deserved it. But a maid of honor’s duty was never done. She ran her hands down her dove gray, strapless, tea-length gown, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles from the silk. She took a deep breath, held it, counted to ten, and released it. There, all calm.  

“Great. Jenny, will you stay with Kate and make sure she doesn’t sneak off to see Kyle?” 

“Hey. It was just for a moment.” Kate didn’t even sound repentant.  

“You know the rule. The groom can’t see the bride before the wedding.”  

“I know, trust me. You guys made me stay at a hotel instead of, you know”—she narrowed her eyes— “my own bed.” 

“Uh, it was Girl’s Night! Plus, we totally pampered you.” Cara thought last night had been perfect. 

“Besides,” piped in Jenny, “You get to spend the rest of your life with Kyle. One night away isn’t the end of the world. It’s just the last night as Kate Landry, and after today, you will be Kate Donovan.” 

 

Author Bio:

Laura Hunsaker is an award-winning writer who writes romance set in the Scottish Highlands, but with a twist. Somewhere in between Historical and Paranormal, she writes Scottish Time Travel Romance and Paranormal Romance. She's hard at work right now, writing about protective men paired with strong women who knock them off their feet. 

Her Romantic Suspense series has really taken off, and readers everywhere are asking for more! 

She is a hybrid author being both traditionally published and self-published, as well as a member of Romance Writers of America® Cactus Rose Chapter and the Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. 

She earned degrees in English and German, with a specialty in British Literature, and taught for a few years. As of now, Laura has a full-time day job which leaves nights for traveling through the mists of Scotland and beyond. 

Her latest adventure has been writing hockey romance as Kenzie MacLir with contemporary romance author Heather Lire. Their debut story is in the Icing the Puck anthology available now, and look for a new book to release this hockey season!