Sweet Surprise (17 page)

Chapter 10

W
ith no brothers to know how the whole male-sibling-rivalry thing went, Mike sat back and watched three of the four Wilder brothers compete for who had the better plan. The competition had become entertaining as hell.

“I want to move it to the garden at our house after the wedding,” Jackson protested. “So I don’t want to anchor it into the ground here.”

The “it” in question was the arbor currently being constructed for Jackson and Abby’s wedding ceremony, which was to take place right there at Wilder Ranch.

“You have to,” Reno argued. “You need the stability in case of wind.”

“It’s not going to be windy,” Jackson insisted.

“Bullshit,” Reno countered. “You’re as big a blowhard as a Texas storm.”

Jackson flipped his oldest brother the bird.

“Allison says you always have to prepare for some kind of disaster to come up that day. Reno, you know that better than anyone.” This from Jesse, the Wilder’s newest newlywed, who escaped to Lake Tahoe to exchange his vows instead of the big shindig his family normally threw. Of course, with his bride a previous wedding planner, he probably made a good point.

“Dude. She’s not a wedding planner anymore,” Jackson said, obviously grasping at straws to maintain his edge. “She’s a psych student. So she doesn’t get a say.”

“She gets a say in my house,” Jesse argued.

“Right.” Jackson nodded. “Or you don’t get laid.”

Mike looked at the stack of rough-hewn lumber and grapevines scattered on the ground and figured by the time the brothers quit arguing, they’d be surrounded by darkness, and the assembly would have to wait for another day.

Exactly why Jackson had invited him over for the process remained a mystery, other than maybe to break things up in case punches flew. But since he did construction on the side, he had a few suggestions that might deter the calling of names and the raising of fists.

“Maybe there’s another way,” Mike said, and all three heads swiveled in his direction. “You can temporarily anchor it by adding a bottom brace and staking it into the ground. Then when you’re ready to move it, you just remove the stakes and the bottom brace.”

He smiled, figuring he’d just solved the issue before the men came to blows. But they all looked at him like he’d grown an extra head. Hell. Maybe they just liked to argue.

“We need to think about this some more.” Jackson reached into the ice chest and tossed fresh bottles of Shiner Bock Ale to his brothers and a bottle of Pepsi to Mike.

Mike twisted the top off and took a swallow. The soda was crisp and cold and slid down his throat in a parade of carbonated bubbles.

He didn’t drink anymore.

Ever.

And he appreciated friends like the Wilder brothers, who understood his past and respected him enough to never push alcohol in front of him. Not that he’d weaken. He’d long ago passed the stage where he craved the stuff to numb the pain.

Things were looking up in his world. In fact, at the moment they were looking damn good. And as long as his family members kept the insanity to a dull roar, maybe the pain would become a lost memory.

“Thinking won’t get it done, jackass.” Jesse’s grin took the sting from his words as he opened his beer. “And if we aren’t going to work, then I’d rather be at home.”

Reno punched Jesse’s arm in attaboy fashion. “You keep that up, and your girl won’t be able to walk.”

“Well, keeping it up is exactly what I aim to do, so if you jayholes don’t come up with something quick, I’m outta here.”

Mike had to laugh. All the banter wasn’t much different from being at the station, where the camaraderie often went from one of exhaustion to giving each other shit in a split second.

Despite Jesse’s threat to bail, they all ended up sprawled out in a set of Adirondack chairs beneath the shade of a huge oak tree, shooting the shit.

“You hear anything more from baby brother?” Jesse asked Jackson.

Jackson took a long pull from his Shiner and shook his head. “He’s still trying to work out a leave for the wedding. Says he’ll be here, though, even if he has to go AWOL.”

“Hope Jake can make it without doing jail time,” Mike said. He and Heather had gotten married in the courthouse, without a single friend or family member present. They’d even had to pull in a couple of witnesses from the clerk’s office. It had been cold and impersonal. Much like their marriage.

“Wouldn’t be his first time in the gray bar hotel,” Reno said. “But don’t tell Mom. She doesn’t know we bailed his ass out.”

Mike laughed. “What’d he get thrown in for?”

“Drunken stupidity.” Laughing, Jackson slapped his knee. Obviously the memory was quite humorous. “The night of his high-school graduation, he and a bunch of buddies drove into San Antonio to hit up some strip clubs. He was eighteen and full of himself. Thought every girl on the stage wanted him.”

“Yeah.” Jesse grinned. “The only one who really wanted a piece of him was one of the dancer’s boyfriends, who took offense when Jake got a little too up close and personal with his girl.”

“Such a total dumb shit.” Reno shook his head, but Mike could tell the comment was made with affection.

Mike looked around at the men in his company. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that to them, love and loyalty were as important as air. And
that
was what continuously raised the question in Mike’s mind about why Jackson and Fiona had parted ways. They were both good people who obviously cared deeply for each other and respected a family environment. Fiona had more heart and spunk than anyone he’d met in a long time. She was truly someone special. And Mike felt guilty as hell sitting there acting like a buddy while at the same time deceiving his friend.

His thoughts were interrupted by a head butt to his shoulder. He turned to find Jana’s goat standing there, decked out in a bright green ribbon.

“Meh-eh-eh.”

The brothers laughed, while Mike stroked her long brown neck.

“I’d tell you if you don’t have a date for the wedding you could bring Miss Giddy.” Laughing, Jackson pointed at the amorous animal. “Except Abby’s already got her signed up to be the ring bearer.”

“Are you shitting me?” Reno’s eyes went wide.

“Nope.”

“I smell Mom’s influence here,” Jesse added.

“Well . . .” Jackson looked at his brothers. “Mom had a good hand in putting us all together with our women, so who are we to call her out?”

So Jana had played matchmaker with her sons?

Mike continued to pet Miss Giddy because she pretty much threw a bleating fit when he stopped. He thought back to the day he’d been summoned to Jana Wilder’s kitchen and the words she’d used that he initially hadn’t understood.

“
I have bigger plans for you,
” she’d said. “
And not a single one of my boys can fulfill this particular . . . desire.
”

Was she playing matchmaker with him and Fiona?

If so, how would Jackson feel about that?

Hell, did Jana’s matchmaking efforts even matter? Because the moment he’d informed Jackson’s ex-wife he wanted a chance to prove himself to be the man she wanted, he’d blown the guy code sky-high.

T
he atmosphere at Charli and Reno’s house registered high on the fun meter as all the girls gathered to make the Mason-jar candleholders and flower vases for Abby and Jackson’s wedding. With everyone fighting over who got to hold Annie’s new baby boy, Izzy running around with Charli and Reno’s dogs Bear and Pumpkin, the radio blasting Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” and several different conversations going on at once, it was uncontrolled chaos.

Fiona loved it.

Since the grand opening, things were still going strong. But she’d been locked up in the kitchen all alone for hours and hours and had begun to go a little stir-crazy without anyone but the customers to talk to in spits and spurts. Being in the company of good friends had been just what she needed.

Plus there was the little drama that Mike hadn’t called since he’d driven away the night she’d given him the green light. Since then, she’d spent far too many solitary hours pouring batter and frosting cupcakes with nothing to do but wonder why he hadn’t called or come by. It wasn’t like she could ask Jackson about him or he’d guess what was—or wasn’t—going on.

She’d needed a diversion.

Six crazy country girls were a great place to start.

“I’m going for simple country,” Abby told everyone as she wrapped wire around a blue jar. “Everything except the clothes and flowers has come from barns, attics, and secondhand stores.”

“I wish my Seattle clients had been as easy to please as you.” Allison, previously a wedding planner, had saved the day for Charli and Reno’s wedding. As a newlywed, Allison was probably glad Abby had decided to keep her wedding on the modest side.

Fiona sat back and thought about her wedding to Jackson, which hadn’t been much of a wedding at all. Once he’d decided they needed to get married, they’d gone down to the courthouse and with strangers as witnesses, they’d numbly recited their vows and signed the license. Jana had pitched a fit that they hadn’t told the family. Then she’d thrown them an over-the-top reception a few weeks later. By then, the mean-girl gossip from the jealous females in the area had spread like a spring flood that Fiona had planned the pregnancy to trap one of Sweet’s most desirable bachelors.

If only it had been that simple.

Nothing had been planned. Both of them at the time had felt trapped. It wasn’t until the birth of adorable Izzy that the residents of Sweet forgave her.

The unstoppable beam on Abby’s face genuinely made Fiona happy that this time around, Jackson would have what he’d wanted all along. A real wedding to the woman he’d been in love with most of his life. Fiona had always been a sucker for a happy ending. Jackson and Abby would finally have theirs.

As for her?

Who knew.

“Fi has agreed to make our wedding cake.” Abby announced it so proudly, Fiona couldn’t help blush. “We’ve decided to go completely against the grain. Both the cake and frosting will be chocolate and decorated with gold sugar pearls.”

“Chocolate!” Jana looked up from rocking baby Max.

The expression on Abby’s face went from joy to holy shit in .2 seconds. The back of Fiona’s neck broke out in a sweat. Jana wasn’t the type to interfere in other people’s details. In fact, unless it involved meddling in her son’s love lives, she pretty much shrugged and let things go. But she was as traditional as a person could get, so maybe the idea of an all-chocolate wedding cake was too much for her to handle.

“Whose idea was that?” Jana asked.

“Jackson and I decided together,” Abby answered.

“That’s not very traditional.”

“Neither is the way we’ve done anything else,” Abby declared.

Jana’s gaze found Fiona across the room, and it wasn’t hard to tell what path her thoughts had taken. Both Jackson and Abby had been married and divorced before they found each other again. And Jana was wondering how this whole wedding thing affected Fiona. Time to step in and ease the pressure.

“I was really happy Abby suggested chocolate,” Fiona said. “I’ve made a ton of wedding cakes, and there’s really only so much you can do with fillings and ganache. I think Abby and Jackson deserve something a little more special, don’t you?”

Jana caught her grin and returned the gesture.

“Chocolate, huh? Guess that’s about the tastiest idea I’ve heard in a long time. In fact, I’d best get the first piece.”

Relieved, everyone laughed, and the conversations started up again with asking about the honeymoon location and, of course, the bachelorette party.

The previous uproar in the living room, where the dogs and Izzy had been romping about, got way too quiet. Fiona went to investigate. She wasn’t surprised to find Izzy fast asleep in the middle of the big rug with the dogs snuggled up against her. Not a single eye cracked open as Fiona approached, bent down, and kissed Izzy’s forehead. That unique, sweaty-little-kid smell clung to her like a dirty sock. But Fi knew she was out for the night, so a bath would have to wait until morning.

“I remember the night she was born like it was yesterday.”

Fiona looked up as Jana entered the room. Apparently, she’d handed off baby Max to someone else as her arms were empty, but her smile was huge.

“Me too.” Fiona chuckled as she stood. “I’d never seen anything so pink, wiggly, and loud in my life.”

“You gave us all something very special that night, and I’ll forever be grateful.” Jana hugged her tight.

Fiona hugged back. “I was lucky to get all of you in the process. None of you ever made me feel bad for the way things happened. Even if the rest of the town thought different.”

“Oh, sugarplum. Don’t you ever pay any mind to what everyone else thinks. It’ll stop you right in your tracks from living the good life. Some things are just meant to happen, and it’s not for us to question why.”

Fiona’s heart squeezed. The comment made her think of the son and husband Jana had lost. Some things might be meant to happen, but it didn’t make them fair.

“I think it’s wonderful of you to agree to make their cake.” Jana tucked a lock of Fiona’s hair behind her ear in a motherly gesture. “Are you sure you’re really okay with all this? Because as much as I’m happy for my son and Abby, who, just like you, has always been like a daughter to me, it would break my heart if you had—”

“Reservations?” Fiona asked.

“Doubts. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t be able to handle seeing their ex get married again. At least not at such a close distance.”

Gosh. Would that question—that worry—ever end?

“Jana, I’m not just okay, I’m
thrilled
for them. I know it might seem odd to the outside world that Jackson and I get along so well and that Abby has become one of my dearest friends. But Jackson and I . . . I don’t know. I guess it’s hard to explain. He means so much to me. I love him with all my heart. But, you know,
in
love just never happened for us. He and Abby are so perfect together. They’re so
in
love. How could I not be happy for them?”