Wild Iris Ridge (Hope's Crossing) (24 page)

He suddenly remembered what Dylan had said to him the night of Carter’s party.
Life rolls on, no matter what. You can either be squashed beneath the treads or jump on and grab tight and enjoy the ride.

That was exactly what he planned to do—hold on tight to Lucy and enjoy the ride. The good and the bad, the hard and the sweet. Birthdays and anniversaries, baseball games, movie nights.

And stress relief. Lots and lots of stress relief.

He felt as if he had just been handed an unbelievably miraculous gift, and he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of their lives unwrapping it together.

EPILOGUE

T
HE
G
REGORY
-C
AINE
and Caine-Beaumont combined wedding reception would forever go down in the annals of Hope’s Crossing history as one of the wildest, biggest, most over-the-top celebrations ever.

Genevieve had really outdone herself on the venue. Brendan didn’t know the first thing about wedding décor, but if somebody asked him to describe the Silver Strike ballroom right now, he would have called it simple elegance, with little twinkly lights, spears of fake trees, candles everywhere.

The food, the music, the decorations—everything was perfect. If it didn’t sound too corny, he would have said the whole ballroom seemed to vibrate with happiness.

As he swayed to the music with his pint-size partner, Brendan could see his sister and his new sister-in-law on the fringes of the dance floor, each of them breathtaking in her own way.

Genevieve and Charlotte seemed happy enough to share this reception after their individual ceremonies. Charlotte and Spencer had married the night before at the charming little church in town where the Caines always attended, and Genevieve and Dylan wed that morning in a stirring sunrise ceremony in a wildflower-covered meadow in Snowflake Canyon.

Brendan was proud of himself that he hadn’t even ribbed Dylan about the dazzled look on his face every time he caught sight of his bride. As for Spence? Smokin’ Hot Spencer Gregory—who had been on magazine covers around the world and had once been married to a supermodel—actually had tears in his eyes when he married their sweet Charlotte.

All in all, a perfect weekend, Brendan thought. But when it came to happiness bubbling over, Brendan figured he had both Dylan and Spence beat. He had one of his favorite girls in his arms as they spun around the dance floor, and his other one was currently sitting at a table nearby with her broken ankle elevated on a pillow while Carter leaned against her other leg and chattered a mile a minute, as usual.

“Aunt Charlotte and Genevieve are the prettiest brides ever, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” he answered Faith, smiling as he spun her around on the dance floor with a complicated flourish that made her giggle.

“I like Spence,” she announced. “He said I should call him Uncle Spence now. And Genevieve said I can call her Aunt Gen or Aunt Genevieve. Except Uncle Dylan heard her say that and told me to call her something fancy like they would in Paris. He had me practice it over and over. Listen.
Tante Jahn-Vi-Ev.
Isn’t that pretty?”

He never would have figured Dylan for a guy who knew any French whatsoever, but then, nothing his little brother did surprised him anymore. That included marrying the town’s spoiled rich girl, who was turning out to be far more than everyone in Hope’s Crossing ever thought.

Now that Faith reminded him of it, he remembered hearing Dylan say Gen’s name with an exaggerated French accent a time or two in a teasing tone. It was kind of sweet coming from a big, tough army ranger, especially the way she would blush and give him a soft, secret smile.

He had been the recipient of a few of those secret smiles himself the past few weeks. Unable to help himself, he glanced over toward Lucy’s table and had to glower a little when he found Aidan now sitting next to her, deep in conversation.

Carter had left her, and a quick glance around revealed his son had been grabbed by his niece Ava and Peyton Gregory, Spence’s daughter, who were now trying to teach him how to foxtrot—much to Carter’s loud and obvious displeasure.

Oh, how he loved that kid—and the rest of his loud, crazy, wonderful family.

A moment later—just as Brendan and his partner passed Mary Ellen and Harry Lange on the dance floor—the music stopped and his son gave an extremely audible sigh of relief and raced toward the refreshment stand.

“Thanks for the dance, bug,” he told his daughter.

“You’re welcome, Daddy. I told Uncle Jamie I would dance with him. Is that okay?”

She gave him a worried look, as if afraid she would hurt his feelings by casting him aside for his younger and infinitely more charming brother.

“Of course it’s okay. He’s among my five favorite brothers.”

She frowned in puzzlement for just a moment then made a face. “You only have five brothers!”

Brendan had never before heard anybody use the word “only” with that particular phrase. “Why, so I do. And Jamie is certainly one of them. One of the better dancers among us, for what it’s worth. But are you sure you wouldn’t rather go dance with Uncle Aidan? He looks like he could use a little exercise and he loves to dance.”

It was a blatant lie but then, he figured Aidan had been monopolizing Lucy long enough.

“After Uncle Jamie. I did promise him.”

With the proper manners instilled in him by Pop, he led his daughter off the dance floor to the corner, where Jamie was sending out all his helicopter-pilot mojo with a couple of Genevieve’s friends who had flown over from Paris for the wedding.

To Jamie’s credit, he didn’t seem at all bothered to be interrupted in mid-flirt by his seven-year-old niece and quickly swooped her back out to the dance floor.

Brendan, in turn, headed toward the nearest waiter, intending to nab a couple flutes of champagne and return to Lucy’s side. Just as he reached the guy, Dermot approached from the other direction.

“Great party, Pop.” It had to be said.

Dermot beamed at him, glowing as brightly as either of the brides. “It certainly is. A blessed time for the Caine family, isn’t it? Overnight, I’ve gained a son and a daughter. And, of course, a new granddaughter in our Peyton. Oh, how your mother would have loved to see this. She always loved weddings and she would be bursting at the seams with joy.”

“She is,” he said, with perfect certainty.

Pop squeezed his arm, his blue eyes suddenly watery. “True enough, son. True enough. No doubt we had two angels these last few days, joining in our celebrations.”

Jessie and Charlotte had been close friends. She would have loved this, too.

“It’s a good thought, isn’t it?”

“That it is.” Dermot nodded back at the table across the way where a certain lovely woman with dark curls sat in conversation with Aidan. “And here’s another beautiful thought. Lucy. She’s a true delight, son, so full of love and heart.”

Carter was back with her now, he saw. He was sitting at the table beside her eating yet another piece of cake. As he watched, Lucy reached out with a napkin to wipe a little smudge of frosting from the corner of his mouth.

“She is indeed,” he answered.

“There,” Dermot said softly. “That smile. I thought for certain you’d lost it forever. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am to see you happy again, my boy.”

The past few weeks had been amazing, filled with more laughter and joy than he believed possible.

“Same goes, Pop. You and Katherine are enough to make the worst cynic want to write a love song.”

Pop blushed as he sipped at his champagne. “She’s...amazing. That’s all there is to it. You and the other boys and Charlotte probably think I’m an old fool, don’t you?”

“Never. We think you’re finally showing a little good sense when it comes to Councilwoman Thorne. We’re all happy for you.” He gave his father a sidelong look. “Just one question. When will we all be dancing at your wedding?”

To his great amusement, Pop’s blush intensified and he cleared his throat with a surreptitious look around. “How would September work for you?”

Brendan stared. “I was only joking. Really, Pop?”

“Nothing’s official yet. I would ask you not to say a word to any of the others until we’re ready.”

“Of course. Of course.” He considered it a great honor that his father trusted him enough to confide in him, no doubt because of the unique bond created between them over the past few years. Each of them had endured the raw, devastating pain of losing the woman he loved. And both of them were slowly coming to see that the world hadn’t stopped spinning because of it.

“Do you think it’s too soon?” Dermot asked, edgy nerves in his voice.

“Are you kidding? You and Katherine have been a thing for years. Everybody saw it except the two of you.”

He suddenly couldn’t contain a grin. He found it hilarious that his father, who had been so cautious that he hadn’t asked out the woman he loved for years and years, was now talking about marriage just a few weeks into making their unspoken relationship official.

“Neither of us wants to wait. We’ve both been alone so long and don’t want to stay that way a minute longer than we have to. Besides, we’re seasoned enough to know our own minds by now, don’t you think?”

He found the whole thing sweetly wonderful. “It’s great, Dad. We all love Katherine. You know we do. Most of all, we just want you to be happy.”

Dermot inclined his head back toward Lucy. “And do you have any similar plans in that direction?”

He could feel his own features heat. The idea of taking that huge step again should fill him with panic. Instead, whenever he thought about Lucy and the future, a warm, tender peace seeped through him. For the past two years after losing Jess, each day had been a battle of endurance, just trying to make it through and doing his best to give his children some kind of normalcy.

For the first time, he looked toward the future with eager anticipation. He couldn’t wait to see what life had in store for them—but mostly he was learning to simply savor right this moment.

He wasn’t ready to talk about any of it with his father just yet. The love he had for Lucy was too new, too precious.

“Maybe,” he conceded. “But why don’t we focus on the weddings we’re celebrating tonight before we start looking down the road?”

Dermot smiled “Good idea, my boy. Good idea. Let’s party. Isn’t that what you kids say?”

He hadn’t been a kid in a long time but he got the general idea. “Close enough,” he said, nodding to Pop and heading back to Lucy.

When he reached the table, Lucy smiled up at him, eyes shining with joy and love and a hundred other emotions that just about laid him flat on the dance floor.

Aidan at least had the good sense to rise and surrender his chair as soon as Brendan approached.

“I’ll be in town until Tuesday,” his brother said. “Why don’t we meet at Pop’s place Monday morning for French toast and we can go over all the details?”

“Perfect. I’m excited about this. Thanks, Aidan.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one with all the good ideas. Bren, I hope you know you’re one lucky son of a gun.”

He thought of the dark place that had been his home the past two years. He felt as if he had been walking alone through that thorny, rocky, miserable place and was just now emerging back into a place filled with light and joy and hope.

“Yeah. I know.”

He reached for Lucy’s hand and she tangled her fingers through his with that soft smile that always made his heart pound. He wanted to kiss her, but Carter still got a little grossed out by it—something his son was just going to have to get over pretty darn quickly.

Aidan—the original cynic, who wouldn’t be writing anybody love songs anytime soon—watched them both with an unreadable look for just a moment then smiled. He started to turn away but before he could make it far, Faith skipped to their table with her pink skirts twirling.

“Uncle Aidan, will you dance with me?”

The man a Bay Area magazine had called one of its 100 most eligible bachelors looked thoroughly delighted. “Why, Faith, my dear, that’s the best invitation I’ve had all night.”

He pulled his niece’s hand through his arm and headed toward the dance floor.

“He seems to be taking your change in plans amazingly well. Very unlike the Aidan we all know and love,” he said to Lucy.

She shrugged. “You know, I really don’t think he will mind having his own private marketing consultant on speed dial.”

“Just as long he remembers that you’re my private marketing consultant,” he growled.

She gave a throaty laugh and squeezed his fingers. Too bad for Carter, Brendan couldn’t resist leaning in and giving her a light kiss.

His son only rolled his eyes and finished off his cake. He must be adjusting to the new situation—not that he or Faith had a problem with him dating Lucy. Both of them had privately told him they were thrilled about it.

After Spence and Charlotte’s wedding the night before, Faith had asked him a similar question to the one Dermot just had, if he planned to marry Lucy. She expressed in no uncertain terms that she would love, love, love it if Lucy came to live with them.

Since Carter didn’t have many memories of his mother, he just wasn’t used to seeing his dad kissing anybody. They would all figure it out.

Lucy had slipped effortlessly into the current of life in Hope’s Crossing. The open house the night before the inn opened had been filled with friends, new and old. She was loving the challenge of it, and had already been contacted by a dozen tech companies who had heard she was moving into consulting from this little Colorado town.

“I’m all done with my cake. Can I go talk to my friend Ethan?” Carter asked.

He saw Sam Delgado, his wife, Alex, and their son, Ethan, at a nearby table. “Sure. Just don’t go farther than that.”

As soon as Carter left, he reached out and kissed Lucy again, not caring who saw them.

“I’m crazy about you. You know that, right?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice soft and a little dazed. “Aidan’s wrong, by the way. I’m the lucky one.”

He didn’t agree but he also didn’t want to argue in the middle of a wedding reception. “How’s the ankle?”

She shrugged. “A little sore. It’s been a long couple of days, on top of the craziness of the last week at the inn. I’m fine, though. Wishing I could be out there dancing. You know you don’t have to sit here by me all night, right?”

He took her hand again, his heart overflowing with happiness that flooded all the dark corners with light.

“Get used to it, Lucy. Right here, next to you, is exactly where I want to be.”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from WILLOWLEAF LANE by RaeAnne Thayne.