SWEET CALLAHAN HOMECOMING

by Tina Leonard

  It was good to see her smile. He knew she was upset about Fiona’s enchanted gown, but things happened around Rancho Diablo. One couldn’t get too knotted up about it. “So, what do you say we drive up there? Pretty short drive, if you think about it. We can be back in the morning.” He kissed the top of her nose. “I’m pretty sure that’s all you’re missing to be perfect.”

  “A Mrs. in front of my name?”

  “That, and a wedding ring. I can tell by the sparkle in your eyes that you’re tempted. And I have a pretty decent sapphire ring I bought you, if you remember.”

  “It’s a beautiful ring.”

  “So I have you right where I want you?” Xav asked, grinning. “I can tell I do. You might as well fall graciously.”

  She leaned up to kiss him, which he really appreciated. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her up against his chest, knowing that here was happiness. Here was home.

  “If my dress disappears, I expect you naked, too.”

  “Shared commiseration,” Xav said. “I can go with that. Nude is good. And I will always support you, babe, nude or not, but hopefully nude as often as possible.”

  “It’s a deal,” Ash said. “I’m falling as graciously as I know how.”

  “That’s all I can ask for.” Xav smiled, glad Ash wasn’t worrying anymore about carrying the Callahan curse. The notion was silly.

  And there was no such thing as disappearing magic wedding gowns—whatever had happened in Fiona’s attic no one would ever truly know.

  There were also no such things as family curses. If anybody’s family had reason to have a curse, it would have been the Gil Phillips clan.

  He had too much of his old man in him to worry about things that went bump in the night and half-baked fairy tales.

  * * *

  DANTE GLARED AT XAV when he found him in the kitchen swiping some cookies. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m grabbing some gingerbread and cookies. About to romance my lady.”

  Dante eyed the small piece of luggage by the kitchen door. “What’s that?”

  “Ash and I are heading off for the night.”

  “So I hear. I hear a lot,” Dante said. “I heard you went to see Wolf and laid him out.”

  “Hardly a tap. He didn’t take it too personally.” Xav loaded a few more cookies into the bag just for safekeeping. A full bride was a happy bride—he hoped.

  Dante sighed. “You can’t leave.”

  “I have to go. Ash and I have to go.” Xav glanced up. “Fiona and Burke are watching the babies.” He grinned, proud of himself. “Have to strike while the bride’s hot.”

  “We can’t afford to be shorthanded tonight,” Dante said. “We’re calling a meeting. Join us in the library.”

  Xav hesitated, caught by the unusual invitation to a family meeting. “What’s going on?”

  “A small fire was set in one of the empty barns. It’s just a warning shot, but we’re playing it cautious.”

  Ash would never leave if something was going down at Rancho Diablo. Xav began to feel the romantic getaway disappearing like the magic wedding gown. “I understand.”

  “Come up and help us set a game plan.”

  Xav slowly nodded. “Let me tell Ash. I’ll be right there.” He couldn’t let her continue to pack and get ready for a wedding when there wasn’t going to be one tonight.

  “She already knows. She’s upstairs. She said to tell you to hurry up.”

  “Blast,” Xav muttered.

  “Bring those cookies with you. Put them on a tray,” Dante said, grabbing one and helping Xav shovel the cookies from the bag onto a plate. “No paws in bags, Fiona says. Everything has to be served properly.”

  Xav didn’t say anything.

  “It’s okay, bro. You’ll get to marry my sister eventually.”

  “Thanks.”

  Dante laughed. “They say the best things in life are worth waiting for.”

  “Again, thanks.”

  Dante thought that was uproarious and went upstairs, Xav following behind with the cookies.

  All the Callahans were in the library. Ash came to kiss him and take the tray from him. “Sorry. I just heard what happened, too.”

  “I think you’re relieved not to be marrying me tonight,” Xav grumbled.

  “Handsome, I’ve waited for you long enough that I figure one more night isn’t going to make much of a difference.”

  “It makes a helluva difference to me,” he said, not caring who heard him grouse.

  “Does my heart good to hear how crazy you are about our sister,” Tighe said.

  “Yes,” Sloan said. “Now can we get down to business, or are we going to focus on roasting Xav?”

  “I can go either way,” Falcon said, “but I vote we get down to business.”

  “The fire in the barn was started in some hay boxes,” Galen said. “It happened about two hours ago. One of the hands happened to walk in there and saw it, shouted for help. They used horse-stall hoses and buckets to put it out. It’s pretty gutted, but it could have been worse.”

  “Wolf,” Jace said.

  “I don’t think it could have been.” Xav glanced at Ash. “I was just over there having a chat with him. He’d have to have practically been on my heels to get here and start it.” He considered the situation. “Wolf seems to have been cut loose from the pack. I’m pretty much guessing and going on a hunch, but I believe he’s on his own.”

  “A lone wolf is a dangerous animal,” Tighe said, echoing Xav’s earlier thought.

  “We don’t know anything,” Ash pointed out. “If a fire was set by a mercenary who’s not working with Wolf, we could be in a more difficult situation than ever. We don’t have the resources to fight off several attacks.”

  They pondered that.

  “Oh, hell,” Galen said. “Let’s just kidnap Uncle Wolf, tie him to a rock and leave him in one of his caves to rot.”

  They all stared at Galen.

  “You’re a doctor,” Ash said. “This is contrary to your calling. You’re tired. We’re all tired. Let’s give up on this for now and plan our strategy tomorrow.”

  “Seconded,” Sloan said. “Which means we can concentrate on the fact that Xav is trying to slink out of town with our sister.”

  Xav’s jaw dropped. “Slink! She’s the mother of my children! I think I can do a little more than slink with her.”

  “Think you already did,” Jace said, “and we consider that sufficient. Heaven knows we’ve all had our little surprises, but this is our sister.” He shot Xav a meaningful look. “We feel you can do better by her than an Elvis wedding.”

  “Some of the people in this room were married in Vegas, I feel it’s only fair to point out, and durn happy they were to get married anywhere at all,” Xav said in his defense. “We could do it better later. But I feel it’s important now to get her to an altar.” He looked around at the men who would be his brothers-in-law. “You should be grateful to me, after all. In the olden days, you’d be getting me to the altar with a shotgun.”

  Ash said, “Excuse me?”

  Xav quickly said, “Speaking strictly in a historical sense.”

  “The thing is, Fiona will be disappointed. This is her only niece,” Falcon said. “You understand that Ash’s wedding will be the only Callahan female wedding Fiona will ever get to preside over.”

  “Yes, I see,” Xav said, “but we’ve already got four children. It’s time for me to get your sister married.”

  “We understand you’re eager,” Dante said, slinging an arm around his shoulders in a brotherly fashion, “but we’re just not ready yet. We want things done right.”

  “Once again, excuse me?” Ash said. “Am I really standing right here listening to all of you try to run m
y life?”

  “Yes, you are,” Tighe said, “and it’s important that you listen to us. We’re your brothers. We know what’s best.”

  “No, no,” Ash said. “I’ve been taking care of all of you for years. I don’t need anybody taking care of me.”

  “That’s the thing,” Galen said. “There’s no reason to get married in a quickie, half-assed wedding if you’re sure this is your prince.” He came over to hug his sister. “If you love Xav, and he loves you, there’s no reason to rush. We have time to allow Fiona to plan a beautiful wedding for you. Get out the magic wedding dress and have your special day. You deserve it, Ash.”

  “I don’t want to wear the magic wedding dress,” Ash said, and everyone gasped, including Xav.

  What Callahan bride didn’t want to wear the auspicious, enchanted gown? He knew for a fact Ash had been up there at least twice to check it out. And she’d told him that wild tale of it going up in smoke, but that was utterly impossible. Just like the barn, if the dress had caught fire, the whole attic would have gone up.

  Maybe she didn’t want to marry him. Hell, it hadn’t even been that good of a story she’d concocted.

  He pushed the doubt away.

  “Fiona’s heart will break if you don’t wear her charmed dress,” Jace said. “You know how she dotes on her own legend. And she’s kind of getting up there in years, had a small cardiac event when I was trying to drag Sawyer into hiding. Of course, it all worked out for the best, but you don’t want to deprive the aunt of her only niece walking down the aisle in serious Callahan magic.”

  “Ash, you always wanted to wear it. Has he told you that you shouldn’t?” Sloan demanded, staring at Xav. “This quickie wedding business is for the birds. You stay right here and do the whole thing right.”

  “I’m not wearing the dress,” Ash said.

  Xav replied, “If she doesn’t want to, it’s her decision.”

  That earned him a grateful glance from Ash. Xav felt better. It was hard standing in the face of disapproval from her family, but if she didn’t want to wear the gown, it made no difference to him. He had her back.

  But of course she should wear it because it would be beautiful on her, and she was the most beautiful woman in the world, so she deserved beautiful things.

  He looked at Ash, saw the unhappiness in her big blue eyes and realized her ham-headed brothers were right about one thing: they were moving too fast, needed to slow down.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to let Fiona do some wedding planning,” he said slowly. “You’ve been through a lot, Ash. I want you to look back on your wedding day as a special day, the day all your dreams came true.”

  “That’s a pretty tall order, isn’t it?” Dante said, and the Callahan brothers roared with laughter at his expense.

  Xav sighed. “What do you not get? I am marrying your sister. It can be here, or it can be in Vegas. It can be in Timbuktu, I don’t care. But I’m marrying her as soon as she’ll have me.”

  “There you go,” Sloan said cheerfully. “All roped and tied, sister, ready for you to put out of his misery.”

  Ash looked at him, and Xav met her gaze with a grin.

  He felt very confident that he was wooing Ash the way a woman should be wooed, was stocking up all kinds of points by putting her brothers in their places.

  Ash walked to the door. Xav straightened, waiting for her pronouncement that they were leaving for Vegas.

  “I’m going to bed,” Ash said. “I leave all the conjuring of baddies and staking out of Uncle Wolf to all of you with full confidence that nothing will get done up here at all except the release of lots and lots of hot air.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Uh-oh,” Dante said. “Boy, is she ticked with you!”

  “Me?” Xav really had no good way to refute that—Ash had been aggravated. “I’m crazy about her. She’ll eventually say yes to the dress idea, but she doesn’t want six or more noses in her business. Anyway, I know my girl, and she’s annoyed with you lot.” He sighed, knowing exactly why she’d told her brothers she didn’t want to wear the magic wedding dress—because she thought it was gone.

  It was worth a recon mission into the attic to find out exactly what was going on. “Is this meeting over? I’ve got things to do, and Ash is right. Nothing’s getting done here.”

  “You’re just itching to run off and get yourself in our sister’s good graces,” Tighe said. “We respect that. We’re married. We know how to keep our nests properly feathered.”

  Xav frowned. “You guys need to give your sister some space. Ash will do what she wants when she’s good and ready. In the meantime, I’m out of here.”

  He exited the library, not sure why the Callahans were so riled about their sister getting married. He’d never seen them so protective, in such a stew over their petite, precious Ash. Xav understood, but at the same time, he figured they ought to be darn grateful she was going to marry him—a long-standing friend of the Callahan family..

  “I’m the man for her,” he muttered, heading up the attic stairs. “Magic dress or no. Interfering, overprotective brothers or not.”

  But he had the feeling she really wanted exactly what her brothers had been advising: A home wedding, surrounded by family and friends, wearing the gown that was meant for her—the only Callahan female—to wear.

  Of course she did.

  Up in the attic, he jerked open the closet, cursed just a bit when it felt as if the doorknob burned his hand. That was totally his imagination running wild, spooked by Ash’s tale.

  There was the white, poufy bag, just as Ash had described it. He unzipped it, stared at the voluminous white gown inside.

  He blinked. Holy crap. Something’s terribly wrong here.

  Grabbing his cell phone from his pocket, he called Ash. She picked up, sounding as though she was out of breath.

  “Hello?”

  “Gorgeous, can you come up to the attic for a second?”

  “No,” Ash said slowly, “I most certainly can’t.”

  “You need to see this.”

  “Xav,” she said impatiently, “I know what you want to show me, and while I appreciate your attempt at romance, I’m not in the mood at this moment. I’m changing the babies into warmer clothes to take them out for a bit.”

  The gown didn’t shimmer, didn’t change, didn’t go poof. He shook his head. “I’m going to send you a photo of something. Hang on.”

  He snapped a photo and texted it to her.

  “What do you think about that?” he asked.

  “Oh, Xav,” she said. “That’s so sweet of you. But not necessary.”

  “What’s not necessary?” A wedding dress felt very necessary to this situation.

  “That you found another gown to replace the one I burned up. But it doesn’t really work that way. It’s not like buying another fish to fool the children when their pet fish dies.”

  “I didn’t buy this fish—er, gown!”

  “Someone did,” she said patiently. “That isn’t the magic wedding dress.”

  He eyed the white lacy material. “How can you tell? Wedding dresses all look the same to me.”

  “I know it’s not because I saw it burn,” Ash said. “Believe me, it was a horrible moment.”

  He sighed. “So this one won’t do?”

  “Not really. You can’t just buy a gown for a woman and expect that she’ll love it. It’s got to be hers,” Ash explained.

  Maybe it was time to go back to the Vegas plan. “Maybe we could do a casual wedding in blue jeans and cowboy boots? Dress the babies up to match and take a family photo?”

  “I think my brothers were right,” Ash said. “As much as I wanted to disagree with them. I think we’re going too fast.”

  “I can never go fast enough with
you. In fact, this thing’s moving so slow, I’ll probably have gray hair by the time I get around to being a proper husband. I don’t just want to live with my girl and my children. It’s a matter of my reputation.”

  “I don’t think the Phillipses ever worried much about their reputations.”

  She had him there. “Are you sure you don’t want to come see this? I’m no expert but it may not be half-bad.”

  “It could be a tablecloth, Xav, and you wouldn’t know the difference.”

  Damn, she’d pinned him again. He zipped up the garment bag and headed down the stairs to find her, phone still in hand. “I think you ought to marry me before I change my mind.”

  She took the phone from him, switched it off and put both their phones down. Handed him Skye, who snuggled into his shoulder as if she was part of his heart. Which she pretty much was.

  “I think my brothers are right about letting Fiona plan a big wedding. I’m her only niece, and she’s waited a long time for this. Somehow I’m going to have to confess that the gown and I were a terrible match, and that it didn’t want me anywhere near it.”

  “Is that what you think happened?”

  She nodded. “I’m the hunted one. The gown didn’t want me to ruin the magic. So it destroyed itself. That’s exactly what happened.”

  “Argh,” Xav said, kissing the top of Skye’s downy head. “Can we at least set a date?”

  She kissed him, and he felt a little better.

  “You’re not ticked at me? Because it seemed like you were when you left the library.”

  “I was ticked at my brothers, who were being knuckleheads. But then I realized they’re pretty much right.”

  “I don’t know,” Xav said. “I think they’re enjoying watching me twist in the wind.”

  “Believe me, if they thought for one minute that you didn’t have honorable intentions, they would have rolled you into a cave and kept you there until you agreed to marry me.”

  “I want to marry you. I wanted to marry you before you went away.”

  She put Thorn into the stroller. “That makes no sense.”

  “Hey, I’m not exactly lightning. But I did buy out your bid last year at the Christmas ball. I didn’t want anyone else to have you.” He looked at Ash. “That ought to speak volumes about how I’ve always felt about you. I just don’t think you feel quite the same about me,” he said with a sudden strike of intuition. “Ashlyn Callahan, I believe you just wanted my hot, godlike body.”