by Wendy Vella
She managed a snort. “I don’t think that would be a fair fight.” She was proud she’d managed to stop her voice from squeaking.
His smile was slow and his drawl thick. “Now, honey, there’s plenty of ways to settle an argument without violence.”
Oh God, she was about to dissolve in to a puddle of need at his feet.
“I’m sure, and equally sure you’ve had plenty of experience in that field. Now please excuse me, I need to see to my son.”
Cursing herself for sounding uptight, Macy forced herself to walk away slowly and not run like the voice inside her head was screaming at her to do.
Walking through the open doors off the dining area, Macy found Billy seated beside Declan and Mikey with a plate of food before him. He was talking to Ellen Todd, the local teacher, who was having a thing with Declan that no one was meant to know about, but did.
“Hey there, big boy.” She stood behind her son, feeling calmer now she was no longer alone with the man who did disturbing things to her body.
“I got cake!”
“I can see you do, Billy, and I’m not sure how considering the wedding cake hasn’t been cut.”
“Noah had some, so he made him a plate. Hope that’s okay, Macy?”
“Sure, and thanks for watching him, Declan.”
“Jake just told me that's Brad Gelderman.” Branna had moved to Macy’s side. “But considering what I know about him, I find that hard to believe.”
“It is.”
“I thought he’d have horns after Annabelle’s description, not look gorgeous.”
She absolutely refused to look for him. This had to stop now.
“Yes, he looks like Ethan, don't you think?”
Brad walked into her line of sight and took a seat beside his sister. His eyes moved over the guests and settled on her.
“Wow,” Branna whispered. “I think I just got burned by that look, and it wasn't even aimed at me.”
“What?” Macy dragged her eyes from Brad. Her heart was thumping, body melting, and her breasts felt tight suddenly. What the hell was the matter with her?
“Brad Gelderman is totally into you, Macy, and quite frankly he's one hell of a hunk of sexy male.”
“Branna!” Macy looked at Billy and Mikey, but luckily they were engrossed in making a paper plane out of a place card. “I can't believe you said that.”
Her friend smiled, a sweet, wicked smile.
“Lighten up. You're a beautiful woman, he's gorgeous in a rough, sexy way. Have some fun, girl.”
“I'm a mother, for pity’s sake,” Macy couldn't stop the thud of her heartbeat. “I don't have fun.”
Branna raised a brow.
“With men,” she added.
“Well you should, and I'm only suggesting a little harmless flirtation, Macy. Not stripping him naked and jumping him.”
Macy groaned as she cupped her hands over her ears. Branna pulled them away.
“You have not taken a vow of chastity, and it would do you good to understand that you are a beautiful, intelligent, and incredibly talented young woman, Macy. Perhaps Brad Gelderman could be the one to start making you aware of that fact.”
“He’s Ethan’s brother, Branna!”
“And here for a brief visit, and I stress the word brief. It’s the perfect opportunity for you, and don’t you dare try to tell me you don’t think he’s hot.”
“He’s hot,” Macy admitted.
“And totally into you.”
“We’re not teenagers, Branna. I’m a responsible parent, I can’t just go….” Macy waved a hand about.
“Flirting, having fun, talking dirty with a hot guy?”
“Have you been drinking?” She studied her friend’s eyes, but they seemed clear.
“What would Dr. Milo say to you right now if you told her you’d seen a guy who lit your fuse?”
“Will you stop that.” Macy looked around her again, but no one was listening.
“Prude.”
Macy sighed. “Loath as I am to admit this to you as it will only urge you on, but Dr. Milo told me to start dipping my toes in the water again.”
“As in, talk, flirt, and have fun with hot guys like one Brad Gelderman?”
Macy nodded.
“Well there you go then, and quite frankly, if I didn't have the hottest man in Howling warming my bed and I could get Brad Gelderman to nibble my toes, I'd be a happy woman.”
Oh God, Macy thought, looking to where he sat. So would I be.
CHAPTER THREE
There was something sexy about that little bridesmaid, Macy, that made Brad’s blood pressure spike. He had this weird feeling in his chest, a sensation that he couldn’t seem to identify, and it wasn’t all attributed to seeing his family again.
The dress she and the others wore was pink, the soft baby doll color. It was fitted up top with a flirty hem that sat a few inches above her knees, exposing shapely legs. She was small and lush with serious curves that a man could get lost in. Her hair was loose and hung below her shoulders and she had one side pushed back with flowers.
“So what’s the deal, Brad. You’ve changed since we last saw you.”
Brad dragged his eyes from Macy reluctantly and looked at his sister.
“It was time for me to change, Hope.”
“And that’s it, we don’t get any other explanation. Just, it was time?”
Last time he’d seen his sister, he’d been blind drunk at a party where her husband, who was also a Texan oil man, had been receiving an award. They hadn’t spoken since.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted the last time we met, Hope,” Brad said, disgusted all over again at the man he’d allowed himself to become.
Hope made a pffting sound. “I forgave you ages ago. You were living with EG. Most people turn to drink with too much exposure.”
Brad snorted. “Never a truer word spoken, little sister.”
“I didn’t suffer like you boys did.”
Hope had been a quiet child, and because of that and the fact she was a girl, and therefore not worthy of his attention, she stayed out of their father’s firing line.
“Lucky you.”
Her hand rested on his briefly.
“I’m sorry we left you.”
“I chose to stay.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But it can’t have been easy.”
It hadn’t been easy, and by the time he’d woken up to the man he was becoming, he’d done so much damage to himself and others he wasn’t entirely sure if he could repair it.
“I can’t imagine father was happy with this change in you. Appearances are everything to him, Brad.”
Truth time, he thought.
“I haven't seen them for two years, so they don’t know what I look like now.”
Brad watched his sister's mouth drop open. They'd never been really close; in fact, he couldn't remember a time when he was close to anyone, especially not a sibling, but right at that moment he felt it, that bond that some families had. A link. Without his father there to play his children off against each other, he was free to talk, free to just be a brother.
They'd been raised as a family of course, and yes, he remembered that there were times when he and his siblings had played and interacted. But with no role models to show them love or affection, they'd had to stumble through that minefield themselves, and Brad had come up short.
Ethan was the eldest, and had tried to be there for them, but Brad was next in line and had struggled to be anything but difficult as he grappled with his position in the family between his overachieving older brother and his sister.
“Why have you not seen them for two years?” Taylor asked, dropping into the seat beside Hope.
The youngest Gelderman wasn't as tall as him or Ethan, and his build was smaller, but there was no mistaking he was one of them.
“I've called Mother several times, and visited. No one said anything about you not being there.”
Brad just bet they hadn't.
“Did you ask where I was?”
Hope and Taylor looked guilty.
“I had a disagreement with Father,” Brad said, deciding to take pity on his siblings. “I left after that.” He didn't elaborate. No point in digging up all the bad shit he and his father had spewed at each other.
Twin looks of surprise were directed his way.
“I know this is weird, the three of us actually talking, Brad. But you can't just say that stuff and not elaborate. There's obviously been a lot of change in your life, and not just your appearance, and we want to know what,” Taylor demanded.
It was weird but in a good way.
“The shortened version is that I had a disagreement with Father, packed up, and left. I picked up with a few guys on bikes, and we connected.” There was a lot more to the story, but he wasn’t going there now.
“Motorbikes?”
“I'd still be out there if it was a bicycle, Hope.”
He studied the pretty face of his sister and felt a kernel of something that he thought was possibly affection. She was his blood, as was the man beside her. He’d resented them for a while, but that seemed to have eased.
“How did you know about the wedding?”
“I didn't,” Brad answered Hope's question. “I was involved in something and it made me think about things. So I decided to visit Ethan first as he’s the oldest.”
“Are you okay?” Hope touched his arm. “Was it a bad something?”
She was worried, he could see it in her eyes, and the thought gave him a small jolt of pleasure.
“I lost a friend, and it made me realize I needed to talk with my siblings, and repair some of the damage I’d caused.”
“I’m sorry.” Taylor placed his hand on top of Hope’s and they sat like that, connected, for a few seconds.
“Now, I want to hear about you two. Tell me what you’ve been doing?” Brad could only handle so much emotion. He wasn’t used to it, so he pulled his hand free.
When he thought about Mark dying he felt a lump of emotion ball up inside him, and he didn’t need or want that now. Not at his brother’s wedding, and not with his siblings watching him. When he grieved for his friend, he did so in private.
They talked, he listened, and he was pleased that both his younger siblings seemed to be doing well away from their father's influence. Unlike him, they had escaped early.
“Will you promise me that you’ll stay in contact with us now, Brad?” The words came from Taylor.
“Promise.”
“Give me your cell phone, and I’ll put in our numbers,” Taylor said, holding out his hand.
“I don’t remember you being so pushy.” Brad took out his phone and handed it over.
“No, it’s always been in there, he just hid it well,” Hope said.
“I guess we all had our own way of coping.” His had been drink and abusive behavior.
The speeches started minutes later, and Brad sat in companionable silence with his brother and sister. He’d never really had a problem with them, it was Ethan he’d resented the most.
“So, when I first met this guy he pulled me from a burning building.”
Brad listened as the best man told the story of his brother the hero. He heard stories of bravery and friendship. Glowing accolades about the newlyweds. Things Ethan had done that cemented him in the hearts of these people, and he battled down the irrational resentment that he hadn't received the same treatment.
I shouldn't have come, he realized. I should have started repairing damage with Hope and Taylor first. But no, instead he’d come for Ethan. Because when the dust had settled and he’d buried Mark after the accident, it had been his eldest brother he’d thought of first. So he’d come to Lake Howling to find him, and now he was regretting it.
Looking at the man who was now standing, he realized that his feelings ran deep where Ethan was concerned. Him, more than the others, he had felt abandoned by. It may not be rational, but it was there deep inside him. He hadn’t realized how raw he was until now, until he had seen him.
“Thank you for your kind words, and can I say that I'm honored to finally be accepted into this community.”
A few people called out that he wasn’t and wouldn’t be until he backed a winning team, which made everyone laugh.
“This woman,” Ethan looked down at Annabelle, “is my soul mate. She’s the better half of me, and it’s her that makes me a better man. Love is an easy word to throw around, and yet nothing else fits. She’s Annabelle, and she holds my heart.”
Ethan had always been good with words, Brad thought, looking at Macy. She was sniffing into a tissue. Her eyes met his and then flitted away.
“Finally, I want to say thank you to my siblings, Brad, Taylor, and Hope, for coming today. We haven’t always been there for each other, but that’s about to change.”
Ethan’s eyes locked on Brad’s.
“Today is the first step in our new lives. Let’s all take it.”
Everyone raised their glasses and Brad did the same, but the doubt nearly choked him.
Brad found himself watching Macy as the food started to arrive. She took small bites, her movements neat and precise. He watched the line of her throat as she drank her champagne, and wondered what it would be like to place his lips there.
Her laugh reached him as Ethan said something to her, and he saw the genuine emotion between them. In fact, the interaction between the entire wedding party was like that. His brother was close to people here; Brad could see that and knew it suggested he was probably an easy person to like. He just wasn’t there yet himself.
He smiled when she looked his way, and she returned it, the gesture sweet, and Brad knew enough about women to understand when one was aware of him. She wasn’t offering him her bed, he’d been the recipient of enough of those looks to understand them, but he saw the interest.
He had no rights to Macy. No rights to want to take her to bed and lose himself in that lovely body for a night. She was obviously his brother and sister-in-law’s friend, so that should be enough for him to not look her way again, and yet his eyes went to her again and again. Some invisible pull had him aware of her like he’d never been aware of a woman before.
People started dancing after the dessert, and Brad watched the man called O'Donnell lead Billy to his mother. She kissed and hugged him, and then the boy left, which told Brad he was more than likely spending the night away from her. However, that did not mean she could spend the night with him, even if he wanted her to. Something told him Macy wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl, and again, he’d had a few of those in his life and wasn’t overly proud of many of them, or his behavior toward the women.
“So, I'm going to be mighty pissed with you if you leave before we talk.”
Brad looked up and found Ethan standing beside his chair.
“I’ll make sure to say good-bye before I go.”
His brother was silent, the Gelderman blue eyes surveying the dance floor, and Brad knew he was thinking about what to say next. Funny how he remembered his brother doing that before he left.
“I kept trying to text and call you but you never replied, so I thought you’d decided you didn’t want contact with me.”
Now that surprised him. Sure they'd texted a few times after Hope's wedding, but Brad had been certain that would stop. It seemed he’d been wrong.
“I lost my phone, and had no way of contacting anyone after that.”
“It's called social media, and then there's my business, Brad, and e-mail or something… anything would have been good.”
“The Geldermans are not into family connections,” Brad said, sounding like a dickhead, but he didn’t know what else to say. “We’re not like other people.”
“If that’s true, then why are you here… connecting?”
Brad sighed. How was he going to explain? Should he try for honesty?
“I was in an accident, a friend died, and I realized that if it had been me in tha
t casket nobody would have known.”
“Jesussss.” The breath hissed from Ethan.
“I decided to start with the eldest and work down,” Brad added.
“Start?”
“Enough, Ethan. Now is not the time for this.” Brad didn’t want to get into things here at his brother’s wedding. In all honesty he didn’t think he’d ever want to, if his reaction today was any indication.
“All right, but please don’t leave town before seeing me.”
“Are you and Annabelle heading out on your honeymoon tomorrow?”
“No, we're going on a big trip to Europe next year, so we'll wait till then.” Ethan smiled suddenly, the smile of a man knee-deep in love. “Besides, every day is a honeymoon with her.”
“I can't believe those words actually left your lips.”
Ethan slapped him on the shoulder. “The love of a good woman can change you, Brad.”
“I'm seriously close to puking on your boots, Ethan.”
His brother slapped him again.
“It's good to have you here, bro. Really good, and now I know you’re not leaving until you see me, I can relax. Now go and dance with a pretty girl, there's plenty of them about.”
Looking to where Macy sat watching the other dancers, he got to his feet as Ethan walked away. Why not? He needed a distraction from all this emotion his siblings were dragging out of him.
Macy looked his way as he approached.
“Would you like to dance?” He could do polite when required.
“I-I....”
“I understand I'm not the most elegantly dressed guest, but I'm clean, have excellent manners, and promise not to stand on your feet.”
“You look fine.”
“Thanks, you look pretty fine yourself.”
She got to her feet, and he notice her cheeks were flushed. Not used to compliments, he thought. Brad waved her ahead of him, then watched her lovely body sway as she walked. It was natural, he realized, and unstudied, and ridiculously seductive.
She faced him, and they began to move. Brad, like his siblings, had studied music and understood the beat enough to look comfortable on the dance floor. Macy, however, had no clue, but he found her movements fascinating and oddly graceful. He could hardly keep his eyes from her body.
