by Maxene Novak
Brenda motioned to the table. “Alright, you all take a seat so we can eat this food before it gets cold. Besides, if we don’t cut into that bird soon I think that Spencer and Clay over there are going to ruin my tablecloth drooling all over the place.”
Spencer and Clay looked up from the food they’d been eye-balling with open mouths and over-exaggerated looks of shock on their faces. Everyone laughed as Blake moved forward to pull a chair out for Heather, and Evan did the same for Brenda. The smile that Dave and Brenda exchanged when Evan made that move told Blake they approved of him already. Good manners really could go a long way, especially when making a good first impression.
Heather
Dinner went by without any heavy conversation. Everyone chatted as they ate her mom’s amazing food, and her parents asked questions as they got to know Blake as an adult and Evan. Heather was thrilled. She had not been lying when she told Blake that her parents had forgiven him for leaving her, but she had still been nervous. They were meeting Evan and Blake for the first time and she’d already agreed to marry the both of them. She knew parents generally liked to meet the man that their daughter was dating before things got to the point of marriage. Then again, there wasn’t anything generic about her relationship with Evan and Blake. She was marrying two men, and not one as most women did, but looking at Evan and Blake and knowing how much love they filled her with, she couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to be with two men if it brought them the love and happiness they brought to her.
When dinner was done, Heather and Lorie helped their mother clear the table. Blake and Evan both stood up and offered to help, but her mom insisted they could handle it and for them to sit down and relax. It was like second nature for Heather to be cleaning up in the kitchen with Lorie and their mom. As they washed the dishes and put the food away it suddenly occurred to Heather that she’d been calling Brenda and Dave Mom and Dad for years, but still referred to Lorie as her best friend in most conversations. She had never really thought about it, but she assumed it was because Dave and Brenda had told her they would love for her to think of them as her mom and dad, and she really already had. Lorie had never mentioned wanting to be called her sister, and Heather hadn’t brought it up either. With her upcoming wedding it was something she wanted to talk about now. Lorie would be her maid-of-honor without question, but she wanted to tell people her sister would be by her side, not just her friend. Lorie was, and had always been, much more than just a best friend.
“Lorie, can I talk to you about something?” Heather asked.
The sincerity in her voice must have been enough to make Lorie and their mom understand what she wanted to discuss was important because they both stopped what they were doing to give her their full attention.
“Honey,” their mom said, “do you need some privacy with your sister? I can go check on the boys.”
“No, Mom, I’d like you to stay.”
“Alright.”
“What do you need to ask me?” Lorie asked.
“Well, I know we haven’t officially discussed it, but I want you to be my maid-of-honor.”
Lorie smiled and Heather noticed the tension release from her shoulders. “Of course I’m going to be your maid-of-honor. All that work I put in to help your men propose. I better be.” Lorie smirked and gave her a wink.
Their mom pursed her lips and smacked Lorie with the dishtowel she was holding. “Oh, Lorie, would you hush a minute. I don’t think that is what Heather was asking, was it?”
Heather shook her head. “No. I knew that was already a foregone conclusion.” Lorie narrowed her eyes at Heather and Heather gave her a small smirk of her own. “My question is more about how I want to introduce you to people. I don’t want to tell people that my friend Lorie is my maid-of-honor.” Heather paused. Lorie had a confused look on her face, but Brenda had unshed tears shimmering in her eyes and Heather knew their mom knew precisely what she was going to say next. “I want to tell everyone that my sister, Lorie, is my maid-of-honor.”
Lorie’s eyes went wide and Heather stopped talking. She wanted to give Lorie a minute to absorb what she’d just said. Lorie’s eyes glazed over and tears started running freely down her cheeks, but the huge smile that took over her face told Heather what her response was going to be. Lorie quickly took the couple steps that separated them and threw her arms around Heather’s neck, and Heather returned her embrace. “Are you serious? Of course we’re sisters. We always have been. We were sisters long before Mom and Dad adopted you. Even when your birth parents were still alive, but you spent all of your time here. We’ve been sisters as long as I can remember and I’d be pissed if you didn’t introduce me as such at your wedding.”
“Lorie!” their mother scolded, and they both laughed.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Heather said. “That was exactly what I needed to hear.”
Heather held her arms out and their mother walked over and joined in their hug. She had a family, a real loving family, and soon she would be a wife. Heather felt her own tears sliding down her cheeks but they were tears of joy and happiness. She had once thought she would never have a family. She’d even been jealous of Lorie for a while when they were kids, but now Lorie and her parents were her family, and so were Blake and Evan. People used to tell her how sorry they were because of the family she’d been born into, but those people had no idea. Heather was one of the lucky ones. She might not have been born to good parents, but she had them just the same.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Heather
“Hey, Alex, can you schedule a meeting with our junior editors for Thursday morning? I want to get a jump start on assignments while I’m out on my honeymoon. I don’t plan on taking any work calls while I’m away.”
Alex looked shocked but Heather wasn’t surprised. Hell, a brain bleed and head injury hadn’t kept her away from work, so finding out that she wasn’t planning to do anything work related while on her honeymoon was a big deal. She had never asked her team to leave her alone while she was out of the office for anything, but she wanted her honeymoon to be about the people it was supposed to be about—Evan, Blake, and her. She had informed human resources about her relationship with Blake as soon as she got back from her injury, and made them aware of their upcoming wedding. She had been surprised when they had not forced a transfer for Blake, but glad nonetheless. Finding good editors was hard, and Blake was really good at what he did. Still, it meant that her team would be down by two people while they were away on their honeymoon so she needed to make sure everything was good to go before their big day.
“You mean you are actually going to take time off for once?” Alex asked her, pulling her from her inner monologue.
“Yes. I think getting married is a big enough deal to warrant some real time away from work where I am actually not working.”
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Alex said. Heather looked at her and she knew Alex could see the look of surprise on her face. “You never take any time for yourself. Even when you’re not here, you’re working. You deserve some time where all your focus on is yourself. I was worried you were going to tell me to keep you in the loop while you were away, and I had a whole speech prepared about how you shouldn’t do that to yourself or Blake and Evan.”
“You are seriously the best assistant anyone could ever ask for. I’m going to be really sad when I have to replace you after my honeymoon.”
Alex’s face fell. “What do you mean?”
“While I am away you will be in charge. Because I know you are going to do an amazing job, I’ve already submitted the paperwork to human resources for your promotion. So, when I return you will be getting your own office and your own team of junior editors to mentor. You will still be under me, but I will mostly be here for guidance while you get your feet wet. So, as you can see, that means I will have to hire a new assistant.”
For a minute Alex just stared at her in shock, absorbing her words. When her lips began creeping up on the
sides as a smile spread across her face Heather knew that her words were finally registering. “Are you serious right now?” Heather just nodded. Before she knew what was happening Alex was across her office and had Heather pulled into a tight hug. “Thank you so much. I promise I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t. You never have. You earned this, Alex, and I am just happy that I could be in the position to make it happen for you.”
Alex pulled back from the hug and quickly wiped under her eyes. “I’m going to go send out that meeting invite right now. Is there anything else that you need?”
“No. That’s it for now.”
Alex nodded and left her office with an extra pep in her step. Heather was truly happy for her. One of her favorite things about her job was getting to help others reach their potential in the publishing industry, and Alex was one employee she knew was going to do big things.
Heather looked at the clock and realized it was a quarter after four. “Shit,” she said to herself. She was supposed to be at the dress shop right now for the final fitting for her wedding dress.
As soon as she stepped out of the front door of her office building, her phone went off. She didn’t have to look at the screen to know who it would be. “Hey, Lorie. I’m on my way now.”
“On your way?” Lorie’s voice was stern on the other end of the line. “You were supposed to be here already, woman. You better put on your running shoes and get here in double time.”
“I know. Why don’t you and Mom go ahead and try on your dresses first, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Yeah, I already thought of that. I knew you couldn’t be on time to save your life. Mom is already in the room getting her dress on now.”
“Thanks. I’ll be there in five.”
“You better be. Love you.”
Lorie hung up and Heather picked up the pace. Luckily the dress shop was only a block from Panda Publishing and she could make it there by foot in no time.
When Heather walked into the dress shop, her mom and Lorie were already in their dresses, and they were looking themselves over in the long mirrors that were set up for bridal consultations. When Lorie noticed her walking in, she made her way straight for Heather, grabbing her hand and pulling her straight to one of the dressing rooms with their mother right behind them. When they entered the room, Heather saw that her dress was already hanging up and ready for her to try on.
“I told the seamstress that mom and I wanted to help you get your dress on. You know, to practice for your actual wedding day since we’ll be the ones helping you get ready then.”
“Okay,” Heather said. She preferred their help over the seamstress anyway.
Heather undressed quickly, and Lorie and their mother held the dress up for her to step into, making sure it didn’t get wrinkled. The dress had a lace corset bodice with a beautiful tulle bottom that was weaved in such a way that it reminded Heather of a blooming white rose. Her mother helped her hold it up in the front while Lorie laced up the back.
“Okay, I’m done,” Lorie said. “How does it feel?”
“Feels good. The fit feels perfect this time.”
“You should go see yourself in the mirrors out front,” her mother told her.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
Heather turned and headed out of the room behind Lorie. Lorie took her hand and made her close her eyes as she guided her to the platform in front of the mirrors. Lorie released her hand and took a step back once she was in place. “Okay. Open your eyes.”
Heather couldn’t believe the person staring back in the mirror was her. Of course it wasn’t the first time she’d tried on the dress, but now that it fit her perfectly it just felt more real somehow. She felt like a queen about to marry her king, or kings in her case. She felt beautiful. When she caught her mother’s gaze in the mirror she saw the tears that were staining her cheeks, and Heather turned to give her mom a hug.
“You look so beautiful, honey,” her mom said.
“So do you, Mom.”
“Okay, ladies. Break it up before your mascara runs and stains your dresses,” Lorie told them. Heather noticed that Lorie’s mascara was looking a little smudged too, and she gave her a hug.
Heather looked at herself in the mirror one more time. The next time she put on that dress would be the day she’d be walking down the aisle to marry Evan and Blake. It was only a week away but she found herself wishing it was tomorrow.
***
“Heather?” Blake’s voice came from the kitchen when Heather walked through the door at home that evening.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
When she walked into the living room from the foyer, Blake took her in his arms and kissed her senseless. “You told Alex to plan for you to be unavailable while we are on our honeymoon.”
Heather nodded in confirmation. She couldn’t speak yet because she was still trying to catch her breath from the kiss he’d just given her. Blake kissed her again. This time it was slower and softer, but more passionate than the first kiss. She felt another set of hands on her hips and a firm body pressed against her from behind, then Evan’s lips were at the collar of her neck. “What are we celebrating?” he whispered in her ear. His voice was thick and husky and it sent chills down her spine.
“She told work not to bother her on our honeymoon,” Blake said. “That means she’ll be all ours. We won’t have to share her with a laptop or phone for the whole two weeks.”
Heather liked the sound of that; no, she loved it. Being all theirs—she couldn’t imagine anything better than that. She felt herself being moved, but her brain was in a fog of lust and love from all of the sensations Blake and Evan were causing her to feel with their hands and lips and tongues. They had her in their bedroom and Blake slipped his fingers under the hem of her shirt in an attempt to remove it before her brain kicked in and registered what was about to happen. She brought her hands down to capture Blake’s and stop the rising of her shirt at the same time she broke their kiss.
“We’re supposed to wait, remember?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew by the expression on Blake’s face and the stilling of Evan’s hands that they had heard her just fine. After all, it had been them who brought up the idea of waiting until their wedding night to make love again after their dinner with her parents. So far, it had looked like her parents and Lorie would be the only family members there to support their union, and the guys had decided to wait out of respect for them. Plus, Evan had added that the anticipation would make their wedding night extra special.
Blake dropped his forehead to hers. “Ugh, whose idea was that anyway?”
“That would be you, babe.” She tilted her head up and gave him a quick kiss, but made sure to pull back before he could turn it into something hotter.
“I think I’m going to blame Evan,” Blake said.
“What?” Evan said. “I don’t think so.”
Heather laughed. “You are both equally to blame for our short bout of abstinence. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I need to take a shower before dinner.” She saw the two of them make eyes at each other and interjected, “And the two of you better not be out here fooling around while I’m in there either. The rule about waiting for our wedding night applies to both of you as well.”
Evan poked out his bottom lip, which only made her laugh, and Blake crossed his arms and squinted his eyes at her in a mocking glare and said, “I don’t think that was a part of our arrangement. I mean, Evan and I are already married to each other so we should be able to—”
Evan cut him off, “Don’t include me in your argument and get me in trouble, love.”
Heather smiled at Evan, then turned a frown to Blake. It was hard because she wanted to laugh at the frustrated look that crossed his face, but he was just going to have to get over it. They’d made it this far and she wasn’t going to give in with only a week to go. “Listen to Evan, Blake. I promise, you will survive. It’s only another week until I get to c
all you both my husbands too.”
Hearing her refer to them as her husbands made both men smile. She had thought it might since hearing them refer to her as wife always sent tingles of happiness throughout her heart and body. Heather turned back towards the bathroom and got into the shower smiling to herself, but still turning the water temp down to cool her own libido. She might have been the one to keep them on track with their promise to each other for their wedding night, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t just as affected as her men. It was going to be a long week.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Evan
Evan thought that he wouldn’t be as nervous today as he had been the day he married Blake. Man, had he been wrong about that one. His stomach was in knots and his heart kept doing cartwheels in his chest. He knew that his anxiety had nothing to do with cold feet but quite the opposite. He was overly excited about spending his life with both Blake and Heather. His only concern was that if he didn’t calm down he’d start sweating, and nobody wanted to stare at his sweaty bald head throughout the ceremony.
“Are you freaking out yet?” Blake asked him.
Evan turned to his husband and let his eyes roam down the length of his body. Man, he was sexy in a tux. He closed the distance between them and ran his hands down the lapels of Blake’s jacket. “Feeling better now that you’re here. How about you?”
“Me too. Why do you think I broke the rules and came in here? I don’t know why everyone thought we needed to get ready in separate rooms. I mean, we are going to be standing up there together waiting for Heather to walk down the aisle, and I certainly don’t believe in that superstitious crap about it being bad luck to see each other before the wedding. We saw each other the day of our wedding to each other and I’d say that turned out amazing.”
