Tiffani squealed. “That’s wonderful! I was hoping it would be her for you. Brittany is going to be my sister!”
Adam shrugged at Gideon. “I think she’s happier getting all these new sisters than she’s ever been about being married to me!”
Tiffani laughed softly. “You know as well as I do that’s not true.” She handed Gideon a piece of paper. “That’s what you need to give the printer. He’ll give you my stuff.” She bit her lip for a second. “And would you get me a beef potato burrito and two tacos from Taco Bueno?”
Adam shook his head. “You can’t be hungry already.”
Tiffani just looked at him. “I lost my breakfast for the third day in a row. I’m eating for two. I’m going to have tacos!”
Gideon grinned. “I’m an uncle!”
Adam frowned at her. “We said we weren’t telling anyone yet!”
“Gideon isn’t just anyone. He’s the seventh son of a seventh son!”
Adam just shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s special all right.” He looked at his brother. “Don’t tell anyone, and get me a combination burrito and a large Dr. Pepper.”
“I feel like the errand boy, not the administrative assistant.”
“Trust me, we send Brittany on her share of errands. Just do it and hope she comes back tomorrow. She has a whole house to pack up, you know.”
Gideon groaned, getting to his feet. “Mom’s going to be impossible to be around knowing there are two grandbabies on the way. She’s been bad enough since Kevin has announced that Bridget is pregnant.” What had he gotten himself into here? He thought he might have to answer a phone call or two, but instead he was off running errands. Why didn’t he get to sit around and talk about what he wanted for the wedding?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he shuddered. He’d be perfectly content to just run errands. Color swatches and cake toppers meant nothing to him.
When Brittany got home from work that day, the kids were both off in their rooms. Their house was small. They’d never had much money, but it was the only home she’d ever known.
She called her siblings out. “Madison! Kaeden! We need to talk.”
They both emerged from their rooms with perplexed looks on their faces. Normally if they did their chores, she didn’t bother them too much. “Sit.”
They exchanged a look with each other before sitting down. “If this is about me putting a frog in the green Jello at lunch today, I’m sorry. It was a dare, and I made fifteen bucks!” Kaeden blurted out quickly.
Brittany blinked at her brother. “I hadn’t heard about a frog in the green Jello yet, but I’ll look forward to that phone call.” She shook her head. “No, this is something totally different. I’m getting married to Gideon McClain.”
Kaeden looked shocked, but Madison squealed excitedly. “Really? I was hoping you’d marry him! Does that mean we get to move to the ranch?”
Brittany groaned. She hadn’t been thinking about Madison—as boy crazy as she was—moving to the ranch with thirty boys. “Yes, we’re moving to the ranch, but you are not going to spend all your time following those boys around.”
“Why not?” Madison asked. “It’ll be summer vacation soon, and what will I have to do that’s better than that?”
Brittany rubbed the back of her neck, already tired. “The wedding will be on Friday night during their barbecue. Madison, you’re standing up with me, so find your prettiest dress.”
“Do I get a new dress? Please, please, please?”
“You know we don’t have money for a new dress.” Brittany sighed. “We’ll be living in the big house, and Lillian and Peter are moving out. But I don’t want you two to take advantage of the situation.”
“Are you going to keep working?” Madison asked.
“I haven’t decided yet. I know I won’t work for much longer, but I don’t know yet if I’m going to start staying home right away. I might be needed to. Lillian is already talking about me taking over the barbecue.”
“You’re a good cook,” Kaeden said encouragingly. “I think you could do it.”
“Probably,” Brittany said. “It’s just a big job, and I know she spends a couple of days per week working on it. It might be too much for me to do while I’m working as well.” She was wondering how they would feel about her staying home, or if they’d prefer she kept working.
Madison grinned. “If you stay home, you could bake cookies like Lillian does. Wouldn’t you love to have cookies waiting for me every day when I got home from school?”
Brittany laughed. “You and your sweet tooth. You need to talk to Caleb’s wife, Natalie.”
“She’s the candy maker, right? I would love to talk to her. I wonder if she’s hiring summer help…” Madison had just turned sixteen, and she was obsessed with getting a job so she could get a car. Kaeden was two years younger than Madison.
“I don’t know, but she can’t hire you! You’d eat all the profits!”
Madison giggled. “Probably.” She looked around her. “Wait…if we’re moving to the ranch, that means we have to pack up this whole house. That’s going to take forever!”
“It’s not going to be quick and easy, that’s for sure,” Brittany said with a frown. “I picked up some boxes on my way home from work. I want at least ten boxes packed by each of you tonight, and I’ll do the same.” She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to work that week and still get the house packed up.
Both kids groaned. “Where are the boxes?” Kaeden asked.
“In my car.” She handed him the keys. “Look in the trunk.”
He went to get boxes, but Madison hung back. “I don’t want to leave. This is where we lived with Mom and Dad.” Their parents had been dead for eight years, and Mom and Dad were fading from her younger siblings’ minds, and Brittany knew it.
“We’ll take photo albums. No matter what, we can’t stay here.” Brittany didn’t mention the back taxes. She had no idea why they’d been allowed to stay as long as they had. Somehow they must have fallen through the system, but she wasn’t complaining. They’d needed this time to live without rent.
Madison nodded, seeming to understand her sister’s unspoken words. “I can’t wait to live at the McClain’s house. They have the best place. Will they let us ride horses?”
Brittany shrugged. “I imagine they will. We’ll be members of the family after Friday night.” She didn’t let her panic show at her words. She was in love, and she was getting married…but he could never know she was in love with him. It would give him too much power over her.
Madison jumped to her feet with a grin. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.” Brittany sat for a moment staring at the wall. After all the wedding arrangements they’d made that day, now she needed to pack all night long. How on earth was she going to get through all of it? She had no idea.
Just before she went to bed that evening, she got a call from Gideon. “Hello?” He’d called her often over the years. Friends did that.
“Hey, you. Did you tell the kids?” His deep voice sent shivers through her, as it always had.
“Yeah. We’re going to have to watch Madison. She was so excited about living at the ranch…and then it connected for me. We will have a boy-crazy girl with thirty teenage boys.”
He groaned. “We’ll make it work. I’ll start looking online for a chastity belt now.”
She laughed softly. “I have a feeling we’d have to fight her to put that thing on her.”
“I can see that.” He yawned. “Are you going to be able to work tomorrow? Or do you have too much to do?”
She bit her lip. “I could work half the day…”
“Let’s do that then. You work the morning, and I’ll work in the afternoon. They had me going to Taco Bueno for a mid-afternoon snack today. Is that normal?”
She laughed. “Not usually, but Tiffani is a huge Taco Bueno fan. If I’m running an errand already, she will sometimes ask me to go.”
�
�Yeah, that’s how it was.” He sighed. “I’m looking forward to Friday. I can’t wait until you’re my wife.”
She smiled. “I’m looking forward to being done with everything I have to do before the wedding.”
“I can understand that. Don’t let my mom make things too elaborate for you. It’s your wedding, not hers.” He paused for a moment. “Are you going to let the men wear cowboy boots and jeans? Or do I have to try and get myself a tux?”
“You wore a tux to our prom. You looked very handsome.” They’d broken up well before prom, but they’d gone as friends. They were too comfortable together to worry about finding other dates.
“Please don’t make me wear a tux!”
“Fine. You can wear jeans. I’m wearing my mother’s wedding dress, and I’ll find something for Madison to wear. I think she can wear the dress she wore to homecoming.”
“If you need money to make this work, you just let me know.”
She shook her head, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “No, that’s fine. You’re doing enough for us.”
After they’d hung up, she laid in bed staring at the ceiling. How was she going to live with him and never let on that she loved him?
Chapter Four
The rest of Brittany’s week followed a similar pattern. She worked every morning, had lunch with Gideon and Lillian to talk wedding plans, and packed in the afternoons. She was exhausted by Friday morning, but she enjoyed her lunch with Gideon, because he spent the whole time lamenting over how hard her job was.
As she listened, she hid a chuckle. Finally, when he came up for air, she asked, “Would you really be okay if I gave my notice? I’d feel like a wastrel sitting around, but after listening to all of the duties I’m expected to perform as your wife, I’m not sure if I’d be busier than I am now, but probably!”
He smiled. “I think that’s the right answer. And just so you know, Mom goes a bit overboard with some of her duties. She doesn’t have to make cookies and take them around to all the boys every week. She doesn’t have to have special days with some of the boys who aren’t feeling well. It’s all her choice.”
Brittany looked at Lillian, who shrugged. “I do the things my mother-in-law did before me. I came into my marriage with my eyes wide open, knowing I was in for some years of hard work, whether I kept an outside job or not.”
Brittany nodded. She was looking at things the same way Lillian had. “I’m happy to take over the tasks that I can. I may make it easier on myself down the road, but I’m not sure yet.”
“I think you should get a nanny,” Lillian said. “When I started having babies every fourteen months, I was sure that it was my job to do everything myself. Looking back, I can tell you a nanny would have been very smart. Adam’s birthday is in September, and I had four kids who weren’t in school yet when I brought Ephraim home from the hospital. Three in diapers, counting Ephraim. I spent years physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. If I’d used my head at all, I’d have hired a nanny. I could have always focused on the baby during the day, and spent my evenings with the others.”
Brittany’s eyes widened. “I guess it never occurred to me how close in age the boys were.”
“I was even on birth control. Nothing stopped the birth of those babies. Nothing at all.” Lillian shook her head. “You need to quit your job and start searching for a nanny. Or a cook. Or a maid. Or all three!”
Brittany looked at Gideon, trying to see how he felt about his mother’s words, but he had a stoic expression on his face. “Am I ready for seven babies?”
Lillian laughed. “I don’t think that matters. If you marry Gideon, you’ll get them.”
Gideon frowned at his mother. “Don’t say ‘if’ and stop trying to scare her. We’re getting married in,” he looked at his watch quickly, “five hours. It’s happening!”
“Oh, Brittany wouldn’t back out at this point. She loves you too much.”
At the mention of the word love, Brittany and Gideon looked away from each other. Lillian didn’t know about their reason for marrying, and as far as Brittany was concerned, she didn’t need to. “I picked some bluebonnets today,” Brittany said to change the subject. “I’m not sure the best way to arrange them, but they’re picked.”
Gideon nodded, happy for the topic change. “Is everything packed? Are you ready to move?” They decided that Madison and Kaeden would spend the weekend with his parents, and the two of them would sleep at her house until Monday. His dad would help Frank with the kids as needed.
Brittany shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. We need to do an estate sale next weekend, so we can get all the furniture out of there. Anything that we can’t sell, we’ll donate. We’re not going to need that much furniture after we marry.”
“Sounds smart.” He was sure ready to be done with her job. “How much notice will you give Adam?”
“I’ll do two weeks. That should give Adam enough time to find someone to take my place.”
“You’re irreplaceable,” Gideon told her with a grin.
“Yeah, that’s what Adam keeps telling me. He’s kind of driving me crazy. I need to quit, but I feel like I owe the McClains so much after you all gave me a job that allowed for me to keep my brother and sister with me.”
“You owe us nothing,” Lillian said. “You’re marrying Gideon.”
“It’s not like no one else would have me,” Gideon said. He was tired of people acting like she was doing something so noble by marrying him. He wasn’t a troll.
Lillian simply swatted his arm and carried on. “The duties you’re taking on are not easy ones, but I have a feeling you’re more than up for the task.”
Brittany nodded. “I have a good example to follow.”
“And you’ll have a good man at your side,” Lillian said.
Gideon took Brittany’s hand in his. “I will do anything I can to make it easier for you.”
“Thank you,” Brittany said, looking at Gideon’s deep blue-gray eyes. All of the McClain men had such an unusual eye color. She was happy to know her children would inherit it, because apparently that’s something they all got from their father as well.
Gideon walked her out after lunch. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Just keep covering for me at work. I know it’s a pain in the butt, but I don’t think there’s any way I could work and still do everything that needs to be done.”
Gideon leaned down and kissed her softly, making her heart beat rapidly. “I’m only a phone call away if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the barbecue tonight.”
She took deep breaths to try to still her panic at the thought. In just a few hours, she would be married to him, and to her, that meant a lifetime. How was she going to be able to handle being in love with her husband who had no feelings at all for her? Was it even possible?
Gideon watched her drive off, thankful their wedding day was finally there. He sensed that she still had reservations, but he planned on forcing his way through every reservation as quickly as possible. He would make it work.
Brittany felt silly when she pulled her little beat-up car into the parking lot of the ranch. She wore her mother’s wedding dress, which wasn’t terribly formal, and her sister wore her dress from homecoming, but thankfully she’d left the mum at home. In Texas, a homecoming mum completely covered the top half of the girl, with streamers going to her feet. They were definitely not meant for weddings.
As soon as she was out of the car, Frank approached her, hugging her quickly. “Welcome to the family.”
Brittany looked into his face, laughter on hers. She whispered, “I know why Gideon sent you over here. You’re calming me down. But that’s okay, cuz it’s working!” Frank had always been one of her favorite McClains. She had no feelings for him like she did for Gideon, and it was easy to just be his friend.
He grinned, turning to walk back to the crowd, but she grabbed his arm. “Oh, no you don’t! You’re walking down the aisle with my sister. Stay right
here keeping us calm.”
Frank grinned, winking at her. She wasn’t sure if his ability to calm was really a power or just his laid-back personality. Either way, it was helping. Madison walked to him and put her hand on his arm. “How long until we walk down the aisle?” she asked, obviously excited to become part of this family she’d admired for so long.
“I don’t know. When the music plays, we walk. That’s what my mom told me, and I was supposed to relay that message, but it seems I’m part of the whole wedding party now, whether I’d planned to be or not.”
“You’re stuck with us, all right,” Brittany told him, turning to look for Kaeden. “I know you feel stupid, but you’re walking me down the aisle. I don’t have a father, and you’re my only brother, so you’re it.”
Kaeden wrinkled his nose. “Fine. I’m going to give you away. Does that mean I’m done with you?”
“Don’t be rude, Kade. You’re my favorite brother, after all.”
He just rolled his eyes, but he stood with her, waiting for the music to start. Once it did, Frank and Madison walked slowly up the aisle. Brittany could see that Madison was looking around at all the boys from the ranch, trying to figure out which one she’d be most interested in. They all went to her school, so it wasn’t like any of them were new to her.
Once Madison and Frank had reached the front, she took Kaeden’s arm and started walking beside him. “Walk slow now. I’m going to trip over this dress and fall flat on my face. Neither of us want that to happen.”
Kaeden shrugged. “Might be good for a laugh.”
Brittany sighed. She could see her brother laughing at that. “Hush.”
“You were the one who talked first.”
When they got to the front where the pastor waited for them, Brittany took the hand Gideon held out for her, feeling a sense of calm wash over her. She felt like she was coming home. She wasn’t sure if it was Gideon or Frank using the calming power, but she didn’t care at that moment. She was just happy to be marrying the man she loved. And absolutely petrified to be marrying the man she loved, but that was fading away.
Gideon (Seven Sons Book 7) Page 3
