Flowers on Main

by Sherryl Woods

  He frowned at that. “And I miss loving you. Doesn’t seem to matter much, though, does it?”

  “Of course it does,” she said, cringing at the bitterness behind his words. “I will tell you how sorry I am from now till eternity if that’s what you want. Is it? Does it help hearing me apologize?”

  He stared at her, then dropped his gaze. “No.”

  Since he hadn’t moved, she finally risked asking, “Does that mean you’ll stay? It’s an hour or two, Jake. No big deal.”

  He gave her a wry look. “With you, an hour or two was never enough. I wanted a lifetime.”

  The pain and vulnerability were back in his voice. She realized then just how scared he was of this, of them. Rather than forcing him to talk about it, she lifted the lid on the pizza box and pulled out a slice with pepperoni and sausage.

  “Come on,” she taunted, waving it under his nose. “It’s just the way you like it. You know you want some.”

  He hesitated for so long, she thought he might yet refuse, but eventually he reached for the slice, his rough fingers grazing hers. She wondered if he felt the same jolt of electricity she felt, but he was avoiding her gaze, so she couldn’t tell.

  At least he hadn’t made good on his threat to leave. For tonight, that would have to be enough.

  During a lull on Saturday afternoon, Bree thought about how pleasant the evening at Connie’s had turned out to be. Jake had even relaxed eventually and they’d all wound up playing cards with Jenny and Dillon. Jake had even walked her to her car, hands shoved in his pockets as if to resist reaching for her, and admitted that the evening had gone okay. In her book, it had been better than okay. It had been progress.

  She was still relishing that when she looked up in surprise as her mother walked through the door of her shop.

  “Mom, I wasn’t expecting to see you this weekend.”

  “I wasn’t expecting to be here, but your father called last night and talked me into flying down this morning. He said he had a surprise for me later. Do you know anything about that?”

  Bree shook her head. She hadn’t heard anything about a surprise. “Not a clue.”

  “Well, whatever it is had better be good. He dropped me off at the house and took off again. I called Abby to see if she and the girls wanted to join me for lunch, but Trace said they’d already driven into town. Have you seen them?”

  Bree looked up at the sound of the bell over the door and smiled. “Here they are right now,” she said as Carrie and Caitlyn bounded into the store, nearly knocking over a stack of ceramic planters in their exuberance.

  “Slow down!” Abby commanded to little effect.

  The girls were already behind the counter. Carrie immediately climbed up onto the stool and reached for the keys on the cash register.

  “Can I ring up a sale, Aunt Bree?” she pleaded. “I know how.”

  “I know, too,” Caitlyn said, trying to wedge herself between Carrie and the counter.

  Bree hunkered down between them. “You know the rules,” she reminded them. “We have to wait for a customer.”

  “But you keep chocolate in there,” Carrie said with obvious disappointment. “I want some now.”

  Abby grinned at her. “Told you they were onto you. They know all about your secret stash.”

  “Hey,” Megan said, regarding her granddaughters with an exaggerated scowl. “Did you not even notice that I’m here?”

  Caitlyn beamed at her. “Grandma Megan, we weren’t ’specting you, were we, Mama?”

  “We most certainly were not,” Abby concurred, slipping an arm around Megan’s waist. “But we are very glad to see you.”

  “Will you be even happier if I take you all for ice-cream sundaes?” Megan asked the girls. “Your grandpa lured me to town, then abandoned me, so I’m going to indulge in a huge hot-fudge sundae.”

  “Me, too! Me, too!” Caitlyn said eagerly.

  Carrie clambered down from the stool. “I’ll come, too!”

  Megan turned to Abby. “How about you?”

  “Why don’t you three go ahead,” she suggested. “I need to speak to Bree for a minute.”

  After Megan led the girls out of the shop, Abby turned to Bree. “So, did Mom tell you anything about this visit? What’s Mick thinking bringing her down here and then going off and leaving her?”

  “Beats me,” Bree said. “She said he mentioned a surprise for later. Do you know anything about that?”

  Abby shook her head. “He did call earlier and ask if we were going to be free this evening. He wanted us to stop by Gram’s around six o’clock.”

  Bree thought about that. “He asked me to try to get out of here early so I could be there, too. You don’t suppose…?”

  “Suppose what?”

  “Is he planning to ask Mom to marry him again? He wouldn’t spring a question like that on her with everyone there, would he? That’s a surefire path to humiliation.”

  Alarm flared in Abby’s eyes. “I agree. I don’t think Mom’s even close to being ready to remarry him. And, frankly, after everything that happened between them back then, I can’t even imagine that Dad’s ready to take that step.”

  Bree nodded. “That’s what I thought, too, but what other surprise could there be?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “And keep our fingers crossed that whatever it is won’t blow up in Dad’s face,” Bree added direly.

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” Abby said solemnly, just as Gram would have done.

  “Just in case, maybe you should track Mick down and try to find out what’s going on,” Bree suggested.

  “Oh, no. I’m not meddling.”

  “Come on, you have the O’Brien gene for it,” Bree reminded her.

  “Nope. I’m one hundred percent reformed.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible. Once a meddler, always a meddler. Besides, you’re the oldest. It’s your duty to check these things out, prevent calamities, that sort of thing. The rest of us rely on you for that.”

  Abby frowned, but she reached in her purse and pulled out her cell phone. After she’d punched in a number, her frown deepened. “It went straight to Dad’s voice mail,” she said.

  Bree was taken aback by that. “Really? Have you ever known Dad not to answer his cell on the first ring?”

  “Maybe it’s part of his commitment to turn over a new leaf,” Abby suggested. “I’ll try again later, but I suppose I should go rescue Mom from the girls. Who knows what those two might be trying to talk her into. I think they have their eye on some kind of elaborate water slide at Ethel’s Emporium. It’s just the kind of thing Mom could be persuaded that they ought to have.”

  Bree chuckled. “Then I’m amazed Trace hasn’t already bought it.”

  “He’s learning not to grant their every wish,” Abby said. “See you at the house tonight.”

  Bree nodded as Abby left, already distracted by trying to figure out what on earth Mick might be up to. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it.

  16

  W hatever Mick’s surprise was, Gram was obviously in on it. When Bree got home, she found the whole family assembled, except for Jess. Tables laden with bowls of salads and plates of fried chicken stretched across the porch and more tables and chairs had been set up on the lawn.

  “Are we expecting an army?” Bree asked, surveying the amount of food.

  “No, just one tired army medic,” her brother Kevin said, walking around the side of the house. He was out of uniform, but there was no mistaking his military bearing or the exhaustion in his eyes. His hair, which like Mick’s had a tendency to curl, was little more than a crew cut, which emphasized the gauntness in his face.

  “Oh my God, you’re home!” Bree exclaimed, rushing into his arms. He picked her up and twirled her around until she was breathless. She couldn’t seem to make herself let go of him. “You’re too skinny. What have they been feeding you in Iraq?”

  “Nothing
like Gram’s fried chicken and potato salad, that’s for sure,” he said.

  “My turn,” Abby said, pushing Bree out of the way, then punching Kevin in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming home? We weren’t expecting you for a few more months. Is your tour in Iraq over for good?”

  Bree’s excitement dimmed at the shake of his head.

  “Not yet,” he said. “I’m just on leave for a couple of weeks.”

  “Just long enough for me to whip your butt on the basketball court and in a few games of poker,” Connor said, coming over to embrace his brother. “I’ve missed you, bro.”

  “That goes both ways,” Kevin replied, then looked around. “Where’s Jess? And where’s my brother-in-law to be, Abby? I have to sit Trace down and have a talk with him before you two tie the knot, make sure he understands what he’s getting into by marrying an O’Brien.”

  “You leave Trace alone,” Abby instructed, even as her fiancé approached and gave Kevin a hearty slap on the back.

  “Good to see you, man,” Trace told Kevin. “And don’t worry about me. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I’m getting into with your sister. It’s your nieces you should have warned me about.”

  Abby poked him in the ribs. “Stop it, both of you. As for Jess, if she’d known this celebration was to welcome you home, she’d have been here on time for once, I’m sure.”

  Just then Kevin apparently caught sight of Megan. His eyes widened. “Mom?” he said, his eyes unexpectedly filling with tears before he determinedly blinked them away. He quickly covered his initial reaction by saying, “I didn’t expect to see you here.” The edge in his voice contrasted sharply with the emotional response he hadn’t been quick enough to hide.

  “Oh, Kevin,” Megan whispered, her own tears spilling down her cheeks as she walked slowly across the lawn. “I’m so relieved to have you home safe.” She turned to Mick, who’d been hanging back, his own eyes misty at the reunion. “You’re off the hook for abandoning me earlier. This is the best surprise ever.”

  Kevin looked uncomfortable as Megan embraced him, then he hurriedly moved away to grab a beer from a nearby cooler.

  “Obviously Gram was in on the secret,” Bree said.

  “I had to tell her,” Mick said. “I knew she’d need a couple of days to get this feast ready.”

  They all turned to Gram. “And you kept it from the rest of us,” Abby said in awe. “I have new respect for your ability to keep a secret.”

  Nell gave her an indignant look. “You have no idea how many secrets I’ve got stored away,” she retorted. “That’s why everyone in this family comes to me, because they know I won’t blab.” She linked her arm through Kevin’s and gave him a pointed look. “In fact, I know another one, a big one.”

  Kevin dropped an affectionate kiss on her brow. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell them. I was just waiting for Jess to get here, and I see her racing up the driveway right now.”

  Jess slammed on the brakes at the sight of the gathering with Kevin at the center of it. She leaped out of the car practically before the engine quit and flew into her big brother’s arms, smothering his face in kisses.

  “You ugly thing, why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?” she demanded, giving him a thorough once-over. “I’d have baked a cake.”

  Everyone in the family groaned.

  “Okay, I’d have had Gram bake a cake,” Jess said, then glanced at the tables covered with food. “Where’s Kevin’s favorite chocolate cake?”

  “Hey,” Abby protested before Gram could answer. “Let’s get to the secret. Jess is here now, so tell us.”

  Kevin’s gaze immediately went toward the front door of the house. At his nod, the door opened and a long-legged woman with short, strawberry-blond hair emerged and practically floated across the yard, her gaze locked with his. The rest of them might as well have been on another planet for all the attention she paid them. Kevin pulled her close and gave her a lingering kiss.

  When he finally ended the kiss, his expression was filled with barely repressed excitement, and some of the exhaustion in his eyes was wiped away by the look of adoration as he looked down into her upturned face.

  “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Georgia O’Brien, my wife as of two o’clock this afternoon.”

  Bree stared at him in shock. “You’re married?”

  “Before me?” Abby joked. “I thought I was next in line.”

  “So did I,” Trace said wryly. He winked at Kevin. “Mind telling me your secret so I can get Abby to start making wedding plans?”

  Kevin circled his arm around Georgia’s waist. “When you’re someplace like Iraq, you tend to be highly motivated.”

  Megan turned to Mick. “And you knew about this? For how long?”

  “A couple of days. I was his best man,” Mick confirmed.

  “But why didn’t you wait, have the ceremony here?” Jess demanded, clearly upset. “Didn’t you think we’d all want to be there?”

  “Yeah, bro,” Connor said, obviously miffed. “I was counting on being your best man when you finally got around to tying the knot.”

  Kevin held tight to Georgia’s hand. She stood beside him, her expression filled with guilt. “I’m afraid that’s my fault,” she said. “I only have a couple of days on leave and I wanted my dad to perform the ceremony. He’s a minister back home in Texas, but we couldn’t get decent connections to fly there and then here. He and my mom were able to fly in and meet us at the airport in Baltimore, but they had to fly right back to Beaumont. He has services there in the morning. All of this came together at the last second. Kevin and I weren’t even sure we’d both get approval for leave at the same time until a few days ago.”

  “You got married at the airport?” Jess asked, her expression incredulous and less than pleased.

  Georgia nodded. “Not terribly romantic, but the logistics worked. And it gave us time to come here to be with all of you before I have to go back to Iraq. Kevin talks so much about his family, I wanted to meet you.”

  “So this is your wedding reception,” Megan concluded. “Mick, did you get champagne?”

  “Of course I did,” he said. “It’s chilling in the kitchen right now. I figured if I brought it out any sooner, you’d all know something was up.”

  Gram grinned at Jess. “Same with the cake. I baked a special chocolate wedding cake, but I had to hide it in the pantry.”

  “Then let’s get this party started,” Connor said, rallying from his earlier disappointment and slapping his brother on the back. “I’ll bring out the champagne.” He leaned down and gave his new sister-in-law a kiss. “Georgia, welcome to the family.”

  Everyone else started to swarm around her to offer congratulations, but Bree hung back. Jess and Abby welcomed Georgia with obvious restraint, then joined Bree.

  “I was afraid of this,” Jess said, her voice low. “They hardly even know each other.”

  “But look how happy they are,” Abby said, clearly squashing her own doubts. “Kevin looks as if he won the lottery. Our doubts don’t matter. We owe it to him to give her a chance.”

  “Well, of course we do,” Jess said. “I’m just saying it seems awfully fast.”

  Mick apparently overheard her comment as he approached. “Being overseas puts a stress on a man the rest of us can’t possibly understand. I’m just glad Kevin has someone by his side who obviously adores him.”

  “Dad’s right,” Bree said. “This is their day. We need to make it special for them.”

  “At least Kevin will be sticking around after she goes back,” Jess said. “Maybe we can find out the real scoop then. You don’t suppose she’s pregnant, do you?”

  “Jess, stop it,” Abby ordered. “This isn’t the time for that kind of speculation. Besides, I imagine they’d send her home if she was expecting a baby. Surely they wouldn’t want a pregnant soldier on duty in Baghdad, of all places.”

  Jess looked unrepentant. “Hey, it would explain why they were in
such a rush. Even Kevin said they were highly motivated. Maybe that’s what he meant.”

  “I think I’ll vote for love being the reason for the rush,” Bree said. She’d been watching her brother and Georgia ever since Kevin had made the big announcement. He’d hardly taken his eyes off his new wife. “Dad, get a glass of champagne and propose a toast. Isn’t that one of the best man’s duties?”

  Mick nodded. “Good idea.”

  As he wandered off, Jess disappeared, as well. By the time Mick lifted his glass of champagne several minutes later, Jess was nowhere in sight.

  As soon as Mick had finished his lengthy toast welcoming Georgia to the family, Bree again looked around for Jess, but she was missing. She turned to Abby. “Where’s Jess?”

  “I have no idea, but this has obviously upset her. I don’t know if she’s worried about Kevin or hurt that he didn’t tell her ahead of time. It won’t matter to her that he didn’t tell any of us except for Dad. She always thought of Kevin as her champion. She’s been devoted to him since he went overseas. She sends him cookies, books, DVDs and anything else she thinks he and the other soldiers might like. I’m afraid Kevin’s just unintentionally shattered that bond.”

  “I agree,” Bree said. “Hopefully Kevin will pick up on that and make amends. It would be awful if this causes a rift between them.”

  “I’ll make sure of it,” Abby said, already starting across the lawn.

  Before she’d gone far, though, Jess came outside and raised her own glass of champagne. “Everyone, I’d like to make a toast to my big brother and his bride. Georgia, you may not have had the wedding of every girl’s dreams, but I promise the honeymoon will be more traditional. The bridal suite at the inn is yours for as long as you’re able to stay. That’s my gift to you and Kevin, along with a ton of good wishes for a long and happy life together.”

  Abby returned to Bree’s side. “She almost made that sound sincere.”

  Bree frowned. “What do you mean almost? I thought she sounded convincing.”

  “Too convincing,” Abby said. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she isn’t planning to run over to the inn and put shaving cream on the pillows or short-sheet the bed.”