Finding Forever: Treading Water Series, Book 5
Page 29
Both kids had Frannie’s red hair, and Jamie referred to the three of them as his gingers.
“I love that. You’re stunning, sweetheart.”
Owen struck a pose. “I got a new suit.”
“Handsome as ever, my friend.” Owen and Jack exchanged the elaborate handshake Owen had created for them a year ago.
“Come on, guys,” Frannie said to the kids. “Let’s go figure out where you need to be.”
Jill had asked Owen and Olivia to hand out programs to all the guests.
“See you out there,” Jack said as Frannie took off with the kids.
“How you holding up?” Jamie asked.
“Oh, you know. Just another day.”
“Right,” Jamie said, laughing. The tall blond bastard barely had a gray hair, unlike Jack, who had three times as many kids and the gray hair to prove it. “Just another day. Our baby girl Jill is getting married.”
“I know. I can’t deal. And Maggie right behind her.”
“My heart can’t take it. I can only imagine how you must feel. And Eric, going to Thailand.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” His son would be teaching English to Thai students and ASL to other American volunteers for the next two years. After many late nights and long debates, Jack and Andi had agreed to Eric’s plan in exchange for his promise to go to college upon his return. “Just like when Kate wanted to go to Nashville. Remember?”
Jamie grimaced. “How could I ever forget? Look at what became of that. I have to believe Eric will do great.”
“It’s just so frightening to think of him being so far away.” Eric had never let his disability define or limit him, and Jack couldn’t bear to hold him back from chasing his dreams. But he would worry about him every day that he was gone.
“I know, but it’ll go by fast, like everything else has.”
“I hope so.”
“It will.”
Aidan’s brothers Brandon and Colin arrived with their wives, Daphne and Meredith, as well as Brandon’s daughter Michaela and her husband, Josh. Brandon pushed his mother, Colleen O’Malley, in a wheelchair. Every one of her snow-white hairs was in place, and her nails had been painted pink, the same color as her house in Chatham, Massachusetts, or so Jack had been told by his girls.
Jack and Jamie greeted them all with handshakes and kisses. Since Aidan married Clare, the O’Malley family had been good to Jack’s girls, which made them family to him, too.
Jack bent to kiss the cheek of Colleen O’Malley. “It’s so lovely to see you, Colleen. You’re looking well.”
“I’m hanging in there,” she said in the delightful brogue of Ireland. “My grandchildren keep me young.”
“I hear the whole gang is coming today,” Jack said.
“I’m afraid so. I’ll apologize in advance for the unruly mob of O’Malleys. I did what I could with them.”
Jack laughed and directed them on how to find the south veranda, where the wedding would take place in forty minutes.
God, forty minutes until Jill got married. Wasn’t it five minutes ago she’d been dancing at her first recital and learning to sail? “I suppose we should get in there before they send out a search party for me.”
Jamie nudged him in the right direction, as usual. “Let’s go.”
As they walked through the hotel, Jack saw memories in every nook and corner of the place. He’d worked on this project during the most difficult time in his life, had met Andi because of this place and had his life changed forever by a series of events that continued to feel surreal even after all the time that had passed.
He was proud of the family he’d created with Andi, Clare and Aidan. They had worked together as a team to support the three girls he and Clare shared as well as the children they’d had with new spouses. People told him and Clare they were the gold standard for how to do divorce right. He didn’t see it that way. They had simply put their children first—all their children—and the result was one big happy family that gathered today for Jill’s wedding.
One of the wedding staffers directed him to the room where Jill waited for him with Clare and Andi. He’d done this “giving away the bride” thing once before, so he’d expected to be better able to cope with it this time around. He’d been wrong about that. Seeing Jill in her wedding dress stopped his heart. The dress was simple yet elegant, matching the understated style of the gorgeous bride who wore it.
“You’re stunning, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
“You ready for this, kiddo?”
“I can’t wait.”
Jack hugged Clare, holding on for a long moment that belonged only to them as they prepared to watch their eldest daughter tie the knot. “We done good with this one,” Jack whispered.
Clare pulled back from him, laughing and dabbing at tears. “We done good with all of them.”
He nodded and kissed her cheek before turning to Andi, who held out her arms to him. “You got this, Daddy?”
“Oh sure. No biggie.”
Andi, who knew him better than anyone ever had, laughed as he’d expected her to. “Right. Whatever you say, stud.”
“See you out there?”
“I’ll be waiting for you, love. Make me proud.”
“I’ll try.”
After Clare and Andi left the room, Jack extended his arm to Jill. “Shall we do this?”
“Yes, please.” She curled her right hand through his arm, took her bouquet from the wedding planner and smiled up at him, incandescent with joy. “Love you, Daddy.”
He fought back tears. “Love you more, my sweet girl.”
Jill had orchestrated every aspect of this day, and when everyone was in place, the ceremony began with Brayden escorting Clare to her seat in the front row, followed by Eric escorting Andi and Owen escorting Frannie, who had stepped up for Jill and her sisters during the dreadful years following their mother’s accident. Jack was deeply touched to see that his sister had been given the same courtesy as Jill’s mother and stepmother.
Jack’s parents, Jamie’s parents, Clare’s mother, Andi’s mother and aunt, Martha Longstreet and Colleen O’Malley were seated in the row behind Clare and Andi, all of them wearing honorary corsages. His girls were lucky to be loved by such an amazing group of grandparents.
One of the hotel’s musicians provided the music for the ceremony because Jill hadn’t wanted any of her famous guests to worry about performing. Kate, Buddy and Taylor would do a set together at the reception instead, and everyone was looking forward to that.
Ashton appeared at the front of the gathering with his father and Buddy by his side.
Ashley, Chloe and Georgia Longstreet and their brother, Harry, the siblings of Ashton’s heart, as he’d introduced them at the rehearsal dinner, were the first members of the wedding party to appear from a room across the hall, followed by their mother, Taylor, who was one of Jill’s attendants. The women in the wedding party had been asked to wear shades of purple. They carried bouquets made of lilacs and other purple and white flowers.
Jill’s brothers followed: Eric, Rob and John Harrington, along with Max and Nick O’Malley, all of them cute as could be in their tuxedos.
Jack noticed that Rob’s hair could use a combing, and John’s bow tie had gotten crooked at some point, but oh well. Too late now.
Next came Maggie, looking impossibly beautiful in an off-the-shoulder lilac gown and sporting a sparkling new diamond ring on her left hand. She caught his eye and flashed a saucy grin at him before continuing down the aisle.
Brayden stood off to the side, his gaze fixed on Maggie, smiling as she came toward him. The more time Jack spent with the two of them, the more comfortable he was with Maggie’s choice for a husband. Brayden was a good guy, and he made Maggie deliriously happy. That was all that mattered to Jack.
Kate was next, her gown a darker shade of purple than Maggie’s. Instead of a bouquet, she carried Poppy, who wore a dress covered in purple pansies and a crown made
of baby’s breath. His gorgeous middle daughter had become even more so since becoming a mother. Kate radiated pure joy as she made her way down the aisle toward her husband, who lit up with delight at the sight of his wife and daughter.
True love, Jack thought. All his girls had found true love, and he couldn’t be happier about that, even if none of it had happened the way he’d thought it would.
Jack escorted Jill to the start of the aisle, where they met up with Aidan, who would accompany them.
“This is one of the greatest honors of my life.” Aidan’s tearful gaze encompassed them both. “Thank you for asking me.”
Jack smiled at Clare’s husband, who, against all odds, had become his close friend. “We wouldn’t have it any other way, would we, Jill?”
“Absolutely not.” She tucked her left hand into Aidan’s elbow and held her bouquet of white roses and lilies in the right hand that was looped through Jack’s arm.
Ashton watched Jill come toward him, smiling through his tears.
As Jack and Aidan walked their girl to meet her groom, everyone Jack loved was there, gathered in the place that had changed his life forever. He couldn’t ask for anything more.
* * *
Phew! So there you have it! I finally wrote Maggie’s book, and I can’t begin to properly articulate the emotional journey this book took me on as I wallowed in memories of the earliest days in my author career. It was such an incredible joy for me to be back once again with Jack and his family—and to write the epilogue from his point of view. I was so giddy when I came up with the idea of ending the series where it began with him. Ahhhh, all the feels, I tell you! ALL. THE. FEELS!
For the readers who’ve asked me relentlessly for YEARS to write this book, thank you for never giving up on one more Treading Water book. While I know at times the wait seemed interminable, I’m so glad I held off until I could do this story justice. I hope you love it as much as I do. And yes, this is the end for this series, so don’t start asking for another book! Lalalala, I can’t hear you! LOL
Special thanks to my fabulous assistant, chief operating officer and dear friend, Julie Cupp, who has been on this ride with me so long that she read Treading Water as I was writing it in 2004-2005. Back then, we were colleagues on the day job. Neither of us could’ve imagined then what we were starting with that book or how it would link our lives the way it has. Julie, you can’t quit me! Thank you for everything always.
Thanks also to the rest of the amazing team who support me every day: Lisa Cafferty, CPA, Holly Sullivan, Nikki Haley, Ashley Lopez and Tia Kelly. Thank you, Dan, Emily and Jake, who’ve also been on the Treading Water ride with me since the early 2000s, when they first understood that a man named Jack Harrington had joined our family—and was apparently here to stay. To my late parents, George and Barbara Sullivan, who always knew that someday I’d write a book and never let me give up on that dream, even when it seemed so far out of reach as to be laughable. I am who I am today entirely because of them.
A huge shout-out to my chief executive beta readers, Anne Woodall and Kara Conrad, both of whom have been with me from the beginning and help me so much with every book and even between books. To the Treading Water Series beta readers: Gwen, Kasey, Tammy, Melanie, Kelly and Mona, thank you for checking the details for me. I’m so happy to have you guys on the team! To my amazing editors, Linda Ingmanson and Joyce Lamb, thank you for always finding time for me when I come calling, and to Tracey Suppo for reading as I wrote this book and for cheering me on. You’re the best!
I had so much fun visiting Joye M. Briggs and her daughter, Emily Cournoyer, cofounders of Yellow Horse, Inc. in Ashaway, Rhode Island, to learn about equine-assisted therapies and programs. I so appreciate the time and information Joye and Emily provided. Thank you, ladies! I also want to mention my “baby” cousin and close friend, Jennifer Barrera, who basically did Maggie’s job in this book for thirteen years as the program director of Lucy’s Hearth, a shelter for families in crisis in our hometown of Middletown, RI. Jennifer’s dedication to her clientele very much inspired Maggie’s journey in this book, and I thank Jen for her valuable input into this story.
Last but most certainly not least, thank you to the readers who’ve made every dream I’ve ever had come true. I’d be nowhere without your unwavering support of me and my books. I love you all so much, even when you’re begging me to write a book for seven years! HAHA! Especially then. It’s always nice to feel wanted, and you always make me feel wanted. Thank you so much for everything.
Much love,
Marie
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