Chad joined them. He sipped his coffee and put an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Okay you two, enough smooching. Plenty of time for that in a few days. We’ll have nothing else to do,” he told them both with a grin.
Topaz looked at the two and felt her heart overflow with love. It’s almost as if the brothers were closer than ever now, as if loving the same woman had forged a stronger bond between them, a tie never to be broken.
“Where’s Sam?”
“Rescuing a stray cow,” Chad told her.
“Whatever are you three going to do in the Caribbean?” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “You’ll be bored out of your minds.”
“Oh, I have a few ideas to pass the time,” Chad said, ruffling her hair playfully. “Are you ready to meet all the relatives tonight?”
“Uh, not really. I’m nervous about that.”
“Hey, it won’t be bad. Just wait and see.”
That evening, the night before the official wedding, Chad had arranged a pre-wedding dinner party at the hotel rather than the traditional stag some of their friends wanted to throw for him. Because of their unusual situation, they didn’t feel a stag was right. Chad’s best friend had argued and so had a few other buddies, but Chad remained firm. No stag. And he’d made them promise to behave at the dinner tonight. No hookers, no weird tricks, no girls jumping out of cakes and no getting wasted. He told her he’d never liked stags anyway and never saw the sense in a bridegroom getting so wasted that he had to be carried home and be totally hung over for his wedding the next day. Hell no, he wanted to be bright and bushy eyed and be able to perform on his wedding night.
“Okay, what’s taking Sam so long? We need to start getting ready for tonight,” Topaz said.
“I’ll go and see,” Johnny said.
“I suppose I should go up and get ready.” Topaz sipped the last of her coffee and stood. When Chad’s arm slipped around her shoulders, she leaned into him. He felt so good, so right. His calming aura surrounded her and steadied her nerves. He’d be right there beside her that night and so would Sam and Johnny. Everything would be fine.
The scent of lilacs and lily of the valley was overwhelming as she stepped into the house. Once you’d been inside for a while it wasn’t quite as strong, but stepping in from the outside, it was really very potent. She’d had no idea when Chad had asked what her favorite flowers were that he’d have them imported. And not just a few either. They were wound around the banister of the stairs, around the edge of the doorway and upon entering the living room, there were bouquets everywhere and garlands strung across the room and the dining room. A bower had been made especially for the occasion waiting to be moved outside the next day and it was, also, completely threaded with the flowers.
Her bouquet and Corky’s was gorgeous. Corky’s dress was mauve and so the flowers suited it beautifully. Tiffy was her only bridesmaid. They had talked about flying some of her friends over, but she didn’t think it was worth it for the little time she’d have to spend with them and she had no close relatives. Also, her girlfriends weren’t stupid. They’d spot her love for the three brothers and she sure as hell didn’t want to deal with that. They were all catholic and handfasting would be dubbed as pagan, especially to three men.
Sam was best man and Johnny groomsman. Tiffy’s little girl was her flower girl and she would look so adorable in her mauve dress that was trimmed with white lace, the skirt long and very full. She resembled a big doll. She was to carry a basket filled with lily of the valley and she had to drop them on the red runner leading to the bower.
The forecast was for sunshine, but Chad had rented a huge tent just in case. Everything was ready outside just waiting to be put in place tomorrow. The reception would be outside as well. There were just too many guests for the mansion, as big as it was, to hold. It was to be the wedding of the year, Chad had told her.
Topaz hurried up the stairs to her room. Even her room was decorated and had a vase of flowers on her nightstand. Her wedding dress was covered with black plastic, hidden from curious eyes. There was still plenty of time so she took her time showering. Adrenaline rushed through her and she doubted she could even sleep that night. More than ever, she wished her mother could be there with her. The shower washed her tears away, but the sadness remained within her. There would be an empty spot today, one that could not be filled by anyone.
For the first time, she wore the black dress she’d originally bought for Christmas and the black high-heeled shoes. After pinning her hair into a chignon and looking at her reflection in the mirror, she decided she would pass. Her necklace that Chad had given her was the last touch, except she had added her locket to it. Her mother couldn’t be there, but she could wear her picture close to her heart.
A dab of perfume behind her ears, on her wrists and she was ready and headed for the stairs wondering if the men were ready to go.
She need not have worried. All three were ready and waiting for her in the living room. Dressed in black pants and white dinner jackets, they looked ready to step off the cover of a romance magazine. Stopping to stare at them for a moment, she was filled with pride that these were her men.
“Is something wrong?” Johnny asked.
“No. I just stopped to admire my three handsome men who look like models. Right now, I have you all to myself. In a bit, I’ll have to share you with how many others? And how many single ladies will be there throwing themselves all over you two?” She glared at Sam and Johnny.
“Ah, do I detect a hint of jealousy?” Chad chided.
“I’m not jealous,” she defended herself. “Not a jealous bone in my body.”
Not true, a little inner voice told her. You’ll be green if any woman throws herself at them. Yes, she had to admit it. But that’s something that couldn’t be avoided. Not without telling the world that these men were hers.
“Time to go. You look absolutely stunning, sweetheart,” Chad complimented her.
“Yup, good enough to eat,” Sam agreed. “Which I can’t wait to do.”
Topaz felt blood rush to her face.
“Yes, you look lovely, darling,” Johnny said. “Sorry for not telling you sooner, but you kind of took me aback with your compliment.”
“Well, it’s true. Any one of you could be on the cover of a romance magazine or a romance novel and make thousands of women drool.”
Topaz had never been one for crowds and how she got through the evening, she had no idea. Her head spun with names she couldn’t put faces to anymore, people talking to her all at once, questions thrown at her. One woman, she had no idea who she was, even had the gall to ask loudly if she and Chad were getting married because of the upheaval about the inheritance.
“Never mind her,” Chad whispered. “That’s my great aunt Betsy and she’s into everyone’s business. She’s got absolutely no tact.”
“Well, of course, Aunt Betsy. I am marrying Topaz so I can get our inheritance back. Isn’t that obvious? Now why she’s marrying me is the million-dollar question. Do you have the answer to that?”
That shut the woman up. Topaz giggled. “I guess she has to think long and hard before she can answer that one. I suppose the word love isn’t in her vocabulary,” she told Chad softly.
As she’d predicted, the single women who were there, mainly friends the men had grown up with, were all over Sam and Johnny as if they were covered with honey. Some danced a little too close for Topaz’s liking, hung around their necks too much, writhing their bodies against them while dancing, but she couldn’t do anything about it, of course. When they were in public or at some function, it’s something she’d have to get used to. Some of them even had the gall to flirt with Chad still, even though he was the one getting married the next day and that really got to her. It was as if they couldn’t accept the fact that Chad Douglas wasn’t and wouldn’t be available anymore.
Just after eleven, Chad told her they should be going home. “It’s a big day tomorrow. We all need a good night�
��s rest.”
“I doubt I’ll be able to sleep.”
“Honey, when we get home, I’ll mix you a good, strong drink. That should help you to dreamland.”
On the way home, Topaz asked, “Sam, Johnny, you looked like you were having a lot of fun this evening. Do either of you have any regrets? I mean, I saw how many young women threw themselves at you. Does it bother you giving up your freedom? Handfasting might not be legal, but it’s a bonding just like Chad’s and my marriage.”
Sam was the first to respond. “Honey, don’t ever doubt my feelings for you. The love I have in my heart and soul I couldn’t possibly feel for another woman. You’re my soulmate.”
“Princess, you’ve got me for life and beyond. Never forget that. All other women pale beside you and like Sam, I love you more than life itself,” Johnny said and reached over the seat to caress her neck.
As soon as they arrived home, Chad poured Topaz a stiff whisky. When she almost gagged on the liquid, he quickly added some 7-Up to it.
“That tastes better,” she said with a grimace. “But I still don’t like it much.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’ll help you to sleep,” Johnny said.
Taking a deep breath, Topaz drank it down as fast as she could and shuddered. No, definitely not a drink she could ever get used to. “I guess I should go to my room now, even if I don’t want to. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride after midnight.”
Chad was the last one she passionately kissed goodnight and reluctantly stepped out of his arms. “Goodnight, my loved ones,” she said softly while she made her way to the stairs.
* * * *
“How about another nightcap, little brothers?” Chad said while he closed the door of the living room. They nodded and he poured them all another whiskey.
The embers in the fireplace still glowed and shot off a spark every now and then. They sat quietly in the dark, each lost in their own thoughts, sipping their drinks, until Sam broke the silence. “We haven’t really had much of a chance to be alone since all this was set in motion. Now that we are, how do the two of you feel, really feel?”
“What do you mean, Sam?” Chad asked.
“There is this little bit of fear gnawing at my stomach that Topaz will get sick of dealing with three husbands and making love to the three of us. That the demands of three men will become tiring for her, that she’ll want to end it all.”
Johnny looked at Sam thoughtfully. “You know, Sam, though we’ve really known Topaz only a short while, it seems I’ve known her a lifetime and before. I solemnly believe that it was meant to be. Maybe we were all her husbands in a previous life. At times, I get the feeling of déjà vu, as if I’ve experienced something similar before, a same love. Maybe she and I were together in another life, but I don’t know if the two of you believe in reincarnation.”
“I didn’t believe in life after death either...until recently,” Chad told them.
Sam and Johnny looked at him curiously. “You mean as in ghosts?” Sam asked.
“Yes. I might as well tell you now. Ever since the night I lost it and hurt Topaz, I hear Father’s voice. He talks to me. Matter of fact, he called me a jackass that night.”
“That’s one of Father’s expressions,” Johnny said. “Really, Chad? You can hear Father?”
“Yes. I thought I was losing it at first, but he talks to me fairly regularly now. I’m almost getting used to it.”
“Wow,” was all Sam could say.
“What does he think of all this? Topaz marrying and loving the three of us?” Johnny asked.
“Now, that one he hasn’t commented on yet. I’ve been expecting him to, but nothing. He told me about the shack in the mountains, where to find Topaz that night and that she was okay. And I know now why he made up a will. It was all because he wanted her to meet us and he hoped one of us would fall in love with her and marry her. Well, he accomplished that.”
“Now the new will makes sense.” Johnny nodded and finished his drink. “I could stand another one after this revelation. I wish I could hear Father. I quite often talk to him in my thoughts. Can he hear what you think?”
“He told me he could. He proved it to me by answering my thoughts.”
“Oh shit, that means he can hear everything we think.”
Chad laughed. “I haven’t talked long enough with him to know exactly what life after death holds, but I doubt he’s sitting beside us twenty-four seven listening to our thoughts and watching our every move.”
Johnny shivered. “Just the thought of Father sitting on the edge of the bed watching us as a foursome gives me the damn creeps.”
Sam had refilled their glasses in the meantime and handed each his glass. “It does me, too. We’ll just have to try and put that out of our mind. If he does sit and watch us, all I can say is that he’ll get his jollies out of it.”
“Or be thoroughly disgusted. He was always a one-woman man,” Chad muttered.
“Fuck you, son. I was only in my fifties when I kicked the bucket. I’ve been around in my time. Believe me, what you’re planning is not something that only happens in this day and age. In the olden days, it was just not as openly talked about, written about and neither could you see it in movies.”
“Father? Sam and Johnny want to know what you think about the three of us marrying Topaz,” Chad said aloud.
“He’s here now? Talking to you?” Johnny asked.
“Yes, he suddenly gave me his opinion.”
“I think it’s fantastic. I hoped one of you would end up marrying my little gal. I never considered all three of you falling for her. The three of you had better treat her right. I’ll be here watching you.”
“We will. So we have your blessing?”
“You do, son. I’ll be at your wedding tomorrow and the joining on Sunday. And you can tell your little gal that I’ve got my own ménage going here. Your sweet mama and Juanita are here with me and they’ll be at the ceremonies as well. Tell her, Chad. She’ll be so happy to hear that. Also, that her mama has been trying to communicate with her. Topaz needs to relax more and maybe she can hear her mama then.”
“Damn, I was far from relaxed when you talked to me.”
“You were born gifted. Not everyone has that gift.”
“Then why haven’t I ever heard anyone else?”
“You did as a youngster, but then you hardened your heart and closed your mind to it.”
“And I’m here, my sweet boy, I always have been,” a female voice spoke, although very softly, so soft that Chad had to strain to hear it.
“Mama?”
“Yes, muffin, it’s me. I’ve always been with the three of you.”
“Tell Topaz I love her and I’ll be with her tomorrow,” another female voice said.
“Son, I’m glad you stopped the investigation. There is something I need to tell you. We know Topaz would dearly love to know who her father is. It’s best she never knows that she was conceived because Juanita was attacked and raped brutally. Even Juanita doesn’t know who fathered her baby or who the rapists were. She bore her shame in silence, but when she found out she was pregnant, she wanted her baby and loved her from the moment she felt the first stirring in her womb. That’s when she contacted me and confided the rape. She needed to talk to someone outside her friends. I flew to Mexico and helped her through everything and was with her when Topaz was born. A little baby was never as loved as our little princess. If Topaz knew the truth, she’d be devastated, if not for herself, but for her mother. I fell in love with Juanita then. She had so much courage and dignity, and I see all those qualities in Topaz, and more. So now you know, and you’ll probably agree with me that this knowledge is best kept secret.”
Chad digested this information for a few moments. Father, she’ll always wonder. Wouldn’t it be better if she—”
“No, definitely not. Maybe later in life, but we’ll talk again then.”
The voices faded. All this time Sam and Johnny had listened in
awe. “So, what did he say?” Johnny finally asked eagerly. “And was that really our mother?”
Chad was choked with emotion. Hearing his mother’s voice had really affected him. He’d almost forgotten what she sounded like. Muffin, she’d always called him that. He grimaced at being called that at his age. He swallowed hard and wiped a tear from his cheek. “Yes, that was Mama.”
“I’m jealous,” Sam said. “I wish I had a psychic gift. So what did Father say?”
“He approves. Says he has his own little ménage right where he is with Mama and Juanita. And they both spoke, too. That’s the first time I’ve heard other voices, besides Father. Juanita gave me a message for Topaz. I wonder if she believes in psychic phenomena and life after death.”
“You can’t go and tell her now. It’s way past midnight,” Johnny said. “You’ll be jinxing everything.”
“You don’t really believe in that crap, do you?” Sam asked.
“Well, no, but it’s a tradition not to see the bride after midnight. It’s supposed to be bad luck.”
“I’ll tell her tomorrow, as soon as I get a chance.”
“Chad, you won’t see her until she walks down the aisle,” Johnny reminded him.
“There’ll be a chance at the reception where I’ll pull her away to a quiet spot and I’ll tell her then. She needs to know. She misses her mother terribly right now.”
“Understandable,” Sam said. “She told me she was very close to her mother.
“I’m going to bed,” Chad said. “See you in the morning.”
Sam and Johnny finished their drinks. “Yes, I’m turning in, too.”
“Goodnight, guys,” Sam said. “I’m glad we had this talk and I’m even more glad that Father gives us his blessing. Come here, a brother hug.” With that, he pulled his two brothers into a threesome embrace.
Chapter Sixteen
The whiskey hadn’t helped much to fall asleep and Topaz’s night was restless. She kept waking up thinking it was time to get ready. When she finally saw the hands of the clock on the nightstand move to seven, she jumped out of bed. She should have been tired, but instead, she was eager to get going, full of excited energy and starving. Corky had admonished her several times that she wasn’t to leave her room that day, not until it was time for Terry to come knocking on the door to bring her downstairs and give her away to her future husband. Tears rolled down her cheeks. If only Daddy John could have been there to give her away. No time for tears, she thought. This is a happy day.
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