Forever Devoted

by Kathleen Brooks

  “What is that smile for?” Marcy asked, stepping to the window next to him.

  “It just dawned on me. We’re responsible for all this—all of them.”

  “Oh, Jake,” Marcy whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder. They stood silently watching as Sienna rubbed her slightly swollen belly with their first great-grandchild inside to where all their children stood lovingly by the side of the spouses. Tammy glowed as she was given the gift of a late-in-life pregnancy. Although unexpected, it wasn’t unwelcome. He or she would be their eighteenth grandchild who would grow up surrounded by the love Marcy’s family never gave her . . . but maybe even that was about to change.

  “They’re here,” Miles said from behind them. Marcy turned to see her oldest child, now in his sixties, looking ready to defend her if someone dare upset her.

  “Have you met them?” Marcy asked as she and Jake moved toward the door.

  “Yes. I saw them coming and hurried them inside before the crowd could descend on them. They seem very happy to be here.” Miles stepped aside so she and Jake could walk past them. Marcy raised her hand and cupped her son’s cheek.

  “You’re a good son, Miles.”

  “It’s only because you’ve been such good parents.”

  Marcy took a deep breath and headed down the hall to the living room with Jake’s hand in hers and Miles offering his silent support behind her.

  * * *

  Walker hugged his friends from home. He couldn’t stop smiling as the Faulkners were all talking at once. Gavin and his sister, Harper, had driven their Grandfather Scott. Ridge and Tinsley had similarly driven their Grandfather Kevin while Wade, Trent, and Ryker all flew there together.

  Walker could tell they were nervous. Kevin and Scott sat in their wheelchairs with their heads together as they talked. Walker saw their hands wringing in their laps. It wasn’t just Kevin and Scott who were nervous to see their sister. Their grandchildren couldn’t stop looking at all the pictures hanging on the wall and asking Walker about a family they’d only heard of in passing.

  “Ah, here they are,” Walker said as he hurried over to Marcy’s side. In just a matter of weeks, she and Jake had become the grandparents he’d never had, and he felt protective of them as they faced the family they thought had abandoned them.

  The room went quiet and Walker could feel Miles growing tense. “Marcy Belle?” Scott whispered and Marcy broke at her childhood nickname. Tears streamed down her face as Gavin and Ryker pushed their grandfathers forward.

  “I thought you’d forgotten about me,” Marcy said tearfully as Jake led her to her brothers.

  Walker saw tears in Kevin and Scott’s eyes as Marcy stopped in front of them both and held out her hands. Soon the three Faulkner siblings were linked once again, hand in hand. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as Kevin struggled to stand and wrapped his sister in a hug. “We never forgot you.”

  “We’re so sorry, Marcy Belle. Ma told us you didn’t want anything to do with us. That you thought you were too good for us after marrying Jake,” Kevin confessed as Ridge hurried to help his grandfather sit back down in his wheelchair.

  Marcy shook her head as she bent and hugged her brother Scott. “Never. I only wanted a family. A family Ma apparently didn’t want me to have. I’m so sorry. I should have tried harder. I should have reached out more.”

  Scott squeezed her hand. “No. None of this was your fault. But now we have a chance to right this wrong. You have to tell us all about your life. Has it been a happy one?”

  Marcy looked back to Jake and Miles and smiled. “It’s been the absolute best. Jake, Miles, come meet our family.”

  Scott held out his hand. “My dear Debra passed away a year ago. Kevin’s wife, Brenda, passed on three years ago. Deb and I had two sons who moved with Kev’s two sons to Florida last year to start a small hotel on a private island. Luckily we have our grandchildren with us still. Though I would really like to hold a baby in my arms before I die,” Scott said, giving his grandkids and grandnephews and -nieces a glare.

  Miles snorted and covered it up with a cough. Walker didn’t bother hiding his laugh. He still had the voicemail saved of Marcy saying the same thing.

  “I will have my eighteenth grandchild in five months and my first great-grandchild in six months. Y’all knew Jake but haven’t seen him since you left. And this is my oldest son, Miles.”

  Jake and Miles shook hands and smiled. Jake rested his hand on Marcy’s back and Walker couldn’t help but sit back and hope he and Layne would have such a long and happy marriage as Jake and Marcy.

  “And these are my grandchildren,” Scott said, motioning for them to step forward. “This is Gavin. He’s a doctor. And his sister, Harper, owns the best bar and grill in town,” Scott said proudly.

  Harper looked distrusting but still shook Marcy’s hand. Gavin hugged her and Walker thought Marcy would cry with joy.

  “And these are my other grandchildren. Wade, he’s in the Coast Guard. And his brother, Trent. He makes the most exquisite furniture.”

  Wade and Trent both hugged Marcy and shook Jake’s and Miles’s hands. “It’s nice to meet y’all,” Trent drawled.

  Kevin held out his hand for Marcy, and she happily took it. “And these are my grandkids. “Ryker is an only child and now runs a shipping company in Charleston.”

  “Mrs. Davies,” Ryker said, shaking her hand.

  “Would calling me Aunt Marcy be too much to ask?”

  For once, Ryker smiled kindly. Ryker was always the dark and brooding kind. But when he smiled, his whole demeanor changed. “Not at all, Aunt Marcy.” Marcy sniffled and launched herself at Ryker, wrapping the surprised man in a hug.

  “And this is Ridge. He’s a builder. Went to school to be an architect, but now he designs and builds luxury homes and buildings. And this sweet little lady is his sister, Tinsley. She’s a beautiful artist,” Kevin said proudly.

  “I brought you this, Aunt Marcy,” Tinsley said shyly. She handed Marcy a wrapped package that Marcy tore into.

  “Oh! Oh, Jake, look at it! It’s beautiful.” Marcy began to cry at the painting of an old oak tree with the initials M + J in carved in the trunk. “How did you know?”

  “Walker told me about the tree they’re getting married under. When I asked for a picture he sent it to me,” Tinsley said as Marcy wrapped her in a hug.

  “I’ll cherish this. Thank you.” Marcy took a deep breath. “Now are you ready to meet all your uncles, aunts, and cousins?”

  “And any single ladies and gents of Keeneston, too,” Scott called out as Gavin began to push his wheelchair toward the party out back.

  “Grandpa,” Gavin groaned as the rest of the kids all rolled their eyes.

  * * *

  “You may now kiss the bride,” Father Ben said under the massive three-hundred-year-old oak tree. The lower branches were entwined with soft white lights as the warm glow of the sun setting behind them turned the wedding into a fairy tale.

  Layne couldn’t stop smiling as Walker, more handsome than she’d ever seen him in his dress uniform, wrapped her in his arms, bent her back, and kissed her. Her friends and family cheered.

  “I love you, Layne. Today is just one of the happy days we will have.”

  Layne kissed Walker one more time before he brought her upright, and they walked arm-in-arm up the aisle.

  They stood off to the side as they received good wishes and congratulations from their friends and family. Layne couldn’t have been happier to meet her cousins and felt as if the shy Tinsley was already her friend after what they went through to find Edie. Layne laughed as she grabbed Ryker and introduced him to Dylan. The two looked at each other with stone faces before they finally started to talk. They were definitely two peas in a pod—tall, dark, and quiet, but with a lot going on beneath the surface.

  And what warmed Layne’s heart more than anything was seeing the utter joy on her grandmother’s face. As Layne and Walker talked to their guests, the oa
k was turned into the center of the reception. A dance floor was set up under the edge of its outreaching branches and tables were grouped all around it.

  Grandpa Jake clinked his champagne glass to get everyone’s attention at the trunk of the oak tree. “My lovely bride and I carved our initials into this tree the day of our wedding. We didn’t know what the future would hold. I was off to war, and she was left to run a farm, but we had faith, and we had love. Now, as we look around, we see so much love we no longer think we should be alone on this tree. Walker, Layne, I’m sure one of you has a knife on you. Come up here and be the first to put your initials on the tree next to ours. Then we ask for all our children and grandchildren to do the same. For long after we’re all gone, our love will be known to anyone that visits. To Walker and Layne, and to a forever love.”

  Layne hiked up her dress to reveal a knife held in place by a blue garter. “Your knife or mine?”

  “That’s my girl.” Miles chuckled as he slapped Walker on his back. “Welcome to the family, Froggy.”

  Layne hugged her father. When he hugged her tightly in return and told her how proud he was of her, Layne knew now what Sydney and the rest of her cousins were talking about. She was complete. She was loved.

  “Thank you, Dad.”

  “Even if you did marry a Navy man. At least he’s a badass,” Miles dipped his head and whispered. “But we both know who the real badass in the family is. After all, you are Daddy’s girl.”

  * * *

  The music was lively. The tree, now filled with the initials of all the happy couples, shined as Walker pulled Layne from the dance floor and into the night.

  “What are you doing?” Layne giggled as she followed him toward the shooting range.

  “Getting a couple minutes alone with my wife. It’s been killing me not to touch you. Sydney is evil, that’s all I can say.”

  Layne looked down at her dress. It was stunning, but it also gave a very seductive view of her cleavage. Walker hid her behind the straw dummy and backed her up against it with a searing kiss.

  “I’ve been wanting to kiss you like that all day,” Walker confided as he ran his hands down her side, skimming the sides of her breasts before resting at her waist.

  “Soon we’ll be all alone on a private beach. Until then, I guess this kiss will have to do,” Walker said, kissing her again before pulling back with a look of puzzlement on his face. “What are these doing out here?”

  Layne looked up as Walker plucked the purple thong from the straw dummy’s head above her. “Why would you leave your panties out here?” Walker asked, dangling the garment from his fingertips.

  “Those aren’t mine!” Layne gasped.

  “They look like yours.”

  “The panty dropper has struck again.”

  Walker dropped the panties. “If they’re not yours, whose are they?”

  “I don’t know. The whole town has been betting on it.”

  “Now I’m kinda bummed. I thought they were yours, which would mean you’re not wearing any right now,” Walker said, using his finger to trace a path down her bodice.

  “Just because they belong to someone else doesn’t mean I’m wearing anything underneath my dress. I guess you’ll just have to love me for the rest of my life to find out.”

  “That’s the easiest order I’ve ever received.” Walker leaned forward and thoroughly kissed his wife.

  * * *

  “Cheers, ladies,” Morgan said to her friends and sisters-in-law as they sat around the table under the tree. They sipped champagne as they watched Walker and Layne emerge from the shadows with a besotted look on their faces.

  “Do you think you’ll be a grandmother by next year?” Katelyn asked.

  “Not if Aniyah keeps giving them condoms,” Morgan grumbled.

  “Oh, look at that, ladies,” Dani said with a wriggle of her eyebrows.

  Morgan laughed as Lucas Sharpe and Poppy boogied their way across the dance floor while Talon Bainbridge stood stoically by with Zinnia looking at him with stars in her eyes.

  “Maybe they’ll be next instead of one of ours,” Tammy sighed. “I wish Piper would get her head out of her lab goggles and look at the men around her. But she is working on something she says will change the world, so I guess I can’t begrudge her that.”

  Tammy then laughed as the women turned to see Captain Kyrkos and his medic, Costa, dancing with Addison Rooney and Ava Miller. The two Greeks looked as if they’d died and gone to heaven. As a surprise to his son-in-law, Miles had tracked the two men down and flown them to the wedding.

  “Cheers to them!” Morgan toasted.

  “Honey!” Pierce yelled, running up and slapping the glass from her hands. “You can’t drink that! You’re pregnant. And being so old, your body doesn’t metabolize alcohol—”

  Tammy made a move to grab Annie’s gun that was hidden under her dress, but Annie shoved her own glass in her hands instead. “It was sparkling apple juice,” Tammy said through gritted teeth as she splashed Annie’s drink into his face. “It’s a damn good thing I love you. You are testing me, Pierce Davies. If you remind me how old I am one more time, I swear I will shoot you. And not an Aniyah type shot, but a Bridget type shot.”

  “But honey—” Pierce stopped and looked down at the notebook sitting between Dani and Kenna. “Why is our daughter’s name in that book? What is under Piper’s name?”

  Kenna slammed their matchmaking notebook closed as they all blinked innocently at Pierce. “Honey,” Tammy said, lowering her voice, “I believe the perks of the second trimester are hitting.”

  “Huh? Oh!” Pierce grinned. “I’ll, um, go inside and get you a sweater. You look cold. Maybe you should come with me to make sure I get the right one.”

  “I’ll meet you in just a minute,” Tammy said sweetly as she watched Pierce run off. “I’m too old to have a baby, but not sex,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Carry on, ladies. These hormones are hitting, even if he says the wrong thing over and over. He’s still so hot in that suit that I’ll forgive him instantly.”

  Morgan shook her head as Tammy hurried after her husband. “I think Reagan is hiding something,” Gemma informed the table.

  They looked to where Reagan was talking to a group of people. “Ask DeAndre,” Morgan suggested.

  “Hmph,” Gemma sighed. “We don’t have a good candidate for who is next.”

  “Abby’s shown no interest in settling down,” Bridget said.

  “Neither has Ariana,” Dani agreed.

  “Same with Greer,” Paige added. “But, Jackson—”

  “Or Carter,” Kenna smiled before her face dropped. “But he’s shown no interest in serious dating either.”

  “Wyatt’s another possibility,” Katelyn said, sitting up straighter.

  “Now we’re cooking.” Annie grinned, leaning forward to set the wheel of romance in motion.

  * * *

  Reagan stood with her cousins and friends as Walker and Layne danced so closely on the dance floor she was sure Uncle Miles would explode. Instead of causing a scene like her father, Cy, would have done, Uncle Miles was happily lost in his wife’s eyes. Layne thought she had it bad with Miles as her father. Uncle Miles was nothing compared to Reagan’s father.

  Reagan made a snort that caused Piper to look at her. Reagan smiled back and Piper went back to telling about her new experiment. Reagan’s father was driving her crazy. He still regularly threatened to castrate her brother-in-law, Matt, and he and Riley had been married for over a year now.

  It was a good thing her dad was a spy because that was the only way she had survived the past sixteen months. He’d taught her survival, surveillance, and how to fight. What her dad didn’t know was that he was teaching her how to keep her life private from him. What had started as friendship had blossomed into something so much more and she was fiercely guarding it with every lesson her father had taught her.

  Their relationship had started off slowly. They’d always bee
n friends. Then she’d flown with him, and he’d spent the entire flight talking to her as a woman, not just some girl he’d played with as a kid. When Reagan had landed her horse transport plane, they knew their relationship had changed forever. Reagan glanced around and saw him dancing with Poppy. So many weddings, so many events, so many nights . . . she wished she didn’t have to hide. She wanted to dance with him, to kiss him, to feel his hands on her, but he was different. He wasn’t Matt, or Ryan, or Nash, or Walker who knew how to handle a scary-ass father. Therefore, it was up to her to protect him.

  The dance ended and he came toward her as the strands of a slow dance started. “Dance with me, Reagan.”

  “We shouldn’t. My dad is watching.”

  “I don’t care. I’m done hiding.” He held out his hand and Reagan looked up into his dark brown eyes. He smiled at her. His dimples shone and she was lost. She wanted what her sister had. She wanted what Layne had. She wanted it all.

  Reagan’s hand shook as she placed it in his. His smile held the promise of a future—one that Reagan was finally ready to fight for. He pulled her so close that her breasts pressed against his hard chest. Reagan should have pulled back, but she was lost in his eyes. He was smiling down at her with love in them. Love was not something they’d talked about, but it was as clear as day. Then, right there in the middle of the dance floor, he lowered his lips to hers. This wasn’t a dance. This was a statement of his feelings—a statement that he was no longer going to hide.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Carter?” her father bellowed over the sounds of the wedding.