by Jillian Hart
Autumn shone like the happy bride she was, wearing one of her mother’s diamond necklaces and decked out in a white lace and pearl dress with some designer label that had taken a chunk out of his savings account—not that he minded. All he’d ever wanted in life was for his children to be happy.
“Doris gave me the two-minute warning.” Cady bustled into the room, tall and slender and as pretty as a magazine picture. She was elegance in an understated, dark emerald-green dress to match her eyes and tapped crisply on her coordinating heels. Her soft bouncy locks were tamed into a fancy do that only enhanced the beauty of her oval face. “Are you ready, Autumn?”
“Ready? I was about four minutes ago. Now I’m mostly really nervous. Look, I’m shaking.” She held out one hand, which wobbled somewhat terribly.
“Remember how nervous I was when I married your brother?” Rori took Autumn’s hand in her own and they leaned together, talking away.
“Ooh, I’m not happy with this,” Cheyenne muttered and went to loosen his tie. “Dad, you’re not holding still.”
“This is good enough. I’m an old man. There’s only so much improvement anyone can make with me.” He gently tweaked her nose, as he’d used to do when she was small. He could still see her freckles and pigtails, trailing after him when he doctored an animal.
“You aren’t so old,” Cheyenne quipped gently as she picked a tiny dab of lint off his collar. “Addy! Dad’s ready for his picture.”
“Ooh, goody!” His littlest bounced up in a swirl of silk, prancing across the room with a contraption in hand. “Dad, you look fab. Gather up, everyone. Group picture!”
It was too late to duck out the door. Cheyenne had a hold on him. That girl wasn’t just good at barrel racing and doctoring animals. She was sharp-eyed and she had a strong grip. But he wasn’t born yesterday; he knew how to handle a pack of women.
“Addy, give me that camera. I get to do the honors. You all cozy up together so I can get a picture of my girls.” He flashed a grin at them because he knew how tough it was for his daughters to say no to his dimples. “C’mon, make your dad happy.”
He watched with love in his eyes and a catch in his throat as Rori and Autumn joined Cheyenne and Addy. With the bride in the center and her bridesmaids surrounding her, he positioned his camera. Although his attention was on his girls, he was aware of the other woman in the room, hanging back and quietly watching. Cady had an effect on him, one he couldn’t deny. “Alright, big smiles. Say cream cheese.”
“Cream cheese,” they chorused as he clicked. “Cady! Come join us.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t.” She was blushing. He forgot anyone else was in the room as she leaned one shoulder against the wall. “I try to avoid cameras at all costs. I take terrible pictures.”
“No one here believes that.” Autumn floated around him to take Cady by the hand. “I’m the bride. It’s my day. You have to indulge me.”
“I can’t say no to you, sweetie.” Cady patted Autumn’s cheek. It was a gentle gesture, one of caring that a mother might give a daughter.
His throat tightened up. He knew Autumn and Cady had gotten close over the last year. His daughters pulled Cady into their circle, fussed with her and showed in little ways of tone and gesture that they cared for her. Truly cared. It meant so much to him his vision went a little fuzzy as he snapped the picture. He took a second one just in case. He wanted to make sure to capture this moment in time.
“Calling all bridesmaids!” Doris charged in like a general preparing for a siege. “It’s time to go! Follow me. Frank, are you all right? You look a bit overwhelmed.”
“I’m the father of the bride. It’s my prerogative.” He held out Addy’s camera, hoping no one noticed he’d managed to avoid getting into the picture.
“Frank.” Cady’s caring alto and her gentle touch drew his attention. She took the camera before Addy could reclaim it. “Let me take a picture of you and your daughters.”
He could read the unspoken understanding in her eyes. She knew what his kids meant to him. He didn’t have to say a thing nor did she, but with the comfort of her touch a current zinged between them—a bond of connection and emotion that defied words.
“I’ve got the music cued, Frank Granger.” Doris, whom he’d known since grade school, gave him a scolding look that didn’t stymie him any. One flash of his dimples had her reconsidering. “All right, but make it quick, Cady. Autumn, are you ready, honey?”
“Now I am.” Her arm hooked into his. Frank gazed down at his little girl and he knew he had to give her away. Not that she was going far. The construction on her house was finished, and it was less than a quarter of a mile from his driveway to hers, proof life was changing. He thanked God for it, but it hurt to know this fork in the road would take her a little away from him.
Cady clicked the shutter, Addy confiscated the camera and Doris steered the bridesmaids out of the room, straightening bows and handing out bouquets as they went.
“This is it, Dad.” Autumn’s arm tightened in his. “I’m steady now. Whew, glad those nerves are gone.”
“Perfectly natural. Same thing happened to me when I married your mom.” It was bittersweet to remember that day when his hopes had been sky-high. The road had been tough. In the end Lainie hadn’t been a good fit with ranching life, but many of his other hopes had come true. Five perfect children, grown up to be five good people. And as he sensed Cady step from the room to give him and Autumn privacy, he was thankful for a new dream that had come to him in the middle of his life. “Good things are on the way for you and Ford, Autumn. Don’t forget. Always be loving and enjoy the journey.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, his sweet little girl.
God was good, he thought as he led her from the room. Never had there been a man more blessed than he.
Eloise stood in the church hall listening to the string quartet. The lilting notes rose over the dozens upon dozens of conversations. So far, she’d succeeded in her latest mission of avoiding Sean at any cost.
“Dad has a hidden ballroom dancing talent. Who knew?” Cheyenne sashayed up in her bridesmaid’s dress and doled out the three cups of lime punch she carried. “Look at him go.”
“I would give him a perfect ten,” Addy declared as she took a sip. She studied her father over the rim of the cup. Frank Granger with Cady in his arms sailed modestly around the dance floor as if all he could see was Cady, as if she were the only person in the entire world.
If only, Eloise wished. She could not hold it back. If only Sean would look at her like that.
“They make a handsome couple.” She managed to clear the wistfulness from her voice and took a sip of punch. It rolled over her tongue, sweetly tart. Cady deserved a fine man like Frank Granger. “I’m happy for them.”
“We are, too,” Addy answered for her sister.
Happy couples were everywhere. Eloise spotted her parents toward the back, waltzing rustily. Silver-haired Hal and Velma Plum waltzed as if they were fifty years younger. The bride and groom gazed into each other’s eyes, cocooned in their happiness and love for one another.
“I have to say Autumn and Ford make a beautiful couple,” Eloise heard Martha Wisener comment in the crowd behind her. “The town finally found a sheriff who will stay.”
“About time, too,” Sandi Walters added. “He might be a city boy, but he fits in around here like a stitch in a seam.”
“That he does,” Arlene Miller concurred.
“Aren’t you glad this is not going to happen to us any time soon?” Cheyenne asked with a grin.
“Or ever,” Addy concurred. “All that lace and ruffles and being tied down. No thank you.”
“Who needs it?” Eloise found herself saying to cover up the sadness of the truth. Romance was not going to find her again. Gerald’s words remained like a thorn in her soul she could not pluck out. No man is going to want that kind of burden. I’ve tried as hard as I can, and I can’t do it. I don’t wa
nt to marry you now. You’re not what you used to be.
“I am thankful Autumn found a great guy. Those don’t come around every day.” Cheyenne ran a fingertip along the etched pattern of her glass cup. “They might be much rarer than first thought.”
“I’ll agree with that.” In the crowd, Eloise spotted a familiar shock of dark hair. Wide shoulders. Six-foot-plus height. A dimpled smile and a rugged, handsome face.
Sean. Her pulse screeched to a dead halt. Every neuron she possessed went into a ceasefire. She could only stare, captivated against her will as he moseyed up to Tucker and Owen. Ever since Tucker had proposed to Sierra, her little boy had been glued to his future father’s side. It was nice to see the happy child holding on tight and trustingly to the man he clearly adored. Sean lit up as he talked with the little guy. He knelt so he was eye-to-eye with the child, his masculine strength and kindness the most attractive thing she’d ever seen. She caught the word “horse,” and “Bandit,” so she didn’t have to wonder about the topic of conversation.
He would make a good dad. That realization sailed right past her defenses, another wish she could not give voice to. Good men might be rare but they were out there. Sean was the best of the best. She tamped down the dream before it took form. Whatever God had in store for Sean’s future, one thing was for certain. She could not be a part of it. She breathed slowly, carefully past the knot of pain behind her ribs and took another sip of punch.
“I never thought the day would come,” Martha spoke up again. “Frank has chosen a bride.”
“Oh, they aren’t engaged so soon, are they?” Sandi Walters commented. “I’m never going to get over the fact that he didn’t choose me.”
“Me, either. My heart is forever broken,” Arlene Miller agreed. It was no secret to anyone the two middle-aged women had been holding out hopes for Frank’s interest over the years, but it had never happened. “I keep praying and praying for a handsome widower to move to town. But so far, God hasn’t seen fit to answer that prayer.”
“It sounds like a good one to me. I wonder what the holdup is?” Sandi quipped.
“Ooh, look who’s coming this way.” Addy leaned close. “He doesn’t seem to be looking at either one of us, Cheyenne.”
“No, I think you’re right. He seems awful focused on someone else. I wonder why?”
“Ooh, romance.” Addy grinned. “I’m all for it, as long as that dreaded disease doesn’t come my way.”
Eloise swallowed, unable to speak. The sisters’ conversation faded, drowned out by the mad drumming of her pulse pounding in her ears. Her neurons began to fire again, but the rest of the world was fuzzy. Only Sean was clear as he shouldered his way closer. Be still my heart, she pleaded.
It was already too late.
“Looks like I’ve found the prettiest girls in the room.” His easygoing charm was turned up to full wattage.
“What did I just say about great guys being hard to find?” Cheyenne teased.
“I can’t win with you two.” He grinned, unthwarted. “Eloise. I was hoping you wanted to grab some fresh air with me. I’ve had about all the wedding festivities that a lone wolf like me can stand.”
“A lone wolf?” Addy laughed at that. “Try again, Sean. Eloise, we’ll see you later.”
“I don’t even get to say no?” she protested as Cheyenne plucked the nearly empty punch cup out of her hand and Addy spun away on her heels.
“I’m not sure they agree with the whole lone-wolf thing.” He shook his head and nodded toward the open doors nearby, where green leaves rustled and a patch of blue sky beckoned.
“You can try to be something you’re not, but it doesn’t always work out.” Her tone remained light. Golden hair tumbled forward like a curtain, shielding her.
“You’re right.” He agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets, determined to stay casual. “I’m not a loner type. I would like to be, but I may have to admit defeat.”
“You can only be yourself.” She led the way into the bright fall of sunlight searing the steps. He’d never recalled a time when the green had been greener. The deep verdant color hurt his eyes. The sky burned a bright robin’s-egg blue, so stunning the only thing rivaling it was Eloise in her light pink dress, the hem swinging knee length, making her look like a little piece of cotton candy. Nothing on this earth could be sweeter.
He may as well face it. He’d failed because of her. He hadn’t been able to wall off his heart or keep himself from tumbling head over heels.
“You are right.” He let humor sound in his words but he kept back other emotions. Ones that he might not be ready for, but they came anyway as purely and truly as a Sunday morning hymn. The musical sweetness enveloped him, leaving him forever changed. Tenderness rolled through in persistent and powerful waves, drawing him inexorably closer to a truth he had to confront. “It’s time to face the truth.”
“What truth?” She curled a strand of hair behind her ear, deliberately avoiding his gaze.
“There’s something I’ve been fighting. I’ve tried to forget it, ignore it, deny it and it hasn’t worked.” He drew her to a stop with a hand on her arm.
“What do you mean?” Nerves quaked through her and a spike of fear she couldn’t explain stabbed at her chest.
“I know you have said you aren’t ready for this, but I want to talk with you.” His amazing blue eyes darkened, so deep they revealed his heart. “We have been spending a lot of time together lately.”
“We have. It’s been nice.” What she saw in him made her palms go damp. The nerves quaking through her turned into tremors.
“Nice?” He shook his head. “No, it’s been more than that. Being with you has changed me.”
“For the better, I hope. Isn’t that a sign of a good friendship?” Keep it breezy, she told herself. He didn’t ever need to know how much the word “friendship” hurt. He didn’t need to know how much she wanted the affection she saw in his heart.
“Friendship, sure.” He nodded, no longer easygoing as everything about him became serious. “It’s turned into something more. My feelings for you have deepened. I’m hoping yours have, too.”
How was she going to stay in denial now? Air hitched in her throat as he leaned closer. The nerves tremoring through her became a full-fledged earthquake as his gaze focused on her mouth. No, she thought, don’t give in. Hold on to the denial.
“We agreed on friendship, Sean.” She gasped for breath, taking a rapid step back. “That’s all it can ever be.”
“It’s true. I’ve been fighting it for so long. I’ve come up with all kinds of excuses but none of it is the truth. It’s time to be honest, Eloise, both of us. I can’t help how I feel.”
“Sean, I am definitely not ready. I’m not going to be. Ever.” How could he do this? His feelings may have changed, but they couldn’t last. She gripped her cane tighter, feeling wrenched apart. In front of her was everything she wanted and everything that she couldn’t have.
“I don’t want to look back in life and wonder, what if?” He brushed the pad of his thumb against her silken cheek. “I don’t want to stay silent and think about what my life would have been like if only I’d had the courage to speak my heart.”
“Sean, this has to stop.” Pain laced her plea. “Please.”
Didn’t she see? From the moment he’d spotted her at the drive-in with his ice-cream cone, he’d been caught like a fish on a hook doing everything possible to try to get away. But watching Autumn pledge her love to Ford made him realize how deeply he felt about Eloise. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, through good times and bad. That was how he loved Eloise. With all he had, with everything he was, and he could not get the images of the future he wanted out of his mind, images that came from his soul.
“Don’t push me away, not again. Not this time. Please.” He brushed at the fine, flyaway strands of hair stirred across her face by the wind. “Let me show you how I feel.”
“Sean, I—”
�
��Just close your eyes.” Tenderness rose within him like a summer’s dawn, gentle and cozy and certain. There would be no going back and he didn’t want to. As he cupped her face with his hands, devotion shimmered within him like the rarest of gems, perfect and flawless and valuable beyond all measure.
The images began to unfurl. He saw sunny summer days and cheerful banter over the supper table with Eloise. He saw weekend horse rides, ice-cream cones at the drive-in, a ring on her finger and a baby cuddled in the crook of her arm. He envisioned everything when he gazed upon her. His hopes, his happiness, his dreams. This was what he wanted her to feel in his kiss as he slanted his lips over hers and opened his heart.
Chapter Sixteen
Panic rattled through Eloise’s system, but she hadn’t believed it was real until his mouth captured hers. Time stood still, their surroundings vanished and there was only the tender, reverent brush of his lips to hers. Her pulse halted, her soul stilled and she prayed the moment would never end.
It was perfection. Never had there been such a kiss. Fairy tales ended with kisses like this. All the wishes she had fought against rose as if they had sprouted wings. Affection welled up through her, affection she’d tried to banish, but hadn’t been strong enough to. Love ebbed into her and she reached out to lay both hands against his chest.
For one breathless moment, she had the dream. A fairy-tale ending could be hers. It was just a breath away. Then the metallic clink of a cane striking the concrete shattered the moment and reality rushed in. The dream vanished. She opened her eyes, back to herself, and broke the kiss. Sean’s poignant gaze searched hers.
For one blissful minute she’d forgotten who she was. The cane lying at her feet reminded her.
It would always remind her. The joy ebbed away. The hopes uplifting her now gently lowered her back to the ground. The happy-ending wishes evaporated like mist in a wind, leaving her with a reality that she could not dream away.
