The Wedding Flight

by SJ McCoy

  Piper smiled. “In that case, I will, but I’m going to stay at the resort.”

  “That’s fine. Cameron’s going to stay there, so we’ll all get to hang out. It’ll be fun.”

  Chapter Two

  Smoke taxied the plane around in a circle and brought it to a halt on the ramp behind his parents’ house. He smiled when he saw his mom hurrying through the garden to come and greet him. This was weird, but it was good weird. He’d spent a lot of years believing that he’d never come here again. He was glad that had changed. He and Laura came to visit once every few months, and his parents had been up to visit them at the lake three times now. He’d arranged to pick Cameron up here on his way home from San Diego, partly because it would be quicker than making a stop at any of the nearby airports, but mostly because it would give him a chance to say hi to his folks. He knew they would be thrilled that Cameron was going to visit him.

  His mom was standing on the tarmac smiling at him when he let down the steps. “Cole, darling. It’s so good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you, too, Mom.” He pecked her cheek and wrapped her in a hug.

  “Cameron will be right out. He got caught on the phone just a few minutes ago. Your father was in the office today, and he isn’t home yet. Is there any chance you could wait a while? Chelsea is supposed to be coming over as well. It’d be lovely to have the whole family home together.”

  Smoke shook his head slowly. Laura and her friend were waiting for him to get home so they could all have dinner together. Much as he loved feeling closer to his family again—and it would be good to all be together again; that hadn’t happened yet—Laura was his priority. When he got together with all his family again, Laura needed to be there. She was most important to him. “I can’t; I’m sorry.” He felt bad at the way his mom’s face fell. He put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll make it happen soon, I promise, but I’ll bring Laura with me, okay?”

  She smiled. “Of course. She’s your family now.”

  He nodded, glad that she understood.

  His mom smiled. “And are the two of you going to make it official anytime soon?”

  He was glad to be back on safe ground. Glad to be able to talk to her about something he knew would make her happy. “As a matter of fact, we are. You know how busy we both are, but we’ve decided were going to sit down this weekend and figure out when we’re going to get married.”

  “Oh, Cole, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you both.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you and tell you as soon as we figure it out.”

  She looked sad. “Thank you.”

  Smoke felt bad again. “And, of course, you’ll be invited.”

  “We will?” Her smile lit up her face. “I wasn’t sure, after everything that happened. I didn’t want to assume.”

  Smoke wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I want you there. Laura does, too. In fact,” he looked up at the house, wondering how long Cameron was going to be, “I’ve asked Cam to be my best man.”

  “Oh, Cole!” Her eyes filled with tears. “That’s wonderful. You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

  Smoke smiled and nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak. He thought he did have a pretty good idea how happy it made her.

  Cameron appeared through the French doors that led out onto the terrace and waved. Smoke was glad to see that he had a holdall slung over his shoulder and looked ready to go, in jeans and a T-shirt.

  His mom smiled as Cameron joined them. “I hope you boys have a wonderful weekend. I never thought I’d see the day I got to see you go off together like this again.”

  Cameron dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Come on, Ma. Don’t make a big deal out of it. We’re just getting back to where we should have been all along; isn’t that right, Cole?”

  “Yeah,” said Smoke. “It’s no big deal. It’s just how things should have always been.” He smiled at them both, “And hopefully it’s how things will be going forward.”

  Cameron nodded. “Sounds good to me. Are we ready?”

  “I am, but I’m not sure if Mom’s ready to let us go.”

  “I’ll never be ready to do that, so go on. Get out of here before I ruin my makeup.”

  They each gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek before climbing the steps to the plane. Smoke met her gaze before he secured the door and she blew him a kiss. He blew one back and mouthed I love you, Mom, and had to smile at the way the tears streamed down her face, despite her huge happy grin.

  Once they were up in the air, Cameron adjusted his headset and turned to Smoke. “Are you okay to talk?”

  Smoke nodded. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. I’m just wondering how Laura was about me coming.”

  “She’s excited to see you. In fact, I think you did her a favor.”

  “How?”

  “You let her off the hook. She had a friend come to visit, and she thought I might be pissed that we didn’t get the weekend to ourselves.”

  Cameron smiled. “But now you can’t be pissed because your brother is coming anyway.”

  “Yup and I’m glad you are. Do you want to do anything while you’re here?”

  Cameron shrugged. “Just hang with you guys and chill. I’ve been working so much lately, and when I take any time off, it’s just been parties and craziness.”

  Smoke turned to look at him. “That’s all your life’s ever been, isn’t it? Work hard, party harder.”

  “I guess, but maybe I’m getting old or something. I still love the work, but the partying and the party people …” He shrugged. “I dunno. It doesn’t seem as fun anymore.”

  “Maybe you just need a change, and Summer Lake couldn’t be more different from what you’re used to.”

  “Yeah, they say a change is as good as a rest, and I need a rest.”

  “Okay then, we’ll keep it as laid back as you like.”

  “Thanks. I’m looking forward to it.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Laura smiled at Piper. “You look amazing.”

  “Thanks. You really think so?”

  “I know so. Didn’t you notice how many heads turned as you went by?”

  Piper looked thrilled. “I did, but I’m just not used to that. You know me—always the tomboy. I’m more at home in boots and jeans than skirts and dresses.”

  “Well, I think you should change that. You’ve said you’re ready for a change, so go for it. Change your wardrobe, change your job.” Laura smiled. “Change where you live. I still think you should move out here.”

  Piper looked around the deck of the restaurant where they were sitting and then out at the lake which was turning crimson and gold with the reflections of the setting sun. “The more time I spend here, the more appealing that idea becomes, but there’s one slight problem. I don’t have a job here. There’s nothing I could do here unless I wanted to change my career as well as everything else. My career is the one thing I feel I got right in life, even if I couldn’t take it as far as I’d like to.”

  Laura shrugged. “Maybe there is something you could do here. I mean, no, there aren’t any cargo airlines based here, but there is an airport and a flight school and a private jet charter company, and I know a guy. I have connections.” She grinned.

  “No, I couldn’t ask your Smoke for a job. That wouldn’t be right.”

  “Why not? That’s what friends do. They use their connections to help each other out.”

  “No, leave it, Laura. I do need to make changes, I do need to find a new job, but I need to figure it out for myself, not just lean on you to help me out.”

  “Okay, whatever you say. I’m just being selfish. I’d like to have you here.”

  Piper smiled. She was beautiful when she smiled. “Thanks.” She looked up as Ben approached their table.

  “Evening, ladies. Do you need menus?”

  “No, thanks, Ben,” said Laura. “At least not yet. We said we’d meet
Smoke and Cameron here for dinner, but I don’t know how long they’ll be.”

  Ben smiled. “No problem.” He looked at Piper. “Is Cameron your husband?”

  She laughed. “No, I’ve never met him.”

  “He’s Smoke’s brother,” added Laura.

  “Of course, I knew that.” He nodded. “That’s awesome! He hasn’t been up here yet, has he?”

  “No, this is his first visit.”

  Ben grinned. “That’s so cool. Can I get you fresh drinks while you wait?”

  Once he’d gone, Piper raised an eyebrow at Laura. “His brother has never been to visit before?”

  “No, it’s a long and complicated story. The short version is that Smoke and his family didn’t speak for years, and now they’re getting back on good terms with each other.”

  “Wow. I’m glad they are. I can’t imagine having family who you don’t speak to. I only had my mom, and now I’ve got no one.”

  Laura felt bad for her. She only had her mom, too, but they were close, and even more so since her mom had moved up here. But she also had Jack and Dan, her cousins and their wives who were also her best girlfriends, and a whole gang of friends here who were more like family. She shook her head. “I wish you’d give some thought to staying here. You’d have so many people if you did.”

  Piper sighed. “Maybe I will, I don’t know. At least I know I’ve got you.”

  “You’ll always have me, but it would be nice to see you more than once every few years.”

  “It would.”

  They both looked up as Kenzie set their drinks down on the table. “Hey, girlfriend,” said Laura with a smile. “It’s good to see you out from behind the bar.”

  Kenzie grinned. “It’s good to be out. I offered to bring your drinks over so I could say hi, and so I can go see Chase before he gets up on stage.”

  Piper smiled at her. She and Kenzie had hit it off when Laura had brought her for lunch the other day. “You make me want to move here. This one,” she jerked her head at Laura, “moved up here and found a pilot; you came here and found yourself a singer in a band. By the sounds of it, everyone meets a great guy here and lives a fairy tale.”

  Kenzie smiled. “If you have the chance to move here, sugar, then don’t think about it for more than a minute. It’s the best move you could ever make. For me, anything would have been better than what I was living in Nashville. I feel like I went from Hell straight to Heaven. But even for someone like Laura who’d built a damned good life for herself in San Francisco, this place is great, isn’t it?”

  “It is.” Laura smiled at Piper. “Over the course of the weekend, I’m sure you’ll meet all our friends, and every single one of them will tell you how great life is here.”

  Piper looked thoughtful. “I’m starting to consider it.”

  “Good!” Laura was thrilled. She looked over at the stage and spotted Chase watching them. “You’d better go see your man while you can, Kenz.”

  “I don’t need telling twice.” She grinned at them. “You should stick around,” she told Piper before she turned away.

  “What was she doing in Nashville?” asked Piper when she’d gone.

  Laura shuddered, remembering when she and Smoke had taken Chase to go and rescue Kenzie after she’d been beaten up. “She wasn’t doing very well; let’s leave it at that. She wasn’t kidding that this place is Heaven compared to the hell she was living there. You know, it’s funny, but I don’t like Nashville because of what happened to Kenzie there.”

  Piper raised an eyebrow, but Laura shook her head. She didn’t like to tell other people’s stories. “She had a rough time, and I tend to think of that place that way now.”

  “But you’re going there next week.”

  “I know, and it’ll be wonderful, I’m sure. I won’t be going anywhere near Kenzie’s old neighborhood; I know that much. I’m meeting with a new client. I can’t say who, but he’s a big country singer, and I’m making an engagement ring for him.”

  “That’s awesome … oh wow! Look at that!”

  “What?” Laura followed Piper’s gaze and smiled when she saw Smoke and Cameron making their way across the deck toward them. “Which one?” she asked out of curiosity.

  “Both!” said Piper with a laugh. “But if I had to choose it’d be Big Sandy before Big Gray. Oh!” Her eyes widened, and she turned to look at Laura. “Tell me that’s not your Smoke?”

  Laura shrugged and grinned at her. “Sorry, no can do. And I think you just gave Cameron a new nickname. Big Sandy. It suits him.” It did. Cameron was just as tall as Smoke and looked like he spent as much time in the gym. He was broad shouldered and muscular. While his frame and his features left no doubt that he was Smoke’s brother, his coloring was very different. He had Sandy hair and blue eyes just like their father, while Smoke got his gray eyes and darker hair and complexion from their mom.

  “Wow!” muttered Piper as they got closer. “And I thought they only grew ’em like that in Texas.”

  Laura laughed and got to her feet as the guys reached the table. Smoke snaked an arm around her waist and pecked her lips. “Hey, lady.”

  “Hi.” She smiled at Cameron. “It’s good to see you. I’d like you both to meet my oldest friend, Piper.”

  She exchanged a knowing look with Smoke as Cameron and Piper shook hands.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you; I’m Cameron Hamilton.”

  They stared into each other’s eyes and held hands just a little too long. Laura smiled to herself. There was something about Summer Lake that just did that to people.

  Smoke broke the lengthening silence. “It’s great to finally meet you, Piper. Laura’s told me so much about you. I don’t suppose there’s any chance you might stick around, is there?” Laura raised an eyebrow at him, and he smiled. “I need more pilots. I can get as many novice guys as I like, but from what Laura tells me, you’ve must have ton of pilot-in-command time, and it’d be nice to have a friend on the team.”

  Piper grinned. “If you’d have asked me yesterday, I would have said no way, but,” she smiled at Laura, “it’s starting to sound tempting—especially if you need someone. I wouldn’t want to think you were taking me on just to be nice.”

  Cameron laughed. “You’ve got no worries there. He’s successful because he does what’s best for his business.” His smile faded. “I mean, he does do things to be nice, too.”

  Smoke punched his arm. “It’s okay, we knew what you meant.” He turned back to Piper. “I like to find win-wins for everyone involved. I wouldn’t hire you—or anyone—just as a favor. It should make sense for the business, too. If you want to think about it, then bear in mind that not only could it be an opportunity for you, but it’d also help me out, and I know Laura would love to have you around.”

  Laura nodded eagerly. “I’ve already told you that.”

  “In that case, let’s set up a time to talk about it.”

  “Yeah, we’ll figure something out over the weekend,” said Smoke.

  The evening flew by. Laura was thoroughly enjoying herself. This was the first time she’d had the opportunity to spend any real time with Cameron. He was fun. He was a lot like Smoke in that he was confident and charming, but if anything, he was more outgoing. He seemed to naturally take charge of the conversation and make sure everyone was involved. She liked him. It seemed Piper did, too. The two of them laughed and joked and seemed to be hitting it off well. Laura couldn’t help wondering what might happen between them.

  Smoke looked around the table. “How would the two of you feel about meeting some friends?”

  Piper nodded. “I’d love to.”

  Cameron smiled. “I just spotted a couple of old friends. It’s been a long time since I saw Jack and Pete.”

  Laura spotted them, sitting with Emma and Holly at a table at the very edge of the deck. Holly caught her gaze and waved. “Should we go over?” she asked.

  “I’d love
to,” said Cameron. Laura liked him more for the way he turned to Piper first. “What do you think?”

  She nodded. “I’m always up for making new friends.”

  Smoke slung his arm around Laura’s shoulder as they made their way across the deck. “This is going great, don’t you think?”

  She smiled and planted a kiss on his lips. “I do. It feels like the beginning of a new chapter, having Cameron here, and Piper. I like it.”

  “Me too, but in this next chapter, I want you to be my wife, not just my fiancée.”

  “Me too. Let’s figure it out this weekend and make a plan.”

  Pete grinned up at them as they reached the table. “Did you say plan? Do you need my help with anything?”

  They both laughed at the way Holly rolled her eyes. “Please say you need his help, get him to give me a break?”

  Smoke fixed Pete with a scowl. “You’re not getting carried away again, are you?”

  Holly leaned her head against Pete’s shoulder with a smile. “No, he’s not. I’m just teasing him.”

  “Yeah. I well and truly learned my lesson on that one.” He turned to Cameron who had been greeting Jack and Emma. “It’s good to see you up here, Cam.”

  Cameron shook his hand. “You too; it’s been too long.”

  “And sorry,” said Smoke. “This is Piper.”

  “It’s good to meet you,” said Pete with a grin. “You two look as though you belong on the cover of a magazine.”

  Piper looked confused, but Laura understood. He thought Cameron and Piper were together. He was right, too. They did make a striking couple.

  Smoke laughed. “Piper is Laura’s friend, from Texas.”

  “Oh!”

  Jack grinned at them. “Yeah, it’s like a reunion. I haven’t seen you since you were, what, fifteen?”

  Piper grinned at him. “Yeah, I must have been.”

  Laura knew the look in Emma’s eye when she spoke to Piper. She was ready to start matchmaking again. “Are you moving here?”