“Anything.” Whatever she wanted, he’d find a way to make it work. He was a man used to using any means at his disposal to meet his objective. And his objective had never been more important.
She linked her other hand with his and drew it around her waist, beneath the robe. Her eyes turned to sapphire. “I want another wedding night,” she whispered.
He spread his fingers against her smooth, beautiful skin. “Now?”
She nodded. “Now.”
“What about Vivian’s debate?”
She smiled softly and pulled his head toward hers. “I think more than anyone else, Vivian will understand.”
And then she kissed him.
Epilogue
“I always knew you’d make a beautiful bride.”
Penny looked over to see Susie Bennett’s familiar face. She’d told Quinn that morning that she wasn’t going to do any more crying. Because she was too happy.
But her eyes stung anyway.
“Can I come in?”
Penny nodded wordlessly and Susie entered the bedroom Penny was using to get ready for her wedding redo with Quinn. Susie pushed the door closed behind her. Then she just stood there, hands clasped in front of her. “Well,” she finally said thickly. “I met Mrs. Templeton. She’s quite something.”
Penny finally let out a choked laugh. She nodded. “Vivian is something, all right.” She’d turned her household almost upside down in the past month so that her grandson and Penny could have the small wedding that they wanted. Just because something was small, Vivian had claimed, was no reason it shouldn’t be absolutely perfect. She’d even manipulated Montrose into preparing a feast for their reception.
And she’d sent a charter plane to Florida to make sure George and Susie Bennett would be there.
“You look happy,” Susie said.
“I am.” Penny suddenly reached out and took the other woman’s hands. “I’m sorry,” she said huskily. “So sorry.”
Susie shook her head and wrapped her in a swift hug. “Oh, honey.” She rocked her the same way she’d rocked her when she’d been just a girl. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I shouldn’t have shut you out the way I did. I kept all your cards. Everything.” She’d finally opened each one. With Quinn sitting beside her, she’d read every word in every card and letter from the past ten years. Because of him, she’d finally found peace. Because of him, she’d found everything she’d ever wanted. “You were so good to me. To Andy. To everyone and I—”
“Shh.” Susie hushed her. “No more sorries. I’m just so glad you wanted us here. This is a day to celebrate.” She kissed her forehead and pulled back, holding Penny’s hands wide. “You can’t walk down the aisle with red eyes.”
“No, she certainly can’t.” Vivian had stuck her head around the door. “Mind if we come in?”
Penny smiled when she saw the little boy dressed in a miniature suit and bow tie accompanying Vivian and Delia. Her young sister-in-law had warned her that she’d be bringing Matty to the wedding. She was watching him for the week while Margaret and her husband were gone for a second honeymoon. They’d been spending a lot of time at Vivian’s, since Delia had quit her job at Braden Drugs.
Penny crouched down to Matty’s level. “Hi, Matty. Can I have a kiss?”
He gave her his toothy grin and a wet kiss on the lips and her heart turned over. If she and Quinn were lucky, maybe they’d have a Matty of their own in the making very soon.
“All right, Matty. Come on.” Delia held out her hand for the tot. “I’ll get him settled with my mom and be back up in a sec.” She was acting as Penny’s maid of honor while Quinn’s dad was standing up for him as best man.
“Sounds good.” She watched them go. If Penny’s plan worked, Delia would find herself in another job, this time working for Vivian as Penny’s replacement. She’d already put some of the plan to work.
So far, Vivian seemed to find her flighty granddaughter a good project to focus on after narrowly losing the town council seat to Squire Clay.
“I came in to tell you that Mr. Morales has arrived,” Vivian told her. “He’s quite charming.” She made as much of a face as she ever would. “But he really has the most dreadfully dyed hair. He and Quinn are all ready when you are.”
Penny smiled at her boss. At her grandmother by marriage. “Thank you for indulging us.”
“Ah.” Vivian looked pleased as she waved away the comment. “It’s your wedding.” She linked her arm through Susie’s. Two women who couldn’t seem more different, who meant so much to Penny. “Let’s get going, shall we? Montrose has been very even keeled so far today and it’s probably to our benefit to keep him that way by having the ceremony reasonably on time. I do want to know more about the charity your husband was telling me about,” she said as they left. “I understand you’re looking for some funding. My dear Arthur had a fondness for sea turtles.” Vivian looked over her shoulder at Penny and gave her a quick wink as she closed the door.
Penny exhaled. Swiped a fresh rush of tears away from her face and quickly redid her mascara.
Then she stepped back from the full-length mirror and checked her reflection.
The dress Maggie Clay had made for her this time was simple. Just a strapless lace bodice and a long sweep of blush-colored chiffon with a ribbon at her waist. Perfectly suited for their small outdoor wedding.
The bedroom door opened again and she turned, expecting to see Delia again.
But it was her groom who slipped inside the bedroom and closed the door.
Quinn wore his service blues and even though she’d been prepared, it was still an awesome sight. “Vivian was right,” she murmured. “The uniform is pretty impressive.” She held out the skirt of her dress. “But you’re not supposed to see the bride in her wedding gown before the wedding.”
He smiled slowly. “Yeah, but this is take two, Mrs. Templeton.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She stroked her hand down the front of his uniform. “Does that mean no more wedding nights?”
“You want a wedding night every night, I’m your man.” He caught her hand before she could get to exploring too much. He kissed her fingertips. “You’re still sure?”
“About marrying my husband? Very.”
“About moving to Lackland for a few months.”
She rubbed her fingers over his chin. It was rare for him to be so clean-shaven. “You’ll be a very good PJ instructor.” She reached up to kiss his chin. “They’re going to want to keep you for more than a few months.”
“That’s all they’re going to get. We’re coming back to Wyoming soon as everything is set for me to work for the hospital.”
Not only the hospital. He’d be doing search and rescue for the state, as well. She stretched a little farther to find his lips. They’d gone over the plan again and again as he’d worked out the details of finishing his service so he wouldn’t lose his retirement. “Totally unnecessary 911 calls will increase just because all the women around here’ll want to see their favorite paramedic in action.” She tugged on his tie. “Kiss me.”
“If I kiss you like you’re tempting me to, we’ll be late for our own wedding.”
She glanced over her shoulder toward the window that overlooked the grass where the few dozen chairs were already filled by their guests. The breeze was light. The sky blue. “That probably would be bad,” she murmured.
“Worse than you missing Vivian’s debate,” he agreed.
“On the other hand,” she murmured, “it’s the perfect time of the month to try and make two lines show up on the stick next time...”
He laughed softly and locked the door.
* * * * *
Don’t miss these other stories in New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Allison Leigh’s long-running RETURN TO THE DOUBLE C series:
THE RANCHER’S DANCE
COURTNEY’S BABY PLAN
A WEAVER PROPOSAL
A WEAVER VOW
A WEAVER BEGINNING
A WEAVER CHRISTMAS GIFT
ONE NIGHT IN WEAVER...
THE BFF BRIDE
A CHILD UNDER HIS TREE
Available from Harlequin Special Edition.
Keep reading for an excerpt from MOMMY AND THE MAVERICK by Meg Maxwell.
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Mommy and the Maverick
by Meg Maxwell
Chapter One
Autry Jones stood on the sidewalk in front of Just Us Kids Day Care Center, trying to process that his family’s corporation, the venerable Jones Holdings, Inc. was in the day care business. And that he was about to walk inside the building.
Autry and children didn’t mix. Joneses and children weren’t supposed to mix, but somehow, two of his four brothers had not only settled down with wives in this small Montana town, but were heavily invested in a day care franchise.
Autry took off his aviator-style sunglasses and tucked them in his pocket. He sucked in a breath and pulled open the front door.
There were babies everywhere.
Well, little humans, Autry amended, as he stepped inside and glanced around the main room. And only a handful of them, now that he actually counted. A big-cheeked baby was in a woman’s arms. A toddler wearing a shirt decorated with a cartoon monkey was building a tower of cardboard blocks. A little girl with bright red pigtails sat at a pint-size table, drawing a picture of a house and the sun with a smiley face in the center.
The middle-aged woman holding the baby smiled at him and walked over. He read her name tag: Miss Marley.
“Hi, Miss Marley,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Autry Jones. My—”
The woman grinned and shifted the baby in her arms. “No introductions necessary, Autry. You’re Walker and Hudson’s brother. I’d know a Jones brother anywhere. They mentioned you were flying in today. But you just missed them. They left for Ace in the Hole. Everyone in town is getting together there for a viewing party.”
Ace in the Hole? Was that some kind of golf tournament? He could see Walker on the course, but Hudson? No way. “A viewing party?”
Miss Marley looked at him as if he’d been living on Mars for a while. “To watch The Great Roundup, of course! I plucked the short straw, so I’m on duty with this lil cutie and the Myler siblings until their parents get off work, but three people promised to record the premiere for me.”
Ah, a TV show, Autry figured. He didn’t watch much TV. As president of Jones Holdings, an international company involved in real estate and manufacturing—and lately, a day care franchise—Autry was focused on negotiating deals and making money. Having time to watch TV was beyond him, despite the stretches he spent in airport lounges and on flights to everywhere from Dubai to Australia. Free time was about preparation—which was practically his family’s motto. Well, his father’s. Not that that had always been the case for Autry. Something he didn’t like to think about.
Now, though, Autry had found himself with an entire three weeks, twenty-one days, to himself. No necessary meetings. No deals to broker—not until late August, when he’d have to be in Paris for the Thorpe Corp. negotiations. He could be spending these much-needed vacation weeks on the beach in Bali or southern California. Appreciating the view, including sexy women in bikinis. But two of his brothers had shocked him—and the rest of the Jones family—by settling down with wives in the boondocks of Montana.
Rust Creek Falls. If he looked one way there was a building—barely. Another, Montana wilderness. Walker hadn’t been kidding when he referred to Rust Creek Falls as something of the “Wild West.”
Speaking of his oldest brother, Walker Jones the Third, who didn’t have a speck of small town in him, the company CEO had not only built a Jones Holdings, Inc. office here, but had built an actual log cabin for him and his new wife, Lindsay Dalton Jones, to live in. Autry wouldn’t have believed it, but he’d seen the cabin with his own eyes at their wedding, back in May. Granted, it was pure luxury, but still. Logs. A cabin. Montana wilderness. Autry expected that of his brother Hudson, who loved ranch life and the open spaces of Wyoming and Montana. Hudson operated the business of the day care for Walker, and had fallen for the manager, Bella Stockton, and now the happily married couple lived together at the Lazy B Ranch.
Two Jones brothers down. None to go. Well, three, but Autry, despite being thirty-three years old, wasn’t the marrying kind, and though he wasn’t close with any of his brothers, he couldn’t see Gideon and Jensen getting hitched. But if Walker and Hudson had, anything was possible.
He had these three weeks, zero relationships with his brothers and a chance to change that.
There was discord between his father, the domineering, controlling Walker Jones the Second, and his brother Walker the Third; their father had given up years ago on “wayward” Hudson following in the family footsteps. If Autry didn’t take this time to try to bond with his brothers a little, maybe smooth over things between them and their father, the family would disintegrate. Unfortunately, his dad didn’t seem to care, nor did his mother, so it was up to Autry. Why he cared so much, he wasn’t sure. But he did. He wanted to know his brothers. Especially now that they’d done something so...unexpected, like falling in love and getting hitched. Making lifetime commitments.
“Whose daddy are you?” the little red-haired girl asked suddenly, her big eyes on Autry, her crayon poised in the air.
Autry froze. No one’s. And that’s the way it’s going to stay. “No, sweetheart, I’m not anyone’s daddy. I’m just visiting.”
Miss Marley smiled at the girl. “This is Mr. Walker’s and Mr. Hudson’s brother, Mr. Autry.”
“Mr. Walker and Mr. Hudson are nice,” the girl said, then went back to coloring.
W
hat? Walker was nice? Hudson has his moments, but Autry wouldn’t go so far as to characterize him as nice. What had Rust Creek Falls done to the Jones brothers?
And what had his family done to him if he thought the words nice and Jones could never be paired in the same sentence?
Autry looked around the colorful space with its square foam mats with letters of the alphabet, its beanbags and rows of cubbies in primary colors. Kid-size tables and chairs dotted the room. He could see doorways leading into classrooms, a nursery with cribs, and what looked like a break room. The area above the reception desk, with WELCOME spelled out in blocks, was full of photographs of babies and watercolors by “Sophia, age three” and “Marcus, age seven”
How his brothers spent so much time around kids, Autry had no idea. Autry liked kids just fine. As long as he wasn’t having them or raising them. In fact, Autry had a rule for himself when it came to dating: no women with baby fever. And under no circumstances would he date a single mother.
Lulu’s sweet face came to mind. A face he hadn’t let himself think about in months. Another big-cheeked baby, but with silky dark hair. Lulu, short for Louisa, had been a package deal with her single mother, beautiful Karinna. Autry had fallen in love with Karinna and soon felt like Lulu was his own flesh and blood. Suddenly the jet-setter had been changing diapers and wanting to stay in and listen to the woman he loved sing lullabies, instead of disappearing for weeks at a time on Jones Holdings business. But a few months later, when she left him for someone even richer, Autry lost not only his heart but the child he’d come to love.
So single mothers: never again.
“Ace in the Hole is on Sawmill Street,” Miss Marley said, interrupting his thoughts. “Just past the gas station. Can’t miss it. Oh, and order the ribs. Trust me. Best in town.”
Vegas Wedding, Weaver Bride Page 19
