When he walked back downstairs and saw his family—some gathered around the table, some stretched out on the sofas in the living room—he was glad that he’d made the decision to come out. The next night more people would be out at the cabin for the rehearsal, but tonight it was just his family—and Grace—and he was grateful to be there.
“Here you go, sweetheart.” His mom was standing at the counter with a plate and food.
“Thanks, Mom,” Bennett said as he dropped a kiss on her head and took the plate she held out. “It all looks good.”
After he’d filled his plate, he headed to the table and sat down next to Tristan who was doing something on his phone. He glanced over and smiled before looking back down.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were actually going to show up,” Makayla said as she lifted a mug to her lips once he’d finished saying a prayer of thanks for his meal. “When Grace said you had agreed to come out, I didn’t think it would be so late.”
“Just be glad I’m here. I could be at home sleeping on my king size memory foam topped bed in peace and quiet instead of a single bunk bed surrounded by snoring chuckleheads.”
“Hey,” Tristan protested beside him. “I don’t snore.”
“Says you,” Mitch chimed in from the couch behind the table. “I may or may not have evidence to the contrary.”
“Shut up, Mitch,” Tristan muttered as he slouched down, his focus back on his phone.
Bennett listened as they all bantered back and forth while he ate. It was a good reminder of how they had once been before life had taken them in many different directions. Since they had been able to get together the summer of the previous year, it wasn’t like they hadn’t all been together recently, but it was unusual for it to just be them without non-family members. Of course, that didn’t apply to Sierra, Ethan or Grace. They were all considered family.
He looked down the table where Grace was sitting with a pile of candy, a spool of ribbon and some sort of netting. She and Makayla were working together to assemble something for the wedding apparently. Makayla would put a pile of candy into the circle of netting and then Grace would put a loop of ribbon around the netting and tie it up.
When Grace looked up, and their gazes met, she gave him a quick smile before returning to her job. Bennett held his breath for a moment, trying to ignore the way his heart had skipped a beat at her smile. He exhaled as he gave himself a talking to about how allowing himself to feel anything for Grace would just make things difficult. Again.
This was not the time to be thinking of anything like that because Grace was still grieving. She might always be grieving and not ever ready for another relationship. And even if she ever was interested in another relationship, it wouldn’t be with him. He’d managed to accept that years ago, so now he just needed to remember that. Even if he had to remind himself about that over and over.
“So as the best man for this gig,” Bennett began, “what do you need me to do tomorrow and Friday?”
Makayla glanced up at him. “Oh, I have a list of things that are your responsibility. I just wanted to wait until you got here to email it to you.”
“Is that because you’re going to have Ethan steal my truck keys so I can’t leave when I see how long the list is?”
“Who told you?” Makayla asked with a glare around the table before she dissolved into laughter. “That’s partly true, but I’m not going to make Ethan do something as shady as stealing your keys. Expect to find the list in your inbox when you wake up tomorrow.”
“Good thing I plan to sleep til noon.” Bennett finished the last of his potato salad. “How big of a list can you really have? You’re getting married behind the cabin.”
“Oh, there are plenty of things to do. Setting up chairs. Arranging flowers. Putting out candles.”
“You’re having candles outside? They’re never going to stay lit,” Mitch pointed out.
“We’ve taken that into account,” Grace said as she plunked a newly tied candy bundle into a box beside her. “They will be in glass jars and, lucky for all, they’re battery operated.”
“Yeah, Mitch, they’re battery operated,” Bennett said over his shoulder. “How could you imagine they’d be anything but?”
“Shut up,” Mitch said just before Bennett felt something soft hit his back. “Like you assumed they were battery operated.”
“I did,” Kenton piped in. “I mean, really, what else could Makayla have possibly used to light her way down the aisle?”
“You shut up too,” Mitch said with a laugh. “I can’t wait until one of you gets engaged. I’ll be sure to let your fiancées know that you’ll each be in charge of the candles for the ceremony.”
“Well, thanks to Makayla, I’ll know what to do,” Bennett said as he got up from the table and carried his plate and silverware to the sink.
“Like anyone is ever going to marry you, dude,” Gabe chimed in for the first time.
“Boys,” their mom cautioned. “Let’s be nice to each other.”
“We are being nice, Mom,” Gabe said. “I was going to help Bennett understand why he’d never be having to worry about a candle problem at his wedding.”
“Well, at least I know I’m not having a candle problem at my wedding,” Makayla said. “And that’s because Grace and Bennett will make sure that all of them work properly.”
“Here are some brownies if any of you want dessert,” his mom said, peeling back the cling wrap that was covering the large plate.
Bennett could tell his mom was trying to diffuse what she saw as a potentially explosive situation. They had always teased and joked like that without her getting after them, so her fears were obviously grounded in the confrontational conversation that had taken place between him and Kenton. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and gave a squeeze.
“They look good, Mom,” Bennett said as he snagged a brownie.
The rest of the guys came over to grab some for themselves while Makayla and Grace continued to work with the candy at the table. Bennett pulled a couple of sheets off the paper towel roll and then put a brownie on each before carrying them over to the table.
“Sustenance, ladies,” he said as he set them in front of Makayla and Grace.
They both glanced up and grinned at him.
“Thank you,” Grace said as she set down the ribbon she held and reached for the brownie. “Luckily, Baby is okay with chocolate and sweets today.”
“What are you going to blame your cravings on once the baby’s born?” Makayla asked with a laugh as she picked up her brownie. “You just need to own your love of chocolate and sweets, girl.”
Bennett took one of the seats vacated by the guys and settled down across the table from the ladies. “How many of those are you making?”
Makayla glanced at the box where they’d put the completed ones. “One for everyone who’s going to be at the wedding.”
“How many people are you actually anticipating?”
“Around fifty or so.”
“Fifty?” Bennett leaned forward. “And the reception?”
“It’s just a dessert reception here at the cabin. Since it’s a sunset wedding, we aren’t going to have a meal following it. The sunset is happening around eight-thirty these days.”
“You’re lucky,” Grace commented. “You’re going to be able to get a good night’s rest and have all day to get ready. Since my wedding was at two in the afternoon, I had to get up early to get ready.”
“We all had to,” Makayla reminded her.
Bennett thought back to Grace and Franklin’s wedding. He had woken that morning with a pit in his stomach that hadn’t gone away at all that day. Listening to Grace say her vows with Franklin had made it the worst day of his life. He’d allowed himself to feel bad that day, but only for that day because then he made himself move past it.
But now Grace’s vows to Franklin had been fulfilled, and Bennett hated that the feelings he had managed to suppress were threatening to
resurface. And there was no guarantee that he’d be any more likely to have those feelings returned this time around than he had been the first time he’d dealt with them.
“So what’s the first thing you’re going to need me to do tomorrow?” Bennett asked. “I understand you’re going to send me a list, but I’d like to know what time you want me up.”
As he listened to Makayla outline the plan for the next day—which was surprisingly not as busy as he’d anticipated—Bennett realized he’d be spending a chunk of the day with Grace. And then he would be heading out on the houseboat with the guys while the ladies were at the hotel for the night and getting ready the next day.
“Here.” Makayla shoved the bags of candy across the table at him. “I want to talk to Ethan before we all call it a night.”
“So what exactly are we doing here?” Bennett asked.
“Put six of the kisses in the middle of a piece of tulle, and then I’ll tie them off.” Grace gave him a demonstration that he didn’t really need, but who was he to stop Grace when she was actually talking to him.
They worked in silence for a few minutes before Grace said, “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up.”
“I told you that I’d be here. I just felt it might lessen the chances of confrontation if I came a bit later.”
“I think Makayla gave Kenton a strict lecture. He’ll behave.”
“And so will I,” Bennett assured her.
Silence fell between them once more, and Grace was the one to break it again. “Have you ever told anyone what happened between you and Kenton?”
13
Bennett paused, his hand hovering over the piece of netting. “No. That’s just between him and me.”
“And yet it’s impacting your whole family,” Grace pointed out. “You aren’t one big happy family like you used to be.”
Bennett focused on counting out six candies then pushed the netting circle toward Grace. “I don’t hate him, but I’ll never trust him.”
“Sometimes you just need to forgive, so you can move past it,” Grace said.
“This isn’t about whether or not I forgive him, I’ll never be able to forget. A trust betrayed is hard to recover from.”
Bennett shifted in his seat, glancing over to where Kenton sat talking with the twins and Ryan. At one time, he would have been right there talking and laughing with them. He turned his gaze back to the job at hand. Even if he wanted to move past this with Kenton, he wasn’t sure where to start.
“I think it would be good for the sake of your family for you to somehow get past whatever happened,” Grace said softly.
He glanced up at Grace, but her gaze was on the ribbon she was tying around the netting. Would she want him to resurrect the past if she knew the role she played in all of it? Something told him that she wouldn’t. In order to make peace with the past like she wanted him to, he’d have to bring up how his feelings for her had led to what had later happened with Kenton.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Bennett knew, on one level, that she was right, but given that he knew he had no future with her, it felt best to just leave it all in the past. He probably should still talk to Kenton and try to get to the point where they could hold a civil conversation. They owed at least that much to their parents.
The heavy curtains covering the windows kept the sun out even though her phone had told her it was just after eight in the morning. There were still lumps under the blankets on the other beds, so it appeared Grace wasn’t the only one getting a slow start to the day.
She curled on her side, a hand pressed against her stomach, hoping it would stay calm. The day ahead was busy, and she didn’t want to be sick to start it off. Feeling sick wasn’t her only concern for the day.
She wasn’t sure what had prompted her to talk to Bennett about his feud with Kenton. Goodness knows she didn’t want to have to deal with the stuff in her past. Maybe it was because she was almost one hundred percent positive that the feud somehow involved her. It wasn’t pride or an over-inflated sense of her own worth that made her think that.
It just seemed to make sense given that it all happened almost immediately after she and Kenton went to her prom. In pressing for him to deal with it, she could very well be opening up stuff that she didn’t want to deal with. It was risky, but she just hated the look on Emily’s face when tensions began to rise within the family. She could see the hurt and stress on the older woman’s face, and Grace just wanted her to not have to deal with it. Emily wanted her family to be as close as they once were. She wanted them all to get along—that much was very clear. What mother wouldn’t want that?
Grace would never have to deal with that as it was highly unlikely she’d ever have a child beyond the one that she carried. When Franklin had asked her to reconsider having a family, she’d only agreed because she’d known he’d be by her side. Only now he wasn’t there. She didn’t feel equipped to be a mother. Especially a single mother. But it was too late for anything else now.
There was movement beside her and then an arm jabbed her lightly in her back. “You awake, Gracie?”
“Yep.” Grace reached behind her and patted Makayla’s arm. “How are you feeling today? Less than two days now.”
“Yay! Finally!” Makayla’s voice was loud enough to disturb the others in the room.
“Kayla…” Sammi’s sleepy voice drifted over to them. “Go back to sleep.”
Grace grinned. “I doubt that’s going to happen, Sammi. She’s not going to sleep much between now and the wedding.”
A loud groan let them know that Sammi wasn’t pleased with that revelation.
“You have to cut me slack, Sammi,” Makayla said. “It’s not every day a girl gets married. So chill, sis. Your turn will come.”
A pillow landed on them, and suddenly there were giggles coming from the bunk beds where Sierra and Danica had slept. Then Makayla started laughing, and Grace couldn’t help but smile. She was grateful for the distraction from her thoughts. It was a time to focus on her friend and the happy occasion that had brought them all together. There would always be time for her to think about her own life and grief after all this was over.
She was going to give herself permission to have fun. To smile. To laugh. To enjoy herself in a way she would have if Franklin had still been alive. Her friend deserved to be surrounded by people who were happy on her special day.
“Let’s get up,” Makayla said. “I’m hungry for some breakfast.”
“Don’t eat too much or you might not fit in your dress,” Sammi said.
“Why do you think I choose a style that wasn’t tight?” Makayla flipped the covers back over Grace.
She turned over onto her back as Makayla got out of the bed. She was barely a shadow in the dimly lit room as she moved around. Then the lamp on the nightstand snapped on, flooding the room with light. Grace threw her arm over her eyes as a chorus of groans filled the room. There would be no going back to sleep now.
“C’mon, guys. Up and at ‘em.”
Grace slowly lowered her arm and blinked a few times before shoving the blanket off and pushing herself up to sit on the side of the bed. Sierra and Danica were also moving around, but Sammi laid on her stomach with a pillow over her head. While Makayla went into the bathroom, Grace dug through her bag and pulled out a pair of capris with an elastic waist and a loose-fitting T-shirt.
She swapped out her pajamas for the clothes and then went into the bathroom to do her morning routine. Knowing that there were people arriving throughout the day and with the rehearsal scheduled for the evening, Grace took the time to put on some makeup and curl her hair before heading downstairs for breakfast. Normally, Steve banned makeup at the cabin, but he’d made an exception for their time there for the wedding.
By the time she was ready, the teen girls had already left the room. Sammi still hadn’t pried herself out of bed, but Makayla was ready and led the way downstairs. It appeared, from those already gathered for breakfast
, that Sammi was the only one who was still in bed. Breakfast had been spread out on the island and people were filling their plates and finding seats around the large table.
Grace hesitated at the bottom of the stairs as the aromas of bacon, sausage, pancakes and maple syrup assaulted her senses. She pressed a hand to her stomach, willing it to stay calm. There was no way she wanted to be running to the bathroom to toss her cookies.
Please, baby, just leave Mama’s stomach alone for one morning.
“Feel up to eating, sweetheart?” Emily ran a hand down Grace’s arm. “I can make you some plain toast if you‘d like.”
Grace shook her head. “I want everything but especially the bacon. Really want some bacon this morning. I would happily make deals with this baby in order to be able to enjoy this breakfast.”
Emily slipped her arm through Grace’s and pulled her toward the island. “There’s plenty here, but I don’t want you to force yourself to eat.”
Grace nodded as she stood there, waiting to see which way her stomach was going to go. While she felt slightly nauseous, her stomach wasn’t in full revolt like it was some mornings. Hoping for the best, Grace picked up a plate and followed Makayla around the island. She didn’t load her plate up since she didn’t want to waste the food if her stomach wouldn’t let her eat after a few bites. There was plenty of food though so if she decided she wanted more, she could come back for seconds.
She ate slowly, focussing more on swallowing each bite than on the conversation around her. Once she was done, she decided she wouldn’t press her luck with a second helping of anything. She, along with several others, helped to clear up the breakfast before gathering in the living room for a wedding meeting.
For the Love of Grace: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 2) Page 12
