But once the groom had kissed his bride and Jessie expected them to leave the altar, they instead turned to face their guests, both of them smiling as William said, “We have a surprise. For those of you who might not know one or the other of these people, let me introduce them as they come up here—my son Jeremy and his fiancée, Kirsten Allen. And my nephew Cooper Fortune and Kelsey Hunt…”
Confused, Jessie glanced at Flint for clarification, but he looked as puzzled as she was and merely shrugged.
When both couples had stepped onto the altar with William and Lily, William said, “We’ve seen the marriages of two other couples in the last few months—my son Drew and the former Deanna Gurney, and Rafe Mendoza and Melina Lawrence—and now these other two couples have asked to do Lily and I the honor of sharing this special day with us by making it their wedding day, too.”
A ripple of shock ran through the church and William waited for it to settle again. Then he said, “Don’t worry, this has been in the works since shortly after Lily and I set this new date, so marriage licenses have been granted, the waiting period has been met and it’s all legal. And now if you’ll sit tight, Lily and I are going to get to be witness to these wonderful joinings…”
So, with Flint holding her hand, Jessie watched as her sister married his brother, as the other couple had their own moments, and then there were two more pronouncements of man and wife.
With that, protocol went out the window. Close family members of all three couples rushed to hug them, to shake their hands, to congratulate and chastise them for keeping secrets before wishing them all the best.
Then everyone filed into the church basement for the reception that celebrated not one wedding but three.
During the course of the reception several people stopped the dance music to offer best wishes, so Jessie wasn’t surprised when Flint did that as well, when he disappeared from her side for the first time and reappeared to stand at the microphone.
As had happened with the other interruptions, everyone paused their dance or their conversations and turned to face him, including Jessie, who was standing near the table her family had occupied for dinner, where the kids and her parents were eating cake.
Flint first offered some teasing of the newly married couples, some joking about mass marriages, then added his congratulations to the lot. “And I’d also like to congratulate our delegate from the Atlanta branch of the Fortune family—Wendy—and her fiancé, Marcos Mendoza. Wendy came to Red Rock looking for a career and found Marcos instead, and they just told us that they’re expecting a baby!”
Hoots and hollers accompanied applause and more calls of congratulations along with a few jibes about getting as much sleep as they could in the months to come.
And then, when that wave of elation died down, Flint said, “Last but certainly not least, I also have an announcement of my own to make.”
Flint’s eyes met Jessie’s and he smiled warmly at her for a long moment before he switched his gaze to the crowd of onlookers.
“Although it seems impossible that anyone would have me,” he said, making everyone laugh, “the abundantly generous and undeniably gorgeous Jessie Hunt-Myers and her very, very fine children—Ella…” He tossed the seven-year-old a wink and when Jessie glanced at her daughter sitting closest to where she was standing she discovered that Ella was blushing but smiling in delight. “Bethany, Braden and Adam, have agreed to marry me, too.”
“Mama, he says he’s marrying us all…” Ella whispered to Jessie amidst yet another round of clapping, cheering, congratulations and jests.
“Well, I guess he is,” Jessie said to her daughter, seeing that that fact pleased Ella.
“We haven’t decided exactly where or when yet,” Flint continued, “but it’ll be soon. The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned,” he said more to Jessie than to the group. “But whenever and wherever it happens, you’re all invited to the wedding!”
Then he stepped from behind the microphone and came directly to Jessie to take her into his arms and kiss her while applause surrounded them.
The music and dancing resumed, and when their kiss ended Flint gazed into her eyes and said for her ears only, “I do love you, Jess. There aren’t enough words for how much.”
“I love you, too,” she told him, her heart swollen with feelings for him.
“But I promised Ella this dance,” he confided.
“Go ahead,” she said, thrilled that her eldest daughter was now welcoming him.
As Jessie watched the man she truly did love with all her heart take her seven-year-old onto the dance floor she knew that not only had she and her kids found a new lease on happiness, but so had the rest of the Fortune family.
And suddenly her gaze caught on the framed photograph of Ryan Fortune that was displayed near the wedding cake as a way to include William’s late cousin, Lily’s late husband in the festivities. Much as she sometimes thought she could sense Pete’s presence, she had the strongest feeling at that moment that it was Ryan Fortune who was there this time, looking down over it all.
Over his dearly loved widow, Lily, who was now in the arms of her new husband, William.
Over his nieces and nephews and friends who had all somehow found paths to people who seemed exactly right for them.
Over baby Anthony who had made his way into the Fortune family through no easy road, but who offered an entirely new generation of Fortunes to continue the name, the legacy.
And without any explanation for it, Jessie had the sense that the late Ryan Fortune could finally move on.
And maybe, just maybe the breath of the breeze that brushed through the room just then, as Jessie answered Flint’s motion for her to join him and Ella on the dance floor, was one last kiss that Ryan blew to Lily.
To the Fortunes one and all.
Before he said goodbye.
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Victoria Pade
for her contribution to
The Fortunes of Texas: Lost…and Found continuity.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0567-3
FORTUNE FOUND
Copyright © 2011 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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*Baby Times Three
**Northbridge Nuptials
‡‡Most Likely To…
¤Family Business
¶Montana Mavericks: Striking It Rich
††Back in Business
‡The Foleys and the McCords
¤¤The Fortunes of Texas: Lost…and Found
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Fortune Found Page 18
