Uncle John kept watching them. What was going through his mind?
After James was seated, he made a go-ahead motion. The grooms all shook their heads, then nodded to the minister.
In spite of everything, Shane, Wyatt, Asher and even Victoria seemed overjoyed that their father had arrived...and in such grand style.
The minister cleared his throat. “As I was saying...”
After one last curiosity-laden whisper from the audience, he went on to lead the exchange of vows, and when he asked, “Will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her...?” Sawyer took a risk.
He glanced to where Laurel was sitting.
He could see her among all the others, standing out from the masses, just as clear as a new day for him.
She held his gaze, half smiling, as if trying to keep tears at bay.
And when the minister got to the part about having and holding from this day forward, for better or worse, Sawyer couldn’t help himself. It was a happy day, a day for miracles, after all, and he took the biggest chance of his life and mouthed “I do” to her.
Her smile only grew as she nodded and mouthed three words back to him.
“I do, too.”
Fireworks went off inside Sawyer, and he didn’t hear or see anything until the minister, with a flourish, ended with, “I now pronounce you husbands and wives!”
Sawyer had never heard applause like this, as the grooms kissed their brides and everyone stood up, already celebrating. And he felt the applause within himself, too, waiting for the moment when his brothers and sisters-in-law walked down the aisle with each other so he could follow them and go to the woman he loved.
The woman who loved him back.
He rushed down that aisle, wasting no time, deviating from the wedding party when he got to Laurel’s pew.
She’d already stood and gone to the back of it, out of the way, anticipating his arrival, her hands fisted at her sides as if she didn’t know what to expect.
But he didn’t keep her waiting, sweeping her into his arms and twirling her around as she clung to him.
He was barely aware of everyone filing out of the church as he walked her over to the corner, his arms full of her, her hair raining over him, enveloping him in the clean Laurel scent he’d missed so much.
“I’m sorry for running off,” she said in his ear, over the music and the chatter. Her tone was brimming with heartfelt sincerity that lifted him up higher than he’d ever gone before, even in a plane.
“I’m sorry for scaring you off,” he said. “But I can’t apologize for loving you.”
“You shouldn’t.” She looked at him as he lowered her to the ground, keeping his arms around her. “Don’t you ever apologize for that. I might have a funny way of showing it, but I love you, too, Sawyer.”
And right there, as if they were at the altar, they came together, kissing, making their own vows.
His head was in the clouds, his body flooded with the warmth of being loved forever and always, from this day forward.
Even when the church was empty, they embraced, as if never wanting to let go.
But soon enough, she laughed, looking up at him.
“It’s been quite a day,” she said.
He got her meaning. Dad. Aunt Jeanne.
Josephine May.
“You should find out what’s going on,” she said.
“Only if you come with me.”
He took her by the hand and she grasped it, no hesitations, no doubts.
Energized, he brought her out of the church, where William Fortune was lingering in the front along with most of the guests. The older man, who had refereed Sawyer’s family at the Double Crown Ranch, didn’t say a word, merely playing mediator again by pointing in the direction he no doubt knew Sawyer wanted to go.
To the rest of his family.
After waving a thanks to William, Sawyer found his clan—new wives and all—in the rear courtyard of the church, grouped together, the wedding photographer standing by, obviously having been ordered to wait until family business had been taken care of.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for Sawyer, as if they’d known enough not to bother him and Laurel in the church. But they only seemed impatient, not angry. Maybe Shane, Asher and Wyatt had even needed the time to make amends with Dad while they were waiting.
Whatever the case, Mom stood on one side of Dad, grasping his arm and gazing adoringly at him, and Aunt Jeanne and Josephine were on the other side, holding hands. They didn’t look any different at all, except for a regal aura that Josephine seemed to have, with her upswept gray hair and expensive powder-blue suit.
Victoria noticed Sawyer and Laurel first, then everyone else turned to them, their gazes lighting up when they saw that they were an official couple.
“It’s about time,” Victoria said, and Sawyer didn’t know if she meant that it was about time he arrived or it was about time he and Laurel got together.
Then Asher spoke up. “”I’m dying to hear the details, Dad. Finally.”
Sawyer squeezed Laurel’s hand, then settled in for a good listen.
“So this is why I’ve been jetting here and there the past few months,” Dad said, and Sawyer remembered how his children had cut him off from explaining more on the day of that explosive family meeting. “And, as I told you, all the clues came together to reveal this—Jeanne and Josephine. You’ll never guess where I found our last piece of the puzzle, though.” He rested a hand on Josephine’s arm.
She smiled and touched her brother’s fingers as he continued.
“Right in the lap of luxury.”
Aunt Jeanne laughed and hugged Josephine to her. “You can tell, can’t you? Just look at these duds she’s wearing.”
Josephine had a dainty way of blushing, and when she spoke, she had a crisp accent. “I’ve been in England—”
Dad interrupted in his excitement. “And she was married to a member of British royalty! Can you believe that?”
Sawyer peered down at Laurel, who made an impressed face. God, his family. Did the fun ever end?
Still, he was curious about his new aunt. “Do we get to meet our esteemed uncle?”
A little of the happiness went out of Josephine’s eyes. “I only wish it were possible. He’s been deceased for years now.” Then she smiled when Aunt Jeanne squeezed her. “However, he would have been equally gobsmacked to know that I was adopted.”
“I wonder,” Dad said, “what your husband would’ve thought of your new family, Josephine.”
“As I am, he would have been uncertain as to what he should think of all you cowboys.” While everyone laughed, she glanced at Jeanne Marie. “But it’s even stranger—and more wonderful—to meet a woman who looks precisely like me.”
The two of them embraced, and when James Marshall Fortune—the formerly steel-hearted magnate—wrapped his arms around his sisters and held them tight, everyone joined them in a huge hug.
Sawyer and Laurel were laughing and uniting with the group embrace, too, as he said over the din, “You can never have enough family!”
For once, everyone seemed inclined to agree.
When the group finally broke apart, Sawyer saw that there’d been someone in the midst of the massive hug that he hadn’t seen.
Uncle John was standing next to his new sisters, his hands on their shoulders as he looked at his brother.
“I can’t believe it,” he said, emotion weighing down his words. “But you three do share an uncanny family resemblance. You all look just as I remember our mother did.”
As he broke off, Dad came forward to put a hand on his shoulder. It seemed to give Uncle John the strength to continue.
“We’ve lost so much time together over the years. I’m sorry, James, for ever doubting you. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
As they all came together, the triplets and their older brother, Sawyer glanced at Laurel. She had a tear running down her cheek, as if their comments had spoke
n to her in a profound way.
Was she thinking about all the time she’d wasted being so defensive about love?
He slipped a finger under her chin, turning her face to his. And when she smiled at him, it wasn’t the past he saw coloring her eyes.
It was the future—a bright, endless blue that he fell into as if it were a stretching summer sky.
“Do you mind joining such a crazy family?” he asked.
She laughed, holding on to him. “You know I’ve always wanted a family on my own terms, and I think I’m really going to love crazy...just as much as I love you.”
As gaiety surrounded them, he kissed her again, for better or worse.
From this day forward.
Epilogue
Three months later, as autumn colored the trees outside the windows of Sawyer’s bedroom, Laurel took a break from packing boxes to watch the wind blow a tumbleweed over the ground.
She used to feel that way—tossed around, lacking direction even if she had all the plans in the world. But without someone to love, there’d been nowhere she’d truly belonged.
Until now.
Glancing at the platinum cushion-cut diamond ring on her finger, she smiled so hard that she wasn’t sure it would ever disappear from her face.
Who would’ve guessed that she’d be engaged one day? The woman who’d almost written off romance forever had been claimed by a man.
But not just any man.
Sawyer walked into the room, dodging all the open boxes that had been stuffed with his clothing and other odds and ends. “I didn’t know I had so much junk.”
Neither had she, until she’d woken up and realized that she couldn’t live without him. All her excess mental junk had been easy to get rid of after that.
“We’ll sort through your stuff and deal with it,” she said.
He came to her, putting his arms around her and tickling her tummy as she squealed and leaned her head to the side.
When he eased up, she asked, “So are you going to miss it here on the ranch?”
“We’ll visit. Horseback Hollow isn’t so far away that we won’t be able to eat tapas at Red or visit Jack—or have your nephew visit us.”
Laurel didn’t stress out about not seeing Jack as often, even if she was in another place. Once the former Atlanta Fortunes had started to visit their new cousins and relatives in Horseback Hollow, they’d developed an interest in the quaint, charming town. Even Tanner had revealed that he’d been thinking of opening another flight school, and he’d asked Laurel to head it up, basing it just outside Horseback Hollow.
Always eager for an adventure, she’d said yes—but only if Sawyer agreed to come with her.
He’d been ecstatic about getting to know his extended family, and she shouldn’t have doubted his sense of adventure, which matched hers in every way.
As he continued to hold her against him, she rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s crazy to think that there was a little town, not all that far away, where a bunch of Fortune relatives have been living. You guys just multiply everywhere, don’t you?”
“We’ve always had a master plan to take over the world. Didn’t you know?”
They laughed and he nuzzled her neck, talking into it.
“I hear Aunt Josephine is going to be visiting soon.”
“That’s Lady Josephine to you and me, mister.”
“Yeah. I need to remember all that British title stuff. What’ll you do with me if I create some sort of huge international incident with my ignorance?”
“Leave you in a stone-cold minute.”
She turned to him, bringing him into a long kiss that said she was kidding, that she would never, ever leave him again.
The stars, the sun, the moon...it was all there in their kiss, whirling and swirling and making her dizzy every time she was with him.
She kept her forehead against his as they hugged.
“So how would you feel about getting married in Horseback Hollow?” she asked.
He didn’t move for a second, but then he framed her face with his hands, looking into her eyes.
“Are you saying...?”
“That I’m ready?” She laughed, then nodded happily.
He kissed her again, this time with a joy so pure that it seemed to travel from him to her, heart to heart, soul to soul.
When he was done, he glanced around the room, at the boxes.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He didn’t answer until he went to a box, lifting out two decorative vintage wooden shot glasses that he’d once kept on a minibar in this room. He gave one to her.
“A toast,” he said before going to another box and pulling out a bottle of single-malt scotch and pouring it into their glasses.
He raised his, and it reminded her of the night they’d met, when they’d saluted being the lone survivors of the Red Rock Plague.
Even though they’d utterly failed in that, she raised her glass, too, because it’d been a victory after all.
“Here’s to succumbing,” she said.
He knew just what she meant, smiling and linking arms with her so they could both drink while entangled with each other.
“And,” he said, “here’s to new, unexpected beginnings to succumb to.”
They threw back their scotch, and when he tossed away his glass into a box of blankets, she did the same, knowing just what he had in mind now.
But that was the beauty of them, she thought. Twin minds.
Twin hearts.
When he tugged a blanket out of a box and threw it over the floor, she was there before he was, pulling him to her and kissing him again.
She’d traveled the world and seen just about everything, but the lifelong trip she was about to take with Sawyer Fortune would be the grandest of them all.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Her New Year’s Fortune by Allison Leigh
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Chapter One
New Year’s Eve. A night of mystery.
Just like she was mysterious. Beautiful. Exotic. And definitely mysterious.
Dark, auburn hair spilled in waves down her back, kissing the golden spine revealed by the cut-down-to-there black cocktail dress that clung to her lithe figure. Her companion’s dark blue gaze was focused intently on her face...dropping to her lips as she took a small sip of her martini. Slightly dirty, just the way she’d ordered. She lowered the cocktail and leaned a little closer to him, feeling more than slightly naughty. Beneath the table, she slipped her foot out of her sinfully high black heels and subtly slid her toes along his ankle...
“Excuse me, miss. Miss? Miss?”
The fantasy spinning inside Sarah-Jane Early’s head popped like a bubble of spent soap and she focused on the tuxedo-clad man standing in front of the hostess station she was manning at Red, looking none too patient. She was there not to daydream, but to help see to the needs of every guest of the wedding reception that had commandeered the popular Mexican restaurant for the night, and she quickly smiled. “Yes, sir, how can I help you?”
The man tugged at his skewed bow tie, casting a glance off to one side. “How do I get to the Red Rock Inn?” His question was hurried, and muttered half under his breath. She could have told him h
e needn’t have bothered trying to be so quiet. For the past three hours, the music from the reception had made conversations nearly impossible. She leaned a little closer to give him the directions to the hotel. He nodded, and took time to thank her before moving away to hold out his hand to the woman he’d obviously been waiting for.
In seconds, they were hurrying out the front door of the restaurant, the man’s arm wrapped possessively around the woman’s hips. It was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that the couple couldn’t wait to be alone.
She knew there was no point in envying a couple in love...or even a couple in lust, or she’d be spending her life in a constant state of envy. Still, Sarah-Jane sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
Fantasizing about wearing killer heels was one thing. Actually doing it was another. She wished she’d have just worn a pair of shoes from her own closet. She had a pair of black pumps. Admittedly they were nearly ten years old, purchased by her mother who had insisted that Sarah-Jane needed to wear the modestly-heeled things for her high school graduation. But they were leather and having been worn only a few times since, were still in good condition.
She glanced down at the shoes she was currently wearing. If she were honest, the only thing in common these shoes had with the old ones in her closet were that they were black. She twisted one foot this way and that, and sighed again, a little wistfully. The shoes that Maria Mendoza had insisted she wear were beautiful. The velvety suede was as black as midnight and certainly suited the clinging black cocktail dress she was wearing better than her sensible old pumps.
Just thinking about the dress had Sarah-Jane’s fingertips twitching at the hem of it, as if she could eke out another few inches of cloth where there was none. The hem of the dress stayed midway down her thighs, where it had been since she’d donned the garment earlier that day. She couldn’t do anything about the hem anymore than she could do something about the diagonally-slashed cutout neckline that exposed much more of Sarah-Jane’s cleavage than she liked. If she weren’t positively devoted to Maria, who not only owned the restaurant along with her husband but also owned the knitting shop where Sarah-Jane really worked as an assistant manager, there’s no way she’d have worn something so unsuitable out in public. She was a lot more comfortable in the pullover shirts and khaki pants that she wore at The Stocking Stitch. She wouldn’t win any fashion awards, but at least she didn’t have to worry that people might think she believed she could carry off such a look.
A CHANGE OF FORTUNE Page 17
