Jake crossed his arms, lowered his chin, and glared at them.
“Don’t worry about Jake. Being back home brings up memories that turn him into a piss ass,” Luke said.
Jake shoved Luke. Luke closed the distance between them, and the challenge in their eyes turned to something more jovial.
“Wanna go?” Luke raised his brows.
“Oh, no. Uh-uh. No way.” Daisy squeezed between the two men. “Not at our wedding. You boys are not going to roughhouse and ruin your tuxes.”
Jake and Pierce were already handing their jackets to Rebecca. Wes tore his jacket off and handed it to Callie.
“No, Wes. No, no, no.” Callie brushed her dark hair from her shoulders and smoothed her dress.
Wes stuck out his lower lip, feigning a pout. “Come on, baby, one little rumble. I promise not to hurt anyone.”
“Hold it right there.”
They all turned at the sound of Catherine’s voice. Her hair hung down her back long and loose, and the smile on her lips wasn’t going anywhere, even though her tone was stern.
“Boys, this is a wedding, not a barbecue. We have guests.” She pointed to their cousins and friends, talking and drinking and definitely not rumbling. “Let’s save this for later, shall we?” She turned to Dae. “Besides, you’ll scare off Dae before he has a chance to even get to know you guys. Really, Dae, they don’t always act like six-year-olds.”
“Sometimes they act like teenagers,” Daisy said.
“Yeah and you love it.” Luke nuzzled her neck and she swatted him.
“There’s no chance of scaring me off.” Dae took both of Emily’s hands in his. “Nothing can keep me from Emily.”
Emily felt her cheeks flush.
Jake sighed and held a hand out to Dae. “Sorry for being a dick, man. Just be good to my sister.”
Dae shook his hand. “I have sisters, too. No worries, man. I love Emily, and I’ll always be good to her.”
“Sorry, Em.” Jake embraced her.
“You big lug.” Emily hugged him back, feeling sorry for him. She wondered if he’d ever get over Fiona.
A cell phone rang, and each of the men reached into their pockets.
Catherine sighed. “Really? You all brought your cells to the wedding?”
Dae held the ringing phone out toward Emily.
“Oh, Emily. You too?”
“Sorry, Mom. I forgot I gave it to him.” She took the phone and wrinkled her brow at the international number on the screen as she walked away from the group.
“Hello?”
“Em…Emily?” Serafina was crying.
At the sound of her broken voice, tears sprang to Emily’s eyes. No, no, no. Dante. She clutched the phone in both hands and frantically turned in search of Dae. She caught his eye, then turned away from the others again.
“Serafina.” She could barely push the word from her lungs. “What’s wrong?” She hadn’t realized she was shaking until Dae’s hands on her shoulders steadied her.
“Dante. It’s Dante.” She sobbed.
“Oh no. Sera…” She turned into Dae’s arms, clinging to him in order to remain erect.
“They…they found him…A family was hiding him. He’s alive, Emily. He’s coming home!”
Emily froze. Sobs wrenched from her lungs. “He’s…Oh…Serafina!” She tried to comprehend the rest of what Serafina said, but she was talking fast, and Emily was too overwhelmed to concentrate. Dae held her trembling body against him until she ended the call.
His eyes narrowed. “Baby, is it Dante? Is he…?”
“He’s coming home,” she said with fresh tears in her eyes. “He’s alive, Dae. She said something about a family hiding him until he was well enough that they could sneak him back to one of our military bases. Dae…I know what we need to do with the House of Wishes.”
Comprehension washed over him, and his eyes, too, welled with tears. “He’s coming home? Really?” He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I’ll be damned. That’s what I wished for.”
“Me too!” Emily searched his eyes. “Wait. You didn’t wish for us?”
“No. I knew we’d be together.” He pulled her close again. “You didn’t wish for us?” She pressed her mouth to his, tasting her salty tears as they slid between their lips.
She shook her head. “It seemed selfish. Dae, I think we need to make the House of Wishes into some kind of a women’s community center. A place for gatherings, craft sessions, you know, whatever they want. A place where they’re always welcome. A place for wishes and dreams to be made and traditions to live on.”
“Perfect. Just perfect. Like you.” He kissed her deeply, then wiped her tears and kissed her again.
“Hand or arm, Ms. Not-for-Much-Longer Braden?”
“Hand, arm, heart, and soul. Forever and always.”
The End
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Love in Bloom novel
Crashing into Love
The Bradens
Love in Bloom Series
Melissa Foster
Chapter One
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a quick trip to her hometown of Trusty, Colorado. A few days of hanging out with her parents and catching up with old friends, and then she was off to Los Angeles to meet up with her best friend, Trish Ryder. At least that’s what Fiona told anyone who asked—other than Trish, or Fiona’s sister, Shea, of course.
Fiona tipped her margarita back and finished it off, thinking about how surreal it had been the night Trish had called her to say that she’d been cast as the lead female in the upcoming action film Raiders of the Past. Trish was going to be working with the most famous director in the country, Steven Hileberg. It was one of the biggest events in her acting career to date, aside from the nomination for the Academy Award last year, and she and Fiona had celebrated with a virtual party for two via Skype. That was four months ago, which to Fiona, felt like forever, given how Trish’s career opportunity had unlocked a door Fiona had spent years trying to figure out how to open. It had taken Trish exactly ten words to convince Fiona to take a leave of absence from her job as a geologist at the Bureau of Mines and Geology and become her personal assistant during filming.
Jake Braden is cast as the stuntman for Zane Walker.
Done.
“Sis, are you even paying attention to me?” Shea was four years younger than Fiona, and the youngest member of the Steele family. She was as fair as Fiona and her twin brother, Finn, were dark. Shea was also Trish’s public-relations rep. Fiona and Trish had met in college, and by the time Trish needed a PR rep for her career, Shea had become well-known in the industry. Fiona had been thrilled with their instant connection.
“Of course.” Fiona tossed her chin, sending her long brown locks over her shoulder, and held up her empty glass, indicating to the waiter that she needed a refill.
“Sure you were. Then, what do you think?” Shea blinked her baby blues expectantly.
Fiona winced. She hadn’t meant to zone out, but she’d come to the Brewery, a local bar, hoping to see her ex-boyfriend Jake, who she knew was in town visiting his family, and he was nowhere in sight. Her stomach had been tied in knots for the past two hours she’d been watching the door, as if she could will him to walk into the bar. She was sure that when Jake finally came face-to-face with her, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. Their connection had been too deep, their love too strong, and their passion had always left them both craving more.
“Just as I thought.” Shea leaned across the table, her shiny golden locks curtaining her face. “He’s. Not. Coming.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “That would be just my luck, wouldn’t it?”
“Finn called me yesterday,” Shea said.
“What’s my evil twin up to?” Finn was anything but evil, but their family had always joked that one of
them had to be more evil than the other. Fiona had dubbed Finn the evil twin. She didn’t even know how to be evil—not that he was any better at it.
“Not much. He was visiting Reggie in New York, and when I told them that you were going to finally try to reconnect with Jake, Reggie got all big brotherish and said he was going to check him out. Whatever that means in the world of private investigators,” Shea said with a laugh. Reggie was their eldest brother, a private investigator who lived in New York.
Fiona rolled her eyes. “I’ll be surprised if Reggie doesn’t call Jesse and Brent, just to add a little torture to the next few weeks. As if I’m not nervous enough.” Jesse and Brent were younger than Fiona, and they were also twins. Reggie, Jesse, and Brent could be overpoweringly protective. She was glad to have Shea to buffer her with this situation. But Finn had a softer touch, and she wasn’t surprised he’d called Shea instead of her.
“Don’t worry. I told him to call off the dogs. He knows you don’t need hounding right now. I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks, Shea. Do you think there will ever come a time when our brothers aren’t looking out for us?” She was just waiting for their younger twin brothers, Jesse and Brent, to get wind of her going to LA. She half expected them to hire a bodyguard for her.
“No way. I think when a brother is born, they come with protective genes, and we sisters are born with big tattoos on our heads that only brothers can see, which read, Oh my. I’m a girl. Help me. Help me!” Shea laughed.
The waiter brought Fiona’s drink. She thanked him and gulped half of it down. Margaritas served two purposes: They alleviated the ability to focus and provided a false sense of courage. She didn’t need alcohol to hinder her ability to focus. The mere thought of Jake took care of that. But she desperately needed the liquid courage.
“The one time I get up the guts to finally try to talk to my ex, he decides not to go out for a beer. Jake always goes out with his brothers when he’s home.” Fiona had been trying to figure out how to reach out to Jake for the last few years, but Trusty was so small, it was impossible not to realize he avoided her every time he was home. Fear of rejection had kept her at bay, but with the trip to his movie set in hand, she felt like it was now or never. She was finally taking the risk, despite the possibility of being rejected.
“Have you considered that maybe he heard you were going to be here and decided to skip it? This is Trusty, Colorado, where gossip spreads faster than chicken pox.” Shea finished her drink and sat back, eyeing the men in the bar. “You have a great life, Fiona. And I know you have your pick of men back in Fresno. Besides…” Shea eyed the guys at the bar. “There are plenty of good-looking guys here.”
Fiona glared at her. From an outsider’s perspective, her life probably did look pretty damn good, and in some ways it was. Taking a leave of absence to try to reconnect with Jake had been an easy decision when she’d made it, because she’d made it from her heart, completely ignoring her brilliant brain, which was waving red flags and urging her to remember why she worked so hard in her profession and what she was working toward. For a girl who loved geology more than shopping, Fiona’s job was exciting as hell. And her social life…Well, her social life probably looked good, too, from the outside. Trish was a great best friend, and they got together as often as their schedules allowed. Shea split her time between Colorado, Los Angeles, and New York, so they also saw each other fairly often. And while Fiona was asked out a few times each month, she’d gone out on only the occasional date. And she couldn’t really count the invitations, considering that for the last two years she’d turned down all but a few. She guessed that most girls would kill to be asked out by some of the scientists who had tried to woo her. They were well educated, well mannered, and, well, stable. Boring. Why was it so hard to find a real man? The kind who could make her go damp with one hot stare and had hands and a talented mouth that could finish the job. The kind of man who took what he wanted and liked a woman to do the same.
Shea held her hands up in surrender. “I know. I know. You’re done sowing your oats and wasting time. There’s only Jake Braden. Jake, Jake, Jake.”
Exactly. Jake Braden is the only man I want.
Shea lowered her voice. “Fi, it’s been sixteen years since you dated him. Sixteen years. And rumor has it, he’s not the guy he used to be. You broke him, and you broke him bad.”
Like she didn’t know that? Fiona and Jake had dated for two years in high school and had planned to attend the same college, and then they were going to get married. Her life had been planned in a nice, neat package. She’d had every girl’s dream at her fingertips. Jake had been attentive and loving, and he wasn’t the least bit afraid of commitment. The Bradens were a loyal and kind family, and Fiona knew her life with Jake would have been stable and adoring. Jake would have followed his dream of becoming a stuntman, and Fiona would become a geologist, and they’d have lived happily ever after.
That was the plan.
Reality wasn’t quite as pretty.
On her mother’s insistent advice, Fiona had ended things with Jake two weeks before they were set to leave for college. She’d taken off for Penn State the morning after breaking up with him, unwilling to stick around for two weeks for fear of giving in to his pleas of staying together—and to see what she was missing. While Jake was hundreds of miles away, she’d buried herself in a new life, which included working her ass off to maintain good grades, sowing her wild oats—which was a ridiculous notion, because she had none—and finally, securing her graduate degree. It wasn’t until a few years later, after her career was settled and she slowed down long enough to breathe, that she realized the enormity of her mistake. She hadn’t been missing a damn thing. Jake was all she really needed.
And now here she was on a Tuesday evening, back where she’d ended things with him so long ago, wishing she could go back in time.
“Well, Shea. Maybe it’s time I put him back together.”
ALL JAKE WANTED was a cold beer and to hang with his brothers. They were all in town for the wedding of their youngest brother, Luke. He and his wife, Daisy, had taken off for their honeymoon yesterday. Jake had another week before he was expected on set for his next movie production. He’d given in to family pressure and had agreed to stick around to help his brothers Wes and Ross fix the roof on Wes’s shed instead of heading back to LA for what would have been a week of partying. Being back in Trusty made him anxious. He loved his family, but the town was about as big as his thumb, and he’d spent a decade and a half avoiding Fiona Steele. He knew from friends that Fiona was in town, and he didn’t need to run into her tonight.
Tonight it was just the guys. Their sister, Emily, had brought her fiancé, Dae Bray, to Luke’s wedding. She and their mother, along with their brothers’ fiancées, were going to Ross and Elisabeth’s house for a girls’ night, freeing up Dae and Jake’s brothers for a guys’ night out. He didn’t give a rat’s ass where they went as long as they didn’t run into her.
“Emily said she heard Fiona was going to Fingers in Allure, so we’re cool.” Wes grabbed Jake’s arm and dragged him across the driveway toward their eldest brother Pierce’s rental car, where Ross stood by the open door.
“Come on. It’s not every day we get to have a beer together.” Pierce lived in Reno with his fiancée, Rebecca. Ross, Wes, Emily, and Luke lived in Trusty, and Jake lived in Los Angeles. Nights out with his brothers were indeed a rare occasion.
“Fine, but I’ll take my car. Come on, Dae. You can ride with me.” Jake climbed into the driver’s seat of his rental Lexus SUV. He wanted to hang out with Dae and get to know him a little better anyway, and as long as Fiona wasn’t going to be at the bar, then he was cool with it. God knew he needed a drink—or six—after watching his siblings nuzzle up to their significant others all weekend. He loved them all, but he could take only so much of that lovey-dovey shit before he lost his mind. Give him a blonde under each arm and he was a happy dude.
A few minut
es later Jake pushed through the front doors of the Brewery with one arm slung around Wes’s neck as he ground his knuckle into the top of his brother’s head. He pushed Wes away with a loud laugh. Wes smacked him on the back and pointed to the bar.
Music filled the air from the country band playing in the back. As the five men crossed the crowded floor to the bar, Jake spotted at least three hot babes he wouldn’t mind taking home for an hour or two. That was, if he were back home on his estate in LA. Picking up women in Trusty posed issues. He’d have to go to their place, which was good for a quick escape, but it was Trusty, which meant he’d leave a buffet for the hungry rumor mill in his wake. And Jake had no interest in feeding that frenzy.
He wouldn’t be going home with anyone but his brothers tonight.
Pierce ordered a round of beers and made a toast. “To Luke and Daisy.”
They clinked bottles, and Jake sucked down half of his. A hot blonde with hungry eyes standing on the other side of Ross leaned forward and caught Jake’s eye. He cracked his most effective panty-dropping smile and checked her out. Even if he had no intention of hooking up with her, a little eye candy was never a bad thing. Not too skinny, nice rack, and…He leaned back and checked out the rear view. Nice ass.
Ross grabbed his arm and turned his back to the blonde. “She’s been with half of the single guys in town.”
“Do I care?” Jake arched a brow.
“You sure as hell should.” Ross was the Trusty town veterinarian. He, like Jake and their other brothers, had never dated women from Trusty. It was easier to date women from neighboring towns and avoid the gossip.
Jake ran his hand through his thick dark hair and sucked down the rest of his beer, set the bottle on the bar with a loud Ahh, and motioned for another.
Dreaming of Love Page 24