Maggie thought it looked like a lightning bolt.
Chase Benedict hugged and backslapped his brothers and then took both of her hands in his. “Welcome to the family. I never thought to actually see these three old men find a woman who could put up with them.” When he smiled, the light in his aqua eyes sparkled. Coupled with that scar he looked absolutely rakish.
“They were waiting for me,” Maggie said. “Which is very fortunate for me.”
Brian leaned in and kissed her cheek. “No, I think they’re the lucky ones. And us, too, as you’re going to be our sister.”
Greg Benedict was a bit older than his brothers who were the twins. She wondered about him, because as a middle brother, and the only one without a womb-mate, he likely would have been the odd man out growing up. When she’d asked her men about him earlier, they’d seemed almost at a loss for words to describe him to her.
Finally it had been Richard who’d said that he’d been a restless boy who’d grown into a restless man.
Now, as he hugged her, she thought she could see a bit of that, and more, in his eyes.
“Welcome to the family. Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
Maggie laughed. “I don’t have a clue what I’m getting into,” she said. “I only know that I’m in love and looking forward to the adventure we’ll all be having for the next fifty or sixty years.”
Greg smiled then, a soft kind of smile that Maggie felt would melt any woman’s—or man’s—heart. “I thought I recognized you. A fellow adventurer.”
Maggie wasn’t certain she understood what he meant by that. But that was all right. She figured she’d have the rest of her life to figure out her new brothers.
“Greg!” Abigail Benedict had just spotted her son. She practically ran over from where she’d been seated with her niece and nephews-in-law.
Greg’s expression went all soft as he gathered his mother in his arms.
“I think it’s been his evil plan all along,” Kevin said from beside her. “Disappear for months at a time, with only the odd e-mail here and there, and then show up and hog all the mother-love.”
Maggie could tell her lover was teasing. In fact, all three of her men looked very happy to have their middle brother home.
“Good plan,” David Jessop said.
“It does seem to be working,” his brother Robert said. Then he hugged Maggie briefly. He stepped back, just a little, and then tilted her face toward him. She knew he was studying the bruise, so she stood still under his scrutiny. “Getting there,” he said.
“It is, thank you.” She turned her attention to David just then, because he was shaking his head.
“My timing has always been bad,” he said, and Maggie could only laugh at the look of sorrow on his face. He was a worse ham than her Kevin. “If only we’d hit town sooner, we could have scooped you for ourselves.” Then he pulled her into a deep hug and sighed.
“You snooze, you lose.” Richard punched David in the arm playfully. “Hands off our woman.”
David let her go and laughed. “Welcome to the families, Maggie. And seriously, you lucked out. These are great guys, even if they are my cousins.”
“I think so, too. And I wouldn’t say your timing is all that bad. You’re an ob-gyn aren’t you?”
David tilted his head to one side. “I am, though I haven’t decided if I’m going to hang out my own shingle, eventually, or just work between Waco and the clinic here.” He shrugged. “I’m qualified as a family physician, which is why I can put time in at the clinic. Other than for Penelope, though, I don’t think my other services are going to be required for some time.”
Maggie scanned her new family, letting her eyes rest briefly on Kelsey and Susan, Tracy and Julia. Her future sister-in-law had just been seated by her men and handed a glass of ginger ale.
Then she thought of her niece Ginny Rose, soon to be Kendall.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Something tells me you might find yourself busier than you think.”
He shrugged and said only, “We’ll see.”
The door to the restaurant burst open, and a small six-year-old bundle of energy burst into the place. Maggie noted that everyone smiled, and a lot of people called out his name.
“Benny!”
Her great-nephew positively beamed at the greeting. “I’m here! I’m here!” Then he ran over to her. “Aunt Maggie, guess what! I have a secret! Do you want to know what it is?”
Adam and Jake had been just steps behind him. Jake stayed by the door, holding it for Ginny. Adam ran up and scooped his almost step-son. “Shh! You’re not supposed to say anything, remember? Remember what your mother said?”
Benny’s smile was unrepentant, but he nodded. “She said we can’t steal Maggie’s thunder.” Then he frowned. “But it’s not even raining!”
Maggie laughed and reached for Benny. She hugged him close then looked at Adam, Jake, and Ginny. “I don’t think there’s ever such a thing as too much good news.” And she looked at her niece, doing her best to send that young woman a mental message. As far as Maggie was concerned, she was all for Ginny and Adam and Jake announcing they were going to have a baby.
“I guess we should have known it would be near-impossible for a six-year-old to keep a secret,” Ginny said. She reached over and ruffled his hair. “Boy howdy, Benjamin Joseph Rose. What am I going to do with you?”
Benny just smiled at his mother, the kind of smile that would melt any parent’s heart even as it set every nerve ending on high alert.
Ginny hugged her, and Maggie hugged right back. “I’m so happy for you, Maggie. And I’m happy for me, too. Now we’re going to be doubly connected.”
“That means a lot to me, too.” To go from being completely alone to having so many people who loved her was a miraculous thing as far as Maggie was concerned.
Jake took Benny from Maggie. “At least now you can stop worrying that he’ll have his little nose out of joint, honey.” He set Benny down. They all watched as the little guy wasted no time in heading toward the many members of his fan club. His first stop was a table full of Benedicts. Maggie knew that Kelsey, Matt, and Steven had a special bond with her great-nephew.
Jake shook his head then turned and hugged Maggie, before shaking hands with her men. Standing back, he slipped his arm around Ginny and watched Adam as he made his way through their little reception line.
Adam stopped when he got to Richard. “I had a long talk with an Inspector Montague this afternoon, with regard to Clarence Conrad. New Scotland Yard has reopened a few cold cases they had. It seems that there has been more than one mysterious death in that bastard’s past. They’re just trying to figure out how they let a possible serial killer slip by them. Montague is feeling more than a little remorse, too. He reasons that if they’d twigged on to him sooner, then Conrad’s grandmother might still be alive.”
Richard blinked and then looked at Maggie.
She held his gaze as she stepped closer to him and hugged his arm. Trevor and Kevin moved so that they stood, one behind and one beside, their oldest brother.
She felt Richard sigh and understood that he’d just let go of the last bit of guilt that had plagued him since he’d heard Conrad was suspected of killing his grandmother. He said, “Tell the inspector he shouldn’t feel guilty. The only person who should be held responsible for his crimes is the bastard who committed them.”
“Those are certainly words to live by.”
Maggie looked around Adam, smiling at the white-haired woman who’d just spoken. “Kate!” She let go of Richard, and Adam moved so she could reach her soon-to-be grandmother.
She hugged the woman, startled as always at the fierceness of that hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But what are you thanking me for?”
Maggie grinned. She looked at Adam and Jake, Richard and Trevor and Kevin, then over at Julia and her men.
She noted that most people had their attention fixed on the
family’s matriarch. Some wore knowing smiles, and some, like her future brothers-in-law and the young Drs. Jessop, wore expressions of interest and confusion.
“You came up with the idea of a B and B when we met, the day I came to Ginny and Adam and Jake’s party. I understand now that you were doing what you could to make sure I stayed in town so that I’d get to know your grandsons. You were matchmaking, so I’m thanking you for that. Thank you for giving me your grandsons. I love them with all my heart. I’ll take very good care of them.”
She felt her men join her then, and each one, as they always did, put a hand on her.
“Yes, thanks, Grandma.” Rick bent down and kissed her cheek. Then he looked at his brothers, and met Maggie’s gaze for a moment before turning back to Kate. “We all owe you more than we can ever repay.”
Kate Benedict’s smile lit up the entire room. “All you have to do is love and care for each other, sweetheart. Your happiness is all the thanks I ever want or need.”
Maggie held back her laughter as newly arrived Jessops and Benedicts were teased and threatened, good-naturedly of course, by those whose lives had already been changed by their very own personal fairy godmother.
Maggie watched as Kate looked at her amassed family and sighed. She turned her attention to the doctors, and the twins, and then, she finally rested her gaze on the man some had called the black sheep of the family—and only half in jest.
Greg took that moment to come over and sweep his grandmother into his arms. He lifted her off the floor, and the elderly woman laughed like a schoolgirl.
“There’s nothing on this earth I love more than being surrounded by family. The more the merrier, I always say!” Kate beamed and then cupped Greg’s face in her tiny hands. “And you, young man. What on earth am I going to do about you?” She planted a loud, smacking kiss on his face, and then grinned at him.
“I’d do almost anything to make you happy, Grandma, except two things. I won’t stay home, and I won’t get married.”
“I know, darling. I love you anyway. Don’t worry, you’re safe, for now.” Greg kissed her cheek and set her down. Shaking his head and laughing, he moved off to greet more family.
Just loud enough for Maggie and her men to hear, Kate said, “But those two young doctors are another matter, entirely.” Then she headed off to hug and greet them and everyone else.
Kevin stepped up and slipped his left hand into Maggie’s right. Trevor took her other hand.
Richard pressed close behind her and set both hands on her shoulders. She felt wonderfully surrounded and cosseted by the men she loved.
“I can hardly wait to see what Grandma comes up with for them,” Richard said. “Don’t tell anyone, but Robert and David are my favorite cousins.”
Maggie wondered if she didn’t already have a clue as to what Kate had in store for the young doctors.
She’d overheard Kate and Samantha talking about the news that the clinic’s long-time administrator, Shirley Cameron, had given her notice. The woman planned to retire to Florida, where she’d live close to one of her brothers and his wife. But, Kate had said, Shirley had a niece currently living in El Paso, a lovely young woman who’d married the wrong man, gotten divorced, and had given up on ever finding happiness again.
To her men, she said only, “I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.”
“Oh, we’re going to do more than that, Maggie, love.” Rick turned her so that she faced him. Trevor and Kevin moved in close, and Maggie felt the heat of them warm her as the scent of them aroused her. And the hearts of them?
The hearts of them joined with her heart, so that Richard’s next words became the truest words ever spoken.
“We’re going to be living our very own happily-ever-after.”
Maggie could hardly wait.
THE END
HTTP://WWW.MORGANASHBURY.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morgan Ashbury writing as Cara Covington
Morgan has been a writer since she was first able to pick up a pen. In the beginning it was a hobby, a way to create a world of her own, and who could resist the allure of that? Then as she grew and matured, life got in the way, as life often does. She got married and had three children, and worked in the field of accounting, for that was the practical thing to do and the children did need to be fed. And all the time she was being practical, she would squirrel herself away on quiet Sunday afternoons, and write.
Most children are raised knowing the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. Morgan’s children also learned the Paper Rule: thou shalt not throw out any paper that has thy mother’s words upon it.
Believing in tradition, Morgan ensured that her children’s children learned this rule, too.
Life threw Morgan a curve when, in 2002, she underwent emergency triple by-pass surgery. Second chances are to be cherished, and with the encouragement and support of her husband, Morgan decided to use hers to do what she’d always dreamed of doing: writing full time.
Morgan has always loved writing romance. It is the one genre that can incorporate every other genre within its pulsating heart. Romance showcases all that human kind can aspire to be. And, she admits, she’s a sucker for a happy ending.
Morgan’s favorite hobbies are reading, cooking, and traveling—though she would rather you didn’t mention that last one to her husband. She has too much fun teasing him about having become a “Traveling Fool” of late.
Morgan lives in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a mysterious cat, a dog that has no dignity, and her husband of forty years, David.
Also by Cara Covington
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Benedicts
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Wildcatters
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Honchos
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Flyboys
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Strong Men
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Navy SEALs
Ménage Everlasting: The Lusty, Texas Collection:
Love Under Two Kendalls
Available at
BOOKSTRAND.COM
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Love Under Three Titans Page 25