by Cora Brent
Then Cassie stopped and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock as she surveyed the crowd of people waiting.
Her Uncle Chase shouted, “Did you really think you could have a wedding without us?”
His brother Creed was in agreement. “There’s no getting away from this crew.”
“You’re all here,” Cassie said with wonder and it was true. They were all indeed there; uncles, aunts, cousins, everyone in a fifty mile radius who was related by blood or marriage. They’d cancelled plans, called in to work, closed up business for the afternoon, in short they did whatever they had to do in order to be here to see Cassidy Gentry marry her prince.
The scene erupted with everyone descending at once to offer congratulations while the happy couple still seemed a little dazed over encountering a gaggle of Gentrys in the lobby of the downtown courthouse. After a few minutes of happy chaos I found myself face to face with Curtis.
“Are those for me?” he deadpanned, pointing to the bouquet I’d forgotten I was holding.
I passed them to him with a straight face. “Congratulations my brother.”
He grinned and accepted the flowers before gallantly handing them off to his beautiful bride.
Meanwhile, beyond the sea of Gentrys another wedding guest had arrived. I’d never met him but I knew who he was right away. He was a scruffier, slightly taller version of his older brother.
“Tristan!” Brecken shouted and ran over to collide with the newcomer in a fierce hug. Curtis followed more slowly. He and Tristan exchanged a long look before Curtis joined both his brothers in an embrace and for a few seconds all three Mulligan boys were locked together as one emotional bundle. It was a nice thing to see.
Soon a court official emerged from a set of dark double doors and did a double take over the scene in the lobby.
“Who’s here for a wedding ceremony?” she asked.
“All of us,” Cord answered. “Hope you have enough room.”
The woman looked doubtful and I was afraid she was going to declare there were limits on ceremony witnesses but then she flashed a smile before leading us through the doors and to a room where a very dour looking judge awaited. There were no other couples waiting to be married at the moment, which was a blessing because it was already a tight fit once everyone crammed in there.
The chinless bespectacled judge seemed taken aback at first but he quickly recovered and cleared his throat before beginning the ceremony. He didn’t waste any time getting right to the point and the ceremony only lasted about ten minutes. Cami stood by her sister, completely beautiful and obviously resisting tears as her beloved twin received a wedding band on her finger. Maybe she felt me watching her or maybe she was thinking of our own wedding. She looked up and searched the crowd until her eyes found mine and then she winked.
Everyone else in the room remained silent and still, except for Conway Gentry’s wife Roslyn who had taken up amateur photography and kept moving around to capture the perfect shot through the exchange of vows.
Applause rang out as Cassie and Curtis engaged in their first passionate married kiss. They might have stood there kissing all day while we clapped for them except the court official was back to usher us out of the room.
I found Cami and took her by the hand as we all filed out of the courthouse in a rather boisterous and disorderly fashion. Outside the courthouse Cord shouted that we were meeting up at the famous Esposito’s Pizzeria where he had managed to secure their back party room for the last minute reception. Since the pizzeria was less than two blocks away we decided a walk would be the best option even in the blazing summer heat.
“Dad, I swear I’m fine,” Isabella Gentry was telling her father.
Deck Gentry didn’t agree. “You just got out of the hospital, kiddo. You don’t need to be wandering the hot Phoenix streets. Hey Jen,” he called to his wife. “I’m gonna go get the car and drive her over.”
Izzy tossed her red hair and began following her cousins in a huff. “Quit acting like a mama bear. I’m walking and I plan to be at Esposito’s stuffing my face with pizza by the time you retrieve the car.”
“That’s your daughter,” Deck grumbled to his wife.
Jenny Gentry only laughed. “No, she’s every inch her father’s daughter. Rebellious to the core.”
Deck scowled but he allowed his wife to lead him away.
Even in the blistering heat it was a treat to take a walk while holding my wife’s hand.
“Who are you looking for?” Cami asked as I craned my neck around.
“Let’s hang back a second,” I said and slowed the pace until we were next to Chase’s family. Thomas was walking next to Derek and he seemed startled when I sidled up to him.
“We miss you down at the field,” I said. “I really wish you’d start coming around again.”
Thomas gave me a sheepish look. “My dad says there’s no reason why I should stay away.”
“There isn’t.” I nudged him. “So how about starting today? After the reception, that is. The batting cages will be open until eight and you can tell Mick I gave you a pass to keep a stall to yourself and hit all you want until closing.”
He was pleased. “I could use a little time to work on my swing.”
“Take all the time you want. Just promise me you’ll keep coming back.”
He nodded. “I can do that.”
Derek had been listening to the conversation. He looked my way and I gave him an encouraging smile. I didn’t know what his fate would be. That was at least partly up to him. But I wanted him to know I didn’t bear him any grudge.
“Maybe you could come down to the field sometime too,” I suggested. “Twice a week we have sessions for all ages.”
Derek seemed to be considering the idea. His smile was a little bashful. “My kid brother’s skills would put me to shame.”
“Well, you’re always welcome, Derek.” I held his eye. “I mean it. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.” He threw me a grateful look. “Thank you, Dalton.”
“Anytime.”
Cami squeezed my arm. “You’re a good guy,” she whispered to me.
“Yeah, you were smart to marry me.”
She smiled up at me. “I know that.”
Esposito’s Pizzeria might not have been ready for the raucous throng of wedding celebrants that crashed through their doors on a weekday afternoon. They took the invasion in stride though, setting us up in a private room with an unending supply of pizza and appetizers. The owner had even gone to the trouble to bake a special cake once he learned what we were celebrating.
Since everyone was just grabbing food and sitting wherever they pleased Cami and I did the same, ending up across from two of her young teenage cousins, Ethan and Rider. Those two were never very far apart at any family gathering and one might have mistaken them for brothers. Right now they were shoving pizza slices into their hungry mouths and cackling obnoxiously over something playing on an iPhone until Rider’s dad, Stone, leaned across the table and demanded they put an end to their electronic entertainment.
“You know what, Dalton?” said Cami after swallowing a bite, “I believe if I hadn’t married you I would have married this pizza.”
“I’m glad I won that contest.” I put my pizza down and just sat there appreciating the way my wife looked. She wore a summery floor length dress in a shade of deep blue and like Cassie she’d chosen to wear her hair loose with little jewelry except her wedding rings. If she wasn’t already mine I would be intensely jealous of the man who was lucky enough to keep her.
“What?” she asked, wiping her mouth when she noticed how hard I was staring. “Do I have sauce on my face?”
“No. I was trying to remember if I told you something today.”
“What?”
“You take my breath away, Camille.”
It wasn’t easy to make Cami blush but she blushed now. Not everyone was impressed though. Ethan and Rider made a big spectacle of gagging into their
pizza.
“Oh the sappiness,” Ethan complained.
Rider shook his head. “I can’t take it.”
Cami threw a napkin at her cousins. “Shut up.”
Then she stood, placed her palms on either side of my face and leaned in for a kiss that sent my pulse racing and my hands wandering. I pulled her into my lap and had we not been surrounded by a room full of her relatives I’d have been searching for someplace more private to peel off that sexy blue dress.
But alas, there was no privacy among the Gentry crew and by now our long kiss had attracted some attention.
“I can’t unsee that,” young Ethan grumbled to his cousin.
“This is not the horny newlywed honeymoon suite,” Chase bellowed from the next table.
Cami broke the kiss and made a face at her uncle but he only laughed at her. We stopped torturing the crowd with our sloppy make out session but I stubbornly kept her in my lap as we finished eating.
Meanwhile, Cassie and Curtis occupied their own private table at the front of the room and seemed unaware of anything but each other. I approved wholeheartedly. From personal experience I can say that a man who had his eyes on anything but his bride on his wedding day probably wasn’t doing it right.
We didn’t take long to make short work of the piles of food and soon people started moving around. Cami wanted to chat with her aunts, Truly and Stephanie, so she left my lap and roamed over to where they were standing by the cake table while laughing over some private story.
Across the table Rider and Ethan kept elbowing each other. They were snorting over the kind of raunchy jokes that comprise peak entertainment around the age of thirteen but eventually lose their luster. I decided to seek out less adolescent company.
Nearby there was a spirited debate between Derek, Stone and Conway about rebuilding vintage transmissions but I didn’t have anything of value to add to that conversation so I kept looking, wandering through the crowd until I ran into Cord.
He was watching from a short distance as Cassie fed a bite of cake to her new husband and it appeared as if Cordero Gentry was getting a little misty eyed. His youngest daughter apparently noticed it too.
“Don’t cry, Daddy,” Cadence warned. “The uncles will never let you hear the end of it.”
He swiped at his eyes. “I’m not crying,” he muttered. Then he gave her a quick hug. “Just do me a favor and stay close. I don’t think I can deal with giving away another daughter anytime soon.”
Cadence rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to worry about that. It’s not likely I’ll run into a guy in the near future who can handle all of this.” She gestured with a flourish and accidentally smacked Curtis’s brother, Tristan, in the back. He turned around.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, reddening. Tristan stared at her for a few seconds without smiling and then turned back to his conversation with Brecken.
“Tough room,” Cadence shrugged.
A minute later I was tapped on the shoulder by Chase and Kellan. Curtis had given up his keys after Chase offered to go retrieve his truck from the parking garage so that the bride didn’t have to walk back through the streets of Phoenix in the heat. Chase’s plan was to retrieve the truck all right, and then decorate it in the most obnoxious way possible so the couple could exit the party in style.
“Are you in?” Chase challenged.
“You bet,” I replied.
It only took a few minutes to walk back to the parking garage. Kellan’s idea was to wrap the vehicle in plastic cling but Chase vetoed that proposal.
“Nothing obscene either,” he warned.
Kellan wasn’t pleased. “What fun is that?”
“Son, let’s pretend we have a little bit of class. Just for today.”
“Fine,” Kellan muttered.
We found a convenience store that carried assorted color balloons, toilet paper and string. Kellan also managed to acquire a cardboard box which he fashioned into a sign, scrawling ‘Just Married’ across the surface with a tube of hastily purchased red lipstick.
The final result wasn’t the most elegant thing anyone ever saw but it got the message across. Once the truck was parked in front of the pizzeria Chase urged me to get back inside but I was busy checking something on my phone.
“In a minute,” I told him. “I’ve got to make a quick call.”
The call didn’t take long. I got the news I was hoping for and when I returned to the party room Cami was admiring Cassie’s new ring.
There was a repetitive clinking sound as Curtis stood in the middle of the room and tapped his water glass with a fork. Curtis was really not the type who enjoyed giving speeches but he raised the glass and toasted everyone in the room.
“Thank you all for being here today,” he said. “It means the world to me and to Cassie.” He paused and stared directly at his brother Tristan.
“But most of all,” he continued, “I want to thank my beautiful wife for marrying me. Cassidy, you’re my everything. You inspire me. You amaze me. You’re a gift that I don’t know what I ever did to deserve. I love you.”
There were some tears in the audience now and when I felt Cami at my side I put my arm around her.
Cassie was a bit tearful as well. “I love you too, Curtis Mulligan.”
The handful of other guests in the pizzeria seemed bewildered over all the noise we were making as we followed Curtis and Cassie outside. Cassie’s parents had given the couple a week’s stay at a quiet resort up in Sedona and they were leaving tonight. Cord assured them he and Saylor would look after Brecken and since they both worked for him it was easy enough to get the time off.
“Look what the boys did to Curtis’s truck,” Izzy Gentry pointed out to her cousin, Zoe.
Zoe wrinkled her nose. “How tacky.”
Cami leaned back into my chest. “Was that your work?”
I circled my arms around her. “Chase and Kellan were the architects. I was merely following orders.”
She laughed and we watched Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan drive away amid waves and shouts and a honking horn. Several of the pastel balloons that had been tied to the back bumper came loose and floated in the air.
I leaned forward to whisper in Cami’s ear. “I believe I still owe you something.”
“The rest of your life?” she guessed.
“Yes,” I said. “But I was thinking of a honeymoon.”
She craned her neck to look up at me. “We’ll have one.”
“Then let’s start today.”
“Today?”
“Sure. I made a call and arranged to rent a cabin in the mountains for a week. Just like we planned.”
“What about work?”
“They can spare me at the field. Can they spare you at the paper?”
Cami pressed her lips together in thought and I could see she was getting excited. “I think so. I can call in some favors.”
“Do that.” I ran my hand through her hair. “Let’s just go. One week. Just you and me.”
“Just you and me,” she repeated, sounding dreamy. She looked around. The Gentry family had witnessed another beloved daughter find her happy ending and now they were beginning to disperse.
“When can we leave?” Cami asked.
I couldn’t contain my grin as I took her hand and started leading her away.
“We can leave right now, Camille.”
THE END
Thank you so much for reading!
I have truly adored continuing this story of my favorite family and I hope you’ll keep coming along for the journey.
Please don’t forget to leave a review and check out the book news coming up next!
Book news…
TEST (A Gentry Generations Story): Releasing 9/27/18
“We could help each other.
Or we could destroy each other.
Right now it’s anyone’s guess….”
TEST will be Derek Gentry’s story and may be read as a stand alone within the series.
Add to
your Goodreads TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40045435
Want more of the Gentry family?
GENTRY FAMILY TREE
Fall in love with every single one of them…
Gentry Boys Series
DRAW
RISK
GAME
FALL
HOLD
CROSS (A Novella)
WALK
EDGE
SNOW (A Christmas Story)
Gentry Generations
(A Gentry family spinoff series)
STRIKE
TURN
KEEP (A Novella)
TEST (Coming Soon)
Sign up for my newsletter and get early news on releases, cover reveals and special giveaways…
CORA BRENT'S NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
I always love hearing from readers so contact me at: [email protected].
Check out what’s happening on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/CoraBrentAuthor
Join my exclusive reader Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/CoraBrentsBookCorner
Add future releases to your TBR list:
https://www.goodreads.com/CoraBrent
Get your hands on the latest hot new releases:
Amazon Author Page