Reesa stopped to think, blinked several times, and then realized what Jillian was saying was a fact of her relationship with Shane. She hadn’t really done anything to show Shane she cared. Outside of making herself sexually available, pretty much everything else in her life was about the kids.
“You think I’m being unfair?” Reesa asked.
“Unfair might not be the right word for what you’re doing, but that’s the gist,” Jillian replied.
“Do you think Shane is just going to keep pushing on me until he feels sure his love is reciprocated?” Reesa asked.
“I think even as cautious as you are, you could invest money on that fact and come out a winner,” Jillian said sardonically. “I also think anyone in Shane’s situation would do the same thing he’s doing. He’s rescued you. He’s tried to do everything he can, show you in every way he can, and you’re still playing hard to get because you’re afraid he might turn around and break your heart. I mean, that’s always the risk when you love someone, isn’t it?”
“I suppose you think I should do the whole traditional wedding thing too, don’t you?” Reesa demanded, piling stacks of clothes into the now empty laundry basket.
“That goes without saying,” Jillian said firmly. “It’s what you would have done if it hadn’t been for the custody hearing. But the wedding is just a start—that’s not all you need to do to hold your man.”
“What do you mean?” Reesa asked, her stomach doing flips thinking about all the things that had to be done to even make the wedding happen. What more could she face?
“You have to convince Shane that you love him. Find some genuine way not related to your quickie marriage or the kids to show him that you are with him because you want to be. The wedding alone is not going to get the job done,” Jillian said, crossing her arms.
“Why are you taking his side in all this?” Reesa demanded. “I feel like everyone in the world is in agreement with Shane.”
Jillian laughed and walked to Reesa, bending to hug her tightly. “Because he loves you and it’s obvious to the world, and because he’s right about wanting to make your marriage more real. I know somewhere still inside you is that starry-eyed girl who bought that beautiful wedding dress. You need to find her again. Let Larson marry that woman too.”
“I was younger than Shane when I bought that dress,” Reesa said, her eyes burning.
“Yeah, but he’s just as idealistic about you and him as you were about falling in love with the perfect guy back then. Let that love out, girl. Larson is the right one to give it to,” Jillian advised. “You know I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it was true.”
Reesa nodded, but her throat was so tight she felt like she was choking.
“If the dress doesn’t fit, I’m not doing a wedding,” she finally said. “I can’t afford another one.”
Jillian looked down in her arms at Reesa’s still-tiny body after all the years she’d known her. “You might need some spandex to reshape things, but I’m pretty sure the dress will still fit.”
Reesa snorted and pushed away from Jillian—and her teasing. “Like you aren’t ten pounds heavier now.”
“Ten? God, I wish it was only ten pounds. You know I’ve gone up two full sizes in the last decade. You’ve hardly changed at all,” Jillian said.
“Let’s go try the dress on now while the guys are finishing the new entertainment center in the garage. Then I’ll know for sure before I talk to Shane,” Reesa said, holding a hand over her fluttering stomach. “The thought of a wedding still makes me ill.”
“Just don’t put me in typical Christmas colors,” Jillian said firmly. “Make it a nice maroon or pretty jewel tone instead. We’ll take the girls and go shopping next weekend. One of the bridal shops is bound to have something in stock we can use for me. And goodness, we have to find Sara a princess dress or you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Reesa laughed as they walked down the hall, reluctantly admitting to herself that she was feeling a little better after talking with Jillian.
Joe was coming in the front door with yet more tools in his hands. He’d already made several trips out to his truck and back.
“Thanks for talking to me, Jillian,” Reesa said, sighing over the contents of Joe’s full hands.
“I’m sure my crazy time is coming soon,” Jillian said with a grin and a shrug. “I’m probably going to fall in love with some totally inappropriate man and you’ll have to talk me out of it.”
“If you’re looking for an inappropriate man, put me on the short list,” Joe said, grinning at the arch look Jillian gave him.
“Inappropriate wouldn’t even begin to cover a description of you,” Jillian said, liking the belly laugh he answered her with.
“Jillian, me darlin’—you’re as radiant as an evening star lightin’ the midnight sky. Don’t be breakin’ the heart of a man who admires you so truly,” Joe said in his most dramatic Irish brogue.
Jillian pushed at his chest with a manicured nail. “You got a heart in there, Joseph?”
“I got all kinds of magical things in this body,” Joe said, moving past the women. “If you ever want to check any of them out, let me know.”
Jillian grinned as she watched Joseph walk down the hall to the garage. “Mom and Dad would have a heart attack if I brought a man like that home,” she said. “Then if they lived through the heart attack, they’d disown me forever—probably take me to court, like they did you.”
“You’re not really interested in Joe, are you?” Reesa asked, shocked.
Jillian snorted. “No. I’m playing with him. He’s not even close to hitting the bottom skin tone on my shade-o-meter. And those freckles and red hair? You’re cracking me up, girl.”
“Well, I didn’t expect to hook-up with a six-foot-four giant who has to pick me up so I can kiss him either,” Reesa said morosely. “Watch where you put your lips, Jillian. They can get you in trouble when they land on someone outside your plan.”
Jillian laughed then. “I will not be kissing Joseph, but that’s the funniest thing you’ve said to me in a while. Glad to see your sense of humor is returning.”
“It’s not my sense of humor. There’s a special vibe between you two, but maybe you’re both just really lonely,” Reesa said, trying to reason it out. “We need to get you two hooked up—not with each other of course.”
“I already have a plan for me,” Jillian said, knocking on the door of Chelsea’s room. “I’m getting ready to get real serious in my search. No more bar pickups. I’m going to find myself a good man online. I can discreetly stipulate skin color and all manner of preferences. Then I can scan the selection before I test drive. Lots of people I know do that and find people they eventually marry.”
Reesa shrugged. “I think I prefer the element of the unknown. Picking up Shane was a risk, but I’m going to remember that first night with him for the rest of my life, even if we’re together forever. Making that first connection with him really was magic. It’s been the basis for everything else.”
Chelsea opened the door to let them inside.
“We’re trying on the dress. I talked her into it,” Jillian said conspiratorially, knowing no further explanation would be needed for Chelsea.
Seeing the determination on her Aunt Jillian’s face and the fear on her Aunt Teresa’s, Chelsea closed her bedroom door behind them and locked it. She wasn’t even going to let Sara in.
When Reesa stepped into the dress, Jillian zipped it up and then stood back to inspect the result.
When Chelsea was able to close her mouth, she slid her mirrored closet door over so her bridal aunt could see herself.
Two seconds later, her Aunt Jillian was pressing a handful of tissue from the nightstand into her Aunt Teresa’s trembling hands. Her aunt had cried a lot since she known Shane, but they didn’t seem to be bad tears as far as Chelsea could tell.
“Don’t be getting tears on that dress,” Jillian ordered. “There’s no time to clean it be
fore the wedding.”
“Aunt Teresa, you look really beautiful,” Chelsea said sincerely, finally finding the nerve to speak her thoughts about the dress, hoping her aunt was okay hearing it.
“It looks just as wonderful as it did the first time I put it on,” Reesa admitted, still sniffling. “Now get me out of it before I ruin it.”
Dress secure in its storage bag once more, they left Chelsea’s room a few minutes later. Reesa was still crying and wiping at her eyes, but was relieved that the flutters in her belly were mostly gone.
Shane and Joe happened to come out of the garage at the moment they hit the living room. When Shane saw Reesa crying, he headed to her in a run.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Why are you upset?” he asked, hands on her shoulders as he bent to search her expression for answers.
Reesa looked up into Shane’s face so full of concern for her. He was probably always going to get his way with her just because he cared more than she did about how she felt. He was such a protective man, and for the most part a positive person. The protective part was going to drive her crazy, but it also made her feel loved.
“I’m okay, Shane. Just some pent-up emotion I hadn’t let out in a while. Look—I’ve changed my mind about marrying you again. Call your mother and tell her to start planning the wedding. I even tried on the dress, and it still fits,” she told him.
“Really?” Shane said, his face lighting up. “You’re sure?”
Reesa only nodded because she just didn’t think she could make herself repeat the offer again. The flutters had returned at Shane’s hopeful expression.
Forgetting their audience, Shane scooped Reesa up and held her close, kissing her face, her neck, and any other part he could reach.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for marrying me again,” he said with each kiss.
“Larson, you are setting the bar too damn high. Look at those other women staring at you. What kind of chance is a normal man going to have with either of them?” Joe demanded on a laugh, pointing down the hall with a wicked grin.
Jillian and Chelsea were both sobbing, sniffling, and madly looking for tissues in the living room.
Shane just continued to hold a now sobbing Reesa as he laughed.
Chapter 8
During the following week, Ellen called every day with questions about ceremony preferences and to get decisions on colors, flowers, and the reception location. The daily hour Reesa spent on the phone with her mother-in-law was wearing her out, but it was good to have someone other than her doing all the hard work. So far, it really was looking like there would be nothing for Reesa to do but show up in her dress and walk down the aisle.
Two days into the planning, she was finally starting to think she could do it.
On Wednesday, she hadn’t taken two steps inside the art gallery before Carrie and Jessica descended on her with hugs and congratulations. Reesa turned pink at the attention, not feeling like a real bride yet, but also feeling immediate empathy from the two women who had married the other two Larson men. They were the only allies she had in understanding the risks of the situation.
“You look so much better than you did at Jessica and Will’s wedding,” Reesa said kindly, studying Carrie’s glowing face.
“A caring husband and great nausea medicine,” Carrie said easily, patting her as-yet flat baby belly.
“Let’s not talk about medicine,” Jessica said with a mock shudder.
Carrie laughed at Jessica, but took Reesa’s hands in hers. “So? We’ve been dying to find out how Shane talked you into it,” she whispered. “If it was kinky and sexual, at least give us the PG-rated version.”
Reesa giggled at Carrie’s intimate question, the sound startling her. She still wasn’t used to anyone but Jillian teasing her that way, but Carrie was a lot of fun.
“It was nothing like what you’re imagining,” Reesa said, thinking that at least nothing sexual had swung her final decision. He hadn’t tortured her again after the one night, but he had never stopped asking her to marry him again until she’d said yes.
“Well, Ellen is beside herself excited to get another chance to do a big production. I’m guessing you’re sicker than I am these days thinking about your wedding. You didn’t sound like you wanted one when you argued with Shane about it at the church,” Carrie said matter-of-factly about Reesa’s resistance, which even Michael agreed was sane and reasonable.
Reesa laughed and slipped her hands from Carrie’s. “Actually, my best friend convinced me I needed a real wedding as much as Shane did. Jillian’s been talking me into doing the right thing since we were in middle school.”
“Well I hope my wedding didn’t put you off wanting one,” Jessica said sincerely, hugging Reesa’s shoulders. “I should have skipped taking the sedative, but I didn’t want to embarrass Will by passing out during the vows. He said I didn’t do too bad. I haven’t watched the video yet.”
“Don’t,” both Reesa and Carrie said at the same time.
“That bad, huh?” Jessica asked, smirking at the warning in their expressions that spoke volumes about what she should expect. Brooke had simply refused to talk about it.
“You weren’t really bad,” Carrie said carefully. “You were just really girlie and giggly. You’re going to hate seeing yourself that way.”
Reesa giggled then herself, remembering Jessica ignoring the minister and laughing instead with Will over her vows. It was funny every time she thought about it, but Reesa definitely hoped she held it together better when her time came.
“Oh God,” Jessica said, mock shuddering again and putting a hand over her face. “I bet Will loved that embarrassment, especially if I was laughing and giggling.”
Reesa laughed for real then. “Will was the captain of cool,” she said firmly, quoting Shane.
“That’s Will, alright,” Jessica conceded. “When we were dating, he didn’t even lose his cool when Ellen and I were fighting over him like a couple of bitchy high-school girls. He just pushed us apart like a referee and was as calm as could be the whole time.”
“You had a fight with Ellen over Will?” Reesa asked, too shocked to censure the personal question.
Carrie grinned and swung her gaze to Jessica to see how she would answer. She’d stopped the fight between the two older women, but had never really gotten the story from Jessica’s viewpoint. Or from Ellen’s for that matter. Now the rare embarrassed flush on Jessica’s face made Carrie grin.
Michael had filled her in on Will’s stunned reaction, which had of course been typically male and egotistical, but also completely understandable in the circumstances. It had to have been very flattering at his age to have two great-looking women fighting over him, especially when one of them was the woman he loved so madly. Carrie had seen the depth of his love in the bust he’d carved of her.
So had Jessica, eventually, when she’d finally calmed down enough to notice. And that was the power of art, Carrie thought. It made emotions like love both tangible and visible.
Jessica laughed and shook her mane of curly hair, still ashamed at the memory of attacking Ellen. If she had gotten her hands on the beautiful blonde woman at the time, there was no doubt in her mind that she would have hurt her. Now that she knew Ellen better, Jessica could only be grateful that it hadn’t come to that.
“I caught Ellen hugging Will and sort of overreacted. She called me some bad names, got huffy as hell, but then afterwards made Will promise to convince me that I’d been wrong about the situation. I think I started liking her that day. She’s not nearly as proper or as cool as she appears to be,” Jessica said.
Reesa laughed. “Your friendship with my mother-in-law makes my brain hurt. You’re not supposed to like your husband’s ex.”
Jessica laughed. “Who says?”
Then she looked sheepishly at both younger women.
“Okay, it makes mine hurt too,” she agreed. “Now enough about me. How did Shane react to the wedding news? I bet he’s floating on
air.”
“More like gloating over his beer, I suspect,” Carrie said sharply. “He and Michael are both bad about that. Will is the least arrogant among those three men. I’m hoping Michael mellows with age.”
“Gloating is pretty much right,” Reesa conceded, biting her lip. “I don’t know what Shane thinks is going to change though. A wedding is not going to make us more married.”
Carrie hooked her arm through Reesa’s. “Don’t make yourself crazy trying to figure out how he views things. Just try to enjoy the roller coaster ride that comes with marrying a Larson. Focus on the upsides.”
Reesa laughed. “Okay. Sounds like good advice. I guess I’ll pick up the receipts for this week and head to the conference room to get started. I know you want to get the bookkeeping caught up before the gallery opening on Friday.”
“Actually the conference room needs to be cleaned out before you can work. I’m currently using all the tables for one last project,” Carrie said, then got an idea. “And you are the perfect person to help me get that finished, since I can’t seem to get your husband to make time in his busy schedule to help me.”
“Shane? What does he need to do?” Reesa asked, feeling guilty over taking her husband’s attention so completely from his original family lately. She let Carrie walk her to the conference room with an easy arm across her shoulders.
“Your absent-minded research doctor slash artist husband was supposed to help me pick twenty pictures from all his drawings for my collage of his work,” Carrie said.
Reesa looked at the four modular conference tables slid together in the middle of the room. The outer surface was covered with drawings all around the edges.
Reesa walked to the nearest table and scanned the surface in shock. Then she walked slowly along the first side, stopping after ten drawings to stare at Carrie in bewilderment.
“Are they all of me?” Reesa asked, her voice a whisper. It was just so hard to take in that Shane had drawn so many portraits of her.
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