Issued to the Bride One Marine (Brides of Chance Creek Book 4)

by Cora Seton

  “Fiancée? What fiancée? When’s the wedding?”

  “Three weeks. We’re going to have to work hard to pull it off, but I think we can do it. Will you officiate?”

  “If you’re getting married, I’ll definitely be there. How’s the lucky woman? I’m assuming it’s Lena.”

  “Of course, it’s Lena. And she’s still in love with me. God knows why.”

  “You’re right; God does know why,” Anthony told him. “Because you’re a good man and deserve it.”

  “I thought you might be sore I didn’t join you in the priesthood.”

  Anthony hesitated. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Thinking about my own pride. Seems I still have more than my fair share of it. I wanted to make you over in my image, but that’s not my place.”

  “No one would blame you; our parents made no bones about who they wanted us to be.”

  “I’ve been thinking of that, too. You ever wonder why they named me and James for saints, but not you?”

  “Hey, I’m Michael, remember?” He touched the medal at his neck.

  “Logan Michael. Far as I know there’s no St. Logan.”

  “So? They covered that with my middle name.”

  “There’s more to it than that. I don’t know why I never did the math before. Mom was sixteen when she had James. Dad was eighteen. I have a feeling if we really counted, we might find James was conceived before their wedding night.”

  Logan thought about that and realized it was probably true. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He’d always thought of his parents as rule-followers. They’d certainly been that way when he was growing up.

  “Watch it, or you will be,” Anthony said in mock disapproval. “I think maybe a little guilt came into play when they set their hearts on him being a priest,” he went on.

  “What about you?”

  “Maybe it became a habit with them. Maybe there was something else they felt guilty about. Who knew what they got up to back in those days? They held off having me for another fifteen years, didn’t they? That’s a good long run. James always said Nana was like a second mother to him. Maybe Mom and Dad kept having fun while they grew up a little, and by the time they were ready to settle down for real, they felt guilty again and decided on the priesthood for me, too. Like I said before, it didn’t matter. I’d have gone down that road regardless.”

  “So, what about me?”

  Anthony cleared his throat. “Mom was forty-one by the time she got pregnant with you. I don’t know this for sure, but it seems like they might not have expected you, either. I honestly don’t know if they expected any of us.” He chuckled. “That has to be among the top ten things I don’t want to ask my mother. Anyway, you came along. I was already talking about a life of service. Now they had another chance for grandkids.”

  Logan tried to make sense of what his brother was saying. “I don’t get it. If they wanted grandkids, why make all that fuss about me becoming a priest, too?”

  “You’ll have to ask them about that. Whatever they say, remember—they love you. I’m glad you’re following your heart.”

  “I don’t even know if Lena wants to have kids.” He supposed they ought to talk about that.

  “Want some more advice?” Anthony asked. “Don’t tell Mom that until after the wedding.”

  “Lena isn’t a Catholic.” Logan had been worried on that point. “And we’re marrying here at Two Willows, not in a church.”

  Anthony hesitated. “You know what? I’ve heard the love in your voice since the moment you started talking about her, even if I didn’t acknowledge it. I have no objection.”

  “But you can’t officiate.”

  “Not unless I had more time. We’d have to talk to a bishop—”

  “I can’t wait for that.”

  “I know.” Anthony chuckled. “Do you have a backup plan?”

  “Reverend Halpern married her sisters and their husbands.”

  “Get Reverend Halpern, then.”

  “Will you be my best man?”

  “You’d better believe it.”

  Lena made sure the door to the attic was firmly closed and locked before she sat at the window seat, opened her laptop and made a video call to the General.

  She knew her sisters’ fiancés had each in turn invited the man to their weddings. Each time he’d refused to come. She wasn’t going to wait for Logan to go to bat for her. She’d face down the man herself.

  “What is it?” the General barked when his image showed up on her screen. He was bent over a desk in an office that definitely wasn’t his own. Lena wondered where he was. Overseas, maybe? He was focused on a batch of paperwork he was scrawling on with a pen. He looked older than the last time they’d talked, which was…

  Hell, when was it?

  The General looked up, his impatience all too clear. “Well…?” His words trailed off when he spotted her. He leaned closer to the screen. “Lena? What is it… what’s wrong?” He half stood.

  “We’re all fine,” she said quickly and held up her hand to show him her ring. “Perfectly fine. I’m calling to let you know about my wedding. It’s three weeks from Saturday.” She waited a beat. “That’s your cue to say you’re too busy to come.”

  The General sat down and began to speak, but no words came out. Finally he managed, “Three weeks?” His gaze travelled somewhere to the left of the screen, and she had no doubt he was looking at a calendar. As if he actually needed to do that. He wouldn’t come, no matter when it was. When he turned back, there was something in his eyes that gave Lena pause, though. It wasn’t hardness—or anger. It was—

  Grief.

  And it hit her like punch to her sternum.

  Her father was grieving. She’d guessed that, but seeing it made it real.

  “I want to,” he said so frankly Lena believed him. “More than anything, but this situation is escalating—” He waved a hand to encompass his foreign office.

  If you want to, then try, she urged him silently. Break free of the guilt that’s holding you back. Start fixing this.

  But she’d never spoken to her father that way, and she couldn’t seem to find the right words to start now. “You could come if you really wanted to.” She’d done so much over the years she hadn’t thought herself capable of. Couldn’t he stretch—just this once?

  “I… can’t.”

  Anger flared within her. Yes, he could. But he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t try—even for her. He’d never valued her—

  “God, I’m so proud of you,” he said.

  Lena clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a cry of pain. Used the other to slap at the keyboard until she’d killed the call.

  No.

  No—

  He didn’t get to have it both ways—

  Not this time.

  He either loved her enough to break free of the past, or he didn’t.

  Lena shoved the laptop off her lap, not caring when it fell and hit the ground. She tucked her knees under her, wrapped an arm around her middle and stuffed her other fist in her mouth. She wouldn’t cry. Not again. She was done with tears.

  She swept two of the cushions off the seat onto the floor, then pounded a third with her fist. Damn him—how could he still make her feel this way?

  She stood up and paced the attic. She’d told herself she wouldn’t slide back into past habits again, and here she was letting the General ruin her wedding. He didn’t get to do that. Didn’t get to let his cowardice spill all over her happiness.

  This isn’t about you, she told herself. This is about him. His bad choices. His guilt.

  His sadness.

  And this was life. Ugly. Messy. Painful.

  And so beautiful and clean and lovely at the same time. It had been so the day she’d said yes to Logan, and it would be again in three weeks when she pledged her heart to the man she loved.

  And if the General couldn’t be there—

  That was his loss.

  It took Logan some time to make
his next call, but when he finally did, his mother answered on the third ring. “Logan! Good to hear from you.”

  “Just wanted to talk if you have a minute.”

  “Of course.” She sounded happy, and Logan hoped he wasn’t about to ruin her mood.

  “I’m not going to become a priest.” Best to get it over with. Short and sweet.

  His mother’s silence spun out until she sighed. “I guess I figured that out when you became a Marine.”

  “You never stopped bringing it up.”

  “No. I guess I didn’t.”

  “Why? You’ve got two priests in the family already. Why couldn’t you let me be?” He wondered if she’d finally come clean. He couldn’t remember why this had seemed so hard to discuss before. Probably because he’d been younger. Less sure of himself. Needing her approval. They’d all let this spin on way too long.

  “I guess because I didn’t let your brothers be. I’d gone too far to stop.”

  “I don’t follow you.”

  “I made them both priests; how could I let you be what you wanted to be?” His mother sighed, and there was a world of remorse in the sound. “We were so young when we had James. So guilty for what we’d done—I’m sure you and your brothers figured out our sin a long time ago.”

  Logan didn’t correct her. It had never occurred to him his parents had ever slipped up until his conversation with Anthony.

  “We managed to marry fast and fool most people. James came late, and he was small.”

  “So you dedicated him to God.”

  “We definitely steered him that way. He ran with it, though. I guess that made us feel better. I don’t think he regrets the life he chose.”

  “I don’t think so, either. And Anthony’s told me a dozen times he would have tended toward the priesthood no matter what you did.” He was glad they were able to talk about it rationally instead of having a fight. He didn’t want his mother to be defensive. He simply wanted to understand. “So you didn’t force them. And if they both chose their vocations willingly, why worry about me?”

  His mother was silent a long time.

  “I’ve never told anyone this part. It’s too painful. I’m not sure you’ll understand.”

  “Try me,” Logan told her.

  “We tried for so long to have another baby after Anthony was born. We were ready to be parents by then, and we didn’t want him to feel lonely. First months passed, then years, one after another until it was clear we were done. Those were hard times. Your father and I fought a lot. We blamed each other. Then, I suppose, we blamed God. We felt… judged. As if He was showing us He’d wanted us to be parents much younger—when we had James—and since we didn’t agree, now He was punishing us. It was harder for me than for your father. You know my mother raised James more than I did. I felt like I hadn’t measured up and was being deprived of children when I was ready for them as a consequence. I was so confused.”

  “But you did have me.”

  “Ten years later! Long after we’d given up. What were we to make of that?” his mother asked.

  “I guess I don’t know.”

  “We were thrilled. We made such plans for you. We would raise you, send you to college, marry you off, and the grandkids would pour in! And then…” She broke off.

  “Then you felt bad about not steering James and Anthony that way,” he finished for her.

  “That’s right. It sounds pretty darn silly when you put it like that.”

  Not exactly. Logan was beginning to understand it was human nature to box up difficult feelings. People treated problems like equations. If I do this, then that must be the result. But life didn’t fit into tidy boxes. Neither did feelings.

  “I guess we’re all a little messed up,” he said.

  She sighed again. “The Marines have made you a man I’m proud of. I want you to know that.”

  Logan supposed no one was ever too old to appreciate praise from his mother. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “And you’re not going to be a priest.” She chuckled. “Anthony says you’re in Montana. What’s going on there?”

  “I’m getting married. In three weeks. And I hope you’ll come.”

  “Married?” she said faintly. “You’re getting married? Earl, come quickly,” she called. “Logan’s getting married!”

  The next few minutes were a jumble of congratulations, questions and exclamations as he told his story twice over, once to his mother and then to his dad. Both of them could barely contain their excitement.

  “What about grandkids?” his mother asked.

  “We’ll see. When we’re settled into our new lives.”

  “But you’ll live in Montana? Earl, we need to move to Montana!”

  “You’re only one state over, Mom. It won’t be that far to visit.”

  “Says the man who never visits his mother,” she pointed out.

  “I swear that’s about to change.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not going to be the one wearing the uniform,” Jo said to Lena and ducked as if she expected Lena to take a swipe at her. All five of the Reed sisters were in Alice’s sewing studio on the second story of the carriage house. It had been restored to normal after the damage it had received when they’d been attacked some weeks ago, and it reminded Lena of childhood days when they’d used this space as a rainy-day playroom. Costumes were strewn over the central tables—Alice’s creations for the movie job.

  “Jo,” Cass said reprovingly. “That’s not nice.”

  Jo kept angled away from Lena until Lena shook her head at her. “Relax,” she said. She was done with violence. “I thought about wearing a uniform,” she joked. “Decided not to break tradition.”

  She stood as still as possible on a little pedestal while Alice crouched beside her, pinning the hem of their mother’s wedding dress. Cass, Sadie and Jo had all worn it for their weddings. Now Alice was tailoring it to fit her—and the theme of her wedding.

  She and Logan had decided to go with a Revolutionary War theme. Alice had dug out a fine blue uniform for Logan to wear, and more for the rest of the men. Her sisters would wear their spring green bridesmaid gowns, altered to have a more 1775 flair. It was far too cold for an outdoor wedding at Two Willows, so they’d decided to take most of the furniture out of the first floor of the house, set up tight rows of folding chairs for the ceremony, and move them to accommodate folding tables for the dinner. It would be crowded, but they’d make it work. Lena couldn’t wait to see the look on Logan’s face when he saw her walk down the aisle. He’d loved her in that stupid bridesmaid gown she’d worn at Jo’s wedding the night they’d met. He’d probably have a heart attack when he saw her in off-white lace.

  “Stand still,” Alice murmured.

  “Sorry.” It was hard to stand still and harder to bear the itchy fabric. How did other women deal with this stuff?

  “I’ve got a list,” Cass announced. “One for everyone, actually. We’ve all got jobs to do to get ready for the big day.” She began to hand them out, giving Lena hers last. “I didn’t give you too many errands,” Cass told her. “I just want you to be ready on Saturday for a full makeover: hair, nails, makeup—the works.”

  “Fine.” Let her sister have her way. It was okay to dress up once in a while, she decided. In between times, she and Logan would have loads of fun without resorting to all that frippery. She realized she was smiling and caught Cass’s eye.

  “I’m so happy for you,” Cass said.

  “Thanks.” She looked over her list again, not wanting to make too much of the moment. “Candles?” she asked.

  “Tons of them,” Cass told her. “And fairy lights. You’re in charge of the mood lighting for the wedding.”

  Mood lighting. She supposed she could handle that.

  Four hours later, she’d finished the fitting, changed, headed into town and handled all her purchases with panache, filling the back of her truck with boxes of votives, tapers and fairy lights. She’d help string the lights closer
to the wedding. Cass could handle the candles.

  But now she was hungry.

  Really hungry.

  Lena realized she’d skipped lunch. Linda’s Diner would do the trick nicely, she decided, and after she closed the tailgate, she decided to walk the two blocks to the restaurant.

  A cold wind reminded her it was nearly Thanksgiving. The early snowfall had disappeared, but it looked like more was on the way. Soon enough the year would end and a new one would begin. So many things had changed at Two Willows since last spring.

  She was happy to reach the diner, her bittersweet thoughts dispelled by the hustle and bustle of the place.

  “Hi, Lena,” Christie called. “Cass has a booth in the back if you’re here to join her.”

  “Sure.” She edged around the waitress and made her way back to find Cass and Brian tucked into a booth at the far end of the restaurant. “Is there room for me?”

  “Of course, help yourself,” Cass told her.

  Lena did so, ordering a hamburger and fries when Christie reached the table. A few minutes later, Cass’s and Brian’s meals arrived, and she told them to go ahead, grabbing a fry or two from her sister’s plate.

  “Got my whole list done,” Lena told them.

  “It was a pretty small list,” Cass pointed out. “I’m only about halfway through with mine.”

  “I’d say I’m two-thirds done,” Jo said, approaching with a large number of shopping bags draped over her arm. They stowed them under the table, and Jo slid in next to Lena. She, too, grabbed some of Cass’s fries. “I think you gave me all the hard things.”

  “Did not,” Cass said affably. “I always save the hard things for myself.”

  “Then you’ve never tried to pick out flower arrangements less than two weeks ahead of a wedding.” Alice arrived looking more flustered than usual. “She wanted to use peach roses. Can you believe that? We’ve had three weddings with the same color scheme, and she’d going to zigzag now? I’ll have a Cobb salad,” she told Christie, who’d come to deliver Lena’s burger.

  Lena took it from her gratefully, her stomach rumbling. She took a bite of the burger and swatted away Jo’s hand when she tried to steal some fries. Jo waited until she’d grasped the burger with both hands for a second bite and snatched a few off the plate.