Dreamweaver (Hell Yeah!)

by Sable Hunter

  “I know what you mean. I love being with everyone, but I’ve been nervous lately and this seems to make it a bit worse.” Pepper let her eyes rove over the crisp winter landscape. There was no snow, but a thick covering of frost blanketed the ground. “Maybe, I should hit the spiced punch.”

  Cady laughed. “Drink enough for both of us. What I’m really craving is pickled okra.”

  “Ewww, yuck.” Pepper made a funny face. “So, the ultrasound shows a girl?”

  As Cady cranked the truck and put it into gear, she glanced over to Pepper. “Fasten your seat belt, the roads are slick. No, to answer your question, it wasn’t the ultrasound. I don’t know everything about our future, but I do know we’re going to be blessed with several daughters.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful! Do you see anything in my future?”

  “No, I wish I did.” Cady gave Pepper a sympathetic look. “I do feel waves of pain coming from you.”

  “I’m working on getting better,” Pepper whispered. “It just takes a while.”

  “I don’t know any of the details, but I presume this has to do with a man.” Cady turned off the main ranch road onto the smaller lane leading to the pavilion.

  Pepper laughed wryly. “Doesn’t everything have to do with a man?” She sighed and hugged herself tightly. “It’s silly, like Judah said, this was probably all in my mind.”

  Cady reached her hand over and clasped Pepper’s. “The only thing I can pick up from you is reflections, like the effect of walking through a hall of mirrors.”

  “Oh, that doesn’t sound good.” Pepper sighed. “Although, it’s not too far off. I feel like our relationship has been anything but usual.”

  As they rolled past herds of cattle standing around large round bales of hay, Cady kept her eye on the road. There were slick places covered with ice, making driving a challenge. “I don’t know much about Judah, other than his professional reputation.”

  Pepper nodded, knowing exactly what Cady knew. Judah James was a sensation, his music dominated the charts, his soulful voice was known and loved world-wide. “Yea, I’ve been a fan since his career first began.” She smiled, remembering the first time she’d ever seen him. “I actually ran into him a couple of months before he hit it big. It was a chance encounter.” A sigh of longing slipped from her lips. “I was standing at the window of a small boutique near the UT campus, staring into the reflection of a storefront window. In the reflection, I saw this gorgeous guy coming down the street. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with this fallen angel face. His hair was long.” Pepper let out a long sigh. “I’ve always been partial to long hair on guys, on him it’s so damn sexy. He also had this dark scruff on his cheek and the most intense dark eyes I’d even seen.”

  “He is a good-looking man. Even though I’m madly in love with my husband, I’m not blind.” Cady giggled. “There’s just something about a rock star, isn’t there?”

  “Oh, yea,” Pepper whispered, with pure longing in her voice, “he stopped to rescue this baby bird, I thought it was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen. I can still remember how my heart jumped when our eyes met in the reflection. He was watching me and I could look nowhere but at him. And then…” She barked out a laugh and covered her mouth.

  “What happened?”

  “He walked right into a lamp post.”

  “Seriously?” Cady’s mouth fell open. “What did you do?”

  “Oh, he came over and introduced himself, then Ryder stepped out of the store and called my whole name at the top of her lungs. Penelope Elizabeth!” Pepper scoffed. “She demanded that I come in and broke the spell. We exchanged numbers that day and he called me that night. I was at the concert where he signed his big deal with Ace Records.”

  “Wow.” Cady was truly intrigued. “So, you were there from the beginning of his career.” She slowed down and carefully pulled as near the door of the pavilion as possible.

  “We just hit it off, I enjoyed every minute we spent together.” Pepper opened her door and stepped gingerly to the ground, picking and choosing where she stepped. “Watch, there’s some mud on the ground here.”

  “Yea, I see it. We need to warn everyone to enter from the side so they can stay on the walkways.” She pulled a key from her pocket. “I think all the food is ready. All we’ll have to do is come down a couple hours early and put everything in the warmers.” Cady let them into to the massive lodge, complete with sitting areas, commercial kitchen, and a large ballroom/dining hall.

  “Everything is decorated so beautifully, Cady. You girls did a marvelous job.” Pepper always enjoyed coming to Tebow. Highland Ranch was her home, it was beautiful, but the amenities of Tebow were designed to entertain family and friends in a true version of Southern hospitality. She stood in the middle of the large room, gazing around at the huge decorated trees, the fires roaring in two massive fireplaces, the garland strung from the exposed beams, and the tables set and waiting for the celebrating to begin.

  “Thank you. We had plenty of help, I assure you. Tricia Yeager helped us with the decorations and Lilibet Saucier’s catering team did a lot of the prep work for the meal.” She handed Pepper a handful of place cards. “Here, help me spread them out.”

  “Okay.” Pepper took the cards. “Is there anyone I should be careful of where they sit?”

  Cady shook her head. “No, I don’t know of any current feuds.”

  “Neither do I. The most recent family excitement was Ryder marrying Samson and Gideon, but even Heath is fully supportive of Ryder’s wedding after they saved her life from those Russian mobsters.”

  “I’m glad.” Cady placed Christian at the head of the table at one end and Aron at the other. “When did you see Judah next?”

  Pepper raised her head to look at her beautiful cousin-in-law. “I invited him to join me at a party at Jimmy’s villa, the same place where he’s having the New Year’s party.” She slipped one last card in place, then stepped back to view the whole table.

  “What did your family think about it?” Cady stepped over to check the buffet tables with their line-up of warmers ready to be put into use.

  “I didn’t tell them. Well, Ryder knew more than my brothers did.” Pepper began doling out the candies, one by each plate. “After that, I managed to slip off to one of his concerts in Dallas.”

  “Oh, really?” Cady was intrigued. She came to Pepper and dug a handful of candies from the canister so she could make the task go faster. “You’ve spent more time with him than I realized.”

  “Yes, he said I was his inspiration. He’s written a couple of songs about us.”

  “Tell me one.”

  “Did you ever hear his song, Chance Encounter?”

  Cady’s hand froze in midair. “Yes, I have. You’re the Penelope in Chance Encounter?”

  Pepper nodded. “Yes.”

  As Cady sang a bit of the song, Pepper’s eyes grew big. “I didn’t think you knew Judah’s music.”

  Cady shrugged, a bit of mischief in her eyes. “Songs about angels seems to stick with me.” She pulled out a chair and sat down, clearly moved by this new information.

  Pepper joined her across the table. “I’m not sure why I feel like I can talk to you, but I do.”

  “Please do.” Cady laid her hand on Pepper’s. “I am here for you.”

  “We were intimate together in Dallas.” Pepper blushed, feeling a sense of relief at having finally told someone. “And it was amazing. I fell so in love with him. He was perfect.”

  “Oh, sweetie. What happened? Why aren’t you together?” Cady was mesmerized, as if she were watching a movie play out before her eyes.

  “I don’t know. We talked every day, sometimes two or three times a day,” Pepper said, folding and refolding a napkin at the place setting in front of her. She could still remember every conversation, especially the ones that took her breath away.

  Penelope, Penelope, let down your hair.

  I always wear it down, there’s too much of it to
put up on my head.

  He groaned. I have this vision of you atop me, all that golden hair flowing over your shoulders, beautiful nipples peeking out through the strands.

  Judah, you’re making me blush.

  And you’re making me hard.

  “I invited him to a BBQ at the ranch, in hopes that we could tell my family we were dating. This was right after Isaac’s wedding, where Cato threw a glass of punch on Heath.”

  “Oh, I remember that day very well. Did things go as you hoped at the BBQ?”

  Pepper shook her head. “I thought everything was fine. When he performed, he seemed to be singing for me.” She could still remember the words of the song he’d sang, holding her gaze. You are my sanctuary, the safe place when I fall. In your arms you hold me, you’re my haven from it all.

  “Pepper!” Cady’s voice broke into her reverie and Pepper jerked, knocking a couple pieces of silverware to the floor. “I’m sorry to startle you, but we have to go back. Libby texted and my Angel has taken a spill on her new tricycle.”

  “Of course, let’s go.” She placed the last two pralines and hurried out next to the concerned mother. “I hope she’s okay.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s the only girl out of all the cousins and she thinks she has to be rowdier than they are.” Cady and Pepper ran back to the truck and headed to the Tebow main house.

  “We didn’t lock the door, Cady,” Pepper reminded her.

  “Don’t worry about it, we’ll all be coming back over in a little while anyway.”

  They were so focused on the journey, neither noticed the black SUV parked a few hundred yards inside the gate.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “If everyone will take a seat, please.” Aron clinked his fork on his glass.

  “Oh, look, Pepper,” Ryder exclaimed, “there’s a gift in your chair!”

  “Wow, so there is.” She pulled the chair out and picked up the small gaily wrapped package. “I wonder where this came from.”

  “No clue.” Ryder took the present from her sister’s hands. “Check this out, Samson.” She nudged one of her attentive husbands.

  Samson Duke took the package and shook it. “Take a whiff, Gideon.” He winked at his sister-in-law. “My brother could always identify our gifts by smell.”

  Gideon held the package to his nose. “Jewelry.” Turning it over, he checked the card. “Merry Christmas, Pepper. The ‘from’ line is blank.”

  “Ooh, a secret admirer.” Ryder sat down in the seat that Samson pulled out for her. She eased her elegant self into the chair and stared at the handwriting on the box. “Definitely masculine.”

  “I’m related to everyone here, why wouldn’t they put their name on the tag?” Pepper wound her long hair around her hand and lifted it up so she wouldn’t sit on it when she took her seat. “Maybe Nathan brought it in when he came home,” she mused, taking the gift from her sister and setting it in front of her plate.

  “Oh, well, I’m sure someone will fess up,” Ryder said as she spread a napkin in her lap. “If not, you can chalk it up to Christmas magic.”

  Pepper studied her beautiful sister’s face. “Do you know something I don’t?”

  “No, I don’t.” Ryder shook her head. “You’re an amazing woman, Pepper. I’m sure there’s a dozen men who might have sent you a gift.”

  “I can’t think of even one,” Pepper muttered as Libby took a seat to her left. “You have done a wonderful job, Libby. Everything is perfect.”

  “Thanks, Pepper.” Libby let her gaze scan the room. “I think the meal is under control. I checked everything twice.”

  “Why do you look nervous? You’re a consummate hostess.” Pepper took a sip of water and let her eyes linger on the box. Who could it be from?

  “Tonight’s special, I don’t want anything to go wrong.” She eased up and glanced down the table. “I think everyone’s here, Aron,” she spoke to her husband, who sat to her left.

  “We’ll let the waiters serve a round of drinks, then we’ll get started.” The big cowboy gave Pepper a wink. “How many more semesters till you’re through college, Cousin?”

  “Oh, I’m through. I’m taking some graduate courses now, but I don’t know whether I’ll pursue another degree or not. I’m just testing the waters.” She leaned to one side as the waiter filled her wine glass. “Thank you.” When she turned back to Aron, he was speaking to her brother, Heath, who was sitting across the table from Libby. As everyone around her was deep in conversation with someone else, she let her eyes rove over her large family. With six siblings in their family and six first cousins, not to mention spouses and children, the number of McCoys was an ever-growing figure.

  “Do you have any idea what your father’s big surprise is?” Libby whispered in Pepper’s ear.

  She met Libby’s eye. “Not a clue, he’s been teasing us with the idea since Thanksgiving.” Pepper’s eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “I hope his fiancé isn’t pregnant.”

  “Surely not,” Libby answered back, laughing. “Although, you never know...”

  Her conjecture was cut short when Aron rose to get the assembled crowd’s attention. “I want to take this opportunity to welcome everyone again and wish you all the happiest of holidays. No family has ever been more blessed than ours.”

  Pepper listened as Aron extolled all the reasons the clan had to be thankful.

  “In the last few years, our family has grown by leaps and bounds as we’ve discovered the loves of our life and been given the gift of children. I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve come through it stronger as a family.” He raised his glass.

  “Here. Here.” Heath echoed the sentiment.

  “We’ve all got reason to be happy.” Jacob raised his glass. “Here’s to the family.”

  “To the McCoys!” Tennessee clinked his glass to his cousin’s. Down the line, each member of the family expressed cheers to another.

  At the end of the table, Christian stood to his feet. “If I could say something, please.”

  With those few words, the older gentleman had everyone’s attention at the table. They all knew their father and uncle had something to share with them and the suspense was building.

  “You’ve got it, Uncle.” Isaac saluted his father’s twin. “We can’t wait to hear what you have to say. Rumors are running rampant.”

  “I can imagine.” Christian surveyed his audience with a big smile on his face. “Your curiosity is about to be appeased. I have a huge surprise for all of you.” He took his phone out of his pocket and checked a text. “And…the surprise will arrive in just a few minutes, so I have time to tell you a little story.”

  By this time, he had the whole family’s rapt attention.

  “When I had my last stroke, I realized time wasn’t on my side. Being reunited with my brother’s family has meant the world to me.” He gestured toward his nephews and their wives and children. “I shared this with my own kids just a few weeks ago, but tonight I want to tell all of you that when Zane Saucier introduced the two sides of our family to one another, it wasn’t a surprise to me.”

  At the combined intakes of breath, he held up his hand. “My brother, Sebastian, came to see me when I was in the hospital, not long after my wife was killed. We met more than once and would have introduced the families to one another at that time…but, sadly, Sebastian and Sue lost their lives in the flashflood. After that, I experienced one setback after another and there never seemed to be a good time. I lost heart.” He hung his head and there were several murmured comments of sympathy. Both sides of the family knew what difficulties they’d all gone through in the last several years.

  A few seconds passed while everyone waited patiently. Finally, he cleared his throat and began anew. “What I’ve never told anyone was what we discussed. You see, we discovered the reason our parents divorced and split up our family, refusing to have any contact between them at all.”

  Noah raised his hand. He was sitting betwee
n his wife and his mother, Sophia, who was a latecomer to the clan. When Christian saw his nephew asking permission to speak, he smiled and pointed. “This isn’t a classroom, Nephew. Speak up.”

  “How did you find one another?”

  “Sebastian was the detective.” A wistful smile came over his face and he folded his arms across his chest, remembering. “He found a fragment of a newspaper clipping stuck in the bottom of an old trunk. Recognizing our parent’s names, he was shocked to read about a police investigation involving a family with two baby boys, that was his first clue he had a brother. Sebastian hired a detective and located us. We’d just moved to Texas when he came to see me.”

  “So, what was the article about? Did you ever find out?” This question came from Pepper. She was holding onto the edge of the table with such a grip that her knuckles were white.

  Christian held up a hand for patience. “After we were reunited, we both confessed that we couldn’t imagine what circumstances could have forced our family apart. Most divorced couples maintain contact. If they don’t share custody, at least there are visitation rights put in place.”

  He paused and it was evident that he held everyone’s attention in the palm of his hand. “The detectives searched until they located a copy of the newspaper and we were finally able to read the full article. What we didn’t know was that we weren’t twins, we were two of three. Triplets.”

  A shared gasp echoed through the room. Voices rose in amazement and surprise.

  “Yes, triplets. Sebastian and I learned that we once had a sister named Gillian.”

  “Where is she? What happened?” Jaxson demanded, sitting on the edge of his seat.

  “She was kidnapped at only six months old. Our parents took us to the park to let us play. They were both there, both watching, both attentive. Happenstance drew their attention, for just mere seconds. When they turned back, their little girl was gone, snatched from her stroller. A massive search was mounted, but Gillian was never found. Our parents blamed one another, they couldn’t get past the sorrow and grief. Their solution was to separate, take a child apiece and never have contact with one another for as long as they lived.”