by S. J. McCoy
Missy shrugged. “Isn’t that the nature of a soul mate? They’re a part of you. They share your history. They also share your future and your present. Even when they’re not there.”
Charlotte thought about that. Ben was certainly a part of her. He may not have been there in her life all these years, but he’d certainly been there in her mind, in her heart. She sighed. “Let’s just get on with it, shall we?”
Missy smiled. “That’s my Charlotte. Just rush in and get on with it, right? See how it pans out.”
She nodded. “That would appear to be my usual M.O., yes.”
Chapter Twenty
Pete saw Missy and Charlotte come in and stop just inside the doorway. He was glad Ben had already left. What would it do to him to see her standing there? She was a beautiful woman, no question about it. She’d been pretty when they were kids. Now? Now she was…
“Well, hello, gorgeous!” Nate stood beside him. He sounded as though his tongue might be hanging out. “Why did Missy never tell me she had a friend who looked like that? Come on, Hemming. You have to introduce me. My weekend just took a turn for the better.”
Pete shook his head. “Forget it, Nate.”
“How could I forget a woman who looks like that? I intend to spend the rest of this weekend making beautiful memories with her.”
Pete had to laugh. “Weren’t you saying that about Lily last night?”
Nate looked put out. “Yes. But Lily wasn’t interested. She turned me down flat—four times! She broke my heart.”
“I wasn’t aware that you had one?”
“Oh, that hurts.”
“Yeah, right.” Pete watched Missy and Charlotte make their way over to where Dan was chatting with Laura and Leanne.
“Come on,” Nate tugged at his sleeve. “I need to meet her. She might just turn out to be the love of my life.”
Pete pursed his lips. “No.”
“What do you mean, no? She might.”
“I doubt it. You don’t know who she is.”
“Who? Tell me! I need to know!”
“You’re right, you do need to know. You see, she’s the love of Ben’s life.”
Nate’s lecherous grin disappeared in an instant. “That’s Charlotte?”
Pete was surprised. “He told you about her?”
Nate nodded. “I’m staying at the resort remember. We hung out after he closed the bar the other night. He was drowning his sorrows.”
Pete felt bad again that he’d been so caught up in his own mess, he hadn’t been there for his friend like he should. “I should have been there for him.”
“That’s okay, boss. I stood in for you.”
“Thanks, Nate. Come on. I’ll introduce you, now you know.”
Nate followed him.
Charlotte looked up as he approached. “Oh my God! Pete Hemming!” she cried. “Just look at you. All grown up.”
Pete grinned as he looked her over. “Same back at ya, Charlotte. It’s good to see you.”
“You too, old friend.” She reached up to hug him.
“It’s been too long.”
She stood back and met his gaze. “It has, but we both know why.”
Pete nodded. “He’s not here tonight.”
“Yeah,” she looked disappointed. “Dan was just telling us.”
Missy looked upset. “I hate it. I bet he’s just hiding in his room. I think I should go up there.”
Pete exchanged a look with Dan. “He said he wanted to be by himself. I’ll check on him later. He’s not going to come down.”
Missy sighed. “I know, you’re right.”
Charlotte shook her head sadly, but said nothing.
Pete looked around at them. “Well this is awkward, hey? How about we change the subject?”
Missy smiled.
So did Charlotte. “Good idea, Pete. How about you? I hear you’ve got a wedding of your own coming up in the not too distant future?”
He couldn’t help grinning. “That’s right. Not too distant at all.”
Missy gave him a puzzled look. “Have you two got it all worked out now?”
“I have!” And he couldn’t wait! His phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked it. “Sorry. I just need to deal with this. Give me a minute? When I’m done I’ll find Holly and introduce you.” He went to the doors and out into the corridor before he hit the speed dial.
“Where the hell is it?” asked Ben. “I feel like a freaking burglar sneaking around your house.”
Pete laughed. “It’s exactly where I said it was. Hanging in the closet in a big bag thing.”
Ben was quiet for a few moments. “Oh. Shit. This thing! It was in front of my nose the whole time. Okay. Panic over.”
Pete laughed. “Thanks, bud. I appreciate it.”
“Sure thing. I’m going to ask you again though, are you absolutely sure about this?”
“I’ve learned better than to be absolutely sure. If it doesn’t work out, so be it. I’m not going to try to impose it. I’m just going offer it as a possibility.”
“Okay. If that’s how you’re approaching it, then I’m with you.”
“Thanks, Ben.”
Pete wondered whether he should say anything about Charlotte.
Ben made the decision for him. “Have you seen Charlotte yet?”
“Yeah, she’s here now.”
Ben was quiet for a long moment. “How does she look?”
“I’d love to tell you that she looks old and frumpy and that you did well to get out of that situation.”
Ben heaved a loud sigh. “But really she looks even more beautiful than she ever did and you feel sorry for me that I fucked up the best thing that ever happened to me?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that. Well, apart from that first bit. She does look stunning!”
“That’s okay. I knew she would.”
“Do you think maybe it’s time to let the past lie? She’s one of us. She always will be.”
Ben sighed again. “I can’t, Pete. I… Ask Missy why.”
Pete was puzzled by that. “You can tell Miss, but you can’t tell me?”
“It’s not that, bud. It’s just that I don’t want to say it out loud again. Ask her. You’ll understand. I’d better get going. I said I’d meet up with the others back at the airport. Smoke went with Doc to pick up Chance and his dad.”
“Okay. I’ll let you go. Give me a shout when you get back here.”
“Will do. See you later.”
Pete made his way back inside. He spotted Holly, sitting with Michael and Megan and Lily. Michael winked at him. “What are you up to, Pete? Anything you want to tell us about?”
Pete scowled at him. Just because he was in on it, didn’t mean he should go risking anything. “Actually, I came to find Holly,” he smiled at her. “I’d like you to meet Charlotte.”
“The Charlotte? Ben’s Charlotte?” she asked.
He nodded. “She was one of the gang when we were growing up.”
Holly stood to join him. “I know that much. I’d love to meet her!”
~ ~ ~
Chance took his dad’s arm as they waited for Smoke to let the plane steps down when they landed at McCarran. “Do you want me to go ahead of you?” he asked.
His dad nodded. “Thanks, son.”
Chance swallowed, hard. He was glad to step in front, so his dad couldn’t see his face. Couldn’t see the tears he was blinking back. When they made it to the bottom, his dad leaned on his arm for a moment. “See, I did it under my own steam.”
Chance nodded and looked at the wheelchair the doc had waiting. “What do you think? Do you want that?”
“Want it? Hell no!” He shuffled in front of it and let himself plonk down. “But even I can’t deny that I need it.”
When they reached the shuttle bus, Chance exchanged a look with Doc Morgan. Now they had to get him up another set of steps. Getting him onto the plane had been tough, at least this was just a couple. His dad looked up at him. “
You’re a strapping fella. I bet between you, you, Ben, and Smoke can lift this chariot of mine up there.”
Chance nodded. He knew they could. It would be easiest. He just hadn’t wanted to subject his dad to the indignity.
When they were all settled on the bus, Chance called Dan.
“We’re on the way from the airport now. So make sure Miss is busy.”
“Yeah,” called his dad. “I don’t want to go through all this and then blow the surprise.”
Chance smiled. His dad was going along with all this in much better spirits than he had expected. It made Chance realize now just how important it was to him to be here. They’d had quite a time this last couple of days. It was the first time they’d been alone together in who knew how many years. They’d made up a lot of ground. Not that either of them had actually said much, openly. They’d made their peace with each other. In the way only two taciturn men could.
“Did you hear that?” he asked Dan.
“I did. He sounds good.”
Chance nodded. “He is.”
~ ~ ~
Lily smiled at Megan and Michael. “I think I might call it a night.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” said a voice from behind her. “I was just looking for you. I’ve rounded up all the singles to go party.”
She looked up over her shoulder at Nate. Damn, he was a good-looking guy. He was fun, too! She knew better than to think anything might happen between them. But he was fun to hang out with. “Who’s going?” she asked.
“Ryan, Eddie, Leanne, me, and you.”
“What about April?”
“She turned me down.” Nate gave her that disarming smile of his. “If you can believe that! She got a better offer from another guy. I can handle it, since the guy in question is ten years old, and he’s her son.”
Lily smiled. She knew this whole weekend was way out of the ordinary for April. She was probably glad to use Marcus as an excuse for an early night. “I was thinking I might turn in early myself.”
“Well, think again. You can’t do that to me. It would destroy me to be turned down by two beautiful women in one night.”
She laughed. “And I’m supposed to feel bad when I was your second choice anyway?”
He hung his head and grinned out at her. “Actually, I have to come clean. You were the third. I wanted to ask that English chick, Charlotte, but apparently she’s off limits.”
Michael laughed. “You can say that again!”
Lily couldn’t wait to catch up with Charlotte herself. She hadn’t seen her for years. They used to ride together when they were kids. She was biding her time, though, until she could get Charlotte on her own. Lily was more of a one-on-one kind of girl. Superficial group conversations did nothing for her.
Nate came around to stand before her. “Come on. The clock’s ticking. We’ve only got so many hours before the sun comes back up, we need to make the most of them. Party till dawn. We may as well since we don’t have to be anywhere until five o’clock tomorrow now.”
Lily shot a look at Megan. She didn’t seem in the least upset that Nate was referring to her canceled wedding.
“I wouldn’t bank on that,” said Michael. “Don’t go thinking you can sleep all afternoon.”
“Why, what’s happening?” asked Nate.
Michael shrugged. “I can’t say. But keep your afternoon free.”
Lily didn’t have time to wonder what might be in store tomorrow afternoon as Nate took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She laughed, why not? She happily followed him over to where Leanne, Ryan, and Eddie were waiting.
“Let’s go, party people.”
~ ~ ~
Kenzie watched the group of singles make their way toward the doors. Chase slid an arm around her waist and smiled down at her. “Are you wishing you were still single?” he asked.
She laughed. “No way! I am a very happily married woman thank you.”
“That’s good to know, because I am a very happily married man.”
Kenzie looked around at all their friends. The crowd was thinning now, but it had been one hell of a party. She’d never even considered having something like a wedding reception, but this had been special.
“What are you thinking?” asked Chase.
She grinned up at him. “Can you guess?”
She loved the way he narrowed his eyes at her. “I think I can.”
“And do you want to?”
He nodded. “You know I do. Just because we’re married now, it doesn’t mean we’re old and married and boring.”
“I don’t think we ever could be, even if we tried.”
“We’ll need to say our thank yous before we go.”
She nodded. “Come on then. Missy and Dan are just there, let’s start with them. They laid all this on for us.”
“Other than them, April’s gone to bed. Ben’s not here. They’re the ones we really need to thank. I think everyone else will understand if we just disappear, won’t they?”
“I think so. They know us well enough.”
Chase grinned. “Let’s be quick then. Thank Missy and Dan and we can go catch up with the others and party.”
~ ~ ~
After Kenzie and Chase had left, Dan smiled at Missy. “You made this really special for them, you know.”
Missy smiled. “I’m just glad we could. They would have been happy enough to go off and do their thing by themselves, but I’m glad we were all there for them.”
“So were they.”
She shrugged. “I get to have this amazing wedding; I just wanted to share the love, you know?”
Dan nodded. He did know. He knew that she always went out of her way to do nice things for other people. She saw ways to make people happy and she went out and made them happen. He was so glad that now he was able to do that for her. He was proud of himself that he hadn’t just accepted that her dad couldn’t be there.
She caught him off guard. “What are you smiling to yourself about?”
He could hardly tell her. “I’m thinking how lucky I am. How much I love you.”
She smiled up at him. “I hope so, because this time tomorrow, I’m going to be your ball and chain!”
He laughed. “You could never be that.”
She laughed with him. “Don’t bet on it. I’ll be chasing you around with a rolling pin before long.”
Laura laughed at Missy’s words as she joined them. “I was just coming to say goodnight. Am I interrupting a domestic before you’re even married?”
Dan shook his head. “No, we’re only playing.”
“How’s Smoke?” asked Missy.
Laura shot a look at Dan. “He’s feeling much better. He just texted, that’s why I’m going up.”
Dan hated that they’d had to lie to Missy and say that Smoke had gone up to his room with a bad headache, but they’d had to explain his absence somehow.
“Oh good. Well you two enjoy the rest of your evening.” Missy looked up at Dan. “I was thinking we might go up in a little while? I’m pooped!”
“Do you want to go on ahead then?” he asked. This might be his opportunity to slip up to the VIP lounge and check on her dad.
“I want to wait for Chance to get in. I’d really like to see him. He texted a while ago to say that he should be here in half an hour or so.”
Crap! Dan had forgotten that Chance would have to come out and say hello, since he was supposed to be arriving tonight—by himself. “Why don’t you go on up anyway? He can come up to our suite when he gets here. It’s not as though he’s likely to want to hang out with everyone is it?”
He loved the way she smiled. “Yeah. I think I’ll do that. Are you going to round Scotty up?” Dan nodded. “I want to check in with Mom, too. I haven’t had much time with her today.”
“Of course! Do you want me come?”
Dan shook his head. He really didn’t! He could hardly say that his mom and all the oldies were no doubt having a party of their own up in the VIP lounge by
now—with Missy’s dad!
“No. You go and have a soak in that big tub. I’ll take care of it.”
He knew that sealed it. Whenever they stayed here Missy loved to find time to soak in the huge tub in their room with a glass of wine in her hand. “Okay. I’m off,” she said with a grin. She reached up and pecked his lips. “Don’t be too long.”
He hoped he wouldn’t.
~ ~ ~
Laura opened the door to her room and smiled when she saw Smoke standing there waiting for her.
“How did it go?” she asked.
Smoke nodded. “The old guy’s holding up pretty well. He’s not saying much, but I think he’s damned glad to be here.”
“That’s good. And I’m glad you’re here. It seems even this weekend we’re not going to get much time together.”
He nodded and came to put his arms around her. “I’m sorry, lady. Tomorrow morning’s going to be the same.”
Laura grinned. “I know, but like tonight, it’s so worth it. I don’t mind missing out on our time so much when it’s for such good reasons. I can’t wait to Missy’s face when she sees her dad.” Her grin faded. “I just hope tomorrow’s trip is going to work out like he hopes.”
Smoke raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think she’ll go for it?”
Laura shrugged. “I hope she will, but I wouldn’t want to put any money on it.”
Smoke pecked her lips. “Well, that’s for them to figure out, not us. We’ve got the rest of tonight to ourselves, what do you say we forget everyone else and just go out and have some fun?”
As Laura smiled up at him, her hands found his belt buckle. “I was thinking more along the lines of staying in and having some fun.”
His hands closed around her waist and pulled her against him. “Persuade me.”
She pulled his head down to kiss him—she intended to!
Chapter Twenty-One
Pete paced the room while Holly took her shower. He was starting to think he might be crazy. Was he about to screw up even more than he had been doing before? No. He had to believe he wasn’t. He’d been listening to what she said. Taking notes about what she wanted. He was trying to give her exactly that. And he wasn’t going to force it on her. He was going to give her the choice.