by Taryn Quinn
She flushed then grabbed the towel and wiped her mouth, her dark eyes lasering onto mine. “Why are you in here?”
“Um, you’re sick? I’m helping.”
“You can’t see me this way.”
“Why the hell not? I put that baby in you.”
“Shh, for fuck’s sake.” She reached up to thump me in the general thigh area, but I could only imagine how it looked when the bathroom door swung open, and an older lady shrieked for Jesus.
“It’s not what you think,” I began as Tish jerked to her feet and stumbled over to the sink to wash her hands.
She glanced at the mirror and let out a string of expletives. “What in the fuckity fuck did you do to my hair?”
I stepped forward to poke at the droopy side ponytail. “I got it out of your way, right?”
“With an orange Casper the Ghost scrunchie? If I had my steel-toeds, you’d be in trouble.”
The bathroom door slammed shut behind the horrified woman.
Well, this wedding was off to a rip-roaring start.
I crossed my arms. “You already got your use out of me, now you want to maim me. Typical.”
“What use was that exactly? Your best use is at swinging a hammer, not your dick.” She dragged off the scrunchie and started teasing and fluffing her hair at warp speed. Then she hissed out a breath and tied her hair on top of her head, securing it with the hated scrunchie. “Fuck it. Fuck it sideways.”
A knock sounded at the door approximately sixteen seconds later, then my best friend stuck his head in. If he’d heard Ruby, he didn’t let on, though he did cock a brow at seeing me hanging out in the ladies’ room.
She started wildly spraying something floral.
“It’s not helping,” Caleb informed her.
She ignored him.
“Look, I hope everything’s okay, but my bride is flipping out so I hope one of you is ready to be her maid-of-honor. I don’t care which. She’ll take any friendly face at this point.”
Ruby pointed at me. “Take him. He can play both roles. Leave me in peace. I beg of you.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll stand up for both of you.”
“Oh, stop being so upstanding. It’s seriously annoying.” She nudged me out of the way and marched out, leaving Caleb staring after her. “Teach, let’s go,” she called when he didn’t move.
“She’s a lot.” My buddy scratched his chest. “You sure about that one, brother?”
I grabbed her bag. “Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“Always knew you were a contrary sort.” He grinned and clapped my arm. “I’m happy for you, man.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Doesn’t matter what I heard. I can see just fine. Lu’s convinced you’ll be married by this time next year. I was sure she was high on marital bliss, but now I think she’s spot-on.”
“She just snarled at me.”
“Right. She also looked at you like she didn’t know if she wanted to climb you like a tree or karate chop your junk. Definite marriage material.”
My laughter dislodged something in my chest. Probably the big block labeled baby I still couldn’t quite breathe around. “I fucking love her.” I frowned. “Someday I’ll say that without the fucking in front of it.”
“Yeah, but definitely not in the first year.”
We laughed like the cheerful perverts we were.
“Teach! Your wife is going to skin you, and I’ll help.”
“Aye, aye.” Grinning, Caleb turned to leave, but I stopped him and pulled him in for a long hug.
“Glad for you, man. You’re an inspiration to me, you know that?”
He hugged me back and then eased away, his brow furrowed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You didn’t expect to have a kid, and you still took it on like a champ. I know you’re going to be an incredible father. It’s good to see.” I swallowed over the block that had now moved from my chest into my throat. “Some dudes won’t ever let their kids down.”
“No, I won’t. Absolutely not. And when the day comes, you won’t either.” He smiled as he backed away. “Thanks, man. For everything. Especially for being at my side when I do this thing.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
After he left, I grinned. Today was a good day.
Until I drew a deep breath and decided I needed to breathe somewhere else. Quickly.
On the way out, I tossed a twenty on the sink. Maybe the tip would help make up for the baby stink.
I walked out into bedlam. Sweetly smelling, festively decorated bedlam, but bedlam nonetheless.
Festooned Christmas trees and glittery decorations were everywhere, mixed with the subtle magical hints that had to be Luna’s idea. Stars and crystals and shimmering snow dripped from stark birch branches in heavy pots, adding extra sparkle in every corner.
A sandwich board sign announced the Beck-Hastings nuptials were taking place in the chapel on the property, so I turned to go back outside. I bumped into a tall, lean dude with Tish’s lush mouth heading in. Not that I made a habit of noticing guys’ mouths, but even with the big puffy jacket pulled up to his ears, I recognized him as one of her brothers immediately.
Fuck. Another unexpected change of plans.
Tish would be ecstatic.
Twenty
My mind spun. What was he doing here? The Burns weren’t supposed to be in the Cove yet—or here in Turnbull at all.
Tish’s place was not done, and she wasn’t one for alternative routes. Ever. To say she had a plan and she lived to execute that plan about summed it up.
Rhett’s gaze zeroed in on mine as if he was seizing the last life raft. His smile was quick and easy as he pushed a hand through his thick dark hair. It was longish on top and short in back, and snow flew in my face as he patted his jacket pockets then unzipped and did the same with his shirt pockets.
“Hey. You’re a familiar face. Lucky, is it? How the hell are you?”
I couldn’t help my grin at his clear confusion as he searched for something. She’d referred to him once as Mr. Wanderlust.
Right now, he looked scattered and as if he was three steps behind.
“It is Lucky, isn’t it? If I messed up your name, man, I’m sorry. I’m running on little sleep. Traveling, you know?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Rhett, right?”
Should I introduce myself as Tish’s baby daddy? Probably not. She’d likely deball me in front of the wedding guests. Besides, we should wait for the official test before we announced anything.
Or was it better to wait until after the first trimester passed? She was two months in, assuming it had happened the night of the memorial.
We hadn’t even been in the Cove. Once we lived here, did the whole baby thing cling to us like cologne?
Water, dummy. Remember, she brought a ton with her?
That couldn’t be it. No way. People just joked about the water in the Cove.
But she was pregnant…maybe. Probably. And we had been careful. But I’d been careful with plenty of other women. I was just glad local lore hadn’t kicked in before now.
Maybe that was the whole point. It only happened once it was meant.
Tish’s older brother was staring at me, probably wondering when I’d keep the conversation going. Problem was, I had like three going in my head.
“Sorry. A lot on my mind.”
“I hear that. I didn’t even know I was going to a wedding today. I had a gap in my schedule so I figured I’d dip into the Cove, see if I could hit up Ging. I found my way to the coffee place in town and they pointed me this way, said a lot of people would be here, even Tish. Seemed dubious, but hell, I’ve got some time to see what’s what. So, where’s my best girl?”
“I’m not exactly sure. I’m guessing at the chapel changing into a maid-of-honor dress. Then again, maybe not. She wasn’t real keen on swapping dresses.”
Rhett laughed. “I imagine not. She’s not much of one for dresses anywa
y. Maid-of-honor, huh? She consented to that? What kind of bribery was involved?”
I had to laugh. “A little guilt, I’m sure. It’s for my best friend’s fiancée. His wedding.” I cleared my throat. “Their wedding.”
“So, she did it for you.” He rubbed the light scruff on his chin then popped on a pair of glasses from the pocket of his flannel shirt. “You two serious? I have to assume it’s a thing since you were at the memorial and now she’s wearing dresses for you.”
Now that was an image—my Ruby in a dress for me. Maybe for us, as in a wedding of our own.
Not that she’d need to wear a dress. She could wear anything she wanted. I wasn’t particular, as long as she showed up.
Knowing her, she’d alter her vows to call me a jackass. And I didn’t much mind.
“Deadly. At least on my end.” I slipped my hands into my coat pockets. “You didn’t hear me say that.”
“No, I didn’t, but you might want to let my brothers know. If you’re dating Ging, they’ll be ready to read you the riot act. They’re even worse than our father.”
“I’d tell everyone if she’d let me.”
“Sounds like Ging. Friendly piece of advice—don’t let her rule the roost. Push back. Sometimes she needs a nudge toward where she doesn’t realize she wants to go. Her first reaction is defensiveness. Started young with her. Being the only chick in a bunch of guys can do that.”
“Yeah. I can see that.”
“It wasn’t only that though,” he said after a moment before blowing out a breath. “So, where the hell’s this chapel?”
The senior citizen from the bathroom wandered by at that moment and tsk-tsked under her breath. She was weighed down with paper shopping bags, so at least that probably meant she wasn’t a fellow wedding guest.
I hoped.
“Let’s find out.” We headed out, falling into step side by side down the stairs to the snowy walkway.
An older couple was shoveling with big smiles wreathing their faces as if it wasn’t coming down at a steady clip. “Hey there.” I returned their smiles. “Nice day.”
The older man laughed and leaned on his shovel. “Pretty usual for this time of year around here. You folks looking for the wedding? Chapel is around the side here and straight through to the back. Glad we enlarged the lot once we fixed up that chapel for my Leelee and my son-in-law.”
“Oh, they were married here? That must’ve been cozy.” It was hard to speak when the howling wind was chapping my lips with every word.
“Actually, it wasn’t their idea to marry here. Nick just horned in on his best friend’s wedding. Fred always gets the story wrong, although Simon worked with him to fix up that chapel. It was a dreadful mess. I’m Laverne Ronson, by the way, and this is my husband. We own Happy Acres.” She stuck out a purple gloved hand while her husband went back to shoveling.
Laverne’s halo of white hair fluttered as she pumped my hand enthusiastically before she moved on to Rhett. “And you are?”
“Rhett Burns. I know Nick. He’s a character.”
She laughed. “That he is. Are you in the music business?”
“I dabble.” He smiled. “I’m sure I’m terribly late in asking this, but you probably don’t have any rooms left, do you?”
I frowned. “What about Tish’s? We’re not quite done due to some delays, but if your brothers give us a few more days as planned—”
“My brothers do nothing as planned. Besides, with this weather, I imagine many of the wedding guests will be bunking down here tonight.” He tossed back his hair and sprayed me with snow yet again. “I’d hoped to attend the wedding with Ging, but it looks like I’m late there too.”
“We don’t have a room, and we’ll be driving back.”
“Not if that weather forecast is accurate.” Laverne chuckled and patted our arms. “We’ll get you all in here, don’t you worry. We have room in the main building, plus the separate bonus building for the inn to boot.”
“This place is huge. I heard there’s a winery too?”
“Sure is, and a performance space as well. Along with gift shops and a café and more apple products than you could shake a stick at.” Laverne winked at me and dusted snow off her gloves. “Luna already requested a special room for you and Leticia, Lucky.”
Hmm. She hadn’t known who I was, yet she knew Tish. Was everyone around here all-knowing or what?
“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll need to discuss it with Ru—Tish,” I corrected. “She may have other ideas.”
“Of course. You just let us know. And we’ll set one aside for you, Rhett. Enjoy that wedding now. I may just pop my head in if I can get away. I’m just a sucker for them.”
“Thanks so much,” Rhett said with a smile, skidding his way down the rest of the walkway as Fred pushed his shovel in the opposite direction. Even the area he’d just cleared was already filling up again.
“Nice meeting you, ma’am.”
As we walked down the long winding walkway that led to the chapel—not so much a walkway now, as the snow was falling hard and the team of shovelers had seemingly vanished—Rhett nudged my arm. “Hey, don’t suppose you can pretend you invited me here?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, Tish is gonna have a kitten. She’ll be like, why didn’t you tell me you were here early? A guy goes off the grid for a month to write a song with Oblivion and misses some calls and it’s an issue. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I’d make it back in time.”
“I’m glad you’re here. Tish needs family around her with all the changes.”
“All what changes?”
“Her place. Cohen’s injury. You know.”
“No, I don’t know, but I have a feeling she’s keeping something from me. Just in case you doubted it, two out of three Burns brothers know martial arts and the third is just an all-around supreme athlete.”
I swiped a hand down my face to get rid of the snow and smothered a laugh. “Noted.”
“So, are you going to say you invited me to this wedding? Because I technically don’t know the bride or groom. Who are they again?”
I laughed and waved at Dare and his wife Kelsey heading into the chapel. They were squabbling about something, but Kelsey immediately brightened and waved, her gaze lasering in on Rhett.
“New blood?” she mouthed before her husband ushered her inside.
“Groom is Caleb Beck, my best friend. He’s a teacher at the Catholic school—”
“Oh, right, he knocked up the witch.” Rhett wiped off his glasses on his shirt. “Yeah, I’ll just let you do the talking until I get the lay of the land. Not that I’m landing long. But maybe I’ll get a song out of it.”
“You’re really a songwriter? That’s cool. And for Oblivion? They’re massive.”
“First time working with them. I work with a lot of people though. I’ve kind of been under the radar for years under a pen name.”
“What is it?”
“I am not telling you.”
“C’mon.”
“Hell, no. Banging my sister doesn’t get you those kind of privileges. Marry her and we’ll talk.” Grinning over his shoulder at me, he yanked open the chapel door and some kind of mystical decidedly non-religious music poured out. It seemed to be a combination of wind chimes, Tibetan singing bowls, and harps.
“This must be a non-denominational chapel.”
“I guess?” I had no clue.
“Does she have any other witchy friends?” he asked before we walked inside.
“That’s a very popular question.” I fell silent as I noticed the cluster of people at the front of the small chapel.
Caleb had his hands folded in front of him, looking like a Zen master befitting the music. At his side, his older brother, August, was smoothing Caleb’s tie and speaking in low tones before he strode away to take his seat beside his wife, Kinleigh, in one of the pews.
And like a fire goddess out of mythology, my tall, striking Ruby shot out of the back in a column o
f white, the color setting off her hair like flames. They matched her blazing eyes as she noticed me—and the man at my side.
She conferred with Caleb for a moment before she marched over to us, brandishing her cluster of winter flowers tied in a velvet bow as if she intended to use it as a projectile.
“Why are you here?” she demanded, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure she didn’t mean me.
Since I was currently struck dumb by her staggering beauty, I had no answer. And when my powers of speech returned, things went in an unexpected direction.
“You’re going to have to marry me.”
I’d assumed if I ever said those words, I would at least get a response. But my intended bride was too busy jabbing pointy stems into her brother’s chest to hear my proposal.
Was it a proposal? I wasn’t even sure. After today, I had no clue what would come out of my mouth next.
“You’re early, and you never even actually said yes. Not definitively. It was a lot of ‘I’ll try, Ging,’ and ‘you know, my schedule is rough, Ging.’ Regarding your own brother. Your own flesh and blood. I know you can’t commit to anything more intense than all you can eat breakfast, but maybe try just once?”
“I’d like to point out I’m here.” He smoothed a hand down her back and drew her against him, crushing the bouquet between them. “Hi. You look amazing. I missed you. Also, did someone say all you can eat breakfast? I’m starving.”
“It’s late afternoon,” I pointed out unhelpfully.
Ruby sniffled against her brother’s chest and then turned her narrowed eyes on me. “You came in with him.”
“He invited me to the wedding.” Rhett flashed me an innocent grin when I glared.
“Figures.” Hurricane Ruby spun away from him and into my arms as if she’d been propelled there.
So, I did what any man who’d just been ignored after a proposal did—I kissed the holy hell out of her in front of some of our friends and family and God and country.
Her sound of protest changed into a moan before she wound her arms around my neck and pressed her recently fuller breasts against my chest. Heaven. Her tongue coiled seductively around mine, and she tasted like cinnamon and sin. Mine. My hand was on its way down her back to cup her ass when a cheer rose up around us.