“Jamie, sweetheart, you’re a widow. You’re probably lonely.” His expression was kind but it also annoyed her, like the fact she’d lost her husband meant she couldn’t make up her own mind about how she felt or what she did. “Brett took advantage of you, so it is his fault.”
She knew she had to tell Logan the truth, now, before Brett turned up, because this conversation wasn’t exactly going as planned. “Logan, Brett and I met before I even knew Sam. Pretending like us being together isn’t partly my fault is just patronizing.”
His eyebrows shot up and his face seemed to visibly harden. “I’m not sure I’m following you.”
“Do you remember, years back, Brett telling you about a girl he’d met? A girl he spent weeks looking for?”
Logan laughed. “Yeah, and he never found her.”
“But he did,” she told him, voice low. “That girl was me, and I’d just started seeing Sam when Brett finally tracked me down.”
“You two weren’t...”
“No!” Jamie said, not wanting him to imagine the situation being worse than it was. “I remembered him, of course I remembered him, but he never said anything about looking for me, about the night we’d met. Because he could see how happy Sam was, and he took the high road and walked away. Until recently, he never even told me what had happened.”
Logan shook his head. “I think we need to keep walking.”
Jamie fell into step beside him, wanting desperately for him to understand what she was trying to say.
“Brett and I have always had feelings for each other, but nothing would ever have happened while I was married to Sam.” She took another deep breath. “I loved Sam so much, and nothing could have jeopardized our marriage, but with him gone and Brett back?”
Logan didn’t say anything, but she knew he was listening.
“The fact that something has happened between us now is okay, Logan, because we’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Sam has only been gone...” He shrugged. “Whatever I say isn’t going to make a difference, is it? You’ve clearly already made up your mind.”
Jamie slowly shook her head, but she panicked when she saw Brett walking in their direction.
“What?” Logan asked, looking over his shoulder. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Don’t overreact, he wanted to come and make things right with you.”
“I should just leave,” he muttered.
Jamie looped her arm through Logan’s to keep him in place. “No, you’re not. Because we’re all adults here, and you guys are best mates. You’re not falling out because of me, and you need to promise me that you’ll listen to what he has to say.”
She watched as the dogs ran over to Brett, running circles around him then bounding back off to the river to inspect the ducks again.
“Hey,” Brett called out.
Logan stiffened, but she didn’t let him go.
“Geez, your eye really came up,” Logan said.
Brett shrugged. “Guess I deserved it.” He passed them each a coffee from the cardboard tray he was holding. “I just want this coffee to go better than our last attempt, so can we all keep our fists to ourselves?”
Brett had angled his body slightly to watch the dogs, and Jamie knew Logan was watching him.
“You must miss Ted even more when you’re around these two,” Logan said.
Brett’s eyes were nothing short of honest when he turned back, the look in them enough to break Jamie’s heart. “It’s easy for someone else to tell me he was just a dog, but I miss him like hell. All the time. I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about the way he died, about what I lost that day.”
They all stood and sipped their coffee.
“Jamie told me, about her being the girl from all those years back.”
Brett took another sip of his coffee before sending a smile in her direction. “I need you to know that I would never have come between Jamie and Sam, but I love her, Logan. I always have. This isn’t something new for me, it’s just something I’ve never acted on before.”
Jamie could hardly breathe, she was terrified of what was going to happen now. Of what Logan was going to say. How his reaction could change everything.
“Did you come here wanting my blessing, or do you not care either way?” Logan asked.
“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have told you the other day, and I wouldn’t be standing here now,” Brett told him. “I’m not going to walk away from Jamie, but then I’m not planning on walking away from you, either. Not after all we’ve been through. I just want you to try to understand.”
Logan started to walk, slowly, and they both started to move, too. The dogs were having a ball and they followed them along the gentle curve of the river.
“I think I just need some time to get my head around all this,” Logan confessed, running a hand through his short hair. “It’s not that I want to be the one that comes between you two, I just need to process it. It’s a lot to take in.”
Jamie couldn’t help the smile the spread across her face, and the wink Brett gave her made her heart race. It was a baby step, but it was a step in the right direction.
“You both mean too much to me to lose either of you. So if you need time?” she said. “Take as much as you need.”
“And you really think Sam would have been okay with this? That he wouldn’t want me to do everything and anything to protect you? To stop you from making a mistake?”
“Logan, you don’t need to protect her, because I’m not going to hurt her,” Brett said, stopping at the same time Logan did. “Me walking away? That’s what would hurt Jamie. And I love her.” He smiled at her, eyes connecting with hers. “I love her, man.”
Logan tipped his head back, eyes closed, before shaking his head and looking first at Jamie and then at Brett. “Just give me time. I just need time to wrap my head around all this.”
Jamie knew when to change the subject, and that time was now. They’d told Logan what they needed to tell him, and it had gone down without anyone having their teeth knocked out, so now they just needed to hang out.
“Want to let the dogs have a swim?” she asked.
Logan laughed. “You ever had Bear in your car, soaking wet?”
Brett was laughing, too, and she couldn’t not join in. “A quick swim and then a long walk so they can dry off, then,” she suggested.
The guys exchanged looks and kept laughing, even as she told Bear to jump in and he did so with a massive bound, like he was a professional lifesaver. Ranger was barking on the sidelines, glancing back at Logan, waiting for the command. When he got it, he launched into the water, too, both dogs swimming toward a group of ducks.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
Brett’s cheeky smile made her glare at him. “You. For thinking for a moment that you’ll ever get your dog out of the water.”
“What do you mean? He’s so obedient.” she said, annoyed with the way they were both grinning at her. “You told me he’ll obey me at all times, Brett. Was there something you neglected to tell me?”
“Even Sam couldn’t ever convince that dog to get out of the water. You? Not a chance.”
Jamie threw her hands up in the air. “Maybe you could have told me that before he showed off his dive?”
“Nah, this is going to be way more entertaining,” Brett said with a laugh.
“The joke’s on you, Brett,” she told him, hands on hips. “Because you’re in the back with him if he’s still dripping wet when it’s time to go home.”
Logan was almost rolling on the grass he was laughing so hard.
“On second thought, he won’t be wet, because we’ll be using your T-shirt to dry him,” she said.
“I take it all back,” Logan said, still smiling. “You guys are perfect together. I’ve never seen Brett bossed around
like this—ever.”
Jamie grinned, but she had to move fast when Brett burst into a sprint and hurtled toward her.
“Don’t you dare!” she squealed, running as fast as she could to get away from him. “Logan, help!”
Brett grabbed her around the waist, almost knocking the breath from her, before tossing her over his shoulder and leaving her powerless to do anything other than try to kick him.
“Take me anywhere near that water and I’ll kill you,” she hissed.
“Oh, baby, I like it when you talk rough,” Brett whispered, slapping her on the backside.
“I mean it, Brett. Logan!” she screamed for him to help her again, but he never came to her rescue. “Logan!”
“Hey, you told me not to interfere,” Logan called out. “This is me not interfering.”
“Bear!” she yelled. “Bear, help me. Get Brett. Get Brett now!”
The dog who was supposed to be impossible to get out of the water leaped out with as much gusto as he’d leaped in, his big bark echoing around the park.
“Good boy, Bear!” she told him, still upside down over Brett’s shoulder.
Brett stopped moving and put her back on her feet, watching the dog as he wagged his wet tail and kept barking.
“Jamie?”
“Get him, Bear!”
Bear launched at Brett and knocked him to the ground, giant paws landing square on his chest before he took him down.
“Just licks,” she told him. “Lick Brett.”
Her dog did as he was told, and now it was her laughing, watching Brett pinned to the ground with Bear lying on top of him, soaking wet, pleading with her to make it stop.
“Who’s wet now?” she asked.
Logan held his hand up for a high five, and she gave him one back. This was how it was supposed to be—Brett and Logan getting on like they always had. And she felt good. Ever since Sam had died, she’d been like a fish out of water, but all that had changed, and she couldn’t have been happier.
“Come on, Bear, let him go,” she commanded. “That’s no way to treat your new daddy.”
Epilogue
Jamie looked around the large table and couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. A year ago, she’d been a widow, and even her friends had struggled to know what to say to her, or how to treat her. And now? Now she was married to a man she could be herself with. A man who wasn’t scared by the fact that she would always love the husband she’d lost, who was okay with her wearing her old wedding ring on her other hand, because Brett had loved Sam, too. Perhaps even as much as she had.
A tap on a glass made her turn to her new husband, eyes locking on his as he grinned and leaned sideways to give her a quick kiss.
“What are you doing?” she whispered to him.
“I’m about to do my speech, unless you want to go first?”
A speech? She hadn’t even thought about speeches, had been so preoccupied with her vows that she hadn’t even considered having to speak in front of everyone at the table.
She watched as Brett stood up beside her, their friends and family lowering their voices until they were eventually surrounded by silence.
“I guess I need to start by thanking you all for being here,” Brett said, one hand holding his champagne flute, the other falling to rest on her shoulder. “This was a day we only wanted to share with those people closest to us, and there is one person that isn’t here today that I would like to acknowledge.”
Jamie reached for Brett’s hand, her palm covering his fingers. She didn’t want to cry, but the whole day had been so emotional and now she had tears caught in her lashes again.
“We all know I wouldn’t be standing here today with Jamie if Sam was still alive,” Brett began, taking a big breath before continuing. “Sam was my best friend, and I always promised that I would look after Jamie if anything ever happened to him. I know he wasn’t meaning it quite so literally when he said that—” Brett paused as a few of their guests chuckled “—but I also know that he would have wanted us both to be happy in his absence.”
Jamie stood then, needing Brett to know that she wanted to hear what he was about to say, what he was already saying, and not knowing how to. She looped her arm around his waist, holding him tight.
“Sam was the only one of us who was married, and no matter how much we teased him about marrying so young, we loved Jamie as much as he did. I just want to say, Sam, if you’re up there—” Brett wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before holding up his glass “—that I will look after this woman until my dying breath.”
Jamie had tears falling fast down her cheeks, curling into her mouth. There was nothing she could do to stop them, and she also didn’t want to. Because she had loved Sam with all her heart, and now she loved Brett, too, just as deeply but in a different way. And she needed to hear what he had to say.
Brett turned toward her, putting down his glass and taking both of her hands into his.
“I always told Sam he was the luckiest guy in the world, and I mean it when I say I will look after you. One day, I might have to give you back to Sam, because I don’t want to be fighting him in the afterlife, but while we are here, on this earth, I will never let you down, Jamie. I will always be here for you, and I will do anything to be the husband you need me to be. I love you.”
Brett wiped away the tears that had stained her cheeks, before leaning in and kissing her softly on the mouth. She put her arms around his neck and held on tight, not wanting him to stop, but the clapping and clinking of glasses around them forced the kiss to an end.
Even though her throat was choked up still and her eyes wet with tears, Jamie turned to face the table. She needed to say something, and they were her family, her friends. They were here to celebrate, and if they saw her cry it didn’t matter.
“I don’t have anything planned to say, and I’m sure you’re all ready for dinner to be served, but I’d like to say thank you to all of you for being here today.” Jamie looked at the light hanging above the table, needing a second to gather her strength and force her emotion back as best she could, so she could get the words out. Brett took her hand and squeezed, and it was all she needed to find the strength to continue. “When I married Sam, I knew I’d found my soul mate, but it seems that I’m one of the lucky ones.” She squeezed Brett’s hand back. “Brett was our friend for so many years, and now he’s my husband. Life has a way of throwing us curveballs, some so bad that we wonder how we’ll ever live through them, but Brett has proven to me that sometimes we have more than one soul mate in the world. I am so grateful to be standing here today, with the man I love.”
Jamie reached for her glass and held it up. “To Brett, for being the love of my life, and teaching me that falling in love for a second time might be a miracle, but it was one that I deserved.”
“To Brett.” The words echoed around their table as everyone raised their glasses.
“I love you, Brett. So much,” she whispered to him.
“And I love you, too, baby,” he said, dropping a kiss to her forehead.
As they sat down, two waiters appeared with the main courses, but it was the tapping against a glass again that had Jamie’s attention, followed by a deep huh-hmm. She scanned the table and realized it was Logan, sitting directly across from them.
“I’ll make this quick because dinner is being served,” Logan said, standing. “For the past ten years, the two most important people in my life have been Sam and Brett. When Sam died, we were all hit hard, and thinking about Jamie being on her own was almost as hard as losing him.” He gave her a wink across the table. “I might have given Brett a black eye when I first found out, but I honestly believe, now I look back on what happened, that Sam would have told me what a jerk I was being. Because looking at these two today, it’s obvious they were meant to be together.” He held up his glass. “And let’s not forget
Bear, Sam’s loyal dog, who has taken up the role as Jamie’s number-one protector. If anyone didn’t approve, it would have been Bear, but even he seems to accept this union.” Logan laughed. “To Brett and Jamie, two of my favorite people in the world.”
Jamie smiled at Logan—the man who had been her first husband’s best friend and was undeniably Brett’s best friend, too—and held up her glass. She took a slow sip before looking at every single person seated around the long table again. The white tablecloth was set with low candles from one end to the other instead of flowers, because she’d wanted to be able to see and talk to everyone, and she loved watching the smiles and chatter as she looked at them all now.
Brett nudging her broke her trance, and she switched her attention to him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“More than okay,” she assured him, looking down at the plate of food in front of her.
“Then eat up, Mrs. Palmer,” he said, waggling his eyebrows and making her laugh. “Because you’ll need all your energy tonight.”
Jamie elbowed him in the ribs but he was having none of it, swiftly grabbing her arm and pulling her in for another quick kiss.
“I’m so pleased I married you,” he said, his mouth hovering over hers.
“Ditto,” she said, laughing as he kissed the tip of her nose instead of her lips.
She reluctantly turned her attention back to her food—king prawns, calamari and scallops tossed in her favorite linguine with garlic.
Life didn’t get much better than this.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Her Mountainside Haven by Jo McNally.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Relate to finding comfort and strength in the support of loved ones and enjoy the journey no matter what life throws your way.
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