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“I’m the best man,” he said, slowly. “And you’re the maid of honor....”
“Of course.” She tried to laugh it off, but it came out stilted as she tried to control the heat bubbling within her. “I’d hate to keep you from your date, though.”
“I didn’t bring one.”
“She couldn’t make it?” Penny fished just a little, knowing that if there was a she, Penny needed to shut down this attraction. She didn’t mess with taken men.
“There isn’t a she.” He looked over her shoulder briefly before returning his gaze to her eyes. “What about your date? Won’t it make him jealous that I’ll have you in my arms most of the night?”
“If he existed, it probably would.” The men she hooked up with were always free agents and never more than that. “I guess that means I’m yours tonight.”
His dark eyebrow lifted as if his train of thought had just arrived at the same station. A spark of awareness raced down her spine.
“If everyone could line up,” Beatrice Miller called out in her singsong voice. The kindergarten teacher helped out at the church for the wedding coordinator. She treated every wedding party like a group of five-year-olds who needed to get in line and wait patiently for their turn. Many of them had had her as a teacher, so it wasn’t hard for her to rein them in.
Luke held out his elbow, and Penny hesitated for only a moment before slipping her hand over his jacketed arm. They were to be the first down the aisle.
“Mom and Dad should be here,” Luke said so softly that she almost missed it.
Her fingers squeezed his arm and she leaned against him. “Yes.”
As they stood by the door waiting for the procession music to begin, the crisp, clean scent of Luke wafted over her. He pulled her in tightly to his side. His warmth penetrated her silk dress. He was as solid next to her as he’d always been. Almost as much a safe haven to her as her grandmother’s antiques store had been when she was young. Had he stayed in Tawnee Valley, would things have been different for them?
The doors to the chapel opened, and Penny straightened and put on her smile. This was Maggie’s day. The past was gone. Only right now mattered. The entire town had turned out for the wedding. And they were all looking at her walking arm in arm with Luke Ward.
She could almost see the matchmaking gears in ole Bitsy Clemons’s head turning on overload. Bitsy had brought every eligible man in Tawnee Valley to Penny’s store. As if Penny would die if she didn’t marry soon.
It was bad enough to be walking down the aisle with an ex, but to do so in front of everyone who had known how hot and heavy they had been...
They made it to the preacher and split ways. As Luke went to the other side of Brady, she turned and their eyes met. She saw a hint of humor and speculation in those eyes. She could definitely lose herself in him for a night or two. After all, he could only improve with age.
Amber started down the aisle and tossed wildflowers on the path before her. When she reached the front, she turned and sat in the pew next to Sam Ward.
The music changed and the doors reopened to reveal the bride. The congregation stood as she walked slowly down the aisle with a smile filled with such love that Penny couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to her eyes.
As she reached the wedding party, Maggie passed her bouquet to Penny to hold and took Brady’s hands.
Brady looked as if he’d just been handed the most precious gift in the world. It hit something inside of Penny, and she had to look away. Luke came into sharp focus.
Years ago, she’d thrown away what they had together, but she’d never forgotten. Every man she had been with, she compared to him, never truly letting him go. Once tomorrow came, she’d have to let him go again, but tonight was filled with potential.
Chapter Two (#ulink_5b210052-07be-5022-bc9a-bd5411f8622d)
“Thought you were going to miss it,” Sam said.
Luke raised an eyebrow but continued to stare out the truck window. “I was called to scrub in on a last-minute surgery.”
Sam grunted. “Family’s not that important.”
If the reception had been any closer to the chapel, Luke would have walked rather than get in the truck with his oldest brother. Sam had helped raise him after their father died when Luke was fourteen. Two years later, their mother had succumbed to cancer and Brady had gone off to college, leaving only Luke and Sam.
“Of course family is important.” Luke flicked a piece of lint from his tux sleeve. “Which is why I’m here today. When it matters.”
Sam gave a noncommittal sound as he pulled into the parking lot of the Knights of Columbus. The hall was a standard block construction on the outside. It might not be big-city classy, but Tawnee Valley didn’t offer much else in the way of reception halls.
The parking lot was already filled with trucks and cars. As soon as Luke stepped out of the truck, he could hear the music floating out of the double doors that were outlined with a pretty trellis of flowers.
“I don’t know why Brady didn’t just have the wedding in New York,” Luke mumbled.
“Because the people in this town are as much his family as we are.” Sam walked past and into the banquet room.
Luke followed him in and actually did a double take. If he hadn’t just driven up to the concrete building, he would believe that he’d been dropped into a grand ballroom inside a five-star hotel. The stage had had a face-lift since the last time Luke had been here, which had to have been almost five years ago. One of his high school friends had his wedding reception here, but it had been a potluck with lots of balloons, not an elegant buffet with waiters bringing guests drinks and appetizers. The room was decorated to rival the most elegant of ballrooms, down to the artful arrangements of wildflowers on every table.
“Kind of blows your mind, doesn’t it?” Penny appeared at his side.
“Definitely.” Just as she did. His pulse quickened. Penny hadn’t been at that wedding years ago, and they’d managed to avoid each other the few times he’d been back since their breakup. This was the first time they’d seen each other in nine years.
“Brady arranged most of it, but Maggie had the final say.” Penny was every bit as attractive as he remembered, from her coppery-red hair to her brown eyes to a body with curves in all the right places to her full lips that begged for his kiss. “Come on. I’ll show you the table and give you a quick walk-through of what you missed last night.”
Her fingers threaded through his as she pulled him forward into the crowd. The heat of her worked its way from their entwined fingers to the center of him. Her gold dress seemed like more of a long negligee made of slightly thicker material. His fingers itched to run over her silk-covered flesh.
“The DJ is one of the best in the industry.”
Luke followed her gaze to the DJ table. “Wyatt Graham?” Wyatt had graduated high school a few years after them.
Penny smiled and winked. “The local industry isn’t that diverse. He’ll be playing a mix of modern and oldies. We’ll be required to dance together at the end of the bridal dance and for the next few dances after that.”
As Luke glanced around, he noticed more familiar faces—from the waitstaff to the cooks in the opening to the kitchen. All local people, from either Tawnee Valley or the neighboring city of Owen.
“Brady could have flown the whole town to New York for what this cost.”
“That wasn’t the point.” Penny pulled him behind a large curtain thing that gave the room its illusion of class, and leaned against the old paneled walls of the hall. The scent of musty wood overwhelmed the small space. The lighting barely filtered through the curtain. It even deadened the low roar of the crowd and the soft music playing in the background. Everyone disappeared. It was just the two of them. His imagination went wild with possibilities, but he reined them all in.
He opened his mouth.
Penny put her fingers over his lips. “Just because you are a hotshot doc from the city doesn’t mean that everything should happen in the city. Brady wanted to give the people around here a chance to be part of the wedding. It was important to both of them, so not another word about anywhere else but here.”
The dim light caught and danced devilishly in her brown eyes. Her fingers were warm against his lips. They stood close together. It would take only a second to pull her into his arms and claim a kiss. He let out a breath across her fingers. Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t pull away.
“Now.” She sounded breathless, and his body reacted. “Do I have your promise to behave?”
The wicked glint in her eyes made her request comical.
“Do you want me to behave?” His words caressed her fingers.
He felt the tremor ripple through her. Her lips curled up in an invitation.
The music in the room suddenly changed and Penny’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap, it’s the entrance music.”
She grabbed his hand once again and pulled him out into the open. It had been so easy to forget about the whole wedding reception happening beyond the curtain. He was half tempted to pull her back and forget about the party altogether.
Maggie and Brady walked into the hall and the crowd burst into applause.
“Brady looks happy.” Luke couldn’t contain that little bit of skepticism from his voice. Luke’s memories of Brady were tainted with the death of his parents and the iron rule of his brother. Brady had been one of the reasons he’d finally calmed down enough to graduate high school. Penny had been the other reason.
“He should be.” She leaned against his arm. “She’s happy.”
A wistfulness he could have imagined had entered her voice.
Luke became aware that Penny was still holding his hand while they stood watching the couple work their way through the crowd. “Are you happy?”
She gave him a mischievous smile and squeezed his hand. “I could be happier.”
The suggestion was far from discreet. If it were any other time and any other woman, he might have walked away from her right then. He didn’t play games. His career was his primary focus and it didn’t leave time for anything else.
But tonight was his brother’s wedding in his hometown, and he was standing next to the girl who had rocked his world as a teenager before she ripped his heart out and threw it back in his face. Tomorrow he’d be on a flight to St. Louis to continue his residency and Penny would return to his past, where she belonged.
“I could always tell when you were overthinking something.” Penny’s finger reached up and traced a line between his eyebrows. “You know that’s going to form a wrinkle if you keep doing it, right?”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t think?” Luke tried to read her facial expressions, but Penny had always been careful to mask what she was really feeling. He’d thought he had been behind her wall once, but he knew better now.
“Thinking is highly overrated.” Penny winked at him. “We need to go to the table now. Do you think you can turn off that mega-powered brain of yours for the evening and just enjoy?”
Did she mean that he should enjoy her again? Or was it just wishful thinking on his part? One thing was certain—he wouldn’t make himself a fool for Penny this time. “I’ll try.”
* * *
Penny sat between Maggie and Amber, and Luke sat on the other side of Brady next to Sam at the hour-long gourmet dinner. Penny wanted to continue flirting with Luke during the meal, but it was fun talking with Amber and teasing Maggie. Her wineglass never seemed to empty and she lost track of how much she’d actually had. She felt a bit tipsy but not drunk. With her family history, she tried to be careful with alcohol.
When Maggie, Amber and Brady got up to go visit guests at their tables, Penny scooted over into Maggie’s chair and leaned across Brady’s.
“Having fun yet?” She batted her eyelashes at Luke in mock flirtation.
“I can say the view definitely just got better.” Luke’s gaze rested on her cleavage and her gaping neckline.
She didn’t make any move to cover herself or even to sit up straight. “Do you have your toast ready?”
He patted his jacket. “Color-coded index cards and all.”
“You really know how to get a girl’s motor going.” She purred and moved back to her seat. She straightened the top of her dress and winked at the elderly man sitting at the table in front of the head table. He blushed and turned away.
Penny and the town of Tawnee Valley hadn’t always been on the best terms. As one of the juvenile delinquents most likely to be pregnant at sixteen and most likely to have an arrest record by the age of twenty, she’d surprised them all with the success of her store. But that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy poking at the town’s notions of propriety now and then.
The wedding coordinator, Rebecca, directed Maggie and Brady over to the cake. Rebecca had performed miracles to turn this old men’s club into a ballroom worthy of Maggie. Given it was the woman’s first time coordinating an effort this big, she had done an amazing job. Penny was impressed with the transformation of the hall, and even the chapel had been given an overhaul.
Everyone watched Brady and Maggie cut the cake while the photographer took at least a dozen photos. When they gave each other bites, they were respectful of each other and didn’t goof around as Penny would have.
The couple returned to their seats as the waitstaff brought everyone a piece of cake and poured champagne into their flutes. Down the table, Luke picked up his spoon and clinked it against his glass as he rose to standing.
“I’d like to say a few words.” Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of index cards. He glanced her way slyly as he fanned through the colored cards.
Penny stifled a laugh. She’d thought he’d been joking.
“I could tell you lewd jokes or make fun of my brother for the way he used to run around the farm in his underwear and a cape when he was seven, but I won’t. I could talk about the fights we three used to get into and the trouble we helped each other out of, but I won’t. I could tell you about Brady’s adventures overseas or his high life in New York City, but I won’t.” Luke set the cards on the table and his gaze went over the crowded room.
Penny found herself leaning forward to listen to whatever he was going to say next. When Luke spoke, even back in grade school, he commanded his audience’s attention. He made sure to meet everyone’s eyes in the audience to make them feel included. His even tone and that deep voice kept her mesmerized. His raw emotion and honesty bonded him with the audience.
His gaze briefly met hers before settling on Brady and Maggie.
“Everyone in this room is aware of the struggles our family has had to endure. We didn’t always make the right decisions, but in the end, it looks like Brady found the one thing that matters most. Someone who loves him and wants to share a life with him. A hidden treasure waiting for him to come home.”
Penny could feel a thickening in her throat and blinked to hold the tears back.
“We brothers have lost so much, but Brady has finally found his family. Here’s to many years of shared joy and love. To Maggie and Brady.”
The crowd repeated, “To Maggie and Brady.”
A pause lingered while everyone took a drink. Penny met Luke’s eyes over the rim of her glass. As the crowd applauded the speech, Penny smiled at Luke before standing.
She waited for the noise to die down and then cleared her throat. “I may not be as eloquent as our doctor, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
She turned to Maggie. “When I was a little girl, there was one place I always knew I’d be welcome. Maggie has been my best friend, my confidante, my family for as long as I can remember. She’s always been there for me and I’ve always tried to be there for her.”
Maggie reached out, took Penny’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. They both had the battle scars on their hearts to prove their long-standing friendship.
“If anyone is capable of loving forever, it’s Maggie, and I know I’m not the only one in the room thinking that Brady is the luckiest man alive.” Still holding Maggie’s hand, Penny looked at Brady. “There aren’t many people I would trust with my best friend’s heart, but I trust you to keep it safe and to love her until you are old and gray and need to yell at each other to be heard. I love you both and wish you happiness.”
Clearing her throat, Penny blinked back the tears that had snuck up on her again. She turned to Amber. “Amber made me promise to wish you one more thing.” She held up her glass and gave a grin to the rest of the hall. “To a wonderful family, and may they be blessed with a little brother or sister for Amber.”
The crowd chuckled as they clinked glasses once more. Penny sank into her seat and took a drink. The DJ put on some background music and the low din of conversations grew again. Maggie and Brady were lost in their own little world. Amber had wandered off to the kids’ table to be with her friends.
Suddenly Penny felt isolated. Maggie had always been the person she talked to at these types of things. Not that she needed constant attention. Lord knew she spent more than her fair share of evenings at home with no one to talk to but the dog.
She used to see Maggie everyday. But now... Brady, Maggie and Amber would be leaving to go on their two-week vacation slash honeymoon at Disney World in a few days. It would be only a few weeks, but Maggie had been preoccupied with the wedding and Brady for months now, giving Penny a lot more alone time than usual. Penny was happy for her friend, but it didn’t make her miss Maggie any less.
“I think this empty chair is a better conversationalist than Sam.” Luke sat in Amber’s seat. His smile warmed her down to her toes.
Her heart pounded a little harder. The champagne must be going to her head because all she could do was smile at him.
“The chair has definitely improved since you arrived,” she said. She could spend hours just listening to the sound of his voice. Her whole body flushed with heat and tingled in anticipation of just the slightest touch.
It was crazy. For years, she’d avoided the emotional and clung to the physical. But with Luke, it had been different. Still, that was a long time ago. They were adults now. She was more than happy to bask in the warmth of his smile for the hours they had together.
Chapter Three (#ulink_8670e0ae-bd6f-5ebb-8753-fb6ff731051a)
“Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Ward for their first dance,” the DJ announced.
Luke stood next to the dance floor with his hands in his pockets as the strains of some slow song pounded out of the speaker behind him. This was how Penny and he had started. A school dance. It had been the social hour after a football game. The student DJ was set up in the cafeteria. No fancy lights had lit the floor then. In fact, most of the lights had been turned off, making the small space feel even tighter. He’d been standing on the side with the other football players, and Penny had appeared out of nowhere in a pair of cutoffs that would have gotten her sent home from school and a T-shirt that hugged her young body.
