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“He spent the whole way giving me advice. We don’t have big concrete tube things in L.A. At least not one I’ve met on the road.” She stopped to take a breath, clearly nervous, too. “I was afraid we’d be late for the wedding. I bought a gift, but it’s in the car. I didn’t want to bring it in for the service.”
“I told you it wouldn’t matter,” Jerrod added in a friendly way. He looked like a good kid.
“I know, but I was worried about all the crackling. You know, the wrapping paper? Luke knows because I told him that I tend to be a klutz.”
“I think you exaggerate.” After seeing her grace and charm, he didn’t believe for one moment her funny stories she’d typed at him were true. “You’ve been misleading me all this time, haven’t you?”
“Me, mislead you? No way. I’ve been totally honest.” She hesitated, bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes heavenward, perhaps aware God was watching her especially close in church. “Uh, I’ve been mostly really honest,” she corrected.
Making them all laugh. Making him like her more.
“I’m Colbie,” his sister spoke up, apparently eager to start the introductions.
Sure, he thought, nodding. Easy to read the hope on his sister’s faces. He stepped up, finishing the introductions. “Meet the twins, Brianna and Brandilyn.”
“Hi,” Bree and Brandi chorused identically.
“My brother, Hunter. And Brooke, the bride.”
“Good to meet you, Honor.” Brooke was the only one in the group who knew about his correspondence with Honor and, he suspected, understood his feelings about her. Brooke gave a toss of her dark hair, smiled and grabbed the arm of the man beside her. “This is Liam, who is about to become my husband in thirty minutes.”
“And you’re not even dressed yet.” Honor looked concerned. “Do you need help? I come with experience. I’ve pitched in at all my sisters’ weddings.”
“I’ll take you up on that.” Brooke nodded, looking as if she liked Honor very much.
In fact, all his family did. Not hard to figure why. They had hopes for him—marital hopes—except for Hunter who stood in the back, practicing his scowl.
“You’d best come with us, dear.” Lil reached out her hand.
“I saved the best for last.” Luke cleared his throat. “Lil is a gem.”
“So I see. So good to meet you.” Honor took Lil’s hand with a warm squeeze as she addressed the woman in the wheelchair. “Luke has told me about you all, but especially you, Lil. It’s easy to see why he has such a soft spot for you.”
Lil beamed at the compliment. “He’s the special one. Luke is always there when we need him.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all.” She shot a glance at the tall, sandy-haired man blushing a little from the compliment.
“She exaggerates,” he confessed.
“So I see.” Now she had something else to like about Luke. He was humble. Wouldn’t that be a change for the better? She thought of her dad—always extolling his superiority in the boardroom, on the golf course or at the dinner table. Her brother was a chip off the old block. And Kip? She winced at the memory of her rocky year dating a man who turned out to be exactly like her father.
“Oh, there’s the music lady,” one of the twins called out. Standing side by side, they were identical from their sleek blond hair, heart-shaped faces all the way to their black heels. They wore different dresses—one blue and the other lilac—but the style was the same.
“I’ll go help!” The twin in lilac broke away, tapping down the aisle toward a woman hefting a cello case.
“Well, kids.” Lil clapped her hands. “Time to get this show on the road. Hunter, you have your checklist?”
“I’ll get busy.” The darker, burlier version of Luke gave a grim nod, pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and left.
“Luke? You’ll make sure the musicians are set up?” Lil gave her chair a turn. “The rest of you, come with me.”
“Jerrod, why don’t you…?”
“Sit here and finish reading A Farewell to Arms?” he finished, crooking one eyebrow.
She laughed. “You are a funny kid. I was going to say why don’t you go sit outside?”
“Really?”
“As long as you stay close, I don’t see why not. Keep within sight of the front door.”
“Cool.” He reached in his pocket and hauled out his iPod.
“I can keep an eye on him.” Luke’s voice rumbled near her ear. “I’ll be seating guests.”
“I’d appreciate that. I was hoping there would be kids his age here.”
“Bree’s fiancé, Mac, has a teenage brother. Probably a few years older, but Marcus is a good kid. They might get along just fine.”
“Good. I like your family, Luke.”
“They’re all right. I’ll keep ’em.” A faint blush crept across his high cheekbones. “Although I am sorry. They took a lot of interest in you. I’m afraid they think—”
“—that you and I are an item?”
“Yep. And when they get you alone, they might, uh—”
“—try to sell me on you for my boyfriend?”
He nodded, relieved that she understood.
“Don’t worry. I’m from a big family, too. I totally get it.” She tried to ignore the pinch of pain she felt every time she thought of her family.
“You haven’t written about your family much.” His tone dipped pleasantly. “At least you haven’t shared them with me.”
“Guilty.” Another painful pinch. “Let’s just say my parents aren’t happy with me. I feel the same toward them.”
“Ah, I’ve been there.” The pinch of sadness creasing his face spoke the truth, but she couldn’t picture it.
“I don’t believe it. Your family is great.”
“I’m talking about my folks. Mom—” He hesitated, as if needing strength to talk about it. “Let’s just say we don’t know if she’s going to show up today for Brooke’s wedding. She wanted Brooke to come to Miles City to get married. And then there’s Dad—”
He fell silent and shook his head. A muscle jumped along his jaw. “Dad got out of federal prison not too long ago. He’s made bad choices in his life, and one of them is how he treats people. We’re praying he doesn’t show up today.”
“Nothing can hurt like family.” She reached out to squeeze his hand, meaning to let him know he wasn’t alone, she knew exactly how that felt, but a snap of awareness jolted through her at the first brush of her skin to his. His strong fingers curled around hers, holding on, and the snap deepened. It became an emotional hook that dug into her heart.
Really weird, she thought. What was happening? Before she could analyze it, Luke released her hand, unhooked her heart and the snap of awareness faded.
“You say that like you know.” Luke hiked up his shoulders like a man determined to handle a tough situation. “I thought you were good with your family.”
“No family is perfect, although mine tries to be.” She glanced down the aisle to where sunshine gleamed on the wood floor. On the other side of the open double doors, Jerrod sat hunched over his player, sitting on the front step as promised. Did she really want to talk about her past? “I don’t miss that, but I miss them.”
“I always wondered if there was more to your story than you were telling me. You didn’t come to Montana to work just because Mrs. Lambert is your mother’s friend, right? There’s another reason.”
Too personal, she wanted to tell him. She’d been careful during their correspondence to keep things safe. That’s how she wanted life these days—safe, predictable and level. But one look at the caring on his perfectly chiseled face, and she knew why he had been so easy to chat with online and why she looked forward to his emails. Luke McKaslin was a caring man. She’d been with him in person for less than ten minutes and it shone through as clear as daylight.
She felt comfortable enough with him to admit the truth. “We had a disagreement over whether or not I should give my boyfriend back his engagement ring.”
“Your b-boyfriend?” He stumbled over the word. “Now that’s something I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I simply didn’t want to talk about it.” She gave a little shrug. “Too painful. Besides, he’s my ex-boyfriend now, which is the reason my family is disappointed in me.”
“And that’s why you left California?”
“Mrs. Lambert was looking for a tutor, she was moving to their summer home and I thought, perfect timing. Why not?” She’d been substituting and the offer had been the chance for a steady paycheck. “God seemed to be nudging me along, so I packed up and came.”
“I’m glad you did, otherwise we never would have met.”
“Ditto.” She liked his smile, she decided. It was his most impressive feature, and there were many of those to choose from. “I can’t say that I’m glad I’m stuck in Montana, but something good has come out of this.”
“Maybe after you have fun with us and get in your social time, you’ll change your mind about Montana?” He arched one eyebrow in a challenge.
“It’s going to take more than that. I’m not sure it can be done,” she quipped, taking a step backward, moving away from him. “But I’m liking the chance to actually make new friends.”
“Good. I’m going to change your mind.”
“Is that a warning or a threat?”
“Depends on which one will work.”
“Neither.” She tipped back her head and laughed. “I’m not going to change my mind. I’m a California girl. I miss the beach. There’s no beach in Montana. No ocean.”
“True, but we’ve got riverbanks.”
“So not the same.”
They laughed together. He liked Honor as much in real life as he had online. His throat tightened, making it hard to swallow as he watched her walk away. A swirl of her blue dress’s hem, a clip of her fancy shoes and a flip of her sleek honey hair and he was hooked just a little bit more.
It’s never going to happen, he told himself. Did that stop him from liking her more?
Not a chance.
“Honor, there you are!” Brooke popped her head out of the inner door. “Don’t think I’m going to let you out of your offer.”
“Good, because I was beginning to worry you were starting without me.”
“Not a chance.” Brooke shone with happiness. She’d had some tough times, but God had turned those hardships around. He’d brought Liam into her life, and for that Luke would always be grateful. Brooke deserved true love and a happily-ever-after.
“Luke? What are you doing standing there?” Brooke flashed her smile his way. “Guests are arriving!”
“Wow, I guess so.” He glanced over his shoulder at the familiar faces of his cousins coming up the steps. A photographer waved at him from the back, setting up. He had things to do, but he stole one moment longer to take in the sight of Honor Crosby as she hurried up to Brooke. The two women talked low, their voices a ring of merriment. Honor’s gentle alto stood out above the other sounds in the church. His heart gave a little lurch.
She slipped through the doorway and out of his sight. He raked a hand through his hair, wishing he didn’t feel anything at all for her. Just wishing he was in control of his emotions.
“Hey, Luke.” Cousin Spence McKaslin ambled up and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re glad this day has come for Brooke. No one deserves happiness more.”
“That’s the general consensus. Glad you could make it. Hi, Lucy,” he greeted Spence’s blond-haired, sunny wife. “It’s good to see you again.”
“We wouldn’t miss this wedding for the world. I didn’t see a table set up for gifts anywhere.” She held up a beautifully wrapped box. “Where can I put this?”
“That was on my to-do list. Sorry.” He dug in his pocket for the paper Lil had written out for him. Best get to it. “I’ll take that for you.”
“I’ll seat them.” Mac, Bree’s fiancé, ambled up in his suit and tie. “Spence, I was just in your bookstore the other day…”
As the trio headed up the aisle, Luke’s thoughts turned to Honor. How was she faring being stuck in a room with his sisters? And what exactly were they talking about?
He thought of Lil, dear Lil, and hoped his name didn’t come up because he knew what the subject would be.
Chapter Three
“Poor Luke. He has been single for so long.” Lil held out the gossamer bridal veil. “Ever since Sonya.”
“Sonya.” Brooke shook her head, obviously disapproving of this former girlfriend. “She led him on and then let him down.”
“That’s too bad,” Honor said sympathetically, trying not to sound too interested. It would only prolong the discussion, the one that would extol all of Luke’s virtues as a possible future boyfriend.
A boyfriend she didn’t want. No way, no sir. She was a happily single woman these days and that’s the way it was going to stay. She grabbed the comb off the built-in dresser.
“He’s the sweetest guy.” Brooke ducked, awaiting her veil.
“The sweetest,” Cousin Katherine agreed as she took the veil carefully from Lil.
Brooke nodded. “I never thought he would get over what that woman did to him.”
“Neither did I,” Colbie agreed.
“Us, too,” the twins chimed in.
What did that woman do? Honor wanted to ask, but she was afraid to. The women surrounding her might see it as a sign of interest. Romantic interest. She doubted they understood the friend thing she and Luke had going on. Maybe a change of subject was in order.
“Aren’t you nervous, Brooke?” she said the first thing that popped into her head. “Do you have cold feet? A jittery stomach?”
“No, not a bit. Everything is calm and my feet are warm.” Brooke stopped to check her reflection in the mirror. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life, and stop trying to change the subject.”
“Hey, a girl’s gotta try.” She held up her hands in a what-can-I-do gesture. “You look stunning.”
“It’s the dress. Colbie and Lil made it for me.” Brooke brushed at the delicate satin of the princess-cut gown, which showed off her willowy figure adorably. “I never thought I would be the one to marry before you, Bree.”
