Divine Grace (53 page)

* * * *

Ethan had smoked a ham and a brisket, and her men had assured Grace that everyone else was bringing food. If she wanted to make tea, and maybe a dessert, that was all she was to do since she was the bride-to-be. The night before, she’d baked three homemade peach cobblers. The men had already dipped into one. She knew they would, which was why she made extra.

They’d all enjoyed it with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream after supper the night before. After tasting her cobbler, they told her she would be an instant sensation in the family. She made it the old-fashioned way, from scratch, with rolled-out pie dough, not store-bought.

Kathleen and Paul Grant were the first to arrive, with Ethan’s sister, Erin, who was in her early twenties. Now Grace could see where Ethan got his blue eyes and handsome good looks. He was the image of his father.

Erin was a peach, but feisty as well, giving Ethan a hard time about getting shot. She was a medical school student at UT and had to see his wound.

Grace remembered Ethan’s parents vaguely from the funeral. She’d stayed so close to Jack the whole time that the opportunity had never presented itself to meet them. They warmly welcomed her to the family, and Kathleen offered to help in any way Grace might need with the wedding.

Grace told her once the plans were set she would contact her.

Sue and Richard Davis, Adam’s parents, arrived next with Sue’s mother, Rose, who was in her early nineties. Surprisingly, Sue was a tiny little thing with dark brown hair and sweet brown eyes. Adam inherited his

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build and height from his dad as well. Richard was broad at the shoulders and had the same green eyes that made Grace catch her breath when she looked into Adam’s, only Richard’s had more smile lines around them.

Looking at Richard and Paul was a little like looking at Ethan and Adam in another twenty or thirty years. The thought of looking into their eyes for that many years or more made her heart throb with joy.

Sue’s mother, Rose, was a tiny little thing, also. White-haired and wizened with age, she was still well in control of her faculties, although her eyesight wasn’t very good. She sat in one of the straight-backed chairs in the dining room and did her best to follow all the conversations. They got her telling stories on the men, both fathers and sons. That was the best part for Grace, besides sitting with Joe, Jack’s dad, and holding his hand for a little while. He still had a bandage on one arm and wore a smaller band-aid on his forehead from his fall.

“So we’re standing around Barney’s grave,” Jack said as he told his story. “The three of us are fighting tears because we’re gonna miss Barney the beagle. Adam steps up to the grave to say a few words, and he starts crying.” Jack tried to keep from crying he was laughing so hard. “And Rose starts
beating on us
all of a sudden, just went to town thrashing on us.

Wham! Wham! Wham!”

“Adam is crying and hollering, ‘Grandma why are ya beating on us?’

Then Mama started beating on me, and Kathleen started whaling on Ethan.

We’re all crying, thinking this is what happens at funerals, and suddenly Rose starts laughing, hollering. ‘
Ticks
! You’re all covered in ticks!’ We came running out of those woods laughing, crying, and carrying on. The mamas stripped us down in the yard and picked them all off. Meanwhile, they had ticks climbing all over them as well.”

“I’ll tell you those little boys could
wail
,” Rose said, laughing along with everyone else. “You’d have thought the world was coming to an end.

In retrospect, I suppose they might have thought that’s what happened at funerals.”

Everyone was gathered in the living room, listening as Rose told another story when her men got up and went into the office. All eyes, including Grace’s, turned to them when they returned a few minutes later, looking conspiratorial and a little nervous.

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They came to stand in front of her chair. She opened her eyes wide in surprise when they knelt in front of her on their knees. She knew this was coming at some point, just hadn’t been sure when. Her eyes welled up, and she blushed, her shaking hands clasped in her lap to hide their shaking. She heard women gasp and a few sobs break forth but was only partially aware of them or the camera flashes. All she really saw were ocean blue eyes and pale green eyes and sparkling blue eyes, all reflecting love for her. Jack was in the center, holding a velvet box. Nervously, she looked down at it and back up at them.

“We already proposed, Grace, but we wanted to do it again. We wanted to do it right this time, with the ring.” He opened the box as Adam and Ethan reached out to touch her arm or her leg.

“Will you marry me, darlin’?” Jack took her hand and kissed it.

.“With all my heart, Jack. Yes.”

“Will you marry me, Gracie?” Ethan kissed her palm.

“Yes, Ethan, I’d love to marry you.”

“Will you marry me, baby?” Adam kissed her fingertips.

“Yes, Adam, I want to marry you. All of you. I would love to be your wife.”

Rose clapped her hands and laughed out loud. “Wonderful!” Her eyes seemed far away, maybe remembering the day her husbands had proposed to her.

Jack removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger as they all three gently held her hand. She looked down at it. It was platinum and gold with three strands braided together, intertwining like vines, with three square, bright white diamonds of equal sizes set side by side in a row. It was perfect, representing each of the three men who loved her, whose hearts were bound to hers.

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“It’s beautiful! I love it, I love you!” She sobbed and wrapped her arms around all of them, crying, laughing, and kissing them. Everyone else laughed and clapped and cried. The women all hugged Grace, and the men all patted Jack, Ethan, and Adam on their backs.

Erin said, “That is the most romantic thing I have ever seen!”

“Meh,” Rose said, grinning, waving her hand nonchalantly. “They did okay. Sweet and simple is good.”

Everyone laughed and convinced her to tell how she got engaged in 1936 to Harrison and Jefferson McCloud, her husbands.

She had always wanted to go to Italy, and both Harrison and Jefferson knew this. They wrote her a letter telling her how much they loved her and had an Italian friend translate it for them, then mailed it to her. She ran all over town trying to find an Italian dictionary so she would know what it said.

“Do you remember how it went, Mom?” Sue asked her.

“Of course. I’ll never ever forget the moment I finally knew what it said. The Italian version was,
Vi vogliamo bene Tesoro. Vuoi sposarmi noi?

Which in English means, ‘We love you, sweetheart. Will you marry us?’”

She clutched her little hands to her bosom and said, “What could I say? I was so smitten with those two, and they’d gone to such trouble.”

“What did you do?” Grace asked. Everyone laughed because they’d heard the story before.

“I had to purchase that Italian to English dictionary, so I put it to good use. I wrote my response out, translated it, and had it delivered back to them. I wrote,
Ti amo tanto tanto, come potrei dire di no? Si! Lo ti sposero!

Which means, ‘I love you both so much, how could I possibly say no? Yes, I will marry you!’”

Erin talked Grace into telling the original proposal story from the Friday before, which was met with glowing approval from all the women, including Grandma Rose.

It was late when the evening was over. The women all left their phone numbers with Grace, and she promised to call once they had a plan and a date.

The women had all pitched in and cleaned up the kitchen and put everything away, so there was nothing to do when everyone was gone but go to bed. Grace went to her bathroom and removed her clothing and turned
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on the shower. She slipped off the ring and almost put it back in the box but remembered they had told her they were having it inscribed for her. Flipping on the overhead light, she looked inside her ring just as Jack, Adam and Ethan stopped in the doorway.

“Ah, we caught her just in time. We wanted to be here when you read the inscription. Read it out loud,” Ethan said, watching eagerly.

Darlin’ * Gracie * Baby * CD

“What does the CD stand for? Oh! Carpe diem. With all my names you call me by. How sweet. I love it. Y’all, I could not ask for more wonderful, thoughtful fiancés. You are so sweet. I’m overwhelmed by your love, by the acceptance of your family. I love you.”

Jack lightly tapped the ring. “There is another narrow platinum band that goes with this. You’ll wear the engagement ring for now, if it fits properly, and the day before the wedding, Clay will solder the wedding band to the engagement ring. We’re having it engraved also.”

“With what?” she asked, curious.

“We haven’t decided for sure yet, but we were thinking something scriptural. Do you have any favorite scriptures?”

“I have lots of favorite scriptures, but I’d rather it be something significant to y’all. That would mean more to me. I’m tired. Y’all want to take a shower with me? I may need someone to hold me up, I’m so sleepy.”

She yawned through the last part. “And I want you all to sleep with me tonight. I miss not cuddling up with you.” She pouted just a tiny little bit.

“Of course we’ll sleep with you, darlin’. We’re just trying to give you a break. We don’t want you to wear yourself out trying to make us happy.”

“I’ll be good and just sleep tonight, okay?”

They showered together, then tucked her in as she yawned sleepily, snuggling all around her. She appreciated the care that they had for her, even though she wouldn’t have minded if they’d wanted to make love. She drifted off to sleep, smiling in the dark as Adam sweetly stroked her hip.

* * * *

“Here you go, Gracie.” Ethan said, handing Grace the scissors.

“Hips and Curves?” She asked as she looked at the mailing label before she cut the tape open on both ends of the mysterious package that awaited

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her on the breakfast bar when she got home on Monday afternoon. She squealed when she saw a number of colorful packages inside the box.
Satin!

Jack was broiling fish in the oven while Adam finished up some paperwork and phone calls at the counter top. Excited, she began opening packages. Starting with the pink packages, she discovered a robe, a lace nightgown, and a naughty pink drawstring nightie. She loved the color and thanked Jack sweetly with kisses when she found out he ordered the pink items, promising to model them for him soon.

Then she opened the champagne-colored packages and found a satin kimono-style robe and matching teddy. Discovering those were Adam’s selections, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her off her feet for a kiss, thanking him. He told her he wanted her to have something that was sexy but also comfortable for her. She could wear it just to nap in if she wanted. She loved his tender heart so much and told him so. He kissed her again and set her down very gently.

She opened the black packages. Ethan’s gift was a snug, soft, black, long-sleeved, low-cut T-shirt. It was versatile if she wore jeans with it but earthy and sexy if she wore it with just the black high-cut satin panties and demi bra that came with it. She knew the bra would barely contain her nipples when she tried it on. Even if she wore it with jeans, they’d all be thinking about what was underneath. She kissed him and thanked him, laying her head on his shoulder for a second.

She noted the symmetry in the gifts and their givers. Jack bought her something playful, sweet, and sassy in pink. Adam bought her something soft and luxuriant and sexy in an almost gold color. Ethan’s gift was something edgy in black. Every item was damn sexy in its own way but reflected the personality of the giver.

“I love all of it! I hope you didn’t spend a fortune. All the fabrics feel so rich and expensive.”

Adam spoke up, “We were waiting to see if the quality was good before telling you about the website. We wanted to be sure it was up to our standards. June recommended Hips and Curves to me, saying we’d like what we found there. I think we do. I can’t wait to see you model everything.”

“They have an incredible selection of bridal lingerie.” Ethan grinned as she reacted to his words.

“Really? Show me!” she said enthusiastically.

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He grinned, opened the computer, and got online. Pulling up the website, he placed the computer in front of her at the bar.

“Well, my goodness, she’s
hot
, isn’t she?” Grace pointed at the lovely plus-size brunette on the home page, dressed in a black satin corset and transparent black lace short petticoat. She had a playful little grin on her face as she held her manicured finger to her lips like she was shushing the viewer to secrecy. Very playful and sexy.

“Yeah,” Ethan said, “everything on this website is modeled by plus-size models, so you can see what the items will look like on. She’s my favorite model.”

Pressing her lips together to suppress her smile, Grace placed her hand on her hip, cocked it, and pivoted to face Ethan, one eyebrow arched. She clearly heard Adam snort in amusement as he sat at the countertop, watching Ethan trying to get traction as he backpedaled.

Ethan held up his hands and took a step backward. “Totally not getting off on the lingerie model, okay? I’m just saying it’s easy to imagine you in the things she models. She’s built a lot like you, only you’re hotter.”

She dropped the disgruntled look, unable to maintain it as he groveled adoringly. “Aw, you think I’m hotter than her? Damn, I love you!” she squealed, kissing him on the cheek, because Grace thought the model with her long black hair, soft feminine curves and generous derriere was flat-out gorgeous.

Jack and Adam came to see which model he was talking about and agreed. “Yep, tiny waist, luscious curvy hips,” Jack said, sliding his hands to said area before sliding up and cupping her breasts gently in both hands.

“But your breasts are fuller, and your skin is—
mmm
.”

The model was olive skinned, and Grace’s skin was more ivory toned, which was evidently more to Jack’s liking since he was currently licking and nibbling on her ear-lobe.

Jack released her and returned to the kitchen to remove the fish from the oven. “They have a lot to choose from. But they have a whole section that is nothing but lingerie for the bride. You should definitely order from them.”

“I can picture that white satin corset and G-string with those white lace stockings and garters any day of the week, not just on our wedding night,”

Adam murmured.

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She stopped and sighed softly. “I live in heaven. You men are so wonderful, so precious to me.” Adam stood behind her barstool and wrapped his big, muscled arms around her, gently squeezed her, and kissed the top of her head.

In keeping with her plan, Adam and Ethan promised to help her pick out whatever she wanted for the wedding, which included foundation garments as well as nightgowns and other naughty things. She laughed and giggled at them when Ethan emphasized the word
naughty
and pointed to a pair of crotchless panties displayed in the bridal section of the website.

After they finished eating supper and cleaning the kitchen, Grace got her legal pad and lists, and the four of them sat down to make a plan. She had already decided to sell the house rather than have the headache of tenants to deal with. They agreed on a day to move everything she wanted to keep to the ranch. She planned to donate the rest of the unusable items to the Goodwill Store and Salvation Army and local food banks. Whatever antiques she brought with her they would make room for in the house.

They agreed on a small church wedding, followed immediately by a private binding ceremony and a reception at a Victorian-era mansion that was available for such occasions in Divine. The atmosphere of the place was so much warmer and cozier than a reception hall. Her men surprised her by hiring a consultant to handle all the details for the wedding ceremony and reception. All she needed to worry about was finding the dress and necessary items she’d be wearing or had a need for.

They set a date for the end of July, a little more than six weeks away.

Jack said they were also planning to have the renovations completed on the master suite by then, if all went according to their plans and the furniture was finished and the mattress ready on time. She was flexible on that timeline because she knew things seldom went exactly according to plan with such endeavors.

“It’s not something we’ve talked about yet,” Jack said, “but we can have the smaller bedroom upstairs fixed up and painted as a nursery, if that’s something you would like us to do, Grace. Or if you’d rather, we can fix it up for an office or study for you.”

“Do y’all want to have kids?” she asked Jack and Ethan. She already knew how Adam felt and winked at him across the table. He winked back.

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“Because I can imagine a whole passel of kids running around here, wreaking havoc.”

“You have no idea how much we’d love to have babies with you, Grace.” Jack smiled hugely. “But I want you to remember something. You are our main priority and will continue to be, no matter what. If you have four or five or only one baby, it’s fine with us, just so you’re healthy and happy doing it. Lord,
yes
, I’d love to make a baby with you.”

“Exactly how many is a passel?” Ethan asked quizzically.

“Just a whole bunch.” She laughed. “I think I’d probably like to play for a year or two, though, before we settle down to having babies.”

“Playing sounds fine with us,” Adam replied enthusiastically.

She showed them the list of things she would need to purchase, and even though Ethan and Adam would be with her when she made most of these purchases, they gave her a debit card with her name on it. The card was for a new account in her name at their bank. Weekly electronic funds transfers would move money from their bank accounts and deposit it in hers.

They set a very generous budget, excessive, in fact, for the purchase of the things she would want and told her the reception was already handled. With the reservations and arrangements made, all they had to do was make a list of who needed to be invited. Ethan began to compile one as they talked about whom they wanted there.

They surprised Grace by asking her to pose for a formal bridal portrait, which they could hang in the living room. That had been Charity’s suggestion to them, and they liked the idea. What they didn’t know was that Charity had also talked to Grace about doing tasteful boudoir portraits for her men’s bedrooms. Something just a little sexy, maybe in lingerie that she knew the men liked. Grace now planned to use the items from Hips and Curves.

Grace and Charity’s first stop Friday would be with a girlfriend of Charity’s, a portrait photographer, who would be doing all four portraits and the wedding photography as well. The photographer would work her magic with Grace and have the portraits framed and ready to give to her men as wedding gifts.