Fortune Found (16 page)

And what Jessie had said herself was also true—she was more comfortable with him than she'd ever been with anyone other than Pete. But more than comfortable, during these last nights together—working together, talking, joking and teasing, then drawing closer and closer, kissing, touching, making love—none of that had been merely about being comfortable with Flint. There was so much more to what she found with him. What she felt about him. For him.

And now, potentially, that could go on.

She could have Flint. Night
and
day.

Elation came with that thought. But even so, she was very aware that it wasn't for herself alone that she would be making that decision, that there were the kids to consider.

Yes, Flint had basically won over Ella in the end. And Jessie knew that Adam, Braden and Bethany would be thrilled because Adam adored Flint, and even the twins were already more than fond of him. But was making Flint a permanent fixture in their lives best for them?

Flint didn't come from a stable background. His own history wasn't stellar. And she again recalled that he'd
defended his bachelorhood and been clear about his lack of desire to have kids.

None of that added up to the ideal guy to bring into her family.

And yet…

Coop had come from the same background and had had a similar commitment to being a loner, and he'd settled in just fine with Kelsey and Anthony. And more importantly, he loved it. He loved them.

So maybe history could be overcome. Especially when the desire to put it behind was there. And certainly from what Flint had said in the kitchen, he had the desire to move on. To move on to her. To being a father to her kids. He'd even promised Ella that he would always be there for her…

Jessie considered that promise, she weighed whether Flint would make good on it.

But she discovered that she didn't doubt that if he made a promise, he would keep it because he was a man who did what he said he was going to do. He'd proven that with the commitment he'd made to Kelsey and Coop to help with their house, he'd proven it with her in what he'd already done with her sculptures.

And what he'd done with her sculptures also made her think about his unfailing support of her, of her work, his encouragement, his belief in her. It made her think about how he saw her as more than the mother of four. He saw her as herself, too, as a person, as a woman—that had helped her to see herself in those lights again as well, and that was of more value to her than he could ever know.

Everything he'd brought into her life was of value, she realized. His patience, his humor, his easygoing nature,
his strength and willingness to pitch in, to help, to bear some of the burden. But with all he'd brought into her life, with the way he made her feel, with the way she felt about him, came the risk that she could lose it all, too—despite his promise that he wouldn't go anywhere.

That was a promise Pete would have kept if he could have, too.

Okay, yes, there was that lingering fear—that even if she trusted Flint not to leave of his own volition, she could still lose him. Her kids could still lose him.

And if she allowed Flint into her life more than he already was? Into her kids' lives? And then they lost him? Could she—could her kids—go through that again?

It would be devastating. And horrible. And nothing she would ever—
ever
—want any of them to have to go through again.

But she came to the conclusion that the only way to be absolutely certain that she and her kids never suffered a loss as severe as the loss of Pete was to never let anyone get as close as Pete had been. Which would mean saying no to Flint. Closing that door forever.

And suddenly the image of that, of returning to the way things had been in the last two years, wasn't one that Jessie wanted to entertain. Flint had already added so much to her life, and even to the lives of her kids in small ways like the thoughtful gifts he'd given them with each of their personalities and problems in mind. He added an element that not even having her parents live with them had replaced with the loss of Pete. An element that was all his own.

To lose that even now wasn't something she wanted to go through. It wasn't something she wanted her kids to go through.

Life was full of risks, she decided. Was she going to throw away what she had, what she could have, what she wanted, in an attempt to keep those risks to a minimum?

That seemed like a very fearful way to live. And not something she wanted to teach her kids as they went on to live their own lives, make their own decisions. When they faced the need to take risks themselves, she didn't want fear to be what ruled them. So she couldn't let fear be what ruled her now.

Flint finally came through the studio door and closed it behind him. Then he turned the lock and leaned against the wooden panel as if to barricade it.

That was when he laughed and shook his head. “What were we talking about?” he joked as if it hadn't been memorable.

Jessie laughed, too, taking in the sight of him, knowing in that moment that despite the fact that she'd thought she would never be able to love anyone the way she'd loved Pete, she felt every bit as much for Flint. That her feelings for him were stronger than all of her fears put together, stronger even than her feelings of disloyalty had been.

“I believe there was some talk about the future…” she said.

“Oh, yeah, right,” he pretended that his memory had been jogged. “I was about to say that I'm madly in love with you, Jessie, and ask you to be my wife.”

“Simple as that? No fanfare?”

“I was afraid if I didn't get it out as soon as I could we might have more interruptions,” he joked again.

He pushed away from the door and came to stand in front of her, clasping her arms in his big hands,
squeezing as he gazed down into her eyes. Then he abandoned all teasing to repeat in a quiet, solemn tone of voice, “I love you, Jess. More than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone. I want you to be my wife. I want to be your husband. I want to be a father to your kids. Will you marry me?”

“I will,” she answered as if it hadn't taken any thought, any struggle to get her there. “I will because I love you, too, Flint.”

He smiled a poignant, heartfelt smile just before he kissed her, sweetly, chastely.

But there was always too much heat between them for it to stay sweet or chaste, and after a few moments his lips parted, that kiss deepened and daylight or no daylight, what erupted was what had erupted so many times already in that studio.

The most Jessie paid attention to beyond Flint was to make sure the curtains were pulled closed over the windows. When she was reassured that they were, clothes began to come off and hands went on familiar adventures that instantly aroused and fed desires in her that had grown by leaps and bounds since learning what Flint had to teach.

Naked and uninhibited, they ended up on the sofa where it had all begun that other night, mouths hungrily meeting, then fleeing to seek out other parts to delight and tease and awaken to new and old sensations.

Hands trailed paths of divine pleasure, too, until neither of them could contain themselves a moment more. Bodies moved together to form one. Striving for that climax that always blinded them both in pure, exquisite ecstasy. That climax that held them so sublimely that nothing could penetrate it until they were spent and
sated and Jessie knew all over again that being with that man for the rest of her life was exactly what she wanted.

“It's the middle of the afternoon,” she reminded when she could, when she'd caught her breath and was almost too weak to care. “After what Ella told my parents you know that they called Kelsey and told her something was going on. So the whole crew is probably watching this place and just waiting for us to come out. And look what you made me do,” she concluded as if she were blameless.

She was on top, lying with her head on Flint's chest, listening to his heart beat. She tilted her head backward to look up at him. To see the smile she was sure would be on his handsome face.

“Yep,” he agreed. “I'm bad. But you?” He groaned a deep-throated, sexy groan. “You are sooo good it's worth it.”

Jessie laughed. “But your punishment is going to be no nap. If we don't get out of here soon, you can bet someone is going to come knocking. And I don't want to be found like this.”

“We'll just say the honeymoon started a little early.”

“We'll say that to my mother, my father, my sister and my children?”

“Hmm, yeah, I suppose those are not the people to say it to.”

After another moment of reveling in afterglow and just being naked in his arms, Jessie sighed and got up. “We'll also have to look presentable,” she informed him gathering her clothes.

“Then I can sleep for ten minutes while you fuss because all I have to do is pull on my clothes.”

Jessie playfully hit him with one of the throw pillows that had fallen off the couch.

But she spent a minute watching him drift off, loving that sight as much as she loved everything else about him.

Then it occurred to her that from here on she would have that same face to look at whenever she wanted to.

As she headed for the bathroom to make it appear that she hadn't just been made love to, the thought of the years, the life with Flint that stretched out ahead of her filled her with more joy than she'd ever thought to feel again.

Joy she couldn't wait to share with her family.

And with Flint's family.

Which they would be able to do; in a few minutes they could share it with her parents, her sister, her kids, his brother.

Then the day after tomorrow, they could share it with the rest of the Fortune family at William and Lily's wedding.

No, taking those first steps, announcing their intention to spend the rest of their lives together, wasn't quite as wonderful as it would have been to be still lying in Flint's arms at that moment.

But they were steps she wanted to take.

Because taking them would put a formal seal on what she knew in her heart would be a phase as perfect for the second portion of her life as Pete had been for the last.

“T
hank you all for coming early.”

That was how William got the attention of the male members of his family a mere fifteen minutes before his wedding to Lily was to begin.

Flint was standing in the church basement between Ross and Coop. Around them were their cousins—William's sons—Drew, Jeremy, Darr, Nicholas and JR, as well as twenty-year-old Josh, who was the son of Frannie and Roberto Mendoza, making him Ross, Coop and Flint's nephew and William's great-nephew.

Everyone—including underage Josh—had been handed a glass of champagne as they'd come into the church basement.

“I have something to say and I have three toasts to make,” William continued. “First of all, Drew—” William focused his attention on that particular son “—I
want you to know that I'm now ready to pass the reins of Fortune Forecasting on to you. With my memory as good as new, I can tell you that my only intention in delaying my retirement before was to make sure that work was not the only thing you ended up having in life. But now that you and Deanna have found each other just the way I was hoping—and trying to make sure—you would—”

Everyone laughed along with William and raised their glasses in agreement with that sentiment.

“Now that you and Deanna have found each other and tied the knot, I know that you will have what I wanted you to have, and that I can step down and enjoy the years I have left focusing only on Lily, knowing the business will be in the best hands it could be in.”

Congratulations were extended by everyone—to Drew for becoming the CEO of Fortune Forecasting, and to William for his retirement.

But as Flint glanced at his cousin he thought that Drew was taking in stride having finally achieved what had once upon a time been the only thing he'd strived for.

Now he has Deanna and she's more important…

That was what flashed through Flint's mind, but it was what he believed—that his cousin had discovered that Deanna meant more to him than any job or any promotion.

“I want to toast my cousin Ryan,” William held his glass high and glanced upward, above everyone's heads. “I miss you. Lily misses you. But we both hope you're here with us today in spirit, giving us your blessing. And I want you to know that I will take good care of
our Lily, knowing full well that she always has a place in her heart for you.”

“To Ryan,” everyone echoed.

William lowered his glass and his glance to his sons, his nephews, his great-nephew, and Flint felt a swell of pride to be included in this.

“And last but not least, I toast you all—the Fortune men. The Fortune family.
My
family. I'm proud of each and every one of you. I'm grateful for each and every one of you. And I wish each and every one of you the same happiness that I've found with Lily, who today I will—a little late—get to make my wife. To you all—health, happiness, love!”

All glasses were raised, clinked with any that were nearby, and then the champagne was sipped a third time.

“And to you, Dad,” JR said then. “To you and Lily, to getting your memory back, to many, many years to come.”

“Hear, hear!” Darr seconded and then that toast, too, was supported all around before the champagne was polished off.

Then, setting his glass down with some ceremony, William raised instead a brilliant smile and said, “Now, let me go get married!”

 

Jessie had no idea what the first, unsuccessful wedding of Lily and William Fortune might have been like, but as she sat beside Flint and her children in the church, she couldn't imagine that it would have been any more beautiful, any more heartfelt, any more touching than the ceremony that joined them Saturday evening.

But once the groom had kissed his bride and Jessie
expected them to leave the altar, they instead turned to face their guests, both of them smiling as William said, “We have a surprise. For those of you who might not know one or the other of these people, let me introduce them as they come up here—my son Jeremy and his fiancée, Kirsten Allen. And my nephew Cooper Fortune and Kelsey Hunt…”

Confused, Jessie glanced at Flint for clarification, but he looked as puzzled as she was and merely shrugged.

When both couples had stepped onto the altar with William and Lily, William said, “We've seen the marriages of two other couples in the last few months—my son Drew and the former Deanna Gurney, and Rafe Mendoza and Melina Lawrence—and now these other two couples have asked to do Lily and I the honor of sharing this special day with us by making it their wedding day, too.”

A ripple of shock ran through the church and William waited for it to settle again. Then he said, “Don't worry, this has been in the works since shortly after Lily and I set this new date, so marriage licenses have been granted, the waiting period has been met and it's all legal. And now if you'll sit tight, Lily and I are going to get to be witness to these wonderful joinings…”

So, with Flint holding her hand, Jessie watched as her sister married his brother, as the other couple had their own moments, and then there were two more pronouncements of man and wife.

With that, protocol went out the window. Close family members of all three couples rushed to hug them, to shake their hands, to congratulate and chastise them for keeping secrets before wishing them all the best.

Then everyone filed into the church basement for the reception that celebrated not one wedding but three.

During the course of the reception several people stopped the dance music to offer best wishes, so Jessie wasn't surprised when Flint did that as well, when he disappeared from her side for the first time and reappeared to stand at the microphone.

As had happened with the other interruptions, everyone paused their dance or their conversations and turned to face him, including Jessie, who was standing near the table her family had occupied for dinner, where the kids and her parents were eating cake.

Flint first offered some teasing of the newly married couples, some joking about mass marriages, then added his congratulations to the lot. “And I'd also like to congratulate our delegate from the Atlanta branch of the Fortune family—Wendy—and her fiancé, Marcos Mendoza. Wendy came to Red Rock looking for a career and found Marcos instead, and they just told us that they're expecting a baby!”

Hoots and hollers accompanied applause and more calls of congratulations along with a few jibes about getting as much sleep as they could in the months to come.

And then, when that wave of elation died down, Flint said, “Last but certainly not least, I also have an announcement of my own to make.”

Flint's eyes met Jessie's and he smiled warmly at her for a long moment before he switched his gaze to the crowd of onlookers.

“Although it seems impossible that anyone would have me,” he said, making everyone laugh, “the abundantly generous and undeniably gorgeous Jessie Hunt-Myers
and her very, very fine children—Ella…” He tossed the seven-year-old a wink and when Jessie glanced at her daughter sitting closest to where she was standing she discovered that Ella was blushing but smiling in delight. “Bethany, Braden and Adam, have agreed to marry me, too.”

“Mama, he says he's marrying us all…” Ella whispered to Jessie amidst yet another round of clapping, cheering, congratulations and jests.

“Well, I guess he is,” Jessie said to her daughter, seeing that that fact pleased Ella.

“We haven't decided exactly where or when yet,” Flint continued, “but it'll be soon. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned,” he said more to Jessie than to the group. “But whenever and wherever it happens, you're all invited to the wedding!”

Then he stepped from behind the microphone and came directly to Jessie to take her into his arms and kiss her while applause surrounded them.

The music and dancing resumed, and when their kiss ended Flint gazed into her eyes and said for her ears only, “I do love you, Jess. There aren't enough words for how much.”

“I love you, too,” she told him, her heart swollen with feelings for him.

“But I promised Ella this dance,” he confided.

“Go ahead,” she said, thrilled that her eldest daughter was now welcoming him.

As Jessie watched the man she truly did love with all her heart take her seven-year-old onto the dance floor she knew that not only had she and her kids found a new lease on happiness, but so had the rest of the Fortune family.

And suddenly her gaze caught on the framed photograph of Ryan Fortune that was displayed near the wedding cake as a way to include William's late cousin, Lily's late husband in the festivities. Much as she sometimes thought she could sense Pete's presence, she had the strongest feeling at that moment that it was Ryan Fortune who was there this time, looking down over it all.

Over his dearly loved widow, Lily, who was now in the arms of her new husband, William.

Over his nieces and nephews and friends who had all somehow found paths to people who seemed exactly right for them.

Over baby Anthony who had made his way into the Fortune family through no easy road, but who offered an entirely new generation of Fortunes to continue the name, the legacy.

And without any explanation for it, Jessie had the sense that the late Ryan Fortune could finally move on.

And maybe, just maybe the breath of the breeze that brushed through the room just then, as Jessie answered Flint's motion for her to join him and Ella on the dance floor, was one last kiss that Ryan blew to Lily.

To the Fortunes one and all.

Before he said goodbye.