Granddad's House (On Geneva Shores) (33 page)

Beau followed him. “Olivia’s convinced you don’t like her.”

“Where’d she get that idea? Besides, what does it matter? She isn’t marrying me.”

“She didn’t have any wine tonight. Can you guess why?”

Paul shook his head.

“She isn’t a big wine drinker. Half a glass is her limit, but she knew you were on meds and that you couldn’t have any alcohol. She didn’t want you to be the only one sticking to water, so she chose not to have any. That’s the kind of person she is.”

Paul shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I’ll tell her that next time I see her.”

“That would be tomorrow. Be nice to her. She’s going to be your sister-in-law—and she deserves more from you than a silent scowl.”

The next day, Olivia met Beau at the door in a black dress that set off her auburn curls, the silver necklace around her neck that he’d given her for her birthday. She kissed him and squeezed his hand. “Katie and Ted and I have been having so much fun. She told me all about what you were like as a child.”

Beau rolled his eyes. “I’ll get her for that.”

“How is he? Better?” She watched as Paul began to maneuver slowly up the steps. “Don’t you think you should help him?”

“Not a chance.” Beau shook his head. “He’s a stubborn Marine. Insists on doing it his way—even if it kills him. He said not to wait for him.” He tamped down his frustration at his brother in the warmth of Olivia’s smile. “But I think he likes my shower. Maybe he’ll take over the payments on my condo if I can get him to move here.”

Olivia glanced at Paul as he entered the town house and took a seat slightly away from the others, breathing hard, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. He gave her a quick smile when she looked in his direction.

“Welcome, Paul. I’m so glad you decided to come.” She eased a footstool closer to his chair. “In case you want to rest your leg.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” He looked around at the people seated nearby and eased back into his seat after lifting his foot onto the footstool.

Ten minutes before Olivia planned to serve the smoked salmon, Sally burst through the front door in a bright red dress. A matching ribbon held her nearly waist-long tresses off her face. She tossed her coat to Beau when he greeted her and kissed her cheek.

She entered the kitchen, handed Olivia a bottle of wine and gave her a big hug before directing her attention to the other guests.

“Hi, I’m Sally, the maid of honor. You must be Katie.”

She shook Katie’s hand as she appraised her. “Hmm. Brown eyes like Beau and blond hair like Paul. You’re a combination of your brothers.” She laughed. “And a lot prettier than either of them.”

Beau hooted. “Thank goodness for that.”

“This is Ted, my husband,” Katie replied. 

Sally shook Ted’s hand. “Nice to meet you. And handy to have a doctor in the family, right
Liv?”

Ted smiled. “Where have I heard that before?”

Sally turned her gaze in Paul’s direction, stopped and stared, her hands on her slim hips, her green eyes wide. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder when it slid to one side as she cocked her head.

“Well, look at you, the best man. You’re even better than those pictures
Liv showed me. I told her I wanted to meet you if you looked anything like Mr. Beauregard Hunk James over there, but I had no idea. Those pictures didn’t do you justice. You are
so
much better-looking than your brother!”

Before Paul could reply, Sally leaned over his chair, placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a quick kiss on each haggard cheek. “Are we ever going to have fun at the wedding, skipping down the aisle together and dancing up a
storm. I can hardly wait.”

Paul sat open-mouthed.

Beau, in a seat nearby, looked nonplussed. 

Katie giggled and Ted grinned.

Olivia laughed out loud. “Now that we’re done with the introductions, I think it’s time to eat.” Everyone moved into the small dining room.

“I’ll sit here.” Sally pointed to the chair next to Paul. “So glad you saved it for me,
Liv. Now, who’s going to tell me what you think of that big old house Beau and Olivia are going to buy and fill up with kids—the one where Beau bled all over the floor? Isn’t it neat?  I just love the sunroom!” She chattered through the meal, commenting favorably on all the food, asking Katie questions about Ireland, inquiring what Ted did at the hospital.

When Olivia rose from the table, Beau followed her into the kitchen.

“I don’t think Paul knows what to make of Sally,” he whispered, as he helped her dish up the dessert.

She grinned. “
Wanna bet she gets him to talk?”

He shook his head. “I’ll believe it when I see it. He hardly said two words to me today except to complain about that boot he has to wear until the cast is off.”

Between bites of homemade peach pie and ice cream, Sally told everyone how Olivia had met Beau and the many complexities of the sale of her grandfather’s house. Every other sentence was a question to Paul. “What do you think of that?” and “Is that how women usually act around your big brother?” She went on for another two or three minutes, took another bite of dessert, regaled him with another story, and asked him another question or two.

Soon he was laughing, and before his last bite of dessert, he asked Sally about her new job at the newspaper.

Beau winked at Olivia and mouthed, “You were right.”

As the brothers prepared to leave, Sally followed them to the door. “I’ll see you at the wedding rehearsal, Paul. Maybe when the lovebirds are on their honeymoon, if you have time, I could show you the sights around here.”

“I’d like that,” he replied.

“Is she always like that—so bubbly?” Paul asked as Beau drove to the high-rise.

“Who?”

“Sally. It’s a good thing I didn’t know what to say. She just kept on talking.”

Beau grinned. “She and Olivia are best friends.”

“I thought reporters did more listening than talking.”

“She wasn’t at Olivia’s to get the facts for a story.”

“She was like a little tornado—the way she waltzed in and handed you her coat. I almost laughed at that—sort of like she knew you would be there to take it from her.”

Beau’s mouth quirked. “She does make assumptions sometimes.”

Paul chuckled. “And that was pretty funny—when she said I was better-looking than you.” He glanced sidelong at Beau. “Felt kind of good, actually.”
Especially with how beat-up I am.
Maybe she was just being polite, not seeming to notice his scars. But he wondered how well he would be able to walk—maybe without having to use his crutches or the cane—during the wedding. The head doctor had kept stressing having goals. He had one now. No crutches in public. No cane at the wedding.

His thoughts returned to Sally, Olivia’s best friend. She wa
s so pretty. That gorgeous hair almost to her waist.
I’ll bet it feels like silk.
A figure with gentle curves, too. Inviting. And her laugh. It reminded him of something warm and fun.

At the wedding rehearsal later that week, Sally entered the church wearing low-cut socks sandals. Limping, she announced she had tripped up the stairs on the way to the courthouse for a story she was writing about the mayor.

“Are you sure I have to wear heels,
Liv?  I know it’s December and a wedding and all, but my ankle and foot’s so swollen I might not be able to get my shoe on.”

Paul peered down at her feet. “Show me which one, which ankle.”

Sally pulled up her pant legs.

He couldn’t tell the difference. One slim ankle looked as good as the other. “Put ice on it and keep it elevated. The swelling will probably go down,” he suggested.

She gazed back at him. “I’ll try that,” and laughed. When it was their turn to walk down the aisle, she having borrowed his crutches, they started down the aisle slowly.

“Where’s your cane?” she asked under her breath.

He gave her the tiniest head shake, aware that he was sweating bullets. “Not going to use it at the wedding.”

“Then you’re going to lean on me,” she ordered in a whisper.

He forced himself to walk slowly, steadily down the aisle, without the cane. By the time he was at the back of the church, he was afraid he was going to pass out, but he refused to sit down until Sally poked him.

“If you fall over in a dead faint, I’ll never forgive you, big guy. Sit down!”

He looked at her and she was grinning from ear to ear. “You don’t have to impress me with how strong you are. Where’s that cane?”

He pointed to the room where he’d insisted on leaving it.

She brought it to him. “When we’re dancing at the reception tomorrow, I’ll hold you up. Otherwise, you will sit and rest so I can gaze on your masculine beauty until Beau carries Olivia off.” She grinned again. “Is it a deal?”

“What?” he croaked, wanting to run his hands through her hair, piled in large ringlets on the top of her
head. He’d have to remove the pins first. That might be fun. And her lips looked perfect for kissing, so soft and pouty. But did he dare?

“The dancing and the sitting,” she repeated. “Tomorrow. Until they leave. Aren’t you listening? And I’ll get your food. After all, you’re an honored guest, a famous fighter for our freedoms. Everyone is going to want to talk to you, and I’m not big on sharing.” She laughed again and pulled him to his feet. “Now, use your cane. Beau and
Liv showed me where the little elevator is. If you play your cards right tomorrow, I’ll even let you kiss me!”

What was this buzzing Paul felt? Sally wanted him to kiss her? She didn’t want to share him? And he was going to dance tomorrow? No way. On the other hand, maybe he would find a way. He took her hand, hardly feeling the need to use his cane. And when Sally insisted he do so, it no longer mattered.

The next day, Beau took his place next to Paul and waited for Sally and Olivia.

Sally moved down the aisle first, beaming at everyone, wearing a buttercup yellow dress with chocolate piping, her hands holding a bouquet of pink roses.

Nice,
but where was Olivia.
There she is.

His bride wore a cream-colored dress with a lace bodice and silk jacket and carried pink and yellow roses, her grandfather’s favorite flowers. Her eyes only on him as she approached, she glided down the aisle on a realtor’s arm. Bruce was his name. 

Paul poked Beau when he caught his breath. “Breathe, bro. You look like you just swallowed your tongue.”

Olivia had never looked more beautiful.
I’m so lucky
.

The minister’s words were a blur Beau barely remembered when he kissed Olivia at the end of the ceremony and preceded Paul and Sally to the back of the church and the reception to come.

Hours later he and Olivia climbed into the limousine for their flight to Cancun. Beau leaned over and kissed Olivia. “Did you see Sally dancing around Paul?”

His bride chuckled. “Who could miss it?”

Beau grinned. “Paul told me she practically had to hold him up as they went down the aisle. But he made a bet with himself he’d make it without his cane. One of those goals the shrink kept telling him he needed. A future goal, he called it.”

“If anyone can help him look to the future, it’s Sally. She had lots of practice with that—during and after her mom’s illness.”

“He said she kept calling him ‘big guy.’ And telling him she wouldn’t let him kiss her if he fell down.”

“Is that why he couldn’t keep his eyes off her?”

“Could be. I’m thinking he was planning the best time and place—like a military campaign. Maybe he did before they came out of the elevator. Her cheeks were really pink.”

Olivia gazed into his eyes, her voice dropping suggestively. “Enough about them. Why don’t you kiss
me
? See if my cheeks go pink.”

He obliged and laughed when her prediction came true.

###

Thank you for reading this book, the second in my ON GENEVA SHORES collection. My characters reflect the life experience of people I know. Perhaps, too, people you know. In the interests of full disclosure, in a prior life, I also worked as a realtor! The first title in this collection is FAMILY BONDS.

Here’s what two readers had to say about it:

Vale manages to keep my attention once again. Her writing about problems average people face and the attention to detail is wonderful. – Amanda S.

Kate Vale’s poignant, true-to-life stories remind us that people everywhere share the same fears, desires, and dreams. – Kathryn Johnson, author of
The Gentleman Poet.

If you are curious about Sally and Paul, their story will appear later in 2013. Check my website to read an excerpt.