My Sweetest Sasha: Cole's Story (Meadows Shore Book 2) (21 page)

Angelina asked Alexa to come to Meadows Shore for a fitting. Angelina and her sisters were making Alexa’s wedding dress, and Jane Petersen would embroider the bodice and the flowing skirt. It was a labor of love for all the women involved.

When Alexa arrived, Angelina whisked her over to the guesthouse behind the Claytons’ and up to her bedroom, where Rosa was waiting. Alexa had been in the cottage before, but never in Vovó Angelina’s room. She knew this must be important, because Angelina hadn’t tried to ply her with food and drink before getting down to business.

Angelina’s faith was on full display in the immaculate bedroom. An enormous wooden rosary hung on the wall across from the bed, and on a tall bureau stood a statue of the Virgin Mary with an electric votive lit at her feet. There were also photographs of her daughters, and a wedding portrait. Alexa was sure the young, happy bride was Angelina.

Angelina pulled a stack of paper from a box she’d brought down from the top of the closet, and handed it to Alexa. “I have held on to these for a long, long time. I have kept them until Cole grew up, until he understood about the love between a man and a woman. I think he is finally ready, but it is your decision. You will be his wife, and you are the best judge of his heart.”

She looked from Angelina to Rosa while she held what appeared to be letters.

“They are letters, love letters between my daughter, Cole’s mother, and her husband. You are the best thing that has happened in Cole’s life, and so, in mine. I know you will protect these letters.”

She wasn’t sure what to say, what to do, even. “Can we share them with Cole’s brothers?”

“When the time is right. You are in charge.”

“Me?”

“Yes, dear. Men think they are the boss of everything,” she raised her arms and flapped her hands to emphasize her words. “They run countries, hospitals, sports teams, so many things, but nothing important. It is women who are responsible for all that is important in life. For life itself. Cole is the oldest, you will be his wife, and so you are in charge of all those boys.”

She steadied herself against the foot of the bed when she realized this was bigger than letters. She’d just been passed the baton.

“They are now under your care. When the time is right, you decide what to do with the letters.

She folded her arms around Angelina. “Thank you for trusting me with something so important. I won’t let anything happen to the letters.”

“I trust you with my grandson’s heart. Nothing, not even these beautiful letters, is as important as that.”

* * *

The wedding plans were well underway. During college Helena had done an internship with a swanky bridal magazine, and she’d kept up with some of the vendors she met, occasionally doing business with them over the years. Between those contacts and the resourcefulness of her grandmother, aunts, and sisters, along with what was left of the Petersens’ friends and neighbors, the wedding promised to be perfect, without any ruffled feathers spoiling the day.

Jane planned to borrow tables from their church for the reception, so Helena went to the barn to re-measure the space and create a floor plan. This was her second visit to the Petersens’ since she agreed to help with the wedding, and this time she was here without Alexa, although Jane, Henry, and Owen had welcomed her warmly. Henry seemed especially taken with her sense of color, depth, and angles. Unlike her sisters, Helena made a habit of listening more than she talked, and when she quietly admired the paintings hung in the house, she caught a smile from Henry.

While wandering the barn, trying to visualize the reception, she noticed a door in the far corner that was cracked open. She discovered Henry’s studio just as he was coming to see if she needed help.

Helena jumped when she saw him glaring at her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have peeked in. I was being nosy.”

After what seemed like an eternity, his scowl softened. “It’s all right. I’m not used to seeing anyone in there. It’s off limits to everyone but me.”

“I’m so sorry.” She could see his wheels spinning, and hoped he wasn’t thinking about tossing her off his property. Cole would kill her—it seemed she had those nosy Clayton genes, too.

“Would you like to take a look around the studio?”

“I would love to, but only if you’re comfortable with me being in there.”

“I can’t see what harm it would do. I started keeping everyone out when Alexa was small. Didn’t want her and her friends getting into trouble in there. Then it became a habit. You know how those things are. It’s not like I’m minting money in here or anything, no state secrets,” he said, flicking the light switch.

Like she always did when she entered an unfamiliar place, Helena quietly soaked up the ambiance before getting to know it more intimately. She passed the easel and stopped to appreciate the canvas. “It’s beautiful, the colors are so rich and vibrant.”

She walked along the walls following a series of paintings hung on the far end of the room.

“Those are the farm, month by month. I painted them years ago.”

“They’re spectacular. They should be up where everyone can enjoy them … but I guess you enjoy them every day.” She smiled at him.

“They take up a lot of wall space. We don’t have that kind of room in the house. One of these days I might try to see if I can get something for them … eventually they’re going to get ruined out here. But I haven’t had much of an appetite for letting them go.”

“I have clients who would buy them in a New York minute if you ever decide to sell. My sister, Ella, is an art historian, she’d love to see them, too. They tell such a beautiful story of the farm.”

“Do you really think someone might buy them?”

She nodded. “For a pretty penny.” She paused, remembering an apartment with soaring ceilings and a long, wide hallway that needed some livening up. “I can think of a few buyers off the top of my head, but no one who’d love to buy them more than Cole. They would make a wonderful wedding present for Alexa.”

Henry stared at her, then shrugged, “Maybe.”

* * *

The wedding day finally approached, with the Claytons and Harringtons descending in full force on the tiny Minnesota town. Cole was sure the place would never be the same again. He normally stayed in Owen’s room when he visited, but for the wedding, he was staying with his family and the rest of the guests in a hotel closer to the Cities.

His grandmother, aunts, and cousins had arrived earlier in the week with Rosa and Antonio to help with the wedding preparations. He’d warned Henry about the onslaught of bossy, outspoken females, but he told Cole that he was starting to get used to bossy women, kind of liked them.

Henry still didn’t seem completely sold on him, but he’d stopped scowling at him … most of the time … and once or twice he’d even smiled in his general direction. But when he offered to buy the paintings of the farm for Alexa, Henry said, “They’ve already been spoken for,” and walked away.

Cole didn’t believe him, but thought about Alexa and bit his tongue, not saying the things that popped into his head at that moment, which boiled down to:
What kind of jackass wouldn’t want his only daughter—his perfect, beautiful daughter—to have those paintings?
It nearly killed him, but he kept his mouth shut.

* * *

Cole flew in with his brothers and Max late Thursday afternoon. Jake had finagled a football signed by the Vikings star quarterback for Owen, along with a game jersey, while Drew rounded up official baseball caps from every major league team. Cole had promised Owen a football game when all the guys got to town.

Max also came bearing good news, news that would change the Petersens’ lives.

Cole had been given only one responsibility for the wedding: the music, and that was taken care of. Now all he needed was to wrap himself around Alexa—he hadn’t seen her all week—and make sure every minute of the weekend made her smile. He suspected he’d have plenty of help with that part.

When they pulled up to the Petersens’, he immediately abandoned his brothers to go in search of the bride, his bride. But much to his chagrin, she was surrounded by her family, his family, and, worse yet, her father. Holding her in his arms while he lifted her off the ground for a quick peck would have to satisfy him until he could get her alone. He was already scouting out hiding places. Too bad the cornstalks weren’t as high as they’d be in August.

* * *

On Friday morning, after the guys had set up all the tables and chairs and hauled coolers, grills, and countless boxes of dishware to the backyard, they were allowed to play their football game. Jake was the designated quarterback for both teams, and he made Owen his designated running back.

Jake played with superstars,
but even superstars had their challenges, and he realized immediately that Owen had trouble distinguishing left from right while they ran plays. He taught the kid a couple of tricks, and before long Owen was weaving between the big guys and scoring his first touchdown.

“Do you think even though I get right and left confused sometimes—” he rolled his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip, “—all the time. Do you think I could still play in the NFL?” he asked Jake.

“Playing football is hard work, but everybody has trouble with some part of it. If you work hard, and practice the plays over and over, muscle memory takes over. And soon you won’t even need to think about left and right when you’re running a play, it’ll happen automatically.”

Owen was beaming when he flung his arms around Jake’s waist, refusing to leave his side for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

The rehearsal dinner was in the backyard under a canopy, and it went more smoothly than Alexa could have hoped. The families had bonded over the wedding preparations, and Owen’s boycrush on the Harrington brothers made for lots of smiles and laughs. He’d practically swooned when Mark explained that after the wedding Alexa would be their sister, and that meant that he’d be their brother. She’d never seen a happier little boy.

She was expected at girls’ night with her bridal party, but first she wanted to take one more look at the barn. It had been transformed into a fairy tale setting, with thousands of tiny lights strung over the rafters and around the room. They’d scoured five Christmas Tree Shops before finding enough strands to fill the vast space with light.

Checking out the barn was also an excuse
to steal
some time with Cole, whose efforts to be alone with her had been repeatedly thwarted by one thing or another.

When she told him her plan, he grabbed her hand and they all but ran to the barn. As soon as they got inside, he wasted no time on preliminaries, immediately finding her mouth and sliding his hands over her curves. By the time she was kneading his backside, but before he had his hands on her breasts, someone cleared their throat from the barn door.

It was her father, and although she was about to marry the man she’d been kissing like the world was about to end, she jumped back and smoothed her dress. “Dad. I didn’t hear you come in,” she choked out.

“Apparently not.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Mr. Petersen,” said Cole.

Henry grunted. “Not sorry you did it, though. I hope you have a dozen daughters, each one prettier than the next,” he grumbled in Cole’s direction.

He gestured toward the studio. “I want to show you something, Lexie.” She shot Cole a puzzled look and shrugged one shoulder at him before following her father into the studio. “You can come too, Romeo,” Henry tossed over his shoulder.

She’d sneaked inside the forbidden room a few times as a teenager, but she’d never been welcomed inside by her father, free to look around.

“I have some paintings over here … they’re of the farm. The series is called
Seasons of the Farm
. I’m always fretting that they’ll get damaged out here.”

She walked from one painting to another. Small sighs, the hand over her heart, and the smile on her face told the story of her feelings about the priceless artwork. “This is so incredible. You captured every detail, just like I remember it. I love them.”

“I poured my heart and soul into that work … I know they take up a lot of wall space, maybe too much, but I was hoping you’d accept them from me as a wedding gift, little girl.”

Before Henry had even gotten the last words out, she launched herself into his arms, her tears falling freely onto her dad’s broad shoulders.

While Cole witnessed their private moment, he was sure that even a dozen daughters wouldn’t be enough.

* * *

After Alexa showed off her very special wedding present, she was ready for girls’ night. Her mom gathered Cole’s cousins who were bridesmaids, and Meghan, Alexa’s maid of honor, in the den. They had a champagne toast to the bride-to-be, and set out four beautifully
wrapped packages on the table in front of her.