Slow Burn: A Colorado High Country Novel (19 page)

Upstairs, the bedroom door opened, and Taylor stepped out, all tuxed out apart from the jacket itself—trousers, white shirt, gray vest, sage-colored silk tie. He walked down the stairs, fighting with his cufflinks. “Can you figure these out?”

“Sure.” Eric took the cufflinks from him and put them on one at a time, then took Taylor’s jacket from him and held it up while he slipped it on. “Hey, you look great, man. You’re going to make Lexi proud.”

“You, on the other hand, look like a man with a lot on his mind.”

Eric shook his head, irritated with himself. “Sorry.”

Taylor laughed. “Hey, we’ve known each other for too long to fool each other about anything.”

That was true.

Taylor went on. “I’m betting that your problem is about five-foot-four and has a sweet face and gorgeous brown eyes. Am I right?”

Yep, he’d nailed it.

So Eric explained, knowing they had only a few minutes before Moretti and Belcourt came back inside from cleaning the trash out of Taylor’s SUV. “She more or less asked me whether I thought of her as just another hookup.”

“And you said something really stupid.”

“I tried to fix it before I left, but, yeah, I did. Her question took me by surprise, and I just couldn’t think straight. She asked me to leave. She wasn’t angry about it. She didn’t throw a fit. She just asked me to go.” He almost wished she’d shouted at him. Maybe then he’d be pissed off and wouldn’t feel so desolate.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“What? No!” Eric turned toward the windows again. “Yes. Hell, I don’t know. I’ve never really been in love before. Besides, how can two people fall in love in a week? That’s ridiculous, man. It just doesn’t happen that way.”

“Well, you’ve spent more time together this week than some people who’ve been dating for a couple of months.”

Eric supposed that was true. “That doesn’t change the fact that it’s only been seven days.”

“When I asked Lexi out the first time, it was after school. I walked her home, carried her backpack. We spent maybe fifteen minutes together, but my life changed in those fifteen minutes. I fell in love with her then and there. We were only teenagers, but that was it for me.”

“Sure it was—if you don’t count the twelve years that the two of you spent apart and the other people you were with in between.”

“That was my fault. I was young and stupid. If I had trusted in our relationship, if I had trusted that things would work out in the end, I would have saved us both a lot of time and heartache.”

Eric had been there. He knew it hadn’t been quite that simple, but he wouldn’t argue with Taylor on his wedding day. “So what are you saying? Trust Victoria?”

“Yeah. Trust her with your feelings.”

“What do you mean?”

“After what she’s been through, it must be really hard for her to trust men.”

“That’s obvious.”

“From what Lexi tells me, she doesn’t trust herself either.”

Eric hadn’t thought of that, but it ought to have been obvious, too. Some part of her blamed herself for what had happened, so, of course, she’d have trouble trusting herself with men and relationships.

Taylor went on. “If the two of you are going to have a chance, one of you is going to have to give up everything and move across the country, right? We both know you’d dry up and die if you moved away from the mountains, so it has to be Vic. That’s a lot to ask of her, especially when she believes she can’t tell a good guy from a bad one. If you want her to trust you, you need to trust her. You need to be the first one to say it.”

“To say what?”

“I love you.”

“Whoa. Wait.” Moretti’s voice came from behind them. “Are we interrupting something, man?”

* * *

B
ritta
, still in her bathrobe, squealed from her post at the window. “The guys are here! Oh, wow, Lexi. Austin looks sharp. They all do.”

Winona hurried over to see, already looking lovely in her dress. “Before this week, I’d never seen my brother in a tux. This is the second time now.”

“Your brother is hot, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Britta said.

Winona laughed. “I don’t mind. It’s true. He’s also a geek.”

Lexi sat at the table, getting doused with hairspray and looking remarkably calm for a woman who was about to walk down the aisle. The stylist, whose name was Shawna, had put her hair in a low chignon, weaving thick plaits in and out to make a beautiful, elegant knot.

“There you go. What do you think?” Shawna stepped back.

“It’s beautiful.” Vic handed Lexi a small mirror.

Lexi stared at her reflection. “I love it. I want to see the back.”

She got up and ran to the bathroom, her voice calling back to them after a moment. “Oh, wow! It’s perfect.”

Shawna basked in the praise, her own hair in a messy bun, her makeup flawless, her nails long and red. “Now, should we do the dress first or the flowers?”

“The dress,” Vic answered. “We don’t want to damage the flowers.”

She crossed the room and took down the garment bag that held Lexi’s wedding gown, tugging down the zipper and carefully removing it from the hanger. “Are you ready for your gown, Lexi?”

“Is it time?” Lexi walked out of the bathroom, handing Shawna the mirror.

“We’ve got twenty minutes till you need to be downstairs.”

“Then I’m ready.” Lexi walked over to her and held up her arms as Vic carefully lowered the dress over her, Shawna helping to make sure the layers of white fabric didn’t snag in her hair or brush against her makeup.

Vic zipped it, straightened out the skirts, then stepped back. A lump lodged itself in her throat, and her hands found their way to her face. “Oh, Lexi, you’re so beautiful.”

The off-the-shoulder bodice had a twisted sweetheart neckline that fit snuggly around her breasts, the midriff accented with beading, the skirts made of the lightest silk chiffon, which would catch the breeze and flow around her as she walked.

The others gathered around.

“Don’t you start!” Britta jabbed a finger at Vic. “She’s right, Lex. You look amazing. Austin won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

“Beautiful,” Winona said simply.

Shawna motioned to Lexi to sit down again. “Okay, let’s get these flowers in your hair.”

Vic retrieved the box that Kendra had brought upstairs and set it on the table, then hurried off to put on her own dress. “Winona, can you help me with the zipper?”

The bridesmaids’ dresses were identical to Lexi’s, except that they were all a deep shade of lavender and didn’t have the beading.

Winona hurried to help zip the gown, then stood back. “Wow. You look pretty amazing, too.”

“I think I’ve gained ten pounds while I’ve been here.” Vic adjusted the bodice, then fidgeted with the skirts.

Winona shook her head. “I don’t think so—unless it all went to your boobs.”

It
did
look pretty tight up there.

Unable to do anything about it, she walked back into the main room to find Shawna pinning sprigs of lavender, eucalyptus, white rose buds, and deep purple lisianthus along the top edge of Lexi’s chignon.

“Britta, do you want help getting your gown on?” Vic asked.

“I supposed I’d better get dressed, huh?” Britta hurried over to where her dress lay draped over the back of the sofa.

Vic had just zipped her in when someone knocked on the door. She answered to find Bob and Kendra. “She’s getting flowers put in her hair. Come in.”

“Don’t you all look pretty?” Kendra’s smile was colored around the edges with envy. She’d always been jealous of Lexi and Britta—and their mother.

“Let me see you, Lexi girl.” Bob walked over to his daughter, then stared in blank amazement as she got to her feet, a bright sheen coming into his eyes. He nodded, clearly at a loss for words. He reached into his pocket and took out a small box. “These were your mother’s. She’d want you to have them.”

Eyes wide with surprise, Lexi opened the box. There on black velvet sat two perfect white pearls with diamond accents. “They’re lovely.”

“They were my gift to her after you were born,” Bob told Lexi.

Vic looked down at them. “Those are going to look even better with your hair and dress than what you’re wearing.”

Lexi took off the dangly earrings she was wearing and put on the pearls, a sheen in her eyes. “What do you think?”

Her father cleared his throat again. “Beautiful—just like your mother. She’d be so proud of you if she could see you now.”

“Oh, great,” Britta said. “Thanks, Dad. Way to make everyone cry.”

The photographer entered and got a few photos of the last-minute preparations. Then Vic walked to the box of flowers and retrieved Lexi’s bouquet. She carried it over to Lexi and held it out for her. “Now you’re a bride.”

Lexi took the flowers. “Thanks.”

Her father glanced at his watch. “We’d best head down. If you want to back out, kid, you need to do it now.”

Lexi laughed. “Nice try, Dad. Not a chance.”

E
ric walked with Austin
, Moretti, and Belcourt down the wide, spiral aisle toward the space in front of the aspens, where Rose stood in a long purple gown, a silver headband bound around her brow, her long silver-gray hair tied back with purple ribbons. It looked like the whole town had turned out. People with invitations sat in the chairs, while those who hadn’t been invited sat on blankets on the grass. Attire ranged from long gowns and suits to shorts and T-shirts.

Yeah, this was Scarlet.

Some folks said hello as they passed. Jack and Nate West stood, shook Austin’s hand and then Eric’s.

“Don’t you boys clean up nice,” Megs said.

Austin chuckled. “Why, Megs, is that an actual skirt you’re wearing?”

“I figured why not go all out, given it’s a special occasion and all.”

Joe was wearing a suit with a bolo tie, Rain sitting beside him in a pretty black dress. Rico had worn his best pair of overalls and a clean T-shirt. Gabe Rossiter wore jeans, a white shirt, and a sports jacket. His lovely Navajo wife, Kat, sat beside him.

“Is that you, Rossiter?” Austin joked.

Gabe got to his feet, shook Austin’s hand. “I can’t remember seeing so many Team members washed and pressed at the same time.”

He had a point.

And there was Sasha in a bright pink
dress
. Wow.

She jumped to her feet as they drew near and planted a kiss on Austin’s cheek. “I’m so happy for you.”

Eric glanced at his watch. “If you stop to kiss everyone, we won’t make it to Rose before the ceremony starts.”

Laughter.

“Okay, okay.” Austin chuckled. “Save it for the reception, folks.”

They made their way to Rose, who was very much in high priestess mode. “Namaste, gentlemen. What a beautiful day for this joining.”

“Hey, Rose.” Austin kissed her cheek. “Don’t you look pretty?”

“Feng shui teaches us that purple and silver are especially auspicious colors for a wedding. I tried telling Lexi that but …” Rose’s gaze dropped to Austin’s lavender boutonniere. “Lavender and sage are auspicious, too.”

Austin looked up at the boom mic that dangled from a tree branch above them. “You guys tested the sound system, right?”

“Yep.”

“The rings. Did you remember—”

“They’re here in my pocket. We’ve got this. You focus on those vows.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Austin’s mother and father appeared, entering the space through a rose arbor at the southwest corner of the house. They made their way through the spiral, his father shaking Austin’s hand, while Roxanne kissed her son’s cheek. Then came Chey on the arm of her date—a med student she’d met in Denver. She also gave Austin a kiss.

“How about a kiss for your brother by another mother?” Eric teased.

She laughed, kissed him, too, then sat.

A moment later, Kendra appeared, looking elegant in a long gray dress, a corsage pinned to her chest, a camera swinging from her hand.

“Never wear gray to a wedding,” Rose whispered in a sing-song voice.

“It will be okay,” Eric reassured her. “How are you holding up, buddy?”

Taylor blew out a breath, his brow creased with emotion. “I can’t wait to see her.”

“It won’t be long now.”

When Kendra had made her way through the spiral and taken her seat, the music started—Coldplay’s “Yellow” performed by the Vitamin String Quartet—and all eyes turned toward the rose arbor.

“They’re playing your song, brother,” Moretti whispered.

But Eric wasn’t sure Taylor even heard him. Every fiber of the man’s being was focused on that archway, those wedding nerves finally kicking in. Eric was feeling it, too, truth be told.

This was it. Austin and Lexi were tying the knot.

Winona was the first to appear, looking amazing in a pretty lavender gown, a bouquet of purple and white flowers in her hands. When she stepped into the spiral, Britta appeared. She wore the same gown and carried the same bouquet, her strawberry blond hair hanging in long waves down her back. And then Victoria came into view.

Eric’s brain went blank, his heart thudding against his breastbone. He could only manage details at first—her delicate shoulders, the wave in her dark hair, the swells of her breasts, the tuck of her waist, the flowers in her small hands, the way her skirt seemed to flow around her as she walked, the smile on her lips.

God in heaven, she was beautiful.

He couldn’t take his gaze off her as she crossed the lawn and entered the spiral, working her way toward him, Austin’s words coming back to him.

Trust her with your feelings.

Then everyone stood.

Oh, yeah. The bride.

Eric jerked his gaze from Victoria, and there she was—Lexi
.
She crossed the lawn on her father’s arm looking like a million bucks in bridal white, flowers in her red hair, a big bouquet in her hands, a serene smile on her face.

Eric glanced over at Austin and saw a sheen of tears in his eyes.

* * *

V
ictoria took
her place across from Eric, almost afraid to look at him, worried she’d look into his eyes and see the damage she’d done. She fixed her gaze on Austin instead, her happiness for him chasing away her gloom. He looked so handsome in his tux, lavender boutonniere pinned to his chest.

And—
oh, God
—there were tears in his eyes.

Eric leaned in and whispered something to him, a grin on his face, and Austin blinked, nodding, a faint smile playing on his lips, his gaze fixed on Lexi as she made her way through the spiral.

Vic looked away, still unwilling to risk eye contact with Eric. Instead, she focused on Lexi, who made her way around the aspens for the final time, stopping with her father at the single vacant chair, kissing him on the cheek, and leaving him there to walk the last few feet by herself. Her pretty face was a picture of joy, her eyes bright.

She reached Austin’s side.

He took her hand, raised it to his lips, kissed it, the love he felt for her there on his face for the world to see. “You are so beautiful.”

Together, they turned to face Rose, who beamed at both of them as the music came to an end. She reached behind her for a cord that hung down the white trunk of an aspen tree and turned on the mic.

“Beloved friends and family, we are gathered together today in this place to witness and celebrate the marriage of Austin Taylor and Lexi Jewell. Some of you watched them grow up. Some of you went to school with them, while others are co-workers or friends from college. Today is a day of joy, so it’s okay to laugh, to applaud, to smile, or to cry.

“Lexi and Austin chose to get married here in this spot because it was here, sitting among these aspens, that they first fell in love. It was here they had their first kiss. It was here they sat to plot ways of spending more time together. And it was here where Lexi’s parents were married back when these trees were saplings.”

Vic hadn’t known that last part.

The lump in her throat grew harder.

Rose went on to share the story of Austin and Lexi’s romance—the G-rated version. Judging from the laughter when she mentioned Austin’s old pickup truck, it was a story most people in attendance had heard before in its NC-17 form. Vic laughed with them, the lump in her throat easing, a soft breeze carrying the scent of lavender and roses, tickling her skin, catching her skirts.

And then it was time for Lexi to say her vows.

Vic sent her a burst of good vibes.

You can do this!

Lexi looked up into the eyes of the man she loved, her voice strong and clear as she spoke. “I, Lexi Rose Jewell, take you, Austin Michael Taylor, to be my husband in a marriage of equals. I commit to you all that I own and all that I am—body, heart, and soul.”

As Lexi said her vows, Vic’s gaze drifted of its own accord to Eric.

Her heart gave a hard knock.

Oh, God.

He was watching her, his eyes looking right into hers, their blue depths a mirror for the torrent inside her. In a heartbeat, the world seemed to shrink until it was just the two of them, the vows Lexi spoke filling the space between them.

“I promise that you will be the source of my pleasure—and my solace in times of pain. I promise to share your dreams and your fears, to comfort you and shield you from harm, and to show you respect, love, and devotion through all the joys and struggles of our lives together. Most of all, I promise to be your faithful and true friend, honoring you above all others, from this moment until my dying breath.

“I make this promise in love, keep it in faith, nourish it with hope, and will renew it in my heart every day.”

There was a murmur of approval from the crowd, and the spell broke, the real world returning. Pulse still racing, Vic glanced over at Lexi and realized she’d finished her vows.

Now it was Austin’s turn.

* * *

W
hat the hell
had just happened?

Eric didn’t know. Something had passed between him and Victoria, and now his heart was pounding like he’d just run a mile in full bunker gear.

Snap out of it!

He wouldn’t be any good for Taylor if he couldn’t focus.

“Most of all, I promise to be your faithful and true friend, honoring you above all others, from this moment until my dying breath. I make this promise in love, keep it in faith, nourish it with hope, and will renew it in my heart every day.”

Cheers.

Relief surged through Eric. Taylor hadn’t screwed up his vows once—as far as he could remember.

Rose looked straight at Eric. “May I please have the rings?”

The rings.

“Oh! Yeah.”
Shit.

Laughter.

Eric reached into his vest pocket, took out the two platinum wedding bands, and put them into Rose’s upturned palm.

Rose held the rings out at chest level, placed her free hand above them as if casting a spell on them. Eric wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what she was actually doing.

“Your wedding rings are the outward sign of the love that unites you. They are made of platinum, a precious and rare metal that endures forever. Lexi’s has diamonds, the toughest substance known to us. Like all circles, your rings have no beginning and no end. Wear these as a symbol of your love, which is precious, rare, and endures forever.”

Lexi turned to give her bouquet to Vic.

Rose handed Austin’s ring to Lexi. “Lexi, place this ring on Austin’s finger and repeat after me. With this ring, I become your wife. Wear it as a symbol of our love.”

Lexi took the ring, repeated the words, and slid the ring onto Austin’s hand, the two of them sharing a private smile, and damned if they didn’t look happier than Eric had ever seen them.

Rose repeated the words for Austin.

“With this ring, I become your husband. Wear it as a symbol of our love.”

Rose was clearly enjoying every second of this. She held up her hands like a priest who’d just said mass. “Lexi and Austin, you have taken vows before witnesses, declaring your love and committing yourselves to each other. By the power vested in me by the State of Colorado, it is my great joy to pronounce you husband and wife. Please, seal your vows with a kiss!”

They were in each other’s arms in a heartbeat, and this wasn’t just a peck on the lips, Austin holding her close, Lexi going pliant in his arms.

People began to laugh.

And still they kissed, deep and slow and hard.

“Get a room!” someone shouted.

That finally brought them back to reality.

“Friends and family members, I present to you Austin and Lexi Taylor.”

Eric cheered and applauded along with everyone else, his gaze drawn again to Victoria, who handed Lexi her bouquet and kissed her on the cheek.

Then the recessional began—Joe Cocker’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On.”

More cheers and laughter.

Austin and Lexi linked arms and danced together back through the spiral. They’d gone maybe twenty feet when Austin scooped Lexi into his arms and spun her off toward the rose arbor.

Now, finally,
finally
, Eric got to touch Victoria. He stepped forward, offered her his arm, and the two of them walked back down the aisle together.