Texas Christmas Bride: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Book 6 (15 page)

Life had interesting twists. Who could have predicted his own? “Yeah, let’s see.” As they walked over, Mackey asked, “Did you hear that Dev Marlowe might bring his brother Connor?”

“Former SEAL? Got hurt bad in Afghanistan?”

“Yep. Dev says he’d like Connor to get involved with Rissa’s therapy horses.”

“The vets she’s worked with from the Army hospital in San Antonio have really benefitted.” Ian knew it was a cause dear to not only Mackey’s heart but Bridger’s.

Speaking of the devil…

“Bridger, did I hear that your sister is coming for Christmas?”

The man’s face lit. “She is. Just found out yesterday.” Bridger had lost his entire family when his father had murdered his mother, then killed himself, and Bridger had been considered too young to be allowed custody of his siblings. Dev had helped him find Molly, but two siblings were still missing.

“That is fantastic. Congratulations.” Ian extended a fist-bump, and Bridger returned it.

“Yeah. I’m pretty happy. She’ll be here the day before Christmas Eve. She’s a resident, so time off isn’t exactly easy to get, but somehow she managed.”

“Nice Christmas gift.”

“It is. I’ll be able to show her where Penny and I are building our home.”

“You’re pouring the foundation this week?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Need any help?”

“Only with getting Legs to say yes.” His eyes darkened but his kept his smile in place.

“We could always include her in the surprise wedding,” Mackey offered. “Wouldn’t be the first time for a double wedding the brides didn’t expect.”

Bridger didn’t echo Mackey’s grin. He shook his head. “No. She’ll get to it when she does. I’m not pushing her on this.” But his sorrow was evident.

Ian clapped him on the shoulder. “Gallagher women…what can I tell you?”

“Anybody have a clue what the problem is?”

“Besides rock-hard heads, you mean?” Mackey asked. “Pure-dee meanness is my explanation.”

“Penelope isn’t mean. Neither is Rissa or Scarlett, for that matter.”

“And yet…they resist.”

The three shook their heads in commiseration.

“Well, we’re headed to talk to Quinn. Good luck, man. Too bad you can’t find yourself a kid who needs adopting to give Penny some urgency.”

Bridger chuckled. “Yeah, right. Great tip. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

Then there were the wedding preparations, conducted in secret, mostly at Jeanette’s little house.

“I never thought I’d be grateful to see Jackson leave town,” Veronica said as she helped Jeanette pin a bodice to a skirt for Beth’s dress.

“Keeping secrets is hard.”

“Especially when it’s something I know he still wants, however much he’s let the subject go. And, of course, I can’t say a word in front of the twins. Beth would have trouble keeping the secret, but Abby…?”

The group chuckled. “She’d probably pop from the pressure of an unvoiced thought.” Rissa grinned. “Love that kid.”

“Me, too. But I’m about to pop myself. And I’m nervous.”

“Seriously?” Penny asked. “Why? The man adores you to distraction.”

“I know. But so much could go wrong.”

“You’ll be there, Jackson will be there,” Jeanette ticked off on her fingers. “Everyone who loves you will be there. And no one’s going to give a rat’s patootie if some little detail goes awry.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.”

Even Hayley was hanging around and pitching in. “If I had a man who loved me the way that man loves you…” She looked around. “All of you. It’s sickening and gives me hope, all at the same time.” Her voice wobbled, and the whole room went still in shock.
Hayley? Emotional?

She glanced up from the needle she’d proven surprisingly adept at wielding. “Oh, grow up. You know what you have here. Sweetgrass is the perfect town.”

Eyebrows lifted. Glances were exchanged.

“Are you okay, Hayley?” Penny probed.

“What? Of course I am. It’s no one’s fault that some men are blind and stupid besides.” She shuddered dramatically. “Anyway, I belong in L.A.—not that visits here aren’t nice, but—”

“Nordstrom is in Austin. We’ll indulge in some emergency shoe therapy. You’ll feel much better,” Penny said.

Rissa snorted in derision. “Getting lightheaded from lack of shopping, Hayley?”

Her sister glared at her.

Rissa rolled her eyes.

Veronica cleared her throat and drew attention away from the potential argument. In the week and a half since Ben had dropped his bombshell and planning had whipped into warp speed, they’d become a cohesive group, even sharing confidences. “Steph will be coming with Jackson’s group.”

“Who’s Steph?” Hayley asked.

“One of the three who helped Jackson start Enigma. She’s the one Ty tried to frame, then abducted and held hostage before he shot himself right in front of her.”

“Oh. Wow. She and Jackson are close?”

Closer than anyone here knew, but Veronica tried to lock that out of her brain. The thought that this woman had seen Jackson naked caused her more than a little lost sleep, no matter how he insisted—and she believed him—that it had been only one time. That it had been only sex.

Only sex
was not a term she could relate to. Making love with Jackson was an extraordinary and emotional experience, a time when they fortified their bond, when they left behind business plans and children’s needs and decisions that impacted others. In those sacred moments, the world was only the two of them, a private space that felt…hallowed. She restored her soul there. She opened her heart fully. It was every bit as emotional as physical.

She wanted to tear Steph’s hair out by the roots.

She felt truly sorry for what Steph had been though.

She didn’t want to welcome Jackson’s former lover into her home.

But she would. For Jackson.

“So, wait…she’s coming here? I thought she wasn’t working for him anymore.”

“She’s not,” Penny spoke up. “But that’s who my brother is. He feels responsible for her, for all of them. He’s not just their boss, he’s their mentor, their cheerleader, their trailblazer. If you could see how people look at him back there…they’d walk through gunfire for him. He has the lowest turnover rate in the industry and yes, he provides terrific benefits to them, but that’s not what makes them stay. It’s respect. Admiration. And they honestly like him. He’s as likely to play a pickup basketball game as lead a meeting. He doesn’t put on airs. He has a fancy office for when he needs it to impress outsiders, but he has a workspace like the rest of them, down on the same floor, right in the mix. It’s why he wants as many of them here as possible, so that chemistry will survive. If he’s gone for months at a time, even conference calls won’t make up for not having him there to tell a joke to or to jump in on a
Lone Assassin
tournament.” She shook her head. “Until I started working with him, I didn’t realize just how hard it was going to be on him to move to Sweetgrass.”

“I should have moved to Seattle with the kids,” Veronica said.

“No. That’s not what he wants at all. He sees how you thrive here. He gets Sweetgrass as only someone who’s been estranged from it for so long could. He’s just trying to find his footing. He’s been solitary for a long time,” Scarlett reminded her. “He loves it here, too.”

“I admire what you’re doing, Veronica. I don’t know if I could welcome Steph here, but you’re showing Jackson how much you love him by making the effort. I hope you know he only thinks of her as a friend.” Penny’s expression made it clear that she, too, was aware that the two had had more than a business relationship.

“I believe that.” Mostly. It wasn’t Jackson she doubted. But how could any woman experience the power and beauty of his lovemaking and not be at least half in love with him? She forced herself to stop and think. Who had Jackson asked to marry, after all?

But Stephanie Hargrove was a bombshell, for sure. Veronica might be a farm wife, but she didn’t want to look like one. Not when a breathtakingly handsome man like Jackson was looking at her.

“Having her here will be fine,” she said firmly, then switched the subject. “Is Bridger excited about Molly being with him for Christmas?”

Penny cocked one eyebrow at the switch but played along. “He’s over the moon. Molly’s great.”

“All right,” Jeanette spoke up. “Time for the attendants to model their gowns.”

Rissa groaned. “Girl clothes.”

But Penny beamed. “Our dresses match my eyes. Perfect.”

“They were intended to match Jackson’s,” Jeanette reminded her.

“Lucky we’re twins, huh?”

“Uncle Tank?” Ben said, crossing the second floor of the old dry goods store.

Tank Patton glanced up from where he was working on installing a door. “Did you need something?”

Ben swallowed. He’d been afraid of his mom’s brother for a long time. Folks in Sweetgrass considered him a bully, and the kids at Ben’s school either feared him or talked bad about him. At best, he’d been a thorn in Ben’s side, and they’d had little to do with him while Ben was growing up.

But recently his mom had explained about the abuse his uncle had shielded her from when they were growing up. Their father Vernon Patton had been a cruel man, and though Ben couldn’t say he understood Uncle Tank, really, or even liked him much…maybe he could picture a little how he’d feel if anyone ever raised a hand to Abby or Beth.

He’d kill them, for sure. The idea of violence was foreign to him, since he’d been raised with love surrounding him all his life, but he’d fight to defend his family in a heartbeat.

His mom and Uncle Tank hadn’t been so lucky, he’d learned. Ben thought maybe he could see how living in a state of war could change everything.

Lately, his mom had been encouraging Uncle Tank to come around, including him in family meals and such. His uncle was a deputy sheriff whose territory included the whole county, and his schedule was unpredictable so he wasn’t around often, but…maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

Ben screwed up his courage. “I was wondering if I could talk to you about the wedding.”

Tank’s brows snapped together. “I thought you were okay with it.”

“I am,” Ben hastened to reassure his uncle. “Really, I am.” He hesitated. “You don’t really like my dad, do you?”

Uncle Tank’s mouth twisted. “I’m trying to.” After a pause he continued. “Veronica loves him, and he’s turning out to be good for her, but—” His gaze whipped to Ben’s. “He wasn’t always.”

Ben still didn’t really know everything that had happened between his parents, but he tried to imagine how he’d feel if he’d lost his mom and his father had hated him, the way his pop’s life had gone. He screwed up his courage again. “I’m positive he didn’t want to hurt her.”

Tank grunted. “He got her pregnant and left town.”

“But he didn’t know, Uncle Tank. He would have stayed if he’d known about me.”

His uncle shook his head as if he wasn’t convinced. “No point in arguing over that. Point is, your mama loves him and you love him, and we’ll get along. Somehow,” he muttered.

“Is it only Mom that’s the problem you have with him?”

Uncle Tank looked away. “Bad blood goes a lot farther back, but it’s water under the bridge now.”

“I could…listen. If you wanted to talk.”

His uncle eyed him curiously. “I think you mean that.”

“I do.”

Tank turned back to his work. “Old news,” he said. “Grab the other side, would you?”

Ben hastened to help. They worked in silence for a few minutes.

“So what was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, see, since my father doesn’t know about this wedding, I just—he needs to know I’m good with this because he left it up to me, see. But the girls and Mom want him to be surprised and—”

“What about you?”

“What?”

“Do you want him to be surprised?” Tank asked. “My old man didn’t like surprises. Things went bad when he was taken unawares.”

Wow. Ben didn’t know how to answer that, and Uncle Tank looked uncomfortable now.

He had to say something and make it right. “Um, well…he told Mom the only Christmas present he wanted was for her to marry him, and then when I wasn’t sure what to do about him wanting to adopt me—”