Frank nodded then said, “I saw some cars pull in. Did you change your mind about Gabe’s family coming?”
Josephine had been too distracted to notice much of anything that morning. “They must be workers setting up the altar. We almost invited Gabe’s family, but they’re all very busy. We didn’t want today to be focused on who couldn’t be here, but instead simply about us choosing to spend the rest of our lives together.”
“That doesn’t seem right to me,” Frank said with a sad shake of his head.
“We’ll have a dinner with them later and announce that we’re married. It’s too much to ask them to drop what they’re doing to be here.”
“No expectations, no disappointment.”
He knows me too well. “Something like that.”
“Well, let’s go then. Your future is waiting for you. Bet he’s already there waiting for you.”
Josephine was on her feet. “Am I late?”
With a cackle, Frank said, “How refreshing of you to worry. My daughter says she’s never late, only highly anticipated. She also claims her daughter wasn’t early, she was pre-released.”
“You miss her already, don’t you?”
A shadow darkened his eyes. “If I had a chance to go back, I would do so many things differently. I kept telling myself I had time to fix my relationship with my daughter. I’d do it next week, next month, right after I finished whatever project I was working on. Roy’s death was a wake-up call for me. I’m comfortable here, but my daughter needs me and that’s what matters the most.”
She gave him a gentle smile. “Yes, it is.”
“You remember that, Josephine. Your gift will take you many places, never let it be away from those you love.”
She threw her arms around him. He accepted the hug awkwardly, but he was smiling. “You don’t know what it means to have you here, Frank.” She touched one of the leather journals. “I was missing my father, but I believe he’s here today. There’s no amount of scientific data that would convince me he’s not. Does that sound odd?”
Frank walked to the door and opened it. “There are a great many things in life that cannot be explained or proven, but that doesn’t make them less real. Love is one of them. The phenomenon of alien abductions is another.”
Josephine’s eyes flew to his, and she tried to gauge if he was joking or not.
He winked.
She laughed and he joined her. They linked arms and began to walk across the driveway together. They hadn’t gotten far before she looked up and saw there was a small crowd gathered around Gabe. Their eyes met and he shrugged in apology.
Speaking to herself, and fighting back a mild panic, Josephine said thickly, “His family is here. Looks like he changed his mind.”
“That’s your family Josephine, if you let them be. Don’t see them in terms of people who let you down. You go over there and love them with all your heart. And if they don’t love you back, you come back to me. I’ll build you a lab in my daughter’s basement.”
Josephine knew exactly what it had taken for Frank to put aside his paranoia and social fears and come here. He couldn’t have chosen a better way to show how much he cared about her. “You have one very lucky daughter.”
He blushed. “You tell her that next time she gets a thousand-dollar electric bill.”
“I will,” Josephine promised.
There wasn’t time to say more. Gabe said something to the people around him and they shuffled around into a half circle. He took his place beside the officiant and music began to play. Even the small number of onlookers added a level of formality to what had been a more casual ceremony. Josephine tightened her hand on Frank’s arm. She wasn’t sure if it was unfair to ask him then, but she did anyway. “Frank, will you walk me down the aisle?”
He raised his head proudly. “I’d be honored.”
Chapter Twenty
Taking deep, calming breaths as she went, Josephine walked with Frank across the lawn toward the little altar Gabe had put up beneath a flowered arbor. He left his spot with the officiant and strode toward her.
What is he doing? I’m supposed to walk to him. His family had all turned and were watching. She raised her chin and squared her shoulders.
Gabe stopped directly in front of her, and Frank stepped away. “You look gorgeous in anything you wear, but today—” He kissed her lips lightly. “Perfect.”
Even as pleasure spread through her, she put her hand up to his chest in protest and sputtered against his lips. “What are you doing?”
He raised his head, his expression serious suddenly. “My family is here. I want to make sure that’s okay with you.”
Her worries about what they would think of the ceremony fell away. Gabe’s love for her shone from his eyes. Very shortly she would be his wife. Everything else was frosting. She smiled brightly up at him. “I’m so glad you changed your mind and invited them.”
“I didn’t,” he said and looked around until he spotted Frank a few feet away. “Thank you, Frank. I would have regretted not inviting them.”
Frank ducked his head and stepped farther away, but he looked pleased.
Josephine almost ran after him to hug him again, but Gabe took her hand. There’d be enough time to thank Frank later. She met her soon-to-be husband’s eyes. “That was a big deal for Frank. He doesn’t reach out to anyone like that, but he doesn’t want me to miss out on having a family.”
“Nor do I,” Gabe said and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “I want you to meet them.”
“Now? Before the ceremony?”
She must have sounded concerned because he stopped and turned toward her again. “Coming back here opened my eyes to what I’d let fall to the wayside. You opened my eyes to the importance of family. My brothers will love you because I do. They may worry for me or tease you until you’re tempted to use those kick boxing moves on them, but we’ll make this work because this is what matters in the end. My father understood that. That’s why he sent me here. He knew I was only half the man I was meant to be. I’m sure you and what you were doing here was the unexpected part of his plan, but I see beauty in the unexpected now. You gave me that.”
They kissed and one of his brothers called out, “Not judging, but it seems like you have this backward.”
Gabe laughed and she joined him. “Are you ready to not only meet my family, but join them?”
She winked and said, “Don’t worry, if any of them acts up, I still have my duct tape. I’m going to play it sweet, though, so back me up.”
He rested his forehead on hers. “They’ll catch on eventually, but I love it. And I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed him again. “So, are we doing this or what?”
He laughed again and raised his head. “Oh, yes.”
Josephine normally would have analyzed the genetic similarities and differences between Gabe and his brothers, but that part of her brain had turned off for the day. She was riding on emotions and dreams.
Aunt Claire gave her a backbreaking tight hug. His brothers came over and welcomed her into the family one at a time. Knowing that one had brought the woman he loved with him warmed her heart. Lizzie might end up being her first sister-in-law. Josephine was going from no family to a huge one. She felt like she was floating. When she discovered that two of Gabe’s brothers had heard too late to come but were joining them via video, it was the best wedding gift anyone could have ever given her. Or Gabe. He was all smiles.
James was the only brother who held back. He watched her closely and his welcome to the family wasn’t as warm. Josephine saw the truth in his eyes; he knew her story. Even though she was in her wedding dress and the officiant kept looking across expectantly, Josephine whispered to Gabe, “Does James know?”
Gabe nodded. “He had you investigated. He doesn’t know the whole story but he will later.”
“Do you mind if I talk to him?”
Gabe looked across at James. “I can talk to hi
m later.”
“It’ll just take a minute.”
“I’ll meet you at the altar,” Gabe said with a final quick kiss.
Josephine chuckled. “That’s how this is supposed to work.”
Despite the eyebrows that flew up as she did it, Josephine asked James if she could talk to him on the side. He agreed and they stepped away from the rest of the family.
Josephine jumped right in. “I love Gabe. Whatever you think you know or don’t know, that’s what matters.”
His expression tightened. “It wasn’t my intention to offend you. My brother is important to me. If you’re not who you appear to be, be careful. You mess with him, you mess with all of us.”
Frank’s words came to her. Love them with all your heart. She leaned toward him and said confidentially, “I’m not who I appear to be at all, but that’s part of what your brother loves about me. I’m not offended. Actually, I would have been disappointed in you if you weren’t worried for your brother. I know you don’t trust me yet, but I’ll have the next sixty or so years to win you over. I’m not worried.”
James looked from her to Gabe and back. “He doesn’t look worried at all that we’re talking.”
“Because he knows me. He knows I’d never do anything to hurt him or his family—my family if you accept me into yours.”
James studied her face for a moment then smiled. “I look like a jackass right now, don’t I?”
She linked her arm in his. “No, you look like the kind of protective older brother I always wanted. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m ready to get this party started.”
They walked back to where Gabe was standing. As they passed Frank he smiled in approval. James handed her off to Gabe and the two brothers shared a look.
The officiant cleared his throat. Gabe and Josephine turned toward each other in front of him, but Gabe leaned forward and said, “He likes you.”
“He loves you,” Josephine whispered back. “So, he already has a place in my heart.”
Neither of them was paying attention as the officiant started the ceremony. They were too busy smiling at each other.
“Wait,” a male voice called out, temporarily calling the ceremony to a halt. Montee approached the altar from the side. One of his hands was behind his back. “I do know a reason they can’t marry yet.”
A silence hung heavily in the air. Josephine turned to face him.
Montee’s face transformed with a huge smile. “She doesn’t have her bouquet yet.” He handed her a bunch of lilies.
With all that had gone on leading up to the wedding, Josephine had completely forgotten to order a bouquet. She accepted it with a teary, grateful smile. When her hand closed around it, though, she burst out laughing. The stems of the flowers were wrapped in duct tape. She showed it to Gabe who also burst out laughing before shaking Montee’s hand.
“Are we ready?” the officiant asked.
Gabe pulled Josephine into his arms. “Are we? Ready? I know I am.”
“Bring on forever. I’m all in,” she answered, and they kissed again.
One of her brothers said, “They’ve got this all wrong.”
Aunt Claire’s voice sang out, “No, it looks like they’ve got it just right.”
THE END
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Blurb
When Hunter Brannigan loses his father and is sent a map, he doesn’t know what to think. Is it a joke? Was the old man going senile at the end? The attorney sending the map assures him the piece of paper was definitely from his father and he must follow the clues to find himself.
Hunter has been running from anything even remotely resembling responsibility for a very long time. He’s a world renowned Photo Journalist, traveling the seven continents in pursuit of the next great shot. He’s been in the heart of the trauma during war time, natural disasters, and life-altering moments, always on the other side of the lens, never getting emotionally involved. His father’s last wish for him is to put himself within the pictures he’s famous for.
Deciding to humor his father’s last request, he stumbles upon Rebekah Kingsley III, an uptight History Professor who desperately needs to let her hair down. Though he has his doubts she can get dirty long enough to help him, something about her won’t let him walk so easily this time. Will she be enough to make him settle down, or will he leave her with nothing but a picture of what could have been.
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I was over the moon when I was asked to participate in this series. I still get goosebumps when I see my book next to those of many of favorite authors: Barbara Freethy, Melody Anne, Christie Ridgway, Lynn Raye Harris, Roxanne St. Claire and JoAnn Ross. Seven full-length love stories about seven sexy men and the women who tame them.
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About the Author
Ruth Cardello was born the youngest of 11 children in a small city in southern Massachusetts. She spent her young adult years moving as far away as she could from her large extended family. She lived in Boston, Paris, Orlando, New York—then came full circle and moved back to New England. She now happily lives one town over from the one she was born in. For her, family trumped the warmer weather and international scene.
She was an educator for 20 years, the last 11 as a kindergarten teacher. When her school district began cutting jobs, Ruth turned a serious eye toward her second love– writing and has never been happier. When she’s not writing, you can find her chasing her children around her small farm, riding her horses, or connecting with her readers online.
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Ruth Cardello, Gabe
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