Alex laughed. He knew his father was joking even though there was no smile. “That is her. I didn’t think we’d be here either. I’m not going to lie and say I hadn’t noticed her at Eli’s wedding. That’s how I knew who she was once I saw her sitting on the grass after I pulled her out. She sure is scrappy.”

  “I’m not surprised,” his mother said. “How did you get to the point she is your girlfriend and you didn’t answer my question?”

  “I ran into her in the hardware store a month ago,” he said. “We were talking and I helped her in her house. One thing led to another.”

  “Can I say I’m surprised?” his mother said.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Well, you are known to be a certain way with the ladies on the island. I’ve got to imagine Griffin would have told Jennie that and not been too thrilled either.”

  “Griffin just found out a few days ago,” he said.

  “She had no idea about your reputation?” his father asked.

  He hated it was turning into this, but as the old saying went, he made his bed and he had to lie in it. As many would say, a lot of women had lain in that bed with him in the past.

  He couldn’t change anything he’d done before he met her, but he wasn’t going to be that person anymore.

  “Jennie knew,” he said, grinning. “She guessed and called me out on it.”

  “I like her already,” his mother said, nodding her head.

  “You’ll love her. You really will. She’s refreshing and doesn’t take crap from anyone. Think Griffin but not as intense.”

  “Should be interesting to watch,” his father said. “What was Griffin’s reaction if he just found out?”

  “Not as welcoming to the idea as you are, but I expected as much. Jennie gave him hell and Penelope did too. I know he’ll want to talk to me when he sees me.”

  “Hopefully not at the wedding,” his mother said. “That wouldn’t be right and I’d expect better of you.”

  “I’m not starting anything with the guy,” he said.

  “And you shouldn’t. It’s his baby sister and this is between them,” his father said. “Remember that.”

  “So noted,” he said. “Now I’ve got to get to the garage. Carter is slammed and I said I’d put half a day in.”

  He left and drove the few miles to his cousin’s garage.

  “Sorry, I’m late,” he said to his cousin. He was stepping into the coveralls he threw in his truck to keep his clothes clean. He figured if Lizzie saw him dressed like this, she’d walk away and pretend like they didn’t know each other.

  After the way things ended, it would be wise, as he felt that way too. But sometimes it was hard to look past the injustices that you felt were done to you.

  The times you had no control and things were not only taken out of your hands but ripped a hole in your chest that might not get repaired.

  No one knew those things though. He’d never told a soul.

  Not because he was protecting Lizzie, or embarrassed that he’d fallen for her, but because it hurt too damn much to think of what he lost.

  “No worries,” Carter said. “I’m always glad to have your help.”

  He heard a loud snorting sound and turned to see Carter’s St. Bernard, Dopey, shifting in his bed by the desk. That big dog was never far from his master’s side.

  He figured he might as well fill his cousin in too. Carter was quiet and kept to himself most times, but he’d be annoyed if Alex didn’t tell him before he’d heard from someone else.

  “I was at my parents’ this morning. I wanted to break the news to them before they heard it elsewhere.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve got a bun in the oven,” Carter said, his jaw open. Dopey lifted his head as if he knew the word bun was food, but then when he realized there was nothing there, lay back down.

  “It’s not physically possible for me to have a bun in the oven,” he said, laughing. It’s what he always said and did when someone busted his ass about this. It was better than saying it wasn’t going to happen.

  Carter laughed like he was known to do. “Then what is the news?”

  “I’m dating Jennie Zale?”

  “You date a lot of women,” Carter said. “What’s so special about this one?”

  That was Carter. Staying in his own world.

  “It’s more than dating. I used the G word to my mother. Shocked the shit out of her.”

  He walked over to the computer, the plastic on the keyboard all grimy from the grease on their hands. He punched in a few things to see what was lined up to be done, then bent down to pet Dopey, the dog barely moving.

  “Wow,” Carter said. “I’m surprised your father didn’t have to catch her before she hit the floor. Good for you.”

  “You didn’t catch the last name, did you?” he asked.

  He found the keys for the car he was going to pull in to change the oil and rotate the tires on. He’d get it on the lift to the right of where Carter was going to work now. They were known to talk while they worked. It was the only way to get things done.

  “Zale?”

  “Yep. Think about that while I move this car in.”

  He went to the lot, found the car and pulled it in, got it on the lift and sent it up. Carter moved out from under the hood of the car he was working on.

  “I don’t know any Zales,” Carter said, frowning. He might scratch his head if he didn’t know grease would transfer.

  “We are going to a wedding in two weeks,” he said, moving under the car to undo the oil cap and let it drain out.

  “Shit. You’re dating Griffin’s sister? Are you on a suicide mission?”

  “Hardly,” he said, laughing.

  “She’s the one that knocked your mask off when you were helping her out of the house fire.”

  “I wasn’t helping her,” he said. “I yanked her out, by her words, and then carried her over my shoulder. And she’d tell you again and again, there was no fire.”

  He’d stopped arguing with her over it. It was a moot point now.

  “You know what I mean. How did this come about?”

  “We ran into each other a month ago and got talking. One thing led to another. We’ve been taking it slow,” he said.

  “Which is hard for you to do,” Carter shouted from under the hood.

  No reason his cousin needed to see his frown. “Not that hard,” he said. “Anyway, there you go. You heard it from the source.”

  “I did,” Carter said.

  That was it. That was his cousin. The conversation was over and they’d get to work.

  In two weeks time, he’d see what the rest of the family’s reaction was going to be and how much crap he was going to have to listen to about being nervous around Griffin or Jennie being nuts because of his history with women on the island.

  Who would have thought battling the things in your past would catch up this fast and this hard?

  19

  Live Her Life

  “You look beautiful,” Jennie said to Penelope. They were at Penelope’s house where they were finishing getting ready for the wedding that was being held at Atlantic Rise Hotel. She knew that was where it’d be all along, but they could have easily had it at the casino too.

  “Thank you,” Penelope said. She was in a big puffy dress but one that didn’t look all that heavy, more like it had material resembling a tutu on it. She supposed that made sense with Zandra’s dress being very similar in design, at least the bottom of it. “And that blue looks stunning on you, Jennie. The cut of the dress too. Not bad for not trying it on before ordering it.”

  She laughed over that comment. Jennie wasn’t one for fancy or expensive dresses. Not for shopping or having girls’ days. Though there was part of her that would have had fun going with Emily and Penelope for the dresses, the other part of her said not to get used to things like that in her life.

  It was better to stay the way she was. To keep back and make sure her heart was held in check from not only a man but also friends.

  Except, now she was realizing what a massive mistake that had been.

  “I know what looks good on me,” she said. “And wouldn’t need a lot of alterations.”

  The dress was almost stretchy on top around her chest and waist. It was sleeveless too with a V-shaped neckline. The bottom of the dress was straight to the floor with a slit up the side to make it easy to move. The cornflower blue was a pretty shade that looked great with her coloring.

  Everyone had gotten their hair done, hers styled up in the back in some kind of twist with a few curls around her face. She’d never had her hair done professionally like this before and almost didn’t recognize herself when she looked in the mirror.

  She wondered what Alex would think of her. Then she told herself, the bigger excitement was going to be seeing him in a suit.

  He’d told her before he’d noticed her at Eli’s wedding so he’d seen her dressed up in a simple black dress, but she didn’t remember him. She didn’t remember too many people, as it was a blur of people all around.

  This wedding, she knew more going in. Or as she liked to think, she was part of the family now by dating Alex more than her brother marrying Penelope.

  “It’s as if it was made for you,” Emily said. Emily had the same color on as her, but a different style. Being pregnant with twins, she was going for fashion and comfort. And though she wasn’t that big yet in Jennie’s eyes, you could tell Emily was pregnant. The high-waisted dress did camouflage it well though.

  “This is only the second wedding I’ve been to,” Jennie said. “Obviously the first I’ve been in.”

  Last night they had the rehearsal dinner. Penelope told her to invite Alex, but in the end she decided not to. Griffin hadn’t talked to him yet that she was aware of and she didn’t want it happening then. She didn’t think he’d say much today either.

  Maybe it was cowardice on her part, but for now, she wanted to live her life and continue to be happy like she’d never been before.

  She’d met Alex’s parents last week. They’d invited her to dinner and she enjoyed the interaction that Alex had with his mother. The teasing and the love. The things she and Griffin had with their mother at one point.

  She wondered if Griffin had those memories too. He was older than her when their mother was murdered, so he’d had more time with her. More memories to build on.

  More memories might not have been a great thing in their life either and she had to remind herself of that too.

  With the good there was evil. Griffin would have much more evil than her. Much more pain and suffering.

  They both endured and they were surviving.

  Looking around at the family her brother was marrying into...he was thriving.

  “Are we ready to go?” Sophia said, walking into the living room. “The limo is here and your father just texted me to see what the hold up was.”

  “We’re ready,” Penelope said, squealing. “I can’t believe I’m getting married today. I didn’t think I’d see this day.”

  “I don’t think my brother thought it either,” Jennie said.

  “I’m pretty persuasive,” Penelope said, winking and then picking Zandra up out of the playpen where she’d been entertaining herself. “Right, baby girl?”

  It didn’t take long before they were on the way and then pulling into the hotel. The girls all entered through the back so no one could see them and then made their way to the hall where the ceremony was taking place.

  The music started and Sophia walked down holding Zandra in her arms next to Eli. Jennie knew how this was going to work out, but seeing everyone dressed up in their formal wear with the music going was different than the rough run last night with everyone talking and laughing.

  Crew had already been at the altar and Eli joined him next to Griffin. That was her cue to go down next. She wasn’t sure how she felt with all the eyes on her, but she was only looking for one person and found him. Alex’s eyes almost popped out of his head and she gave him a little wink, then kept going until she got to the end. Emily came down next and stood beside her.

  The music changed and Penelope came down with her father holding her arm. When she passed the table where Sophia was holding her daughter, Zandra started to kick her legs and reach for her mother. Mason handed off Penelope to Griffin, then went back to get Zandra and put her niece in her brother’s arms to hold for the ceremony.

  She could go to a hundred weddings, but she knew beyond a doubt this one would be burned into her brain forever.

  They stood there for the short ceremony and exchanging of the rings. It might be the shortest ceremony in history due to Zandra making noises and wiggling to move, reaching for the flower on Griffin’s tux, wanting her mother, and letting out a few shouts, then laughing as the rest of the room laughed.

  No one seemed to mind though, as it wasn’t about it being perfect, but just being right.

  Over an hour later, pictures were taken and everyone was milling around the room waiting for the food to come out. She’d yet to make her way to Alex, as she ran to the bathroom first and on her way back saw her bosses and decided to detour there.

  “How are you feeling, Amanda?” Amanda had her son, Liam, just a few weeks ago but looked lovely as ever.

  “I’m doing well,” Amanda said. “More tired than anything. My sister came to town this weekend and she’s got the baby while we are here.”

  “Amanda is a nervous wreck,” Drew said. “But I keep telling her we aren’t that far and Charlotte would call if there was an issue. Liam spends most of his time eating, sleeping or dirtying a diaper. It’s nice to have a little break.”

  “I’m sure it’s the first-time mother thing,” Jennie said. Not that she’d have any clue about that. She wanted to someday though, just not yet. She needed to be in a better place in her life.

  Though if what she suspected was true, her brother hadn’t planned any of this and yet it was working out as if it was always supposed to be.

  “Tell me you aren’t talking about work,” Hudson Mills said when she looked up to see him standing there. She wasn’t surprised the ER doctor had found her.

  “Hardly,” Jennie said smiling. “I was coming over to say hi since I was at this end of the room. How are you doing?”

  “I’m good,” Hudson said. “That was going to be my question to you. How is the shoulder? Finally all healed?”

  “It feels great,” she said. She glanced across the room to where Alex was sitting with Mac and Jarrett and his parents, then came back to the rest at the table. “It wasn’t that bad. Griffin was being a pain is all.”

  “That is what older brothers do,” Hudson said. “But I’m glad to know you’re all healed up and good to go. You can dance it up tonight if you want.”

  “I plan on it,” Jennie said.

  “Looks like your food is at the table,” Hudson said. She’d seen the waiters moving around and knew she’d lost her chance to go see Alex now until after dinner.

  “I better get back there before Griffin hunts me down. Not sure what his problem is lately,” Jennie said, laughing. She’d found her brother at the head of the table looking for her and then his eyes landed on Alex at the other side of the room. Maybe it wasn’t that great of an idea to push off putting the two of them in the same room when she could have gotten it out of the way last night.

  She went back to the head table, passing her brother. “Sorry if you were waiting for me to eat. I was talking to Amanda and wanted to see how she was doing. Hudson came over to check on me.”

  “I saw,” Griffin said. “We weren’t waiting for you. Penelope is starving. She was going to eat without you.”

  “I was not,” Penelope said. “But I am starving. Sit and eat. Griffin, you promised you’d behave. This is our day. Your sister is fine and knows what she is doing.”

  Griffin sighed, pulled her close to his side and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He didn’t do that much in her life and it felt good. Then she turned and saw Alex watching them and wondered if that was his motive.

  She elbowed her brother and he grunted, then laughed. “Jerk.”

  “I’m allowed to let everyone know I’m thrilled my sister is here to share in my day.”

  She turned to see if he was joking and though he had a rare smile on his face, she did notice the sincerity in his eyes.

  She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad to be here with you too, even if I give you a hard time.”

  “Good,” Penelope said. “All made up. Time to eat. Mom has Zandra so it’s nice to get a meal without feeding her and I’m diving in.”

  Jennie grinned and grabbed her seat to eat like the rest of them. She’d get to see her boyfriend and talk to him soon enough.

  20

  Happy Coincidence

  Alex went to the bar to get a drink while the food was being brought out. When he was walking back to his table, Hudson waved him over so he detoured and stopped.

  “I feel fine,” he said to Hudson. His family could be a little overbearing at times, but they always cared.

  “That wasn’t what I was going to ask,” Hudson said. “Though I’m glad you are. I just heard the news. Figures you’d do it that way and now Hailey’s wedding in June won’t be filled with the talk of your relationship.”

  He laughed, having not thought much of that. “I didn’t plan it that way, but it was a happy coincidence. Going to introduce me to your lady?”

  “Delaney Hawkins, this is Alex Bond. You remember me telling you about him and Griffin’s sister the day of the fire?”

  “I do,” Delaney said, putting her hand out to shake. “And Hudson said he just found out you are now dating each other.”

  “We are,” he said. Hudson’s twin, Carson, laughed over that. He moved back when the food got closer. “Guess I better get my seat.”

  When Alex got back to his table, food was arriving there too.

  “Everyone checking on you?” his mother asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “Then Hudson told me I planned it well letting everyone know about me and Jennie last minute. It’s not like I announced it or anything. How many people have you told?”