Forever His Bride. Lisa Childs

Mrs. McClintock and the others began to squabble over whether or not they should cancel the reception, Josh agreed with the woman who’d almost been his mother-in-law. Her reasons for not canceling were that everything was paid for, so many people had worked hard on the preparations and she didn’t want to disappoint the townspeople who’d been anticipating a party.

      Josh’s reason was Brenna. He didn’t want to disappoint her.

      JOSH SQUINTED AGAINST the sunlight as he followed the boys outside the church, leaving everyone else inside. Clayton had taken it upon himself to make the announcement to the guests that the wedding was off, but Josh still had to make the announcement to his sons.

      “Race you down the stairs,” TJ challenged his brother.

      “Wait, boys,” he said as he settled on the top step of the stairs leading down to the sidewalk. “Sit with me a minute.”

      The twins exchanged one of their glances, speaking to each other without words, and joined him. Perhaps they hadn’t been as oblivious to what had gone on in the church as he’d thought.

      “Are you okay, Daddy?” Buzz asked, putting his hand on Josh’s shoulder much as Nick, his namesake, had in the church. Buzz had earned his nickname only a couple of years ago, after he’d gotten hold of Josh’s razor. His hair had been kept “buzzed” short ever since he’d given himself that first haircut. His real name was Nicholas James, after his godfather.

      “Yeah, Daddy, you ’kay?” TJ asked, as he settled onto the step close to Josh’s side.

      Josh breathed in a deep breath of fresh air as the sunlight warmed his face and a light June breeze rustled the trees. No bride could have had a better day for her wedding. But that was exactly what Josh had. No bride.

      “I’m okay, guys,” he assured his boys. “I don’t know if you understand what happened in there.”

      “Nothing happened,” TJ griped, tugging at his bow tie. “It was boring.”

      “Boring,” Buzz agreed.

      “Oh, it was a little bit exciting,” Josh countered. That flurry of nerves as he’d realized he was probably making a mistake, and then the flood of relief when he’d understood that Molly wasn’t coming down the aisle…“But you’re kind of right about nothing happening. Do you remember what was supposed to happen today?”

      As if they were in their preschool classroom, Buzz raised his hand, but he burst out his answer before Josh could “call” on him. “We were s’posed to get married!”

      “Stupid!” TJ reached around Josh to poke his brother’s back. “Daddy and Molly were s’pose to get married.”

      “Dummy,” Buzz shot back at his brother, “Molly’s not here.”

      Biting his lip to hold back a smile, Josh nodded. “No, she’s not. So I didn’t get married.” And he hadn’t gotten them the stepmother he’d promised them.

      “That’s okay,” Buzz assured his father, patting his shoulder again.

      “It’s better, just us guys,” TJ insisted, jumping to his feet.

      Like a jack-in-the-box, Buzz popped up alongside him and declared, “No girls allowed!”

      The brothers exchanged another glance, and then TJ asked, “We still gonna move here?”

      Josh allowed the smile to take shape then as he stood, too. He wished he were as resilient as his sons. He crouched to their level and pulled them into a close hug. “Yes, we’re still moving here,” he assured them. Then he whispered, “I bought us a house.”

      “Really?” Buzz asked, his blue eyes widening.

      As he straightened up, Josh nodded. “But don’t tell Uncle Nick.” He’d deal with his best friend later. Being Nick, he’d probably have a lot to say, in addition to “I told you so,” and Josh didn’t have the energy to argue with him just then. He hadn’t slept at all last night.

      “Don’t tell Uncle Nick what?” the best man asked as he stepped through the open church door, which Brenna Kelly had been holding with her back. Nick patted his pockets, probably checking to make sure the boys hadn’t pilfered any of his valuables.

      Josh’s attention focused on Brenna, on the color flooding her round face as she was caught eavesdropping on his conversation with the boys. Why did he have the feeling that he might have to deal with her later, too? And why did the thought excite him?

      “Nothing,” Josh finally said in response to his friend’s question.

      “We want to ride in the big car, Daddy!” TJ demanded as he clutched Josh’s hand and tugged him down the church steps toward the idling black limo.

      Buzz grabbed his other hand. His voice softer than his brother’s, he asked, “Can we ride in the big car?”

      “Please?” TJ added.

      Not to be outdone, Buzz echoed the plea, “Please?”

      If Josh said no, they’d pitch a fit. Screaming. Kicking. A full-blown temper tantrum. He’d already endured one when he hadn’t let them carry the wedding rings down the aisle. In hindsight, he probably should have spared himself that tantrum and let them have the gold bands, instead of insisting his best man carry them. If the twins had flushed the rings, as they’d been known to flush other stuff such as Josh’s pager and cell phone—and Nick’s, as well—it wouldn’t have mattered. Josh hadn’t needed the rings after all.

      He didn’t need the limo, either. But since they’d decided not to cancel the reception, the wedding party might as well take the long black car. “Come on, everyone,” he called out to the bridesmaids and groomsmen who filed down the steps behind him. “Let’s get in.”

      “Are you sure?” Brenna Kelly asked, her green gaze intent on his face. He nodded and stepped back so that she and the rest of the wedding party could climb into the stretch limo.

      For Brenna’s sake he hadn’t cancelled the reception. And for her parents’ sakes, too—as well as hosting the rehearsal dinner, Emmet and Theresa Kelly had worked hard with the caterer on the wedding feast. Josh owed the older couple a debt of gratitude.

      After the rehearsal dinner, the Kellys had had him and the boys stay at their house. They hadn’t wanted them to stay with the McClintocks and risk bad luck tied to a wedding superstition involving the groom seeing the bride just before the wedding.

      But Josh had seen her. She’d walked over to the Kellys’ in the middle of the night, where she’d found him sitting alone in the dark on the porch.

      “Why’d you ask me to marry you?” she’d asked him.

      “I think we can make a marriage work. I think we can be happy,” he’d told her, even though he’d been having doubts himself ever since he’d met Brenna Kelly.

      She’d sighed, obviously torn. “I’m not sure…”

      “Have you changed your mind? Do you want to back out?”

      Misery and confusion had darkened her brown eyes. “I don’t know.”

      “We’re supposed to be married tomorrow. Do you want to postpone the ceremony?”

      “Everyone’s worked so hard on it. Brenna, the Kellys, Mrs. George.” She’d sighed. “And Clayton has already paid for everything.”

      “If you’ve changed your mind, I can reimburse him. I wanted to pay in the first place.”

      “He won’t let you.”

      Then or now. The moment they’d agreed not to cancel the reception, he’d offered—and been rejected. Again.

      His mind flipped back to his conversation with Molly. She had sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m probably just experiencing pre-wedding jitters. I’ll be fine