either having their private celebrations or preparing for them the next day. This year they were attending a wedding. From the private room off the vestibule, Maris could hear the swell of noise as more and more people arrived.
Mary stood quietly, a sheen of tears in her slate blue eyes as she watched her daughter prepare for her wedding. It didn't matter that Maris and Mac were already married; this was the wedding that counted. This was her beloved daughter who looked so delicate and beautiful in her silvery white gown, a color that turned Maris's pale, ash brown hair to a darker shade of silver. She remembered the first time she had seen her daughter, only seconds old, so tiny and lovely and already staring around with big, solemn black eyes, her father's eyes. She remembered the tears that had sheened Wolf's own black eyes as he'd taken Maris in his arms and hugged the little scrap to his chest as if she were the most precious thing he'd ever seen.
There were thousands of other memories. Her first tooth, her first step, her first word, predictably, 'horsie.' Maris sitting on a pony for the first time, her eyes huge with delight while Wolf kept a protective arm around her. Maris, a little shadow dogging her father's footsteps just -as her older brothers had done. Mans in school, fiercely joining in any fight the boys had gotten into, her little fists flying as she rushed to their defense, utterly ignoring the fact that the boys were twice her size. Maris sobbing when her old pony had died, and her radiant joy when, the next Christmas, Wolf had given her her first 'real' horse.
There had been Maris's first date, and Wolf's scowling, prowling nervousness until his baby was safely back under his roof. One of Mary's favorite memories was of Zane and Josh and Chance pacing along with their father; if Joe and Mike had been there, they would have been pacing, too. As it was, the poor boy who had been so brave as to take Maris out had been terrified when the four Mackenzie males met them on the front porch on their return and had never asked her out again. They had gotten better about it over the years, but Maris must have forgotten her first date or she wouldn't have been so surprised at their reaction to Mac when she'd brought him home. Men. Mary loved her men, but really, they could be so overbearing. Why, they liked Mac, once they'd gotten over their bristly protectiveness. If Maris didn't watch out, Zane would have Mac recruited into whatever it was he and Chance
Zane. Mary stopped short in her thoughts, looking around the room. All three of his children were here, with Barrie. Usually he was tending to at least one of the babies, or riding herd on Nick. That meant Zane was free and unencumbered, and she was sure it wasn't by accident. 'Zane's free,' she announced, because she thought Maris really ought to know.
Her daughter's head snapped up, and her lovely eyes caught fire. 'I'll skin him alive,' she said wrathfully. 'I will not have Mac gone for months on end the way Chance is. I just got him, and I'm not letting him go.'
Barrie looked startled; then she, too, realized the significance of having all three children with her. She shook her head in rueful acknowledgment of her husband's canniness. 'It's too late to do anything about it now. He's had plenty of time to have a private talk with Mac, and you know Zane, he planned it perfectly.'
Maris scowled, and Caroline drew back with the eye shadow brush in her hand. 'I can't do this with your eyebrows all scrunched up,' she admonished. Maris smoothed her expression, and Caroline went back to work. 'I don't believe in letting hormone-driven men interfere in a woman's wedding. You can skin him alive tomorrow. Ambush him when he least expects it.'
'Zane always expects everything,' Barrie said, grinning. Then she looked at her daughter, who was twirling and dancing in front of the mirror, admiring herself. 'Except Nick,' she added. 'He wasn't prepared for her.'
'Was anyone?' Loren murmured, smiling fondly down at the little girl. Nick, hearing her name, stopped her pirouetting to favor them all with an angelic smile that didn't fool them for one second.
'Mac's besotted with her,' Maris said. 'He didn't turn a hair even when she polished his boots with the Magic Marker.'
'An indication of true love if I've ever seen it,' Caroline said dryly. She touched the mascara wand to Maris's already dark lashes, then stood back to admire her handiwork. 'There! Mac would be crazy to leave you and go running around half-civilized countries where there's no sanitation and no shopping.' Caroline's philosophy in life was to be comfortable, and she went to extraordinary lengths to accomplish it. She would gladly walk miles to find the perfect comfortable pair of shoes. It made perfect sense to her, since her work often required her to be on her feet for hours; how could she possibly concentrate if her toes were cramped?
'I don't think Mac would care about the shopping,' Shea said. She picked Nick up and whirled around the room with the giggling little girl, humming a lively tune.
There was a knock on the door, and John poked his head inside. 'It's time,' he said. His pale blue gaze fell on Caroline. 'Wow, Mom, you look great.'
'Smart guy,' she said approvingly. 'I'll let you stay in my will.'
He grinned and ducked out again. Maris stood, sucking in a deep breath. It was time. Never mind that they'd been married for three weeks already; this was a production, and practically the entire town was on band to witness it.
Shea set Nick on her feet and got the basket of rose petals from the top of the closet, where they'd put it to keep Nick from scattering the flowers around the room. They'd already picked up the velvety petals once, and once was enough.
Barrie laid Zack beside Cameron. Both babies were sleeping peacefully, their little bellies full. Right on time, one of Shea's teenaged nieces arrived to watch them while Barrie attended the wedding.
The music began, their cue to begin entering the sanctuary.
One by one they began filing out, escorted by the Mackenzie men to their reserved seats. Zane's big form filled the doorway. Maris said, 'No,' and he grinned as he held his hand out to Barrie.
'Just a minute.' Barrie stooped in front of Nick, straightening the ribbons in her hair and at last placing the basket of flower petals in the eager, dimpled little hands. 'Do the flowers just the way you did them last night, okay? Do you remember?'
Nick nodded. 'I fwow dem aroun' on de fwoor.'
'That's right, sweetheart.' Having done all she could, Barrie stood and went to Zane, who slipped his arm around her waist and briefly hugged her close before they left to take their places.
Wolf came to the door, severely elegant in a black tuxedo. 'It's time, honey,' he said to Maris. His black eyes were tender as he wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth, the way he had done all her life. Maris laid her head on her father's chest, almost overwhelmed by the sudden rush of love for him. She'd been so lucky in her parents!
'I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever forget about horses long enough to fall in love,' he said, 'but now that you have, I feel like we haven't had you long enough.'
She chuckled against his chest. 'That's exactly how I knew.' She lifted her head, her eyes shining with both tears and laughter. 'I kept forgetting about Sole Pleasure and thinking only about Mac. It had to be love.'
He kissed her forehead. 'In that case, I'll forgive him.'
'Poppy!'
The imperious small voice came from the vicinity of his knee. They looked down. Nick was tugging on Wolf's pant leg. 'We dotta huwwy. I dotta fwow fwowers.'
As usual, her mangled English made him laugh. 'All right, cupcake.' He leaned down and took her free hand, to keep her from darting ahead of them and 'fwowing fwowers' before they were ready.
He and Maris and Nick made their way into the vestibule, and Maris leaned down to kiss Nick's cheek. 'Are you ready?' she asked.
Nick nodded, her slanted blue eyes wide and shining with excitement, and she clutched the flower basket
