He shook his head when he recalled the warning his fathers and grandfathers had delivered that very first night they’d brought their woman to Lusty. After confessing their sins, they’d been warned that if they screwed this marriage up, the family would keep Pamela, inferring, of course, that they would be free to go elsewhere.
The door opened, and Adam entered. “Dad just called. Our special guests have arrived. They’ll be coming over with the folks shortly.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried the flight might have been delayed.”
“Me, too.” Adam’s grin told James more than just how grateful he was this day had finally arrived. Adam looked freer, more relaxed and happier than James had ever seen him.
With Pamela as their wife, loving her and being the recipients of her love, they’d become better men. James understood now how their parents had, thinking back again to that first night home, in their own fashion, helped them along the way.
“It wasn’t that we were deliberately being obtuse,” Adam said. His comment proved that he was traveling down the same mental paths as was James.
“No, we were never that. You have to admit, brother, we just didn’t get it.”
“Thank God the family opened our eyes in time,” Adam said. “I think the grandparents—all of the grandparents—were nearly ready to disown us.”
“I’ll give you one more reason to be thankful. Our phone call to Reg. How did you know it would work out, that he’d tell us he was more than okay with both of us being Pamela’s husbands?”
“I had a hunch. It was something he said to me as we stood talking, the night of our wedding, in the midst of that small party. I didn’t twig on at the time, or I would have told you. But as time passed, I began to think about what he’d said, and took that chance. If I know our woman, she’ll tell us later tonight, when we’re alone.”
Adam didn’t offer any more explanation than that. They were as ready as they were going to be. It was just a matter of waiting to be summoned.
They sat quietly, two brothers together and soon to be, in the eyes of their family, two husbands together. They’d always been close, but since Pamela had come into their lives, their bond had only strengthened.
The door opened, and Caleb stuck his head in.
“I’ve been sent to fetch the two of you. All of the guests have arrived, and we’re about ready to get started.”
“Good. The sooner I put my ring on my wife’s finger and proclaim my vows, the better.”
James placed the tiny ring on the end of his pinky and clutched it tight. Then he and Adam followed their cousin down the stairs to the great room, which was as crowded as he’d ever seen it. He smiled, and with his brother, nodded to everyone. But the gathered crowd didn’t hold his attention. He felt his own nerves and even accepted that he trembled. That didn’t hold his attention, either.
He took his place to the left of his brother and, with him, put all his attention on the stairs. From somewhere soft music played, an instrumental. He recognized one of the Beatles’ best from the sixties, “In My Life.” It didn’t surprise him that his family would have discovered that Pamela was a Beatles fan or that they would ensure a version of her favorite song from that rock group would play as she began to descend the stairs.
And then he heard footsteps. He’d guessed that it would be his cousin Joan who would appear first. She and Pamela had become good friends, and while he’d be the first to admit he didn’t completely understand women, he knew one thing for certain. On such a day as this, a woman counted on her friends to help her prepare.
And then, she was there. How can a woman look alluring and innocent at the same time? She wore a wedding dress, an ivory silk that moved with her in a beautiful flowing way. The sight of her gown tugged on a memory. The dress seemed familiar but he didn’t think it was the one she’d worn back in Maryland.
“It’s Mother’s dress,” Adam whispered.
Of course! He’d seen pictures of his parents on their wedding day. He remembered his mother once lamenting that she didn’t have a daughter to wear her gown on her special day.
Pamela’s heart and the love between his woman and his mother meant that, now, she did.
Pamela’s eyes lit on a trio of men standing fairly close to them, and she gasped. All three smiled at her. The oldest among them, her father, looked over at him and Adam then back at his daughter. He nodded and smiled, and his message couldn’t have been clearer. The love and the joy shining from Pamela’s eyes told James the surprise they’d arranged for her had pleased her.
Then their gazes locked, and Pamela’s smile turned soft. A faint tinge of color kissed her cheeks, and she walked, slowly and deliberately, heading straight for them.
* * * *
Pamela gasped. Seeing her father and her brothers standing there nearly made her trip. She should have had a conversation with her dad, telling him about the true nature of her marriage, but had been putting it off. And then her father looked over at Adam and James, clearly standing together and waiting for her. He looked at her again, nodded, and smiled.
It’s going to be all right. She looked at her men and knew. They’d known she’d been missing her dad and her brothers and had likely arranged this—for her. They had shown her at every opportunity that she was their center. They’d even called her their heart.
And they were her heart, too.
