“She’s already thrown me out of the kitchen once,” Jordan admitted. “She said I was in her way.” He sighed and looked at his older brother. “I wish we could have talked Cody into coming back for this.”
“I know,” Luke said. “I tried. I think Daddy did, too. Cody is still hurt and angry and his pride’s at stake. To top it off, he’s the most stubborn of all of us and he’s dead set against ever setting foot in Texas again as long as Melissa Horton is here. At least we can be grateful he found another job in ranching. He’s not just bumming around, hell-raising and licking his wounds.”
Jordan didn’t find much comfort in that. “But Wyoming is a long way from home,” he noted.
“He’ll be back one of these days,” Luke said with the certainty of an older brother who’d had time to observe the behavior patterns of his siblings. “Cody is as tied to this family as any of the rest of us, maybe even more so. He’s the one who took the most interest in our ancestors, the one who cared the most about being an exalted Adams. He got Mother’s powerful sense of family and Daddy’s muleheadedness. Sooner or later his anger at Melissa will fade and he’ll recognize that this is where he really belongs.”
Jordan wished he were as sure. He’d seen Cody the night he’d discovered Melissa with his best friend. Luke hadn’t. “I hope so. I think Daddy’s missing him a lot. As much as Daddy grumbled about being displaced on his own ranch, I think he was really looking forward to having more time to travel with Mother.”
“Maybe, but he’s too damned young to retire,” Luke commented. “He hasn’t taken a real vacation in all these years because his heart’s been in running White Pines. How much traveling do you think he really would have done before he’d gone nuts?”
“One trip,” Jordan agreed with a chuckle. “Maybe two, especially when he figured out how much money Mother could spend in Paris in a week. His willingness to indulge her might have suffered a major setback after that.”
They were interrupted by the sound of a car driving up the lane. Jordan peered anxiously through the screen door.
“Mother and Daddy?” Luke asked.
“The minister, thank goodness. At least we’ll all be in our places when they show up. Maybe we can even get through the ‘I do’s’ before they guess what’s going on.”
“Optimist,” Luke taunted. His expression suddenly sobered. “I’m happy for you, little brother. Kelly’s one in a million, after Jessie, of course. And I can vouch for the joy of starting off with a ready-made family. It’s not nearly as intimidating as I imagined.”
“I’m relieved to hear it,” Jordan said, hugging his brother. “Thanks for helping me pull this off. No one could have ever had a better best man.”
“I’m just glad you finally woke up and asked the woman. Jessie was driving me nuts to give you a push, but we both knew you’d just rebel. You’ve already wasted too many years chasing after the Rexannes of the world.”
“Mother liked her,” Jordan acknowledged as he went to open the door for Reverend Garrison, who’d been officiating at family ceremonies as far back as Jordan could remember.
“That should have been your first warning,” Luke shot back dryly. He grinned at the minister. “How are you, Reverend?”
“Delighted to see another one of you lads tying the knot,” he said, shaking Jordan’s hand. “Explain to me again about this being a surprise service. Have to say I’ve never performed a wedding quite like that before. Who’s not in on the secret? Surely not the bride.”
“Oh, no,” Jordan reassured him. “She’s most definitely in on it. It’s Mother and Daddy. Things were getting a little out of hand with the planning, so Kelly and I decided to do this our own way. As fast as Mother invited people, we turned around and uninvited them. We promised them a huge reception at White Pines in a few months, assuming Mother’s started speaking to us again by then. At least she’ll be able to plan that exactly the way she wants to.”
The minister chuckled. “Seeing how your daddy likes to think he’s the one running things in the family, I can’t wait to see Harlan’s and Mary’s expressions when they find out.”
Luke and Jordan exchanged a look of complete understanding. “Us, either,” Jordan admitted with more than a little trepidation.
He peered out the door again and spotted dust flying at the far end of the lane. “Guess we’ll know soon enough how it’s going to go over. Luke, you want to warn the bride and get Consuela in here? I don’t want to waste a second.”
It already seemed as if he’d wasted far too much of his life.
* * *
As Kelly gazed at herself in the mirror, Jessie stood back and admired the creamy lace and silk wedding dress that had been Kelly’s mother’s. “You look beautiful,” she told her. “You’ll knock Jordan’s socks off.”
Dani peeked around from behind her mother and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened. “Mommy, you look like a princess, just like the one in my book.”
The compliments were exactly what Kelly needed. They calmed the butterflies in her stomach.
“I feel like a princess,” she admitted, her cheeks flushed. She had never felt this way before, not even on the day she had married Paul.
She’d had half a dozen attendants then and a church filled with friends and family. They’d even had a string quartet playing as the guests arrived. It had been a fantasy, storybook wedding, but she’d participated without this nervous sense of anticipation, without so much as a flutter of pure excitement. Now, just thinking of Jordan waiting downstairs, her pulse hammered.
“All set?” Jessie asked. “I saw Harlan and Mary drive up a second ago. Luke will be putting ‘The Wedding March’ on the stereo
