Kelly shrieked, her hand flying to her mouth. “Cole?”
So much for the shy, mousy girl who, when they were in school together, seemed quite content to drift in the wake of Sabrina’s effervescence—much like Cole had, he thought on a sigh as the maid of honor yanked him into a fierce hug, her wild red curls tickling his nose.
“This is crazy!” she said, holding him apart. “Holy moly, you look amazing, I almost didn’t recognize you! What are you doing here? When did you get back? Why are you back? And are these your kids?”
“Honey?” Matt said on a chuckle beside her, even as Cole wondered why Bree hadn’t told her. “There’s like a thousand people behind him. Catch up later.” This said while Matt clasped Cole’s hand in a firm handshake, a hundred questions in his dark brown eyes. “Dude. Last person I expected to see.”
Even though they were in the same year, they hadn’t been even remotely close in high school. Different crowds, different tracks. But being Bree’s twin, Matt had obviously been aware of how tight Cole and Bree had been. Although hopefully not that aware.
“Last place I expected to be, believe me,” Cole said with what he prayed came across as an easy smile...the smile of a guy who no longer had to worry about this guy ripping his head off his shoulders. He hoped, anyway. “Small world.”
Letting go of Cole’s hand, Matt laughed. “To say the least.”
A proud Lizzie usurped Cole’s shot at introducing his offspring to the wedding party, and it amused Cole to see Wes trot out actual social skills, to watch Brooke go all goofy at the sight of the baby.
After hugs all around, Cole reached for Lizzie’s elbow to escort her down the church steps, the kids going on ahead. But they’d no sooner reached the sidewalk when Kelly caught up to them, her green eyes glittering.
“You guys are coming to the reception, right? I mean, if you have to take Lizzie back, anyway—”
“Oh. Um...we didn’t exactly get an invitation.”
She laughed. “I’m in charge of the food. Trust me, there will be enough to feed half the state. So you’d hardly be imposing.” Her eyes softened. “You were part of this family, too, Cole. Same as me.” Her attention swung to the kids, laughing at something Lizzie said, then back to him. “And we’d love to get to know the kids better.”
At that moment, Sabrina emerged from the church, carefully balancing the frilly-dressed baby her sister had been holding as she navigated the steps. Someone he didn’t know stopped to admire the infant; smiling, Bree shifted the baby for the woman to get a better look, laughing at whatever she said.
“That one’s ours,” Kelly said softly, and Cole looked back at her. “Matt’s and my new daughter. Three months old last week.”
Cole grinned. “Congratulations. Name?”
“Teresa Jeannette, after Matt’s and Sabrina’s birth mother. And Jeanne, of course.” Her nose wrinkled. “We’re kind of crazy about her.”
“No. Really?”
Kelly chuckled, then sighed. “Bree’s holding it together pretty well, don’t you think? I mean, considering.”
“Considering?”
At what must have been his puzzled expression, she flushed. “Oh, right...you don’t know. Look, forget I said anything—”
“Too late, Kell. Considering what?”
Kelly glanced over at Bree, then back at Cole. “She was supposed to get married in a few weeks,” she said in a low voice. “But the wedding got called off. That’s why she’s back—”
“Honey?” Matt called down to her, his forehead crumpled as he lifted his hands.
“Be right there!” she called, standing on tiptoe to buss Cole’s cheek, whispering, “But you didn’t hear it from me!” before gathering her long skirt and running back up the stairs to her husband.
Well, that would definitely explain the pain he’d seen in Bree’s eyes that day. Not to mention the deadly mixture of sympathy and self-preservation now threatening to choke him when her gaze bounced off his, that bright smile momentarily faltering before she yanked her attention elsewhere.
Mercifully breaking the pull that, whether he wanted to admit it or not, was still there. Even after all this time.
Even though it made no earthly sense.
“So there’s a party, too?” Brooke now said in front of him, all bright eyes and wonder, and Cole wondered how it was his children had been around for more than a dozen years and never attended a wedding. Or, apparently, even heard of the tradition. “Aunt Lizzie says it’s gonna be awesome, with tons of food and everything.”
Yeah. Everything. Including a boatload of emotional...stuff he didn’t want or need to deal with right now. If ever.
Lizzie clamped her hands on his daughter’s shoulders from behind, her I’ve-seen-it-all gaze locked in Cole’s. “Everyone’s invited,” she said softly. Well, softly for Lizzie. “And the kids are already dressed so nice.” Her eyes narrowed. “And it’s not as if you have anyplace else to be, is it?”
How about hell? Cole thought, resigning himself to the inevitable.
* * *
Wiggling a Coke can in sweaty fingers, Wesley frowned through the open French doors toward the grassy area past the pool, where Dad’s old friend was sitting on a bench. Alone. Weird. Except, considering how noisy and hot and crammed with old people this room was, maybe not so much—
“So go talk to her,” his sister said beside him, making him jerk. “Before you stare a hole through her or something.”
“I’m not staring,” he muttered, deliberately twisting around and lifting the can to his mouth.
“Are, too. Were, anyway.” Brooke took a noisy slurp of her punch, something bright pink and disgustingly sweet and probably lethal. “Not that I blame you. I’d like to know what the deal is, too.”
“So why don’t you go find out what’s up?”
Brooke glanced over her shoulder, then back at the milling crowd, her cheeks getting all splotchy. “Because I’d have no idea what to say? You’re the one who can talk to like, anybody. Me...” She shrugged.
Which was probably why she’d made Wes talk to Mom. Not that he hadn’t been thinking, too, how crappy things had gotten, with the boyfriends always coming and going, the way Mom always seemed distracted. Like she had other things she’d rather be doing than hanging out with her kids. It’d been making Wes nuts for a long time. But he hadn’t said anything to his sister because she hadn’t, and he didn’t want to upset her.
Neither of them had really thought Mom would make the choice she did. But she had. Like, without even thinking about it for two seconds.
Wes glanced across the room at Dad, talking to some dude a little older than him, maybe, standing with a couple of boys about his and Brooke’s age. Sabrina’s oldest brother, Ethan, and two of his kids, Wes remembered. Dad looked over, giving him a You okay? look. Wes nodded. Sometimes it felt like Dad cared almost too much. But after Mom? He’d take it.
He smiled, thinking about that first night after they’d come to live with Dad for good, and he’d come right out and said they’d have to be patient with him, because there was a huge difference between being the weekend parent and being the only parent, and that he honestly had no idea what he was doing. Pretty much the same thing he’d said the other night, actually, after they got back from the Colonel’s. Although why Dad thought that, Wes had no idea. Since he obviously had it together a lot better than Mom did.
Then this Sabrina person appeared...
“He