clearly, a priest is way tougher than any Marine.”
There was no way they were going to be able to live with that statement. In a matter of a few seconds, Liam had his deal and the triplets had signed on to the biggest challenge of their lives.
How they’d been sucked into the rest of it, Brian wasn’t able to figure out, even days later. But he was pretty sure that Liam had missed his calling. He should have been a car salesman, not a priest.
“No sex for ninety days,” Brian said, his gaze shifting to each of his brothers in turn. The other two Reilly triplets didn’t look any happier about this than he did. But damned if he could see a way out of it without the three of them coming off looking like wusses. “Loser forfeits his share to the whole.”
“And if you all lose,” Liam added cheerfully, “my church gets the money for a new roof.”
“We won’t lose,” Brian assured him. Not that he was looking forward to a short spate of celibacy, but now that he was in the competition, he was in it to win. Reillys didn’t lose well.
“Glad to hear it,” Liam said. “Then you won’t mind the penalty phase.”
“What penalty?” Brian eyed his older brother warily.
Liam grinned.
“You’ve been planning this, haven’t you?” Connor demanded, leaning his forearms on the table.
“Let’s say I’ve given it some thought.”
“Quite a bit, obviously,” Aidan mused.
Liam nodded. “The church does need a new roof, remember.”
“Uh-huh.” Brian glared at him. “But this isn’t just about a roof, is it? This is about torturing us.”
“Hey,” Liam said with a crooked grin. “I’m the oldest. That’s my job.”
“Always were damn good at it,” Connor murmured.
“Thank you. Now,” Liam said, enjoying himself far too much, “onto the penalty phase. And I’m especially proud of this, by the way. Remember last year, when Captain Gallagher lost that round of golf to Aidan?”
Aidan grinned in fond memory, but Brian’s brain jumped ahead, and realized just where Liam was going with this. “No way.”
“Oh yeah. Gallagher looked so good in his costume, I figure it’s perfect for you guys, too. Losers have to wear coconut bras and hula skirts while riding around the base in a convertible,” Liam said, then added, “on Battle Color day.”
The one day of the year when every dignitary, high-ranking officer and all of their families was on base for ceremonies. Oh yeah. The humiliation would be complete.
Aidan and Connor started arguing instantly, but Brian just watched Liam. When the other two wound down, he said, “Okay, big brother, what’s your stake in this? I don’t see you risking anything, here.”
“Ah, I’m risking that new roof.” Liam picked up his beer again, took another long swallow, then looked at each of his brothers. “My twenty-five hundred is riding on this, too. If one of you guys lasts the whole three months, then he gets all the money. If you all fold, which I suspect is going to happen, then the church gets it all, and the new roof is mine. Ours.” He frowned. “The church’s.”
“And how do you know if we last the three months or not?”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Liam grinned. “You’re a Reilly. We never lie. At least not to each other.”
Brian looked at the mirror images of himself. He got brief, reluctant nods from each of them. Then he turned back to Liam. “You’ve got a deal. When does the challenge start?”
“Tonight.”
“Hey, I’ve got a date with Deb Hannigan tonight,” Connor complained.
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate you being a gentleman,” Liam said, smiling.
“This is gonna suck,” Aidan said tightly.
Brian admitted silently, that Aidan had never been more right. Then he shifted his gaze to each of his brothers and wondered just which of them would be the last Reilly standing.
He fully intended that it would be him.
Tina Coretti Reilly parked her rental car in her grandmother’s driveway, then opened the door and stepped out into the swampy heat of a South Carolina early-summer day.
She instantly felt as though she’d been smacked with a wet, electric blanket. Even in June, the air was thick and heavy, and she knew that by the end of August everyone in town would be praying for cooler weather.
Tiny Baywater, South Carolina, was barely more than a spot on the road outside Beaufort. Ancient, gnarled trees, magnolia, pine and oak, lined the residential streets, and Main Street, where dozens of small businesses hugged the curbs, was the hub of social activity. In Baywater, time seemed to move slower than anywhere else in the South, and that was saying something.
And Tina had missed it all desperately.
She stared up at the wide front porch of the old bungalow and memories rose up inside her so quickly, she nearly choked on them. She’d grown up in this house, raised by her grandmother, after her parents’ death in a car accident.
From the time she was ten years old until five years ago, Baywater had been home. And in her heart, it still was, despite the fact that she now lived on the other side of the country. But California was far away at the moment.
Not far enough away though to block the memory of the conversation she’d had only yesterday.
“Are you insane?”
Tina laughed at her friend Janet’s astonished expression. She couldn’t really blame her. Janet had, after all, been the one to listen whenever Tina complained about her ex-husband.
“Not legally,” Tina quipped.
“You are nuts. You’re volunteering to go back to South Carolina, for God’s sake, in the middle of summer, when the heat’ll probably kill you, not to mention the fact that your ex is there.”
“That’s the main reason I’m going, remember?”
“Yeah,” Janet said, easing her six-months pregnant bulk down until she could sit on the edge of her friend’s desk. “I just don’t think you’ve thought this all through.”
“Sure I have.” Tina sounded confident. She only wished she were. But if she stopped to think about this anymore, she just might change her mind and she didn’t want to.
At twenty-nine years of age, she could hear her biological clock ticking with every breath she took. And it wasn’t getting quieter.
“Look,” she said, staring up into Janet’s worried brown gaze, “I know what I’m doing. Honest.” Janet shook her head. “I’m just worried,” she admitted, running the flat of her hand across her swollen belly with a loving caress.
Tina’s gaze dropped to follow the motion and she swallowed back a sigh that was becoming all too familiar lately. She wanted kids. She’d always wanted kids. And if she was going to do something about it, then it was time to get serious. “I know you’re worried, but you don’t have to be.”
“Tina, I didn’t meet you until six months after your divorce,” Janet reminded her. “And you were still torn up about it. Now, five years later, you still carry his picture in your wallet.”
Tina winced. “Okay, but it is a great picture.”
“Granted,” Janet agreed. “But what