apparently to keep the little girl on track. Next down the aisle was a stunning redhead—an almost unrecognizable Kelly, radiating confidence. Joy. Cole smiled, genuinely pleased for her. Then everyone stood for the bride, a trembling, sparkly-eyed brunette in a poofy, pale pink gown that threatened to swallow up the much older woman walking her down the aisle.
“That’s Marian,” Lizzie whispered across the kids, loudly enough that everyone in front of and behind them could hear. “Laurel’s grandmother. Isn’t that sweet? And don’t they both look gorgeous...?”
But Cole wasn’t paying attention, because he was once again watching Bree as she kissed the baby’s head, only to stifle a laugh when an eager little hand clutched a fistful of hair and tried to stuff it in his mouth.
Too late, Cole wrenched his gaze away. Because the sweetness of the scene was now wrapped every bit as tightly around his heart as the baby’s hand in Bree’s hair.
The good news was, at least once the wedding was over and he’d delivered Lizzie back home, they were done. Since he was hardly going to crash a wedding reception, was he?
* * *
Even before he reached Kelly in the reception line, she let out a squeal loud enough to make Matt flinch beside her. Not to mention the groom, who almost fumbled the baby in his arms. The baby, Cole realized, Bree had been holding.
“Ohmygod!” 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
