“Why do I get the sense something has changed?” she asked him.
“Because it has. I almost met my maker. My brothers, though a huge pain in my ass, came running. I wanted to kill them all, but they were persistent and it’s probable that because they wouldn’t let me shove them away, I got the help I needed. I’m too goddamn stubborn to do it for myself, to even acknowledge what I need. Do you know they had a conference call about me? Seriously! Paddy was the first to suspect I had a problem with painkillers and he invoked the brotherhood. Aiden was the one to get personally involved—I think he was elected because he’s a doctor. And I think he put his credit card on the treatment bill. None of them will tell me if I owe anything for that. Not even Luke, and I’m pretty sure Luke would like to just shove me in a hole.”
“Come on.” She laughed. “Luke seems like a great brother.”
“When he’s in charge,” Colin said with an indulgent laugh. “He’s not that great when someone disagrees with him. He’s a diamond in the rough—apparently Shelby sees the diamond and the rest of us see the rough.”
“I so look forward to this,” she said with a laugh. “Having only had one sister growing up, I can’t imagine five rough-and-tumble boys. And it sounds like you’re all still at it. Listen, if it would be best for you to stay at your brother’s house with most of the family, I’m perfectly fine in the hotel by myself.”
He reached for her hand. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Really, it’s a family time, and I’m not—”
“You’re with me. Listen, there’s no good way to ask this so I’m going to blurt it out and hope I don’t fumble it too badly. Is taking you to a wedding, to a family gathering—is that going to confuse what we have going on together?”
She smiled at him; a purely indulgent smile. “You mean, am I going to hope for a change in plans?” She shook her head. “Don’t mess with me on this, Colin. I’m keeping my head and my body in the present. I’m not expecting anything to change. I’m not setting up any fantasies. Spending nights in bed with you is fantasy enough….”
“You never thought about marriage? Family? All that?”
She shook her head. “In an abstract way I thought it was somewhere in my future, but there were no contenders. The first person to ever take me looking at rings was Kurt, and I was reluctant to do that—I didn’t want to mislead him.” She shrugged. “I told him that might be way in the future, but I sure wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t in love with him yet—I wasn’t ready to take it that far….” She laughed bitterly. “Isn’t it funny that I was the holdout and yet it never once occurred to me that he was playing me? I was worldly in business at such a young age, but in relationships? Not so much.”
“Inexperienced,” he said. “Which probably means you hadn’t been hurt a lot.”
“Not in relationships with men. I had my hard knocks in other ways—losing my dad then my mom, the usual problems with money, growing up poor, struggling on a shoestring in school, then the struggle of paying for Nana’s assisted living, then her death… But men? No—only a few. Not traumatic. Don’t worry, Colin—I’m not going to try anything like holding your feet to the fire for a promise you never made. I want you to go to Africa! I want you to find what you need, to feel whole again, to reassure yourself that you haven’t missed anything! That feeling you had of being robbed? You’re not ever going to feel like I was the one to rob you. Think of me as your cheerleader. But could we make an agreement about that?”
“What do you need, Jilly?” he asked, squeezing her hand.
“I need you to not ask me again. It takes a certain amount of effort to keep from thinking into the future where you’re concerned. Let’s not keep reexamining that.”
“You’re right,” he said with a nod. “And I’m going to say one thing before the subject is dropped. It takes a certain amount of effort for me, too.”
It made her very happy to hear that, but she said, “It’s important for you to follow your plan, Colin. I could never be happy with some guy who spends his life feeling he made sacrifices for me, sacrifices I didn’t ask for and that you’d eventually resent. I want you to know you did everything in life that’s important to you.”
“You’re one in a million, you know that?” he asked, giving her hand a squeeze.
She lifted her chin. “Yeah, I know.”
Colin and Jillian arrived in Chico early Friday afternoon. Colin checked them into a neighborhood hotel near the country club where the wedding would take place, dropped their luggage and followed the directions they’d been given to Erin Foley’s house.
Aiden had told Colin that this was the house Erin grew up in—a comfortably large four-bedroom ranch. After Erin and Aiden met last summer they returned to Chico together; Aiden had moved into her house. And when Colin and Jillian arrived, the house was already full of people.
Colin’s brothers Luke and Sean, their wives and kids were all staying with Erin and Aiden. Patrick had not yet arrived, but there was room for him there or with Erin’s sister and matron of honor, Marcie. There was plenty of space left over. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” Aiden asked Colin.
“Thanks anyway,” Colin said. “We’ll be just fine.”
Not long after Colin and Jillian arrived, a big RV pulled up to the house, parked along the curb and gave the horn a blast.
“There they are,” Luke said. “The kids.”
Jillian was introduced to Colin’s mother, Maureen, and her boyfriend, George, and she quickly got the drift that they were traveling around in a motor coach, not even engaged. There were muttered jokes and chuckles about them living in sin, but the older couple seemed amused and completely unaffected.
Maureen took Jillian’s hand in both of hers. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jillian,” she said. “And I can’t wait to hear all about the garden and your plans for it. I’m a gardener myself, though it’s been a while.”
“You know about me?” Jillian asked.
“It spread like wildfire, dear,” Maureen answered with a smile.
A little while later the baby of the family, Patrick, arrived in a rented car. He had to go through bone-crushing hugs from the men, kisses from the women. A beer was pressed into his hand but before taking a drink he looked askance at Colin. Colin smiled and raised his nonalcoholic brew in a toast, bringing a big grin out of the handsome young man. Young? He was probably older than Jillian.
Jillian had expected to enjoy herself, if only because she was with Colin. But it was way more than simply having a nice time—she had a fantastic time! As the entire family—both Erin’s family and the Riordans—gathered around the patio, kitchen and backyard, there was so much laughing she nearly had to hold her sides. Nothing was sacred; they went after each other like hungry dogs, telling stories on one another. No one was spared—even Maureen had to take her share of teasing.
The stories Jillian enjoyed the most were about the bride and groom who had met in Virgin River. “I couldn’t even get to first base until I shaved off my beard and chased a bear out of her kitchen!” Aiden said.
Jillian sat up straighter. “A bear?” she asked. “In her kitchen?”
“She was baking cookies with all the doors and windows open,” Aiden explained.
“Near as I can tell, Jillian only does Froot Loops,” Colin said.
“Well that goes without saying,” Sean said with a bad boy grin, getting a playful whack from his wife and laughter from the entire crowd.
Except Colin. He grew serious. “Jilly is outside from dawn till dark—sometimes pretty far from the house.”
Then the guys looked between each other. “They’re all over those mountains, Jillian,” Aiden said. “Do you have bear repellent? If not, you should get some, but keep it in a safe place. Erin even used it on my ex-wife. Well, turned out she was just my ex-psychopath, but still—that bear repellant packs a punch.”
“Really?” Jillian asked, sitting forward expectantly.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Colin promised. “I’ll get her some right away. Might serve to keep all of you at a distance, too.”
At five o’clock everyone headed for the club for rehearsal. Erin’s attendants were her sister, Marcie, and sisters-in-law Franci and Shelby, and Aiden’s four brothers were his groomsmen. The fact that they had three women and four men in their wedding party did not worry Erin and Aiden—they had the most important people in their life with them on this special day and that was all that mattered. Erin’s younger brother, Drew, would walk Erin down the aisle, and her brother-in-law, Ian, would sing at the wedding. He’d rehearsed his piece once and it nearly brought Jillian to her knees, his voice was so beautiful.
The rehearsal was a quick hour filled with fun and laughter, but the surprises were really just beginning. When they all got back to Erin’s house it was evident the caterers had been busy. Tables covered with linen tablecloths were set up in the backyard with lit tiki torches all around. There were flowers on the tables, china and crystal—it was magical. Members of the wedding party oohed and aahed over the delicious-looking buffet table that was laden with all sorts of food and beverages.
As she looked at all the guests milling around the back garden Jillian realized that their wedding party was made up entirely of family. There wasn’t a best friend or shirt-tail relative among them. They were all brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law. For as much as these Riordans were at each other all the time, they were one tight clan. It made her envious.
When the party split up that night they all agreed to be dressed for the wedding and back at the country club at 2:00 p.m. Erin was a modern bride and didn’t hold much with old-fashioned tradition. They were going to take their pictures in the afternoon before the wedding when the daylight was perfect. They’d do two hours of pictures, retire to their dressing rooms at the club for touch-ups and a little refreshment, and the wedding would take place at five.
Jillian and Colin had plans for the day of the wedding. They went out for a leisurely Saturday-morning breakfast, walked around town a bit, then went back to their motel to get ready so they could be at the club by two. Colin took his shower first—he didn’t need much time and wanted to stay out of Jill’s way. After cleaning up and trimming his beard, he threw on some sweats and went out to grab a newspaper and a can of cola, leaving her alone to get ready. When he returned and let himself into the room, the sight of her knocked the wind out of him.
Jillian was in front of the mirror, bent over at the waist while she dried her hair. She was wearing a pink strapless bra and a thong of a matching color. When she noticed him standing just inside the door, mesmerized, she straightened and turned off the blow-dryer. “Colin?”
He tossed the newspaper on the bed, put down his can of cola and went to her. “Look at you,” he said, his voice husky.
She laughed at him. “You’ve seen me in a lot less.”
“And every time it blows me away.” He put his big hands under her arms and slowly slid them down her sides. He lowered his mouth onto hers and kissed her, tonguing open her lips, penetrating her mouth. One of his hands slid up her back and held her head against his mouth. And he moaned hungrily. “Shouldn’t I be getting used to you by now? Every time I walk in the room and see you half-dressed, it’s like the first time. And I start to want you like it’s the first time.”
While he kissed her, his fingers found the snap on that little bra and opened it, releasing her breasts into his palms. He kissed her long and hard, then dipped his head to sample a hardened nipple, smiling inside as she let her head drop back in an erotic groan. He lifted his head and stared down into her eyes, his own eyes growing smoky-dark and intense as his hands slowly ran over her hips and slid that thong to her thighs, then to the floor.
“Uh-oh,” she whispered. “Are you going to make us late?”
“I’d like to make us no-shows,” he said in a deep, gravelly voice.
“Oh, Colin, I don’t want to make a bad impression on your family….”
“You mean the impression that I can’t get enough of you? It’ll be okay. We’ll get there in plenty of time….”
His hands on her waist, he lifted her onto the vanity, spread her knees apart and knelt before her, kissing the inside of her thighs right before he plunged his mouth into her core. She gasped, threading her fingers into his hair, leaning away to give him all of herself. The hungry sounds he made were beautiful to her; the strength of his tongue on her, in her, drove her half out of her mind. He pulled her closer and closer to the edge of the vanity, giving himself more space, more room, more depth.
She didn’t last long; her fingers knotted into his hair, she fell back against the mirror behind the vanity and she shook with an orgasm so strong her eyes rolled back in her head. Colin didn’t stop torturing her for a long time. Finally he pulled his head back only to rip his T-shirt over his head, drop and kick off his sweats and stand ready between her legs.
With a hand under each side of her bottom, he pulled her toward him, onto him. He lifted her easily and her legs went around his waist. “Ahhh, Jilly…”
“Your arm, Colin… Be careful….”
“Don’t worry about my arm. When I have you like this, I just about go out of my mind.”
“Sit, Colin. Sit on the bed. Let me do some of the work….”
He grinned against her lips. “Now how can I say no to that?” He sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands still under her perfect butt, buried his hairy face in her neck and began to lift his hips, pumping into her, slowly at first. “God, Jilly,” he whispered. “You’re so perfect….”
Arms around his neck, she held him close to her, close in her, and as always with Colin, she was reaching another pinnacle quickly, gasping and grasping, tightening around him, her legs like a vise around his waist. She knew he felt it because he chuckled deep in his throat, then he plunged into her one more time and she could feel his pulsing, throbbing release.
They clung to each other for a long moment, sweating and still breathing hard. When they’d calmed and Jillian leaned away to look into his eyes, she found him smiling at her. He pushed her hair over her ear. “We’re so right together,” he said softly. “You just do it to me every time.”
She laughed softly and said, “Ah, I believe you just did it to me! And now we have to start over—we need showers. And we’re going to be late! Because you just can’t control yourself and when you can’t, I can’t!”
“Your cheeks are pink, sweetheart. Flushed and satisfied.”
“Get in the shower, Colin. And please hurry.”
In the end Colin had to quickly shower, don his tux and head for the country club for the two o’clock pictures with a promise to come back for Jillian between pictures and the ceremony. When he walked into the hotel room later she shot him a look, held her hand up to ward him off and said, “I swear, if you touch me I’ll scream! I don’t have time for another shower and fix-up!”
He just grinned at her and said, “Do you just have that little pink getup on under that dress? The little bra and thong and that’s all?”
“I think it would be a mistake to talk about it!”
“I’ll be thinking about it all night and then when I get you back here, I’m going to undress you with my teeth.”
“That’s fine, as long as you don’t embarrass me in front of your family!”
“Come on, sweetheart,” he said. “Let’s get you away from the bed. We have to get Aiden married.”
The wedding was elegant, held outside in a sheltered cove. There were about a hundred and fifty guests—many of them Erin’s partners, coworkers from the law firm, a few of her clients and some of Aiden’s partners from his new medical practice. They spoke the traditional vows in front of a woman minister, a string quartet played, Ian Buchanan sang “From This Moment On” and, before Jillian knew it, they were walking back down the aisle. Since the pictures were already done, the rest of the evening was d
edicated to a classy party. There was a champagne hour during which many toasts were made, then a beautiful meal was served, finally an incredible cake was cut. There was dancing inside the country club, but most of the guests seemed content to linger outside, visiting, listening to the soft string music that floated over the warm spring night and among the trees and flowers.
Jillian was able to spend lots of time with Colin’s mother and sisters-in-law. By ten in the evening the bride, groom and most of their family were headed back to the house for coffee at the end of the day’s events.
Typically, the bride and groom would be on the next plane out of town to their honeymoon destination, but Aiden and Erin didn’t want to miss out on any time with the family that had traveled to their wedding, family who would have to get back to their lives by Monday. So, instead of leaving town right away, Aiden and Erin stayed and hosted a Sunday-morning brunch. The same catering service was back, this time with brunch specialties.
Most of the family would only be staying until Sunday afternoon. Colin didn’t have pressing business, but Jillian had to get back to her plants. In fact, of all the Riordans, the only ones who had nothing but time were Maureen and George. They planned to stay in Chico for a couple more days, then head north for a visit in Virgin River before getting back on the road.
Before everyone went their separate ways they spent Sunday afternoon just sitting in the garden and visiting. Colin sat on a lawn chair on the far side of the lawn watching Jillian. She was sitting on the grass with Shelby and Marcie, who had their babies, both around nine months old, playing together on a blanket. The girls were talking and laughing; they’d made friends easily. Jill was animated as she laughed with the girls, played with the babies and made them giggle.
He was in awe of a woman who could look so pure and proper one moment and the next be the wild woman driving him out of his mind in his bed. This was far outside of his experience. Oh, he had lots of experience with wild bedmates, but he couldn’t possibly have taken them to family gatherings. And then, of course, he’d dated some real proper girls, but hadn’t met one who could hold his attention after dark.