Dreaming of Love (30 page)

“I’m not sure he wants to be tamed, Uncle Hal. I think he left a piece of himself behind when he and Fiona broke up.” Fiona was Jake’s first love. They’d dated for two years in high school and had planned to go to college together, but the summer before they left for school, she’d broken up with him out of the blue. He hadn’t let any woman get close to him since.

“Love’ll do that to a man.”

She watched him join his sons, Emily’s cousins Josh and Hugh. Hugh’s wife, Brianna, was pregnant with their first child together. Brianna had been a single mother to her daughter, Layla, when they’d met, and Hugh had adopted Layla when they’d married. Layla was dancing with Brianna, and Hugh’s eyes danced with delight as he watched them.

Emily couldn’t wait to start a family with Dae. She hadn’t recognized the signs of her biological clock ticking until her trip to Italy. Spending time with Serafina and Luca had cleared the fuzz from her brain, and the closer she and Dae became, the more powerfully she felt the pull of motherhood. Dae wanted a large family, too, and they’d decided to try to start a family right away after they were married.

“Sis.”

She turned at the sound of Ross’s voice and steeled herself for the brotherly onslaught he was bringing with him. All five of her brothers were heading in her direction. A wall of Braden men, thick bodied and full of confidence, with five sets of serious dark brown eyes locked on her. She searched for Dae and felt his hands circle her waist. She leaned back, letting him take the weight of them closing in on her off her shoulders.

He pressed his clean-shaven cheek to hers. “Hey, baby. Here comes the cavalry.” His words whispered across her skin as he laced his fingers with hers across her belly.

Ross’s smile was as welcoming as Jake’s scowl was serious, but it was Wes’s voice that broke the silence.

“I thought I told you not to have too much fun in Italy.”

Emily spotted Callie, Elisabeth, Rebecca, and Daisy—in her off-the-shoulder wedding gown—hurrying toward them.
Her cavalry
.

She looked at Jake and drew her shoulders back. “Yeah, well, you also texted me last night after dinner and told me how much you liked Dae.” Dae squeezed her hand and moved to her side, draping a protective arm around her shoulder. She didn’t need it. She could handle her brothers, but she melted against him, loving his protective nature just the same.

Wes laughed. “My bad. We can’t even pretend to give you shit, can we?”

Ross lifted his chin and smiled at Emily. “We’re happy for you, sis. It’s about time you found your happily ever after.”

“Happily ever after,” Jake scoffed, and shook his head like they were all fools.

“What? That’s exactly what it is, you ass.” Ross gave Jake a playful shove.

Jake took a long gulp of his drink. “Yeah, well, you just sound like a sissy saying it.”

Elisabeth looped her arm into Ross’s. “No, he doesn’t. He sounds like a man who knows what it’s like to be in love.”

Daisy broke into the center of the group and narrowed her eyes at Luke. “What’s going on over here? It looks like you guys are ganging up on Emily and Dae.”

Luke reached for Daisy’s hand and pulled her against him. He smashed his lips to hers with a loud kiss. “We’re not ganging up. Just…”

“Staking claim to your sister?” Daisy sighed and gazed at Emily with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Look at her. Have you ever seen Emily so happy? And look at that spark in Dae’s eyes. That’s love.”

“Hey, I have that spark,” Wes said.

“Shit, I don’t want that spark,” Jake said.

Callie touched Jake’s arm. “Yeah, you do. You just haven’t felt it, so you don’t know what you’re missing.” She sidled up to Wes, and he tucked her beneath his arm.

“I second that.” Pierce kissed Rebecca’s cheek.

“Jake, I have to say, I agree, man,” Dae said. “I never considered myself the settling-down type of guy, but what I realized is that I just hadn’t met the right person yet.”

Jake crossed his arms, lowered his chin, and glared at them.

“Don’t worry about Jake. Being back home brings up memories that turn him into a piss ass,” Luke said.

Jake shoved Luke. Luke closed the distance between them, and the challenge in their eyes turned to something more jovial.

“Wanna go?” Luke raised his brows.

“Oh, no. Uh-uh. No way.” Daisy squeezed between the two men. “Not at our wedding. You boys are not going to roughhouse and ruin your tuxes.”

Jake and Pierce were already handing their jackets to Rebecca. Wes tore his jacket off and handed it to Callie.

“No, Wes. No, no, no.” Callie brushed her dark hair from her shoulders and smoothed her dress.

Wes stuck out his lower lip, feigning a pout. “Come on, baby, one little rumble. I promise not to hurt anyone.”

“Hold it right there.”

They all turned at the sound of Catherine’s voice. Her hair hung down her back long and loose, and the smile on her lips wasn’t going anywhere, even though her tone was stern.

“Boys, this is a wedding, not a barbecue. We have guests.” She pointed to their cousins and friends, talking and drinking and definitely
not
rumbling. “Let’s save this for later, shall we?” She turned to Dae. “Besides, you’ll scare off Dae before he has a chance to even get to know you guys. Really, Dae, they don’t always act like six-year-olds.”

“Sometimes they act like teenagers,” Daisy said.

“Yeah and you love it.” Luke nuzzled her neck and she swatted him.

“There’s no chance of scaring me off.” Dae took both of Emily’s hands in his. “Nothing can keep me from Emily.”

Emily felt her cheeks flush.

Jake sighed and held a hand out to Dae. “Sorry for being a dick, man. Just be good to my sister.”

Dae shook his hand. “I have sisters, too. No worries, man. I love Emily, and I’ll always be good to her.”

“Sorry, Em.” Jake embraced her.

“You big lug.” Emily hugged him back, feeling sorry for him. She wondered if he’d ever get over Fiona.

A cell phone rang, and each of the men reached into their pockets.

Catherine sighed. “Really? You
all
brought your cells to the wedding?”

Dae held the ringing phone out toward Emily.

“Oh, Emily. You too?”

“Sorry, Mom. I forgot I gave it to him.” She took the phone and wrinkled her brow at the international number on the screen as she walked away from the group.

“Hello?”

“Em…Emily?” Serafina was crying.

At the sound of her broken voice, tears sprang to Emily’s eyes.
No, no, no
.
Dante
. She clutched the phone in both hands and frantically turned in search of Dae. She caught his eye, then turned away from the others again.

“Serafina.” She could barely push the word from her lungs. “What’s wrong?” She hadn’t realized she was shaking until Dae’s hands on her shoulders steadied her.

“Dante. It’s Dante.” She sobbed.

“Oh no. Sera…” She turned into Dae’s arms, clinging to him in order to remain erect.

“They…they found him…A family was hiding him. He’s alive, Emily. He’s coming home!”

Emily froze. Sobs wrenched from her lungs. “He’s…Oh…Serafina!” She tried to comprehend the rest of what Serafina said, but she was talking fast, and Emily was too overwhelmed to concentrate. Dae held her trembling body against him until she ended the call.

His eyes narrowed. “Baby, is it Dante? Is he…?”

“He’s coming home,” she said with fresh tears in her eyes. “He’s alive, Dae. She said something about a family hiding him until he was well enough that they could sneak him back to one of our military bases. Dae…I know what we need to do with the House of Wishes.”

Comprehension washed over him, and his eyes, too, welled with tears. “He’s coming home? Really?” He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I’ll be damned. That’s what I wished for.”

“Me too!” Emily searched his eyes. “Wait. You didn’t wish for us?”

“No. I knew we’d be together.” He pulled her close again. “
You
didn’t wish for us?” She pressed her mouth to his, tasting her salty tears as they slid between their lips.

She shook her head. “It seemed selfish. Dae, I think we need to make the House of Wishes into some kind of a women’s community center. A place for gatherings, craft sessions, you know, whatever they want. A place where they’re always welcome. A place for wishes and dreams to be made and traditions to live on.”

“Perfect. Just perfect. Like you.” He kissed her deeply, then wiped her tears and kissed her again.

“Hand or arm, Ms. Not-for-Much-Longer Braden?”

“Hand, arm, heart, and soul. Forever and always.”

The End

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IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a quick trip to her hometown of Trusty, Colorado. A few days of hanging out with her parents and catching up with old friends, and then she was off to Los Angeles to meet up with her best friend, Trish Ryder. At least that’s what Fiona told anyone who asked—other than Trish, or Fiona’s sister, Shea, of course.

Fiona tipped her margarita back and finished it off, thinking about how surreal it had been the night Trish had called her to say that she’d been cast as the lead female in the upcoming action film
Raiders of the Past
. Trish was going to be working with the most famous director in the country, Steven Hileberg. It was one of the biggest events in her acting career to date, aside from the nomination for the Academy Award last year, and she and Fiona had celebrated with a virtual party for two via Skype. That was four months ago, which to Fiona, felt like forever, given how Trish’s career opportunity had unlocked a door Fiona had spent years trying to figure out how to open. It had taken Trish exactly ten words to convince Fiona to take a leave of absence from her job as a geologist at the Bureau of Mines and Geology and become her personal assistant during filming.

Jake Braden is cast as the stuntman for Zane Walker.

Done.

“Sis, are you even paying attention to me?” Shea was four years younger than Fiona, and the youngest member of the Steele family. She was as fair as Fiona and her twin brother, Finn, were dark. Shea was also Trish’s public-relations rep. Fiona and Trish had met in college, and by the time Trish needed a PR rep for her career, Shea had become well-known in the industry. Fiona had been thrilled with their instant connection.

“Of course.” Fiona tossed her chin, sending her long brown locks over her shoulder, and held up her empty glass, indicating to the waiter that she needed a refill.

“Sure you were. Then, what do you think?” Shea blinked her baby blues expectantly.

Fiona winced. She hadn’t meant to zone out, but she’d come to the Brewery, a local bar, hoping to see her ex-boyfriend Jake, who she knew was in town visiting his family, and he was nowhere in sight. Her stomach had been tied in knots for the past two hours she’d been watching the door, as if she could will him to walk into the bar. She was sure that when Jake finally came face-to-face with her, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. Their connection had been too deep, their love too strong, and their passion had always left them both craving more.

“Just as I thought.” Shea leaned across the table, her shiny golden locks curtaining her face. “He’s. Not. Coming.”

Fiona rolled her eyes. “That would be just my luck, wouldn’t it?”

“Finn called me yesterday,” Shea said.

“What’s my evil twin up to?” Finn was anything but evil, but their family had always joked that one of them had to be more evil than the other. Fiona had dubbed Finn the evil twin. She didn’t even know how to be evil—not that he was any better at it.