The Last Bride (DiCarlo Brides #6) (2 page)

She rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the headache that inevitably appeared whenever she spent much time with this particular sister. They were seven years apart in age, but sometimes Jonquil thought it may as well have been seventeen. She remembered helping to change Angela’s diapers, babysitting and later wishing they were closer. When Jonquil had been seventeen, the youngest of her siblings seemed far younger than ten. Her own self loathing hadn’t helped as she watched Angela be praised for her quick mind and adorable smile. The flighty way Angela acted as she grew up, always switching from one project to the next, changing her major every semester and never seeming to settle on anything, made Jonquil wonder if Angela would be any more settled at thirty-one than she was now at twenty-one.

“So, it’s just you and Delphi in the house now, right?” Angela asked. “Do you ever see the others outside of work?”

“Yes, to both questions. And Delphi’s not always there anymore.” Jonquil smiled a little as she thought of how happy her sister had been that morning at their executive meeting. “She got engaged over the weekend.” They stopped at the back of Jonquil’s silver Kia Rio and she popped the hatchback to put the bags away.

“Wow, they’re dropping like flies. Doesn’t that leave you as the last one?”

“Yep, but don’t count on me hooking up anytime soon.” The guy she was most interested in seemed to think she was pond scum—and how twisted was it that she liked a guy who obviously disliked her so much? It was another example of how stupid she was sometimes. She told herself that she would find someone else who could appreciate her talents. Such as they were. “The others wanted to meet you tonight, if you’ll be back from rehearsals before too late.” The anticipation of the introduction had left Jonquil anxious, but she knew Angela would have many more opportunities to spend time with everyone during the summer. That was worse.

“I should be done around nine. Will they bring their hot husbands with them?” She wiggled her brows and grinned. “And do any of them have hot single brothers?”

“The guys usually are there.” Had Jonquil mentioned that the husbands were all extremely good looking, each in their own way, or had Angela just assumed? They hadn’t really talked all that much since Jonquil had moved the previous summer—or all that much in the years prior.

“So you’re not dating anyone?” Angela asked. “You usually have no trouble attracting the men and it seems like you DiCarlo girls are all finding your perfect matches.” Angela set the last of the bags in the back and shut the trunk. She shot Jonquil a sideways glance the other woman was not sure how to interpret. “Can we stop for something to eat on the way to your home? I’m starving!”

“Sure.” Angela’s barbed comments about being dateless stung a little and Jonquil wondered if she was being overly sensitive. She forced her thoughts to the flower arrangements she’d left her staff to complete. When Angela had called with her flight arrangements the previous afternoon, Jonquil had been shocked that she was actually following through on the invitation to visit during the summer—there had been no comment about when she’d leave or reference to staying at Jonquil’s for
months
. The fact that she’d had to rearrange her schedule at work to pick Angela up was not a big shock, though.

Jonquil weaved her way through traffic, headed for the interstate. “So, tell me how things are going back home.” There was no point getting upset until she knew how things were going to go, but it took all of her energy to keep her insecurities at bay.

It was nearing eight that night when Jonquil greeted the last of the DiCarlo sisters in the house their father had built for them. Cami came hand-in-hand with her husband Vince. Rosemary brought a big bowl of some dip she had been tweaking the recipe on. Her daughter, Cleo, who was ten, followed behind with tortilla chips, and Rosemary’s husband, Harrison, brought up the rear.

Sage, Harrison’s half-sister by their mother, and Jonquil’s half-sister by their father, came with her former Navy SEAL husband Joel in tow. She was six months pregnant and really starting to show.

Delphi and Jeremy were already snuggling on the couch, the newest couple, still reveling in their love, and finally Lana came in with her newborn baby son, Ash, and husband, Blake.

Family time always meant a crowd of people.

All of them worked at the hotel in some form or other, though rather than regular staff, Vince’s crew was contracted to handle the landscaping and Jeremy was a photographer they often booked for events. Jonquil’s father apparently had visions of happily-ever-after for his girls and made romantic plans for them in addition to coercing them into working at the resort. The fact that the others had all fallen into line had been happy luck, as far as Jonquil was concerned. The guy she had recently learned her dad picked out for
her
wasn’t so amenable.

None of the girls had known about the unwritten part of their father’s will—mainly the love and marriage clauses—when they had moved there, and some of the men had been less than willing to begin with as well. George had been right about his daughters, though, and the couples found love despite any previous objections.

Jonquil checked her watch as everyone milled around. She hoped Angela wouldn’t be seriously late. Of course, hanging out with the family wasn’t exactly a chore. The guys joked with each other and teased Cleo, who loved the attention, and several of the women cooed over Ash. Cami and Vince had just announced they were going to have a baby as well, which was fun, sweet and a little depressing.

Jonquil forced a smile and went to sit with Rosemary and Delphi.

“So, Rosemary, you’re next in line to announce a pregnancy,” Delphi said.

Rosemary’s eye’s narrowed. “I have a kid. When you pop one out, I’ll think about it again.”

Everyone seemed to pause for a moment when the doorbell rang. Jonquil jumped up. “That should be Angela.” She smiled in relief when she was right.

“Come on in,” Jonquil said, reminding herself to have a key made for her sister. “Everyone’s excited to meet you.”

She had dropped Angela directly at the theater when they reached town that afternoon, so this was her sister’s first look at the house. Angela breezed past her, looking around the room at the wood railings and soaring ceilings, seeming to approve.

Jonquil couldn’t blame her. The house had an open floor plan with a large entry, dining area and enormous kitchen on the main level, and then a huge sunken living room on the left. On the right was a set of floating stairs leading to a railed balcony that fronted the area where the upstairs bedrooms were located. A set of stairs led down to the other three bedrooms, a smaller family room and an exercise room. The house was all done up in wood and tile with deep-pile carpets and a large fireplace in the living room. It was impressive and beautiful. Jonquil had loved the house on sight.

“Welcome to the family.” Blake was first to stand and introduce himself, greeting Angela as she made the rounds. As always, he oozed Southern charm.

“Wow, so this is how the other half lives. No wonder you dumped us for your new family,” Angela said to Jonquil as she grabbed a snack after she’d made the rounds of the room. She walked off to talk to Delphi some more.

Jonquil wondered if Angela resented her. Did she have a right to be upset if Angela did? She watched her baby sister move around the group, becoming chummy with the others right off, giving the right kinds of compliments and asking the right questions. She always had a way with people that Jonquil envied.

Jonquil did fine most of the time. She paid attention to body language and intonation, watching others so she could fit in, but it had taken her a few weeks to start to get a handle on what made her five new half-sisters tick. Something Angela managed in about two minutes.

Just another reason to feel like the stupid sister.

The sun was already beating down on them, and it was only May. There were patches of snow in the Colorado Rockies, but for Gage, sitting on top of Al’s roof, pounding nails into shingles, it felt like mid-summer. He paused when he saw Delphi’s car pull in front of the house, rubbed his arm over his forehead to clear away the sweat, and glanced at Jeremy, who grinned at the sight of his financeé’s car.

Gage shook his head and went back to work. Jeremy wore the same stupid grin he’d been sporting all week. And to think a week ago Jeremy had been upset because he thought Delphi was going to leave him to return to New York. Gage pounded in another nail and nearly smashed his thumb when he heard Jeremy’s greeting.

“Hey, ladies. Good to see you.”

“We brought you food. Figured you’ve been working hard enough you deserve a break.” It was Jonquil’s voice.

Gage would recognize the honeyed tones anywhere. He pounded in one more nail just to show he didn’t care before looking up to greet her and Delphi. “Food is always good. Thanks.” Jonquil was always bringing food or setting up snacks for people, so he shouldn’t have been surprised that she was there now, but he was anyway.

She let her gaze slide over his shirtless form and then looked right at him, smiling brightly, and he felt every muscle tense. She always had that effect on him.

“You’re welcome. Come on down in a few minutes and we’ll be ready for you,” she said.

“Sure.” He returned to his work, telling himself not to be an idiot. Yeah, she was beautiful, and she always smelled so good, smiled and was friendly. But he wasn’t giving in—her father may have decided Gage and Jonquil were made for each other, but that didn’t mean Gage had to fall in line. Even if George DiCarlo seemed to have matched up his other daughters pretty well. Gage had enough going on without adding a time-consuming relationship to the mix. And he had the feeling that Jonquil would definitely eat up big chunks of a guy’s time before he noticed what was happening.

“Finished?” Jeremy asked, putting a few nails back into the box they’d brought up.

“Just a couple more. Go ahead, I’ll join you in a minute.” Gage grabbed a couple more nails and started pounding while Jeremy moved to the ladder. Too soon the shingle was down and he had to face the women.

At the bottom of the ladder, Gage grabbed his T-shirt and slid it back on. He would need all of his armor to protect him once he went inside.

Delphi and Jeremy were wrapped up together, arms around each other, kissing and whispering on one side of the room while Jonquil laughed with Jeremy’s dad, Al, in the middle of the aging living room.

“You did not wrestle a mountain lion. Though if you had, I’m sure you would have won,” she said to Al. “I bet you’d be a good match.”

Jeremy’s dad hooted, obviously enjoying having a younger woman flirt with him.

Gage ignored the little voice inside him that said she could be flirting with
him
if he hadn’t been such a jerk to her before. He hadn’t realized when the girls moved in that they had no idea about their father’s plans for their romantic futures. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Jeremy had clued Gage in—though if he’d been less defensive and paid more attention, he probably would have figured it out on his own months ago. Instead he’d made a real jerk of himself with her. Not that he wanted a relationship, but it would have been better if they could have at least been friends. Or friendly. Their circles of family and friends had grown more tightly interconnected as the months had passed.

He looked at her again, her tight, lithe form, the long blond curls that teased him every time he got close enough to see the sunlight glinting off of them. Her smile lit her up inside, her blue eyes so big they practically filled her face. No, it was probably better that they weren’t friends after all. She was exactly his type, physically, and he didn’t need one more thing to tie him in knots right now.

She looked up at Gage and smiled. “Everything’s ready. Come get a plate.”

“You did cook this, right? You didn’t let Delphi do any of it?” He feigned concern. Delphi’s lack of culinary skills was legendary.

“Don’t worry. She’s strictly on mix-and-stir duty.” Jonquil began pulling plastic wrap off the salad.