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Her hand shook as she repositioned her eyeglasses and turned her attention to the wedding.
She’d had a greater purpose in coming to this event. A ménage wedding—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She needed to soak up every second of it for later reference.
The bride was glorious in a dress that Grace had told her had also been worn by the bride’s mother decades before. But beyond the beauty of the dress, the happiness in the bride’s features was palpable, nearly ethereal, as she neared her grooms, one of which she would be wedding legally in this ceremony.
Veronica watched the grooms as they gazed at their bride and tears stung the backs of Veronica’s eyes at the nonverbal way they responded to her. The “official” groom, Cody, the tallest of the three with long wavy black hair, looked at his bride with heat in his eyes that was nearly palpable, his eyelids going to half-mast in a way that Veronica found utterly transfixing.
Veronica had learned that the three men had known each other most of their lives, and had grown up together in the foster care system and considered each other as brothers.
Next to Cody stood Heath, who exuded an irresistible sex appeal. Veronica found his pale green eyes to be especially noteworthy. She wondered if she’d have the guts to ask him for a quick photo opportunity after the wedding, and immediately doubted it. She’d just have to commit their pale green color to her memory.
Heath grinned and his eyes took on a decidedly mischievous twinkle as he watched Maizy approach. Chancing a quick glance at Maizy, Veronica noted the fresh blush deepening in Maizy’s cheeks.
As the bride proceeded, the guests moved in behind her, filling the aisle, insulating the wedding party from the world outside in a way that Veronica found surprisingly easy to tolerate. She wouldn’t abandon this moment, no matter how anxious she felt.
A sort of euphoric fullness welled in Veronica, replacing the nerves, as the part of her that was inherently a writer wished for the chance to press “stop” on the moment so she could jot down some notes.
Continuing her perusal, Veronica was struck by the emotion in the eyes of the third groom. His warm, golden-brown eyes were slightly bloodshot and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Veronica’s heart tripped as she realized he was holding back tears at the sight of his future wife, and she was surprised when a tear trickled all on its own from her eye, in empathy for a man she hadn’t even met yet.
Moments like these she’d learned to guard with all her heart, for preservation later in the written word. She’d met very few people who would truly understand how she felt. She knew this because she’d been teased unmercifully since a young age for feeling everything so strongly. It had been a blessing when she’d finally discovered a creative outlet for that soul-deep sensory input in writing.
The wedding between Maizy and Cody proceeded, their hands clasped as they said their vows.
Veronica noticed as Maizy spoke that although she was addressing Cody, all three men’s body language responded to her words. It was fascinating to watch, yet she felt for Heath and Spencer, who were undoubtedly holding back their true feelings for the sake of the guests present who weren’t fully aware of all the facets of Maizy’s relationship.
A fresh wave of heat flowed over her which she at first attributed to the emotions of witnessing the intimate ceremony. But her gaze was drawn once more to the distractingly handsome men across the aisle, only to discover that they were no longer standing where they’d been earlier before the crowd had shifted.
The tumult that had been simmering inside her flared into a bonfire as she sensed the crowd repositioning behind her. Curious, she turned her head and looked up into Hank’s pale-gray eyes, shadowed with concern, and then into Travis’s mahogany-brown eyes. They’d moved to stand close behind her—both of them. She trembled when she felt Travis’s hand slide around hers. The grasp felt so comforting she had to fight the urge to lean against him.
Eleven years. She responded to him this way after eleven years.
A silent gasp escaped her as his other hand slid in a caress from her shoulder, down her spine, to her waist and she heard his slow, almost imperceptible inhalation near her ear and a soft groan.
