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CHAPTERONE
HOLDEN
I’d never had anything against weddings.
At thirty-four, as a fairly social guy, I’d been to plenty, including, just a few months ago, my sister Hayden’s marriage to Zane North.
This early-March Saturday evening, though, I was on edge for some reason as we headed to the Nashville hotel where my sixty-seven-year-old dad was getting hitched.
I rarely went to weddings without a plus-one, and tonight I had a platonic one, Chloe Abrams, my friend since grade school.
After pulling up to the valet stand at the hotel, I went around to Chloe’s side and opened the door for her. I extended my hand to help her out. As she grasped my palm with her smaller one, she used her other hand to brush her dark brown hair out of her face, revealing cheeks with a faint tinge of pink and lips that were glossed with a subdued dusty-rose color.
Though there wasn’t an ounce of anything romantic between us, I was happy to have her at my side. Actually, I was more than happy she was my date, because there was an ease between us, and I didn’t have it in me to be “on” or trying to impress some girl I barely knew. That kind of pressure was the last thing I needed tonight.
“You look amazing,” I told her as I took in her navy-blue thigh-length dress that showed off her long legs. I’d always known Chloe was tall, but I’d never seen her legs shown off quite like that before. After all these years, I guess there was still more to learn about my wicked-smart, business-ballbuster friend.
“Thanks. You do too,” she said almost shyly as she linked her arm with mine and we made our way to the entrance.
I wouldn’t call Chloe shy exactly, but she was introverted and quiet compared to me. Then again, most people were, compared to me. I liked people. Chloe, well, not so much, but she had valid reasons for being leery of others.
“It’s a small crowd tonight,” I told her. “Well, relatively. When the bride and groom have nine grown kids between them, it’s sure to be a semi-circus.”
“It’ll be great to see your family,” she said. “I haven’t seen them for years, probably not since your mom’s funeral.”
“That’s coming up on six years,” I said, that loss still tugging at my insides as we made our way past the reservation desk toward the atrium where the wedding would take place.
This hotel was something else, with sky-high ceilings that made it feel almost like it was outdoors. There were waterfalls cascading over rocks, waterways meandering among trees and flowers, and walkways and benches and shops and restaurants lining it all. We crossed an arched bridge to an open space big enough for our purpose—a wedding of maybe fifty or so people—and visible but not accessible to others.
Chloe’s grip on my elbow tightened slightly, barely discernibly.
“You okay?” I asked her.
She looked up at me and flashed a confident smile. “I’m good. This is a gorgeous setting.”
“Hey, you two.” My sister, Hayden, fluttered over to us, all smiles, looking slender in her magenta gown, her middle showing no signs of having a baby just six months ago—probably because she never had time to sit still between her baby and her demanding career. I’d had doubts about her handling everything when she’d first told us about her accidental pregnancy, but she’d proved me wrong from the day Harrison was born. She tugged her husband, Zane, behind her. “Chloe, it’s so good to see you.”
“Hi, Hayden,” Chloe said, accepting a hug. “You look incredible. And really happy. I heard there’s good reason for that.”
Hayden wove her arm with Zane’s. “Oh, not much. Just getting married and having a baby all at once. This is Zane North, my baby daddy—and husband.”
Zane, who was about my height, with non-military-approved facial scruff and short, golden-brown hair, grinned and shook his head at his wife, as if to say there was no help for her.
“Zane, this is Chloe Abrams,” Hayden continued. “She half grew up in our house when we lived in Dragonfly Lake.”
“Nice to meet you, Chloe,” my brother-in-law said.
“You too,” Chloe said, shaking his hand.
“I’m stealing her away,” Hayden said to me. To my date, she said, “I’ll introduce you to all my sisters-in-law. It’s only taken thirty-some years for me to have something besides boy siblings.”
Chloe smiled at me, and I raised my brows to silently ask if she was cool with my steamroller sister. Not surprisingly, Chloe understood and sent me a short nod and let Hayden lead her off.
“You’re a saint, man,” I joked to Zane as we shook hands in greeting. “That girl has always had way too much energy to handle.”
Zane laughed. “Comes in handy with parenting a six-month-old.”
“How’s my favorite nephew?” I asked.
