Her Montana Christmas Groom. Teresa Southwick
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said, “How did you score the best seat in the house?”
It really wasn’t. She was several seats from the aisle where the brides would pass. Those empty chairs were probably reserved for family. She was just a… What did she call herself? Not a date. “My friend Austin, brother of the bride, asked me to go with him. He sat me here.”
Rose could see that all of them had questions, but a quartet started to play chamber music and she was saved by the strings. The sweet notes of the musical instruments soothed her nerves. Not that it mattered. This event was about two brides and two grooms who’d found true love and soon would pledge their lives to each other. She truly envied them.
When Frank and Edie Cates, parents of the twin grooms, took their seats on the opposite side, it was clear that the time line was progressing. A few minutes later, Betty and Jack Castro came down the aisle. They were Elise’s biological parents but hadn’t raised her. Last year she’d learned that she and Erin Castro were switched at birth and taken home by the wrong families. It had been a shock to both women, one that Rose couldn’t imagine. But Rose’s brother Corey had helped Erin come to terms with the past and now they were happily married.
Next down the aisle was Helen Clifton who’d raised Elise, the woman she would always call “Mom.” Once the parents were in place the pace picked up. The music stopped and a gray-haired man stepped to the middle of the dais with a Bible in his hands. A clue that he’d be administering the vows. Then the twin grooms appeared beside him with their best men, Marshall and Mitchell Cates. The unmistakable dark hair, eyes and similar features marked them all as brothers.
The minister said, “If you’ll all please rise.”
The guests did as asked and the musicians played a processional. First down the aisle was Erin Castro Traub. Rose stole a look at her brother Corey who was smiling proudly at his wife, the love of his life. Next was maid of honor Angie Anderson, stunning in a simple red silk strapless dress and carrying a bouquet of white orchids.
When the two attendants were in place, the traditional wedding music cued Elise Clifton. She came down the aisle on the arm of her brother, Grant. Her long dark blond hair was a cascade of curls held in place by a diamond head band. She looked like a Greek goddess in a one-shouldered satin beaded gown. Matt beamed at his bride, eagerly taking her hand.
It was time for bride number two and Rose looked back just in time to see Haley kiss Austin’s lean cheek, then put her hand in the bend of his elbow. She looked like a princess in her strapless, full-skirted organza gown. Her floor-length veil flowed from a diamond tiara that held her upswept brown hair in place. Rose glanced at Marlon Cates who couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who would shortly be his wife.
As he placed his sister’s hand into her groom’s, Austin said, “She’s always taken care of Angie and me. Now my sister finally has someone to take care of her. Don’t let her down, Marlon.”
“Never.”
Rose felt a double dose of emotion lump in her throat and not only because it was a doubly happy moment. A wave of sorrow washed over her. Neither bride’s father was there and Rose didn’t know why. She only knew that someday when she got married, her father wouldn’t be there, either. No giving her away. No father-daughter dance. Charles Traub had died when she was only two and she had no memory of him. Her brothers had always talked about him as if he walked on water and she envied their recollections. She was sad for what was lost to her, for once-in-a-lifetime memories that could never be made.
And then Austin was standing beside her. He leaned down to whisper, “My work here is done.”
Suddenly there was no room in her head for anything but him. He was movie-star handsome. He smelled good and cleaned up pretty nice. But did any man look like a toad in a traditional black tux? She thought not.
Still, a wicked grin and a nice suit didn’t make her any less too old for him. The magic of the wedding venue with lights, flowers and brides in beautiful dresses couldn’t erase the difference in their ages. More memories that could never be made. She forced herself to focus on the now, details swirling in her head for the mayor’s press release.
The ceremony moved quickly in spite of double vows and rings, but there was twice the applause and cheers when the twins kissed their new wives. Rose was sure the four of them were relieved. In their shoes she would be. But when this part of the evening was over, she would have the reception to worry about.
It was being held in the Gallatin Room, the fine-dining restaurant at the resort. She would breathe easier when it was okay to mingle on her own. That didn’t mean she wasn’t grateful to Austin for walking her in, but the less time they spent together the better. No point in needlessly firing up Thunder Canyon gossip.
But after the two newly married couples led the recessional down the aisle, Austin grabbed her hand before she could strike out on her own.
“The formal part is over, now it’s time to have some fun. Stick with me and I’ll show you a good time.”
That’s just what Rose was afraid of.
Chapter Two
Austin nodded to his boss, Ethan Traub, as he led Rose back the way he’d come from walking his sister to her groom. He envied Haley. Marlon was a great guy and the two were deeply in love. Now they had their whole lives ahead of them. It was everything Austin had once badly wanted.
The Andersons had been a traditional family before his father walked out. Austin still remembered being a little boy and blaming himself because he’d done something bad. His mom made him see it wasn’t his fault and they moved on. Then she died and Haley took over, missing out on her chance to go away to college. There was nothing conventional about that, but his sister did a great job with all the responsibility.
Still, he had vivid memories of that short time when he’d had a father and mother. And he’d wanted to have a family of his own, but the dream died when Rachel ran out on him. Now he just wanted to have fun.
With Rose.
Her hand was tucked in the bend of his elbow and he put his fingers over hers, then glanced down. She was eyeing the people filling the chairs they passed as if they were going to accuse her of something bad. Rose didn’t know it yet, but he was the one with increasingly dishonorable intentions. Did she really not know how badly he wanted to kiss her?
She was so beautiful. The other day he hadn’t noticed the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. Or the way her eyes turned down slightly and crinkled at the corners when she laughed. Don’t even get him started on the way she filled out her dress. The velvet bodice clung to her curves and the lacy skirt was all sugar and spice and everything nice, equal parts sweet and sultry.
But she was hung up on the age difference. While he appreciated her honesty, to him it was just a number and numbers held no mystery. She, on the other hand, was a puzzle he couldn’t wait to solve.
He bent down and whispered in her ear, “Have I told you how beautiful you are tonight?”
The look she gave him was sassy, saucy and sexy. “Are you taking that line out for a spin to see how well it works?”
“Actually, no. I’ve used it often without a microgram of sincerity. But this time I really mean it.”
“So you’re not practicing on me hoping to reap the benefits of my vast experience?”
“For a mature woman,” he teased, “your manners could use some fine-tuning. It’s customary when a man pays you an honest compliment to simply say thank you.”
“Thank you,” she repeated automatically.
They stopped in the crowd of people who were filling the open lobby area. “A reciprocal compliment would be nice, too.”
She looked him up and down, then moved around him to, presumably, inspect the rear view. Completing the circle, she said, “You’ll do.”
“Wow.” He whistled. “Praise like