The Promise

Chapter Eighteen This Was Family

I was there and I didn’t even know why I was there. It was the last place I should be.

I should be in my car driving home to get ready for Cal and Vi’s rehearsal dinner and the hour-long drive to get to the lakeside resort where I needed to be.

But unless I hit crazy traffic, I had time. Not much, but I had it. And I didn’t want to hit the scene while they were rehearsing. They didn’t need hangers-on for one. I wasn’t in the wedding party, though Ben was as Cal’s best man. For another, I had enough to do that I didn’t need to be hanging around waiting for them to finish.

That wasn’t true. I had everything sorted, and chilling at a lakeside resort was hardly torture.

The thing I needed to do I shouldn’t be doing.

That was why I was there, using my employee ID to get into our production facility. It was a twenty-minute drive away from our main offices, and although I’d had a tour during my employee initiation, there was absolutely no reason for me to be there.

And if Ben knew I was there, and why, he’d lose his mind. So there was not only no reason for me to be there, I shouldn’t be there.

But that morning, something happened and I just couldn’t seem to stop myself.

This something was Randy Bierman showing up in my office. No knock. No warning. No eyebrows-raised, do-you-have-a-moment, nonverbal inquiry. He just walked right in, crossed his arms on his chest, and stared down at me where I was sitting at my desk.

It was then that all that was Randy hit me.

He was tall and lanky and probably about ten years older than me. He had brown hair that wasn’t light or dark but did have a subtle cast of red to it that wasn’t unattractive. Neither were his features. He wasn’t take-your-breath-away good-looking, but if I was single and he bought me a drink at the bar, I’d have time for him.

That was, I would until it became clear two seconds later when he’d no doubt show he was a huge dick.

I’d been on the phone with my rep in Charlotte and was nowhere near finished talking to her, but I couldn’t keep talking to her with him staring at me. It was uncomfortable, he was creeping me out, and I couldn’t focus on what she was saying.

So I ended up telling her something came up and I had to go.

The instant I put my phone in the receiver¸ Randy stated, “Your rep in Chicago, his numbers are way too low. Markedly lower than the numbers of the rep who was there before you started.”

I had no idea why he barged into my office to share this with me, seeing as I already knew it. I also didn’t much like the “before you started” part, like the problem was me, not my rep. Further, I had a huge team who, besides the Chicago guy, was not only making their numbers, but exceeding them and the numbers they’d made prior to me being employed there. So his insinuation was not only not nice, it was ridiculous.

Further, he was research and development. I was sales. Why he was walking into my office to have a word with me about my Chicago rep was beyond me. It wasn’t like it was none of his business. It was like I had a boss that was on his level, so if he had concerns, he should take them to my boss, not waltz into my office, scowl me off the phone, and give me information I already had.

My only choice of reply was, “I’m aware of that.”

“You’ve been here for quite some time now, Francesca, and he’s been with us for some months, and his numbers are not improving,” he noted.

God.

What a dick.

“That hasn’t escaped my attention,” I shared.

“Is he going to be able to support Tenrix?” Randy asked immediately.

I felt a chill glide up my spine at the mention of Tenrix.

“Of course,” I answered.

“He’s not supporting our current product catalog so it stands to reason he won’t do much better with Tenrix, and Wyler has a lot riding on that product doing well.”

More information I knew.

“I’m also aware of that, Randy,” I returned.

“I prefer those under me to call me Mr. Bierman,” he shot back instantly.

I blinked, then stared, mostly because I’d been working with him for ages, and although I had the occasion to address him directly only a handful of times, I’d always called him Randy and he’d never breathed a word.

But more than that, that was totally an outrageous thing to say.

“And I prefer that my team refer to their colleagues by their given names.” My boss, Lloyd Gaster, was suddenly there and my eyes flew out my wall of windows to Tandy.

She was sitting at her desk, looking over her shoulder into my office, giving me wide eyes and a stretched out “eek” mouth, so I knew she’d heard Randy being a dick and went to Lloyd to tell on him for me.

Totally liked Tandy.

Randy turned to Lloyd. “Did I invite you to this meeting?”

“We’re having a meeting?” I asked fake innocently, giving my attention back to the men in my office, and Randy turned his glower back to me.

“I should hope not,” Lloyd put in. “A director having a meeting about sales and the performance of a member of my team with another member of my team without my knowledge wouldn’t make me very happy.”

I tried not to smile a gloating smile as Randy turned his bad mood back to Lloyd.

“It probably wouldn’t make Travis very happy either,” Lloyd continued before Randy could say anything. “He tends to like it when we follow the chain of responsibility. I do believe he’s also pretty keen on not shoving the hierarchy down anyone’s throats, say, by making them address you formally.”

“She has an underperforming rep,” Randy clipped out.

“Frankie and I are both very aware of what’s happening in Chicago. We’re keeping our eye on it. Taking measures. Hoping for improvement. But if there isn’t any, we’ll be quite capable of making difficult decisions and carrying them out.”

“That’s good to hear,” Randy returned curtly.

“I’m glad you’re pleased,” Lloyd murmured, then his focus on Randy intensified and he stated in a much louder voice, “In the future, if you have concerns about what’s happening in my department, I’ll ask you to bring them to me, as, should I have concerns about how you and your team are performing, I’d bring them to you.”

Randy didn’t reply to that. He just gave Lloyd a dark look, turned it on me, and prowled out.

When he was gone, Lloyd walked to my desk and said quietly, “Sorry, Frankie. That guy’s an ass.”

I pressed my lips together in order not to agree verbally. I managed that (barely), but I couldn’t stop myself from nodding.

“He gives you any more trouble, let me know. Okay?”

“Okay, Lloyd,” I agreed.

He smiled at me, then moved out the door, and Tandy, totally being the shit, waited the exact right amount of time before she wandered into my office with a file I didn’t need.

“Oh my God,” she hissed before putting the file I didn’t need on my desk and sitting across from me. “Randy Bierman is such a dick.”

It probably wasn’t good to talk that way in an office setting, but since she was entirely correct, and our head honcho had just called him an ass, I said not one word to refute her.

“What’s up his butt today?” she asked.

“What was up it yesterday?” I asked back.

“Well, yesterday, Miranda requested to be transferred to someone else.”

I stared at her.

Miranda was Randy Bierman’s assistant.

“She said she didn’t even care if it was a demotion or she had to work on another floor or something,” Tandy went on. “She’s d…o…n…e, done.”

“That’s news,” I noted, though I didn’t note it was news she should have shared with me yesterday.

It probably also wasn’t a good thing to encourage office gossip, but since I was always on the receiving end, not the giving end, I encouraged away. But I liked my gossip fresh, not day-old stale.

“She went to Mr. Berger to make the request.”

This time, I blinked, hard, and asked, “Seriously?”

“Yeah, she went in, had a chat with him, and he came out looking big-time angry. He had a chat with Mr. Bierman, then Mr. Bierman took off and didn’t come back. Miranda was at her desk after that, but she hasn’t been there today. Jennie says she’s moving to production. One of the scientists’ assistants is going on maternity leave and Miranda is going to take over for her while she’s gone until they can find her a new place to be. That new place to be, according to Jennie who got it from Miranda, is guaranteed.”

My eyes drifted to the glass wall as I murmured, “That’s very weird.”

“Yeah, you want a transfer, you don’t talk to the VP. You go to HR,” Tandy agreed.

You absolutely did.

But more, if you didn’t like your boss and a transfer was not to be had, other things were done. Like getting to the bottom of the issue and fixing it, or trying to. Or, say, telling the employee you’re sorry they can’t get along with someone and telling them to move on.

Not going out of your way to find them a slot while you went out of your way to transfer them permanently within a day.

That smacked of something bigger, hinting that Miranda had leverage. I didn’t want to be intrigued. I wanted to stay out of it. But I was Frankie Concetti. I was intrigued.

“Miranda told me he’s totally tripped out about Tenrix,” she declared, and my eyes shot back to her, another chill going down my spine.

“Tripped out how?”

“Lloyd is an awesome dude but when I heard Mr. Bierman going at you, I didn’t hesitate to walk to his office and give him a heads up. This is because pretty much everyone knows yesterday Bierman went after Heath and his reps aren’t doin’ as well as yours. Lloyd blew a gasket when Heath told him but Heath told him when it was over. So he was all over making a statement when Bierman went after you.”

Heath was my colleague in sales, his territory the west side of the US. And although his reps weren’t turning in the numbers mine were, his numbers far from sucked.

More gossip that was not fresh.

I’d have to have a word about that with Tandy.

Before I could, Tandy kept going.

“Bierman acts like the only product we have or ever will have is Tenrix. I don’t know, I’ve never been around when we launched, but he seems Tenrix-crazy to me.”

I’d never been around during a launch either, but he did seem Tenrix-crazy.

Absolutely.

We were launching a brand-new product in six months. He should have plenty of other things to do rather than walk across an office floor to give me shit about one under-performing rep.

“Frankie?” Tandy called, and I realized I was looking at her but not focused on her.

I was focused on the weirdness.

Weirdness that wasn’t just about a jacked up co-worker who made people’s lives a misery. Every office had at least one of those.

No, the weirdness I was focused on included a jacked up co-worker who was “tripping out” about a new product, assistants going to VPs for transfers (and getting them), and scientists being shot in the head for no apparent reason.

“You okay after he was such a dick?” she asked.

“Takes a lot more than a guy like Randy Bierman to get to me, honey,” I answered.

She grinned, popped out of her seat, and said, “Yeah.” She tipped her head to the side, still grinning. “Anyway, my turn to go down to the coffee cart for lattes. I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, she took off to get us lattes, our daily lattes another reason Tandy was the shit.

But I couldn’t get any of that out of my head. Not after Tandy left. Not all day.

The thing was, I didn’t know what was in my head.

It wasn’t like I’d never worked with a dick. Hell, my first boss was a total jerk and every single one of his salesmen made Randy Bierman look like an amateur.

Then again, no one at the car dealership had ended up dead.

Not able to get it out of my head, instead of going home, getting ready, and getting on the road, I went to Wyler Production. I used my employee ID to gain access. Then I went to the observation deck to stare down at the mammoth space, with its sterile machinery and people wondering around doing stuff wearing white jackets, white hairnets, white gloves, and goggles. I did my staring gig like the space could talk to me.

What I wanted it to say or what I’d do with the information, I had no clue.

What I had was a wild hair, and I should have learned long ago when I got one of those, to pluck it, throw it in the toilet, and flush.

Instead, I was there, the last place I should be, and this became even more apparent when I heard, “Frankie?”

I turned and started when I saw Travis Berger walking my way.

Shit.

“Hey, Travis,” I called fake casually.

He looked to me, the production floor, then back to me before he stopped a few feet away.

“There a reason you’re here?” he asked.

No there was not.

I thought fast but spoke slow.

“Brainstorming.”

His brows drew together. “Sorry?”

I thought faster and immediately commenced bullshitting.

“I have…well, I’m concerned about the performance of a member of my team. Lloyd and I’ve discussed it, and I’ve had a variety of conversations with him but nothing’s working. His numbers were better before I was managing him so I know he has it in him. I’m just…well”—I threw a hand out to the production floor—“thinking maybe he’s too far away from home. Not his home, of course, he lives elsewhere,” I babbled. “The home of Wyler. Maybe if I brought him down here, gave him another tour, reminded him of what we do and how cool it is.” I tipped my head toward the floor and finished lamely, “I don’t know.”

Berger studied me and I tried not to squirm.

Finally, he said, “Chicago.”

Very on the pulse, Travis Berger, to know that kind of detail.

Then again, that was why he made the big bucks.

“Chicago,” I confirmed

“You’re being very patient,” he noted.

I shrugged. “Our business is drugs but those drugs are made to help people. Our employees are also people. So I think, as a company who’s in the business of helping people, we should exhaust every option before decisions need to become more extreme in a way that will negatively affect lives.”

“Yes,” he said, turning toward the windows. “I agree, however irritating these endeavors can be.”

I was glad he wasn’t looking at me because I felt my eyes get wide, seeing as I had a feeling he was referring to the person whose antics had me standing right there.

“Well!” I said too loudly, and he turned immediately to me. “I have a rehearsal dinner to get to. I better get going.”

He nodded, not cracking a smile or even a grin when he said, “Enjoy it, Frankie.”

“Thanks, Travis, I will. Uh…later.”

He nodded again and looked back at the production floor.

I got my ass out of there.

I did it thinking that whatever was happening was none of my business.

I sold pharmaceuticals. I was not in human resources and I was not investigating a murder.

So, Randy Bierman took asshole to extremes and someone on his team got whacked.

It had nothing to do with me.

And yet, I couldn’t shake the thought that, even if it didn’t, it still did.

***

Dusk was forming by the time I hit the lakeside resort where Vi and Cal were holding their wedding.

During one of the many times I went over to Cal and Violet’s place to drink wine, shoot the shit, and be a casual observer while Vi, Kate, and Keira discussed wedding plans, Vi had shown me brochures. But as I got out of my Z, left my bag to grab later, tucked my clutch under my arm, and made my way toward the stately-but-welcoming, flower-festooned, red brick building with its white columns in the front, I saw that this was a case of pictures not doing it justice.

The rehearsal dinner was in one of the private rooms inside. The wedding was going to be outside by the lake.

And taking in the graceful building, I knew it was going to be amazing.

I walked in and found signage that directed me to the Lakeview Lounge, where the dinner was going to be.

I was a couple of minutes late but had texted Benny when I left my place, then proceeded to drive like a crazy lady to get there on time so I wasn’t more late than my ill-advised side trip and crazier-than-normal Friday traffic threatened I would be.

I saw the double doors to the room were opened. I walked through and stopped.

I did this mostly because the back of the room was made up of windows, which had a fabulous view of a flawless green lawn that had pots and flower beds filled with vibrant color and greenery, and beyond that, a massive, tranquil lake, one of many in Indiana.

I also did this because there were three intimately arranged six-seater tables, all with white tablecloths, candles, and exquisite bouquets made of downy-green hydrangea, creamy roses, and spikes of purple iris.

Oh yeah, just with a glance at the rehearsal dinner setup, I knew the girls did good. I also knew this wedding was going to be amazing. Then again, even if they’d decorated in neon and asked everyone to wear ’80s outfits, it would be amazing simply because of the people involved and what this wedding meant.

The end to Cal’s years of grief.

The same for Violet and her girls.

I scanned the room and spotted Benny, his suit-jacketed back to me, Cal on one side wearing dark gray suit trousers and an open-necked, black, tailored shirt. Vi was to Ben’s other side and when I saw her, I smiled.

Cal and Vi, I found, were much like Benny and me in the squabbling department, and this occasion, joyous as it should be, was not immune to said squabbling.

Since Vi had shared during one of my shooting-the-shit times at her place, I knew that Cal wanted his band on her finger and he wanted that done yesterday. He didn’t give a shit about how that happened, he just wanted it to happen. Pronto.

Vi, on the other hand, was not about to make her second star appearance at a wedding wearing a maternity gown, something she’d done at age eighteen during her first big event.

“Been there, done that. This time I’m livin’ the dream,” she’d told me.

Because Cal loved her like crazy and wanted her to have what she wanted, he gave in, but only slightly. That was to say he wanted the wedding as soon as she could pull it off after she had their baby.

Thus commenced more squabbling because Vi didn’t want a maternity wedding part two, but she also didn’t want to be carrying baby weight at her dream wedding.

I was actually there during one of these squabbles, to which Cal remarked, “I don’t give a fuck if you got an extra pound or two.”

“It’ll be more like forty,” Vi retorted.

“Okay, I don’t give a fuck if you got an extra pound or forty,” Cal returned.

“I do!” Vi snapped. “Wedding pictures last an eternity.”

“Yeah. And we’ll look at them and remember a coupla weeks before we got hitched, you gave me my baby girl. How’s that bad?”

You couldn’t really fault that logic, and Vi agreed because she gave him a look but said nothing further.

Therefore, Vi, who had gained thirty-five pounds with Angie, had spent the last six weeks doing what she could to work it off.

Luckily, she was active by nature and went back to the side business she had within a couple of weeks of having Angie. She worked at the garden center in Brownsburg but also maintained a few personal clients’ lawns and gardens. So although the weight didn’t melt off dramatically, she’d taken off fifteen pounds and planned ahead, ordering a wedding dress that was two sizes too big.

At her last fitting on Monday, it had had to be taken in.

And now, she was standing there wearing a purple, strapless cocktail dress with a ruched bodice and a flirty skirt that fell just past her knees, which had a long, green, satin ribbon as a belt, the same adorning the flippy hem. She had on spiked-heeled, strappy green sandals and her fabulous, thick, dark hair was arranged away from her face and fastened in a side ponytail that was a burst of soft curls.

She was smiling at something Benny was saying.

She looked amazing.

She also looked completely happy.

Which made me completely happy.

I quit looking at her, and eyes to the prize (that being Ben’s broad shoulders in his suit jacket), I headed their way.

Cal’s gaze came to me when I was five feet away, Vi’s smile a couple of feet later. Ben noticed and started turning when I was right there.

So when I slid my arms around his middle, I got his back, his side, and full face. This meant I could roll up on the toes of my own strappy sandals and press my mouth against his.

I smelled his aftershave, felt his strength, and therefore couldn’t stop myself from touching the tip of my tongue to his lips before I pulled away.

“Hey, baby,” I whispered.

“Hey,” he whispered back, then twisted further and brought me around so I was at his side, doing this with his eyes dropping to my dress.

I was not wearing a graceful-yet-flirty dress like Vi.

My dress was coral, short, skintight, had one long, tight sleeve and one exposed shoulder and arm. I’d toned down the jewelry (even so, my thin rhinestone hoops nearly brushed my shoulders) and went big with my hair. My sandals were copper. My makeup dark but dewy.

I had the process down so vamping it up prior to driving there didn’t take forever.

Still, from the look in Ben’s eyes and his arm tightening around my waist, I knew he appreciated my efforts.

I pressed closer to him and turned my attention to Vi and Cal. “Hey, guys. How did the rehearsal go?”

“We’re all set,” Vi said. “Tomorrow, five o’clock go time.”

I grinned and replied, “Awesome.”

I barely said that word before I watched Cal move in and touch his mouth to Vi’s, muttering, “Gonna check on Angie.”

“Honey, she’s sleeping and she’s with Mimi. She’s fine,” Vi told him.

He didn’t move back, but he did focus more intently on her face as he repeated, “Gonna check on Angie.”

Vi searched his face for about two seconds before she whispered, “Okay, baby.”

He touched his mouth to hers again, slid his eyes through Benny and me, giving us a chin lift, and took off.

“How’s that goin’?” Ben asked when Cal was gone and Vi, who had followed Cal’s departure with her eyes, looked at Benny.

“I think when Angie gets past Nicky’s age when he lost him, he might calm down,” Vi answered, knowing what he meant, that Cal was crazy-watchful over Angie. “Though, he’s Joe. He takes protectiveness to extremes on a normal day, so maybe he won’t. He hasn’t had the pleasure of watching a child he created blossom into something beautiful, smart, and strong. It’s like he’s a new parent. So I let him have that because it isn’t unhealthy, but it is all kinds of beautiful.”

She grinned a small grin with that, but it slightly faded when she went on.

“I didn’t have his tragedy in my history and I was the same with Kate. So was Tim, even if we were teenagers. So I’m not too worried about it.”

Tim was Violet’s husband who was killed several years ago. And Vi was right. Cal didn’t get to advance from the new parent stage to know that things were all going to be okay as he watched his baby mature.

He’d get there.

Or he wouldn’t and Angie would have an overprotective father on her hands who met boyfriends on his porch with a gun stuffed in the waistband of his jeans.

There were worse things, as I well knew.

And it struck me on this thought what Mrs. Zambino had said months ago.

I felt warmth gather around my heart because I knew when Angela Callahan grew up, she’d look in the mirror and see what Cal and Vi taught her to see.

Nothing but beauty.

I had that happy thought and studied Violet, noting, “You seem pretty calm.” I said this, but I thought she didn’t seem calm so much as she seemed utterly serene. “If it was the night before my wedding, I’d probably be a wreck.”

“Well, I have two daughters who show signs of being wedding planner savants and one of them is Kate. She could be the president’s secretary and be cool during another missile crisis,” Vi replied, and I giggled as I heard Ben’s low chuckle. “They’re all over this and have everything in hand.” She smiled. “So I can be calm, kick back, and just enjoy my perfect wedding.”

I loved that for her so I told her that.

“That’s wonderful, Vi,” I said softly.

“I know.” She was talking softly too. “I’m one lucky lady.”

With all she’d been through, she wasn’t right, even as she was.

Her story of being a child bride with baby, happening into that situation to marry the man of her dreams, losing him, being stalked by the man who was responsible for his death, and ending that mess running through a forest with me, she’d earned this.

The hard way.

Kate rounded her mom, eyes to me, stopping and murmuring, “Hey, Frankie.”

“Hey, honey.”

She grinned at me and looked at her mother. “Mawdy, where’s Joe? It’s time to sit down to eat.”

“He’s with Mimi and Angie,” Vi answered, and Kate nodded understandingly.

“I’ll go tell him it’s time,” she said.

“I’ll help Keira get everyone to their seats,” Vi offered.

“Thanks,” Kate muttered, gave Ben and me another grin, and took off.

“Excuse me,” Vi said.

“Sure,” I replied.

Ben just moved out of her way as she started drifting toward her guests.

Then he moved to shift me front to front, both arms around me.

I looked up at him.

“How’s Gus?”

He smiled, even as he shook his head. “Gus is fine. Gus is with Mrs. Zambino. I’m fine too, in case you’re wondering. Was fine before, but I’m a lot more fine, seein’ you in that dress.”

His eyes had dropped to my chest so I gave him a squeeze to get his attention back.

“You can’t blame me for worrying about my baby. You gave me a present and then kept it.”

He didn’t stop smiling as he returned, “You travel half the time, live in a rental, and have nice shit. I live in big house and have shit that’s just shit that he can chew on as much as he wants.”

I felt my brows draw together and told him, “You shouldn’t let him chew, Ben.”

“You stop a puppy from chewing,” he told me.

“I would, if he actually lived with me.”

He pulled me closer and dipped his head toward mine, saying low, deep, and easy, “He’s assurance my baby will keep comin’ back to me.”

“Like that wasn’t gonna happen already,” I whispered my reply.

His gaze dropped to my mouth before his lips touched there, then he pulled back and offered, “Want a drink before we sit down?”

I nodded.

“Bellini or somethin’ else?” he asked.

“I’d love a Bellini.”

“Then you’ll get one,” he said on a squeeze.

That made me feel warm and happy, even though Benny had been demonstrating regularly, in fact, constantly that whatever I wanted was mine. Like a puppy. He’d even shown that he could give me things I didn’t know I wanted. Like an off-the-charts fabulous birthday party. And last, he’d shown he would do pretty much anything for me. Like set up a Champagne brunch so I could celebrate part of my birthday with Sal and Gina.

Suffice it to say, I was no longer in crazy-woman-falling-in-love mode.

I was in a much more dangerous mode. That was crazy woman in love.

“We’re at the head table with Vi, Cal, and the girls,” Ben informed me, jerking his head toward a table by the windows.

“Right. Meet you there.”

“Right,” he said on another squeeze and a touch of the lips to my temple. Then he let me go and took off toward the bar.

I moved to the table, having honored seating because I was Ben’s date. He was the best man and Kate and Keira were Vi’s maids of honor. Manny was also in Cal’s wedding party, as well as Colt. Vi’s bridesmaids were rounded out with her friend Cheryl. That meant Manny and Sela were there, Colt and Feb too, and Cheryl, with her date being her son.

Vi’s dad was there (not her mom, they weren’t tight), as were Theresa and Vinnie as the only parental figures Cal had left. Still very close with her first husband’s parents, this meant Bea and Gary Winters were also there, rounding out the three tables.

Folks settled in their seats. Ben brought my drink, then took off his suit jacket to expose the deep green tailored shirt underneath. He tossed his jacket over the back of his chair. Cal showed, coming in with Kate, and I knew another friend of Vi and Feb’s was there, Mimi (the lady who also owned the kick-ass coffee shop in Brownsburg), who was coming to the wedding but was there early to look after Angie and Colt and Feb’s Jack.

I sipped my Bellini, sitting back, slightly listed to the side because Ben was leaning into me and the arm he had on the back of my chair. I smiled, chatted, giggled. Champagne and red and white wine (consumer choice, total class) were brought around, as were mushroom caps stuffed with cheesy, creamy crab meat.

It was when the appetizer plates were whisked away, glasses were refilled, and we were gabbing while waiting for our main meals when the clink of a knife against a wineglass sounded.

All eyes went to the parents’ table to see Gary standing, holding up his Champagne glass.

When conversation died, his eyes to Vi and Cal, he started speaking. “I apologize. I have something to say, but I’ve had concerns if I should say it. In the end, I felt it needed to be said. I talked with Bea and we decided it was more appropriate tonight, in close company, than tomorrow.”

He drew in a deep breath and his voice got softer, but it still carried when he went on.

And now his eyes were just on Vi.

“My beautiful flower,” he started, and I didn’t even know what he was going to say, but the way he started made me deep breathe in an effort not to start crying. “This day was a day I never thought would come to pass. This day was a day I never would wish to come to pass. But here we are, witnessing you closing one book and opening another that’s empty. A book you get the privilege of writing, the story of the life you’re about to start making. Bea and I know, to the depths of our souls, just like the extraordinary story you crafted the first time so magnificently” —he tipped his head toward Kate and Keira— “this one will be no different.”

“Holy crap,” I whispered, and Ben’s hand went from dangling off the side of my seat to wrap around my arm.

Gary’s eyes went to Cal.

“This day is a day I never would wish to come to pass. But you must know, Bea and I are honored beyond imagining that you’re the kind of man who would allow us to be here tonight, to share in your joyous celebration tomorrow, to keep us stitched into the fabric of your life. However, it’s more, Joe Callahan. Bea and I are honored beyond imagining simply to know a man with such love in his heart, he would give it freely to our girls, strength in his mind and body to protect them, firmness in his resolve to take care of them. Regardless if this new book you’re writing with Violet means Bea and I must close our book, a book that has no hope of reopening, there is no other man in the world we would wish to sit in the seat you’re currently occupying. We’re pleased to know you. We’re pleased to have you as a part of our family. And we wish you, Vi, Kate, Keira, and little Angie have all the beauty you deserve as you write your story.”

He lifted his glass as I heard Vi make a whimpering noise, but I didn’t look at her as Gary kept going.

“To the soon-to-be Joe and Violet Callahan, wishing you a life story full of all the love, hope, promise, joy, and laughter you not only deserve, but you’ve earned.”

A variety of “here here’s” and “To Cal and Vi’s” were shouted as we all grabbed our drinks and took a sip.

Except Violet, who got up from her chair, walked with red cheeks and shining eyes to her father-in-law, wrapped her arms around him, and shoved her face in his neck.

And I sat there thinking I loved that. I loved that emotion from Vi. I loved that she was the kind of person who could take something possibly awkward, but knowing the players, understand it would end up stunningly beautiful.

And I sat there looking around, seeing Cal give his attention to Kate and Keira, both overwhelmed with emotion from their grandfather’s speech, both not his by blood but his all the same. I took in Vinnie and Theresa, who were there not only as relations but also because they’d earned their spot there, being the only real mother and father Cal had his whole life.

And then there was me. Loving one brother who was killed and, years later, loving another one because he was everything a man should be and he gave all that beauty to me.

And I sat there thinking that what was in this room was it.

This was life.

This was family.

This messy, strange, awkward, crazy conglomeration of people that totally fit when they shouldn’t. That could make beauty like Gary’s speech, even through the heartbreak of knowing they were there because their son was not.

This was what I’d always wanted.

And this was what I’d always had. Maybe mine was messier, stranger, more awkward, and definitely more crazy.

But this was family.

And sitting beside Benny Bianchi, surrounded by family, I knew without any doubt there was no place on the planet I’d rather be.

***

I stood at the panoramic window of Benny’s and my cabin, staring at the dark lake.

The hotel had seventy-five rooms and a string of cabins along the lake. Benny had checked us into one for the whole weekend. So after the festivities tomorrow, Ben and I would have nearly a whole day to ourselves surrounded by beauty.

Before that, though, tomorrow, Ben, Kate, Kiera, Feb, and I were going out on the lake in Colt’s boat that he’d brought down. We were going to tube and water-ski.

Cheryl and Vi were going to the hotel spa to get a massage, facial, and polish changes before having hair and makeup done.

I’d been invited to the spa, but I didn’t need any of that. I’d had a mani/pedi yesterday and I could totally do my own hair and makeup.

What I needed was time with Benny and time in a speedboat on a beautiful lake with two gorgeous girls, a cool chick, and a nice guy.

Ben had walked up to the hotel from the cabin for the rehearsal so he drove me and my Z back down.

He was taking my bag into the bedroom.

I was staring at the lake, thinking I’d never felt the feeling I was feeling. I didn’t know what it was because it wasn’t just happy.

It was more.

I was thinking I felt like how Vi looked that night (when she wasn’t crying due to Gary’s speech).

Serene.

“Thinkin’ that Cal didn’t think it out when he demanded they get hitched so close to Angie comin’ into the world,” Ben called as he walked into the room. “Girls are goin’ up to Chicago to spend the week with Bea and Gary. But Angie’s goin’ with Vi and him down to Virgin Gorda. So I’m not sure the honeymoon will be all it can be.”

“Cal’s determined to do something, I figure he’ll make it work,” I told the window.

“Yeah,” Ben answered, then asked, “Fridge is full, baby. You want a drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

And I was good.

Better than I’d ever been.

Two seconds later, I got even better when Ben fitted his front to my back and slid his arms around me.

I felt his face in my neck and got even better when he whispered, “My baby’s quiet.”

“Your baby’s happy.”

His arms gave me a squeeze.

“Thank you for givin’ this to me, Benny Bianchi.”

He heard me. He got me. And he knew what it meant to me.

I knew this when he growled, “Jesus, Frankie,” into my neck, his arms going super tight.

“A while ago,” I said to the lake, “you told me you love me.”

His arms didn’t loosen, but his lips slid up to my ear. “Yeah? When was that?”

Like he didn’t remember.

Still, I told him, “The day Angie was born.”

“Well, I didn’t lie.”

He remembered.

I closed my eyes so I could fully feel the magnificence of those words sliding through me.

“You never said it again,” I noted.

“Showed it,” he replied.

He did do that. Constantly.

“Yeah,” I whispered, gliding my hands along his arms where he was holding me and settling them there. “Do I show it?”

“Tesorina.”

He said nothing more.

“I want to show it,” I said so quietly I could barely even hear myself, but I felt my words trembling with the feeling behind them. “I want to know I show it. I want to know you feel it. Even when you’re away from me. I want to know you wake up every morning knowing you have my love and you go to sleep every night knowing the same thing.”

“Never said it, Frankie.”

I opened my eyes and looked at the lake. “Well, I’m saying it now. I love you, Benny Bianchi. Even when you aren’t with me, I wake up knowing how much I love you and I go to sleep knowing the same thing.”

I just got out the word “thing” when I lost my view of the lake because Ben turned me in his arms. One hand slid up in my hair, the other arm crushed me to him, and he bent his head to me.

Then he kissed me, slowly, deeply, gorgeously.

But when he lifted his head, he simply said softly, “Let’s go to bed.”

There was no other place I’d rather be.

I didn’t tell Ben that.

I just felt him let me go, take my hand, and then he led me to bed.

***

“Babe, I gotta get to Cal!” Benny called toward the bathroom where Frankie had been for half an age, shrugging the jacket of his tuxedo on and thanking God that Cal was as Cal was. That being a man who hated ties and, therefore, a man who not only was not wearing one to his wedding, he didn’t expect the men standing up with him to wear one either.

Cal’s groomsmen were wearing tuxes with deep purple shirts, the whole getup Cal and Vi had tailored specifically for each of them, all of it, including the tuxes, they could keep.

He didn’t need a tux, though he didn’t say no. But even deep purple, the color was dark, the material was fine, so the shirt was the shit.

Cal was wearing a black shirt with his tux. Then again, except the blue of his jeans, Cal never wore anything but black.

“Go!” Frankie called back through the closed door. “I’ll take the Z up.”

“Don’t need two cars up there and the lot’s gonna be packed. By the time you get up there, you’ll have to hoof it a mile. You need to take me. You can hang with Mimi,” Ben returned.

He was walking toward the bathroom to open the door but stopped suddenly when the door opened and Frankie stood there.

Her hair was done, up in a large, messy, sexy, loose arrangement at the nape, the curls and waves leading to it. Her makeup and jewelry were one step up from yesterday but probably because it was a formal wedding. She wasn’t wearing any shoes.

He liked her heels but that dress didn’t need shoes.

Turquoise, strapless, short, tight, it had two thick strips of black lace running diagonally across the dress: one at the hip that slanted up around her ribs, one at her ribs on the other side that slanted up over a breast and ended at the line of the top of the dress, the scalloped edge protruding past the turquoise so fucking sweet, it was like another accessory.

She was always varying nuances of crazy-beautiful.

Right then, he’d never seen anyone, not in his entire life, so fucking stunning.

“I’ll just grab my shoes—” she started.

“Seriously?” he cut her off.

She ceased moving and her eyes came to him.

She read him and he knew it when she started backing away, saying, “Benny, my hair—”

“Seriously,” he said it again, a statement this time, and started stalking toward her.

“We can’t do this, Benny. You have to be up at the hotel.”

“We’ll be quick,” he replied, and she ran into the wall.

She started sliding along it, but he stopped that when he made it to her and put a hand in the wall by her side.

“Even quick—” she began.

“Pull up your skirt,” he ordered, taking his hand from the wall, the other one joining it, spanning her waist as the rest of him got in her space.

Her eyes had widened, but they also flashed and he knew what the second one meant.

Still, she declared, “We don’t have time, Benny,” but her voice was wispy.

“Skirt up, babe.”

“Ben—”

He dropped his mouth to hers. “Now.”

Her lids fell and her hands went to her skirt to yank it up.

When she had it up, his hands went to her panties to yank them down.

Then he lifted her and pressed her against the wall.

Hands on her bare ass, mouth touching hers, he told her, “Need your hands, baby.”

She knew what he needed and her fingers went to his pants. Not wasting time, she had him free and took her shot to give him a firm stroke, taking in the whole length.

Jesus, Frankie.

He clenched his teeth and through them ordered, “Guide me to you.”

She ran her teeth over her lower lip, catching his when she did, something that scored straight down to his dick, as she slid him through her wet and the tip of his cock caught at her pussy.

“Fuckin’ ecstasy,” he groaned and thrust in.

Her hands lifted so she could round his shoulders with her arms and she whispered, “No, baby, that’s ecstasy.”

She was not wrong and it got better as he banged her hard and fast against the wall, her arms and legs clamped around him, her pussy clenching tight, her lips brushing his, their breaths escalating until his was labored and broken by grunts and hers was panting.

“Love you, Benny,” she whispered against his lips, holding on tight with everything she had.

Jesus.

Frankie.

Fucking ecstasy.

He slid one arm to her upper back to hold her closer. “Love you too, cara.”

“It’s coming,” she whimpered, holding on tighter.

“Take it, honey.”

She took it, gasping against his mouth.

Once she got it, he took it, fucking her harder and faster until he got it.

After he came down from the high she gave him, he slid his lips to her neck and kissed her there.

And there he said, “Maybe we should buy you some sweatshirts.”

“And miss my shot at Benny Bianchi banging me against the wall? I don’t think so,” she said in his ear, her words breathy.

He lifted his head and grinned at her beauty, stayed inside her and kept her close, even as he murmured, “Now I really gotta go.”

“Okay, honey. Find my shoes. I’ll clean up and we’ll hurry.”

He touched his mouth to hers, slid out, and set her on her feet, holding her until he knew she was steady.

He cleaned up and zipped up. She cleaned up and yanked on her panties. He grabbed her shoes as she shoved her feet into some flip-flops.

And he held her hand as they walked out to her Z.

***

“Cugino, seriously?”

They’d just been told by a member of staff that it was time to take their places at the gazebo by the lake.

Mimi was there to take Angie from Cal, but Cal told her to go on out—he was keeping his baby girl.

That was when Benny asked his question.

Cal looked at him. “She’s good with me.”

“Brother, you’re about to get married,” Benny pointed out.

“And she’s gonna be with me,” Cal declared.

Ben caught Manny smiling at Colt, who grinned back, then aimed his grin at his shoes.

Then Ben looked to Mimi and said, “You can go, darlin’. Thanks.”

“Right,” she murmured, laughter in her tone. “Have a great wedding!” she said loudly before she disappeared.

“Got the ring?” Cal asked.

“You think I’d forget somethin’ like that?” Ben asked back.

“Didn’t ask that. Asked if you got it,” Cal returned.

“Of course I’ve got it.”

“Brilliant. Let’s get this shit over with so I can get somethin’ to eat,” Cal muttered, securing his daughter more firmly in the crook of his arm and heading to the door.

Ben shook his head but did it quietly laughing as he followed his cousin.

They walked through the side door and Ben saw what he saw earlier when he arrived to keep Cal and his daughter company before the wedding.

Lots of white chairs, the outside of the rows connected at the ends with green and purple ribbons, some chairs holding a trailing bunch of flowers that were cream and purple, the flowers also decorating the inside row of chairs but without the ribbons.

The roof of the gazebo was dripping in flowers. There were also white ribbons attached from a massive bouquet at the front of the gazebo that led out to poles stuck in the ground every third chair all the way across the space. Ben didn’t know much about this shit, but the ribbons and poles were a nice touch, creating the sense of intimacy, even when they were outside, but doing it without obstructing the phenomenal view.

The judge officiating the ceremony was standing in the gazebo and a string quartet was playing “Canon in D.”

Without hesitation or looking at anyone, Cal strode right up to the gazebo carrying Angela in her little purple dress with the scrunchy purple thing wrapped around her pretty, bald-save-for-a-hint-of-dark fuzzed head.

Ben stood on the step beside the gazebo opening, Manny took his place on the grass by him, Colt next, and they barely got there before Cheryl started walking down the white runner that led down the aisle. She was in a tight, strapless, green satin dress and was carrying a thin bouquet of purple irises, the length of their stems wrapped in green ribbon.

Kate and Keira came next, walking together arm in arm, wearing purple that was strapless but not tight. Their dresses had floaty skirts. Same bouquets.

He took his eyes off them and found Frankie, sitting between Sela and his ma in the front row, her body totally turned in her seat to watch the girls walk the aisle.

Taking her in from hair to heels, it was then he realized he should have waited to fuck her after she put on her shoes.

On that thought, he heard Cal make a low, rough noise and his eyes lifted from Frankie, who was now coming out of her seat to the aisle, and he stopped breathing.

On the arm of her father, holding a massive, fluffy bouquet with what he could see were cream roses, the big flowers from the table decorations last night but in white, and little violets, Vi was walking down the aisle.

Her sleeveless, ivory dress was lace from the V-neck that showed a hint of cleavage all the way down to the long train trailing behind her. She had a wide, violet ribbon wrapped around her waist and the ends mingled with her train. Her hair was up, curled and fastened in a loose bun at the side of her neck, and around the bun and radiating from it into her hair were a bunch of rhinestones and tiny, real violets.

Her hand was in the curve of her father’s arm.

Her eyes were on Cal.

And her face was beaming.

Ben forced in a breath and watched Vi walk down the aisle to Pachelbel, her eyes never leaving Cal, her smile never faltering.

Cal met her at the bottom of the steps, and she shook her head at her soon-to-be husband before she leaned in and kissed their daughter’s head.

Her father gave her away and Cal led her back up the steps.

Within fifteen minutes, they were married.

Once proclaimed husband and wife, even holding his daughter in his arm, Cal pulled his wife close. The kiss was long, wet, and deep to the point Benny heard laughter. He couldn’t beat back his smile, and along with the crowd, Benny participated in the clapping and shouting.

The kiss only ended when Angela was done with it, communicating this by giving a loud baby shriek.

After the kiss, Cal settled his girl, then walked his wife and baby girl down the aisle, both of them stopping to smile at people, Vi to bend deep and do cheek presses, Cal to do chin lifts and allow his daughter to have her chubby baby cheek touched.

Ben moved into the aisle and took Kate on one arm, Keira on the other, and followed them.

Colt and Manny flanked Cheryl and they followed Benny and the girls.

Short, sweet, and pure beauty.

This was how Anthony Joseph Callahan made Violet Winters his wife.