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Sam and Brodie sat on the boat with their hats pulled down over their ears and their jacket collars pulled tightly against their necks. They’d had another “bachelor party,” as Brodie loved to call his version of getting out of the house. Mr. Sonnier and a few cousins had joined them for a big fish fry out at an old barn behind the Sonnier house. No women allowed. Outdoor cooking and men too full of pride to go inside where it was warm. An open fire for them to stand around and look tough.
Sam had eaten fish and hush puppies and french fries. A little snack, as Mr. Sonnier had put it. He didn’t dare tell those men that a couple of hours earlier, he’d had dainty little sandwiches and a muffin with Madeline. He probably wouldn’t be able to eat a bite at the rehearsal dinner.
“Love is a funny thing,” Brodie said now with a lift of his long-neck bottle.
The others had scattered to help the women with the details of the upcoming nuptials, but Brodie was excused and he grabbed Sam to come and sit on the boat with him. They were tied up at the dock, but Brodie didn’t seem to mind.
They both admitted that they needed to be near the water.
“Sure is,” Sam replied, his mind on that kiss he’d shared with Maddie earlier today. “I hope you have a long and wonderful life with Michelle. Don’t hurt her or I will hurt you.”
Brodie scoffed. “Who put you in charge?”
“I like Michelle.”
Brodie squinted. “Did you ever think about her in a way that would make me have to deck you?”
“No,” Sam said. “Michelle had that hands-off attitude. Until you came along and irritated her into loving you.”
Brodie grinned and chuckled. “Knocked me right off my high horse.”
“And got you right back on a real horse.” Michelle had helped Brodie overcome his distrust of horses based on bad childhood memories and years of working on a Florida ranch.
Brodie watched what looked like a hawk gliding overhead. “I’m one lucky man. Part cowboy and part pirate. That’s how she introduces me to her friends.”
“Are you ready for this?” Sam asked, wondering what it would be like to marry a woman you truly loved.
“I’m as ready as a man can be,” Brodie replied. “We have our new beach house in Driftwood Bay, and we’ll come back here as often as we can to visit with family. Michelle wanted a new start. And she got me.”
“Wow, she’s the lucky one,” Sam said on a snort.
“What about you, buddy?” Brodie asked, his blue-gray eyes full of determination. “I think you’ve got a crush on Madeline.”
Sam wasn’t used to being the focus of such scrutiny. Brodie’s determined stare made him squirm. “I like Maddie.”
“Maddie? On a nickname basis with her now?”
“It fits.”
“What’s she calling you?”
“Probably several colorful names,” Sam said. “I don’t have a nickname.”
“Yes, you do. It’s Sam.”
“Right.”
“Okay, out with it,” Brodie said. “I’ve never seen you with an actual woman. A nice woman, that is. Bikini-clad college students don’t count.”
“I don’t date college students.”
“No, but they fall all over you during spring break every year.”
Sam held up his hands, palms out. “I make very good mojitos.”
“You’ve been with women, Sam,” Brodie said. “I’ve seen you in action. But I’ve never seen you with a woman. Really with her. Until now.”
“You mean with her as in the way you’re with Michelle. Not my thing, man. I like Maddie and we’re in this wedding together. We have duties and demands that bring us together so that is why you’ve seen me with her.”
Brodie nodded and stared out at the sun hitting the water. “Like I said, love is a funny thing.”
“I’m not in love,” Sam replied. “But I’m in like. A lot of like.”
Brodie cackled out loud. “Okay, buddy.”
Madeline checked Michelle’s hair again. “It looks good.”
Michelle tossed her blonde locks. “It’s just the rehearsal and dinner after, and I’m already nervous. Imagine how I’ll feel tomorrow.”
“You’ll feel just fine,” Madeline replied. “When you see Brodie waiting for you at that altar, everything will fall into place.”
Michelle’s smile said it all. “I think you’re right. I love him so much.”
Melissa came bursting into Michelle’s old room where they’d set up bride camp at their parents’ house. “How do I look?”
Madeline and Michelle took in her pretty red-and-black printed skirt and black top.
“You look great. Have you been crying?” Madeline asked.
Melissa shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“What’s wrong,” Michelle asked, getting up from the vanity stool, her short, red dress gliding over her figure.
“Judson called,” Melissa replied. “He’s in Shreveport for a rodeo. Wants me to meet him later.”
Judson Duvall was Melissa’s one true love. Except they kept fighting and breaking up over and over.
“Are you going?” Madeline asked.
“I haven’t decided.” Melissa stared at her reflection in the mirror. “I don’t want to get my hopes up again.”
Madeline saw Michelle’s worried glance. “Melissa, do you still love Judson?”
“I’ll always love him,” Melissa said, her long, golden tresses curling almost to her waist. “I just can’t be with him. We’re not good for each other.”
Madeline hugged her little sister close. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Michelle rubbed a hand down Melissa’s back. “Judson loves you, too. He can’t let go of the rodeo.”
“And I can’t watch him killing himself little by little,” Melissa said on a whisper. “The wild rides, the drinking, the ... other women. I can’t deal with it anymore.”
Then she shook her head and wiped at her eyes. “Besides, I refuse to ruin your big day,” she said to Michelle. “Let’s go. We’ve got a rehearsal dinner to attend.”
Madeline checked her hair and straightened the skirt of her short, red-and-gray plaid sheath, and said a little prayer that things would go smoothly the rest of the weekend. They didn’t need a rodeo cowboy crashing this wedding.
And she didn’t need to moon over a man who’d be heading south as soon as the vows had been said.
But when she walked into the church thirty minutes later and saw Sam all spiffed up and looking as luscious as a piece of King Cake, she had to rethink her vow to not fall for him.
Too late. She already had.
Sam looked up from talking to Brodie and saw Maddie entering the church. The woman always surprised him with her colorful, free-spirited outfits. He didn’t know fashion but he knew classy. And Madeline Sonnier Parker was one classy woman.
Her hair was down and curly around her face and shoulders in burnished golden brown hues that reminded him of a perfect sunset. She wore a red-and-gray plaid, short dress and fringed, black leather jacket with black high-heeled boots and a pretty bright red flower dangling on a long chain around her neck.
Part biker chick and part flower child.
He noticed her sisters were wearing red, gray, and black, too. Valentine’s Day colors, he guessed. As pretty as they both looked, Sam only had eyes for Maddie.
“You look great,” he said as she came forward with a tentative smile on her face.
“You clean up pretty good yourself,” she replied, grinning. “I heard you hung out with the boys this afternoon.”
“Yes. And ate again. I’m going to gain ten pounds.”
Her eyes flickered over him. “Mostly muscle, I’m thinking.”
He glanced around at the quaint little church. “I don’t do church much.”
Madeline’s smile was indulgent. “Does church do you, though?”
“I have faith,” he admitted. “But I back it up with action.”
“That’s the best kind of faith,” she replied. “You showed up for your friend. You served your country. You’re a good man, Sam. Your actions speak louder than words.”
Sam didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t anyone’s hero. “Don’t make me out to be something I’m not,” he said, his tone low.
“I won’t,” she replied. “I go with my gut. I’ve learned to hone my instincts and I see the truth.”
He stood there, his eyes on her, wishing for a thousand things and only wanting one thing. He wanted Maddie.
But he couldn’t tell her that. It was too much, too soon. Too iffy and too risky. He had a life back on the bay. A life he’d built for solitude and peace and ... doing his own thing on his own time.
Before he could say anything else, they were called together to rehearse the wedding. Sam listened to the details and logistics of getting everyone in place, a new respect for the actual ceremony filling him with a sentimental hope while he stood across from Maddie. A silly hope that he’d never felt before, even though he’d been here before. It scared him and scarred him and only reminded him that he’d come close to having it all once, and he’d lost everything. He wouldn’t pin his hopes on that kind of power and need ever again.
Once they were at the restaurant that overlooked the river, Sam glanced around at this big, amazing family and realized for the first time that he was all alone in the world.
Then his eyes met Maddie’s across the room.
And he didn’t feel so alone anymore.