Six months later
“Fix my hair too, Daddy.”
“I will sweetheart as soon as I’m done with Melody’s braid.”
Emma fidgeted. “I want one like hers.”
Finishing up, he tied the bottom and Mel handed him a sprig of flowers for the top. Then he repeated the process with Emma.
“Now, come to the mirror.”
Brady stood behind them smiling at the two girls in pink dotted-Swiss dresses. They’d picked out white sandals to wear with them.
Melody peered up at him. Her blue eyes filled with, well, love, a sentiment he totally returned. “You’re beautiful too, Brady.”
He studied himself in the tan suit, a lighter beige shirt with a brown, beige and pink tie. “Ready?”
“Mom’s already there, right?” Melody asked.
“Right. Her friends picked her up earlier.”
“The Sisters of Fire.”
Emma added, “She said we could be their pro—pro…”
“Protégées.”
“Yeah, that. It means we’ll be like them.”
He wanted to agree, but in his heart of hearts, he didn’t want them in a profession that endangered them. He had to struggle every day not to go crazy about Lynne. “Let’s go.”
The girls sat in booster seats in the back and snapped themselves in. Brady drove to church whistling. When they arrived, they went around the path to the back where the rest of the people waited. “Wow, Emma look. They’re all different colors.”
At Lynne’s insistence, each of the Sisters of Fire were in the same gowns they’d worn in Trish’s wedding. Tess’s baby had been born three months before, so she could get into hers. But Trish had borrowed Lynne’s dress and altered it some to fit her big belly. The girls ran to them, and Brady found his dad nearby.
“Time to take our places son.” His father would officiate beneath a beautiful trellis the church had built four years ago.
Instead of any kind of procession, people gathered around in a semi-circle, and Lynne and Brady would stand in the middle. They both wanted this to be a different kind of ceremony. She wanted a different kind of life, and he was doing his best to give it to her.
He and his dad approached the canopy of flowers. The Sisters of Fire stood together in front. Their girls were in their midst.
Taking in a deep breath, Lynne walked out into the backyard of the church with her dad and Phillip on either side. She took a few steps, then her gaze locked on Brady. He was so handsome today, with the sun beating down on his hair, making it lighter. With an adorable grin on his face. And that suit he wore…she couldn’t wait to get it off him.
More importantly he was happy. The incident with Carlton Matthews had made them both realize they’d do anything to be together. They’d taken their time coming out to the church members, though, and they eventually told Melody and Emma about their relationship. They planned to be together forever. They’d also built a new house and it would be ready this month. Of course, they still snuck out to the cottage whenever they could.
When she arrived up front and stood close to him, he gave her a sexy once over. “I love the hot pink on you. And the strapless top.” He whispered in her ear that he’d remove it as soon as possible.
She’d been surprised that Brady had, well, a wild side. He was willing to try anything. They’d spent a lot of time in bed learning each other’s bodies. Experimenting with toys. Even body paint in the shower. But it was more than that. They’d done fun activities, taken trips all over the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes. They watched the best movies out this year, and often kiddie ones, curled up on the couch with popcorn and the girls. On evenings when they were alone, they played the wholly-monogamous movies that were a little bit naughty.
And though she, Emma and Phillip hadn’t joined the church, they attended every Sunday. She still had a lot to learn about liberal religion and she and Brady discussed that often.
Interestingly, the teenage girls had flocked around her because of her job. Brady hoped someday she could do a Girls’ Group for them, but she wasn’t ready for that.
She thought back on leaving Dannerville and what she wanted from her new life. She was living differently, that was sure, with her high-action firefighting job and with a new man she’d never imagined in her life.
But right now, she had other things to concentrate on.
“Ready, love?” he asked.
“Ready? I can’t wait to belong to you.”
He winked. “You already do, babe. And I belong to you.”
Together, they turned to his father to legally bind them together and, okay, she’d say it, in the eyes of God.
* * * * *
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