Grace Under Fire (Buchanan-Renard 14)

Zachary, the youngest, also couldn’t make it. The Air Force owned him. He’d graduated from the academy and was now somewhere in Iceland, flying those sleek jets he was crazy about.

Judge and Mrs. Buchanan were away on a short and well-deserved vacation and would be returning home soon. They rarely had time to get away, but their children had encouraged them to take a few days for themselves. Besides, with their parents away, the siblings could prepare for the party.

The judge had reached retirement age; however, his dedication to the law had kept him an active member of the court. Because of his example, most of his sons had taken up professions in the law as well. Theo was a federal attorney. Nick and Alec were FBI agents. Dylan was a police chief in South Carolina. Zachary, thus far, seemed to be headed in a different direction because of his passion for flying. And that left Michael. With his service in the military and his education in the law, he could choose any number of careers, and yet no one except Michael knew what his future would be.

Even without the younger siblings there, the house was bursting at the seams.

As the family had grown over the years, so had their home. Their parents had expanded and remodeled the kitchen and had added a master bedroom suite on the first floor. A long hallway separated it from the rest of the house, which gave them more privacy when their big family was visiting. And it seemed there were always a few children or grandchildren staying with them. There were five bedrooms on the second floor and two small bedrooms on the third floor that were rarely used.

The guesthouse with a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms was just across the lawn. It was reserved for a few relatives and friends who were coming from out of town. And that left the two bedrooms on the third floor of the main house. Michael was assigned one of those, and Isabel was expected to take the other—assuming she could be persuaded to leave the Hamilton.

It was getting on in the evening, almost eleven, and all the women were in the kitchen, sitting around the table, catching up on one another’s lives. Isabel sat quietly next to her sister Kate. She was relieved and thankful to have the distraction. The chatter took her mind off the events of the day before. She loved hearing all their stories and wondered if they realized how lucky they were. They had careers that fulfilled them. They were surrounded by a loving family. And they had found their soulmates.

When there was a lull in the conversation, Isabel asked the women to tell her how they had met their husbands.

“Laurant, you’ve been married the longest. Why don’t you start and tell how you met Nick,” Kate said.

“Just a minute. Does anyone want ice cream?” Laurant asked, heading to the freezer. Earlier she had opened a bag of potato chips, poured them into a bowl, and put them in the center of the table. She then proceeded to eat most of them.

She didn’t wait for an answer but pulled out a container of chocolate chip, then grabbed some spoons and put them on the table.

“Lately I’m always hungry,” she explained. She opened the container, helped herself to a spoonful, and then between bites told a harrowing tale of a madman who had threatened to kill her.

“My brother called his best friend, Nick, who was an FBI agent, for help. He stayed with me until the psycho was caught,” she said. She went on to tell the details, and when she was finished, she added, “It was pretty awful at the time, but in the end, you might say it was the best thing that ever happened to me because Nick and I found each other.”

Kate picked up a spoon, but it was too late. Laurant had already claimed the carton of ice cream for herself, so she put the spoon down. “It was Jordan who introduced me to Dylan. I’d never have found him if it weren’t for her,” Kate said. “She and I became friends when we were in a European history class in college and discovered that the MacKenna and Buchanan clans both lived in the northern Highlands of Scotland. Our ancestors can be traced all the way to the Middle Ages. I’d like to think our families were connected even back then and that it was destiny that brought Dylan and me together.”

Everyone agreed her theory was possible or, at the very least, terribly romantic.

Isabel sat engrossed as Jordan and Regan described their first impressions of their husbands next.

Michelle was the last to tell how she met Theo, and her version of their introduction made Isabel laugh.

“I had to attend a mandatory hospital party at a hotel with other doctors, and I had spent a fortune on a beautiful Armani dress,” she began, and then took the time to describe the garment from neckline to hem, ending with, “And the love of my life appeared out of nowhere and threw up all over it.”

“What did you do?” Isabel asked.

“I removed Theo’s appendix,” Michelle said, smiling. “And I decided to keep him.”

Michelle beamed when she said Theo’s name, and Isabel felt a brief pang of envy. She knew that true love existed, but she believed it was rare. Her sister had found it with Dylan, and it was evident that all the women at the table were madly in love with their husbands. She wondered if she would ever feel that way someday.

“What about Michael and Sidney and Zachary? Who do you think will be the next one to get married?” Laurant asked.

“I’m guessing Sidney,” Kate said. “But not for a couple more years. She’s so busy filming documentaries, she hasn’t had time to think about marriage.”

“And she hasn’t met the love of her life yet,” Michelle added.

“I don’t think Michael will ever get married,” Jordan commented.

“What about Amanda Foley? She’d marry Michael in a heartbeat, and they have a lot in common,” Kate remarked.

“How so?” Isabel asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“They’re both attorneys, and they both graduated at the top of their class.”

“Is she in the military?”

Jordan answered. “No, she works for a firm here in Boston.”