When She Was Bad...

Pepper tugged on Cole’s hand. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Maybe we won’t have to. Don’t look now but the troops are coming.”

Sure enough, Pepper could see her father, Peter Rossi, a fit gray-haired man in a summer-weight suit, striding toward the veranda. To his right was Matt, a younger-looking version of her father, looking as if he’d just stepped out of the pages of GQ. And Luke, wearing chinos and a linen jacket, looked like he’d just pulled himself together after a day of surfing. A funny but warm feeling stirred in her stomach as she watched them climb the steps.

She turned to look at Cole and found that he was smiling at her. “Family,” he murmured. “Riding to the rescue.”

They were a family, Pepper thought. Her father, her brothers, and Cole. And for the first time she felt like she belonged.

“Irene, you want out of this?” her father was asking.

“No,” Butch said, taking Irene’s hand in his. “She doesn’t.”

“You want us to beat him up for you?” Matt asked.

“No,” Irene said.

Butch turned to Irene then. “I knew from the first time I saw you that you were the one woman I wanted to marry. And I let you go. But I still had part of you in those letters. Then I got scared and stupid and I pushed you away. I was afraid if I let you come to the island and we got together, it would mess up what we had together. But it didn’t, did it?”

“No,” Irene said.

“Right.” Butch nodded at her. “I’m not going to lose you again, Renie. I want more than a living arrangement. I want my ring on your finger, and I want to say the vows.”

Pepper felt tears sting her cheeks as her aunt sighed, stepped into Butch’s arms and laid her head on his shoulder.

After a moment, Butch spoke to Peter. “You can go out there and tell them we’re coming.”

Once Peter, Matt and Luke had left, Butch took Irene’s hand in his. “You ready for this?”

She met his eyes steadily. “Yes. Let’s do it.”

Pepper felt the tears on her cheeks.

As they followed the bride and groom out, Cole turned to her. “You ready for this?”

Pepper stumbled as her heart stuttered and her throat dried. “You mean…?”

He glanced out at the garden as Butch and Irene walked through the flowers, hand in hand. “Yeah.”

She looked into Cole’s eyes, and suddenly, every part of her steadied. “Well. I think with a little time, I could be persuaded.”

He went absolutely still, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “How much time do you have in mind?”

She smiled slowly. “I thought that after the wedding we might sneak away to this place I know. How does twenty-four hours of persuading sound?”

He threw back his head and laughed. Several heads turned their way. Then he lifted her off her feet and kissed her hard. “You’ve got a deal.”