Getting to the Church On Time (9 page)

All true enough.

Then all you’ll need is this
.

The next video took his breath. She’d apparently propped the phone against a pillow or something. She used one hand to pull her panties to the side and the other to circle her clit with the end of the candy cane.

Levi was achingly hard. This wasn’t as good as in person, of course, but it was damned hot, and what he needed if he couldn’t have her here with him right now.

More
was all he was able to type.

She gave him more. She teased herself with the candy cane for a few minutes, then finally shed the panties and replaced it with her fingers.

They went back to words only after a couple of short videos of that and using their imaginations and memories.

Levi lay panting a few minutes later and dialed her number with voice commands.

“Hi.” She was breathless too.

“I’ll bet you taste good right now.”

He heard her suck in a quick breath, then laugh lightly. “I do.”

He groaned, picturing her lifting her fingers to her mouth.

“You always taste good but I do like the addition of peppermint.”

“I bought that candy cane at the airport especially for that purpose.”

It was a page from their first Christmas together. Though he’d been the one holding the candy cane and she hadn’t kept her panties on for very long.

He grinned. “But I feel pretty good now. How about you?”

“Better,” she admitted. Then she sighed. “This still sucks.”

“It does.” But he didn’t want either of them to get down about it. There was nothing they could do and they really needed to focus on the positives.

“I feel terrible about everyone’s hard work going to waste too,” she said. “Setting up the gazebo and all the food and the cake.” She sighed. “That cake was so gorgeous.”

It had been. And had tasted great too. But Levi didn’t want to tell her that they’d eaten it. Or that there was going to be a wedding takeover. He knew she’d be happy for whichever set of friends were getting married and that nothing was being wasted. At the same time, it felt like rubbing it in that she was stuck far from home. She wasn’t getting to taste the cake or see their friends walk down the aisle.

That made a lead ball of regret settle in Levi’s gut. He didn’t mean to leave her out and it hadn’t occurred to him that she would be missing the wedding of…whoever won the wedding. Damn. So would Phoebe and Joe.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that uncommon for Levi to get caught up in a moment and run with an idea—especially a fun one—without thinking about everyone else. He was working on that.

“What do you think things look like for tomorrow?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t think that we’d be able to get out of here until evening. If then,” she said. “It’s still snowing here.”

“Here too.” He was afraid, actually, that she might be able to get to Omaha but not back to Sapphire Falls. He wondered how much it would cost to hire a snow plow. He didn’t have to be at…whoever’s wedding. He needed to pick a winner and that was it. “You have to call me the minute you know anything.”

“I will. Of course.”

They talked a little longer and finally said goodnight. But Levi had a hard time falling asleep. He wanted her here. Or he wanted to be there. He wanted to marry her. He wanted to spend his life with her.

And he didn’t want her to find out that he was giving their wedding away.

Because he really did want to spend his life with her…and not letting her find out about the wedding competition might be important to ensuring
she
walked down the aisle when it was her turn.

Everyone (except Kate, Phoebe & Joe)

“Thank you everyone,” Levi said from the top step of the gazebo in Sapphire Fall’s town square. “I appreciate you coming out and supporting this effort.”

Everyone in town had, seemingly, turned out to see what Tucker, TJ, and Ty had come up with and to give Levi their opinions on their favorites.

There was a smattering of applause from the crowd gathered in the square on the sunny, if cold, afternoon. The snow had stopped around six a.m. and now the town sparkled in the sunshine. The two plows were busy clearing the roads and the diner, bakery, grocery store and hardware store were all open for business. The other shops around town were slower in opening their doors, but no one seemed to care. There was a surprising sense of optimism and happiness in the air and Levi couldn’t help but think some of it had to do with the contest and the pending wedding.

For the most part, the townspeople decided to hang out in the square, waiting for the announcement. Many headed to the cocoa/cider/coffee stand on the corner of the square. Others headed for benches where they could cuddle for warmth in the forty-degree air.

Levi turned toward the long table where they had the contest items set up.

None of the contest entries were labeled with names but Levi knew exactly which things were from which couple. The first were from TJ and Hope. Their recipe wasn’t edible but it was a useful mixture of natural ingredients including salt, peppermint oil and red coloring, according to the tag. It was candy cane bath salts and could be used for a number of health benefits. Their decoration went along with the theme as well. It was a Christmas wreath made of candy canes. Even if the salt with peppermint essential oil hadn’t been a giveaway, the plethora of candy canes would have been after last night’s trip to the grocery store.

The next in line were Tucker and Delaney’s items. The recipe was a white chocolate peppermint cheesecake and it was delicious. Even if it was no bake. That part just made Levi grin. But what Delaney might lack in the kitchen, she made up for in her workshop in the back of Tucker’s barn. She did gorgeous woodworking, including everything from custom-made cabinets to coffee tables to rocking horses. What she’d made for Levi and Kate was a sled, like the old-fashioned ones with wood slats and metal runners. It had been painted a bright red and said “Happy Holidays from the Spencers”. It would look perfect on their front porch and Levi was touched by it, knowing that it was also meant to commemorate the day he and Kate had gone sledding around Valentine’s Day, when Kate had told him she was moving to Sapphire Falls.

The last entry was Hailey and Ty’s. They also had a theme. Their recipe was a peppermint hot chocolate martini and their decoration was a large round glass ornament filled with hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows and a crushed candy cane. He appreciated that they’d coordinated their items and he knew that it was also meant as a tribute to the night he’d met Kate. They’d had hot chocolate in the square together and Hailey had told him weeks later that she and Tucker had witnessed them drinking cocoa—and kissing—within an hour of meeting each other. On the bench not thirty feet from the gazebo where he was now.

Damn he missed Kate.

“So what do you think?” he asked his co-judge.

Kathy Bennett grinned at him. “You know I’m not going to choose one.”

Which was what she’d told him when he’d first asked her to help him out. But it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to choose one either.

“It’s a three-way tie,” he said.

Kathy gave him a surprised look.

He shrugged. “I can’t choose one of them over another. They all want it. And this whole thing did what it was supposed to do—it entertained everyone and helped take my mind off of the fact that
I
won’t be getting married tonight.”

Kathy’s eyes were sympathetic. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“It will be okay.” And it would. Of course. They could get married on New Year’s Eve. That had been another memorable occasion. Or Valentine’s Day. Or really any day of the past year. They were all meaningful, happy and worth remembering.

“So you’re really going to let them all get married tonight?” Kathy asked Levi.

He laughed. “As long as their mother is okay with it.”

She gave him a huge smile. “Why would I not be okay with three of my children becoming blissfully happy?”

“Hey, Levi!”

Levi and Kathy both turned to find TJ climbing the steps to the gazebo.

“Hey, TJ. If you’re here to bribe me, perhaps we should go out of earshot of your mother,” Levi joked.

The oldest Bennett boy shook his head. “Nah, I was actually coming to withdraw our entry.”

Kathy stepped forward with a frown. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Hope and I were just talking and we realized, we’re good. I mean, we want to get married, of course. And we will,” he assured his mother. “But this is really important to Tucker and Ty and, frankly, I’d love for either of them to have it. I’d love to make those boys happy by making their family official before Christmas,” he went on.

Levi knew he was talking about Delaney’s nephews, who she and Tucker planned to legally adopt as soon as they legalized
their
relationship.

“And I want Hailey to officially feel part of this family,” TJ added. “Hope and I both know what that means to her and the sooner we do it, the sooner she’s secure. So, pick one of them. We’re out.”

Levi wasn’t sure what to say. He looked at Kathy. Her eyes were shiny with tears.

“I love you, TJ,” she said. “I’ve always been proud of you, but you constantly give me new reasons to be.”

TJ gave her a quick hug and then shook Levi’s hand. “Thanks for all of this, man. We had some fun and Hope and I talked about our relationship and what marriage means to us and…it’s all really good. So thanks.”

Levi just nodded and watched TJ walk off.

Then he turned to Kathy. “Wow. Okay, so a double wedding?”

Kathy lifted a shoulder. “I guess. I would have loved to see TJ up there too though. He had so much unhappiness before Hope came to town.”

Levi agreed. But he couldn’t force the man down the aisle. Could he?

“Want a piece of cheesecake?” he asked Kathy.

There was already his huge “taste-tester” piece missing from it, but there was enough left to share.

“I’d love one.”

Levi handed her a fork and slid a piece onto a napkin for her.

“Hey, Levi!”

Levi took a bite of his second piece of cheesecake as Ty came up the steps. “Oh boy,” he muttered.

Kathy just nodded and chewed.

“Hey man, I wanted to grab you before you made your final decision,” he said. “Hailey and I were just talking and we really think you should give the wedding to Tucker or TJ.”

Levi lifted an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“The boys deserve to have their family official and intact for Christmas,” Ty said, agreeing with TJ without knowing it. “And TJ’s been through so much. Hope is amazing and, well, seeing TJ with her makes us realize that they need this. We’re good. We’ve been together for so long. We can wait a little longer.”

Levi took another bite of cheesecake and nodded. He swallowed and said, “Okay, I hear you.”

Ty looked relieved. “We’ll be back for the announcement of which one you decide on.”

“It’s gonna be good,” Levi promised.

Ty grinned, leaned in and kissed his mother’s cheek, and headed back down the steps.

“I gotta say,” Levi said to Kathy. “Your family is amazing.”

She looked happy and choked up at the same time. “They are, aren’t they?”

“So, Tucker and Delaney,” Levi said. “Yeah, I can feel good about that.”

They were a fantastic couple. But they all were. They were meant to be, every one of them.

“Let me buy you some coffee to wash the cheesecake down,” Levi said.

“Sounds great,” Kathy agreed.

They were partway down the path that led to the hot drinks stand when Levi heard yet another man shouting his name.

He sighed.

“Tucker,” Kathy said.

Levi nodded and turned. “Hey, Tucker.”

“Hi.” Tucker glanced around and lowered his voice. “Before you make a decision, I wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?” But Levi knew exactly where this was going.

“Delaney and I are going to sit this out, after all. I want you to give the wedding to Ty or TJ.”

Levi pretended to be surprised. “Really? Is everything okay?”

Tucker gave his mother a reassuring smile. “Of course. We’re great. But we decided that we’re okay with waiting.”

“What about the boys? Don’t you think this would be a great Christmas present for them?” Levi asked.

Tucker smiled affectionately at the mention of the four boys he loved as much as if they were biologically his own. “The boys are good. They know we’re a family, no matter what the last names are or anything.”

“You think Ty and TJ should be married first?” Kathy asked.

“Ty and Hailey have been together so long,” Tucker said. “They deserve this. I know Ty wants to make a big public declaration for her. This is perfect. And TJ and Hope both have been through a lot of painful stuff. They deserve this happiness. Either of them is a great choice.”

Kathy’s eyes were filled with tears again when she rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to Tucker’s cheek. “I have the best sons in the world,” she said.