Unlucky in Love (24 page)

Jess held her hands over Lexi's eyes as Danielle made final adjustments down near her feet, and then backed up.

“Can I look?” Lexi asked, touching her fingers to lace and satin and what felt like a million tiny pearls.

“Okay.” Jess slid her hands away, and Lexi heard herself gasp as she caught her first look in the three-paneled mirror of the bridal shop.

“Oh.” The word was hardly a breath as she swung slowly from side to side, watching how the fabrics played against each other, how the pearly buttons glittered in the light. “Danielle, it's so…perfect.”

Then she turned around to the antique couch, where Hayley, Jess, Kyla, and Jenny were sipping champagne, and she laughed.

“You guys look like you're seeing a ghost or something.”

“No.” Kyla got up and circled Lexi slowly. “I think we're seeing a princess.”

Hayley stood up as well, going to the door and opening it slightly. “Marco, come on in here. You
have
to take some practice pictures of Lexi in this dress!”

Marco, the wedding photographer Lexi and Gunnar had chosen, slipped through the door, smiling appreciatively as he caught sight of Lexi in her dress. He started snapping pics as the girls surrounded her, helped her put on her veil, touched up her lipstick, and held her champagne glass so she could sip it.

She'd been an official Whisper Creek resident for nine months now, and her June wedding was two weeks away. She was torn between being completely elated…and completely undone, because here they were, once again within the fourteen-day window, and though it was irrational, she couldn't help but have the Curse at the top of her mind.

This was her final fitting, and the girls had all come with her to try on their bridesmaid gowns for the last time, too. She'd sent Katie's home to Maine, and Katie'd texted a pic last night—her on Long Sands, in the gown, the lighthouse behind her. Lexi couldn't wait to see her when she arrived next week.

“My mother's going to flip when she sees me in this gown,” she said. Mom had woken up ornery and confused this morning, so she'd stayed back in her cabin, where Ma had promised to keep an eye on her.

“Want to go show her?” Hayley winked.

“Oh, I can't. I don't want anything to happen to this gorgeous piece of art I'm wearing. I don't dare step out of this shop.”

“Come on.” She motioned toward the doorway, and Lexi felt her eyes narrow as she caught Hayley winking at the other women. “Peppy's not using his limo today. He said he'd give us a test drive out to the ranch.”

Lexi laughed. “Seriously? We can't all go out there like this!”

“But Ma couldn't come. She wants to see.” Kyla took her arm. “Come on. We'll just go out for a few minutes, give her a sneak peek, and come back to town. You don't mind, do you, Danielle?”

Danielle smiled. “Not a bit. I'll be here. Come back whenever.”

“What about Gunnar? He can't see me in my dress!”

“Gunnar's out working fences with Cole,” Jess said. “He won't see you.”

And before she could come up with any more arguments, the girls had steered her out the door and into Peppy's limo, which was parked out front.

All the way out to the ranch, Hayley kept them in stitches with stories about her hideous week, and Lexi was laughing so hard by the time they turned into the gate that she almost didn't notice the crepe paper wedding bells tied to the posts.

Almost.

“What—what's going on? You guys?”

The girls all looked at one another, then erupted in smiles as they pulled flowers out of a cooler on the floor and handed a bouquet to Lexi.

“Happy wedding day!” Kyla said, kissing her on the cheek.

“What are you
talking
about?”

“We're breaking the Curse,” Jess smiled. “No more two-week-cold-feet-itis. Your groom is currently waiting at the altar. Impatiently, according to Cole's latest text.”

“Oh. My. Go—” Lexi's free hand flew to her throat. “This isn't poss—who—how—oh, my God.”

“Breathe, honey.” Hayley patted her back. “You've lived here for almost a year with this crazy family you signed up to take on as your own. Does it really surprise you that given the desire, we pulled off the wedding coup of the century?”

“I don't understand. What about my sister?”

“She's here.”

“No.” Lexi fumbled for her phone. “She sent me this pic last night!”

“Nope.” Hayley shook her head. “She was eating pizza with us when she sent that. She'd taken it last week.”

“Omigod.” Lexi looked out the windows, seeing a huge white tent, what looked like acres of tulips, and at least a hundred cars. “Whose idea was this?”

“Gunnar's.” All four of them answered in unison.

“It—was?” She felt a smile absolutely take over her face. “Really?
He's
responsible for this?”

“Yup.” Hayley adjusted Lexi's veil as the limo rolled to a stop. “Now, just watch yourself up there at that altar.”

“Why?”

“Because the eye daggers of every single woman in a thirty-mile radius will be trained on your back, m'dear. You have captured the catch of the century here, in case you didn't already know that.”

Lexi smiled, thinking back to a year ago, before she'd met all of these people she already considered family. She'd never dared to believe this could be her life, and here she was, about to step out of a limo and into marriage with the most amazing man on the planet.

“I love you guys,” she said, trying to hug them all at once.

“Now, now.” Jess reached up with a tissue. “No crying. You'll ruin the makeup you thought we were just practicing with.”

Lexi giggled. “Okay. No crying.”

Just then there was a knock on the limo, and then the door was wrenched open and Katie landed on the seat in a pile of hot pink satin.

“Surprise!” she said, and her bright blue eyes sparkled. “Did we pull it off, girls?”

“We so did,” Jenny said, then reached for the door. “All right, ladies. I believe the crowd awaits us.”

Peppy held open the door as each of the bridesmaids exited the limo, and as they did, Lexi took deep, calming breaths.

When it was her turn, Peppy reached his gloved hand in for hers, and she stepped out onto the gravel driveway, smiling widely as she caught sight of Cole and Decker in tuxes and black Stetsons.

“Oh, my gosh.” She felt tears spring up when she realized the lengths everyone had gone to in order to make this surprise wedding happen. “You guys look—wow. Do
not
let Ma put pics of you in tuxes on the website. We'll break the Internet.”

“May we escort the bride?” Cole hooked his left arm so she could hold his elbow, and Decker did the same on her other side. “You have a very anxious groom.”

Lexi laughed as they headed for the grassy area just beyond the main lodge, joining the bridesmaids. They stayed just around the corner, out of sight of the crowd gathered in white folding chairs.

She looked around, her eyes wide, wondering how in the world all of this setup had happened in such a short time. It looked like the entire town had pitched in. Jess and Kyla flitted around her, fussing with her dress and veil until the music started, and she took a deep breath.

“You ready?” Cole winked at her.

“I've never been more ready for anything in my entire life.”

“You're sure? Because I've heard there's a two-week rule on this whole wedding thing. You can still totally back out. I can drive a limo, if that dress won't fit in a normal car.”

She laughed. “Noted. I think I'll give it a try, though. This one's a keeper.”

Jenny gave her a kiss, then headed around the corner of the lodge and down the aisle, followed by Hayley, then Jess, then Kyla, while Katie waited to go last. Then Lexi heard a collective
aww
from the crowd as Gracie and her twin sister Bryn made their way, scattering tulip petals from little pink baskets.

Katie turned to Lexi. “You ready, Ms. Almost–Mrs. Steele?”

“Ready,” she nodded, then watched Katie head for the altar.

And then the music changed, and Lexi felt her face break into a smile. Her turn.

They got to the end of the aisle, and when Lexi looked up, all eyes were on her, but the only eyes she saw were Gunnar's. He smiled, and as she walked slowly down the aisle, he never broke her gaze—just held on like he was physically pulling her toward him.

When she reached the altar, Decker and Cole kissed her on each cheek, handing her to a waiting Gunnar.

“Surprise,” he whispered, leaning close to her ear.

“I'll say.”

“Pretty sure we broke the Curse, sweetheart.”

Lexi laughed as they turned toward the minister, and she held Gunnar's hand tightly through the opening remarks, the readings, and the song they'd chosen for Danielle to sing. When it was time for the vows, Gunnar took a deep breath, holding both of her hands in his as he looked into her eyes.

“Alexis Maguire, you were
not
supposed to show up in my life.”

The guests laughed at his opening, and Lexi couldn't help but join them.

He squeezed her fingers gently as he continued. “I was completely unequipped for a girl from the coast of Maine to come in and rock my Montana world…but you did. And then you left, and I thought I could learn to live without you again. After all, I'd been doing it for a long time before you ever came.

“But—I couldn't. I kept smelling your shampoo, kept wondering why I couldn't put any other guest on Bella, kept wondering when I'd stop looking for you in your cabin window, breeze playing with your hair while you sipped your tea.

“You know how I grew up, Lex. You know how important it is for me to have a place to call home, to have my own piece of land with my own house and my own family. But here's what I learned after you left…it isn't about the land. It's about who you're with
on
that land. Home isn't about a place or a piece of acreage. It's about love.”

He paused, and she could barely breathe.

“I love you, Lex. You came into my life as an eight-week guest, and it turns out it was impossible to say goodbye to you. And now?” He slid the platinum wedding band on her finger. “Now, I'll never have to say goodbye again.”

He winked, then kissed her. “See? Cowboys can, too, be romantic.”

She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes while she tried to remember the vows she hadn't finished writing yet. She stumbled through them—rather inelegantly, but Gunnar didn't seem to care, and then they were walking back down the aisle hand in hand, tulip petals and birdseed cascading around them.

And at midnight, under a starry sky, champagne was passed and toasts were made, and a million hugs later, the last taillights disappeared up the long Whisper Creek driveway.

Hayley put her arm around Lexi's shoulder. “Welcome to the family, Alexis Maguire Steele.”

“Thanks, Hayley.” Lexi smiled, turning to hug her.

“Just a quick question, before Daniel and I take off.” Hayley pointed toward the porch of the main lodge. “Your sister and Finn seem to be hitting it off over there. You think I should go warn her about drinking Whisper Creek water?”

Lexi looked over, smiling as she saw her sister and the paragliding instructor laughing together. Katie's favorite pink water bottle—the one she guzzled from all day long—was in her hand.

“Nah.” She shook her head, grinning. “Let her drink the water.”

“Who are you trying to get to move out here
now
?” Gunnar's voice made her shiver deliciously as his arms came around her from behind. “And just to clarify, it's the
men
who get you women here, not the damn water.”

“Sure.” Hayley patted his arm, blowing him a kiss as she turned to follow Daniel to their car. “You go with that, Gunnar.”

They waved as the car meandered up the driveway, and then Gunnar turned her around, cradling her head against his chest. He kissed her forehead, then slid his hands up to her cheeks as he pulled back to look into her eyes.

“So…just one thing you should know about being part of this family.”

“Okay?” She braced for something sweet and romantic that would further undo her.

“Listen carefully. I'm telling you this because I love you. It's important.”

“I'm listening.” Lexi made her voice serious, but rolled her eyes.

“One rule here, okay? There is no—and I mean
absolutely
no—karaoke singing allowed. None. Ever.”

She laughed. “Well, there's just one thing
you
should know.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yup. Remember Lexi 3.0?”

“Maybe?” He cringed, even while he smiled.

“She totally sings.”

To my brothers

For their strength, for their courage

And for their love

I'm so excited to kick off three more Whisper Creek books with
Unlucky in Love,
and am incredibly honored and humbled to thank the following people for their assistance with this book:

My editor, Sarah Murphy—for her generosity, her sweet savviness, and her keen editorial eye. It was an honor to work with you on this book.

My agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan—a steady, sparkling rock in a swirling sea.

The entire Loveswept team, for the gorgeous cover, the fabulous book-love, and for helping me bring Whisper Creek to life.

My critique partner and cheerleader extraordinaire, Jennifer Brodie—for just being indescribably awesome. Always.

My bunnies—for five amazing years of what-ifs.

My family—for, quite simply, everything.

Accidental Cowgirl

A Cowboy's Christmas Promise

Once Upon a Cowboy

Unlucky in Love