Four For Christmas (12 page)
Read Four For Christmas Online
Authors: R. G. Alexander
He handed it to her as he finished the letter. “You’re probably all wondering how this relates to the book. Well, I finally started writing him again a year before I joined the Marines. He said he remembered me, remembered that postcard. He also told me his granddaughter was still pretty, still smart, but now she was going to be a famous author. He was so proud of her. So proud that she named the book after him. I bought it as soon as it came out, and wrote to him to tell him about it. That’s when I found out he’d died. I always thought I’d see him again. It occurred to me then, that as long as I read his story, in a way he’d still be around. So I’ve read a little bit every night from that day to this. And I still feel like he’s looking out for me. Just like I’ll always be looking out for you. That’s why I’m giving you this card now. So you’ll always know I’m nearby. That’s what family is about, right? Being there? See you next year. Love, Your Brother Nicholas.”
They all looked at her, but Georgia couldn’t speak. She knew she wore the same expression of incredulity that they did. Even as she held the postcard in her hand, she couldn’t quite believe it.
The address was Grandpa Bale’s. It was the PO Box that he’d used to keep in touch with all his pen pals. When he was in the hospital, Georgia would go there faithfully every other day to bring him new letters from distant friends. He loved getting them.
“Georgia? Honey, how?” Jimmy ran his hands over his face and stood up, trying to take it all in. The way they all were.
Chris’s blue eyes were wide, like a child’s the first time they come down the stairs Christmas morning. He shook his head, gazing at her in wonder. “Happy Birthday, Georgia.”
She cupped one hand over her mouth as she laughed through a fresh wave of tears. When was the last time someone had said that to her on Christmas morning? And had it ever sounded so perfect?
“What did he write?” Everyone looked blankly at Flynn. “Grandpa Bale. What did he write to Nicholas on that postcard?”
“Just three lines.” She read the words aloud. Words she’d known by heart most of her life, but she’d never understood the meaning of until now. “Things will get better. You can do anything. You are never alone.”
Was it Georgia’s imagination that made her believe that her guardian angel and theirs had reunited and decided to do a little matchmaking? Or that somehow, someway, they were always supposed to meet?
Maybe. Maybe not. But as her mountain men came closer to wrap their big arms around her, all of them awestruck by this day, Georgia was sure of one thing.
It
wasn’t
something in the water. It was so much more. And even though she wasn’t sure what the road ahead had in store for the four of them, what she felt with them and for them, was worth fighting for.
She looked up at the mistletoe and smiled through her tears.
So worth it.
R.G. Alexander (aka Rachel Grace) is a bestselling author who has written over 20+ books in the erotic paranormal, contemporary and sci-fi/fantasy genres for multiple epublishers and Berkley Heat.
She has lived all over the United States, studied archaeology and mythology, been a nurse and a vocalist, and now? A writer who dreams of vampires, witches and airship battles, and feels lucky everyday that she gets to share her stories with her readers. She is happily married to a talented chef who is her best friend, her research assistant, and the love of her life.
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Keep reading for an excerpt from the first book in this series.
Three For Me?
By R. G. Alexander
Chapter 1
“And do you, Lee Ronald Barrow, Connie Lynn MacIntosh
and
Lori Annette Shelton, take each other to be husband and wives? Will you honor and keep one another, forsaking all others, for as long as the three of you shall live?”
“I do.”
“I do.”
“Me three.”
Charli snorted at Lori Ann’s response, and the small, quiet gathering began to chuckle. Including the notary public who was performing the intimate beach wedding. Lee quelled her with a look over his silver-framed glasses and she lowered her head apologetically while the ceremony continued.
This was a little surreal. It was weird enough that Lee was marrying
both
his long-time girlfriends. Well, technically only Connie, though they’d both signed a pre-nup that included Lori Ann. But to make matters worse, he’d asked Charli to be the best man. Her. Not Eric or Rafael, not even Simon. No. Out of all his childhood friends, Lee chose his only female buddy for the job.
She glanced at her fellow groomsmen through her lashes. Even in Hawaiian-print shorts, sleeveless tuxedo jackets and bow ties, the height of fashion for the Key West wedding elite, they were a stunning group of men.
Her men.
They’d been best friends for as long as she could remember—since the sixth grade. Protecting one another from school bullies and distant parents, celebrating successes and commiserating over heartbreaks. Always together.
Lee had been the last one to join their motley crew…and the first one to leave it. She sighed. Oh they would still hang out, and it wasn’t as if Connie and Lori Ann weren’t wonderful, but it wouldn’t be the same.
This was the beginning of the end. Pretty soon the others would catch the settling-down bug. They were all sexy, successful men in their prime. They wouldn’t be single long. And then Charli would be alone. No more camping trips, no more Thursday night couch-potato parties. Not for her.
Was she a horrible person to think that? To selfishly worry about herself instead of wishing them well? Probably. But damn it, she hated change.
“Wake up, Chuck.” Simon nudged her, and she looked up, blushing at the expectant stares aimed her way.
“Oh!” She slipped her fingers into the too small shorts she’d stupidly allowed the boys to purchase for her, pulling out the three engraved rings. “Sorry.”
Connie giggled, and Lee just rolled his eyes, smiling as he took the rings from Charli’s clammy hands. She saw the awkward, gangly youth from her childhood in that smile, and her eye’s misted as he spoke his vows. Simple, honest and with just enough humor to be perfectly Lee.
“Let the love that these three have found with one another be nurtured and supported by all who stand witness here today. Love is a rare gift. It comes in many packages and forms, each one unique…each one a blessing.”
First Connie, then Lori Ann, were given a thorough and passionate kiss by their new husband. Charli’s eyebrows touched her hairline when the two women wrapped their arms around each other and, without any hesitation, pressed their lips together softly, tenderly.
Rafael, always the one with the fewest inhibitions, let out a loud wolf whistle. “I think I speak for every man here when I say, amen to
that
.”
Charli leaned around Simon to whack Raf in the stomach. “Way to ruin a moment, Mr. Romance.”
“Hey, I’m romantic. Ask anyone.”
“Don’t you mean ask
everyone
?” Charli heard Eric’s low mutter, and her brow crinkled with worry.
He’d had such a hard time when Rafael admitted his bisexuality to the group. Eric and Raf had been inseparable before then. Now, even though it was five years since his drunken announcement, things still weren’t the same between them. And that pot had been stirred by Connie and Lori Ann’s obvious affection for one another.
Did she mention she hated change?
“Thank you all for coming. Now let’s get to the boat before they leave without us. Next stop, Cozumel!” Connie did a little dance in the sand, both the brides turning to throw their bouquets at the small crowd of family and friends.
Lori Ann’s was caught by Lee’s Aunt Kelly, the only member of his family to RSVP. She’d told them that black sheep had to stick together, but Charli was grateful that Lee had her to lean on. They all leaned on her. Including Charli, who’d lived under her roof from the time she was fifteen until she graduated from high school. Everyone needed an Aunt Kelly.
She was grinning at the fifty-three-year-old beauty, who was holding up her prize and whooping as though she’d won the lottery, when she saw a missile of orchids and lavender flying her way.
Charli’s hands came up with the instincts of a seasoned catcher, saving her face from certain flowery doom. She looked down at the dainty design. Hell.
“Nice catch.”
“That’s why she’s the best man.”
“Guess you’re next, Chuck.”
Charli glared at them all in turn, saving her meanest look for Simon, who just raised his eyebrow and smirked. He drove her crazy, for too many reasons to count. Not the least of which was his persistence in taking her already-masculine name, and butching it up.
Connie squealed and Charli glanced up to see Lee heft her and Lori Ann over each shoulder, carrying them easily up the sandy incline to the Conch Train, the tourist tram that would take them back to the cruise ship.
“Wait, you guys, I promised Lee I’d get a picture of the four of you in those great outfits. Scrunch in together.”
Three pairs of strong male hands pulled her close at Kelly’s command, right in the middle. She closed her eyes at their heat. God, they smelled good. All of them. She was sick from breakfast. That must be what it was. Why she had this sudden desire to rub up against them. Heck, maybe weddings screwed with her hormones. Reminded her that she was a girl.
“Wait, Aunt Kelly. We need one more. Take it off guys.” Rafael waggled his eyebrows at Charli, unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket and shirt with all the flair of a table dancer.
“Oh. I’m so hot. You’re turning me on.” Her monotone delivery set all of them guffawing, and she smiled. This was how it should be. All light and fun and none of them having any idea what she was really thinking. Sad, but being friends with a group of horny hunks made you keep some things to yourself.
They all turned toward her with their arms spread and Charli nearly fell over laughing. “Oh my God. When did you get those?”
Simon, Eric and Raf grinned at her delight. They were all sporting red T-shirts covered in gold and orange flames. The black lettering was bold and unmistakable. Her eyes blurred again, this time with tears of mirth.
Charli’s Devils.
Lee’s aunt snapped the picture. “Priceless.”
Yes, Charli thought. They were.
“I’m so glad I brought an extra one along. I knew you’d look this sexy in a bikini.”
“I can’t believe they’re real. I’d kill for a pair like that.”
Charli was going to kill Lee. Shouldn’t he be in his honeymoon suite, doing insanely kinky things with his new brides? Instead, he and the other guys had disappeared, leaving her alone with Lori Ann and Connie. They’d talked her into a little sun bathing by the pool. And apparently, her faded blue one-piece wasn’t allowed to the party.
She adjusted the narrow triangles that she was sure barely covered her nipples. Connie had a nice figure, but the bikini top was too small. The bane of Charli’s existence had always been her breasts. No matter how compact or sporty the rest of her body was from a lifetime of playing with the boys, her breasts never shrank a single cup size. “Porn breasts” Lee had called them once. Before Simon and Eric had socked him in the jaw.
“Oh relax, Charli. Just lay back, enjoy our complimentary wedding margaritas and tell us all about Lee when he was a randy teen.” Connie’s laughter was infectious, and soon enough, whether it was from the alcohol or the company, Charli found herself relaxing. And sharing stories.