A Sweetheart for Jude Fortune

“Now you just hush.” Jeanne Marie put a hand on her husband’s arm. Her tone might be light but her eyes were steady and firm.

“Laurel mentioned your children are here tonight.” Gabi spoke, eager to change the subject and ease the sudden tension in the air. “How many do you have?”

“Seven.” A pretty young woman with a spray of freckles across her nose and tousled blond hair, who Gabi had noticed earlier, strolled up and answered for Jeanne Marie, then extended her hand.

“I’m number six, aka Stacey Fortune Jones.” She gestured to the young woman next to her, so similar in appearance Gabi knew they must be sisters. “This is Delaney, the baby of the family.”

Gabi introduced herself as Laurel stepped away to consult with the caterers and Jeanne Marie and Deke were pulled away by another couple.

“Stacey.” Gabi tilted her head. “Are you by any chance the Stacey who administered first aid to my father after his accident?”

The woman nodded. “I stayed with him, did what I could until the rescue squad arrived.”

Her father had called the nurse an angel sent from above. Gabi grasped Stacey’s hands and emotion surged, clogging her throat. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We lost my mother a couple years ago. I—I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d lost him, too.”

Gabi’s voice broke. She paused, took a steadying breath.

Stacey’s eyes, as blue as her mother’s, filled with understanding. “I was happy to help.”

“Since my mother died it’s just been me and my dad. My brothers aren’t around much.”

“Brothers?” Light danced in Delaney’s pretty eyes. She stepped forward like a hound catching a scent. “How many do you have?”

“Four.” Gabi counted them off on her fingers. “Matteo, Cisco, Alejandro and Joaquin.”

“Older? Younger?” Delaney pressed.

“All older.”

“We’ve got you beat.” Delaney glanced at her sister. “We have five older brothers. Then our parents’ luck changed.”

“I broke the curse,” Stacey said modestly.

“I arrived a year after Stace.” Delaney flashed a smile. “They saved the best for last.”

Gabi chuckled. “I always wanted a sister. Brothers can be nice but—”

“They can be a real pain,” Stacey and Delaney said at the same time then laughed.

“Mine used to do all sorts of horrible things.” Gabi shuddered, remembering. “Matteo once dropped a frog down my shirt. And Joaquin put a snake in my bed.”

“If you think that’s bad—” Delaney went on to share some of the trials she’d endured at her brothers’ hands with Stacey chiming in with another long-ago incident her sister had forgotten.

“The strange thing is, now that they’re grown and gone, I miss them,” Gabi said, feeling a bit melancholy.

“We don’t have a chance to miss ours.” Delaney expelled a long sigh. “They’re all still around.”

Across the room a baby’s voice shrieked with the gurgling laughter of the very young.

Gabi pulled her brows together and fixed her gaze on Stacey. “Didn’t I see you holding a baby earlier?”

Stacey smiled. “That’s my little girl, Piper. Colton has her now.”

“Her fiancé.” Delaney emphasized the word, gesturing to where a slim man with brown eyes and brown hair stood, holding the baby and talking to Gabi’s mystery man. “Isn’t he handsome?”

Gabi pulled her gaze from the cowboy she’d begun to think of as hers to Stacey’s fiancé. “He is a cutie.”

“I think so.” The older sister’s red lips curved. “But then, I’m partial.”

“Colton isn’t just good-looking, he’s super nice.” Delaney shot her sister a warm smile of approval.

“Who’s he speaking with?” Gabi asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.

“That’s Jude.” Delaney rolled her eyes. “One of our crosses to bear.”

Gabi inclined her head.

“A brother,” Stacey clarified. “Number three of our seven. I’ll introduce you.”

Before Gabi could respond, Stacey called out, “Colton. Jude. Over here.”

The two men turned together. Gabi swore she saw a light flare in Jude’s eyes. Jude. She rolled the name around on her tongue, liking the feel of it.

He crossed the room with a rolling, confident gait and a lazy smile on his lips.

“Hey, pretty lady,” Jude said immediately upon reaching her side. “Can a cowboy buy you a drink?”

Delaney and Stacey looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“With lines like that, no wonder you’re not dating anyone,” Stacey teased.

Delaney made a gagging noise, worthy of any younger sister.

Jude ignored them both, keeping his eyes firmly focused on Gabi.

“I wouldn’t mind a ginger ale,” she told him.

“Be right back,” he said with a wink.

“He’s got you in his crosshairs.” Delaney spoke in a theatrical whisper.

“Run,” Stacey urged, her eyes dancing, “while you still have a chance.”

Colton shook his head. “Women.”

“Hey!” Stacey gave her fiancé a playful punch. “You’ve got two women in your life now, remember. Me and Piper?”

He brushed his lips across her cheek. “And I’m extremely glad of it.”