Her Montana Christmas Groom

“You’ll just have to whip out your ID and prove you’re at least twenty-one so no one thinks I’m perving on you.”

“Oh, please—” But she laughed, then pointed at him. “Okay, I’ll go with you, but only as friends. No strings attached.”

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rose walked into the three-story lobby of the Thunder Canyon Resort on the arm of Austin Anderson. People looked at them, but no one pointed and laughed, which was a relief. Still, when he’d taken her hand and slipped it into the bend of his elbow, it felt more than friendly. She’d opened her mouth to call him on it, but his disarming grin had taken all the bite out of her protest.

This was like dieting with a box of doughnuts in her hand. One touch and all her willpower went out the window.

“Wow,” he said. “Look at this place.”

When she did, her breath caught. She’d been to the resort a few times, but this evening it was transformed into a romantic holiday wedding scene. Two groups of chairs with a white runner separating them were set up on the gleaming inlaid floor and facing the huge stone fireplace. The mantel was draped with lighted green garland and trimmed with red bows. Individual poinsettia plants were arranged in the shape of a tree on either side of a raised dais. Hanging crystals reflected firelight, candles and small twinkling white lights.

Rose stared in wonder. “Just breathtaking.”

“I know what you mean.”

There was a huskiness in Austin’s voice that made Rose look up at him. He was staring at her and the gleam in his eyes made her heart skip.

“I was talking about the decorations,” she clarified.

“I wasn’t.”

In that instant two days of fretting over an appropriate outfit dissolved as it passed a test she hadn’t realized existed. She’d chosen a long-sleeved black dress with velvet sleeves and bodice and a full skirt fashioned from lace. Her peep-toed pumps were velvet, too. Then there was the problem of what to do with her hair. It was a cold, damp evening which made the priority all about control.

She’d done a soft side part, then pulled it sleekly back from her face and tucked the mass into a knot behind her right ear. The way Austin was looking at her, a hairstyle would be all she had any chance of controlling.

People were moving past them and the room was quickly filling up.

“I better go sit down.” The words came out a sort of husky whisper that she hoped he didn’t notice.

“Right.”

They moved to the chairs and Rose was about to take one in the back row.

“Not here.” Austin walked around the outside formation as the aisle was blocked off for the ceremony. He led her to the front row on the bride’s side.

“But this is reserved for family,” she protested.

“I’m family and you’re my— You’re with me.” He winked, then glanced at his watch. “I have to go do a thing. The wedding planner has us on a tight schedule.”

“What happens if you’re late?”

“I don’t want to find out.” He shuddered, then touched her arm. “I’ll be back in a little while. Don’t run away.”

Rose nodded, sat and blew out a breath. Her face was hot, but that had nothing to do with the flames snapping and popping in the fireplace and everything to do with Austin.

She should have turned down his invitation, but he’d caught her in a weak moment, when she was feeling sorry for herself about attending this high-profile event all alone after being a high-profile dater since relocating here. It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t really glad he’d walked her in, but everyone was bound to talk. No doubt tomorrow it would be all over town that she was officially desperate enough to poach from a younger dating pool.

So be it. The damage was done, but there wouldn’t be more fuel for the fire because she and Austin weren’t an item. This was a one-shot deal. Just friends.

In the row of chairs just behind her people took their places. Then someone touched her shoulder and she turned. Her brothers Ethan and Corey bookended Liz Landry, Ethan’s fiancée. All three smiled at her.

“Hey, little sister.” Ethan took Liz’s hand and linked his fingers with hers.

“You look beautiful, Rose,” Liz said. “I love your dress.”

Corey leaned forward and said, “How did you score the best seat in the house?”

It really wasn’t. She was several seats from the aisle where the brides would pass. Those empty chairs were probably reserved for family. She was just a… What did she call herself? Not a date. “My friend Austin, brother of the bride, asked me to go with him. He sat me here.”

Rose could see that all of them had questions, but a quartet started to play chamber music and she was saved by the strings. The sweet notes of the musical instruments soothed her nerves. Not that it mattered. This event was about two brides and two grooms who’d found true love and soon would pledge their lives to each other. She truly envied them.

When Frank and Edie Cates, parents of the twin grooms, took their seats on the opposite side, it was clear that the time line was progressing. A few minutes later, Betty and Jack Castro came down the aisle. They were Elise’s biological parents but hadn’t raised her. Last year she’d learned that she and Erin Castro were switched at birth and taken home by the wrong families. It had been a shock to both women, one that Rose couldn’t imagine. But Rose’s brother Corey had helped Erin come to terms with the past and now they were happily married.

Next down the aisle was Helen Clifton who’d raised Elise, the woman she would always call “Mom.” Once the parents were in place the pace picked up. The music stopped and a gray-haired man stepped to the middle of the dais with a Bible in his hands. A clue that he’d be administering the vows. Then the twin grooms appeared beside him with their best men, Marshall and Mitchell Cates. The unmistakable dark hair, eyes and similar features marked them all as brothers.

The minister said, “If you’ll all please rise.”

The guests did as asked and the musicians played a processional. First down the aisle was Erin Castro Traub. Rose stole a look at her brother Corey who was smiling proudly at his wife, the love of his life. Next was maid of honor Angie Anderson, stunning in a simple red silk strapless dress and carrying a bouquet of white orchids.

When the two attendants were in place, the traditional wedding music cued Elise Clifton. She came down the aisle on the arm of her brother, Grant. Her long dark blond hair was a cascade of curls held in place by a diamond head band. She looked like a Greek goddess in a one-shouldered satin beaded gown. Matt beamed at his bride, eagerly taking her hand.

It was time for bride number two and Rose looked back just in time to see Haley kiss Austin’s lean cheek, then put her hand in the bend of his elbow. She looked like a princess in her strapless, full-skirted organza gown. Her floor-length veil flowed from a diamond tiara that held her upswept brown hair in place. Rose glanced at Marlon Cates who couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who would shortly be his wife.

As he placed his sister’s hand into her groom’s, Austin said, “She’s always taken care of Angie and me. Now my sister finally has someone to take care of her. Don’t let her down, Marlon.”

“Never.”

Rose felt a double dose of emotion lump in her throat and not only because it was a doubly happy moment. A wave of sorrow washed over her. Neither bride’s father was there and Rose didn’t know why. She only knew that someday when she got married, her father wouldn’t be there, either. No giving her away. No father-daughter dance. Charles Traub had died when she was only two and she had no memory of him. Her brothers had always talked about him as if he walked on water and she envied their recollections. She was sad for what was lost to her, for once-in-a-lifetime memories that could never be made.

And then Austin was standing beside her. He leaned down to whisper, “My work here is done.”

Suddenly there was no room in her head for anything but him. He was movie-star handsome. He smelled good and cleaned up pretty nice. But did any man look like a toad in a traditional black tux? She thought not.

Still, a wicked grin and a nice suit didn’t make her any less too old for him. The magic of the wedding venue with lights, flowers and brides in beautiful dresses couldn’t erase the difference in their ages. More memories that could never be made. She forced herself to focus on the now, details swirling in her head for the mayor’s press release.

The ceremony moved quickly in spite of double vows and rings, but there was twice the applause and cheers when the twins kissed their new wives. Rose was sure the four of them were relieved. In their shoes she would be. But when this part of the evening was over, she would have the reception to worry about.

It was being held in the Gallatin Room, the fine-dining restaurant at the resort. She would breathe easier when it was okay to mingle on her own. That didn’t mean she wasn’t grateful to Austin for walking her in, but the less time they spent together the better. No point in needlessly firing up Thunder Canyon gossip.

But after the two newly married couples led the recessional down the aisle, Austin grabbed her hand before she could strike out on her own.

“The formal part is over, now it’s time to have some fun. Stick with me and I’ll show you a good time.”

That’s just what Rose was afraid of.

Chapter Two