“I’ve been nothing but trouble for you.”

Brenna dragged in a breath, scented with Josh’s citrusy aftershave, and shook her head. “You’re no trouble…”

His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer. His heart pounded fast and hard; she could feel the beat of it in sync with hers. “You don’t sound convinced.” He eased away slightly. “You worked so hard on the wedding and reception.”

“Maybe it’s not turning out so badly,” she said. Then her breath caught as she realized her faux pas. “I mean—for everyone else. Obviously it hasn’t for you.”

“Brenna…” He slid his fingertips along her cheekbone to the curve of her jaw. Her skin tingled everywhere he’d touched her.

His blue eyes darkening, he murmured, “Maybe it’s not turning out so badly for me either.” Then he leaned forward, as if he intended to kiss her.

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve been enjoying my American Romance miniseries, THE WEDDING PARTY. But if Forever His Bride is the first book you’re reading, don’t worry. You’ll have no problem following along as all four books happen simultaneously. I’m having so much fun writing this series.

The heroine of Forever His Bride, Brenna Kelly, is very special to me because I’ve been her—the bridesmaid with the biggest dress size. (Note to self: never agree to be bridesmaid for a Barbie-size bride with all Barbie-size friends. Except me.) Brenna is self-confident, strong and perfectly content with her body. She wouldn’t crash diet or try to jog herself into a smaller dress. (I shouldn’t have either; my knee still hurts.) I found so much satisfaction writing Forever His Bride where the real woman gets the perfect guy. Brenna is my heroine. I hope she’ll be yours, too.

Happy Reading!

Lisa Childs

Forever His Bride

Lisa Childs

MILLS & BOON

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bestselling, award-winning author Lisa Childs writes paranormal and contemporary romance for Harlequin/ Silhouette Books. She lives on thirty acres in west Michigan with her husband, two daughters, a talkative Siamese and a long-haired Chihuahua who thinks she’s a rottweiler. Lisa loves hearing from readers, who can contact her through her Web site, www.lisachilds.com, or snail mail address, P.O. Box 139, Marne, MI 49435.

To Al & Kim—couldn’t have gotten this one done

without your help! Thank you!!!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

As the first notes of the wedding march played, Dr. Joshua Towers closed his eyes. His gut twisted, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. God, he’d made a mistake. A terrible mistake.

The music stuttered, the verse died away, and a murmur arose from the guests. Had the old lady playing the organ had a heart attack? He lifted his lids and looked over at the woman, who wore a wide-brimmed hat bedecked with flowers. Although her hands were frozen above the keys of the old organ, she appeared fine. Her gaze met his, then slid away.

Josh turned toward the pews in front of him, noting all the people watching him as he waited at the altar. Like the organist, their gazes dropped from his. What the hell…? Weren’t they supposed to be facing the back of the church, where the bride was about to come down the aisle, holding the arm of her older brother, who was giving her away?

But Molly’s brother stood alone in the aisle. Unlike everyone else, Clayton McClintock wasn’t staring at Josh. The dark-haired man focused instead on one of the bridesmaids, probably the blonde. Josh turned toward the bridesmaids, too, but his attention was drawn to the red-haired maid of honor.

Brenna Kelly returned his look, her wide green eyes warm with concern. For him? Despite weeks of e-mails and phone calls regarding the wedding, she barely knew Josh. But then again, she probably knew him better than his bride did. Brenna had been the one handling the wedding details. He’d thought his bride had been too busy, but maybe she just hadn’t cared. Did Brenna Kelly care?

As she drew in a shaky breath, her breasts strained the bodice of her strapless red satin dress. The red should have clashed with her bright auburn hair, waves of which flowed around her bare shoulders. But instead the crimson satin highlighted her alabaster skin, glowing with myriad colors from the sunlight streaming through the arched stained-glass window behind them.

Guilt tightened the knots in his stomach and he closed his eyes in shame, breaking the connection between himself and Brenna Kelly. There he was, in church, about to marry another woman. It didn’t matter that Molly McClintock had apparently changed her mind. Josh had no business ogling his fiancée’s best friend, her maid of honor. Maybe he had no honor.

A hand closed around Josh’s shoulder, squeezing. “God, man, I’m sorry,” the best man murmured in a hoarse whisper.

Josh turned his head toward his friend and narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge Dr. Nick Jameson’s sincerity. He’d known Nick since they were in preschool, and together they’d fought playground bullies, chased girls and crammed all night for tests. Because they’d known each other so long, they were more like brothers than friends, so they were always honest with each other. Nick had thought that Josh was even crazier for proposing to a woman he hadn’t known that long than he’d been in marrying his first wife, who’d left Josh when their twin boys were just babies. Nick had been right about both women. But he was such a good friend that he genuinely was sorry.

Clayton, the brother of the bride, finally tore his attention from the blond bridesmaid, Abby Hamilton. At the rehearsal dinner the Kellys had hosted, Josh had met everyone in the wedding party except for the one groomsman who’d backed out. Now Clayton addressed the guests. “The wedding is going to be slightly delayed,” he announced. “The bride is not quite ready yet, so we appreciate your patience. Thank you.”

Finally, his eyes full of regret, Clayton faced Josh. He knew this was not going to be just a slight delay. The bride wasn’t ever going to be ready to marry him.

Abby, probably anxious to see if her friend was all right, took off down the aisle at a run. As Clayton caught up with her and slowed her to a trot, the music resumed. Josh’s four-year-old twins, Buzz and TJ, in their black tuxedoes, ran after Abby, probably thinking a game of tag had begun. When the rest of the wedding party filed out, leaving Josh standing alone at the altar, he realized he was it. The loser who still couldn’t catch a bride after the first one he’d caught ran away. He’d been dumped once after the altar, and now, this time, before.

A woman’s hand wound through his arm, tugging him toward the aisle. He hadn’t been left alone. The maid of honor led him out of the sanctuary, past all the gawking guests. While the pews on both the bride’s and groom’s sides were equally full, only a few of the guests were there because of him. So he wasn’t too embarrassed at being stood up. In fact, his heart lifted. The pressure on his chest, which had been there ever since he’d proposed to a woman he hadn’t known that well, finally eased.

BRENNA HURRIED DOWN THE AISLE, clutching the jilted groom’s arm close to her side as if she could absorb the pain her friend Molly had just inflicted on him. At the same time she curved her lips into a smile, just to reassure the guests. Everything will be all right. She couldn’t say those words to Dr. Joshua Towers, though. She couldn’t say anything as they walked into the bride’s dressing room and joined the rest of the wedding party.

Except for the bride. Molly was gone. Brenna had known that the moment Clayton appeared without her. Unlike Abby, who’d taken off down the aisle hoping to find their friend, Brenna had known right away that Molly wouldn’t be nervously pacing the dressing room. When she’d shooed out her bridesmaids minutes before the ceremony was to start, Molly had been absolutely calm. Brenna had been the one riding a roller coaster of nerves and emotions—almost as if she were the bride. But Brenna was always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

From a hook on the dressing room wall hung Molly’s wedding dress, its layers of lace and satin lifting in the warm summer breeze blowing through an open window. Oh, Molly, what have you done?

Molly had always been the smartest member of the group of friends, to which she, Brenna and Abby Hamilton had belonged since kindergarten. In second grade, when he’d moved to Cloverville, Michigan, Eric South had joined them. Molly had always been the most sensible of the friends: she wasn’t the type to go out a window on her wedding day. She wasn’t the type to accept the proposal of a man she’d only been seriously dating for a few months, either. And yet she had.

Molly’s younger sister, Colleen, the tagalong of the bunch, had always been the impulsive McClintock—back when they were kids. After Mr. McClintock had died eight years ago, Colleen had restrained her impulsive nature. Hanging on to the arm of the handsome best man, however, she appeared a bit wild-eyed—as if she were wrestling some strong impulses now. And Dr. Jameson, his jaw clenched and his green eyes hard with anger, was obviously wrestling with his temper.

He wasn’t the only angry one. Clayton McClintock argued with Abby. Despite the fact that she’d been gone for eight years, the minute the single mother had set foot back in Cloverville, she and Clayton had picked up where they’d left off, with their animosity barely masking the attraction for each other that they kept fighting. Brenna shook her head, wondering if they’d ever call a truce.

Abby uncrumpled a sheet of paper, apparently a note Molly had left, declaring, “It’s a good thing that she ran off before making the biggest mistake of her life.”

Next to her, Josh gasped. Still Brenna could say nothing; she couldn’t argue with Abby’s statement, not when she wholeheartedly agreed. If Molly had had any doubts, she’d had no business accepting Josh’s proposal, no business setting a wedding date—and no business breaking the heart of a good man. While Brenna had never been left at the altar, she’d been stood up enough times to be able to commiserate with some of Josh’s humiliation and disappointment. But she knew nothing about heartbreak. She’d never been in love.

“Josh, I’m sorry,” Clayton said.

He wasn’t the only one. But Brenna couldn’t say the words—they stuck in her throat. She, who’d been bossing around everyone since they were kids, couldn’t speak.

Abby’s four-year-old daughter, Lara, dressed like a miniature bride in a lacy white dress, reprimanded her mother. “Mommy, you’re not s’posed to run in church or talk loud.”

“I’m sorry,” Abby said, both to Josh and her daughter. “She doesn’t say that in the note…about making a mistake. She’s just really confused right now.”

“What’s going on?” asked Molly’s younger brother, Rory. The teenager tugged loose the knot of his bow tie. “Did she really skip out?”

“Ask Abby,” his older brother said. “She’s the one with the explanation.”

Abby. Not Brenna, whom Molly had asked to be her maid of honor. Guilt had tears stinging Brenna’s eyes. Had Molly noticed that her maid of honor had developed feelings she had no business feeling for the groom? Even before she’d met him in person at the rehearsal dinner the night before, she’d been drawn, through phone calls and e-mail, to his wit and self-deprecating humor.

And his kindness.

“Is she all right?” Josh asked about his runaway bride. His deep voice held only concern, not a trace of anger.

“She’s okay,” Abby assured him. “She’s just confused right now. She needs some time alone to figure out what she really wants.”

Brenna thought she understood why, for the first time in her life, Molly McClintock had acted on impulse, temporarily put on hold her plan of becoming a doctor and accepted Dr. Joshua Towers’s proposal of marriage. His hair was nearly as black as his tux except for the glints of blue that shimmered under the fluorescent lights. His eyes echoed the deep blue. With his tall, muscular build and finely chiseled face, Dr. Towers was easily the handsomest man Brenna had ever met. Not that there were all that many handsome, eligible men in this small town where Brenna had grown up and to which she had returned, after college, to manage the family bakery.

But Josh wasn’t eligible, Brenna reminded herself. Even though his bride might have taken off, they were still engaged, still involved. He loved her. He must love her, or why had he proposed?

WHILE THE OTHERS TALKED, Josh focused his attention on his sons, kicking himself for having set them up for more disappointment. First their mother had deserted them, and now their almost-stepmother. A smile tugged at his lips as he watched the two. They actually didn’t seem that upset. Buzz and TJ plucked petals off each other’s boutonnieres. Bits of red carnations dropped like confetti onto the beige carpeting.

She loves me. She loves me not. Definitely not.

But, hell, he hadn’t loved her either—not in the way a man should love the woman he was marrying. He had proposed because he’d thought he could love her like that, since he already cared for her as a friend. Molly was beautiful and smart, with a generous nature, and he’d enjoyed the time he’d spent with her—when their crazy schedules had allowed.

He’d thought that a relationship built on friendship first would be stronger and last longer than one built on lust. Like his first marriage—although he’d been so infatuated with Amy that he’d thought it was love at the time. And that had ended with his becoming a single father.

After that fiasco, he should have known better than to rush into another relationship. Molly had been smart to leave him at the altar. He didn’t deserve the sympathetic looks the rest of the wedding party kept casting his way, especially the maid of honor. Her green eyes warm with sympathy, she seemed more upset for him than his best man did. But Nick was just pissed—probably as much at Josh as for him.

Josh had convinced Nick to open the private practice, which they’d talked about since they were premed, here in Cloverville. It hadn’t been easy to sell his friend, who’d only ever lived in cities, on starting a business in the small town of Cloverville. But because of their friendship, Nick finally had agreed, albeit begrudgingly.

“Maybe she should have figured that out before she accepted Josh’s proposal,” Nick griped, referring to Molly’s need to decide what she wanted. “It’s pretty damned flaky to back out at the altar.”

“Molly is not flaky,” the bride’s younger sister, Colleen, defended her.

Josh had to agree. “It’s my fault,” he admitted. “I rushed her into this, even though I knew she wasn’t ready.”

Nick squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t blame yourself. She could have told you no. This just goes to show you, they can’t be trusted.”

Once Nick calmed down, he would undoubtedly rub in that “I told you so.” Josh deserved it, too. It wasn’t the women who couldn’t be trusted, though—it was Josh’s judgment. He’d developed the unfortunate habit of picking the wrong ones. Or maybe he’d just never come across the right one. Until now?

He glanced sideways at Brenna Kelly, who’d been quiet since the bride had failed to walk down the aisle. She’d worked so hard on the wedding—far harder than Josh, who’d been busy with the boys and work, and harder than the bride, who’d been busy finishing up school—or putting it on hold and closing up her campus apartment. He wasn’t exactly sure what his bride had been doing. But he knew what Brenna had been doing—working her ass off to make this day special for her best friend. She had to be upset. Guilt, over being relieved that the bride had bailed, twisted his gut.

When Mrs. McClintock and the others began to squabble over whether or not they should cancel the reception, Josh agreed with the woman who’d almost been his mother-in-law. Her reasons for not canceling were that everything was paid for, so many people had worked hard on the preparations and she didn’t want to disappoint the townspeople who’d been anticipating a party.

Josh’s reason was Brenna. He didn’t want to disappoint her.

JOSH SQUINTED AGAINST the sunlight as he followed the boys outside the church, leaving everyone else inside. Clayton had taken it upon himself to make the announcement to the guests that the wedding was off, but Josh still had to make the announcement to his sons.

“Race you down the stairs,” TJ challenged his brother.

“Wait, boys,” he said as he settled on the top step of the stairs leading down to the sidewalk. “Sit with me a minute.”

The twins exchanged one of their glances, speaking to each other without words, and joined him. Perhaps they hadn’t been as oblivious to what had gone on in the church as he’d thought.

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Buzz asked, putting his hand on Josh’s shoulder much as Nick, his namesake, had in the church. Buzz had earned his nickname only a couple of years ago, after he’d gotten hold of Josh’s razor. His hair had been kept “buzzed” short ever since he’d given himself that first haircut. His real name was Nicholas James, after his godfather.

“Yeah, Daddy, you ’kay?” TJ asked, as he settled onto the step close to Josh’s side.

Josh breathed in a deep breath of fresh air as the sunlight warmed his face and a light June breeze rustled the trees. No bride could have had a better day for her wedding. But that was exactly what Josh had. No bride.

“I’m okay, guys,” he assured his boys. “I don’t know if you understand what happened in there.”

“Nothing happened,” TJ griped, tugging at his bow tie. “It was boring.”

“Boring,” Buzz agreed.

“Oh, it was a little bit exciting,” Josh countered. That flurry of nerves as he’d realized he was probably making a mistake, and then the flood of relief when he’d understood that Molly wasn’t coming down the aisle…“But you’re kind of right about nothing happening. Do you remember what was supposed to happen today?”

As if they were in their preschool classroom, Buzz raised his hand, but he burst out his answer before Josh could “call” on him. “We were s’posed to get married!”

“Stupid!” TJ reached around Josh to poke his brother’s back. “Daddy and Molly were s’pose to get married.”

“Dummy,” Buzz shot back at his brother, “Molly’s not here.”

Biting his lip to hold back a smile, Josh nodded. “No, she’s not. So I didn’t get married.” And he hadn’t gotten them the stepmother he’d promised them.

“That’s okay,” Buzz assured his father, patting his shoulder again.

“It’s better, just us guys,” TJ insisted, jumping to his feet.

Like a jack-in-the-box, Buzz popped up alongside him and declared, “No girls allowed!”

The brothers exchanged another glance, and then TJ asked, “We still gonna move here?”

Josh allowed the smile to take shape then as he stood, too. He wished he were as resilient as his sons. He crouched to their level and pulled them into a close hug. “Yes, we’re still moving here,” he assured them. Then he whispered, “I bought us a house.”

“Really?” Buzz asked, his blue eyes widening.

As he straightened up, Josh nodded. “But don’t tell Uncle Nick.” He’d deal with his best friend later. Being Nick, he’d probably have a lot to say, in addition to “I told you so,” and Josh didn’t have the energy to argue with him just then. He hadn’t slept at all last night.

“Don’t tell Uncle Nick what?” the best man asked as he stepped through the open church door, which Brenna Kelly had been holding with her back. Nick patted his pockets, probably checking to make sure the boys hadn’t pilfered any of his valuables.

Josh’s attention focused on Brenna, on the color flooding her round face as she was caught eavesdropping on his conversation with the boys. Why did he have the feeling that he might have to deal with her later, too? And why did the thought excite him?

“Nothing,” Josh finally said in response to his friend’s question.

“We want to ride in the big car, Daddy!” TJ demanded as he clutched Josh’s hand and tugged him down the church steps toward the idling black limo.

Buzz grabbed his other hand. His voice softer than his brother’s, he asked, “Can we ride in the big car?”

“Please?” TJ added.

Not to be outdone, Buzz echoed the plea, “Please?”

If Josh said no, they’d pitch a fit. Screaming. Kicking. A full-blown temper tantrum. He’d already endured one when he hadn’t let them carry the wedding rings down the aisle. In hindsight, he probably should have spared himself that tantrum and let them have the gold bands, instead of insisting his best man carry them. If the twins had flushed the rings, as they’d been known to flush other stuff such as Josh’s pager and cell phone—and Nick’s, as well—it wouldn’t have mattered. Josh hadn’t needed the rings after all.

He didn’t need the limo, either. But since they’d decided not to cancel the reception, the wedding party might as well take the long black car. “Come on, everyone,” he called out to the bridesmaids and groomsmen who filed down the steps behind him. “Let’s get in.”

“Are you sure?” Brenna Kelly asked, her green gaze intent on his face. He nodded and stepped back so that she and the rest of the wedding party could climb into the stretch limo.

For Brenna’s sake he hadn’t cancelled the reception. And for her parents’ sakes, too—as well as hosting the rehearsal dinner, Emmet and Theresa Kelly had worked hard with the caterer on the wedding feast. Josh owed the older couple a debt of gratitude.

After the rehearsal dinner, the Kellys had had him and the boys stay at their house. They hadn’t wanted them to stay with the McClintocks and risk bad luck tied to a wedding superstition involving the groom seeing the bride just before the wedding.

But Josh had seen her. She’d walked over to the Kellys’ in the middle of the night, where she’d found him sitting alone in the dark on the porch.

“Why’d you ask me to marry you?” she’d asked him.

“I think we can make a marriage work. I think we can be happy,” he’d told her, even though he’d been having doubts himself ever since he’d met Brenna Kelly.

She’d sighed, obviously torn. “I’m not sure…”

“Have you changed your mind? Do you want to back out?”

Misery and confusion had darkened her brown eyes. “I don’t know.”

“We’re supposed to be married tomorrow. Do you want to postpone the ceremony?”

“Everyone’s worked so hard on it. Brenna, the Kellys, Mrs. George.” She’d sighed. “And Clayton has already paid for everything.”

“If you’ve changed your mind, I can reimburse him. I wanted to pay in the first place.”

“He won’t let you.”

Then or now. The moment they’d agreed not to cancel the reception, he’d offered—and been rejected. Again.

His mind flipped back to his conversation with Molly. She had sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m probably just experiencing pre-wedding jitters. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

“If you’re not, I will understand,” he’d promised. “If you leave me at the altar, or you’re standing up there and can’t say I do, I will understand.”

She’d hugged Josh then, and warmth had flooded him, settling his doubts—and hers, he’d thought. “You’re such a nice man, Joshua Towers.”

He settled alone on the backseat of the limo, the one usually reserved for the groom and the bride. Why was it that nice guys always finished last?

As the limo pulled away from the church, Molly’s kid brother, Rory, asked, “So no one’s going to uncork the champagne?”

A disapproving breath hissed out of one of the passengers, and Colleen elbowed her younger brother, who shoved her back. Yet it was Brenna Kelly who landed flat on her butt on the floor, knocked off the end of the long seat she’d shared with Rory, Colleen and Nick. She laughed first, and then everyone else joined in. A chuckle even slipped from Josh’s lips.

“What a day…” he mused as he reached down to help her up. When his hand closed around hers, his laughter died as heat tingled in his palm and then shot up his arm.

“It’s not over yet,” she warned him, her husky voice soft. Her skin was soft, too, but her grip was strong. She rose from the floor, but before she could settle back onto her seat, he tugged her down beside him. He dragged in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the leather interior mixed with the fragrance from the single lily nestled in her shiny red hair.

Mentally, he kicked himself. His engagement not even officially broken, he had no business being attracted to the maid of honor. Hell, maybe he wasn’t such a nice guy after all.

Chapter Two

Brenna stifled a gasp as her hip settled against Josh’s hard thigh. He still held her hand, their fingers entwined, until Brenna pulled free. She tried to ease away, but the seat shifted beneath her weight and Josh slid closer. Heat rushed to her face. She couldn’t weigh more than he did, not with his height and muscle. Not that she cared—she had long ago made peace with her weight. She would never be model-thin, as Colleen was, or a little pixie, as Abby and Molly were.

She owned a bakery, and she damned well wasn’t going to deprive herself of sweets. Or anything else. She should be happy that the reception hadn’t been cancelled. She would have a wonderful meal and a huge slice of the chocolate cake with buttercream frosting that her dad had made for Molly. But Brenna wasn’t happy. Because Molly wasn’t here. She should be sitting next to Dr. Towers, not Brenna. And yet Brenna was relieved that Molly wasn’t in the limo. She was relieved that her friend hadn’t married Josh. And that was why she was unhappy.

How could she wish such humiliation on a nice guy like Josh? Sure, if Molly hadn’t been certain, then she couldn’t marry him. But if she’d had doubts, she never should have accepted his proposal. Why had Molly said yes?

Brenna had asked her that question two weeks ago when she’d met Molly for lunch in Grand Rapids, where Molly was going to medical school. But Molly had asked her a question first. “Will you be my maid of honor?”

Brenna had choked on the bite of cheesecake she’d just taken. After clearing her throat with a sip of water, she’d sputtered, “What?”

“I’m getting married,” her friend had announced, with none of the excitement Brenna would have expected.

“You and Eric have finally admitted your feelings for each other?” she’d asked, happiness filling her more completely than the creamy dessert had.

“Not Eric.” Her usually soft voice had been sharp as Molly stated flatly, “Eric doesn’t love me.”

Despite all of them knowing better, Molly had always insisted that. “Sure. So if not him, who proposed?”

“Joshua Towers. I met him when I was volunteering at the hospital. He’s a cosmetic surgeon. He works with burn victims, especially, and helps repair scars. He’s a fine surgeon, and a really great guy. He has the most adorable twin boys, too. He’s so sweet and funny.”

“How long have you been seeing him?” Because that was the first Brenna had heard about him.

Molly had shrugged. “Not that long. We’re both busy, and he’s raising the boys on his own. But we really clicked. The first time we went out we talked like old friends, as if we’ve known each other forever.”

“But you haven’t, Molly. Why would you accept his proposal so fast?” She hadn’t wondered why he would propose. A person couldn’t help but love Molly, she was so sweet.

“You’ll see when you meet him,” Molly had insisted. “And I can’t wait for you to meet him, Brenna. You’ll love him.”

“What about you, Mol? Do you love him?”

From her friend’s blush, Brenna had assumed she had.

A brush of a hand against hers now drew Brenna back to the present and the backseat of the limo.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked softly, his deep voice full of concern.

No wonder Molly had fallen for him. Not only was he movie-star handsome, but he was so kind, too. How could any woman not fall for him?

“Me?” She was riddled with guilt because she was infatuated with her best friend’s fiancé. No, she wasn’t okay. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just landed pretty hard on the floor.”

She laughed. “Didn’t even feel it.” She rubbed a hand over her rounded hip. “I have lots of padding.”

Josh’s gaze slid, like a caress, over her curves. She nearly stopped breathing as he leaned close and murmured, “You’re just right.”

If he thought she was just right, he must think every other woman in the world was anorexic. No, he was probably lying. The man was a plastic surgeon. How could he look at anyone—and most especially her—and not imagine what he might nip, tuck and lipo if he had the chance?

She lowered her voice even more, so that they couldn’t be heard above the other conversations taking place in the limo. “The real question is, are you okay?”

“Sure,” he said, as if dismissing his own feelings.

She reached out and slid her fingers over the back of his hand, offering reassurance and understanding. But her fingers tingled, so she pulled them back and clenched her hand in her lap. To dispel the intimacy between them, she raised her voice as she asked, “Are you sure you want to do this—the limo, the reception?”

“We’re not calling it a reception anymore,” Josh reminded her. He hadn’t gotten married, so he shouldn’t feel so guilty about his attraction to her. “It’s an open house for the town.”

“We don’t live here,” Nick pointed out. “We don’t need to go.”

“We don’t live here yet.” But as he’d told the boys, Josh had bought a house here. He hadn’t had time to share that news with his best friend, though. Since he wouldn’t take possession of the house until he got back from his honeymoon, he’d planned on telling Nick then. Like Josh, Nick had only ever lived in cities, and he’d been against starting their private practice in this small town. He certainly wouldn’t understand Josh’s wanting to move there, too.

“But we’re opening our office in Cloverville,” Josh said, ignoring his best friend’s grimace. “We need to meet our potential patients.”

Nick nodded his begrudging agreement.

Rory, bored with the conversation, prodded his older brother. “So, can we open the champagne now?”

Clayton shook his head. “No. And even if we did, you wouldn’t get any.”

“Come on,” Rory whined, sounding a lot like the twins.

The oldest McClintock’s voice was gruff with impatience as he began, “Rory…”

The teenager whirled toward Josh. “You’re lucky you didn’t marry into this family. We never have any fun!”

Buzz and TJ’s eyes widened at Rory’s belligerent tone. “We had fun last night, Daddy,” TJ said.

“At Pop and Mama Kelly’s house,” Buzz completed his twin’s thought.

A grin stole over Josh’s mouth. He couldn’t help it. Pop and Mama Kelly. They were warm and funny and talked with their hands and insisted everyone call them Pop and Mama. The boys had immediately taken to them, more at ease with them than they were Josh’s younger but more reserved parents.

“Why can’t we marry the Kellys?” TJ asked.

Next to him, Brenna, as if surprised by the child’s question held her breath and tried again to ease away. Josh merely slid closer, unwilling to let her slip away from him as easily as every other woman in his life had done.

Why can’t we marry into the Kelly family? he asked himself. With the way in which she’d taken on the responsibility of planning and managing the wedding, he doubted Brenna would accept a man’s proposal and then leave him at the altar. And because of that mantle of responsibility that she wore just as easily as the lily in her hair, he doubted she would desert her husband and kids.

Still, the one thing Josh had learned from his brief first marriage and even briefer second engagement was that he really had to stop rushing into relationships.

“DR.AND MRS. TOWERS.” The words rang in Brenna’s ears. Clayton hadn’t been able to stop the DJ from introducing the wedding party. No one had been lined up as she’d arranged them at the church, and so almost everyone had been called by the wrong name. But nothing had been quite as wrong as Brenna’s walking in next to Josh and being called Mrs. Towers.

Even though she’d had nothing to do with the mistake, embarrassment warmed Brenna’s face. It didn’t matter that Molly hadn’t married Josh today. He still belonged to her. And Brenna’s best friend was too smart not to come back eventually and claim her fiancé.

Small, sticky fingers tugged at her hands as the twins sought her attention. “Does this mean you’re going to be our new mommy?”

Brenna stared down at their identical faces, their eyes bright with hope. The haircuts were the only way to tell them apart. “Buzz…”

“That man called you Mrs. Towers,” TJ said, his voice high with excitement. “Grandma isn’t here. She’s with Grandpa on a big boat.”

Josh had explained that his parents had planned for years to take a cruise on their thirty-fifth anniversary. He hadn’t allowed them to cancel the trip, not even for his wedding. He was probably pretty happy now that he hadn’t.

“So, then, you’re Mrs. Towers,” Buzz said.

They were so smart for four. But then they’d had to grow up fast since they’d grown up without a mother.

“I’m not really Mrs. Towers,” she insisted. “The DJ made a mistake.”

“Grandma is the only Mrs. Towers,” their father said, leaning down to speak eye-to-eye, man-to-man to his boys. He settled a hand on top of each head, ruffling TJ’s moussed-up spikes and smoothing Buzz’s fuzz. “But that’s okay. We’re used to it being just us guys.”

Just as when she’d overheard his conversation on the church steps with his sons, sympathy filled Brenna. How had Josh managed to raise these young boys on his own? Molly had told her how their mother, Josh’s first wife, had abandoned him and the boys when the twins were babies. And now Molly had deserted them, too.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, offering an apology for her friend.

Josh, still hunkered down by his sons, lifted his gaze to hers. “I owe you the apology,” he said. “You worked so hard on this wedding, and it never happened.”

She gestured around at the American Legion Hall, which was decorated with red and white fairy lights and balloons and populated by every single townsperson but Molly. And their friend Eric. “It looks like it’s happening now. Well, a party is happening now.”

“It’s not fair this party is for a dumb girl,” TJ muttered.

“It was supposed to be our party,” Buzz chimed in.

Back in the bride’s dressing room at the church, everyone had decided to turn the reception into an open house. But the moment Clayton had silenced the embarrassed DJ, Mrs. McClintock had turned the event into a Welcome-Home-Abby-and-Lara-Hamilton party. If not for Molly’s wedding, Abby would probably never have returned to the town she couldn’t wait to leave eight years before.

Brenna’s lips curved into a smile at Mary McClintock’s obvious maneuvering. The woman was desperate for Abby, whom she loved like one of her kids, and Lara, whom she loved like a granddaughter, to stay in Cloverville. And of course, she’d probably really love it if Abby officially became a McClintock.

Poor Clayton. His mother was a strong woman. She’d had to be in order to survive losing her beloved husband and she’d fought hard to get what she wanted. Through the crowd Brenna glimpsed the eldest McClintock sibling at the bar. But instead of downing the drink he probably needed, he was writing a check to the bartender.

“Everyone can enjoy the party,” Brenna assured the boys. Well, everyone but Clayton.

“Thanks to all your hard work planning the reception,” Josh said with an appreciative grin. “I’m glad it wasn’t cancelled.”

Like his wedding. How did he feel about that being cancelled? Brenna didn’t know him well enough to gauge his mood. He didn’t seem angry or even all that hurt. Had having to raise his kids alone, after the devastation of his wife’s leaving him, made him an expert at guarding his emotions?

“We want to party, Daddy!” TJ shouted, bored with the adult conversation.

“Party, party!” Buzz echoed.

Josh straightened up, and then stared them down as if a stern look could enforce good behavior. They just grinned at him. As well as missing most of his hair, Buzz was minus a couple of front teeth. Doubting he was old enough for his teeth to have fallen out naturally, Brenna could only imagine the story that accompanied that loss.

“Daddy, we want punch!” TJ shouted.

“Punch, punch!” Buzz echoed.

Brenna smothered a laugh. “I can get them a glass.”

“No, hey, let Nick,” Josh offered as the best man joined them.

“Let Nick what?” Dr. Jameson asked, his green eyes narrowing. “What else are you going to try talking me into?”

“Getting the boys some punch.”

Nick shook his head. “Josh…”

“Hey, five minutes is better than two weeks.” Josh turned to Brenna, including her in the conversation with an explanation she would rather not have had. “Nick was supposed to watch the boys while Molly and I were on our honeymoon.”

Honeymoon. Her stomach lurched at the thought of Molly and Josh on their honeymoon. Making love. Her best friend and the man she…Nothing. She could feel nothing for Dr. Joshua Towers.

“Punch, punch, Uncle Nick,” Buzz demanded as he latched on to the handsome doctor’s leg.

“We need to talk,” Nick murmured to Josh as he let the twins drag him away.

“Don’t drink too much and spoil your appetites,” Brenna called after the boys. “We’ll be eating soon.” Alone with Josh, in spite of the crowded hall, her nerves jangled. “I should really go and see if my folks and Mrs. George need any help with the food.”

Before she could slip away, Josh caught her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I never really thanked you for all that you’ve done.”

Her lips parted, a nervous breath escaping. Damn. She ran a business, for crying out loud. She’d run this wedding before it had all fallen apart. It would take more than blue eyes and a killer grin to addle her brain and make her forget her loyalty to a friend.

“I didn’t mind. Molly is my best friend,” she reminded him—and herself. Not only had Molly been her friend since kindergarten, she’d been her college roommate when they’d both left Cloverville for the first time. If not for Molly, Brenna probably would have been too homesick to stick out college for her bachelor’s degree, let alone for an MBA.

She sighed. “I just wish things had turned out differently.”

Dr. and Mrs. Towers. The announcement echoed in her mind, reminding her that for a brief moment he’d belonged to her and not Molly. But the DJ had been wrong, and so was she. She couldn’t betray her friendship with Molly—not even for a man such as Josh.

“Now that I think about it,” Josh mused, his eyes twinkling, “isn’t a maid of honor like a second? If the bride can’t honor her commitment, her maid of honor has to step in?”

“You’re confusing a wedding with a duel,” she retorted. “No wonder Molly went out the window.”

Josh laughed, amused more by the expression on her beautiful face, the mock horror widening her green eyes, than by her accusation. “You forget that I’ve been married already. From experience, I can assure you that it’s pretty easy to confuse a duel and a marriage.”

Amy had picked endless fights in order to get what she wanted. And in the end that hadn’t included her children or her husband. She’d wanted her freedom more.

“I’m sorry,” Brenna said again, her eyes tender with sympathy over the thought of the boys’ mother abandoning them. “Molly told me that your wife left when the twins were babies.”

He shrugged off the memories of frustration and fear—could he manage alone? “It was a good thing, really, that she left when they were so young. They don’t remember her, so they can’t miss her.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

“It’s my fault,” Josh volunteered. “She was young, and I should have realized she was too young to become a wife and mother. My long hours at the hospital, having twins—it was too much for her. I can’t blame her for being overwhelmed.”

“That’s no excuse for leaving her husband and children.” Brenna’s voice hardened with indignation as she proclaimed, even though she’d never met his ex-wife, “She’s clearly a fool.”

He grinned at the remark. “Maybe you should have been my best man.”

Her face softened as she returned his smile. “Why?”

“Nick called me the fool.”

“Some friend,” she scoffed.

“My thoughts exactly.” But Josh knew that Nick was a good friend. His best friend. As well as always being honest with him, more often than not the bastard was also right. He’d thought Josh crazy for rushing into his relationships with Amy and Molly. Josh should have listened to him both times. He had to stop rushing into things. He had to fight this attraction to Brenna.

THE GROOM STOOD ALONE atop the five-tier wedding cake, which was bedecked with red and white frosting flowers. In his plastic tux and with his painted-on smile, he looked quite happy. Certainly not like a man who’d been left at the altar. But as with Josh, this groom’s bride also was missing.

A big hand slapped Josh’s shoulder, causing him to stumble forward. Grabbing the edge of the table, he caught himself from falling headfirst into frosting. The tiers jiggled, and the lone groom wobbled on the top. But he didn’t fall down.

“Sorry, boy, so sorry,” offered Emmet “Pop” Kelly, his strong fingers grasping Josh’s shoulder.

Mr. Kelly was a mammoth man with burly arms and a bulging belly that started just below his neck. Despite the lines of age on his face, his hair was still black—all but for one shock of white that fell across his brow. “Mr. Kelly…”

“Pop. I told you everyone calls me Pop.”

“Pop…”

“Damn shame, boy, about the bride. I can’t figure out what happened to her. She was just gone.”

“She left a note,” Josh explained. “She needs some time to think…”

“No, not your bride. His.” He pointed toward the plastic groom. “I swear she was on the cake when it left the bakery. I loaded it into the truck myself. Well, that nice kid helped me—Harold’s nephew.”

A headache pounded at Josh’s temple. While he’d fallen for the whole town of Cloverville the minute he’d set foot into it, he would need to live there a while before he’d be able to catch up on who was related to whom and who lived where and what used to be located in some spot before weather, age or redevelopment had brought it down. Hell, he might never catch up. Even so, the first time he’d come to Cloverville, he’d realized that it would be the perfect place to raise his boys, and that had been before he’d met Brenna Kelly.

His eyes narrowed as he glanced again at the lonely plastic groom. Could they have…Spying small fingerprints in the frosting on the bottom tier, he asked, “Have you seen Buzz and TJ?”

The older man laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “The boys have been having a great time.”

At least someone was, then. Josh had barely been able to eat for all the townspeople staring at him and casting him sympathetic glances. Mrs. McClintock turning the event into a welcome-home party for Abby and Lara had taken some of the attention away from him. Before he’d met them, Molly had filled him in on all her friends. Eight years earlier Abby had left Cloverville in disgrace, but apparently the town had forgiven her her transgressions because now they genuinely welcomed her back. Well, everyone but Clayton.

And the town had welcomed Josh and his boys, as well. Even though Molly had backed out of marrying him, Josh couldn’t back out of moving there. He’d been right to believe this town was the perfect place to raise his boys.

“When did you see them last? And where?” he asked Pop. “They weren’t heading to the bathroom?” With a little plastic bride. He patted the pockets of his tux and breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn’t have his cell phone. Or his pager. Or his wallet. But, man, if that bride had a train on her plastic dress, they could clog the whole plumbing system of the American Legion Hall.

Dark paneling showed through the thin coat of white paint on the walls, and underfoot the linoleum was worn and cracked with age. His ex-wife would have hated this place. He’d had to book a swanky hotel in Grand Rapids for their small wedding. But with white and red lights and balloons, Brenna had transformed the dark hall, the only place in town for a reception, so that it was as enchanting as…she was.

As the older man rambled on, Josh scanned the hall. He should have been searching for his mischievous boys, but instead his gaze locked on Brenna. In her red satin gown, with her hair flowing around her shoulders and her pale skin shimmering with the glow from the fairy lights, she looked like a princess. Not like one from the old fables, which Buzz and TJ had grown bored with long ago, but one from the hormone-fuelled dreams of a teenage boy. Something about Brenna Kelly brought Josh back to that time before med school, before marriage, before kids, when life had been simpler—when his breath had caught and his pulse had raced at the mere sight of a pretty girl.

Brenna turned, and across the hall, their gazes met. Her lips, nearly as red as her gown, lifted in a smile. And Josh’s breath caught. And his pulse raced.

“Son?”

“Yeah,” Josh, distracted, responded to the older man.

“So it’s settled then.” The old man clapped his meaty hands together. “I’ll tell Mama. She’ll be thrilled.”

“Huh?” Josh pulled his attention away from the daughter to concentrate on her father. “What?”

“Mama was already fretting that she didn’t have enough time with the boys,” Pop elaborated. “They bring so much energy and life to the old house.”

“I’m sorry.” Josh shook his head. “I don’t understand…”

“Well, if Molly just needs time, you’ll want to wait for her. She’s a smart girl, nose always in a book. She’ll figure things out quickly,” Pop said.

Josh knew Molly had already figured out one thing—that she didn’t want him. When she turned up again, he doubted it would be to marry him. “Mr…. Pop…”

“Despite all the development on the east side of town, Cloverville still doesn’t have a hotel or motel. So you’ll stay with us,” the older man concluded.

Spend more time in close proximity to Brenna Kelly? He couldn’t. He shook his head. “You’re generous to open up your home to me and my sons, but I can’t impose,” he insisted. “You’ve already done too much.”

Pop’s meaty hand smacked Josh’s shoulder. “Nonsense. The house is too big for just us and Brenna.”

Josh couldn’t argue with him. The old Victorian house, with its turret and wide wraparound porch, was huge, but the Kellys had done their best to fill it to the rafters with antiques. Breakables had been his first thought when he’d seen their home initially the day before. The boys had thought it a gingerbread house, with its bright yellow siding and teal-and-purple trim. He’d had to watch them to make sure they didn’t try to break off a corner in order to taste it.

“Your house is beautiful,” Josh complimented the older man, “and full of lovely treasures. I adore my boys, but they’re not very careful with fragile things. I’d hate it if they broke one of your collectibles. Really, we’re better off going back to Grand Rapids for the moment.”

And he’d be better off away from Brenna and temptation.

Pop laughed. “That junk? Mama and I inherited most of it from our families. We don’t have much left now.”

“Family?” Josh asked.

The old man nodded, his eyes glistening.

“You have all those keepsakes to remember them by.” Josh offered comfort, he hoped, to his new friend. “And that’s all the more reason not to trust my boys around your heirlooms.”

“You don’t remember people with stuff,” Pop scoffed. “You remember them with your mind. So don’t worry about our junk. Your boys can’t hurt a thing.”

Josh’s cell phone company sure hadn’t agreed with that. Neither had any of the twins’ nannies. Stumped for another excuse, he said, “If you’re sure you have room…”

Despite the size of the house, there were only three bedrooms. He’d spent the night on a foldout bed in the parlor.

“Even with all our belongings, there’s plenty of room. Mama and I are usually rattling around all alone in the house since Brenna’s either at the bakery or traveling for the business,” her father explained. “She came home from college just bursting with ideas to expand the bakery. She built onto the back of the building and hired a slew of people. So Mama and I stay in the kitchen now and let her manage the rest. She’s got Kelly Confections in nearly every grocery store in the country now. That girl thrives on being in charge.”

“Does she know that you’ve made this offer?”

Pop sighed. “No, so she’ll probably be upset.”

Josh turned toward her again, but she wasn’t standing where she’d been on the other side of the room anymore. Although he scanned the crowd carefully, he couldn’t spot her. “I don’t want to upset Brenna.” That was the last thing he wanted to do, after everything she’d done for him.

“You won’t. I have.” Her dad laughed. “She’ll be mad that I beat her to the offer. She’ll love having you and the boys stay with us.”

“We won’t stay long,” he assured the other man—and himself. Even though Molly hadn’t become his wife, she was a friend and he’d like to make sure she was all right.

“You’re staying?” a throaty feminine voice asked.

He’d lost sight of Brenna Kelly because she’d come up behind him. He turned toward her and nodded. “Your father invited me, Buzz and TJ to stay with you.”

“Pop?” she questioned, her eyes widening as she stared at her dad.

Her father ignored her question and asked, “Honey, did Mama fetch my knife yet?”

Josh’s stomach tightened. “Knife?” Maybe the old man had noticed him ogling his daughter.

“To cut the cake, boy,” Pop explained, with another smack on Josh’s back. “I better see what’s keeping that woman,” he grumbled as he walked off. “She’s probably fixing her hair, as if she could get any prettier…”

Her daughter certainly couldn’t. Josh dragged in a deep breath, bracing himself for more time spent with Brenna. He’d been crazy to accept her father’s invitation. He couldn’t stay with her—and not fall for her.

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