walked up to stand beside him. “Is she really okay?”
“She will be. I’ll make sure of it this time.”
“Is that why you’ve been watching her so closely all night? Are you trying to make sure she doesn’t overdo or is something else going on?”
He tore his gaze from Julie to look at his twin. He’d never been able to hide things from her. The fact he’d managed to go this long without her realizing his feelings for Julie was a testament to how wrapped she’d been in first his recovery and then in setting up a life with Jake. “I care about her, Cassie. A lot. But there are reasons why it won’t work between us. First and foremost, she’s still grieving the death of a man that she loved. I won’t take advantage of that grief now.”
“I’m not sure she was as in love with Aaron as you may think. You may want to ask her about him.”
Chris started shaking his head. “No, I don’t want to know. I realize that’s awful of me, because I’m supposed to be her friend and support her on things like this, but I can’t hear the details, Cass. I just can’t.”
“Hey,” she tugged him into an embrace, “that’s okay. Have faith it will work out if it’s meant to be, okay? I have a good feeling.” She looked back over at Julie with a calculating look in her eye.
“Cass, stay out of it, okay? There are things you don’t know. If it’s truly meant to be, we’ll work it out, but first we have to get her healthy again. I’ve never been as scared as I was this week when I found her collapsed in her house.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t realize how sick she was. I feel awful because I knew she’d been putting in way too many hours on the wedding and then with the increase in her self-defense classes, it’s no wonder she ended up in the hospital. I should have seen it coming.”
“She’s good at keeping things hidden.” He thought back to the butterfly tattoo on her back and then Rachel’s emphatic plea to him to keep her from making lists. “I think she hides a lot more from us than any of us realize. If nothing else, I hope to change that over the next few weeks.”
“Can I have your attention please?” Their attention was redirected when Colton stood up and drew Penelope into his embrace in front of the brick wall filled with bookcases. He stepped behind her so his arms reached around and caressed her belly. Chris smiled. This was it, the real reason why they were all here tonight. He squeezed Cassie’s shoulder. They’d been a family of just the three of them for so long.
Colton smiled at them. “Although we were anxious to see Jake and Cassie after their honeymoon, that’s not the real reason we brought you all here. Penelope and I have a little announcement to make ourselves.” Colton gestured to Cassie. “We’ve been so blessed. First you added Jake to our family, although honestly that was just a formality as he’s always been a part of the family. But I’m happy to report that Penelope has agreed to be my wife.”
Cassie started to surge forward with congratulations, but Chris held her still and whispered in her ear, “Wait just a moment. Let him finish.”
Colton looked a little sheepish. “But Penelope isn’t the only new member that we’re going to be adding to our family.”
Cassie caught on as her gaze flew to Colton’s protective hands wrapped around Penelope’s tummy. She squealed and then ran to them to hug them both. “Seriously? When? How? Never mind, oh God, don’t answer that. I know the answer to that one.”
With an eyebrow raised, Colton glanced over at Jake. “I’d hope so or else I’d be really worried about what you all have been doing for the last week.”
“Looking at the beauty of the Austrian Alps, of course,” was Jake’s droll response.
Cassie turned to smirk at him, but as she glanced over the rest of the guests, her eyebrows lifted and she placed both her hands on her hips. “Okay, why the hell does no one else in this room look surprised at this announcement?” She turned her accusing glare to Colton, who tried to look innocent.
“We didn’t want to pull the attention from your wedding.”
“Colton Todd Robertson! Are you telling me that everyone in this room has known about this, but no one chose