The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,73

that he needed for the wedding itself, as well as a week-long honeymoon afterward. Everyone else's work schedule had to be taken into consideration, too, but the bride was available pretty much anytime.

And it all came together beautifully, one sunny Saturday morning in April—her favorite month. Even though it was an informal wedding, she still had Lita by her side—but not her mom or her sister. They'd meet Adam, eventually, but she knew they could never learn the truth about how they lived. They would be judgmental and critical, and she really didn't want anyone around them who didn't understand and support what they were doing.

Nor was she fond of the idea of pretending just for their sakes. The idea of having her family at the ranch and trying to act as if Adam was her only husband was untenable to her. She wouldn't put Ryan and Jace through that if it could be avoided.

So, Adam was the technical groom, but one of the few things she insisted on in regards to the wedding was that—since it was going to be such an intimate affair anyway—Jace and Ryan be treated as grooms as much as was possible, also. Nick and Tanner would have been ushers if it had been a regular wedding, but they actually served as witnesses. The guys had asked her occasionally if there was anyone else she wanted to invite, but she'd told them no, and that was the absolute truth. She loved how small and comfortable and open it was going to be. The way they lived their lives together was extremely intimate and insulated, and Laurie felt that it was only right that their wedding reflected that.

Tanner was a bit of a photography buff, so he volunteered to take pictures, and Nick was honored to have been asked to give her away, even though, by now, especially, he would have preferred to have been one of the grooms. He couldn't quite find a way to say that to anyone, so he didn't have any hopes of actually inserting himself into the situation, but he wanted to very much.

Before he walked her down the short, rose petal strewn aisle, Tanner and Nick both hugged her tightly and said, "We are so happy you're joining us! Welcome to the family!"

Nick hugged her first, then Tanner, and as he was hugging her, his younger brother caught Nick's eye and he knew that he wasn't the only one who felt as if he wanted to be included in the very special marriages that their older brothers had arranged for themselves.

But Nick brought his index finger to his lips, while giving his younger brother a stern look, and Tanner nodded reluctantly.

They would both keep their thoughts to themselves for a while longer, until, hopefully, a moment presented itself where they could be heard.

It didn't help that she told each of them that she loved them as she hugged them, and they, of course, told her the same thing, meaning it in a much fuller fashion than she did, they were both sure. Tanner found himself very reluctant to let her go, and when he did, he left somewhat abruptly without saying much more, using his camera as a distraction from how he was feeling.

Nick was right there, though, and he didn't think she noticed anything untoward in his behavior. "You look beautiful," Nick breathed, meaning every word.

She blushed, and he ached to feel the heat of her cheek against his palm. The entirely inappropriate thought crossed his mind that he very much wanted to feel the heat of one of her other cheeks against his palm, too, but he dismissed that thought immediately.

Or he tried to, anyway.

"Thank you."

Her dress was a retro, vintage, fifties style with a lace overlay, full skirt—from which she'd had the store remove several layers of floof so that it wasn't quite so poufy—with short sleeves. It had been hard to find one that didn't make her look like a little girl dressed in her Sunday best or that didn't look like it was a dress that could be worn for just any old occasion.

But she'd fallen in love with this from the moment she'd seen it, and she'd had that "bridal moment" with it where she'd teared up.

Lita, of course, had asked her if she was going to have two more weddings and, thus, two more dresses.

She said she didn't know, and that she didn't think so, then, belatedly, she'd smacked her friend—who had come