Page 35 of A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding
“Not that their confessions got either of them anything extra,” the sheriff said. “Neither was smart enough to lawyer up, and now we have them. Not much a lawyer could have done. Our department knows how to dot our I’s and cross our T’s.”
“You do a great job,” Hank said. “We appreciate everything you do.” He shook hands with the sheriff.
“And I appreciate your help apprehending the horse thieves,” the sheriff said.
“Anything else we can help you with?” Hank asked.
“Not at this time,” the sheriff said. “I’ll be in touch if anything does come up.” He tipped his hat to them. “Ladies.” Then he turned to Lucy and Jack. “I understand that there’s to be a wedding soon. Best wishes to the bride and groom.”
“Thank you,” Lucy and Jack both said.
“Y’all know how to reach me, if you need anything.” Then the sheriff walked out the door to head to his car.
After the sheriff left, Hank said, “Quick team meeting in Leah’s room, in five.”
The men nodded and began to head that way.
* * *
Ted,Jack’s twin brother, arrived just in time for the rehearsal, which had already been pushed back an hour. Like dominoes, that delay had in turn pushed back the rehearsal dinner.
Lucy realized she kept staring at Ted and made herself stop. She had known he would look like Jack, she had seen enough pictures, but seeing him in person was a bit fascinating to her.
Both men were tall, dark and handsome, but though they were identical twins, they didn’t have identical personalities.
Jack had joined the Marines right after high school and had wanted to do search and rescue. Lucy was pretty sure she knew why. The story of how Jack had saved his twin brother from drowning when they were kids had shown he was capable of that at an early age, and she was pretty sure it had deeply affected him.
Ted, on the other hand, had a fear of drowning and had joined the Air Force, because they wouldn’t make him swim. She wasn’t about to ask him if he ever worried about his plane going down over water.
He’d just bought his first house, and it was in the mountains of the Poconos. Ski country. She’d planned to talk to him about that. She’d never been to the Poconos.
Hmm, she wondered as she watched the two brothers talking together,Could Jack be taking me to the Poconos for our honeymoon? It is a honeymoon place, and his brother just bought a house there. But, no. Then the swimsuit and suntan lotion didn’t make sense. It would be cold and snowy there this time of year.
Seeing the brothers together was fun, because they truly seemed to enjoy each other’s company, and it was clear that they had missed each other.
Ted was a neat and tidy person. An officer and a gentleman. Jack was a little rougher around the edges, because he was a Marine. And while she was sure he’d done some scary and extreme things, he too was a gentleman, and they both treated her right.
Jack and Ted’s parents had arrived, as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Barr were staying at the local bed and breakfast in Eagle Rock before flying to Florida the next day after the wedding. From there, they’d be off on vacation, somewhere in the Caribbean on a cruise ship. Since they would have been alone at home on Christmas Day, and would have already seen both their sons at the wedding, they had opted for a seven-day Christmas cruise.
Both sons resembled their dad, with their dark hair, brown eyes, handsome features, and tall frames, although Mr. Barr had gray sprinkled throughout his hair in that salt and pepper look which looked so good on older men.
Their mother was totally gray, but it was a silver color, which went well with her blue eyes. She was a short, medium-sized woman, who dressed conservatively and wore lots of silver jewelry on her fingers and wrists. Of course, everyone was dressed for the rehearsal dinner, so they were likely more dressed up than usual, but Lucy got the feeling that Mrs. Barr was wearing a style she liked and wore often.
Most older women did. Something happened when they reached a certain age, and they cared less about what people thought of what they were wearing. Unless they lived in Hollywood.
The local minister gathered everyone around, and it didn’t take long to move through the one practice they would get before the wedding.
Their group was small tonight, and Emma had prepared the meal for them. Lasagna with vegetables for the vegetarians in the group, chicken parmesan for the others, green beans, salad, rolls, and peach cobbler for dessert.
The scents from the kitchen were amazing.
Lucy couldn’t believe how good everyone at the Triple C Ranch had been to them, allowing the wedding to be held there in the first place, and then Emma even doing the catering. She’d said she loved to cook for a crowd.
Jack kept reaching for her hand to give it a squeeze throughout the evening. That was code for everything is all right that had been established when a crazy stalker had been after Lucy. It was their way of communicating quietly in a crowd. Had there been any kind of problem, she would have squeezed back and said, “outside” or “inside”, letting him know where the problem was.
She was thinking maybe they needed to change the code a little, because she really would have liked to squeeze his hand back. But that would have stopped him in his tracks and put him on hyper surveillance mode, looking for threats.
It will be different being married to a man who works as a bodyguard for a living. Safe, but very different. They think of things most men don’t and make plans for doing things most men would never think of, just to have a plan in case things went sideways.
Still, there would never be any man on the planet she would love more than Jack.
