Page 96 of Free to Dream
He stood there, shirt off, and gawked at me. It was priceless. I fell back on the sofa in hysterics for a good twenty minutes of which Caleb was a statue, with only a jaw that kept trying to move up and down.
When he was finally able to move, he fell to his knees next to me and pulled up my skirt and said, “Now’s a good time to practice,” before lowering his mouth between my legs, and my laughs quickly turned to moans.
Neither of us moved for quite a while after that.
I smile slowly at the memory.
We’ll never forget that night because right after we finished practicing, Caleb found his jeans and pulled from his pocket the black opal surrounded by diamonds that’s resided on the third finger of my left hand until just a few short moments ago.
Kneeling down next to me, he told me I was right, that we were meant to be together. I had tears streaming down my face as he promised he would love me forever, and how even then that wasn’t long enough. And would I please expand the love I have for my family to include him?
After furiously nodding my head yes, because I couldn’t get the words out, we made love so tenderly. A long, long time afterward, we talked about what we wanted for our day of celebration. And here we are, a little less than two months later with me waiting to be with my closest family and friends, ready to become Caleb’s wife.
Then there was Keene. Slowly, my brother and I are building a foundation not on past guilt and pain, but upon the respect and friendship we’re finding for each other as adults.
It’s by no means easy. I mean, come on, it’s Keene. He can be difficult on a good day. I reach up and touch the ruby earrings in my ears and recall our conversation from last night.
“Hey, brat.” I roll my eyes. Keene glories in calling me by a teenager’s nickname.
“Yes, brother dearest?” My intonation equates this to Mommy Dearest.
“Come with me for a second?” I pause and size him up. He’s nervous. He hasn’t been nervous in a while around me, so I squeeze Caleb’s hand and walk over to my brother. Keene opens the door that leads from the farm, out to the back by the lake.
I smile. In less than twenty-four hours, I’m going to be Mrs. Caleb Lockwood somewhere near this very spot. I stand still for a moment with a huge smile on my face, and feel Keene’s arm slide over my shoulders. I loop mine around his waist. After a few moments, he gives mine a quick squeeze as I give him a smile. “Sorry, Keene. I’ll give you three guesses what I was daydreaming about, but you should only need one.”
He barks out a quick laugh. I tighten my arm a bit.
“What’s up?” I ask curiously. It’s not like him to call me out when we’ve got a room full of people. We’ve gotten close, but he’s still very private.
Keene clears his throat and pulls out a small worn-down velvet covered box and holds it out to me. When I reach for it, he doesn’t let go. “I managed to save these in case I ever found you. They were Mom’s favorite. If you didn’t have something to wear tomorrow, I thought they might be appropriate.”
Tears clog my eyes. I try to speak, but I can’t. Removing my arm from his waist, I take hold of the box he’s held onto for me for almost twenty-six years now. I open up the box—it has slightly rusted hinges.
Inside are a perfect pair of emerald-cut ruby earrings.
The tears start falling, even as I move into Keene’s arms. “She would have loved to have been here, Cassidy.”
“Cassidy Riley,” I mumble into his shirt. He moves me back and grabs both my shoulders, his face pale.
I wipe my eyes. I want to see his face as I give him this gift back. I close the box and kiss the top. “I am so wearing these tomorrow. They’re my something old and something new.” I take a deep breath. “You know I don’t legally have a middle name, right?” He nods. “Tuesday, when you file the papers, I will legally become Cassidy Riley-Freeman Lockwood. Even though I’ve been a Freeman longer than I knew I was a Marshall and I’ll become a Lockwood when I marry Caleb, I always want you to know I am so proud to be your sister, Keene. I love you.”
“Are you sure?” He reaches out to touch my face.
I feel his hands shake against my skin.
I nod. “Absolutely sure. I talked this over with Caleb. We’re both so happy to have you as our brother.”
He yanks me into his arms, but not before the sun bounces off his glistening eyes.
I’m jerked back from my memory as the door to my room opens. Phil stands there in a light blue silk shirt, Navy slacks and dress shoes. His oh-so-blue eyes are glowing.
“You look beautiful, Little Girl,” he whispers.
I move away from the window and directly into his arms. He rocks me back and forth like he has since I was nine-years-old. I’m about to start crying when I hear, “I’ve just about decided he’s good enough for you.”
I laugh lightly at the broken tension. He always knows what to say. I lean back in his arms and cup his face. “Thank you, Phillip, for being the first man to protect me, the first man I loved, the first family I ever had, and the first brother I ever had. So many firsts you’ve been to me.” The tears fill my eyes anyway. “Thank you for putting together my wedding exactly the way I wanted it.”
Tears run unchecked down his handsome face. “Thank you, Cassidy, for all the same reasons and so many more.” He pulls me back in his arms for a final hug before we make our way downstairs. “Are you ready?”
