Page 129 of Rescuing Mary

Blade and Wendy, thirteen years after the weddings.

* * *

“I’d like to make a toast,” Jackson Tucker said as he raised his champagne glass.

Blade stared at his brother-in-law proudly. After his rough start to life, he’d not let anything stand in his way. Wendy had done a hell of a job raising him to be an amazing, smart young man. He was now thirty, and had just gotten married.

They were at his wedding reception, and before anyone could eat, they had to get through the toasts. His best man had done his thing, telling stories about a wild and crazy Jackson at college.

But now it was Jackson’s turn for a toast.

Wendy leaned into Blade’s side and he wrapped his arm around her. The thirteen years they’d been married had been amazing. They didn’t have children; Wendy said raising her kid brother had been more than enough child-rearing for her, and Blade didn’t protest.

He liked kids, but didn’t really want any of his own. He was content spoiling his friends’ children…then giving them back.

“Today, I not only married the most beautiful woman on the planet, I married my best friend,” Jackson began. “I met her in high school, and knew there’d never be another for me.”

Blade half-listened as he leaned down and whispered to Wendy, “How long do we have to stay?”

She elbowed his side and glared up at him. “Hush,” she admonished.

“Seriously, how long?” Blade asked.

Wendy pressed her lips together and refused to engage him in conversation.

“Because seeing you in that dress has had me hard all night. All I can think about is whether your panties and bra match.”

“Aspen, hush,” she said, but he could tell she wasn’t exactly mad at him. Her hand moved to rest on his thigh, then slid so her fingers were caressing his inner thigh. If she moved even an inch higher, she’d see for herself how badly he needed her.

“…all I ever needed to know from my brother-in-law, Aspen.”

Blade tore his eyes away from Wendy’s cleavage—prominently yet tactfully displayed in her custom-made light gray dress—to look at Jackson.

He stared at him as he continued his speech.

“I learned how to treat the woman I loved, and that nothing was more important than making her feel safe and protected. That’s probably not a popular sentiment in today’s age, with women still fighting for equal rights, but I don’t care.” He turned to his bride. “Jenny, I promise to always be there when you need me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you can achieve your dreams and support you however you need me to. I’ll fight dragons for you, and stand between you and anyone who dares try to hurt you. I love you. Thank you for loving me, and for saying yes.”

“Oh, Jackson,” Jenny said, and stood up to kiss her new husband.

“Why’d it take them so long to get married again?” Blade asked as he tightened his arm around Wendy. He was trying to distract her because she was about to lose it—again. She’d been crying on and off all day, and he would do anything to keep those tears from her eyes…even happy tears.

“You know why. He didn’t want to hold her back.”

“But she went to the same college he did and they dated throughout.”

“I know.”

“And they’ve been living together for years,” Blade went on.

“I know.”

“So explain it to me?”

“I can’t,” Wendy finally said. “They’ve loved each other since they first met, but I think they were both afraid something was going to happen and ruin it. It just took them a while to take the plunge. But it’s always been the two of them.”

“Hmmm,” Blade said, and nuzzled the skin by her ear.

“Besides, I think they would’ve gone on forever simply being common-law married…except she’s pregnant.”