Behind The Red Doors (Santori Stories #1)(53)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

“Thanks. He looks like exactly my type.”

Jamie walked toward the table where Dev and Carter sat watching them approach. Dev’s eyes glowed with such appreciation and love that Jamie wondered if he was thinking about the peppermint oil massage she’d given him last night. And what had happened afterward. She certainly was thinking about it.

Both men rose and pulled out chairs. Jamie scooted into the one Dev held for her.

“I ordered you an espresso and Faith her vanilla-flavored coffee.” Dev gave Jamie a quick kiss as he scooted her chair in. “With Mr. Willis on his honeymoon with Dixie, we can’t count on this substitute guy to bring it over automatically.”

“I sure miss Mr. Willis,” Jamie said. “Both of them, in fact. But I’m thrilled with the way everything turned out.”

“I’m dying to find out how they liked the Caribbean cruise on that new cruise line,” Faith said. “Carter and I might book one if Dixie gives it a thumbs-up.”

Carter laughed. “Are you kidding? You know Dixie—she wouldn’t let the cruise line get away with making it anything but the best.”

Dev leaned his elbows on the table. “That fits in perfectly with what I wanted to talk to everybody about. I—”

“Cruises?” Faith asked. “If I’d known that I’d have brought my brochures. I have—”

“Hold on a minute.” Jamie touched her arm. “That’s Meg O’Rourke coming out of the kiosk over there.” She blinked as a man followed Meg out of the kiosk. They both looked a little rumpled, but happy. “Ohmigod. I’ll bet that’s Joe Santori with her. He dealt mostly with Dixie, so I never got a good look at the guy, but he fits Dixie’s description.”

Faith turned to look. “Isn’t Meg the woman whose image was accidentally programmed into our software?”

“Yeah.” Jamie grinned. “And she freaked, but I guess she feels comfortable coming into the store now.”

Carter glanced at the couple. “I’d say they look real comfortable. I’d go so far as to say they did a little canoodling in the kiosk, wouldn’t you, Dev?”

“Looks like it.”

“I’m sure it was a sentimental journey for them,” Jamie said. “They met in one of those kiosks, and then Meg came in a couple of times to buy some lingerie to catch his eye, but I never heard the end of the story.”

Dev laughed. “You don’t need to. Just look at them.”

“I want to hear it from the source,” Jamie said. Standing, she waved her hand over her head. “Meg?”

Meg glanced her way and her eyes widened. “Jamie! I didn’t see you over there.”

Carter lowered his voice. “She wouldn’t have seen a charging rhino. That woman has it bad.”

Faith tweaked his ear. “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Carter turned in surprise. “Me? I never—”

“That’s not what your friends down at the station say about you.” Faith smiled at him.

Meg and the guy who’d shared the kiosk with her walked over. Sure enough, Meg introduced her fiancé, Joe Santori, and displayed a stunning engagement ring.

After Jamie introduced everyone at the table to Joe and Meg, Faith took Meg’s hand to study the ring more closely. “That’s one of ours!”

“Yep,” Joe said. “But you weren’t there when we bought it the Saturday after Valentine’s Day. Someone said you’d taken the day off for personal business.”

“Um, yes, I did.” Faith blushed and glanced at Carter, who gave her a wink.

“We came in today to look at trousseau stuff,” Meg explained. “I know it’s a little unconventional for the groom to help pick out the bride’s lingerie, but—”

“It was more to revisit that particular kiosk,” Joe said. “We met there, and as of today we’ve been engaged exactly one month.”

Jamie realized today was the fifteenth. “You know, all of us got engaged February fourteenth. And Dixie and Mr. Willis got engaged that night, too.”

“You’re kidding!” Meg grabbed a chair from another table. “Pull up a chair, Joe. I have to hear all about this.”

Another cup of coffee later, Meg and Joe left, but not before addresses were exchanged and promises made to send out wedding invitations all around, once the dates had been set.

“I suppose we do need to think about that,” Faith said. “Carter and I have been so busy that we haven’t looked at a calendar.”

“I know.” Jamie glanced at Dev. “All we decided was to wait until it was a little warmer, so we could have it outside.”

“Thanks for the perfect lead-in.” Dev took her hand before glancing over at Faith and Carter. “Mom called this morning. She asked me, as the oldest son—”

“I’m the oldest daughter!” Faith lifted her chin.

“See, that’s exactly why she called me, the accommodating one.”

“I’m very accommodating!”

Dev grinned. “Then you should be more than happy to go along with Mom’s plan of a double wedding.”

Everyone stared at him. Then Jamie glanced over at Faith and discovered Faith was studying her, her eyebrows lifted in question.

Jamie held up both hands. “Don’t ask me to decide. Dev knows I want something simple, but that’s all I care about.”

“And Faith knows I want something simple,” Carter said. “A double wedding sounds like it would be anything but.”

Dev sighed. “If you want the truth, I don’t think a Sherman wedding could ever be simple.”

“He’s right.” Faith gazed at her fiancé. “Every time you’ve said that you only want a small ceremony with a few family and friends, I’ve agreed, but in my heart I knew that plan was doomed. I just hated to tell you.”

Dev squeezed Jamie’s hand. “Same here. Unless you want to start married life by totally alienating your in-laws, we have to have some commotion attached to the wedding.”

Jamie had no intention of alienating anyone. She looked over at Carter, who had suddenly become her ally. “If an extravaganza is inevitable, maybe better one ceremony than two. And, Carter, you and I can ride shotgun on all the plans, and slash and burn whenever possible. One of us alone against the tide would certainly drown, but together we might be able to nix the strolling minstrels and the champagne waterfall.”

“Maybe the minstrels,” Faith said, laughing, “but no Sherman ever got hitched without a champagne waterfall.”

“Oh, I think the strolling minstrels are a given, too,” Dev said.

Jamie threw up her hands. “Oh, who cares? We’re marrying Shermans, Carter, so I guess we have to accept the bad with the good.”

“Hey, it’s mostly good!” Dev said.

“You bet it is!” Faith added.

“I agree.” Carter smiled at his fiancée.

Jamie gazed into Dev’s eyes and realized that nothing mattered but spending a lifetime with this amazing man. “You know what? It’s all good.”