Circle of Family

“Very cool,” Lisa agreed as the two of them exchanged a very unladylike high five.

“Excuse me.” Matt stepped in and tapped his new bride on the shoulder.

When he motioned down the aisle, she laughed and took his arm to make their ceremonial first walk as man and wife. After they rounded the corner of the house, he swept her up in a hug, giving her a kiss that seemed to go on forever.

When she realized she was spying on them, Marianne turned away to give them some privacy.

And straight into the best man.

Ridge offered her his arm. Still agitated by her conflicting impressions of him, she quickly invented an excuse for not taking it. “The kids are saving you a seat, so go ahead and sit down. I’ll join you after I see if the caterers need anything.”

“Sure. Let me know if I can help.”

People were settling in for their meal, and she watched the new Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer make their way through the garden, stopping at each table to talk with their guests. Tears stung her eyes, and she took a deep breath to calm her churning emotions. She was happy for them. Thrilled, actually. She wouldn’t let her baffling reaction to the best man or memories of her own failed marriage ruin this day for two people she loved so much.

She’d had her chance, and it hadn’t worked out. That didn’t mean Matt and Caty were destined for heartache.

Please, God, she prayed silently. Bless them with a long, happy life together.

* * *

Late that afternoon, Matt and Caty said goodbye to their last wedding guest. Marianne expected them to be as exhausted as she was, but they seemed to have caught a second wind. After hugs and thank-you’s for everyone, they climbed into Matt’s enormous blue pickup. Streamers and cans flying along behind them, they drove around the circular drive, waving out the windows before heading toward the main road in a cloud of dust.

The silence they left behind was deafening.

The family just stood there, watching the truck go down the highway until it disappeared over a hill. For fifteen years, they’d waited and prayed for Matt to come back from wherever his wanderlust had taken him. Their father’s unexpected death had finally brought him home, and Caty’s love had kept him there.

But now he was gone. Oh, he’d still be in Harland, but he’d be living with Caty in their new house. The family would see him while he was working at the farm, maybe for a meal now and then. But his heart belonged to Caty, and he wanted to be with her—should be with her. The rest of them would have to adjust, but Marianne knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“They’ll be back,” she said out loud, as much to herself as to anyone else. “Two weeks isn’t that long.”

“It’s forever,” Emily moaned, her chin trembling while she stared down at her wilting bouquet.

Marianne swept her up for a comforting embrace. “They’ll be back before you know it. Everything will be just fine.”

“You’re set if I go, right?” Lisa asked. “I’m beat.”

“The servers are handling the cleanup,” Marianne replied, giving her a quick hug. “Thanks for all your help.”

“No problem. Ridge, it was nice to meet you.” Shaking his hand, she added her usual dazzling smile. “If you get hungry, I work at Ruthy’s Place on Main Street. We’ll fix you up with some honest-to-goodness home cooking.”

“Do I look like I need it?” he asked.

“Every man does,” she retorted.

“Ruthy, as in Ruth Benton, the amazing chef who catered the wedding?”

“The very same. You come in, I’ll set you up.” Flashing him another smile, she sauntered over to her car and gracefully slid into the driver’s seat.

After her sister’s flirtatious exit, Marianne snuck a look at Ridge, fully expecting to find him watching Lisa go. Pretty and carefree, Lisa was a starry-eyed dreamer who adored people, men especially. Males of all ages were drawn to her sunny personality. They just couldn’t help it.

Not this one, though. To Marianne’s amazement, he was engrossed in a discussion with Kyle about the faulty motor on his remote control helicopter. Something about servos was all she understood.

“I’m done, too,” John announced, stooping to kiss Marianne’s cheek. “You sure do throw a great wedding.”

As he strolled down the lane toward the converted carriage house he lived in, she shook her head. A ratty pair of sneakers had replaced his good shoes, and he’d shed his jacket and tie sometime during the day.

Because their mother had died when he was only five, Marianne had mothered him since childhood, and he still counted on her to look after him. Later, she’d find his missing clothes and get them cleaned, but this time she’d give him the bill. He was almost thirty, and it was time for him to start doing more on his own.

Right now, she had company. Still holding Emily, she turned to Ridge. “Come on inside. I’ll fix us a snack.”

“I had enough from that buffet to last me a week,” he replied, patting his stomach. “I’d love some more of that lemonade, though.”

They headed up the back porch steps with the kids, and he stepped in front of her to pull open the screen door. Thanking him, she set Emily down in the kitchen.

“Emily, where are your pretty new shoes?” she asked as Kyle snagged some chocolate chip cookies from the jar in the middle of the table. He thought he was being sneaky, but he’d been so good all day, she let it go.

Innocent blue eyes looked up at her. “In the pond.”

“Why?”

“They were hurting my feet.”

While she was counting to ten, Marianne noticed the red streak on her daughter’s dress. “What’s this?”

Emily glanced down like the spill was news to her. “Punch.”

She really didn’t have the energy for this, Marianne thought, swallowing a sigh that would only make matters worse. “Go take it off and bring it down for me. If we soak it, we might be able to get the stain out.”

The suggestion earned her a world-class pout, and Emily wrapped her arms protectively around herself. “No. I like my dress.”

“I do, too. I want to get it clean so you can wear it again.”

Now those sweet eyes glared up at her defiantly. “No.”

It had been a long day for all of them, and Marianne had finally reached the end of her patience. “Emily Rose—”

“Hey, Emmy,” Kyle interrupted, “I’m goin’ swimming. Wanna come?”

How he’d inhaled those cookies so fast was beyond Marianne. But his idea made Emily forget the argument, and she nodded enthusiastically.

“Let’s go put our suits on,” he said. “I’ll race you!”

Squealing, she took off with him trailing close behind her. Typical Kyle, he let her win the race upstairs. Two bedroom doors slammed shut, and a couple minutes later Marianne heard the front screen door squeak open. She looked out the window to see Emily tearing across the lawn toward the pond. Another set of footsteps pounded down the stairs, and Kyle reappeared in the kitchen, grinning as he handed over the stained dress.

“Here you go, Mom. Good luck.”

“Wait for me before you hit the water!”

He waved without turning around, and she felt silly for saying it. As responsible as most adults, Kyle knew the rules, and he followed them to the letter. Her little man, Marianne thought proudly. Every day she thanked God for sending him to her.

Emily was hollering his name, and he yelled for her to run out to the barn to spring his dog. They came back into view with Tucker barking excitedly as he ran circles around them and begged for attention from Kyle, then Emily, then Kyle again.

“Whew,” Ridge commented as he dropped into a chair at the table. “Is it always like that around here?”

Marianne smiled as she opened the fridge and poured them both some lemonade. “With the wedding, they’re a little more wound up than usual. Now that school’s out, things should calm down a little. I’m a teacher, so I’ll be off with them all summer. Lots of their friends end up here, which makes it fun.”

He chuckled. “I’ll bet.”

Of course, she wasn’t entirely certain she still had a job. Her teaching position was a one-year contract filling in for Kathy Walsh, who’d been on leave recovering from back surgery. Kathy would return in the fall, and Marianne was waiting anxiously to find out if Harland Elementary had a spot for her. If not, she had to find one somewhere else. With budget cuts and declining enrollment throughout the area, that wouldn’t be easy.

Pushing the worry from her mind, she set their glasses on the table and plopped down across from Ridge. Slipping off her grass-stained pink satin shoes, she crossed her feet on another chair and took a long swallow of the first thing she’d actually tasted all day. “Mmm.”

“Your kids are fantastic, Marianne,” Ridge said. “Emily could charm a statue, and Kyle’s something else.”

Like the proud mother she was, she smiled at the praise. “Yeah, he is. I don’t know what Emily and I would do without him.”

Emily’s dress was still sitting on the counter where Kyle had thrown it. Marianne had just gotten comfortable, but she knew if she didn’t get it soaking, the punch stain would never come out. Reluctantly, she stood and crossed the kitchen to get the stain remover from its handy place on the ledge over the sink. With two active kids, she used it frequently.

“Just so you know,” Ridge continued, “Matt said I could keep Betsy here and use his bike if I need it.”

Rubbing the remover into the delicate fabric, she chuckled at her big brother’s forgetfulness. “Of course he did.”

“I know she’s not your usual houseguest. I can rent some hangar space at the airstrip if that works better.”

“It’s not a problem. We have plenty of room.”

While she rinsed the fabric in cold water, Marianne tried to keep her expression neutral. A grin slowly spread across Ridge’s tanned face, and she knew she hadn’t quite managed it.

“You don’t like chaos, do you?”

“Not really,” she admitted.

“Funny how Matt never mentioned that.”

“It must have slipped his mind.” Like telling her his best man would drive her completely bonkers the minute she met him.

Chuckling again, Ridge shook his head. “Caty’s really gotten to him, hasn’t she?”

The way he phrased it, it sounded romantic and sweet, even a little exciting. But Marianne couldn’t muster more than a faint hum of agreement as she applied more stain remover to Emily’s dress.

“You’re not happy about them getting married?” Ridge asked, clearly—and understandably—perplexed.

“I’m very happy.”

“But?”

Hoping to steer him away from the uncomfortable subject, she decided to keep it vague. Setting the dress in the sink, she turned to face him while she wiped her hands on a towel. “Things don’t always work out the way we want them to.”

“That’s true. I’m divorced myself.”

He said it matter-of-factly, as if it weren’t a big deal. Divorce was against everything she believed in, a broken promise to God. Five years later, she still hadn’t come to terms with her failed marriage.

“You look upset,” Ridge sympathized.

Completely forgetting her manners, she shot back, “And you don’t. Why is that?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes things don’t work out. My wife wanted a different life, and I let her go find it. We’re both happier now,” he added, as if that made everything okay.

Appalled by his casual attitude, Marianne glared at him. “The vows are ‘until death do us part,’ not ‘until things don’t work out.’”

Ridge studied her for a few seconds, compassion etching his features. “I’m guessing your ex is the one who left. Could you have stopped him?”

“Yes,” she retorted immediately, even though she knew it wasn’t true. She’d come home to find Peter’s wedding ring on the counter wrapped around a note that read I want a divorce—Peter.

Ridge slowly shook his head. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

His perceptiveness was more than a little unnerving. She’d never met a man so adept at reading people, and she didn’t know what to think.

Eager to end their pointless conversation, she said, “I don’t mean to seem rude, but the kids are waiting for me.”

“I wouldn’t mind a dunk myself. Mind if I come along?”

“Not at all.”

Cocking his head, he grinned at her. “You’re just being polite, aren’t you?”

Caught in the half lie, she smiled. Ridge’s open, forthright manner made her want to strangle him one minute and laugh the next. “I was, but now I mean it. You’re welcome to come with me,” she added as she headed out the side door.

When they saw her on the side steps, Kyle and Emily raced down the dock and dove into the pond. His feathery tail going a mile a minute, Tucker anxiously waited on the bank, watching the kids. Once he was satisfied they were ready, the black Lab barreled down the dock like a furry jet and launched himself into the water.

The cool grass felt heavenly on her tired feet, and Marianne walked down the dock and settled on the end to dangle them in the water. Ridge stretched out beside her, but gave her plenty of space. After their far-too-personal chat, she appreciated the gesture.

“Watch me, Mommy!” Emily called out, dog-paddling toward the opposite bank for all she was worth.

“Great job,” Marianne said. “All that practice is really paying off.”

“I want Kyle to toss me, but he won’t.”

“Next year, Emmy,” he promised. “You hafta be seven for that.”

And able to swim back to the surface, Marianne added silently. Still, she was grateful to Kyle for handling his little sister so deftly. Emily adored him, and she wanted to do what he did. Sometimes they had to hold her back because she refused to accept that she couldn’t keep up with him. Marianne always got an argument or, at the very least, a first-class pout. Kyle managed to slide bad news past his little sister with a diplomatic flair that would come in handy at the United Nations.

After a while, Tucker climbed from the pond and shook out his fur. Ridge greeted him, and the dog flopped onto his back in a less-than-subtle pose. Laughing, Ridge rubbed the lab’s wet belly.

Since he hadn’t spoken to her, Marianne decided it was up to her to start a more pleasant discussion. She decided to go with something less emotional than weddings and divorces. “So, tell me about your date.”

He laughed at her joke. “Betsy’s a 1941 Stearman. Grandpa towed it home with most of the parts missing or in boxes. We spent the better part of five years putting her back together.”

“You and your granddad built that airplane?”

* * *

They both turned at the sound of Kyle’s voice. Elbows braced on the dock, his hazel eyes were round with admiration. He’d been following Ridge around like a puppy all day, and Ridge was surprised to find he liked the attention. It’s not that he didn’t like kids, he just never gave them much thought. This bright, curious boy had definitely impressed him.

“That’s so cool,” Kyle said with a wide-open grin.

“Yeah, it was.”

Unlike the dark images of his wreck of a father, Ridge had great memories of time spent with his grandparents. He and his mother’s father were more alike than not, and they had a blast working together. Everything he needed to know about being a real man, Ridge had learned from Grandpa.

“It sounds like flying is your family business,” Marianne said.

Since he didn’t have many warm, fuzzy stories to tell, talk of family always put him on shaky ground. As usual, Ridge focused on the positives. “After World War One, my great-great-grandfather flew all around the Midwest as a barnstormer. They put on some great shows back then, aerial tricks and wing-walking, all kinds of stunts.”

“It’s in your blood, then,” she commented. “Like this farm’s in ours.”

“I guess so.” Emily had paddled over to join them, and Ridge smiled from one kid to the other. “I’ll bet this is a great place to grow up.”

“The best,” Kyle agreed as the kids climbed the ladder and sat on the towels spread on the dock beside their mother. “Where do you live?”

Ridge thought for a second, trying to simplify his complicated history. “I’m from Colorado, as I said earlier, but I’ve lived all over. California, Montana, Texas. I spent most of last year in Alaska.”

“Alaska?” Kyle echoed. “What did you do there?”

“I was a bush pilot. Took people out on wilderness tours, delivered supplies to the way-out villages, stuff like that.”

“Why do you move so much?” Emily asked.

No one had ever asked him that quite so directly. Maybe, like Marianne, adults figured it was too personal a question. “I like to explore different places, I guess.”

“I like it here,” Kyle said simply. “Someday this place will be ours. Right, Mom?”

“Definitely,” she assured him with a proud smile.

Kyle nudged his sister’s shoulder. “We’re gonna take real good care of it, aren’t we, Emmy?”

Emily’s vivid blue eyes glowed with brother worship, and she nodded somberly. She probably had no idea what she was agreeing to, but it was about the cutest thing Ridge had ever seen.

“How old are you again?” Ridge teased Kyle.

“Ten and a quarter.”

Impressed by the very precise way he gave his age, Ridge recognized the serious demeanor from his own childhood. He knew firsthand that when dads were out of the picture, little boys grew up fast. Sadly, his own experience had taught him there were worse things than an absent father.

Pushing those memories aside, he smiled at Emily. “How ’bout you, sweetness?”

“Oooh, I like that name,” she cooed. “I never had a special name before.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Score one for the new guy, Ridge thought with a grin. Welcoming as the Sawyers had been, he still felt like an outsider looking in on the close circle of their family. Because he moved around so much, he was used to that. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why it was bothering him all of a sudden.

Pulling her Cinderella towel around her shoulders, Emily said, “I’m six. I was born a long way away from here.”

“Really? Where?”

Emily glanced up at her mother, who nodded. “Chicago. Daddy didn’t want us, so me and Mommy and Kyle came back here to be with Granddad.” She frowned. “He’s with Gramma in heaven now.”

Marianne smoothed her hair with a comforting hand, and Kyle put an arm around Emily’s shoulders for a quick squeeze. The way she’d skimmed over her father’s rejection of them just about stopped Ridge’s heart. While he’d already guessed that Marianne’s ex had left them, it hadn’t occurred to him just how much that would have affected her children.

What kind of man pushed away a beautiful woman and fantastic kids like these? Emily’s revelation made the Westons’ family situation painfully clear to Ridge, but he reminded himself that it was none of his business.

“Your uncle Matt told me all about your granddad,” he said gently. “He sounds like a great guy. I wish I could’ve met him.”

What would his life have been like if he’d had a generous, loving father like Ethan Sawyer? Grandpa did his best to fill the void, but all his life Ridge had known he was missing out on something. Since there was no remedy for his very flawed past, he did what he always did when thoughts like that popped up. He pushed them aside and focused on the here and now.

“We miss him all the time,” Emily continued sadly. “We loved him a lot.”

“I love my grandpa, too. He taught me everything I know.”

“Like what?” Kyle asked.

“Like how to pick off a runner at first base or throw a good, tight spiral with a football. How to fix an engine. How to fly,” he added with a fond smile. “All the important stuff.”

He almost expected Kyle to ask about his father. He braced himself for it, but the question never came. Young as he was, Kyle struck him as an old soul who understood more than any ten-year-old should. Ridge wondered if somehow the kid sensed that they shared father trouble and had decided to give him a break.

“I hate to do this, but we need to get you two into some dry clothes.” Marianne stood and held her arms out for them. For Ridge, she had a gracious smile. “Are you hungry yet?”

Remembering the manners Mom had pounded into him all his life, Ridge got to his feet. While he appreciated Marianne’s hospitality, he sensed that after the long day she’d had, she wouldn’t mind some time alone. “Actually, I need to do a few things with Betsy. Thanks, though.”

“The offer stands. My kitchen’s always open.”

As the three of them walked toward the house, their voices trailed back to him, punctuated by the kids’ laughter. Despite her gracious behavior, anyone could see that Marianne was exhausted. All day, she’d been a real trouper, managing one thing after another with a lovely smile he suspected had taken her years to perfect.

Did women practice that kind of look? Ridge wondered as he strolled toward Betsy’s makeshift runway. Came in handy when they decided it was time to cut you loose but didn’t want to mortally wound you. He had no trouble imagining the very proper Marianne Weston dismissing a guy that way.

A rose with thorns, he mused as he pulled his tool kit from Betsy’s storage compartment. Grabbing what he needed, he began degreasing the rebuilt engine he’d installed last month. Full of original parts and expertly machined reproductions, it had cost him a small fortune. But, with care, it would last for years. Like anyone else, Betsy was at her best when she got the attention she needed.

Speaking of which, Tucker trotted over and sat in front of Ridge, shamelessly begging for some love. Ridge hunkered down and fluffed his damp ears. “You’re quite the character. Dogs don’t usually take to me so quickly.”

The Lab cocked his head with a curious look, and Ridge laughed. “You don’t know you’re a dog, do you?”

In response, Tucker yipped and spun a quick circle before taking off for the woods. As Ridge watched him go, he took a minute to admire the Sawyer homestead. Over two thousand acres, Matt had informed him proudly when he’d asked about it. The land had been in the family since the mid-1800s, and every square inch was obviously worked with care, even the fallow field he’d used as a landing strip.

A well-worn dirt path wound past John’s cottage and up to the main house. There it joined up with a wide driveway that split two rows of fence and trees on its way out to the road. Ridge could tell from the structure of the walls that the original farmhouse had been expanded over the decades as the Sawyers needed more space. Each outer door led to a generous porch, but the front one was the showstopper.

Draped in ivy, trellises ran top to bottom to support every color of climbing rose he could imagine. Thanks to his grandmother, he knew enough about gardens to recognize that those flowers weren’t trucked in as wedding decorations. They grew there year-round, tended as meticulously as the inside of the immaculate house.

That was Marianne’s doing, he knew without being told. She struck him as organized and disciplined, caring for everyone and everything around her. Instinctively, he knew she was someone who took charge and made sure things got done. Like him in some ways—vastly different in others.

Based on the few words they’d exchanged since he arrived, she didn’t seem the least bit interested in him. That was actually a relief, Ridge thought with a sigh. Life had taught him that he was the kind of person who withered when he stayed in one place too long. He’d tried it more than once and failed every time, managing to hurt himself and the people he cared about most.

As soon as he finished the dusting contracts Matt had thrown his way, he and Betsy would be back in the air where they belonged.

Chapter Two

Sunday morning, Marianne woke up bright and early. The house was silent, and outside her window she could hear the birds enjoying the misty sunshine. The kids were still sleeping after the busy wedding day, and she opted to leave them be until breakfast was ready.