Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, #4)(118)

I’ve gotten to know my big brother better now, as an adult, than I ever knew him as a child. I’ve even come to appreciate his quiet demeanor and I think, by the small smiles and chuckles, he has come to appreciate me for who I am.

“It’s almost time!” Mama gushes, rushing up to us with her three-month-old grandson in her arms. “You want to see Daddy one more time, Jake Junior?”

“Couldn’t be more original, could you,” I mock, looking down at the little baby in his baby tux, the front of it covered in drool. Okay, I’ll admit it—he’s cute. He’d be even cuter if he didn’t cry so much.

“Shut the f*ck up,” Jake throws my way in a mutter as he leans down to kiss his son’s forehead.

“Hush now!” Mama scolds, pulling Jake Junior to her chest.

But I’m not done yet. Getting under my brother’s skin is too damn fun. “Did the doctors tell you when he’d grow into that head of his?” I watch the poor kid struggle to lift it. “Or will he always look like a bobble-head?”

I barely get my arm down in time to block the kidney shot Jake delivers to me.

“Are you making fun of the bobble-head again?”

My heart skips a beat with the sound of Reese’s voice. I turn in time to see her floating forward through the grass, her old blue Yamaha guitar slung over her back. I take all of her in, including the plunging neckline of her dress, which gives me a good eyeful of those tits I have my hands on every opportunity I get. The dress is long, reaching all the way down to the ground. That’s kind of annoying. I really like seeing her legs. But, when she turns around and I see the open back, I figure that makes up for it. “I thought you weren’t supposed to wear white to a wedding?”

She shrugs. “You can if the bride makes you wear it.”

“Did Rita also pick the dress out? Because if she did . . .”

Her wide lips—painted red today—curl up into a slow smile. “You like it?”

“Yeah. In fact . . .” I reach down and rope my arm around her body to get a good grip on that ass I love so much as I pull her up against me.

“Benjamin!” Mama’s loose hand swats at my shoulder. “Not in front of the guests.” Heaving a sigh of exasperation, I catch an “honestly” under her breath.

“Yeah, Benjamin. Honestly.” Reese’s caramel eyes twinkle as she spins out of my grip and takes a step back to where the microphone is set up. Based on what she must have just felt, she knows I’m going to be hauling her up to the attic—claimed as our weekend headquarters—the second those pictures are done.

“I love the orange blossoms,” she says to Mama, smiling. “Nice touch.”

“We can do the same for you and Ben.”

I clear my throat roughly, shooting a stern look Mama’s way, but she shifts her focus to her grandson, cooing softly as Reese’s head falls back with that loud, throaty laughter.

“Only if you can cover the roll bars on that dune buggy, too, because I plan on coming down the aisle in style.” She winks at me and I can tell she’s teasing. Thank God. I’m in no rush. I know she’s in no rush either. We’ve got a really good thing going right now.

“How much longer is this going to take?” I mutter under my breath, tucking at my collar as Jack makes his way over with a glass of lemonade in hand.

“Reese, you look beautiful, even with that beat-up old thing slung over your shoulder.” He leans in to add a kiss on her cheek before turning to Mama. “Here you go, Wilma.”

“Thank you, Jack,” she answers with a coy smile.

And . . . wait, what is that? Is Mama blushing?

I feel the deep furrow in my forehead when I look from them to Jake, who’s too busy making googly eyes at his bobble-head kid to see anything else, and back to them. It isn’t until I look at Reese, to see her gaze on her stepfather and Mama, her smile secretive, that I clue in.

“Aw, hell no!” My outburst pulls everyone’s attention to me, Mama’s face suddenly full of worry.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

“What’s wrong is that I have a strict policy against my girlfriend’s stepdad putting the moves on my mama!”

Mama’s face turns the color of eggplant to match her dress. If she didn’t have a baby in her hands, I think I’d be getting a proper beating right now, right on my brother’s wedding altar. Fuck it, I don’t care. Jack and Mama?

Josh lets out a loud snort. Jake and Rob follow closely with chuckles. Even Reese can’t keep it down. And it finally clicks. I throw my arms up in exasperation. “Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?”

“How did you ever pass the bar, man?” Jake ribs.

Mama rolls her eyes and turns around to walk away, but not before I catch her shooting Jack a wink. Shit. I had no idea! Jack and Mason have made some day trips up here to help with harvesting. Then Mama invited them for Christmas. And Easter.

I thought they just liked the grove!

“Well, I guess you’ve been too busy blatantly ignoring my policy to notice,” Jack muses.

“I wouldn’t say ‘blatantly,’ ” I mutter. Fuck. He has me there.

Jack’s bushy gray eyebrows spike at that. “No? Maybe we should ask Mason about that.”