Chapter Three
Quinn pressed her palms against the front of the beaded bodice of her wedding dress to make some slack at the back. She hoped it would make it a bit easier for her mother, Marie, to fasten the two dozen cloth-covered buttons.
“Halfway there,” her mother said.
Since she would be immobile for a couple more minutes, Quinn figured she might as well put the time to good use. “Kelsey?” she called over to James’s sister, who was sitting on a sofa in the bride’s room of the church in Redondo Beach where James and Quinn were about to be married. “Could you do me a huge favor?”
Kelsey came over to her. “Sure. What’s up?” James and Kelsey shared the same easy smile, but with her brunette hair and green eyes, she took after their father. James, on the other hand, had his mother’s dark blond hair and blue eyes.
“With everything going on the last few days, I haven’t had a chance to give James my wedding present. Could you bring it to him? I’m hoping he’ll wear them today.”
“Of course.” Kelsey’s eyes sparkled with mischief when she tipped her head closer to Quinn’s and lowered her voice. “It’s not a man thong, is it? That’s not something I need to know about my brother.”
Quinn grinned. “How’d you guess?”
Kelsey grimaced like she’d caught a whiff of skunk. From the first moment Quinn had met Kelsey, she’d known they would always have fun together. It was unclear how often that would be, though, given Kelsey was heading into her fourth year of veterinary school at Colorado State. Quinn and James were thrilled she was able to get enough time off from school to be a part of the wedding as one of Quinn’s bridesmaids.
In the mirror, Quinn caught her mom fighting off a smile as she worked another button. To Kelsey, she said, “Just kidding. It’s a pair of Ferrari cuff links.”
Kelsey bounced on her toes. “He’s such a car guy. He’ll love them.”
“I think so, too. They’re in my bag over there,” she said, indicating its location with a tip of her head.
Kelsey dug through the bag and took out a small box wrapped in silver paper. She held it up. “Is this it?”
“Yup.”
“I’ll be back.” She was across the room and out the door in a flash.
“Where’s Nicole?” Marie asked.
“She went off to hang out with Brian for a few minutes.”
“While we’re alone, I want to talk to you about something,” Marie said.
Quinn squinted at her in the mirror. “Um, Mom? We had the talk when I was in middle school.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, honey, not that,” Marie said, her cheeks now pink. “I mean about marriage.”
“Oh,” she said and gave her mother a sheepish smile.
Marie continued to work the buttons. “It’s all sunshine and rainbows for you and James right now, as it should be. But there will be times when it’s like a hurricane hit you. That’s when you hang on to each other for dear life.” Her mother raised her gaze and gave Quinn a pointed look in the mirror’s reflection. “Given what you two do for a living, you might be doing it literally, too.”
Quinn swallowed and nodded. Of her immediate family, only her parents and grandparents knew she and James were covert operatives for the CIA. Not even her five brothers knew.
“Good. Another thing. James isn’t a mind reader. Don’t make him guess what you’re feeling. Talk to him when something he’s said or done bothers you.”
“Okay.”
“And when hurtful things are said, you’ll need to say either, ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me’ or ‘I forgive you.’” Marie fastened the top button, blew out a breath, and said, “There.” She stepped around, stood in front of Quinn, and gave her a wry smile. “Your dad and I usually end up saying both to each other after an argument.”
Quinn smiled.
“And last but not least, say, ‘I love you’ every single day.”
“You’ve done that?”
“I have.”
“What about when Dad was deployed and you weren’t even in the same hemisphere?”
“I said it anyway, even if I couldn’t say it directly to him. That’s when I needed to say it the most. It helped me stay connected to him, especially when he was away.”
Quinn hugged Marie and blinked at the tears welling in her eyes. “Thanks, Mom. For everything.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. Dad and I are so proud of you. James is a good man and we know you two will be deliriously happy.” Marie released her from their embrace. She swiped a thumb across Quinn’s now wet cheeks. “Stephanie made a good call on using the waterproof mascara on you.” Quinn would be forever grateful to her sister-in-law for her wizard-like makeup skills.
“Yeah. Totally necessary.” Noting the way her mother’s eyes glistened as well, she added, “I hope you used it, too.”
“I’ve needed it every day for the past week,” Marie answered with a quiet laugh and ran a fingertip under each eye.
The door burst open and in rushed Quinn’s six-year-old niece and flower girl, Bailey. Isabelle, another sister-in-law and Bailey’s mother, trailed her.
When Quinn turned around, Bailey skidded to a stop. The little girl gawped at her, goggle-eyed.
Quinn glanced down at her dress, fearing a horrible stain had spontaneously erupted on the front of it.
“Aunt Quinn,” Bailey said in an awe-filled voice. “You look like a princess.”
A smile bloomed. Quinn usually disliked wearing dresses. But this one was different. The moment she’d tried it on at the bridal shop, she’d known it was the one. With its sweetheart neckline and full A-line skirt, she really did feel like a princess. “Thank you, sweetie.” Bailey looked precious in her little white frock with the navy blue sash that matched the bridesmaids’ dresses. “So do you.”
Bailey beamed up at her.
“How are the guys doing?” Marie asked Isabelle.
Before she could answer, Bailey’s brow furrowed. “Uncle Madison looks funny with his hair combed.”
“Wow,” Quinn said with a smirk. “He combed his hair? It is a big day.”
Bailey nodded somberly.
Quinn didn’t have room to tease. Her blond hair was in a loose bun at her neck. Buns were anathema to her, the tiresome librarian stereotype she usually eschewed. But in the case of her wedding, she’d made an exception. She was glad she had. It was stunning and sophisticated.
“The guys are all dressed and ready to go,” Isabelle said. “James looks fantastic, by the way. But you already knew that even though you haven’t seen him yet.”
Quinn’s heart hammered. James was indeed handsome. Her sisters-in-law had gleefully shot her surreptitious “OK” signs upon their seeing him for the first time. But more than that, he was sweet and smart and brave and sexy and funny. And she marveled at the fact that in a couple hours, she’d be married to him. “I can imagine. Still, I can hardly wait to see him.”
The door opened again. Nicole and Kelsey walked in together, laughing. Kelsey carried a present in her hand.
“What?” Quinn asked, sounding suspicious.
“Don’t be paranoid,” Nicole said, still laughing. “Kelsey was just telling me what’s going on in the groom’s room.”
“Let’s say my usually unflappable brother is wearing a hole in the carpet.”
Quinn’s stomach flipped. “He’s that nervous? Is he about to bolt?” She knew James loved her and wanted to marry her. In her mind, it was never in question. But even a spy who fearlessly dodged bullets on a regular basis wasn’t necessarily immune from a last-minute case of cold feet.
“Oh God, no,” she said. “Yeah, he’s nervous, but he’s more excited than anything else. He kept checking his watch and saying how he couldn’t wait to see you.”
Quinn started to breathe again.
“Trust me. I know my brother,” she said. “The only way he’s leaving here is with you.”
Kelsey’s words were like a soothing salve. The tension in Quinn’s shoulders seeped away.
“And apparently your brothers are teasing him to keep him loose,” Nicole added.
“Great. If he does take off, I can blame my knucklehead brothers,” Quinn said with a mixture of sarcasm, affection, and relief.
“He loved the cuff links, by the way,” Kelsey said. “He got this big goofy grin on his face the second he saw them. He couldn’t put them on fast enough.”
Quinn pictured the scene in her mind. “I’m glad.”
Kelsey held out the gift in her hand. “James gave this to me to give to you.”
Quinn didn’t need to touch it to know it was a hardcover book. She took it from Kelsey, but hesitated, unsure if it was something she should open in front of everyone.
As if reading her mind, Kelsey winked and nodded her encouragement. “Go ahead.”
She tore off the paper, revealing what she had been sure it was, a hardback book. The title on the dust jacket read, When the Hammer Falls. She recognized James’s handwriting on the yellow note stuck to the front of the book. It read: “I figured you’d need something to read on the plane, so I picked up the most recent Edward Walker novel for you.” MI6 superspy Edward Walker was one of her favorite fictional characters of all time. “I hope you don’t mind if there’s’s a little writing on the title page.” She flipped open the book and let out a squeak when she saw the scrawling signature of the book’s author, Kendrick Smalley.
“He got me a signed copy of the latest Edward Walker novel.”
“Oh, sweetie, that’s wonderful,” Marie said. “Your grandfather will be so envious.” It was he who had instilled in Quinn a love of spy novels in the first place.
“And James wrote notes to you?” Isabelle asked.
“Mm-hmm.”
“They’re too frickin’ cute,” Nicole said to Kelsey under her breath.
“I know, right?” Kelsey answered.
As Isabelle noted, another yellow stickie was stuck next to the autograph. One corner of Quinn’s mouth lifted as she read it to herself. Pages 146–147 are like an awkward middle school dance compared to what we’ll be doing tonight. Just saying.
She didn’t care if every eye in the room was on her. She had to know. She turned to page 146. Made you look, the note attached to the page read.
Her smile grew. “Smarty-pants,” she whispered. She heard Nicole and Kelsey snort, but chose to ignore them.
She skimmed the passage, which vividly detailed a torrid sex scene between Edward Walker and a character named Octavia. By the time she reached the bottom of page 147, her brain had shuddered to a stop. Not because of the words she’d read, but because of James’s promise that Edward and Octavia’s tryst would pale in comparison to what was in store for their wedding night.
“Quinn? Quinn!” Her mother’s voice sliced through the haze. “Are you okay?”
Coming out of her trance, Quinn blinked several times and cleared her throat. “I’m great.” She snapped the book closed. “Let’s get this party started.”