“I bet you can,” he agreed. “But then, I have trouble imagining there’s anything you can’t do, if it’s something you want to do.”

It was a little more complicated than making a phone call to Jack; he had a responsibility to the trust he managed and couldn’t just do a favor for a friend. “I have to get an appraisal,” he told Jillian, “and then list the property and review the offers. I’m sorry it’s not quicker or easier.”

“I understand,” she said. “By all means, I want you to do this the right way and at the end of the day, have no regrets. It’ll all work out as it’s supposed to.”

“And if you don’t get the property?” he asked her.

“Then I guess I’ll be talking to that Realtor of yours.”

“I am sorry, Jillian. You’re doing right by that place and I’d like to see you in it permanently.”

But Jillian didn’t see this as a discouraging bit of news. She’d never been afraid to work hard for what she wanted, and right now, that ethic was coming in handy.

A week later Colin and Jillian were on the road to Chico and while they were away, Jack would be showing the house to the couple from the Bay Area.

“Births, deaths, weddings and critical injuries get a lot of attention from the Riordan family,” Colin explained to Jillian as they made the drive to Chico for the wedding. “I’m afraid that I’m the one with the reputation for being a no-show most often, for making the fastest trip, shortest stay. Aiden, Sean and Luke have always been pretty tight. Aiden is actually close to everyone and the best about keeping up family relationships.”

“And now he wants all his brothers to witness for him,” she said.

“Typical Riordan move—gather them up, make sure everyone is front and center. I usually do what I can to resist the call—sometimes I arrive late, leave early, manage to find an excuse.”

“Why do I get the sense something has changed?” she asked him.

“Because it has. I almost met my maker. My brothers, though a huge pain in my ass, came running. I wanted to kill them all, but they were persistent and it’s probable that because they wouldn’t let me shove them away, I got the help I needed. I’m too goddamn stubborn to do it for myself, to even acknowledge what I need. Do you know they had a conference call about me? Seriously! Paddy was the first to suspect I had a problem with painkillers and he invoked the brotherhood. Aiden was the one to get personally involved—I think he was elected because he’s a doctor. And I think he put his credit card on the treatment bill. None of them will tell me if I owe anything for that. Not even Luke, and I’m pretty sure Luke would like to just shove me in a hole.”

“Come on.” She laughed. “Luke seems like a great brother.”

“When he’s in charge,” Colin said with an indulgent laugh. “He’s not that great when someone disagrees with him. He’s a diamond in the rough—apparently Shelby sees the diamond and the rest of us see the rough.”

“I so look forward to this,” she said with a laugh. “Having only had one sister growing up, I can’t imagine five rough-and-tumble boys. And it sounds like you’re all still at it. Listen, if it would be best for you to stay at your brother’s house with most of the family, I’m perfectly fine in the hotel by myself.”

He reached for her hand. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Really, it’s a family time, and I’m not—”

“You’re with me. Listen, there’s no good way to ask this so I’m going to blurt it out and hope I don’t fumble it too badly. Is taking you to a wedding, to a family gathering—is that going to confuse what we have going on together?”

She smiled at him; a purely indulgent smile. “You mean, am I going to hope for a change in plans?” She shook her head. “Don’t mess with me on this, Colin. I’m keeping my head and my body in the present. I’m not expecting anything to change. I’m not setting up any fantasies. Spending nights in bed with you is fantasy enough….”

“You never thought about marriage? Family? All that?”

She shook her head. “In an abstract way I thought it was somewhere in my future, but there were no contenders. The first person to ever take me looking at rings was Kurt, and I was reluctant to do that—I didn’t want to mislead him.” She shrugged. “I told him that might be way in the future, but I sure wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t in love with him yet—I wasn’t ready to take it that far….” She laughed bitterly. “Isn’t it funny that I was the holdout and yet it never once occurred to me that he was playing me? I was worldly in business at such a young age, but in relationships? Not so much.”

“Inexperienced,” he said. “Which probably means you hadn’t been hurt a lot.”

“Not in relationships with men. I had my hard knocks in other ways—losing my dad then my mom, the usual problems with money, growing up poor, struggling on a shoestring in school, then the struggle of paying for Nana’s assisted living, then her death… But men? No—only a few. Not traumatic. Don’t worry, Colin—I’m not going to try anything like holding your feet to the fire for a promise you never made. I want you to go to Africa! I want you to find what you need, to feel whole again, to reassure yourself that you haven’t missed anything! That feeling you had of being robbed? You’re not ever going to feel like I was the one to rob you. Think of me as your cheerleader. But could we make an agreement about that?”

“What do you need, Jilly?” he asked, squeezing her hand.

“I need you to not ask me again. It takes a certain amount of effort to keep from thinking into the future where you’re concerned. Let’s not keep reexamining that.”

“You’re right,” he said with a nod. “And I’m going to say one thing before the subject is dropped. It takes a certain amount of effort for me, too.”

It made her very happy to hear that, but she said, “It’s important for you to follow your plan, Colin. I could never be happy with some guy who spends his life feeling he made sacrifices for me, sacrifices I didn’t ask for and that you’d eventually resent. I want you to know you did everything in life that’s important to you.”

“You’re one in a million, you know that?” he asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

She lifted her chin. “Yeah, I know.”

Colin and Jillian arrived in Chico early Friday afternoon. Colin checked them into a neighborhood hotel near the country club where the wedding would take place, dropped their luggage and followed the directions they’d been given to Erin Foley’s house.

Aiden had told Colin that this was the house Erin grew up in—a comfortably large four-bedroom ranch. After Erin and Aiden met last summer they returned to Chico together; Aiden had moved into her house. And when Colin and Jillian arrived, the house was already full of people.

Colin’s brothers Luke and Sean, their wives and kids were all staying with Erin and Aiden. Patrick had not yet arrived, but there was room for him there or with Erin’s sister and matron of honor, Marcie. There was plenty of space left over. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” Aiden asked Colin.

“Thanks anyway,” Colin said. “We’ll be just fine.”

Not long after Colin and Jillian arrived, a big RV pulled up to the house, parked along the curb and gave the horn a blast.

“There they are,” Luke said. “The kids.”

Jillian was introduced to Colin’s mother, Maureen, and her boyfriend, George, and she quickly got the drift that they were traveling around in a motor coach, not even engaged. There were muttered jokes and chuckles about them living in sin, but the older couple seemed amused and completely unaffected.

Maureen took Jillian’s hand in both of hers. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jillian,” she said. “And I can’t wait to hear all about the garden and your plans for it. I’m a gardener myself, though it’s been a while.”

“You know about me?” Jillian asked.

“It spread like wildfire, dear,” Maureen answered with a smile.

A little while later the baby of the family, Patrick, arrived in a rented car. He had to go through bone-crushing hugs from the men, kisses from the women. A beer was pressed into his hand but before taking a drink he looked askance at Colin. Colin smiled and raised his nonalcoholic brew in a toast, bringing a big grin out of the handsome young man. Young? He was probably older than Jillian.

Jillian had expected to enjoy herself, if only because she was with Colin. But it was way more than simply having a nice time—she had a fantastic time! As the entire family—both Erin’s family and the Riordans—gathered around the patio, kitchen and backyard, there was so much laughing she nearly had to hold her sides. Nothing was sacred; they went after each other like hungry dogs, telling stories on one another. No one was spared—even Maureen had to take her share of teasing.

The stories Jillian enjoyed the most were about the bride and groom who had met in Virgin River. “I couldn’t even get to first base until I shaved off my beard and chased a bear out of her kitchen!” Aiden said.

Jillian sat up straighter. “A bear?” she asked. “In her kitchen?”

“She was baking cookies with all the doors and windows open,” Aiden explained.

“Near as I can tell, Jillian only does Froot Loops,” Colin said.

“Well that goes without saying,” Sean said with a bad boy grin, getting a playful whack from his wife and laughter from the entire crowd.

Except Colin. He grew serious. “Jilly is outside from dawn till dark—sometimes pretty far from the house.”

Then the guys looked between each other. “They’re all over those mountains, Jillian,” Aiden said. “Do you have bear repellent? If not, you should get some, but keep it in a safe place. Erin even used it on my ex-wife. Well, turned out she was just my ex-psychopath, but still—that bear repellant packs a punch.”

“Really?” Jillian asked, sitting forward expectantly.

“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Colin promised. “I’ll get her some right away. Might serve to keep all of you at a distance, too.”

At five o’clock everyone headed for the club for rehearsal. Erin’s attendants were her sister, Marcie, and sisters-in-law Franci and Shelby, and Aiden’s four brothers were his groomsmen. The fact that they had three women and four men in their wedding party did not worry Erin and Aiden—they had the most important people in their life with them on this special day and that was all that mattered. Erin’s younger brother, Drew, would walk Erin down the aisle, and her brother-in-law, Ian, would sing at the wedding. He’d rehearsed his piece once and it nearly brought Jillian to her knees, his voice was so beautiful.

The rehearsal was a quick hour filled with fun and laughter, but the surprises were really just beginning. When they all got back to Erin’s house it was evident the caterers had been busy. Tables covered with linen tablecloths were set up in the backyard with lit tiki torches all around. There were flowers on the tables, china and crystal—it was magical. Members of the wedding party oohed and aahed over the delicious-looking buffet table that was laden with all sorts of food and beverages.

As she looked at all the guests milling around the back garden Jillian realized that their wedding party was made up entirely of family. There wasn’t a best friend or shirt-tail relative among them. They were all brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law. For as much as these Riordans were at each other all the time, they were one tight clan. It made her envious.

When the party split up that night they all agreed to be dressed for the wedding and back at the country club at 2:00 p.m. Erin was a modern bride and didn’t hold much with old-fashioned tradition. They were going to take their pictures in the afternoon before the wedding when the daylight was perfect. They’d do two hours of pictures, retire to their dressing rooms at the club for touch-ups and a little refreshment, and the wedding would take place at five.