Beauty from Ashes: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 5) Read online

  “Yes. I’m sure.” Rebecca laid her hand on top of Alex’s and looked up at him. “I know we only discussed this in passing. I really didn’t think the timing was right, but I guess stress must have thrown my cycle off.”

  Connor watched as Jordan covered his ears, as if afraid of what else his mom might choose to disclose. Connor didn’t cover his own ears, and he hoped it wouldn’t be something he regretted.

  “Wow.” For all the words that he’d had for his sister earlier, Alex seemed to be short of them now.

  “Maybe the two of you need a little privacy to talk about this,” Adrianne suggested and then gave them a small smile. “Congratulations, by the way.”

  Without saying another word, Alex guided Rebecca out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. Knowing what had happened the last time Rebecca had gotten pregnant, Connor felt a tiny spark of concern. Alex was shocked, no doubt, but hopefully, his reaction would be more positive.

  Jordan sat down on a chair at the breakfast nook, a rather stunned look on his face. “I kind of understand now.”

  Connor went over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. “What is it you understand, buddy?”

  “Just how shocking a pregnancy announcement can be. I’m not the dad, but I still have a bunch of conflicting emotions over Mom’s news. And it looked like maybe Dad did too.”

  “It definitely was a surprise,” Connor agreed. “But I think once the shock of it has worn off, your mom and dad will be very happy with this news. And you will be too. You always wanted to be a big brother.”

  Jordan’s brow furrowed. “Well, yeah, until I figured out that it wasn’t going to happen. It’s just kind of weird to think about since I know kids my age are having babies. Is it even safe for my mom to have a baby at her age?”

  Adrianne and Melanie joined them at the table, each taking a seat across from Connor and Jordan.

  “Yes, it is perfectly safe for your mom to have a baby at her age.” Adrianne reached across the table to rest her hand on Jordan’s. “Lots of women do it these days.”

  “Well, that certainly got the discussion off of your new house,” Melanie said with a grin. “Mom is going to be through the roof when she hears this bit of news.”

  Adrianne swung around to look at her sister. “Don’t you dare breathe a word of it to her. It’s up to Alex and Rebecca when they want to tell them.”

  Melanie crossed her arms as leaned back in her seat. “I would never tell Mom something like that. I didn’t mean that I was going to tell her. Just that she is going to be really excited when she hears the news. I know a lot of people like to wait until after the first trimester to tell people, but I sure hope Alex and Rebecca don’t. It could be like another two and a half months that we’d have to keep that secret.”

  Connor knew he’d have no problem keeping Rebecca’s secret, but he had to admit that he was a bit surprised at the news. It would’ve been nice if Alex and Rebecca had had some time to just be newlyweds… again. At least they’d have the next eight or so months before the baby entered the picture.

  Though he was happy for Rebecca, Connor suddenly understood what it might be like for Adrianne. He had hoped that his retirement might include a relationship that would lead to marriage and children. Now, he wasn’t so sure, but still, he had to watch as his sister got married—again—and was now pregnant. It was all just a reminder of what he didn’t have. After years of not really thinking about having a family of his own, it was never far from his mind these days.

  They all lapsed into silence, no doubt each contemplating the pregnancy from a different perspective. Connor watched Adrianne as she stared out the window, wondering what was going through her mind. He felt bad that Alex hadn’t responded more positively to her news, though he wasn’t altogether surprised by Alex’s reaction. Hopefully, now with Rebecca’s news to distract him, Alex would at least be more focused on his own life than on Adrianne’s. And Connor supposed it would now be a positive thing that Adrianne was moving since they would undoubtedly need more space for the baby.

  After a few minutes of silence, Adrianne got to her feet, and when she started pulling plates from the cupboard, the others joined her to get things ready for their lunch that had been abandoned by Rebecca.

  ~*~

  Though Adrianne loved winter, the cold snap that spilled from January into February was something she could’ve done without. There was cold and then there was cold. As she got dressed for Than and Lindsay’s wedding the second weekend in February, Adrianne wished she could wear warm sweatpants and a sweatshirt. But she knew that that would be frowned upon, especially for this particular wedding.

  She’d taken special care with her makeup and had chosen an outfit that she hoped was appropriate for the wedding of the century. At least that’s what the BlackThorpe gang had taken to calling it. By all accounts, it was going to be a lavish affair and apparently required suitable attire.

  Adrianne had tried on so many dresses before she’d finally found an outfit that she loved enough to spend a chunk of change on. The burgundy satin skirt had a high low hemline and an organza overlay in the same shade. A bit of tulle underneath gave the skirt a nice fullness. She had paired it with a lace top in the same color that sat just slightly off her shoulders and had three-quarter length tapered sleeves. It had a fitted bodice and then flared out slightly from her waist.

  As she stood in front of her full-length mirror, Adrianne ran her hands down her sides, grateful for the undergarments that allowed her to wear this outfit while smoothing out any bulges. After slipping on her high heels, Adrianne twirled around, enjoying the feel of the fullness of her skirt.

  It had taken her a bit of time, but she managed to follow the directions for a hairstyle she’d seen on Pinterest that pulled her hair back but left the ends free to be curled. She wore a pair of white gold dangling earrings that had a diamond at the top and the bottom of a delicate chain. They matched the white gold necklace that had a diamond in the front with two chains dropping down with another pair of diamonds. The set had been a gift from her parents one year for Christmas, but she didn’t often have a reason to wear the pieces.

  After a final check of her appearance and a spritz of perfume, Adrianne draped her coat over one arm then picked up her clutch that contained her cell phone, her driver’s license and some cash along with lipstick and a compact. Feeling like she looked her best, Adrianne left her room and headed down to the front door.

  Adrianne had initially planned to have Hank come as her plus one, but when he let her know a week earlier that his schedule had changed and he wouldn’t be able to make it, she’d resigned herself to going alone. Alex, however, had a different idea, and before she knew it, Connor had become her plus one. After being assured by Alex that he wasn’t trying to set them up, but that he wanted Connor to come along to socialize with the rest of the BlackThorpe group, Adrianne had acquiesced.

  She was well aware, however, that it would appear differently to the people around them. Especially when they would all arrive together in the limo Alex had rented. Alex and Rebecca were a couple, as were Melanie and Tyler, so the assumption would be made that she and Connor were also one.

  Thankfully, things between her and Connor had settled into a friendship of sorts. Adrianne didn’t go out of her way to avoid him and would even engage in conversation if it was just the two of them—much like that morning when she’d shared with him about her house—so least that took some of the awkwardness out of spending a good portion of the day together.

  Adrianne had never imagined that one day she and Connor would once again have a friendship. And while her heart might have longed for more, she was content with the way things were between them. The memory of the hurt he’d caused her was fading a little bit more each time they were together. She doubted it would ever be gone completely, but it was no longer the gut-clenching, nausea-inducing, heart-breaking memory it had once been.

  As she headed downstairs, Adrianne saw Melanie an
d Tyler standing with Connor near the front door. They all turned to look at her as she made her way to the bottom of the staircase. When her gaze met Connor’s, Adrianne felt a sudden weakness in her knees and grasped the banner more firmly before looking away.

  But not before registering the fine figure Connor cut in his formal attire. The man looked handsome in the dark gray suit he wore. She wondered if it was custom-made since it fit his shoulders so well. And she couldn’t help but notice that the multicolored tie he wore contained swirls of burgundy that matched her outfit.

  “You look gorgeous,” Melanie said with a wide smile. “That color is just beautiful.”

  “And you look stunning,” Adrianne told Melanie, taking in the dark blue outfit she’d chosen. It was a satin sleeveless dress with a pencil skirt that ended at her ankles. Over the top, she wore a long-sleeved, cropped, lace jacket. She also wore dangling earrings and a matching necklace. Though Tyler’s usual style was much more casual, today he wore a navy pinstripe suit and a tie that complemented Melanie’s dress.

  “I agree,” Connor said. “You ladies both look breathtaking.”

  “What he said,” Tyler quipped with a smile.

  A buzz came from the security panel, and Connor moved toward it.

  “It’s the limousine,” Connor said as he pressed the button to open the gate.

  “Alex and Rebecca better not take too much longer or we’ll just leave without them,” Melanie said as she looked toward the stairs. “I hear they’re anticipating quite a crowd, and I don’t want to be late.”

  By the time the limo driver rang the doorbell, Alex and Rebecca had joined them. Thankfully, Rebecca’s morning sickness seemed to contain itself to the actual morning hours. Since it was now mid-afternoon, her normal morning pallor had passed, and she looked lovely in her soft rose-colored dress.

  “Let me give you a hand with that,” Connor said, gesturing to the coat on Adrianne’s arm. He had already pulled on a long coat of his own.

  Adrianne gave him the coat and slid her arms into the sleeves when he held it for her. Thankfully, she didn’t have too much time to get cold since it was a short walk from the front door to the warmth of the limo. Alex and Rebecca went first, followed by Melanie and Tyler. Adrianne climbed in and settled on a seat next to Tyler. Alex and Rebecca had taken the seats farthest in while Melanie and Tyler were on the long stretch of seats against the windows. The only seat left for Connor was next to her so Adrianne gathered her skirt in to make sure there was enough room for him.

  Though they had spent time together over the past few weeks, it hadn’t been close quarters like this. Being this near to Connor again reminded Adrianne of the moments when they’d hidden beneath her desk, his body protecting hers from the threat of gunfire. She could smell his cologne, just as she had that morning, and it stirred to life an unwelcome longing.

  As Connor joked with Tyler about having to get all dressed up, he appeared to not be affected by her nearness in the same way she was by his. And that was nothing new. They’d never been on the same page when it came to how they felt about each other. Why couldn’t he have turned into an arrogant jerk? Why couldn’t he have been married? Why couldn’t he have been anything that would have made him the last person on earth that she’d want to be around?

  Adrianne kept a tight grip on her clutch as the limo made its way to their destination. She only had a few hours to get through. She could do this. Then things would return to the normal they’d been able to settle into.

  “Wow,” Melanie said as the limo came to a smooth stop in front of a large old church.

  The church had clearly been around longer than any other church Adrianne had ever been in. With stained-glass windows and towering spires, it was something to behold. Once the driver had opened the limo door, Connor exited first then turned to hold out his hand to help Adrianne from the car. She had slipped on a pair of gloves, so she couldn’t feel the warmth of his skin against hers, but there was strength in his hand as it gripped hers.

  Connor didn’t maintain the contact between the two of them once she was on her feet outside of the limo, and Adrianne found herself missing it. Calling herself every type of fool, she stepped to the side to wait for the others, her hands in the pockets of her coat. There was no way she would be able to maintain any semblance of reality in her head if she allowed Connor to play the role of date when that wasn’t what he was.

  16

  To that end, Adrianne stayed close to Melanie as they walked up the wide steps that led to the ornate doors of the church. Connor opened one side while Alex got the other, and together they held them open so the others could pass through. They were immediately greeted by warmth and the sound of a majestic organ playing in the distance.

  “I think we can leave our coats over there,” Alex said, pointing to a large room off to the side that appeared to be a coat room.

  When they reached the room, Adrianne focused on removing her coat even as Alex and Tyler helped Rebecca and Melanie with theirs. She hung it up and then turned to join Melanie as they waited for the men to finish with their own coats. As they left the coat room, they ran into Eric and Staci and Trent and Victoria. They ended up waiting for them before approaching the doors to the sanctuary of the church.

  Even with other people as part of their group, Adrianne still somehow ended up sitting next to Connor. At some point, Marcus arrived with his sister Meredith, and Justin and Alanna showed up with Justin’s sister Beth and her husband, Dan. They were all seated on Than’s side of the church, but Lindsay’s side was filling up as well. As Adrianne looked around the beauty of the church, she realized this was her first formal wedding. Most of the others that she’d attended had leaned more to semi-formal or even casual.

  She had thought that Than was joking when he talked about how extravagant this wedding was going to be, but Adrianne could see now that he’d been quite serious. Large bouquets of pink and red roses interspersed with sprays of white baby’s breath were at the end of each pew. And at the front of the sanctuary, there were two massive floral displays once again with pink, red, and white flowers. There was an arch that had more of the same color motif in flowers and ribbons but with the addition of small twinkle lights.

  “They’ve certainly gone all out for this wedding,” Connor said as he leaned slightly toward her.

  Adrianne nodded but kept her eyes toward the front. “I think it has something to do with their mothers. Lindsay is the only girl, and from what Than has said, weddings are a big thing in his mom’s culture. He’d said it was going to be a pretty big event.”

  “Maybe it’s a guy thing,” Connor began, “but I just don’t see the sense in spending all that money for just a few hours.”

  “So you’re more of the head to Vegas and get hitched kind of guy?” Adrianne asked, a little bit surprised at herself for continuing this line of conversation with Connor.

  “Actually, no. I like what Alex and Rebecca had. Something small and intimate with the people that are most important to the bridal couple. This just seems very over-the-top.”

  Adrianne actually agreed with him, but that was the last thing she would tell Connor. “I guess on the plus side is that they’re not going into debt for this wedding. I don’t know about Than’s family, but the Hamiltons are very well-off.”

  “Well, I’m looking forward to the food at the reception,” Connor said as he shifted on the pew beside her. “I’m starving.”

  And that was just one more thing Adrianne agreed with him on. In all the rush of getting ready for the wedding, she hadn’t taken the time to eat any lunch before they’d left.

  The pews around them continued to fill as the organ music floated above the whispers of conversation. It was hard for Adrianne to attend weddings anymore. In her twenties, Adrianne had enjoyed going to them. At each one, she’d pick and choose the things that she liked and didn’t like, planning which of them she’d use in her own wedding when the time came. Back then, she’d had hope that
one day she would be planning a wedding of her own—and this one would have been at the top of her list of favorite weddings just on decorations alone. Now in her thirties, her enjoyment of weddings had decidedly dropped, especially if the bridal couple wasn’t someone she was close to. All that the beautiful decorations and lovely dresses seemed to do was mock her inability to find someone of her own to marry.

  Thankfully, most the weddings she’d attended lately had been for people who really meant something to her. Thus, she was less likely to feel envious of the couple as they pledged their love to each other, even as her own wedding planning had languished over the years.

  Eventually, the organist stopped playing, and a hush fell over the congregation. When the music began to play again, it had a decidedly different tone. The doors at the back of the sanctuary opened, and a tall man with salt and pepper hair began to walk down the aisle with a petite Asian woman on his arm. Undoubtedly these were Than’s parents, and as they got closer, Adrianne could see that Than was a true blend of both his parents. Next came one of Lindsay’s older brothers with their mom. With his long hair, Lincoln Hamilton was easily distinguishable from his twin brother Lucas.

  Once the family members were seated at the front, a man in a suit led Than and his groomsmen to the front of the sanctuary. Looking at the man, Adrianne wouldn’t have known that not that long ago, he’d taken a bullet to the upper arm. They were all dressed in dark gray tuxedos with red and white boutonnieres, and Adrianne recognized the youngest groomsman as Eric and Victoria’s nephew, Danny. His mom, Brooke, was their sister, and she’d married Lucas Hamilton. Judging from the broad smile on his face, the young man seemed proud to have a role in the wedding.

  Once the male attendants were in place, the doors at the back of the sanctuary opened to admit the first of Lindsay’s bridesmaids. Adrianne noticed that several of them appeared to be Filipino so they most likely were relatives of Than’s. Brooke ended up being her matron of honor, and she was the last of the eight bridesmaids to walk down the aisle. In Adrianne’s mind, that was about six attendants too many, although she had to remind herself that at one time she’d planned to have that many—if not more—in her own wedding party. But with the little bit she knew of Lindsay, Adrianne suspected that this large bridal party might be more the mothers’ doing than the bride’s.