No Simple Lie – Bonus Epilogue

Hudson

Four months later…

Hawk, Hunter, and I show up at Pappy’s suite bright and early. It’s not the largest suite in Las Vegas, Rose would never allow that, but it could still fit a family of ten and easily have room for more.

Pappy answers the door with a cup of coffee in hand. He makes a point of dramatically glancing at his watch. “I thought your wedding wasn’t until four thirty. Rose is still sleeping.”

“Let her sleep,” Hawk says. “The girls can come over to keep her company later. We have a lot to do today.”

He shakes his head and grumbles at me, “I still don’t understand why you didn’t just get married in New York.”

“Because this is where we originally said our vows,” I say. “When we got the call on Tuesday informing us our marriage wasn’t legal because the man who performed it had an expired license, we knew we had to come back. This is the place we’ll always remember. Not to mention all the venues around New York were booked two years out.”

He scoffs. “I could have found you something and saved you all the trouble.”

I laugh. “Sure you could have, Pappy. Because you know everything and everyone and are a man who can make things happen.”

“Are we doing this, or what?” Hunter says. “We’re due at the tux place in thirty minutes and our tee time is at ten.”

“Let me leave Rose a note,” Pap says.

My brothers and I share a quiet smile. We’re all excited and eager to get on with the day.

Once we hit the elevator, Hunter sends a text that sets off a chain of events ensuring everything will run smoothly. When the elevator doors open on the ground floor, we run into Holland. She has a huge grin on her face and is practically bouncing up and down when she sees us. She’s bursting at the seams as if holding in a huge secret. I admonish her with my stare. “Holland, you’re up early.”

“With the three hour time difference, it’s not hard. Besides, with my job, I’m always up at the butt crack of dawn.” She steps over to Pappy and gives him a hug. “I hope you have an amazing day.” Hawk clears his throat forcefully. Holland then hugs the rest of us. “All of you, I mean. I hope everyone has an amazing day.”

“Goodbye, Hol,” Hunter says, pushing her onto the elevator once we exit.

Pappy watches her, deep in thought. “She’s acting strange.”

“Weddings always make women act strange,” Hawk says.

“You think your sister wants one of her own?” Pappy asks.

“Give it a rest, Pappy.” I snort. “One, she’s twenty-four. And two, she’s married to her job.”

“You mean the job she hates and that has taken her away from her rightful home in Calloway Creek?”

“She does seem to have a love-hate relationship with it,” Hunter says. “But she’s a junior designer now. And one day, she’ll be the one running the show.”

“I have no doubt,” Pappy says as we’re escorted to the limousine.

Thirty minutes later, we’re trying on our tuxes. We emailed our measurements and, fortunately, everything fits as expected.

Pappy admires himself in the mirror. “I haven’t worn one of these in ages.” He turns to me. “Tell me again why you made me your best man?”

“If it weren’t for you, Dakota and I wouldn’t even be together. I thought it only fitting.”

“And the golf outing? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I love the game. But I didn’t think you did.”

I shrug. “We needed to be out of the hotel so the girls can do their thing. And even though we technically already went through this, everyone has insisted we can’t see the bride before the wedding.”

“Ah, yes. Well, there is that tradition.”

“I’ll have these delivered to the church by four o’clock,” says the manager of the tux shop.

“Church?” Pappy eyes me. “I thought you’d have gotten married in one of those drive-through places that do fifty weddings a day.”

“Yeah, uh…” I spare a nervous glance at my brothers. “We were going to, but when we heard of a last-minute cancellation at a nearby church, we decided to do it there instead.”

“Even though it was just the two of you?” He narrows his eyes. “It doesn’t seem like you to go through all that trouble.”

“Dakota was thrilled at the opportunity to marry in a church, even if it was an empty one.” I throw up my hands. “And please tell me you’re not expecting me to figure out the mind of a woman on her wedding day.”

“That I would never do, grandson.” His thumb and forefinger work his jaw. “It’s odd, however, that the same church would be available with just a few days’ notice.”

Hawk and Hunter look at each other. Hawk enters conversation. “What’s the point in having money if you can’t use it for things like this? Hudson found out who had booked the church for today and offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse to relocate their wedding.”

“Is that so?” He chuckles. “So the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Manipulating the situation for your own benefit, eh?”

“No, the apple has definitely not fallen far,” I say, amused. “Besides, with the extra twenty million you put in my trust fund, I figured I’d use my powers for good.”

We get back in the limo, are whisked off to the golf course, play eighteen holes, and by three thirty, we’re showered and dropped off at the church. We’re the first ones here as planned.

“Hudson McQuaid?” a woman asks, greeting us at the curb.

I step forward and have a quick private conversation with her. Then I make introductions. “Everyone, this is Helen, the wedding planner.”

Pappy is surprised. “You were able to hire a wedding planner who could pull this off in four days?”

“You think you’re the only person who can make things happen?” Hunter asks him.

Helen offers her arm to Pappy and they climb the stairs. He comes to a stop when they enter the sanctuary and it’s decorated with flowers, candles, carpet runners, and the whole nine yards.

Helen leans close to his ear. “If you think this is nice, wait until you see the reception.”

Pappy turns and nods his approval. “Well done, Hudson. Your bride is going to love this.”

I smile. “Yes. The bride is definitely going to love this.”

Helen motions to a door at the back. “Let’s get you gentlemen ready.”

Less than an hour later, we’re dressed and being handed glasses of Pappy’s favorite whiskey. I look him up and down. “You clean up real nice, old man.”

“Call me old once more and I’ll show you who’s old.”

The three of us laugh. I raise my glass. “To the groom on his wedding day. May this be the day your bride has dreamed of and the night of your fantasies.”

Pappy is confused. Right now he’s wondering why the groom just made that toast.

Helen comes over, removes the boutonniere from my lapel and starts pinning it on his. He steps back. “What’s going on here?”

Hunter tops off Pappy’s whiskey. “You might want this.”

Pappy eyes us speculatively. “Why?”

Hawk pulls a piece of paper from his pocket. “The note you left Rose this morning was not the note she got.”

“Explain yourself, boy,” he grumbles.

Hawk holds the copy of the note out. Pappy stares him down and then takes it. The three of us all know what it says. Hunter did a great job matching Pappy’s handwriting. We watch his face as he reads it.

He looks up. “What in the hell have the three of you gone and done?”

“You have two choices, Pappy. You can walk out there and marry the love of your life and live out your years with Rose as your wife. Or you can tell everyone we played you, pull out of the whole thing we spent months planning, and break a lovely woman’s heart.”

He broods, looking from one of us to the next. I almost laugh wondering what is going through his head right now. Each one of us has been manipulated by him and his grand schemes. And each one of us ended up with the loves our lives. His gambles worked, the lucky bastard.

Will ours?

For a moment, I believe we’ve royally fucked up and ruined the greatest thing that ever happened to him. I swallow and look at my brothers. Hunter shrugs at me as our grandfather stares at the note. Hawk looks worried.

The door opens and Holland appears. “Everything okay in here?”

“The jury is still out.” I wave her in. “What’s it like out there?”

“I’m not sure how we pulled it off, but it’s amazing. There must be a hundred guests.”

Pappy’s eyes bug out. “A hundred? How is that even possible?”

“Hudson, Hunter, and Hawk have been planning this for months,” Holland says. “They flew everyone in. Rose’s granddaughter, Maddie will be walking her down the aisle. And Maddie’s daughter, Gigi, is the cutest flower girl.” She twirls in her formal dress. “I’m one of the bridesmaids.”

He turns to me. “Your wedding?”

“Perfectly legal.”

“So all this—”

“All this is for you and Rose. So what’s it going to be, Pappy?”

He ponders it for a minute. He wants to argue. He’s always been the one in control and he hates that we’ve taken that away.  

The room is silent.

Then Pappy shakes his head and laughs. “Well played, grandsons. Well played.” He lifts his glass and downs his drink. “Now, let’s go find my bride, shall we?”

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Are you excited for more Calloway Creek novels? Quiet Beautiful Things is the first book in the Montana Brothers series. You can order it here: https://geni.us/SC-QBT

Want to know more about Holland McQuaid? You can check out her novella, Love By Design, here: https://geni.us/LBD-SC