The Bride Wore Blue Jeans

But Kevin heard him. “Depressed comes to mind.” The words had popped out almost of their own volition.

“Not if you have the right company.” And then she frowned as she turned and looked at her older brother. “Kev, is anything wrong? I’m sensing some very unhappy vibes coming from you.”

That settled it. She had definitely changed since she’d come up here. The old Lily never even had the word vibes in her vocabulary. He almost laughed out loud, catching himself at the last moment.

“Since when do you sound like a hippie?”

Lily waved her hand at the question. Something was definitely up with her older brother and she was concerned. “That has nothing to do with it. Kev, have you been feeling all right?”

He wasn’t policing himself, Kevin thought, annoyed. There was no excuse for saying things that might bring his sister down. It wasn’t fair. Lily looked as if she was finally happy for what might be the first time in her life and he had no right to rain on her parade.

Or cast a shadow as it were, he thought whimsically, glancing up at the sky.

The sun gave no indication that it was going to set, or ever had set. It could have been ten in the morning instead of well into the evening.

He forced himself to brighten visibly. “I’m feeling great.” His eyes shifted to Max. “Someone is finally going to tame that tongue of yours.”

A playful look entered Lily’s eyes. “Someone is going to try,” she corrected.

Kevin grinned at his brother-in-law. “Max, I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

Max brushed a kiss against the top of Lily’s head. “I once faced down a bear in a trap. I know exactly what I’m up against.”

“Flattery like that is liable to turn a girl’s head,” Lily said wryly.

There was no use in pretending that she took offense; she felt far too happy to try to keep up a charade. Her whole family was here with her and it looked as if her whole future was finally in front of her. What was there not to be happy about?

She looked at her brother pointedly. “You didn’t tell me, what do you think of it?”

The future restaurant was to stand overlooking the winding river below and the mountains in the distance. Right now, there was a velvety green carpet as far as the eye could see.

“I think it needs walls.”

She gave him a little shove. “I mean the location.” He knew exactly what she meant, she thought. “Look at that view, Kev.” Her voice took on almost a reverent tone. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

“Breathtaking,” he agreed. There was no denying that. But what would that same view look like, buried in snow? He bit back the urge to ask. Instead, he smiled at his sister. “Just like the look in your eyes.” Impulsively he hugged her. “I’m happy for you, Lily.” He looked at Max and Jimmy, who’d just joined them. “For all of you.”

His comment sounded so exclusionary. As if they were on two sides of a fence and they were happy, while he wasn’t, Lily thought. It had a very familiar ring to it. This was just the way she’d felt when she first came up here, running away from heartache without realizing that she’d wound up running to something.

An idea came to her. Lily looked up at her main reason for smiling these days. “Max, don’t you think we should be getting ready?”

Max had no idea what she was talking about, but he played along gamely. “Ready? Are you sure it’s supposed to be now?”

Max really was her soul mate, she thought and she dearly loved him for that and a million other things. “I’m sure.” She looked at her older brother. “We’re taking you to the Salty.” She could see that Kevin was going to beg off. But being around people was just what he needed right now. Especially if she could orchestrate a few things. “It’s tradition, you know. Whenever anyone comes to visit for more than a week, he has to have a party in his honor at the Salty.”

“I came up for Jimmy’s wedding,” Kevin reminded her. “There wasn’t any party at the Salty then.”

Undaunted, Lily pressed on. “You came up for the ceremony and flew back right after it was over. There wasn’t time for a party. But there is now.” She gave him her most beguiling smile. “This way, we can really show you off.”

He didn’t want to be shown off. He wanted to take a quick shower and kick back for the evening. Maybe just bask in being in the same area as the rest of his family.

“I’m kind of tired, Lily.”

Lily wasn’t about to let him back away. She threaded her arms through his.

“No excuses, big brother. You wouldn’t want to buck tradition, would you? It’s bad luck. The miners are a very superstitious bunch. They wouldn’t take it kindly if you turned your back on tradition.”

Kevin sighed. “Wouldn’t want to annoy the miners,” he murmured. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. “Who’ll be there?”

“Everyone,” Max told him. “There isn’t enough room inside for everyone at the same time. But it’s still warm enough for them to mill around outside.”

They all knew that temperature here was a temperamental thing. It was August, but even if the sun didn’t go down as it should, the temperature did at times, dropping down into the mid-forties without warning.

Despite the town’s sudden growth spurt and new enterprises, the Salty Saloon still held the title as the favorite gathering place for the residents of Hades and its outlying regions. Owned by Ike Le Blanc and his cousin, Jean Luc, Alison’s husband, it had been the beginning of the two cousins’ business venture. Its success was indirectly responsible for their eventually buying the general store, restoring the town’s defunct movie theater, beginning renovations on the town’s one hotel and, now, investing in Lily’s proposed restaurant.

Her mind racing with details she needed to take care of, primarily cornering Ike to let him know what she was up to and having Luc spread the word around town about the party, Lily quickly brushed a kiss against Kevin’s cheek. “Jimmy’ll drop you off at the house and then I’ll come for you in half an hour or so.”

Kevin’s eyebrows drew together. Why couldn’t they just proceed on to the saloon and be done with it?

But he knew better than to ask Lily for an explanation. She’d always had her own unique way of doing things and hated being questioned. Besides, he welcomed the few minutes to himself so that he could work on his enthusiasm about this so-called party in his honor. While he was happy to see everyone, the nagging thought that this was only temporary, that all too soon he’d be returning home alone after Lily’s wedding, adhered to him like a slow-moving slug leeching at his happiness. He had to work his way through that before he went to the Salty.

He nodded at her compliantly. “Whatever you say, Lily.”

“See?” She turned her face up to Max. “That’s how it’s done.”

Max merely grinned as he took her hand and walked back to their vehicle.

Kevin envied them their happiness, even as he was glad for them.

There was an entire wall of people in every direction. Noise assaulted him as voices mixed with music. The smell of alcohol and smoke was everywhere. Kevin turned to the woman who had been sent to fetch him when Lily failed to turn up as promised.

“Are you sure this isn’t a fire hazard?”

June grinned and shook her head as she elbowed her way in, cutting a path for him as well. “Most of the volunteer fire fighters are in here already.” She raised her voice as the din went up a notch. “They don’t seem to have any objections.”

He had no idea who the firefighters were, but the mellow, tolerant mood that generally permeated the crowd was very apparent.

“That’s because most of them are probably feeling no pain,” he guessed.

June looked at him. Was that a judgmental tone? Because of the noise, she couldn’t quite tell. She tried to recall if she’d ever seen him with a drink in his hand, other than toasting Jimmy at his wedding. She couldn’t remember. The details of the last wedding were blurry, except for the fact that she’d thought he was one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. With his jet-black hair, worn a bit long, his piercing green eyes and high cheekbones, he looked like Jimmy, only better.

“You don’t drink?” she asked.

Right about now, he thought, a drink sounded like a pretty good thing to him. “I never said that.”

“Then follow me.” Taking his hand, she began to weave her way through the sea of bodies to the bar. “What’s your pleasure?” she tossed over her shoulder.

The words were eaten up by the din. He raised his voice. “What?”