She nodded as she stacked their lists together and paper clipped them.

“I want to tell you how sorry I am for being like that.” Her delicate fingers crinkled the papers she nervously reclipped. “I’ve never been jealous before, and I don’t like the way it makes me act.”

Carlos pushed his chair back and crooked his finger for her to walk toward him. She stood and crossed to him, sitting on his lap just as he wanted her to do.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her. “You have a problem, do you know that?”

“What?” Her eyes narrowed again and her lips pursed.

“You’re too nice.”

“Quit,” she said as she slapped his shoulder.

“Do you know what she would have done in your situation?”

Her lips tightened. “What?”

“She would have thrown a shoe at my head.” Kathy laughed but quickly reeled it back in. Carlos pulled her closer to him. “Really. She gave me three black eyes in the ten years we were married.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Okay, I ducked from the shoes and ended up moving right into their line of fire, but that’s my story.”

Her shoulders hunched and she cuddled into his chest like a small child. “You’re a lucky man to have a relationship with your ex-wife like you do.”

“I know that. I also know I’m a lucky man to have a woman who loves me and wants to marry me.”

“Thanks.” She brushed his lips with a gentle kiss. “She’s fortunate to have had you around. I’m sorry that I ruined that.”

Carlos shook his head. “She’ll be just fine without me meddling in her day-to-day affairs. She’s an amazingly strong woman with a great will to live and do many wonderful things.”

Kathy sat up on his lap, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him again. She lingered for a moment, and Carlos knew she’d fight that jealousy demon for a long time to come, but she was trying. What more could he ask for? She gave his cheek a playful pat, which he thought might have been just a bit too hard, and then stood and went about tiding up the kitchen.

Carlos sat and thought about what he’d said. He was right about Madeline. She’d be fine and she’d go on and make a life for herself. Sooner or later the kids would be grown and they’d have no reason, except weddings and births, to even see each other.

The thought struck him as hard as the shoes she’d once thrown at him. He didn’t want that. Madeline had been a daily part of his life since he was fifteen. How could he give that up?

Kathy pushed through the rack of dresses she had chosen. There were eight. With Regan and Arianna’s help, she’d been able to eliminate five of them.

“I like the simple elegance of that one.” Arianna pointed to the dress Kathy held in her hand with its straight skirt and scooped neck. “It’s just simple and elegant.”

“That would encompass the statement simple elegance.” Regan laughed at her sister.

“You know this is all beyond me. If you weren’t going to appreciate my opinion, why did you ask me to come?”

“I appreciate your opinion,” Kathy said softly. “I’ll try this one on first.” She walked toward the dressing room with the dress that Arianna liked best. As she undressed she could hear the banter between her future sisters-in-law.

“So when are you getting married?” Regan’s voice was muffled through the door.

“Right. I see that happening in the near future,” Arianna was quick to quip.

“Giving up?”

“No. I’m just too busy to care. Besides, everyone in my industry is so adept at telling lies for a living, I think they forget which ones they’ve already told me.”

Regan laughed. “In time.”

“Well, I’m thirty-eight years old. I don’t see myself settling down now and starting a family. I’ll just have to spoil Tyler.”

“Zach’s already talking about having more.”

Kathy paused with the dress over her head. Was it wrong to hope that Reagan would hold off on another baby until she had convinced Carlos to have one? Was it wrong to want, for once, some of the limelight?

Arianna huffed out a loud breath. “Tyler is only three months old. What’s the rush?”

“Oh, I think we’ll start trying at the end of the year. I want him to have siblings that are close in age like we were.”

“Yeah, Mom and Dad had their hands full for a while. I think about the time I was ten, you and Carlos were both eight, and Curtis was six. How did Mom keep her sanity?”

“She’s a saint?”

“No kidding.”

Kathy slid the dress down her body and emerged from the dressing room. Both Regan and Arianna stood, their mouths dropped open in awe.

“Kathy, its gorgeous,” Reagan said as she laid her hand to her chest. Her eyes filled with tears, and when Arianna noticed she nudged her.

“Having a baby has made you sappy.” She walked toward Kathy. “It’s just beautiful.”

Kathy looked in the mirror. “Do you think so?”

“This is your wedding day. You’re supposed to have whatever you want.”

Kathy nodded. “Maybe I should show it to Carlos.”

“Are you kidding me? The man has no taste. You can’t show it to him until you walk down the aisle. Those are the rules.” Arianna settled her fists on her hips.

“You sure are an expert,” Regan added, nudging her sister back.

“Well, I’ve seen enough of these things. I’ve seen simple and I’ve seen yours. Your six-hundred-person wedding with more flowers than a flower shop.”

“We didn’t have six hundred people.”

“Felt like it.”

“You’re jealous.”

“As if.” Arianna shook her head and turned her attention back to Kathy. “Try on the other two. Let’s see what they look like.”

Kathy retreated back into the dressing room with another dress. She wished her own sisters had been able to be there with her, but they lived too far way to make the trip more than once. She missed her family and wished she had the kind of relationship with her sisters that Arianna and Regan shared. All of the Keller siblings looked out for each other. Even Curtis, who was the baby, wasn’t treated like one. She was the baby too, and wasn’t she always reminded?