Dante’s three handsome and very eligible cousins had arrived, and as Mara peeked out of the area behind the stage and saw all of the Amesport Sinclair brothers and Jason Sutherland speaking with the Sinclair cousins, Micah, Julian, and Xander, her breath caught and refused to move smoothly in and out of her lungs. “Sweet Jesus,” she murmured.
“What is it?” Randi asked quietly from behind her.
“The Sinclair men and Jason Sutherland,” Mara replied, moving aside so Randi could look. Although her eyes had automatically gravitated to Jared, the eight men together were breathtakingly beautiful. Dante, Jared, Grady and Evan were in black tuxedos, and Jason, Micah, Julian, and Xander were in custom-tailored suits.
“Holy hotness,” Randi whispered loudly. “They make this event look like a hot male model convention instead of a wedding.”
“How can eight men, seven of them Sinclairs, be that perfect?” Emily asked as she shoved her way in to look.
“Excellent gene pool,” Sarah whispered, not bothering to look since she’d met the cousins earlier. “It’s almost impossible that at least one of them isn’t a hottie. But the Sinclairs defy conventional wisdom.” She sighed as she adjusted the small wreath of red roses on her head, a trail of fine lace hanging down in the back. Sarah hadn’t wanted a typical bridal veil, telling all of the women with a laugh that she didn’t want her face covered. She’d wanted to see Dante in a tux as clearly as possible for as long as possible.
Sarah was a beautiful bride, and Mara couldn’t wait until Dante got an eyeful of his wife-to-be. Her makeup perfect and her beautiful blonde hair swept up on top of her head in an elegant style, Sarah looked sophisticated and beautiful in her strapless white gown, the skirt covered entirely in pearls and lace. “You look amazing,” Mara told Sarah reverently.
“Thanks. I feel so nervous. There are so many people here.”
Sarah was a genius, but she had shared that she’d always been socially awkward and not particularly good with crowds.
“You won’t notice any of them once you see Dante,” Emily said soothingly. “Weddings go by in a blur. You’ll be married before you know it.”
Sarah moved to smooth down wrinkles in her skirt that were nonexistent. “I wish we would have eloped. Dante and I talked about it, but I think he wanted a reason to have his family here.”
“I think they all miss each other,” Mara contemplated, turning away from her peeping spot to finger the string of pearls around her neck, a bridesmaid gift from Sarah. Thinking about Jared’s admission that he’d built all of the houses on the Peninsula in the hope that his family would all be together again sometime in the future made her eyes tear up.
Don’t cry. Your makeup will run and you’ll look like a raccoon.
Mara had wanted to look as nice as possible for Sarah’s wedding pictures, and she’d let Randi do her makeup much heavier than she would have done herself.
“Stop ogling my male relatives. It’s nauseating.” Hope spoke from the other side of the small room. She was sitting in a chair waiting until the ceremony was about to begin before taking her place, nibbling saltine crackers because her morning sickness hadn’t quite ceased for the day yet.
Mara thought Hope looked a little better than she had an hour or so ago, when she’d been positively green. “Are you okay, Hope? Jason is still out there talking to your brothers. I can go get him for you.”
“Don’t you dare!” Hope shot her a warning glance. “I love him dearly, but if he hauls me back to bed one more time because he thinks I’m sick, I’m going to kill him.” She nibbled a little more on a cracker and put a hand to her belly. “It’s subsiding now. If I thought Jason would take me to bed for any other reason, I’d have you getting him for me immediately. He acts like I’m as fragile as blown glass because I’m pregnant.”
Mara smiled at Hope’s disgruntled expression. “He’s an amazing guy.”
“Yep. Now he’s completely drool-worthy. I still can’t believe he’s mine.” She paused before asking quietly, “So will I be coming back to Amesport for Jared’s wedding soon?”
“Jared?”
“You and Jared,” Hope clarified. “Are you guys going to bring me back here again before I move permanently? I really wouldn’t mind. I don’t think my morning sickness will last that much longer.” Hope’s voice was hopeful as she spoke about the possibility of coming to Jared’s wedding.
Mara’s heart skittered. “No. It’s not like that. Jared and I are just . . .” What the hell were they doing? “Seeing each other,” she concluded. “Jared said he doesn’t really believe in love.”
Hope snorted, nearly choking on her cracker. Sarah, Kristin, Randi, and Emily chortled along with her. “Uh-huh. He so completely looked like he wasn’t in love when he hightailed it out of Grady’s house last night carrying you like he was afraid you wouldn’t go with him if he didn’t.”