Chapter 1
Petra
As far as weddings went, Petra had to admit this one was pretty awesome.
It wasn't only the venue, although the location didn’t hurt one bit.
The vista to the west of Red Boot ranch was full of rolling foothills gliding up to the dramatic heights of the Alberta Rocky Mountains. The late September weather was perfect, and the sky overhead was a robin egg blue so bright it almost hurt her eyes.
The arbour where Petra’s brother, Zach, and his almost wife for the second time, Julia, stood exchanging their vows was also over-the-top perfection with garlands of flowers and greenery woven through the wooden trellis. The entire setting was something out of a spectacular movie set.
But the real reason today was knocking her socks off were the people. When it came to family lotteries, she had won.
Of course, sometimes with all her siblings older than her—four sisters and then Zach—Petra sometimes had to work really hard to find alone time.
But today, as the wedding moved on from the vow exchanges to a delicious dinner and then dancing, there wasn't much about her world that Petra would change.
“Guess we'll be doing this for you someday soon,” brother-in-law one teased as he danced her around the floor.
“You guys have all got the marital bliss thing down pat, so someday, but not yet.” Petra smiled at him.
Her sister had made a good match and the two of them had already created a passel of kids.
“For now I’m happy to be the solo Sorenson.
It's up to me to come up with wild and crazy things to set you all gossiping on the family chat.”
He grinned and twirled her, amusement there as if he knew she would never do anything scandalous. “Well, once we're back home, I'll have to introduce you to some of the single guys in IT at the shop.”
Petra hurried to reassure him she had no need of matchmaking skills, but obviously with wedding fumes in the air, there was no stopping it.
Brother-in-law number two spun her on the dance floor and made an offer of a similar nature. “Pat’s a really good guy. He was divorced about four years ago, so he’s not on a rebound or anything. He was asking about you.”
She eyed Ronan hard. “Why would he have been asking about me?”
He had the grace to look a little sheepish. “Might've been showing off some family pictures and you were in there.”
Good grief. “Pictures from when?”
Yes, he definitely grimaced this time. “Hawaii.”
If they hadn't been dancing, Petra would've pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let me guess. You were taking pictures of the kids being adorable and doing cannonballs into the pool, and I happened to be suntanning somewhere in the vicinity.”
“Swore I cropped you out,” he insisted. “I wasn’t trying to show you off. Just so proud of my family, and that means you as well.”
Truth was Petra knew he meant every word.
Even when brother-in-law number three informed her he had met the best group of people at the local rec center, and had she ever considered getting involved in Tai Chi? Petra knew the meddling came from a place of love.
Brother-in-law number four wasn't even subtle about it. “We want you to be as happy as we are,” Drew offered.
“Oh, I know. And I get it, but someday, not today.” She tipped her head toward where Zach and Julia swayed slowly, ignoring the more rapid beat of the music. “Today is about them and how happy we are for them. That’s why we’re here as a whole family. Really, it's enough. I promise.”
Drew let her go and nodded, grin widening. “We'll wait until the weekend’s over.”
Jackass. “Was that a promise or a threat?” she tossed after him as he returned to his wife.
Suddenly Zach was there, holding his hand out. “I think it's my turn for a dance, little sis.”
“I can't believe you unpeeled yourself from Julia,” she teased even as he led her onto the floor, dancing with brotherly appropriateness.
“Dad stole her away,” Zach complained. “I figured I was supposed to dance with Mom, but she sent me over to you.”
“So I'm your backup choice?”
He snorted. “Sorry, kiddo. My brain is obviously not firing on all cylinders. No, I absolutely want to dance with you. Good chance to say thank you for everything you’ve done to welcome Julia into the family.”
“It wasn't hard,” Petra informed him. “She's one in a million. I'm really pleased for you, big bro.”
Happiness poured off him before a momentary crease formed between his brows. “This probably means some of the horde will start poking you about settling down.”
A laugh burst free. “Some? Try every single one of them, via lines of brother-in-law communication.”
“Dammit, don't listen to that shit. You’re damn smart. You'll find the right somebody when it's time,” he said with conviction. “Because I really do want this for you, but you’ll know when it's right.”
“That's what I figured,” Petra agreed as she let him lead. She tilted her head toward the side of the room where Julia now stood talking with their mom and dad. “I've had a lot of good examples. I’ll follow in your footsteps,” she promised.
“Well, maybe not the accidentally getting married part… It turned out well, but it was hellish at times.” The music stopped, and Zach stood back and offered his elbow. “Maybe avoid the whole fake-relationship thing as well. It made things complicated from the get-go.”
“No fake boyfriend, no pretend engagements. I will remain on the straight and narrow when it comes to relationships.”
He patted her fingers where they lay on his arm. “Now let's see how the fates mess that up for you.”
Which meant they were both laughing when they arrived next to their parents and Julia.
A question flashed in Julia’s eyes, but she didn't have time to ask anything before Zach twirled her back onto the dance floor.
Petra’s parents waited. Her mother raised a brow.
Petra grinned. “Zach is laying odds of how much weirder my in-the-far-future hookup with a boyfriend/partner will be than his.”
Pamela clicked her tongue for a second. “I told the children they were not allowed to start any betting pools, and certainly not post anything in the family chatroom until after the weekend.”
Oh my God. “Seriously. You've already had that discussion with them, yet I still got a let me help you find a good man from every one of them?”
Zachary Senior waved a hand in the air as if brushing off flies. “If you weren’t so strong and independent, we’d worry. But all that teasing probably means you've gotten your back up and will do exactly what you planned to in the first place.” He dipped his chin firmly. “Good for you.”
Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around her parents and squeezed tightly. “I love you, both. And yes, you raised some fine people, albeit nosy and a little too tightly connected at times.”
“Backhanded compliments are the best,” Pamela said with a smile before turning to her husband. “It's our turn to get out there for a while, don't you think?”
There were enough other guests at the wedding Petra got pulled onto the dance floor more than enough times to not feel left out. They held the gift unwrapping, ate a late supper, then went back on the dance floor for more.
Suddenly, it was eleven thirty. Petra stood at the side of the room sipping on a lemonade as her gaze drifted over a sea of people that included the enormous wave of her own family.
Sisters one through four were all represented on the floor, husbands turning and twisting them like perfectly content cake toppers.
Mom and Dad had gone out again, and in the center of the room, staring at each other as if they were the only people in the world, Zach and Julia.
Petra sipped her drink and soaked in happiness. Until, out of the blue, something struck that was not quite…
Well, she could honestly say it wasn't jealousy because she'd been telling the truth. She wanted what they had, but not now. Another more careful glance around the room and some intense thinking shed light on the other part that she did want here and now.
A whole lot of people had somebody they were going home with tonight.
And not that she wanted to think too hard about her family and sex, it was natural. As her mother insisted with her far too blunt conversations, sex really did make the world go on.
Ignoring the parts of that particular bunny trail that made her brain get squicky, Petra focused on the fixable problem.
Maybe she was pumped up on emotion. Maybe there were pheromones in the air, but she was definitely running hot, because the instant she thought about finding someone to enjoy a different sort of dancing with, her mind set on a solution.
Saturday night in Heart Falls? Rough Cut pub was right there. She could be on the dance floor in under fifteen minutes, and the place didn’t close until two.
Some dirtier dancing with someone not related to her…
If she was very, very lucky she’d find someone perfectly happy to help her enjoy her own pleasure-filled night.
It was a moment’s work to slip from the party pavilion. She was already dressed up, her pretty wedding dress only a little fancier than she’d usually wear to go out. Her hair was good, her make up as much as she ever wore.
The pile of coats that had accumulated in the room her family had taken over caused a brief problem when she couldn’t easily spot her purse.
“Thank God there’s an app for that.” Petra snickered at herself as she opened her phone and cued up the AirTag finder. After too many lost purses and bags over the years, Petra had given up being embarrassed by her bad habit and gone with the flow.
She dug straight to the source, looped her purse over her shoulder, and made her escape. She sent mental waves of happiness and love back to her family, but what she was hoping for now was a physical sexual escapade hot enough to make her see stars.