In Texas Wedding there is a moment towards the end that will make sense if you read the book. However, I wanted you to see what some of the characters thought of the main couple Jack and Riley, and Sean decided to help by interviewing them.
Robbie
Robbie took the offered seat. If he had a choice he wouldn’t be here at all. The idea of talking about himself or opening up his heart for any reason scared the shit out him.
“You okay?” Sean asked.
How did he answer that loaded question? Not for the first time he wished Eli was in here with him.
“Yeah,” Robbie lied instead.
“And you’re okay with this interview?”
“It was all explained, go for it.”
“I just want your thoughts about Riley and Jack.”
Robbie had spent the last few days wondering what the hell to say when it came to his turn in front of the camera.
“Jack’s a good boss,” he began. Tick one in the list of things he was going to say. “And he loves horses. He’s a cowboy in his heart.” That sounded a lot more flowery than he’d intended.
Sean nodded his approval. “Like you,” he said, and pressed a hand to his chest. “A cowboy inside here.”
“Yeah. And Riley, him and Jack are happy.” Robbie shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Since falling in love with Eli things had changed in his life. He could admit to having emotions, he could be honest and let some of those sentiments free. He just didn’t want to say the wrong thing and ruin this whole damn video.
“What about their family. Tell me about them.”
Robbie brightened. Now that he could do. “Their eldest, Hayley, she’s a sweetheart, and the twins, Connor and Lexie, they’re so alike in some ways and so different in others. I remember when the twins were born, and when Max moved to live here. Max has autism; he’s a special kid, and Jack and Riley are the best parents.”
Sean sat back in his chair. “So do you have a message for the viewers of this film?”
“That Jack and Riley, and the kids, are a family.”
Sean tilted his head, clearly expecting more.
Robbie cleared his throat. “What else do I need to say. Family is everything and there is a whole lot of love in that house. Never seen two men more in love, and they love their kids, and they’ll be together forever.”
That was a lot more flowery than he’d thought he’d manage.
“Thank you,” Sean said.
“Am I done now?” Robbie was once more incredibly uncomfortable. Eli was going to have a field day with this when he saw it. Never seen two men more in love? What the hell made him say that? When he only had to see him and Eli in the mirror to see the same love.
Robbie and Eli’s story begins in Texas Heat
Beth
“I had to bring him in with me,” Beth apologized. “He’s teething and he wants is his momma.”
Sean looked at Beth, and a sleeping Cam in her arms. “No worries, how’s he doing? Can I hold him?”
Beth handed Cam to Sean who cuddled him close. “He loves his Uncle Sean,” she said with a smile, the straightened her shirt and patted her hair. “I’m ready.”
Sean pressed the button on the camera. “So, tell me about your brother and Riley.”
Beth smiled. “Jack is my brother, Riley his husband. They met because of me.”
“You want to talk about that.”
“It’s a long story,” Beth said with a shake of her head. “I want to talk about what kind of daddies they are.”
“Go for it.”
“I found Jack once, just watching the twins sleep. I should explain for the camera I wasn’t well as a kid, and he and Josh, my other brother, were very protective. Jack is all about family, and he and Riley have become more than just the two of them now. Started something new. And he turned to me and he just said one thing.”
“That was?”
“That he and Josh would take it in turns to watch me when I was ill. That family was an important thing, and that love was at the center of it. I think that is what I want to say on film. Family is everything and love is the glue that holds it all together. Doesn’t matter if it’s a man and a woman, two men, two woman, whatever. Love is love, and that is all.”
Josh
Josh paced one end of the room to the other, and it was a damn small room. At each turn he got a good look out of the large window to the Double D land beyond. Jack had done well here; taken the family land and made something of it. Even though he’d had to make a bargain with the devil to do it. Josh stopped at the window and looked out. People were gathered on the ground below, family and friends of Jack and Riley, all of whom had agreed to appear in this film.
“Ready?” Sean asked from behind him.
Josh turned to face him. “Can I have five minutes?”
Sean frowned but it cleared quickly. “I can interview Eden first.”
“Please.” Josh was suddenly determined. “I have something I need to do.”
He left the room, taking the stairs two at a time and heading straight outside to where everyone was sitting and chatting with coffee and cookies. Jack stood up as he got closer but it wasn’t Jack that Josh wanted to talk to.
“Riley, can we talk?”
Riley stood from his crouch where he’d been talking to Max. “Yeah. Everything okay?”
Josh gestured to the side. “Over here,” he said.
Riley followed him with a bemused expression on his face. Max trailed him for a while and then turned to head towards Robbie.
They ended up about twenty feet from the gathering and Josh stopped.
“I was just going to the interview and I realized I never said some shit I needed to say.”
Riley looked confused, “I’m listening.”
“I know we’ve talked before about what you did to Jack way back when, the blackmail, Beth, but I wanted to just say…” Josh stopped. He didn’t have the words. Instead he pulled Riley into a close hug. “Love you like a brother, Riley.”
And Riley hugged him with lots of back slapping. “Love you too, Josh.”
Then Josh stepped back. “Right,” he said, “let’s get this interview done.”
Read Josh’s story in The Heart Of Texas, and all the sequels.
Eden
Eden sat in the chair, then stood back up and stole a heated kiss from Sean who gripped her hard. “Love you,” she murmured.
“Back atcha,” Sean said with a grin.
“So you got everything on film then? I’m the last.”
Sean waggled his eyebrows. “I put you last so we can lock the door after and have fun.”
“Yeah, I can see that happening, with everyone else down there waiting for us.” Eden smirked.
Sean sat back in his seat. “Go on then, tell me what you want to say.”
“Well, Riley is my brother, and he’s a pain in the ass. He’s the one who took all my Barbie’s when I was eight. He put them in this box and floated them in the pool, and I couldn’t swim. I was afraid of water. So I’m really pissed at him and he tells me that I can’t swim and it’s stupid and babyish and I should jump in and get the dolls. And I just remember crying.”
“Is this going to have a happy ending?” Sean asked. He sounded worried.
“Of course. I loved those Barbie’s but I stood on the edge of the pool and I was terrified. I was half waiting for Jeff to turn up and shove me in the water, he was like the evil brother.” Eden air-quoted the words. “Riley was an idiot but he wasn’t nasty. I was so upset, then Riley jumped in the water with all his clothes on and stood up. The water was up to his waist and he held out his hands and told me he’d catch me and I should jump.”
“And did you?”
“Took a lot of shouting, but I did, and Riley caught me, and I got back my dolls and I decided the pool wasn’t quite so scary.”
“So you’re saying Riley did it deliberately?”
“Yes. The brat. He held me in the water and you know what he said? That he was scared I couldn’t swim and he couldn’t think of another way to get me in the pool. He loved me then, he loves me now, and he is just the brother that I wish everyone could have.”
“And what about Jack?”
Eden paused then laughed. “He’s like the other brother I wish everyone could have.”
“That simple?”
Eden nodded. “Yes, that simple.”
Laurel Looney says
Loved this.