“Thank you.”

“Well, I hope when you two get married, we can do it in Red River. A casual setting out in the forest. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Nic’s face had turned nearly white, and Abby couldn’t contain her laughter. “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Mom.”

Her mother patted Nic’s face lovingly. “When you two look at each other, it is true love.” Then her mother’s voice lowered. “I wish I could say the same for those two.” Then she backed away. “Now, I should go mingle. Let’s have some champagne together, girls.”

“You know, we really need to tell her that your name is not Nicole.”

Nic smiled. “Then she’ll know we were faking it at Christmas.”

“I don’t care. We’re not faking it now.”

The others had all left, heading to the large white tent that had been set up for the luncheon. She could already see bottles of champagne being brought to tables. Holly was standing in a group of smartly dressed women—some of her colleagues, maybe. Aaron was chatting with their parents, looking very handsome in his tuxedo. He turned then and met her gaze. He nodded at her, and she returned it.

Nic took her hand as they walked. “Maybe we should invite them to dinner sometime.”

“Aaron and Holly?”

“Yeah.”

“Why on earth?”

“Because he’s your brother.”

She was about to protest but realized the meaning behind those words. Nic no longer had a brother. Nic had mentioned a few times now that she and Aaron needed to reconcile. Her response was always that there wasn’t really anything to reconcile—they simply weren’t close. But Nic was right. Yes, she and Aaron had never really talked about the whole Holly thing. Never. They had swept it under the rug where it stayed and festered. Yes, she felt a sense of betrayal by him. She’d been deeply hurt and humiliated. That had stayed with her.

“You’re right. Aaron and I need to talk. By ourselves.”

“Yes. And then you need to let it go.”

“You think I haven’t?”

“You’ve gotten over Holly cheating on you because you don’t love Holly and you know that she wasn’t the one for you. You haven’t gotten over Aaron’s part in it because he’s your brother and you do love him. You may not like him, but you do love him.”

Abby met her gaze, knowing she spoke the truth. “When did you get so insightful?”

“I would give anything to have a brother.”

Abby felt tears in her eyes, and she hugged Nic tightly. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t take it for granted.”

“No, you’re right. When they get back, I’ll make it a point to talk to him. Maybe have lunch with him or something.”