Samantha looked around for something to hurl at him.
“That will do,” James said.
“The food is coming!” Eden called.
“About bloody time,” Cam said.
Cam and Dorrie had often laughed about getting nose pegs for the days the stench on the London streets got too much for them. But right now she was quite happy to smell the wonderful aromas coming from the huge silver platters servants were placing on the table.
“I have a speech to make before the eating commences.” Dev rose to his feet.
“Need you?” Cam glared at him. “I’m hungry.”
“When aren’t you?” Dorrie said.
“I am still growing.”
“Shut up, Cam.”
“Uncle Dev said shut up,” Katherine mimicked.
“Do you remember me telling you about adult words, Kat?” her older sister said, using the nickname she’d given her when she’d been born.
Katherine nodded.
“That’s one of those words.”
“Sorry, Kat.” Dev smiled. “Tomorrow, Somer and Gus are to wed.”
“No one told me,” Warwick taunted his brother.
“Will you all just be quiet until I finish,” Dev snapped, frustrated.
Dorrie and Somer giggled at the exact same time. She and Gus were seated across from Dorrie. He winked at her.
“My baby sisters are beautiful, kind, and free-spirited young women who I am proud to have had a hand in raising.”
Everyone lifted their glasses in agreement.
Dev cleared his throat before continuing, and Cam blew his nose on the handkerchief his wife Emily handed him.
“I want you all to know that I am proud of not only them but you.” His eyes went around the table. “This family is more than I ever hoped we could be part of, and I am grateful every day for it.”
“It’s like he says this stuff just to get me emotional,” Cam sniffed.
“Thank you for loving our girl, Gus, and thank you for joining our family. We wish you and Somer every happiness together.”
Dorrie felt the tears fall, and Wolf’s arm slip around her shoulders. Harry took her hand in his on the table.
“My turn.” James got to his feet. “I have watched the twins grow as I have my own sister.”
Dorrie looked to where Samantha sat. She had been their sister in every way but blood since the day they met her. She wore rose pink, and her blond hair was pinned into a bun, a matching rose velvet band around her head. She sent Dorrie a glassy-eyed smile.
“Loved them as I do Samantha. This family has made me whole, and I will be forever grateful to every person in it for that. In the words of Wordsworth, ‘A family is loved that puts itself above everything else in this world.’ Be happy, Somer and Gus.”
Everyone raised their glasses to that.
“And I am last.” Max Huntington was married to Essex, Dorrie’s sister. He and his brother were the biggest of the men in their family. When he first joined them, the younger members called him their lion, tawny-haired and -eyed. A powerful businessman who loved his family with everything he had. It always humbled Dorrie that she was part of that.
