Emma’s mother came to her side, hugged her and said, “It will be fine. More than fine actually since you planned it, my beautiful girl.”
Tracy motioned to the ear bud she wore. “For sure, Em. It’s under control. No worries,” she said, but then a hint of concern flitted across her friend’s face as she glanced toward where Maggie and Connie sat in chairs, waiting for the walk down the aisle. Jesse stood beside them, holding Emma’s bouquet, a troubled look on her face.
Emma examined Maggie and Connie, her two very pregnant friends. Maggie had her hand on Connie’s shoulder and Connie looked a little flushed, raising alarm. They had picked the early May date so that Connie would still be a couple of weeks away from her due date and Maggie’s a month after that. Although with first babies and twins, you could never be certain of what would happen.
She hurried over and kneeled before her friends. “You feeling okay?”
Connie smiled easily, but then grimaced. “Okay. Just a little backache. It’ll pass.”
Emma glanced at Maggie, whose face reflected the worry on Jesse’s. Maggie peered at Tracy and Emma’s mom and said, “Maybe we should get this show on the road.”
Tracy’s gaze skipped over all the women and she nodded. “I’ll let Lucy and Evelyn know we’re ready.”
Her friend stepped away to talk to Emma’s former bosses and Emma laid a hand on Connie’s knee and again asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? We can change things if you’re not.”
Connie nodded, but her lips compressed with a tight twist and she rubbed her hand across her belly, contrary to her answer. “I’m okay, but we should get moving,” Connie said, confirming that maybe not all was right with her friend.
A second later a knock came at the door. Tracy opened it and Jonathan, Owen, and Paolo walked in first followed by Tomás and Jesse’s son Brandon, who was the ring bearer.
Jonathan immediately rushed to Connie’s side, obviously sensing something was wrong, but she waved him off and beamed him a smile. “Don’t worry, Jon. I would not miss seeing my best friend get married to the man of her dreams for all the money in the world.”
Emma knew her friend was lying through her teeth, but she also knew that once Connie set her mind on something, there was no shaking her loose.
“Let’s go. I’m ready to get married,” she said and there was no doubt there. No hesitation. She was going to marry a wonderful and amazing man and she didn’t want to wait a second longer to do it.
A HUSHED SILENCE FILLED with anticipation settled across the guests as the small chamber music orchestra wound down the piece they’d been playing. Carlo sucked in a breath as his stomach did a nervous flip flop and he laid a hand there to calm the flutter.
At a small wave of Lucy’s hand, the orchestra began to play and two of the wedding salon’s staff positioned by the doors to the building opened them to reveal Brandon holding a pillow with the rings and behind him the rest of the wedding party. He rose on tiptoes and searched for Emma but couldn’t see her past the groomsmen and bridesmaids.
“Patience, my son,” the priest said and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“I’m trying, Father. I’m trying,” Carlo said and contained himself from bouncing on his heels to dispel some of the nervous energy pumping through his body.
Connie and Jonathan rushed their pace a little as they came up the aisle and it was impossible to miss that Connie’s smile was a little forced. Maggie and Owen came next, likewise moving quickly and before they were even at the altar, Jesse and Tomás came next, followed by Paolo and Tracy barely five seconds later. His brother Paolo was beaming as Tracy smiled at him. Carlo forced back that worry because today was all about him and Emma and their happily-ever-after.
As the women filed into a line on one side of the altar, the men took their spots beside him, Tomás at his side next to Paolo with the Pierce brothers after.
Another excited silence filled the air as Lucy and Evelyn directed their people to roll out the white carpet down the middle of the aisle. As soon as it was in place, the orchestra struck up the first notes of a Vivaldi concerto which echoed through the sunny spring day.
Emma and her mother Juliana stepped out onto white carpet and did a measured pace down the aisle, but as his gaze connected with Emma’s he saw the impatience and eagerness there, which relieved a little of his nervousness. When the two women reached the arbor, Juliana turned and lifted the delicate lace veil from Emma’s face and kissed her. Juliana then took hold of Emma’s hand and guided it into his as he reached for her.
What followed next was a blur until he heard the priest asking him, “Do you Carlo Aleixo da Costa take this woman, Emma Anne Grant, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
He smiled and nodded, his eyes never leaving Emma’s face as he held her hand, slipped on the ring, and said, “I do, I will keep you Emma in my heart and soul forever.”
The priest had to hide his grin as he continued. “Do you Emma Anne Grant take this man, Carlo Aleixo da Costa, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
Her hands shook as she eased the ring past his knuckle, settled it on his finger, and raised his hand to kiss the ring. “I take you Carlo forever. You are my partner in every possible way and the love of my life. I love you.”
The priest continued. “By the power vested in me –” he began, but Carlo couldn’t wait. He hauled Emma into his arms and was kissing her as the priest finished. “I now pronounce you man and wife and not too soon, may I add,” he said with a laugh as they continued kissing.
The laughter and clapping of the audience as well as the music from the chamber orchestra forced them apart, but there was no denying the joy on Emma’s face which mirrored what he felt inside. He held his arm out to her and said, “Are you ready Mrs. da Costa?”
She beamed a smile at him and said, “I’ve never been more ready. Forever and always, remember?”
“As if I could forget,” he said, tucked her close against his side and together they took the first step into the rest of their lives.
Coming in June 2020
from Hallmark Publishing
and
Caridad Pineiro
SOUTH BEACH LOVE
Head to Miami for a Hallmark summer romance celebrating family and tradition,
from New York Times bestselling author Caridad Pineiro.
Tony Sanchez, a celebrity chef, comes home to help with his niece’s quinceañera—a traditional big celebration for her fifteenth birthday. He meets up with Sara Kelly, an old friend’s baby sister, who’s now running a restaurant in South Beach. Attraction flares between them.
But Sara is enlisted to cater another quinceañera—for the girl who’s his niece’s rival. Many prominent families will attend, and Sara sees it as an opportunity to get more business for her restaurant and cement her reputation as a talented local chef. But Tony wants his niece’s celebration—and his own talent—to outshine the rest.
Can competing chefs teach each other a few lessons about cooking, culture—and love?
For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/SouthBeachLove.
Copyright Notice
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Caridad Piñeiro Scordato
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbi
dden without the written permission of Caridad Piñeiro Scordato.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
Visit Caridad’s websites at www.caridad.com and www.rebornvampirenovels.com
NEVER A BRIDE Cover design ©2020 Caridad Pineiro Scordato
Image © Depositphotos
Manufactured in the United States of America
About the Author
Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with the Jersey Shore. When Caridad isn't taking long strolls along the boardwalk, she's also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million romance novels sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the International Women’s Writing Guild, RT Book Club Convention, and the Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country. You can connect with Caridad at www.caridad.com or at:
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Caridad also sends out a newsletter to her friends! To subscribe, please visit www.caridad.com.
Other Books by Caridad
Additional Books by the Author Writing as Caridad Pineiro
Books in At the Shore Contemporary Romance Series
ONE SUMMER NIGHT, #1, October 2017 Sourcebooks Casablanca
WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER, #2, June 2018 Sourcebooks Casablanca
Novellas in the Take a Chance Military Romance Series
TAKE A CHANCE Box set, #1 to #6, December 2015
TAKE A CHANCE Box Set, #3 to #6, February 2016
ONE NIGHT OF PLEASURE, March 2015
STAY THE NIGHT, December 2014
TAKE A CHANCE Box set, #1 to #3, November 2014
ONE LAST NIGHT, October 2014
ONE SPECIAL NIGHT, August 2014
JUST ONE NIGHT, June 2014
Books in The Gambling for Love Romantic Suspense Series
THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE November 2012 ISBN 9781622668007 Entangled Publishing
TO CATCH A PRINCESS August 2013 ISBN 9781622661329 Entangled Publishing
Books in The Sin Hunter Paranormal Romance Series
THE CLAIMED May 2012 ISBN 978-0446584609 Forever Grand Central Publishing
THE LOST August 2011 ISBN 978-0446584616 Forever Grand Central Publishing
STRONGER THAN SIN November 2010 ISBN 0446543845 Forever Grand Central Publishing
SINS OF THE FLESH November 2009 ISBN 0446543837 Forever Grand Central Publishing
Other Novels by Caridad
SNOW FALLING from Jane the Virgin, writing as Jane Gloriana Villanueva, November 2017, Adams Media
THE FIFTH KINDOM July 2011 ISBN 9781426891885 Carina Press
SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD Dec 2008 ISBN 0373276109 Silhouette Romantic Suspense
Other Novellas by Caridad
GHOST OF A CHANCE, paranormal short story November 2012 ISBN B00AUGV89G
HER VAMPIRE LOVER October 2012 ISBN 9781459242289 Nocturne Cravings Novella
NIGHT OF THE COUGAR June 2012 ISBN 9781459231153 Nocturne Cravings Novella
THE VAMPIRE’S CONSORT April 2012 ISBN 9781459222731 Harlequin Nocturne Cravings Novella
NOCTURNAL WHISPERS February 2012 ISBN 9781459221437 Harlequin Nocturne Cravings Novella
AMAZON AWAKENING December 2011 ISBN 9781459282766 Available Harlequin Nocturne Cravings Novella
WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING novella in A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS October 2011 ISBN 0373776446 HQN
AZTEC GOLD January 2011 ISBN 9781426891045 Carina Press Novella
Crazy for the Cat in MOON FEVER Oct 2007 ISBN 1416514902 Pocket Books
UNDER THE BOARDWALK July 2016
Books in THE CALLING/THE REBORN Vampire Novel Series
VAMPIRE REBORN, April 2014
DIE FOR LOVE, December 2013
BORN TO LOVE, November 2013
TO LOVE OR SERVE, October 2013
FOR LOVE OR VENGEANCE, September 2013
KISSED BY A VAMPIRE (formerly ARDOR CALLS) October 2012 ISBN 9780373885589 Harlequin Nocturne
AWAKENING THE BEAST Collection featuring HONOR CALLS October 2009 ISBN 0373250940 Silhouette Nocturne
FURY CALLS March 2009 ISBN 0373618077 Silhouette Nocturne
HONOR CALLS February 2009 ISBN 9781426828362 Nocturne Bite
HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE December 2007 ISBN 0373617763 Silhouette Nocturne
THE CALLING COMPLETE COLLECTION October 2008 ISBN 9781426807657 Silhouette Includes Darkness Calls, Danger Calls, Temptation Calls, Death Calls, Devotion Calls, and Blood Calls–as well as the online read Desire Calls.
BLOOD CALLS May 2007 ISBN 0373617631 Silhouette Nocturne
DEVOTION CALLS January 2007 ISBN 0373617550 Silhouette Nocturne
DEATH CALLS Dec 2006 ISBN 0373617534 Silhouette Nocturne
TEMPTATION CALLS Oct 2005 ISBN 0373274602 Silhouette Intimate Moments
DANGER CALLS June 2005 ISBN 0373274416 Silhouette Intimate Moments
DARKNESS CALLS Mar 2004 ISBN 0373273533 Silhouette Intimate Moments
Romantic Suspense Series
SECRET AGENT REUNION Aug 2007 ISBN 0373275463 Silhouette Romantic Suspense
MORE THAN A MISSION Aug 2006 ISBN 037327498X Silhouette Intimate Moments
Additional Books by the Author Writing as Charity Pineiro
NOW AND ALWAYS June 2013 ISBN 1490362770
FAITH IN YOU July 2013 ISBN 1490412697
TORI GOT LUCKY December 2013
THE PERFECT MIX March 2013
TO CATCH HER MAN April 2014
TAMING THE BACHELOR April 2015
SECOND CHANCE AT PERFECT October 2015
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR October 2015
Never a Bride Page 24