“Um, I thought askin’ her to marry me—”
“Marry us.”
“Okay, marry us…I thought that was the important part.”
After a prize-winning eyeroll, his oldest daughter yanked him down and whispered, loud enough to hear in Montpelier, “You forgot the L word, silly.”
Tony cleared his throat. “Right here in front of God and everybody?”
“Yep,” Claire said with a brisk nod.
“O-kay.” Then he met Lili’s amused eyes and thought, Who am I kidding? Give me a bullhorn and I’ll tell all of New England. “Lili Szabo, in the past few weeks—you don’t mind if I get all sappy?”
She choked back a little laugh. “Not at all.”
“Just checking. Okay—in the past few weeks, you’ve brought somethin’ back into our lives I wasn’t sure we’d ever see again. Happiness, sure—who can be around you for more than five seconds and not feel happy?—but more than that, you brought back hope. And hope…that trumps logic every time. What I feel for you is solid, and sure, and…” He chuckled. “Not scary at all, now that you’re standin’ here.” He took her hand, holding it to his chest. “I love you, Lili—”
“Me, too!” Daph yelled, letting out an “Ow!” that echoed through the entire concourse when Claire smacked her shoulder.
“Girls! Jeez!” Tony said, then looked at Lili. “You sure you want to sign on for this?”
She laughed, taking the baby from him. “Yes,” she said softly, squeezing his hand. “Very, very sure. Can we go home now?”
Tony grinned. “Thought you’d never ask,” he said. Then he yanked her close and kissed her, to a great deal of applause and cheering.
Even from Old Ironsides, bless her grumpy soul.
Epilogue
Home.
Lili realized that, before she’d marched up to the British Airways counter two months ago and said she’d changed her mind—and would they mind terribly getting her bag?—that she’d never really sorted out what that word meant to her. Just as she’d never completely clicked into that whole “purpose” thing, either.
Until two hours ago when she’d looked into Tony Vaccaro’s eyes as they stood in front of the priest and promised to love and cherish each other forever, and he’d smiled down at her, his eyes filled with equal parts gratitude and mischief, and she saw “home” in those eyes…and in his smile and his touch and the simple but profound feeling of Yes, this is good, this is right, whenever the girls hugged her.
That was home. And, in her case, home was her purpose. Not the cooking and cleaning and daily trivia that kept a household running—although there was something to be said for that sweet sense of closeness that came from sharing the mundane—but whatever she could be for the girls, for her new husband…well. Violet had hit it dead on when she’d said it’s the people we’re close to who have the biggest influence on our lives, our characters.
That Tony and the girls had entrusted her with their hearts…
What a gift. An incredible, completely unexpected gift.
She heard a giggle behind her. Turning, she smiled for Claire, truly lovely in her jade colored bridesmaid dress and her new rimless glasses. “What’s so funny?”
“You look weird standing in the kitchen in your wedding dress.”
“Hey. I waited a long time to wear one of these,” Lili said, twirling. Magda had been thrilled when Lili asked her to help her shop for the gown, a fairytale confection if ever there’d been one with its off the shoulder, beaded bodice and full tulle skirt. Just as Benny had been touched when she’d asked him to walk her down the aisle. “I’m not taking it off until I absolutely have to.”
Still giggling, Claire swished in and sat at the table, staring at the paint splotches, still on the far wall. Although things had eased a great deal between them over the past weeks, Lili knew it would take time for Claire to come to terms with everything that had happened regarding her mother, to fully accept Lili as a stepmother. The wedding dress might feel magic, but the woman inside it was still only human.
“You know,” the child now said, chin in palm, “I think we seriously need to paint this kitchen, already.”
Tony walked in, loosening his bow tie and winking at Lili. My goodness, the man looked good in a tux. Of course, he looked good out of it, too—
“Yeah?” he said, hugging his daughter from behind and propping his chin on her head. “Which color?”
Claire looked at Lili. “Which one did you say you liked?”
She turned, trying to focus on the swatches through the blur of tears. “That one,” she said, pointing to the pale blue green she’d originally liked.
“Yeah,” Claire said, nodding. “Me, too—”
“Claire!” their grandmother called. “We’re about ready to go…oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said when Claire left the kitchen, “why aren’t you out of your dress yet…?”
Chuckling, Tony came up to Lili to slip his arms around her waist. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said in a low voice, nuzzling her neck, and she laughed, thinking, This isn’t a fairy tale, this is real…
The girls all rushed in to give them goodbye hugs and kisses, then rushed out again. A moment later, the front door shut and the house was theirs. All theirs. Even Ed was gone, spending the next few days with Magda’s and Benny’s two pups. Sleepover camp, Tony called it.
“Aren’t Rudy and Violet expecting us by eight?” Lili asked as—with surprising dexterity—her husband began undoing the many, many buttons on the back of her gown.
“They can wait,” he whispered, kissing her. “I can’t.”
Joy shuddered through Lili as the gown whooshed to the floor and her husband gathered her in his arms. “I love you,” he said, and she laughed.
“Me, too,” she said, melting into another kiss.
Home.
She was so there.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3794-4
FROM FRIENDS TO FOREVER
Copyright © 2009 by Karen Templeton-Berger
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 forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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††Babies, Inc.
††Babies, Inc.
††Babies, Inc.
‡Guys and Daughters
‡Guys and Daughters
‡Guys and Daughters
‡‡Wed in the West
‡‡Wed in the West
‡Guys and Daughters
‡Guys and Daughters
‡Guys and Daughters
**The Men of Mayes County
**The Men of Mayes County
**The Men of Mayes County
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