by Nina Crespo
“Thank you.”
Sweeping kisses downward, he followed the light floral scent emanating from her,.
Rina laughed. “I can’t tie your tie if you keep doing that.”
“I don’t see the problem.” He snuck in one last kiss near her shoulder before she nudged him gently away.
“But Wendy will.” Rina expertly tied a Windsor knot. “She mentioned what time she wanted you downstairs three times when she was driving us here from the airport last night. It’s so sweet that you’re walking Theresa down the aisle.”
The perfect surprise. That’s what Wendy had called not telling their dad or Theresa about his arrival. But when they’d had that talk earlier in the week, she hadn’t mentioned escorting Theresa. She’d sprung it on him last-minute.
Scott tugged at the knot that suddenly felt too tight. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for me to barge into the wedding like this.”
“You’re not barging in.” Rina batted his hand down and restraightened the tie. “Wendy said that you walking Theresa down the aisle had come up in the planning for the ceremony, but since you weren’t going to be there, she decided to walk down the aisle alone. Now that you’re here, you’re giving them a wonderful wedding gift that they’ll always remember.”
But would it remain a wonderful memory in the years to come or a highlight to another unhappy ending?
As if reading his mind, Rina cupped his clean-shaven cheeks. “It’s a happy day. Stop worrying for your father and just be here for him.”
She was right. Now that he was there, he needed to get on board with the celebration. “A kiss from you would help.” Tempting fate he leaned in.
Rina swayed back and placed her finger on his lips. “Not until after the ceremony.”
* * *
As the tall dark-haired usher escorted Rina to the front row of chairs arranged on the wood deck overlooking the crystal blue ocean, she received more than a few curious stares from the two-dozen or so people seated on either side of the aisle in the white foldable chairs. But she hardly noticed, her mind and heart still full from what had happened a few minutes ago.
Scott had been adamant about Theresa, who he had never met in person, seeing him before the wedding started, and honestly, she’d agreed with him.
Wendy had relented, sneaking them both into the small meeting room downstairs where Theresa was taking photos before the ceremony. Stunning in a short white vintage dress with a lace bodice and tulle skirt, the enchanting bride with a pale pink flower in her hair glowed in front of the camera.
As soon as Theresa spotted Scott, her smile turned even more radiant as she hurried over to him. When he’d hugged her, she’d started crying. That had started a leak-fest with Rina, Wendy and the wedding planner for the hotel dabbing at their eyes with tissues trying not to ruin their makeup.
Rina smiled her thanks to the usher and took a seat on the groom’s side in the third of the five empty chairs. She wouldn’t be alone for long. Wendy would join her soon, and then Scott would, after he performed his role in the ceremony.
A string quartet on the far left of the simple wood arch draped with white fabric and flowers played soothing music that blended with the sound of the waves. With the clear blue sky adding to the backdrop, along with the light ocean breeze, it really was the perfect day for an afternoon beach wedding.
Images of her own wedding years ago rose in her thoughts. She’d tried to convince herself that it didn’t matter that her family wasn’t there, but as she’d walked down the aisle of the 24-hour wedding chapel in Vegas, her heart had grown heavy with every step.
If she ever got married again, it would happen at Tillbridge. When she was younger, she’d always envisioned a country wedding with lace dresses, cowboy hats, bouquets with wildflower accents, lots of dancing and a horse-drawn wagon with a just hitched sign attached to it.
As Wendy slipped into the seat next to Rina she released a breath. The pink flush in her cheeks almost matched the color of her midthigh sheath dress.
“You okay?” Rina asked.
“Just a little winded.” She flipped her blond hair over her shoulders and fanned her face. “We had a minor bridal emergency. You know the saying—something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue? Theresa left the blue part at her house. I had to go upstairs and get my blue bracelet.”
“Didn’t you take the elevator?”
“On the way up, yes, but it was taking too long on the way back. I had to run down three flights of stairs.”
A balding light-haired man wearing a blue suit and a minister’s sash walked out of the side glass door with Scott’s father.
Patrick, a silver-haired, leaner version of Scott, looked handsome and distinguished in a tailored dark cream-colored suit with a pink boutonniere, light cream tie, and deep tan dress shoes. He paused on the right side of the arch while the minister stood farther back in the center.
Patrick glanced over at Wendy and smiled broadly. His gaze shifted to Rina a moment, and his expression grew slightly puzzled as if he was trying to place who she was.
The orchestra played the familiar opening to “Here Comes the Bride” and everyone stood.
Rina was torn between which to catch a glimpse of first. Scott with Theresa or the look on his father’s face when he realized who was walking Theresa down the aisle. She was drawn to the latter.
Patrick’s expression changed from solemn to clearly surprised. He looked to Wendy.
Smiling tearfully, Wendy blew Patrick a kiss.
He tapped the middle of his chest over his heart and sent one back to her. His gaze shifted downward. When he looked back up his eyes were bright as he watched who were probably two of the most important people in his life come toward him. Happiness, amazement and love played across his features.
Theresa glowed with her own happiness. She took a step and wobbled a tiny bit in her white high-heeled pumps. A brief moment of panic crossed her face. As Scott securely held her arm, he leaned down and whispered something that made her laugh.
Making people feel at ease, he was so darn good at that. The sweet moment loosed tears from Rina’s eyes.
Wendy nudged her, holding out her pack of tissues.
Rina slipped one out and patted her cheek.
At the decorated arch, Theresa slipped her arm from his. Scott and his father shared a brief but tight backslapping hug.
“Love you, Dad.”
Joy and pride hovered in Rina’s chest in hearing his low-spoken words to his father. Even though Scott might have had a few doubts about the wedding, he’d come through beautifully.
Scott sat down next to her and leaned in close. “Thank you,” he whispered. Then he kissed her cheek and intertwined their fingers on his thigh.
Soft emotions enveloped her heart as tightly as he held her hand. Next week, next month, they might not be together, but in that perfect moment, Scott was hers and she was his.
Chapter Twenty-Five
At the reception in the hotel ballroom with a larger group of friends and acquaintances, Patrick and Theresa were in their own world, swaying to slow music on the dance floor. He leaned down and said something to her. She responded and he laughed.
Rina danced with Scott a few feet away. She looked up and studied his face. Did he realize that his laugh, his smile, his mannerisms were pretty much identical to his dad’s?
Scott smiled at her. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I’m imagining you in your late fifties.”
“Oh really?” He chuckled. “How do I look?”
“Not bad.”
“Good to know. When I see you in your fifties, you’re definitely still hot with just a few streaks of gray in your hair.”
“Whoa. Hold on a minute. Hot, I’ll take that. Streaks of gray. No. There’s no shame in hair color. I’m either dyin
g my hair black or going silver all the way, like your dad.”
Scott’s gaze shifted to his father, and his grin faded a little with a concerned expression.
She stroked his nape. “You did a good thing by being here. You made your father and Theresa so happy today.”
He focused back on her. “I just hope—”
Rina rested her fingers against Scotts lips, cutting him off. “If doubt is a part of whatever you’re thinking right now, don’t say it. Just wish them well.”
Scott took her hand, kissed her palm and laid it to his chest. “You’re right. And I do. I also have a second wish.”
“What?”
“I wish the party would end so we can go upstairs and be alone in our hotel suite.”
The need smoldering in his eyes made her heart skip beats. The two of them alone for the rest of the night—she wished for that, too. “They haven’t cut the cake yet so you’ll have to hold out a little longer.”
Past the round white linen–covered guest tables surrounding the dance floor, a white cake on three staggered stands was the centerpiece of the round table in the corner. As a tribute to the couple meeting at a bed-and-breakfast that harvested its own maple syrup, a vine of maple leaves and pink flowers connected the tiers. The maple syrup theme carried over into the gifts for the guests. Everyone had received a two-ounce jug of maple syrup labeled with the words The Sweetest of Unions arced underneath Patrick’s and Theresa’s names.
Across the room, a couple walking out the open glass door onto the deck caught her eye.
He stroked his hand up and down her back. “How about a walk on the beach?”
“I’d like that.”
Outside, on the deck, a breeze from the ocean feathered over her raising goose bumps on her arms. She shivered.
Scott shrugged out of his jacket, and as he held it up for her, the silky lining, warm with his latent body heat, glided over her arms. It enveloped her along with his scent—spicy, masculine and appealing. It was almost as good as being in his arms. After stowing their shoes and his socks on a shelf with square openings that was outside for that purpose, he’d rolled up his pant legs, and they walked down the wood stairs leading from the deck.
He held her hand as she gathered up the hem of her dress that clung and billowed around her legs. Sinking into cool sand that caved and tunneled around her feet, they walked toward the dark blue ocean. With each step the music from the reception faded into the rumble and crash of the waves.
They paused a little farther down and Scott stood behind her, widening his stance as he embraced her. He leaned in and the heat from his mouth brushed over her cheek along with the cool breeze filled with the sweet salty smell of the ocean. “Warm enough?”
“Yes.” As he kissed the side of her neck, she wrapped her arms around his and leaned into his strength.
Moonbeams cast a pale glow over the surface of the water reflecting in the whitecaps and foamy swirls and the waves washing up and receding on the sand.
Her breathing naturally joined with the rise and fall of his chest at her back and contentment settled over her. Tillbridge was magical with its trees, rich green pastures and open sky, but so was the endless view of the ocean. She hadn’t been to the beach in ages, and not with anyone like this.
She glanced up at Scott. If she could have bottled the peacefulness she saw and felt from him along with his warmth and strength, she would have.
He looked down and his gaze moved as if he was taking in every feature of her face. “What are you thinking?”
She stroked his cheek and his faint beard grazed over her palm. “I wish we didn’t have to leave tomorrow.”
* * *
Scott lost himself in the honesty reflected in her eyes. He’d been thinking the same thing, wishing for one more day with her away from everyone and everything that demanded they take their attention away from each other.
Great minds think alike...
It didn’t sit like some easily thrown out cliché to him anymore. They easily talked about the same things, found humor in the same things and had their own inside jokes. They could communicate with each other through a look or a single word. With Rina he could just relax into what felt natural and real. He’d never had this with anyone else. Had his dad found this with Theresa? Is that what made it so different for his father that he’d risk disappointment in finding love and forever for the fifth time?
Moving in unison, Scott leaned in as she tipped her chin up. She tasted of berries, champagne and her own natural sweetness.
Cocooned in the shadows and her shielded from view by his body, he cupped one of her breasts, tracing over its peak through the fabric. Her nipple pebbled against his fingers, and she sighed softly into the kiss. Need rose inside of Scott. It coursed through him as he stroked his other hand along her waist and down to her hip. He urged her back against his erection that grew even harder as she rested her head on his shoulder and moved her lush curves against him.
His heart pounded in his ears as he brushed kisses down her neck. Her sweet scent, an enticing cocktail that blunted the edges of reason as he inched up the skirt of her dress, bunching the seemingly endless fabric in his hands. Finally he grazed her warm skin.
“Yes.” Her moan vibrated into him.
Scott glided his hand to her inner thigh seeking the scrap of blue lace he’d witnessed her gliding up her legs before she shut herself in the bathroom to finish getting dressed. He cupped her and heat soaked into his palm.
Laughter coming closer traveled over the breeze.
Groaning into her neck, he took his hand away from her and slid his other from her breast.
Two couples leisurely strolled along the edge of the surf.
As they slowly passed by, Rina leaned more into him. He fought with his aching arousal as they both took in and released unsteady breaths.
Once the couples had passed, she turned in his arms to face him. Kissing her was out of the question, the desire in her eyes alone made it even harder to bring himself under control. He leaned his forehead to hers.
A short moment later, Rina slipped from his arms. “We should go back inside.”
Couldn’t they just say to hell with waiting on his father and Theresa to cut the cake and just go upstairs now?
Standing back on the deck, they rinsed off their feet using the lower spigot on the wall and used clean towels on the nearby rack to dry off.
As they walked inside, Wendy hurried over to them with a slightly harried expression. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Dad and Theresa are ready to cut the cake.”
Later that night, Scott unleashed what he’d kept under control for too long. He explored every inch of Rina with kisses and caresses. As he glided inside of her at a pace that was the sweetest of agonies, he lost himself in the play of passion on her face. Gripping her hips, he moved in ways that made her gasp in pleasure, claw into his back and wrap her legs higher around his waist.
As Rina orgasmed, she arched up underneath him. He took her cries into his mouth wanting all of her, needing her more than air to breathe. Her growing climax took him over the edge to a free fall he never wanted to end.
Chapter Twenty-Six
As Wendy halted the black Silverado at the curb in front of the entrance to Orlando-Melbourne International, Rina hurriedly unclipped her belt in the front passenger seat. She and Scott had overslept that morning. To make it to the airport, they’d had to tag team their time in the bathroom then rush to get dressed in jeans, shirts and shoes, while packing their bags.
She glanced at Scott in the back driver’s side seat. As he opened the door, he winked at her and grinned. The happy look on his face reflected exactly how she felt. What happened last night and in the wee hours of the morning in their hotel suite that made them late to the airport was totally worth the rush to make their 8:30 a.m. flight.
&nbs
p; While Scott grabbed their bags from the back seat, Rina hugged Wendy. “It was great meeting you.”
“Same here.” Wendy gave her a squeeze. “But a weekend isn’t enough. Next time, make it a week.”
Rina almost agreed. She’d love to get to know Wendy better. But there wouldn’t be a next time. That realization made her squeeze back harder. “Thanks for everything.”
“Oh, before I forget. We ordered way too many maple syrups to give away at the reception. I’m sending you some. Maybe you can use them at the cafe?”
“Sure.” Hopefully some meant a small box and not a pallet. She really couldn’t use a bunch of little maple syrup bottles with Patrick and Theresa printed on them, but Rina didn’t have the heart to say no.
Scott and Wendy also exchanged a quick hug with a promise to call or text once they landed in Maryland to let Wendy know they’d arrived safely.
Inside the terminal of the small airport, with only their carry-ons and no luggage to check, they made it through security fairly quickly but had to trot-jog to the gate. Out of breath, they handed the gate agent their boarding passes, relieved to have just made the final call for the flight.
On the plane, they found a couple of spaces in up-top storage to squeeze in their bags, and sank into their middle and aisle seats.
As the plane taxied to the runway, Scott turned his head toward her, leaning in close where she sat between him and a guy wearing a baseball cap who was already asleep. “You good?”
As she looked at him, just like curbside when she’d hugged Wendy, the truth of their situation struck. There wouldn’t be another trip like this in their future. Once Scott went back to the set on Monday, his work days would be longer. Between managing the cafe and putting the finishing touches on her line of desserts for the Gwen’s Garden tasting, her schedule would be packed, too, making it difficult for them to find time for each other. She also had to find a permanent handyman which would be even harder now. Seeing someone else instead of Scott painting a wall, changing a bulb or fixing a leak would seem foreign and make her miss him more. Every moment they squeezed in from now until he left in a couple of months would mark time toward the day they’d go their separate ways.