by Karin Baine
After all, one kiss from him had been enough to heal her heart.
EPILOGUE
VIOLET WATCHED FROM her bedroom window as the wedding guests filed around the side of the house to the Victorian conservatory. This was it, the day she’d fought against for most of her life in the very place she’d run from as a teenager and she couldn’t have been happier. In less than an hour’s time she’d be marrying Nate.
With Strachmore now fully licensed to hold weddings, it seemed fitting that theirs would be the first. They’d agreed upon a small affair with only close family and friends in attendance, simple and discreet with none of the palaver she’d always associated with society weddings. Today was about celebrating their love and nothing else. Everything was perfect.
She stroked her small baby bump concealed under her white lace bridal gown. It wouldn’t be long before the three of them would become a family. The past four months had been a whirlwind of activity. After a great deal of thought she’d decided she wanted to move back to Northern Ireland, with both families nearby when the baby arrived. Nate had gone with her back to London to help her pack her things for moving in with him while she worked out her notice. With all of their pre-planning she hoped the rest of her pregnancy was going to be more relaxing.
Once the baby was born she would go back to work at a local level and share the childminding with Nate and the excited grandparents anxiously awaiting the new arrival. Everything was slotting into place. She just wished she had her mother here to share it.
A knock on the door interrupted her maudlin thoughts before they could fully develop and taint the happiest day of her life.
‘I just wanted to see how my beautiful bride was holding up.’ Nate, devastatingly handsome in his wedding tuxedo, stepped into the room and immediately lifted her spirits again. She couldn’t help but wonder if he wore one of those mood rings she’d had as a kid, which had some way of telling him when she needed him most.
‘I’m fine, but isn’t it bad luck for us to see each other before the wedding?’ She really didn’t want to tempt fate when it had taken so long for them to reach this point.
‘I thought we’d broken free of tradition and superstition by now? These days we make our own luck.’ He crossed the room in three strides to reach her and slip his hands around her waist. It was all she needed to feel complete again.
‘You’re right. I’m sure there’s a million women out there who’d want to swap places with me at this moment.’ She was the luckiest woman alive to be marrying this man today and she wasn’t going to let any imagined curses get in the way of that a second time.
‘Have I told you how stunning you are yet? I have to keep pinching myself as a reminder that this is actually happening.’ He deflected her comment with one of his own, standing back to admire her vintage-style dress.
‘This is actually happening. We’re minutes away from taking our vows in front of all those people out there.’ The nerves started to creep back in at the thought of leaving this lovely cosy cocoon with Nate and proclaiming their love in public.
‘Well, we’ve got a little while yet...’ He had that twinkle in his eye that said NT wanted to make his mark one last time as a single man.
‘Do you know how long it took for me to squeeze into this dress? There’s no way I’m taking it off again.’ The knowledge he still found her irresistible despite her changing body was enough to send shivers of need skating across her skin and make her want to fast forward to their wedding night.
‘Who said anything about getting you naked? Honestly, the way your hormones are raging I’m wondering if I’m going to make it back from the honeymoon alive.’ His fake outrage widened Violet’s smile even further. She couldn’t promise him that when they were going to spend the next two weeks alone on a tropical island. They were still making up for lost time.
‘So if you’re not going to seduce me, what are you doing in my bedroom, Mr Taylor?’
‘I have a present for you, soon-to-be Mrs Taylor.’ Nate reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet jewellery box. He opened it to reveal a delicate silver necklace.
‘It’s beautiful.’ Violet fingered the tiny diamond-encrusted entwined seahorses dangling from the end of the chain he was now fastening around her neck. She’d taken off her bracelet today and had felt naked without it, as if a piece of her were missing.
‘I’m afraid I couldn’t get your mother’s necklace back for you, but I thought you could do with an upgrade from my last gift of jewellery.’
‘Thank you.’ She knew this was his way of marking the start of their new life together and fading out the past.
‘I thought we could have our first dance here too. Without anyone else.’ He placed her hands around his neck and took her in his arms. She closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace, remembering their faux prom where they’d danced in secret and fallen in love for the first time. Nate was all she’d ever needed.
As they held each other tight, their bodies swaying together with nothing but the beat of their hearts keeping time, Violet knew there was nowhere else she’d rather be. She’d finally come home.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Karin Baine
A KISS TO CHANGE HER LIFE
FRENCH FLING TO FOREVER
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ISBN-13: 9781488009709
The Doctor’s Forbidden Fling
Copyright © 2016 by Karin Baine
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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. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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