She’d made him see himself so clearly. She’d brought a sense of order to his house and had brought out of hiding a sense of commitment to his dog.
She was smart.
She was brave.
She was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
She wanted one good reason? Why should she marry him?
Riley knew that once he got started, he could list a hundred reasons he loved her.
He went to the window. He didn’t know why, but the outdoors seemed to be beckoning. He’d been outdoors when he’d met her. He’d been outdoors when he’d first kissed her. It seemed to him that something this momentous needed to be said outdoors, too.
Checking the front pocket of his jeans, he said, “Would you come outside with me, Madeline?”
She didn’t acquiesce immediately. When she did, she did so without saying a word.
She moved blithely ahead of him—a tree, too, but a willow, able to sway and bend without breaking. She led the way through her house, down four steps, stopping on an old flagstone patio. There she faced him bravely.
She’d lived and loved and lost. He’d known it, but he hadn’t felt the depth of her loss until he’d stood at Aaron’s grave today.
It had humbled him, moved him, changed him.
Until today, Riley would have rejected the notion that the shaft of sunlight that suddenly found its way through a narrow passageway in the clouds wasn’t a random occurrence. Now he knew that none of this was random.
He took her hand, relieved that she let him. Of course, just then a lawn mower was started next door.
“Is there some place we can go where we won’t be interrupted?” he asked.
She looked at him. And then she looked around. She pointed to a slight gap in the underbrush beyond her lawn. “That path leads to the river.”
Of course, he thought, saying nothing as they followed the path. When they emerged, they were standing in a little glen secluded on three sides, open to the river and the sky.
Suddenly nerves shot to his throat. He had to clear it in order to begin. “You asked why you should marry me?”
Her eyes were as pale as the sky, her lashes dark against her skin. She started tapping her foot impatiently. It was all he could do to keep from swinging her off her feet.
“Everybody in this town believes you’re an angel. Nobody knows you like I do.”
Her foot stilled and her chin came up slightly. He had her attention.
“It’s no coincidence that Aaron gave me his heart and then filled it with you.”
“Then this is about Aaron?” she asked.
“Hell no.”
Her eyebrows rose a fraction.
“His heart lives on in me and his memory lives on in you and everyone else in this town, but even if I reject his heart tomorrow and by some new miracle receive another, I would still love you, I would still want you, I would still want to write your name across the sky.”
Now her throat quivered and her eyes watered.
“You’re a beautiful vibrant angel of a woman with a streak of bad-girl coursing through your veins. Yes, I was your first lover, but that isn’t the reason I want you to marry me, either. Marry me, Madeline, because you’re the first, the only woman I’ve ever loved. Marry me, and I promise I will spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to make you glad you did.”
Tears ran down her face now. On a sniffle, she said, “Darn you, Riley Merrick.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked, wiping her cheek with his thumb.
“How can I say no to that?”
They’d kissed so many times, but they didn’t kiss now. Riley did the only thing he could do. His arms went around her waist and he swung her around, spinning them both, the breeze gentle, the sun warm, the river too intent upon its journey to pay the lovers on its bank any attention.
Madeline relished the feel of the strong arms around her, the sound of water rushing around the bend and the sight of the world spinning. Whoa. “Riley, you’d better put me down. This twirling is making me queasy.”
He put her down, but he didn’t release her. They stayed that way, her eyes closed, her cheek on his chest, her ear pressed to his beating heart. “Even if you rejected Aaron’s heart tomorrow and received another,” she said quietly. “I would love you the same. No matter whose heart beats in your chest, my heart is yours.”
She felt the change in him. His arms tightened around her and his breathing deepened. Her dizziness had passed, and desire was unfurling in her toes, among other fun places.
She breathed in his scent, reveling in the possessiveness in the touch of his hands on her back, his breath warm against her ear. There was something she had to tell him, and she had to do it soon, because any second now this living breathing passion they shared was going to wipe out every thought except one. “I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.”
It took a full five seconds for her words to register. She could feel his reluctance even then.
Raising her eyes innocently to his dark, hooded ones, she said, “The home pregnancy kit said I wasn’t. But a woman knows.”
She watched it sink in. As one second followed another, his expression changed in the subtlest of ways. First there was confusion, then a query, then a light, and finally a grin.
“That time in the shower,” he said. “Do you know that was my favorite time?”
Any second now he was going to start strutting.
He lifted his face to the sky and let loose a resounding, “Yes!”
An instant later his expression changed. “Are you all right? Do you need to lie down?”
“No,” she said. A light came into her eyes, too. “Well, maybe lying down is a good idea.”
Riley knew what was on Madeline’s mind by the tone of her voice and the hint of a dimple in her right cheek. He didn’t know what he’d ever done to deserve her, to deserve any of this, to be the recipient of Aaron’s heart and of her love or her passion.
Who was he to deny her?
They walked together past the briars and underbrush, then went inside hand-in-hand. She showed him the way up the stairs to her bedroom. After that, they took turns leading, giving and receiving.
Somehow their clothes came off. They smiled and moved and kissed, eager and warm, willing and hungry after their three weeks apart. Their arms and legs tangled, drawing toward one another, her heart beating against his. They melded together like they always did, passion raining down and fireworks shooting through the sky.
Sometime later, when they were both breathing evenly and Madeline was thinking marvelous thoughts, Riley got out of bed and reached for his jeans. Curious, she sat up, the sheet falling to her waist.
After retrieving something, he kicked the jeans aside then climbed in next to her again. He opened his hand, and in it was a ruby necklace, the biggest, brightest ruby Madeline had ever seen.
Her mouth was open, and her latest peculiarity, tears, ran down her cheeks. “Oh, Riley.”
“I didn’t buy a diamond ring yet, in case you wanted to help choose it. But even if you would have said no to my marriage proposal, I would have given you this.”
He held the necklace up, letting the lamplight catch it. He put it on her, his fingers slightly clumsy as he tried to work the intricate clasp. She waited patiently while his fingertips tickled the back of her neck, the cool ruby warming against her skin.
When Riley was finished, he faced her. She looked back at him, blue eyes beaming, her neck long and graceful, the pale skin on her chest taking on a red hue from the glowing ruby. Her breasts were creamy white and fuller than they’d been three weeks ago, her ribs showing slightly below them, her waist narrow above the flair of her hips that disappeared beneath the sheet.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He couldn’t believe she could still be bashful after making love as they had. “I’m putting you to memory,” he said. “How soon will you marry me?”
She smiled, a devilish
light coming into her eyes. “Hmm,” she said in a sultry voice, “It so happens I already have a dress.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. He eased backward, bringing her with him, the mattress shifting at his back, Madeline working her magic everywhere she touched, and Riley working his magic, too.
“Does that mean you’ll marry me soon?”
“I would love that, Riley. Yes, soon.”
They had much to discuss, such as where they would live and work, for she’d just taken a new job. But those were small obstacles and could wait.
The rest of the wedding plans would have to wait, too.
Right now this was what mattered most. This woman. And this man. Together, and deeply in love.
Outside their window the earth sighed. The clouds parted and a joyous May moon floated into view.
Epilogue
Anybody walking past the stone church on Briar Street in Orchard Hill on Friday evening would have seen candlelight flickering in the stained-glass windows. Not that anybody was walking by. It seemed everybody was inside waiting for the wedding to begin.
The pure melodious notes of the flutist swirled like the stir of anticipation. Vases filled with blossom-tipped branches from the Sullivans’ orchard adorned the altar. More sprigs of apple blossoms were tucked into the bows on the end of every pew.
Riley’s mother beamed as the usher brought her to her seat. Both his stepmothers nodded at her as she slid in next to them.
Four men in dark suits stepped out of the vestibule and took their places at the front of church. The moment everyone was waiting for was almost upon them.
Kipp patted his pocket, checking to make sure the rings were still there. Riley’s brothers looked nervous, too.
Not Riley. Staring out at the faces of his large, extended family, and at Madeline’s three older brothers sitting in the front row, and her friends and aunts and uncles and cousins, he knew no fear. Madeline had taught him that.
In the absence of fear, he stood waiting for the best thing that had ever happened to him to appear. The flute music changed to the heavenly strains from a single violin, and the procession of bridesmaids began.
First came Abby Fitzpatrick, a petite blonde with stars in her eyes and her sights set on Riley’s younger brother. Next was Chelsea Reynolds, a curvy brunette who was wishing she hadn’t sworn off men. Madeline’s maid of honor came last. Summer Matthews floated up the aisle like royalty. Ignoring the smirk on Riley’s older brother’s face, she took her place beside her friends and looked back at the double doors at the back of the church.
The moment everyone was waiting for dawned.
The double doors opened. And there stood Madeline on Aaron’s father’s arm. It was difficult for Riley to believe he hadn’t always been able to feel his heart, for it beat so steady and strong and true.
Madeline was the picture of her mother—later everyone would say so—in her mom’s silk gown. To Riley, she was a vision, his vision of the future.
She fairly floated up the aisle, the bravest woman he’d even known. Her gaze was on his, and his alone, her hair fluttering in the same invisible breeze that was causing the candlelight to flicker. The satin of her dress had darkened slightly to the color of the evening air. The gown had no train and she wore no veil. Her only adornment was the ruby necklace nestled between her collarbones, and the love in her eyes.
Madeline couldn’t take her eyes off Riley. His face was clean-shaven, his eyes dark and honest, his shirt white against his tanned skin, his suit black and his shoulders broad. The past two weeks had been a whirlwind, with everyone asking questions and making suggestions for their big day. She and Riley couldn’t have pulled off a big church wedding in only two weeks without them. Through it all, they’d remained calm and serene.
She was aware of much sniffling throughout the church behind her as Aaron’s dad kissed her cheek and placed her hand in Riley’s. Today Madeline’s eyes remained dry. She knew, as she’d known a handful of times in her life, that she was exactly where she was meant to be at this precise moment in time. The universe told her with every flicker of candlelight. Even if she hadn’t been able to see it, she would have felt it in the love drawing her to Riley’s side.
Later she wouldn’t remember the reverend’s exact words, but she would never forget the sound of Riley’s voice, and hers, as they promised to love, honor and cherish each other as long as they both lived.
It was a simple ceremony that acknowledged something extraordinary. For despite the chaos and lightning speed of this modern world, two people out of billions had found each other and fallen in love.
Madeline smiled at Riley as the reverend said, “You may kiss the bride.”
They’d talked about this, had rehearsed this, because it was no secret to anybody that their kisses tended to spin out of control. Standing before all the people she knew and loved, and who knew and loved her in return, she lifted her face as her new husband lowered his.
Madeline’s and Riley’s eyes closed as their lips touched, so they didn’t see the ruby necklace glow brighter, but many of their guests saw. And everybody in that old stone church on Briar Street heard the chiming of something sweet and delicate sprinkling down around each and every one of them.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5647-1
THE WEDDING GIFT
Copyright © 2010 by Sandra E. Steffen
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*Wedding Wager
*Wedding Wager
*Wedding Wager
†Bachelor Gulch
†Bachelor Gulch
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†Bachelor Gulch
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The Wedding Gift Page 14