by Romancing the Crown Series (13-in-1 bundle) (v1. 0) (lit)
"What about it?" she asked.
"I think we should go someplace else."
She blinked. "We should? But I thought all the plans were made?"
"Plans are made to be canceled."
"For some, anyway," she muttered with a slight grimace that told him that, as usual, she was thinking about those who would be inconvenienced by an unexpected cancellation. But he thought she would forgive him in a minute.
"Well, I can change the flight plan back, I suppose," he said thoughtfully. "I'm sure Barney and the others will understand."
She went very still. "What?"
He gave her a crooked grin. "I thought we'd go to the ranch instead."
He didn't get a chance to see if this smile was the best one of all, although he knew without seeing that it was, because she had leapt up and thrown her arms around him before he even caught a glimpse of her face.
* * *
She supposed giggling wasn't the best approach to her wedding day, but Jessie couldn't help it.
Here she was, in a ridiculously expensive dress—albeit a beautiful one, lush satin with a capelike, pearl-beaded train that trailed at least fifteen feet behind her—riding in, of all things, a gilded carriage through the streets of Montebello. It seemed absurd to her, given that she'd been in the palace already, and the ceremony was to take place in the royal garden, but it was part of the ritual, the bride put on display for the people. Little did they know she'd much rather be up top driving this four-up of beautiful horses.
She shifted nervously on the richly upholstered carriage seat. She felt the slight touch of something at her ankle, and managed an inward smile. Lucas had given her the tiny golden horseshoe, explaining the old British tradition that Montebello had adopted in its days as a crown colony.
"Thank Dunstan of Canterbury, later Saint Dunstan. Legend has it," he'd said, "that one day the devil approached Dunstan to make horseshoes for him. Of course the cloven feet were a clue, and Dunstan chained him to the wall, supposedly to attach the shoes. He only let him go after he promised never to bother a house with a horseshoe. So today, the bride carries a replica of a horseshoe for good luck."
I'll need that luck just to get through this, Jessie thought now, as they passed another cheering crowd and another phalanx of television cameras. The thought of her wedding being of interest to the world still seemed so incredible. Just as it still gave her a chill to think of someday being queen to the thousands who lined the streets every foot of the way.
If she let down her guard, terror would fill her and she'd be like some fugitive bride in a movie, running for her life—or her sanity, she thought, barely remembering to wave and smile as best she could.
"It will be all right, dear," Gwendolyn said from the seat across from her. "You have it in you, I know you do."
Jessie looked at the woman who would be her mother-in-law by day's end. She was looking at her with great empathy.
"You do understand, don't you?"
"Oh, yes. I was quite simply terrified on the way to my wedding to Marcus. I was a simple teacher, I was certain there was no way I could ever be a proper queen to these people."
"But you are," Jessie said softly.
"If I am, it's because Marcus has taught me. As Lucas will teach you. That, and because I've come to love them as my own."
"And they adore you."
"As they will you, my dear. I promise you. They're a good, kind people, and they need only see how happy you make my son, and they will love you for that alone. Until, of course," she added with that warm, gracious smile Jessie had come to love, "they get to know you. Then they will love you for yourself."
She couldn't have said anything better to reassure Jessie. Searching for a way to thank the woman, she said softly, "I wish my mother could be here. But since she can't be, I'm very, very glad you are."
A pleased smile curved Gwendolyn's mouth. "Thank you for that, Jessie. That means a great deal to me. And I hope you know that I am very, very glad to be here with you."
That sense of female camaraderie got Jessie through the rest of the ride. Julia was waiting on the steps to the palace, where the entire Sebastiani and Kamal families—a huge number, all of whose names she hadn't learned yet —lined the way through the front doors and out to the royal garden where the other invited guests were seated.
"Wait until you see Lucas," she whispered. "Even if he is my brother, I have to say he looks magnificent in all his royal regalia."
Jessie had seen the traditional Sebastiani wedding attire in the portraits in the gallery and in photographs in the archives. It hadn't taken much to picture the tall, broad-shouldered Lucas being able to carry off the elaborate getup. A lesser man would look silly, she thought, but not Lucas.
She was barely aware of the gathering around her, although she heard good wishes called out to her in many voices, some she recognized, some she did not. Eliya was there with baby Luke for a last-minute kiss and pat.
And then, at the end of the line of people, Julia leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Here's your first wedding present from Lucas, Jessie."
Puzzled, since Lucas had already given her back her grandmother's ring—another thing Ursula had stolen from Jess, which had made its way into Lucas's hands—Jessie looked where Julia pointed. And gasped in delight when Mrs. Winstead and Barney stepped forward, both of them dressed to the nines in a way she'd never seen before.
"Oh, Jessie, you look so beautiful. My little girl," Mrs. Winstead said, nearly weeping as she hugged Jessie tightly. And Barney gave them both a bear hug that nearly stopped Jessie from breathing.
"That man of yours, he insisted," Barney said. "Sent a private plane for us, and put us up in the fanciest hotel I've ever seen so it would be a surprise for you."
Jessie was so warmed by Lucas's thoughtfulness, her apprehension faded a little. But as Julia guided her through the foyer, then through the grand ballroom where the reception was already being set up by what seemed like a battalion of caterers, Jessie's heart began to pound anew as she thought one last time of what she was about to commit herself to.
Lucas, she chanted to herself. She was committing herself to the man she loved, the man she'd loved as simply Joe, and the man who came with all these trappings. Because she had finally realized that no matter the trappings, the core of the man was the same. That the Playboy Prince had just been Lucas without direction. As Joe he'd found that, and now he was a steady point on the compass, never wavering.
And then, as she stepped out into the glorious Montebellan sunshine, she saw him. Standing tall and straight and looking more than worthy of the elaborate attire. And waiting for her. Waiting for her with as much love in his eyes as she could ever have prayed to see.
She was only vaguely aware of the hush that fell over the guests as they saw her. The music began, a grand royal march composed by some eighteenth-century Montebellan, as she walked slowly toward him. At last she was there and he reached for her hand. The moment she felt his fingers clasp hers, her nerves vanished.
"Did you like your present?" he whispered, and she poured all the love she was feeling into her expression as she nodded. "Good. We'll bring the second part back with us from the ranch. I can't wait to see you and Brat take on some of our bigger blowhards in the quarter mile."
And right there, with a crowd in person and half the world watching on television, the bride burst into joyous, unabashed laughter. Her groom grinned widely, and winked at her.
And out in the gathered throng, all those who had also found their forever loves turned and smiled at them, Sebastianis and Kamals and all the others. And not one of them doubted that the entwined futures of Montebello and Tamir were as solidly bright as the future of the bride and groom they watched pledge themselves to each other.
* * * THE END * * *
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