The little man with wiry grey hair marched across the lawn. “I want the money for the tent, now. I know how wedding people are, out of sight, out of mind. I’ll never see a dime for the damage!”
Darrin pulled him off to the side and said in a low voice. “We’ve been neighbors for years; I’ll write you a check for the damage. Will three thousand cover it until we know what the insurance will cover?” Darrin asked. When the man nodded he hurried into the house. He returned a few minutes later and handed the man a check.
The little man looked at it and glared. “You expect me to take this? It’s from out of town an out of town bank. I haven’t seen you in years and I don’t recognize the bank. I have no idea if you’re good for the money.”
“Are you kidding?” Darrin asked. Anger flooded his veins. “I’ve had this account for six years. There’s over twenty-thousand dollars in it.”
Jack and Kara joined them. Kara walked over to a wooden box on the gift table. She scooped her hands in and then counted out bills of tens, twenties and fifties. She turned to face the man. “Mr. Kremser, here’s twenty five hundred dollars. My checks are local and I’ll bring it over in the morning.”
The old man’s tense features softened slightly. “All right. You bring it to me tomorrow. The rest of it.”
Kara nodded.
Jess took Kara’s arm. “That was the money all of us gave you towards your spending money for the honeymoon. The two of you were going to leave tomorrow and all you have is the plane tickets. What are you going to do?”
“It’s fine. We’re married.” Jack wound his arm around Kara’s waist and pulled her close. He nuzzled her ear. “If we have to postpone the trip for awhile, that’s fine. I’ll try and reach the airlines and explain the situation. Being married to Kara is the only important thing today and that no one was hurt. We’ll consider this the first bump in the road. I know your spouse is supposed to make you see fireworks, but this was taking it to the extreme.”
“I thought it would be such a nice surprise,” Kara said.
“It was definitely a surprise and something we will never forget. It wasn’t the fireworks, it was the wind. Bob should have known better when he set them off. It was too windy. I’ll be right back. I need to thank the guys who showed up so quick to help out.” Jack moved away to shake the firefighter’s hands.
“At least the wedding gifts were on the table outside the tent and didn’t go up in flames.” Jess looked at Kara. “Are you and Jack still going to stay at the hotel by the airport tonight?”
“We’ll stay here at the house and then decide what to do tomorrow.”
Jess patted Kara on the arm and then followed Darrin away from the crowd of people. She dropped down on the grass beside him and stretched out her bare legs.
“I can’t get rid of the taste of smoke,” Darrin complained and spit into the grass. He wiped a hand across his mouth. “You know all that talk about going with the flow and being able to roll with the punches? I think I’m done. I am so done. You were right about wanting this day to be perfect. I wanted it as much as you did for Kara and Jack. Man, what a mess.” He shook his head and rested his long arms on his knees.
Jess tapped him on the arm and then pointed at Kara and Jack. Jack had soot and water splotches all over his tuxedo and there were the same black streaks on Kara’s dress. “Don’t look at their clothes or at the mess from the fire. Look at their faces. Look at the way Jack’s looking at her. Nothing that happened here tonight will change that or the love they feel.”
Darrin watched them for a long moment. “You’re right, but for them tonight’s special. Kara doesn’t want to spend her wedding night in the twin bed she’d slept in growing up.”
“Is there still that old cabin in the woods by the lake?”
“I haven’t been out there since I got back, but I assume it’s still standing.”
“I hiked out there a few months ago. It looks great. Come on. I have an idea.”
She ran to get the other girls and groomsmen together, and then whispered her plan.
Chapter 5
Jess told Kara to wait for them. When they returned to the house, Kara and Jack were sitting on the front porch sharing a glass of champagne, Jack’s arm wrapped protectively around Kara to keep her warm.
“We wondered where everyone went. What are you guys cooking up?” Jack asked as she and Darrin stepped from the car.
“Let’s just say it’s a wedding surprise,” Jess said.
Jack shook his head. “I think we’ve both had enough surprises tonight. I just want to go to bed.”
“That’s my sister you’re talking about,” Darrin said in a faked gruff voice.
Jack chuckled. “Bro, it’s our wedding night. It’s all legal.”
“Fine. ” Darrin said. “Get in the car.”
Jess opened the car’s back door, and made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “Your carriage awaits.”
Jack paused for Kara to slide in and then slid in after her. Jess waited for Darrin and then shut her door. Darrin held up a CD. “I stole this from the DJ.” He popped it in to the player. “A sappy love song for our short journey.” He forwarded the disk to Jack and Kara’s first dance song, At Last by Etta James.
Jess glanced at Darrin out of the corner of her eye. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and sang along. There was a smudge of soot still along his jaw line. She wanted to brush it away...and then kiss him until neither of them could see straight.
He turned his head and gave her an intimate smile that made her wonder if they shared the same thoughts. A twinge of longing touched Jess. Was she reading Darrin’s body language correct, or was it just wishful thinking... again?
It took only a few minutes to drive to the other side of the property. She grabbed the door handle as the car bounced down the bumpy gravel road. The headlights illuminated Darrin and Kara’s family cabin.
“What’s all this?” Kara asked as the car pulled to a stop and they got out.
“I know you were hoping to fly out on your honeymoon to the Yucatan, and you’ll get there soon. But tonight has to be special,” Jess said. Cardboard palm tree cutouts decorated the front porch and large travel posters covered the windows. “My flower shop shares storage space with a travel agency and there are a lot of left over things in the back. We ran over there and borrowed them so you could feel like you were in Mexico.”
Kara had tears in her eyes. “This is so sweet.”
One of the groomsmen who was also in the string quartet, stepped out of the trees and continued to sing At Last.
Kara looked around. “Our suitcases are back at the house.”
Jane joined them and shook her head. “The cases are in the cabin. And I hope that sexy number I helped you shop for is in your suitcase, ‘cause when Jack sees you, his eyes will fall out.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
Kara hugged Jess so tight she couldn’t breathe. “I didn’t get a chance earlier to thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful and everything was perfect.
Jess looked over at Darrin and he gave her a wink as if to say, I told you so.
Jack shook Darrin’s hand. “This really is great. I offered to call a cab and take Kara into town to a hotel, but Kara wanted to stay here.”
“You’re still officially on the property, but I have to say it’s a little more romantic at the cabin.” Darrin said.
Jack laughed, scooped Kara into his arms and carried her up the front steps to the front door. “I got a hold of the airlines. After I explained what happened, they promised to refund our tickets for a later date. Thanks everyone for setting this up. Kara and I can’t wait to start our lives together...so, if you don’t hear from us in a few days, then you can come looking for us.” Jack grinned and kicked the door closed. Kara giggled and then squealed from behind the door.
Their friends wandered back to the car and Darrin motioned with his head. “Come on, it’s getting late,” he said to Jess.
When they retu
rned to the house, everyone was gone. The smell of smoke still lingered but the sound of crickets and frogs filled the night air.
Darrin drew an unopened bottle of champagne from a bucket. “Can you stay for awhile longer? I know it’s late and you’re probably tired, but I’m wound up. Let’s share this bottle and scrounge what the caterers left behind in the fridge. I’m starving.”
They pulled out meat, bread, and condiments, and made large deli sandwiches. Tucking the champagne bottle under one arm, he took her hand and led her across the lawn and down to the dock over the pond. Taking off his tuxedo jacket, he draped it over her shoulders. She cuddled into the warmth and the rich aftershave smell mixed with a faint smell of smoke in Darrin’s coat.
He tugged off his shoes and socks and then held out his hand for her to join him. He dropped his long legs over the side of the deck and dipped his feet into the water.
Darrin blew the cork on the champagne and handed her the bottle.
She raised an eyebrow.
“I forgot the glasses, okay? And I’m just too damn tired to walk back to the house to get them. So in only the classiest date move ever, here’s the bottle.”
Jess took the bottle and tipped it back to take a drink. “Is this a date?”
“You said I could ask you out.”
“I said you could ask my dad if you could ask me out.”
He grinned. “I did— at the wedding. He said ‘yes’. So, here we are.” His eyes twinkled faintly in the moonlight as he took the bottle from her grasp.
She looked up at the full moon. It cast a silvery rippling glow along the water of the pond. “It’s beautiful. I forgot how much I loved sitting out here at night.”
“You sat out here? At night?”
“When Kara had sleepovers I’d sneak out of the tent and do just as we’re doing now. I’d drop my feet in the cool water and dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
She looked at him and paused before she finally answered, “You. I had such a crush on you I couldn’t see straight half the time.”
“I never knew that. Why didn’t you tell me before I moved away?”
“The time wasn’t right. You were five years older, you would have laughed at me, but I never forgot you. I always hoped that whoever you were with, you were happy.”
“There’s no special woman in my life. That’s the funny thing: I’ve been happier at home in the last few days than I’ve been in more years than I can remember. I think there was always something missing in Chicago. Maybe there was a reason I was supposed to come back.”
He scooted closer. He bent his head and when she didn’t stop him, his mouth gently took hers. Jess sucked in air as he pulled away, but then he came back in for another kiss.
“Darrin,” she whispered his name as her eyes fluttered closed.
His mouth was hungry and gentle all at once. Her response was eager, as her tongue swept over the seam of his lips. With a groan of surrender, he finally opened to her. In a provocative dance, her mouth slid along his.
He wound his hand around the back of her neck. “You hair is beautiful. It feels like silk.”
Darrin kissed her again stealing what little breath if any, she had left. She rested her hand on his chest and found it to be as firm as his lips.
“After so many years of dreaming about you, I think that kiss was perfect,” Jess said as she rested her forehead against his.
“You should have called me long ago. For a kiss like that, I would have been home five years earlier.”
“I don’t want you doing something because of a school girl crush I had.”
“Believe me, I have a personal stake here. I’ve been attracted to you since I saw you again. After my mom died, I ran away. I ran away from everything I knew. I thought if I separated myself from the place and the pain of her loss that it would help. But it only made me want to be home more. The homestead and Kara and Jack were the reason I returned, but I’m thinking that you could be the reason I’ll stay.”
He hugged her close and laid her body back on the dock. His kisses started at her mouth, trailed across her cheek and down the side of her neck. “God, you’re so beautiful. I can’t...” his mouth pulled her in for another scorching kiss. He ran his hands up and down the sides of her body.
He was strong and gentle as he cradled her against him.
Suddenly, he drew back and with a deep groan rolled off the dock, into the pond. There was a gigantic splash.
“What are you doing?” Jess cried.
“This is the poor man’s version of a cold shower.” He dipped under before coming up and shaking off water like a dog.
Jess rolled onto her stomach and propped her head on her hands. “What about your tux?”
“It’s only the shirt. I’m sure we’ll get a bill from the tux place for the smoke damaged rentals, so I might as well add in the shirt.” He came towards her in the shallow water and rested his chin on the dock’s edge. “I’m an easy-going guy, but when it comes to starting a relationship, I need to make sure. I want to make love to you more than anything in the world right now, but it needs to be...”
“Perfect?” Jess touched her fingers to his damp face.
“Take off the jacket,” he said in a subtle command.
“Why?” She sat up on her knees and stripped off his tux coat. “Change your mind?”
“Nope. But ask me that question in a few days. Ms. Caldwell, you need to learn to be more spontaneous in everything but relationships.” He grabbed her hand and wrapped his strong fingers around her wrist.
“You wouldn’t!” she cried.
“Oh, yes I would. ‘Cause I’m spontaneous.” With a sharp tug, he pulled. She flew into the pond and into his waiting arms.
Jess yelped and then threw her head back and laughed. Darrin tossed her and she landed with a splash in the water. The water was barely over waist deep, so when she came up he was waiting. He grabbed her and pulled her tight against him.
He grinned. “Told you that you needed a poor man’s cold shower.”
She laughed, cupped water, and threw it his direction. She hadn’t had this much fun in years.
“Excuse me,” a voice called from the dock.
They both froze and saw Jane standing with a hand on her hip. The mobile mistletoe headband dangled between her fingers.
“We didn’t know anyone was still here,” Jess said.
“I was in the house. I fell asleep on the couch waiting for the two of you to get back from the cabin. I wanted to see if you needed a ride back to town. When the hell did this happen?” She motioned to Jess and Darrin with her hand and smiled. “Jeez, you know what this means.” With a dramatic sigh she slid the headband onto her head. “You were supposed to drag this out much longer with the not-finding-a- guy part. I feel really single. The Last of the Mohicans, or something like that.”
Jess fought to stand up, but then slipped and fell back. Darrin caught her.
Jane waved them off. “Don’t bother getting up. You two look like you are having fun. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She shook her head and walked off. “Man, what a wedding!”
“What was that all about? Mobile mistletoe?” Darrin asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” Jess wound her arms around his neck and floated on the top of the water.
Darrin brushed wet hair off her face. “I’m not sure the wedding went off so perfectly. But, what’s the fun of having something be perfect? There are no stories to tell afterwards.”
“Can you teach me to not always look for perfection?”
“How about you start with me, ‘cause honey, I am far from perfect.”
“I’m willing to start there.”
Chapter 6
The bell of Jess’s flower shop door jingled. When she turned, it was a happy surprise to watch Darrin stride through the door. He was dressed in a light-yellow dress shirt, fitted black slacks, and looked good enough to eat. Since Kara’s wedding, three months had passed, and
she and Darrin spent almost every free minute together. Darrin was a happy addiction.
Jess set the flower arrangement she was working with on the table. “How did the meeting go?”
There was a darkened tinge of excitement on his cheeks. She got her answer from the look in his eyes.
“They agreed to sell the building to me.” He spoke quickly. “It will be perfect for the clinic. Next week, when a few more people are hired, we can start ordering the equipment, and hiring physical therapists.” He stepped behind the counter. Reaching around her, he pulled a single red rose off the table and handed it to her.
“And I always told people that flower shops were bad places to meet guys,” she said.
“Good thing you already knew me.”
She took the rose. “I don’t think you want to give me that.” Jess nestled it back down with the others.
Darrin reached to pick it up again. Taking her hand, he laid the dark red petals in her palm.
“Flowers mean things... I know, it’s all silly.” She shrugged and looked down at the bloom.
He took her chin with his thumb and tipped it higher until she looked into his eyes. “I might be a guy, but I know a few things. Roses mean, I love you.”
“You read that off the wall poster out front.”
“Maybe I did.” Darrin dropped his hand and drew the rose between them. “But... it’s what I want to say— I love you, Jess. The nights you’re not at the farm house, it doesn’t feel right. I love you and I want you to move in with me.”
Jess nodded as her heart swelled.
He continued, “I’m asking you to marry me, but I need a few more months to recuperate from Kara and Jack’s wedding!”
Jess threw her arms around his neck. “I love you too, Darrin. Yes, I’ll marry you.” Shooting him what she hoped was a naughty grin; she sauntered over, flipped the closed sign to the street and then locked the door.
“This is so unlike you. I love it.” A wicked gleam lit his eyes. “What about your customers?”
“They can wait.” She took his hand and led him toward the storeroom. “We have a celebration of our own to attend to.”
The Mobile Mistletoe Series (Books 1-4) Page 7