Sandra Owens
Page 29
Michael swallowed a laugh. “Here is another one you should write down. A proper valet should be invisible. His lordship should not even notice his man is in the room.”
“That is a good one, my lord, but I still favor the other.”
Jamie entered, carrying Peggy. “Papa, is it time for us to get married?”
Michael looked at his son, dressed in a blue velvet coat that matched his. “Soon. You look very handsome.” He eyed the cat. “Jamie, exactly what is Peggy wearing?”
“Grandmamma made it for her so she wouldn’t get cold when we go to the church.”
“Yes, but what is it?” It looked like a flannel shirt and trousers with a cut out for her tail, and a matching lace trimmed cap. Peggy’s ears poked through holes in the little bonnet.
“It is her wedding day clothes. It’s blue so she will look like us. She wants to get married, too, Papa.”
The traitorous feline had fallen in love with Jamie the moment she saw him, forgetting all about Michael. The two were now inseparable, and when Diana told Jamie the cat could not attend the wedding, mother and son had experienced their first fight.
Michael had stepped in and negotiated a compromise, something at which he was becoming quite an expert. Peggy could ride in the carriage with Jamie and would wait there while they were inside the church.
“It is time to leave.” He took his son’s hand and walked him and Peggy to their carriage. Aubrey and Derebourne’s carriages had already left. Rotharton joined them and they left for the church. Diana would follow with her mother and his.
Michael had once thought this day would never come. Now it was actually happening, he could hardly wait for the vicar to pronounce them husband and wife. Wife. He very much liked the word.
When they arrived, Jamie fussed with the blanket they had brought, getting it just right for Peggy. “She will be fine, son.” Son was another word he liked.
“I am worried she will be cold. Can’t I take her in with me?”
“No, you may not. Jack will take good care of her.” Jamie had assigned the footman to stay with Peggy.
Finally tearing Jamie away from his cat, they went inside, and Rotharton took a seat next to Aubrey. Michael, holding his son’s hand, went to the front to wait for his bride. He stood facing the door and in a few minutes heard her carriage arrive. His mother and Lady Rotharton entered and took their seats.
His heart beat a tattoo in his chest as he waited for his first sight of the woman he thought he had lost. And then, there she was. She stopped at the door, their gazes met and she smiled.
Sweet Jesus, he was blessed.
She wore a blue velvet gown with white fur around the high neck and at the sleeves. The sapphire earrings he had given her last night, and that matched the ring in his pocket, dangled from her ears.
“Beautiful,” he mouthed. Her smile widened.
She was halfway down the aisle when he heard faint giggles. The titters grew as she neared. He could not imagine what anyone would find amusing until she reached him and he saw Peggy wobbling along behind her. Jack stood at the entrance, panic on his face. Michael shrugged, letting the footman know there was nothing to be done.
Diana looked at him with a question in her eyes. He lowered his gaze to her feet and she glanced down. When she saw the cap-wearing, trouser-clad cat, she gave a little burst of laughter.
He grinned, took her hand and kissed it. “Let’s get married, shall we?”
She squeezed his fingers. “Oh yes.”
They put Jamie between them, and each took one of their son’s hands. Peggy curled up on Jamie’s shoes and went to sleep. Michael beheld his family; the one who would be his wife in mere seconds, his son, his three-legged cat and smiled.
All was right in his world.
A word about the author...
Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Most days, you can find her with her fingers on a keyboard, her mind in the world of her imagination. It’s a land where romance and happy endings exist, a land where anything is possible.
A few highlights of Sandra’s life she fondly recalls are jumping out of a plane, flying upside down in a stunt plane, and riding her Harley in the mountains of Southern California and along the coast of Maine.
Although those events were great fun, nothing compares to the joy and satisfaction Sandra gets from writing her Happily Ever After stories.
You can find Sandra on Twitter @SandyOwens1, Facebook, and at www.Sandra-Owens.com
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