Only for You

by Jacquelin Thomas

  “You look so beautiful,” Jadin said as she approached her sister. “I can’t wait to see Ethan’s face when you walk down that aisle.”

  “I can’t believe that this day is finally here,” Jordin gushed.

  “I’m so happy for you, sis.”

  Jordin smiled. “Thank you.”

  Eleanor entered the room wearing a flowing gown in a deep purple color. “Oh, my...” she murmured. “There are no words to describe how beautiful you look...” She dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

  “Please don’t cry, Mom,” Jordin pleaded. “I don’t want to ruin my makeup.”

  “I love you.”

  She smiled. “I know and I love you too.”

  Eleanor hugged her once more. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Can you all give me a moment?” Jordin asked her bridesmaids. “I just need a few minutes alone.”

  Jadin embraced her. “You look so pretty, sis. Mostly, you look very happy.”

  “I am,” Jordin confirmed. “I can’t put into words just how happy I am right now.”

  “We’ll be outside when you’re ready.”

  When she was alone in the room, Jordin walked back over to the full-length mirror. She smiled at her reflection. In a few minutes she would be walking down the aisle toward her future. Jordin closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving. God had truly blessed her and she would be forever grateful.

  Her father opened the door and peeked inside. “It’s time,” he said with a smile.

  “I’m ready,” she responded as she retrieved her bouquet.

  “I love you and I’m so very proud of you.” He gestured toward the door. “Now let’s not keep your husband-to-be waiting.”

  She grinned. “That has such a nice ring to it.”

  Moments later, Jordin floated down the aisle on her father’s arm toward the man she would love forever.

  They stood facing each other as they said their vows.

  Jordin could hardly contain her excitement as she waited to hear the words that would make their union real to her.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife...”

  Ethan exhaled a long sigh of pleasure. He pulled Jordin into his arms, drawing her close. He pressed his lips to hers for a chaste, yet meaningful kiss.

  The room exploded into applause.

  They walked down the aisle and through the double doors to the hallway.

  Ethan’s eyes traveled down the length of her, nodding in obvious approval. She was an ethereal vision in an elegant, backless dress with lace sleeves. Soft curly tendrils framed her face while the rest of her hair was pulled into an upswept style. “You look so beautiful, sweetheart.”

  Jordin broke into a big smile. “Can you believe it? We’re married.” She held up her left hand as if to show off her wedding rings. “This is the happiest day of my life.”

  After the photographs, the bridal party made their way to the room where the reception was being held.

  The talented event planners hired by her mother had put their magical touch on the space and filled it with more beautiful flowers, tables draped in plum-colored linens and elegant chandeliers hanging from above. Jordin noted how artichokes were tucked into the arrangements, the grayish-green color of the vegetable picking up the color scheme exquisitely.

  “Everything is perfect,” she told Ethan in a low voice. “My family...your mother is here. Your father and your siblings—this was absolutely the best day ever.”

  He agreed. “I wasn’t sure my dad would come, but I’m glad he did. You know, the planner your mother hired really did a wonderful job.” Ethan glanced over his shoulder. “Whose idea was it to have our guests write notes on fabric swatches?”

  “It was actually mine,” Jordin responded. “I love quilts and so I thought it would be unique to have the messages from everyone made into a quilt for us.”

  “It’s a great idea.”

  Guests had a choice of four entrees, two vegetables, rice pilaf and an assortment of dinner rolls. After Jordin and Ethan finished eating, they navigated around the room, personally thanking everyone for attending the celebration.

  It was soon time for the bride and groom to have their first dance.

  Ethan only had eyes for Jordin. “I love you, sweetheart. With every fiber of my being, I love you.”

  “I love you back,” she told him.

  Next, Jordin danced with her father while Ethan led his mother to the dance floor. Seeing them together like this pleased her to no end.

  The night wore on. When the clock struck ten, Ethan asked, “Are you ready to leave?”

  Her lips turned upward, thinking of what was to come. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here. You go say goodbye to your mother and I’ll say goodbye to mine.”

  Ethan shook his head. “You’re my wife now, sweetheart. We’ll take time to say goodbye to our combined family together. We are all family now.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Jordin, are you leaving now?” Amya wanted to know. “Me and Kai want to dance with Ethan.”

  “I wouldn’t miss out on dancing with you two beauties,” Ethan responded.

  Jordin sat down at their table smiling as she watched her husband with the girls. Kai and Amya were having a ball.

  “He is going to be a great father,” Jadin commented.

  Jordin nodded in agreement. “I think so too. He is so good with the girls.”

  She glanced over and saw her mother talking and laughing with Lydia as if they were old friends.

  Ethan returned to the table with Amya and Kai in tow.

  “Did you see us dancing?” Amya asked.

  “I sure did,” Jordin responded. “I even had the photographer take some photos for our wedding album.”

  “I don’t want you and Ethan to leave,” Kai stated.

  “We have to leave because we are flying out early tomorrow morning for our honeymoon.”

  “We can’t go on the honeymoon with you?” Amya wanted to know.

  “If you go with us, who is going to be here to play with your little brother?”

  “Mommy and Daddy can play with him,” Kai replied.

  “Yeah,” Amya contributed.

  “Honeymoons are for the bride and groom,” Ryker said when he joined them. “It’s long past time for little girls to go to bed, so we’re leaving now.”

  “I’m not sleepy,” Kai complained before stifling a yawn.

  Jordin pulled the little girl into her arms. “I’ll be back next Saturday, okay?”

  “Kay...”

  “Are you gonna bring us a present from the honeymoon?” Amya asked.

  “Of course we are,” Jordin responded.

  She reached over and gave Amya a hug as well. “Little girls need their beauty sleep, so I’ll see you later.”

  “They are so lovable,” Ethan said when the girls left with their father. “I think they already have me wrapped around their little fingers.”

  Jordin agreed. “They’re my babies.”

  “You know...I think we should consider starting a family sometime next year.”

  Surprised, Jordin glanced up at Ethan. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded. “I am. I want to have some children of my own, especially a little girl.”

  “You don’t want a son?”

  “I’d like one of each actually,” Ethan stated.

  Jordin couldn’t stop grinning. She could not believe how much he had changed since reconnecting with his parents. Ethan and his father were building a relationship and were planning their first father-son trip together in the fall. She was thrilled for him.

  “What?”

  “Ethan, I love seeing you like this. I feel like we’re whole now.�
�

  “That’s because you complete me, Jordin.”

  Austin walked up to the table. “Do you mind if I borrow my sister for a moment? I need to talk to her.”

  Jordin could tell by his facial expression that something was wrong. “I’ll be right back, honey.”

  “Austin, what’s wrong?” Jordin asked when they walked over to the bar.

  He responded with a question of his own. “Are you and Bree Collins close?”

  “She and I have been friends since our freshman year in college. Why?” She could not imagine why Austin would have a problem with Bree. “How do you know Bree?”

  “She has a son, right?”

  “Yes...” Jordin glanced over her shoulder to where Bree was sitting, then back at him. “She adopted him last year.” Comprehension dawned. “Are you saying... No...”

  “She has my son.”

  “Austin, I’m so sorry.”

  He met his sister’s gaze. “I know that she’s your friend, but Jordin, I’m not going to let her keep my son. I never would’ve agreed to an adoption if I’d known about him.”

  “Please don’t confront her here.”

  “I’m not going to do anything to ruin your wedding day.”

  “She adores little Emery.” She paused a moment before continuing. “Austin, she’s a good mother. Can you just get to know her before you say anything?”

  He shook his head. “Too much time has passed already.”

  “Please...just get to know her. I think it would be best for your son. You can’t just walk in and take him from the only mother he’s ever known.”

  “I suppose you’re right, Jordin.” After a brief pause, he said, “Okay, I’ll do this your way. I only ask that you keep this between you and me for now.”

  “You have my word.”

  “This means you will have to keep a secret from your husband.”

  “I believe he will understand,” Jordin responded. “I’m sure of it.”

  “You and Austin were deep in conversation,” Ethan stated upon her return to their table.

  “We were discussing Bree.”

  He broke into a smile. “Really? Is he interested in her?”

  “Yes,” Jordin responded. “He wants to get to know her better.”

  “I’m not a matchmaker, but I think they would make a great couple.”

  She glanced over at her husband. “I was just thinking the same thing, but I suppose only time will tell.”

  “Enough about them. I want to focus all of my attention on you. I am a lucky man, Jordin.”

  She broke into a smile. “I know... I’m just glad you recognize it.”

  “My heart has always belonged to you, sweetheart.”

  “Same here,” Jordin responded. “My heart has always been reserved only for you.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from SILVER SCREEN ROMANCE by AlTonya Washington.

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  Silver Screen Romance

  by AlTonya Washington

  Chapter 1

  Miami, Florida

  “Where?” A hint of laughter mingled with the element of sincere bewilderment in Kale Asante’s question. His voice was rich, its tone possessing a warmth that was equally displayed in his liquid-chocolate gaze.

  Kale’s lawyer, Felton Eames, looked to be on the verge of laughter himself. “Mullins, Iowa,” Felton said once he’d spared a second glance toward the documents in front of him. The sheet was one of several spilling from the charcoal-gray briefcase lying open on the black-walnut coffee table in his client’s den.

  Kale appeared to be considering the information while he rubbed the tip of an index finger across the long line of one sleek brow. Amusement came through that time in the form of a chuckle before more words followed. “I honestly can’t recall ever visiting the place or knowing anyone who has.”

  Felton nodded while rubbing his fingers through the cap of salt-and-pepper waves covering his head. “I didn’t think you had,” he sighed. He grabbed another of the documents that languished over the open edge of his case and passed it to Kale. “But it looks like your late uncle did.”

  San Francisco, California

  “Where?” Intrigue was the resulting emotion when Davia Sands heard the name Mullins, Iowa. Her clear, hazel eyes sparkled more effervescently than normal while she observed her business attorney.

  Bess Gaither merely continued to swivel in the burgundy scoop chair she occupied, smiling over her client’s reaction.

  Davia turned her bright, wide stare toward the document that outlined the news Bess had come to deliver that afternoon. “How could I own land in Iowa and not know about it?” Unmistakable bewilderment had her voice in its clutches.

  Bess ceased her swiveling and left the chair to top off her coffee at the bar cart on the deck where she and Davia conversed. Though the day had been a surprisingly comfortable one and rich, late-afternoon sunlight doused the deck, a chill still carried on the early January wind.

  “Specifically speaking...” Bess said, pausing as if to add a dramatic flair while she filled her coffee mug to the brim with the aromatic blend. “You don’t own land, but a building. Or, from what I understand, what’s left of one.”

  “Okay...” Davia rebundled herself into the afghan that helped the sweatpants and long-sleeved tee keep her warm against the breezy day. “So how’d I come to own a building—or what’s left of one?”

  “Seems you’ve got Miss Glory to thank for that.” Bess used the smug manner she put in place whenever she was about to eviscerate or merely stun someone at a negotiating table.

  Davia sat a little straighter on the lounge she occupied. Bewilderment had her expression in its clutches that time. “What’s my late aunt got to do with—” she checked the document again “—Mullins, Iowa?”

  Bess prepped her coffee, adding sugar and cream to suit her taste. “If you bother to actually read that page I gave you, you’ll see that Miss Glory spent quite a bit of time there during the early forties. She inherited the building from a Chase Waverly when he passed away in 1956.”

  Davia regarded the sheet in hand with greater interest. “That can’t be right.” Her voice held a quiet, considering tone, as though she were attempting to convince herself. “I�
��ve never heard anything about this. I don’t think even my mom and dad know.”

  Gloria Sands was the older sister of Davia’s father. The woman had been Davia’s favorite relative across the whole of either of her parents’ extremely large families.

  “A woman’s life is a trove of secrets.” Bess’s sigh held the unmistakable air of playful mystery. She gave a theatrical twirl away from the bar cart with her steaming mug of coffee still firm in her grip.

  “What sort of mystery could my aunt have been involved in in Iowa?”

  Bess inhaled the fragrant steam drifting off the mug. “Guess you’ll find out on Wednesday.”

  “What’s Wednesday?” Davia’s tone was absent at best. She was still aptly reviewing the document Bess had provided.

  “The day you meet with the Mullins town council.”

  Davia dragged her eyes up from the page and simply gaped at her lawyer.

  * * *

  “Are you serious?” Kale pinned his lawyer with an unwavering look and could see all too clearly that the man was completely not joking. “What the hell do I have to meet with the town council for?”

  Felton rested his elbows on his knees and conducted a mini thumb war between them. “Seems that after over sixty years the town of Mullins has finally had enough of looking at that piece of land you’ve come into. They find it to be an eyesore that’s driving down the property value in that area of town. That,” Felton said and brought an end to the thumb war, “and there’s talk of a developer wanting the land to put some overpriced artsy shops on.”

  Felton spread his hands and shrugged. “The town is calling this its good-faith effort at reaching out to the rightful owners. I think everyone who had a hand in this was all pretty surprised that there were any. At least, they acted surprised. I can’t get a straight answer on how it was overlooked that your uncle and Ms. Sands inherited this property over two decades ago.”

  Kale rubbed at his head, crowned by a crop of light brown waves. “You got any info on that place? Demographics? Economic info?”

  Felton’s tanned, hard-lined face softened with an easy smile. “I know what you’re getting at and the answer is no. Mullins wouldn’t be suited to any of the kinds of projects you like to sink your teeth into.”