by Lori Leger
“I will.” She let him slip the solitaire on her left hand. The diamond sparkled and winked, refracting the light from its many surfaces. She gazed at the ring, shaking her head in awe at its beauty. “I love this ring, Zachary.”
He nodded. “I had a hunch you would.”
She caught the amused twinkle in his eye. “How? How could you possibly know that this is the only ring I’ve ever wanted?”
“I admit to having a slight advantage.”
“How? Nobody else knew about this. This was my secret.”
“It was you, Cat.” He pulled another piece of paper from his pocket, this one a faded, yellow, two-inch square post-it note with some writing on it in hot pink ink. “You recognize this?”
She stared at the paper. “Where’d you get this?”
“I saw it fall out of your purse onto the floor in Mr. Bertrand’s Algebra I classroom our freshman year of high school. It’s your handwriting.”
She nodded, unable to keep the smile from her face. “I remember writing this—dotting my little i’s with tiny hearts, drawing a crown over the word princess.” She wiped at the corner of her eye as she read from the paper. “My perfect engagement ring: ONE CARAT (no more, no less) solitaire, princess cut diamond, in a platinum setting.”
She looked up at him to explain. “Kayla’s older sister just got engaged and everybody else thought her ring was so pretty, but I didn’t like it. I wrote down everything I wanted in a ring and was going to put it in my wish box at home. But when I got home—”
“It wasn’t there, because it fell out of your purse.”
She nodded. “So, I wrote down the same info on another slip of paper and put it inside the box. It’s just one of many silly things that fourteen and a half year old girls do. I still have that box, and that slip of paper is still inside.” She glanced up, her vision cloudy from tears. “But this one—this is the original.”
Zach grasped her face gently in his hands. “Just like you, Cat. You’re my original. The only one I’ve ever wanted. The only one I’ll ever want.”
He kissed her then—finally kissed her the way she had always imagined her first kiss should be with the love of her life. What started sweetly enough, with gently exploring tongues and tender nibbles at her lower lip, progressed to his hands tangled in her hair, and hers grasping at any spot on his torso she could hang on to. Two bodies, pressed up against each other in a heated exchange, flattened against the wood siding of her mother’s house.
He pulled back, smiled at her before going in for one more kiss.
“Why the hell didn’t you kiss me like that the night you brought me home, Zach?”
He grinned. “I had my reasons.”
“You chickened out.”
“No. I knew if we had started that night, we wouldn’t have been able to stop.”
“I’ve got a feeling you’re right about that,” she said, nibbling at his lower lip. “And…”
“And I don’t want that for us. I want us to wait until we’re married.”
Her breath released in a rush of air. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Hear me out, Cat. I’ve been with other women and I’m assuming you’ve been with other guys. That’s none of my business.”
“What’s your point?” She had to wonder where he was going with this.
“I’d like to make this special for us. I’ve waited for you for a long, long time. Another year won’t kill me.”
She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, this time spinning so that he was the one pressed up against the siding. She pulled away, shaky and panting. “I don’t need an entire year to plan a wedding.”
“How long then? I want to walk you down an aisle in our church, Cat. I don’t want to marry you in a courthouse, or in Vegas in front of some guy dressed like Elvis. Can you plan a church wedding in six months?”
She nipped at his lower lip and smiled. “Heck, I can do that in three, maybe even less than that.”
He released a low groan. “Oh God. That would be so great if you could.”
“I know, right? I’ll get right on it, and Zach?”
“Hm?”
“I love you so very much.”
He swallowed and nodded. “I know you do, Cat. I’ve always prayed you’d figure it out for yourself one day.” He touched his forehead to hers and pressed a gentle kiss to her swollen lips. “You ready to tell your mom and the others?”
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”
After a minute or so of straightening their clothes and smoothing down each other’s hair, they joined hands and headed for the back yard.
Zach lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to it. He pulled the yellow notepaper from her fingers and examined it. “You want to hear something crazy?”
“What’s that, Zach-attack?”
“I used to pretend you wanted me to find this.”
She met his gaze and smiled, knowing, with certainty, he was the only man for her.
“You want to hear something even crazier? I used to pretend you had.”
Chapter 6
“You’re killing me, Cat.”
Zach’s groan reverberated throughout the truck as Cathryn gave him one long, last, lingering kiss before slipping out of his embrace.
“Goodnight, Zachary.”
“Oh God, don’t go yet. Please Cat, let me hold you for five more minutes.”
“No, Zach.” She pushed gently at the strong hands trying to hold her. “We’ve already fogged up the windshield, and the mosquitoes are beginning to swarm.” She slapped at one that landed on her neck. “Besides, this is your request, not mine. No sex before the wedding, traditional ceremony in the church in front of all of our friends and family, remember? If it were up to me, we’d be married already, and I’d be all over that.” She pointed at what surely must be a painful sign of sexual frustration in Zach’s lap. “I could be enjoying that the way God intended.”
He placed his hat over his lap to hide the acutely visible bulge. “I know, and as usual, you’re right.”
She beamed up at him. “You know, I never get tired of hearing that.”
“Uh huh.” He caught her for another soft nuzzle to her neck. “I know what turns my girl on.”
Cat fought to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head as her insides turned to liquid heat. “Come in the house with me, Zach. Just this once?” She pushed his ‘lap-hat’ aside and reached for him.
“No!” He pushed her hand away and straightened, setting her away from him. “It’s only two weeks. We can wait two weeks when we’ve waited this long.”
Cat pushed out her lower lip in what he called her sex-kitten pout, knowing damned well he couldn’t resist kissing her when she used it on him.
Zachary played right into her hand as he leaned forward to pull her lower lip into his mouth. The warmth of his large but gentle hand settled at the back of her head, pulling her closer. This time, it was Cat’s guttural groan to break the thick silence inside the truck.
“Why are we torturing each other this way?” She slipped her hands under his shirt, molding them to his hard chiseled abs. “Let’s go find a J.P. and get married. We already have the license. We’ll go through with the wedding in the church when it’s time and nobody else will know. We’ll have our own private ceremony, just for us.”
He pulled his mouth from her neck, hissing under his breath. “Damn, girl, that’s a tempting offer. I almost wish you were serious.”
She pushed him back against the door of his truck and straddled his lap, grasping his face to make her point. “I am serious, dammit! Marry me, Zach. Marry me. Tonight. Now.”
“Cathryn …”
“Zachary …”
“Where’s the nearest J.P.?”
“Seriously? Can we?”
He kissed her hard and laughed. “Okay, beautiful. Let’s do it.”
She squealed gleefully, grabbing at her phone to access her search browser. Within minutes, she’d found the numb
er to a Justice of the Peace, thirty minutes away.
“Thirty minutes? Wait, isn’t Josh Cormier’s grandpa a Justice of the Peace here in Lake Erin? And I know there is one somewhere in Jennings.”
“Yes, he is, and yes, there is one in Jennings. But if we go to either one of them, someone in our family is bound to hear about it. How badly do you want to keep this a secret?”
He deliberated for two seconds before agreeing with her. “You ready to go now?”
She glanced down at the jeans and tank top she wore. “Can I run in and change into a sundress?”
“Sure you can. I should go home and change. I really don’t want to marry you in old jeans and a T-shirt.”
She cast a heated glance down his muscular body, thrilled that she’d be getting her fill of it two weeks sooner than expected. “I’d marry you in that, but your black jeans are here, along with that button down striped shirt. You know, from last week, when you changed a flat tire for that poor old lady during that thunderstorm?”
He nodded. “I forgot those were here.”
She led him inside, nearly tripped over something solid but soft.
Zach leaned over to pick up the blue-gray cat he’d given her as a homecoming gift months earlier. “Hey Chableu. How you doing, boy? Did you miss me?”
Cat grabbed a hanger from her utility room and handed it to her fiancé. “Here you go, babe. You can go ahead and change in the bathroom…” Her voice faltered as he dropped Chableu gently on the floor and pulled off his shirt in one swift movement, baring his tanned, toned, work-hardened torso to her hungry eyes. “Or not,” she finished.
He reached for the shirt, grinning at her. “Close your mouth, Cat.” Zach chuckled as she snapped it shut and walked into her bedroom. He didn’t dare follow, but instead kicked off his boots and dropped his faded jeans to the floor where he stood. He slipped into the new black ones, washed and pressed for him, as was the shirt.
A couple of minutes later, all buttoned, zipped, buckled, and tucked into place, he’d just slipped back into his boots when Cat appeared in the doorway. He sucked in his breath at the vision of her in a short, sleeveless white dress, overlaid with shimmery silver lace. Her hair, for the most part, clipped in a loose collection of dark curls, with a few escapees of long, natural ringlets.
“God almighty, I am one lucky son of a bitch.” He groaned, reaching for the girl he’d loved since sixth grade, the woman he’d waited for—for over eighteen long years of his life. Throughout every single one of those years, they’d been the best of friends. He’d waited patiently for her to see what he’d always known. They were good as friends, but they would be better as a couple. He could hardly wait to marry the only woman he’d ever loved enough to consider making his wife.
“Will this do?” She smoothed the lace down over her slim, but shapely hips. “I bought it for our honeymoon cruise, but I thought maybe…”
“You thought right. It’s perfect. From your hair, to the dress…” He glanced down at some shade of pink polished toenails peeking out from a pair of silver too-tall-to-walk-in heels. “To those sexy as hell shoes you’re wearing.” He whistled. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
She smiled, lifted her hand to his cheek. “I’m hoping to make a nice memory for us. Maybe someone will be around to take a couple of pictures during the ceremony?” She straightened his collar before stroking his chest. “Our secret ceremony.”
“Bring your camera babe. I’ll make sure there are pictures. Now where’s that number so I can call the JP and get us married?”
An hour later, they’d climbed back into Zach’s truck as the Justice of the Peace and his wife waved at them from their front door. Zach sat next to Cathryn and pulled their fresh marriage certificate from the envelope so he could stare at it.
Cat glanced at the certificate in his hands, then up at her new husband. “Whatcha doing, Zachary?”
“Just want to make sure I didn’t dream it, that’s all.” He grinned, knowing that he was about to spend the best damned night of his life. “How does it feel to be Mrs. Cathryn Ferguson?”
She leaned in for a kiss. “Feels wonderful. Now take me home. Then ask me again after we’ve made love for the first time.” She nipped at his ear and purred, rubbing her hand along his thigh.
Zach shivered, anticipating the night ahead. He lifted her left hand, kissed the ring he’d so recently slipped on her finger, and then pulled her tight against him for another kiss. “I still can’t believe it. We’re married.”
“Yes we are. For better or worse.”
“For richer or poorer,” he added, kissing the tip of her nose.
“Forsaking all others as long as we both shall live, or else.” She made a fist.
“Do you really think I’d risk losing you after waiting so long to get you to marry me?”
Her fist opened, turned into a gentle caress over his five o’clock shadowed jawline. “No. I always knew that whenever you married, it would be for life, and with total dedication. I always believed that your wife would be the luckiest woman ever, but I never thought it would be me.”
Zach leaned in to give his wife a long, tender kiss then rested his forehead against hers.
“Take me home, Zachary,” she whispered. “Our home.”
“You got it.” He started the truck and slipped one arm around her, pulling her close for a few seconds before swinging his arm back over. “You need to put your seat belt on.”
“You first.” Cat reached around to pull it across his body and buckle it up. She snuggled up against him, her arm wrapped around his waist, her head tucked securely against his broad chest.
“Cat, you need to buckle up.”
“I will, just as soon as I get my fill of this.”
“Cathryn Jade McDaniel Ferguson!” His voice filled the cab. “I’m not putting this truck in gear until you scoot over there and buckle up.”
“Please don’t make me move. It’s so comfy right here.” Her hand inched its way down his chest. “Just think how much fun I could have on the way home.”
He pulled her hand up where he could see it. “Hell no! I’d drive off the road. Come on, you know the rules. Jeremy would still be alive if he’d been wearing his seatbelt.” He shook his head, still unable to believe his friend wouldn’t be around to stand up as ‘best-man’ in his wedding. The thought of the wife and two kids his friend had left behind gave him renewed determination as he slid her gently across the seat. “Seriously, I’m not leaving until you do.”
“Oo-kaaay.” She finally relented. “You’re right.”
He leaned over to give her a kiss. “Yes I am. And by the way, I never get tired of hearing that, either.”
Fifteen minutes later, he approached the bustling, brightly lit intersection in Jennings and stopped for the red light. “Damn, I should have stopped at the Super Center since we were passing through. I need to pick up a cartridge for my office printer.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I picked one up yesterday for you. I think I got the right one.”
The traffic light turned green and he eased his foot off the brake, pleased that she’d remembered something he’d mentioned in passing. Damn, but she was thoughtful that way.
“I picked up the multi-pack of black and tri-colored. Is this it?”
He turned to inspect the box she’d pulled from her purse and held up for his perusal. He glanced at it, but shifted his gaze to something behind her—the yellow and black Hummer barreling toward his truck. Just for an instant, his focus shifted to his wife’s beaming face before she turned to see what had caught his attention.
One split second later and life, as he had previously known it, came to a painfully abrupt, screeching halt.
Chapter 7
Cat blinked several times to clear her eyes. When she could keep them open without her vision clouding, she tried to focus on whatever was in front of her. Ceiling tiles? White institutional-type ceiling tiles, framed with white metal strips. S
he shifted her eyes from left to right, trying to see something other than the span of white. She caught sight of clear bags and tubing hanging from metal brackets. A steady beeping and soft motorized purr coincided with a tightening on her arm. A blood pressure cuff and pulse monitor? She closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. She caught a whiff of betadine, along with alcohol, another dead giveaway of her location. Why the hell was she in a hospital?
Gripped by a sudden panic, she tried to lift her head. Her exertion rewarded her with an immediate explosion of pain. Cat cried out as it sliced through her head and neck. In an instant, someone was there.
“Cat? Oh, God, Cat. You’re awake! Thank God. Thank you, God. Thank you!”
“Zach?” The single word, spoken in a hoarse unrecognizable croak, sounded like it came from another person. “What are you doing here? Why am I in a hospital?”
“We were in a wreck, Cat. Somebody ran a light and rammed the passenger side, where you were sitting.”
“Was…was Chris hurt?” As Zach’s face turned the color of chalk, her panic grew to monumental proportions. “Chris? Where’s Chris, my fiancé? Is he all right?”
After what seemed like an eternity of Zach’s expressions portraying several different levels of emotion, he finally nodded, and answered. “Chris wasn’t with us, so he’s fine, Cat.” He sounded controlled, outwardly calm. But it seemed like a forced calm—the kind you see in one of those police drama hostage situations. Like when a thug holds a gun to someone’s head, so they won’t give him up to the cop at the door.
“How long have I been out, Zach?”
He walked toward the door and turned, his eyes dark with circles, his face lined with worry. “Two days. Only two days, Cat. We were lucky because the doctors didn’t know when…or if…”
“I want to see Chris, Zach. Is he here?”
“You’re not—he’s not—Cat, you’re with…” he stammered, until his voice cracked.
She nearly lost it then. In all the years she’d known Zach, she’d never seen him this close to breaking down. “What! Was someone else hurt?”