“It’s a happy home.” Ma slid her hand inside mine. “It has been, hasn’t it? So many wonderful things to remember.”
“Today’s a good day.” My father draped his arm around me.
“‘And the good days helps us get through the not-so-good days.’” I finished his quotation.
“That’s right. See, they do listen, Frannie.” He kissed my cheek. “It’s all about family, Ava. You’re leaving us now, to go out and make your own family, and that’s good and right. It’s as it should be. But you’ll take a piece of us with you, and you’ll build your family on that piece.”
“Families are messy.” My mother spoke slowly. “We’re not perfect. We make mistakes. We yell, and we cry, and we say things we don’t mean. But at the end of the day, we’re still family. We’re built on love, and that love doesn’t go away. It’s with us, part of us, always.”
I blinked back sudden tears. “Thank you, both, for this family. I wouldn’t be who I am without you or without the family you made.” I closed my eyes. “I love you, Ma, Daddy.”
We stood in the fading light of the shortest day of the year until the shadows retreated.
THE CHURCH WAS PERFECT. It smelled of evergreen and lit candles. I stood with my father, Angela, Frankie and Julia in the foyer, watching as Carl walked my mother to her seat. Vincent had just seated Mrs. Bailey.
The music changed, and Julia smiled as she started up the aisle. Angela followed close behind, and then Frankie took her turn, walking with uncharacteristic sedateness.
“Our turn.” Daddy offered me his arm, and we stepped into the doorway. The congregation had risen to their feet at my mother’s cue, and the collective gasp gave me a little thrill.
I couldn’t see Liam yet, but Father Byers stood on the altar, beaming at me. I clung to my father’s arm as my heart pounded.
A few steps from the end of the aisle, I finally caught sight of my groom. Liam stood tall and unbelievably handsome in his dark suit. When he saw me, his mouth broke into a wide smile, and his eyes gleamed.
We stood at the front of the church while Father Byers intoned the beginning of the service, reminding everyone why we were here, charging us all to speak now if we knew any impediment to this marriage.
And then he was asking my father who presented this woman to be married to this man, and my father was speaking.
“Her mother and I do.” He drew me close, kissed my cheek, and passed my hand to Liam. For one breath, he held on to us both, pressing our hands together.
“Be happy.”
He stepped back to stand with my mother, and I walked forward with Liam toward the future.
We repeated the timeless words of faith and promise and love that had been handed down to us across the centuries. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish til death do us part.
Liam slid a band onto my finger, and I did the same to his. The soloist sang Ave Maria, and I presented a small bouquet to the Blessed Mother. Everything else passed in a blur of standing, sitting and kneeling, until Father Byers held our clasped hands.
“Those whom God has joined, let no man put asunder.” He smiled at us. “Liam, you may now kiss your bride.”
My husband took my hands and held them between his. He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered to me.
“I love you, Ava Catarine Bailey.”
His lips covered mine in the most gentle of kisses. It was a brief touch, and yet it contained the promise of a thousand tomorrows together.
THE RESTAURANT WAS DECORATED with Christmas greenery and burgundy bows, with candles on every available surface. We ate and we drank and we danced.
Oh, did we dance.
Liam and I opened the dance floor right after dinner. He held me close as Frank Sinatra crooned about the way I looked tonight.
“Have I told you yet how beautiful you are? How much I love you? How glad I am that you said yes?” Liam’s murmur tickled my ear, and I shivered.
“Only about twenty times.” I smiled up into his eyes.
“Then I’ve been remiss. I’ll have to make it up to you tonight.”
We were spending our wedding night at a hotel near the airport. The next morning, our flight would leave for Anguilla.
“A week on the whitest sand you’ve ever seen.” Liam kissed my nose. “I can’t wait.”
“I can’t, either. But I have to say . . . we had the perfect wedding.” Liam turned me, and I caught sight of my parents standing together, my father’s arms wrapped around my mom. They watched us, contentment on their faces. Beside them, Carl and Angela sat, the baby in my brother’s arms. Vincent leaned against a table, but he wasn’t looking at Liam and me. He was talking to Amanda, and she was gazing up at him with an expression in her eyes that I’d never seen there before. Hmmm.
On the other side of the room, Mrs. Bailey stood next to Alec, her boyfriend. He’d turned out to be a decent guy, quiet and kind. Liam and I both liked him. A few tables away, the Senator sat with his new wife, who looked miserably uncomfortable. I hoped for the sake of their child that things would work out for them. I wanted everyone to be happy.
Julia and Jesse were chatting with Giff and Jeff, and I saw Jesse’s hand rub his wife’s stomach more than once. She covered his hand with hers, and they linked fingers over their unborn child.
Jeff’s arm was slung over Giff’s shoulder, and when Giff glanced up at him, the love there made my heart glad.
“It really was perfect. Exactly what we wanted.” Liam drew my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it as the music faded. Frank Sinatra gave way to Bob Seger singing about old time rock and roll. “And now . . . it’s time to party.”
LIAM AND I BOTH slept the entire flight to Anguilla. We’d gotten to the airport hotel after two in the morning and caught a few hours of sleep before we had to board the plane.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m not sure I can stay awake to give you the wedding night you deserve.” Liam’s voice was muffled on the pillow.
“I know I couldn’t stay awake to appreciate it. We’ll have our real wedding night tomorrow, when we’ve slept. Tonight, just hold me.” And he did.
It was evening when we arrived at our resort. We were whisked from the front desk to our beachfront villa, which was filled with roses, champagne and chocolates. The attendant left our suitcases in the room and bowed out, smiling at us.
I stood on the lanai, watching the sunset paint the sand a vibrant pink. I felt Liam behind me before I heard his voice.
“There’s my beautiful wife.” He wrapped his arms beneath mine and held me tight, my back to his front. He bent his head and nuzzled my neck.
“Be careful, sir. I’m a married woman now.”
Liam laughed softly. “Come inside and prove it.”
I turned in his arms and linked my hands around his neck. “That sounds like a dare.”
He shook his head. “It’s an invitation.” He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me, starting soft and entreating before growing hard and more intense. Desire rose in me, and I pushed aside his shirt as he stripped mine from me.
We fell onto the bed together, a tangle of hands and lips. I only wanted him inside me, and suddenly I couldn’t wait.
Liam held himself over me, his erection nudging at my entrance. “I love my wife.” He slid into me, and I arched my hips to meet him.
“I love my husband.” My words were a gasp of pleasure as need built and I moved faster, urging him to join me. The low ache exploded into a thousand pieces of joy as I cried out his name. Liam tensed moments later, as he found his own release.
I lay in his arms as the room fell into darkness, his heart beat steady against my ear, the assurance of every dream I’d ever dreamed.
WE WOKE EARLY THE next morning and walked on the beach. I stood with my eyes closed, leaning back against my husband as the breeze whispered around us.
; “This, right now, this is perfection.” Liam rested his cheek against the top of my head. “All the vows I made to you Friday, and the ones I made to you on a much colder beach . . . this is what they mean. This is the beginning of our forever.”
I smiled and ran my hands over his arms as they surrounded me, holding me tight. “Our forever. You’re mine, and I’m yours. Even when things aren’t perfect. Even when they get messy, I still choose you.”
“Especially when things get messy.” He tilted my head up and covered my lips with his in a kiss that sealed that promise. When he spoke again, it was a whisper against my ear that echoed the ancient words we’d repeated the day before. “I choose you, forever. I choose the good days, the rotten days, the sad days and the happy days. I choose the days of you and me.”
THE END
***
“DANCE WITH ME.”
I recognized that voice with a thrill of both dread and need. Vincent’s hand closed on my shoulder, and I turned slowly.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I stared at his chest, not willing yet to look him in the eye.
“Why wouldn’t it be? What’s wrong with two friends dancing at a wedding?”
I shook my head. “But we’re not friends, Vincent. We’re just . . .” I tried to think of a way to word it. “Two people who slept together. Once.”
“I don’t remember sleeping that night.” He ran his hand down my arm, stopping at my wrist.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to show him what that touch was doing to me. “You know what I mean.”
“So we had sex. It was good. Doesn’t mean we have to be weird around each other, right? Matter of fact, that’s exactly what you said to me, that night.”
“I did.” I remembered every minute of that night in vivid color. I wished I didn’t.
“So dancing together wouldn’t be weird, either. If I hadn’t fucked you that night—”
I finally looked up at him. “Seriously? You fucked me?”
He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Keep your voice down if you don’t want to make explanations to my parents sitting over there.”
I rolled my eyes. I hated complications, and Vincent DiMartino was turning out to be a very big one.
“Anyway, as I was saying, if I hadn’t—excuse me, if we hadn’t—”
I waved my hand. “Fine, I get what you mean. If that night hadn’t happened.”
“Right. Then us dancing together at my sister’s wedding wouldn’t be weird. Some people might think it’s weird if we don’t dance. Two single young people, reasonable attractive . . .”
I raised one eyebrow. “Reasonably attractive? That’s not what you said that night.”
“Ah, you do remember, huh?” The grin widened. “Okay, counselor, I’ll say what I did that night. The sexiest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever had under me. Is that better?”
It was, and it wasn’t. I turned my head to look away, not wanting him to see anything in my eyes.
“Hey.” He forced me to look up again, two strong fingers under my chin. “Come on, Amanda. Dance with me. For just one more time, let me put my arms around you. It doesn’t have to be anything more than this. Just one dance.”
Harry Connick, Jr. was crooning, and the lights were low, and the man in front of me was not only incredibly handsome, he was maybe the best sex I’d ever had. What would it hurt, just one dance?
I let him pull me into his arms, and we moved onto the dance floor. I closed my eyes and hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake.
Yes, Amanda and Vincent will have their own story . . .
JUST ROLL WITH IT
will be released in the summer of 2015.
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Ava and Liam’s Wedding Night Play List
I Choose You by Sara Bareilles
Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
Be My Forever by Christina Perri and Ed Sheeran
Marry Me by Train
The Luckiest by Ben Folds
Stay With You by The Goo Goo Dolls
I Got You, Babe by UB40 and Chrissie Hynde
The Way You Look Tonight by Maroon 5
Wedding Song (There Is Love) by Peter, Paul and Mary
Future Days by Pearl Jam
First and foremost, thanks for this book must go to Leah Fenick. She was the first reader to beg me for more Ava and Liam. I hope you enjoy their happily-ever-after.
My thanks and gratitude to the usual suspects: Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon A Time covers for this gorgeous cover, Stacey Blake of Champagne Formatting for making everything so pretty and making me such lovely teasers, and Amanda Long for her unerring editing skills and advice (and talking me off the ledge more than once).
Appreciation to Mandie Stevens and the PBT team for promotion help, always!
Being an author can be a lonely existence. Even with a full house most days, it is rare that I can talk books, characters, story lines and the every-day neuroses with which writers struggle. I am grateful to my readers who message me just to talk about my books and characters, these people who are so real to us! It’s wonderful when you find people who love your imaginary friends as much as you do. By the same token, I’m not sure how many days I’d make it through without Olivia Hardin. Life under the rock rules.
And last but far from least, love and thanks to my awesome family: Clint, Devyn, Greg, Haley, Cate and David, all of whom put up with my snarly moods when I’m deep in the zone, my references to people they don’t know, trips to book events and working the tables. I couldn’t do it without y’all.
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Photograph by Heather Batchelder
Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books run from YA paranormal romance (THE KING SERIES), through NA paranormal and contemporary romance (THE SERENDIPITY DUET, PERFECT DISH DUO, THE ONE TRILOGY) to adult contemporary and paramystery romance (CRYSTAL COVE BOOKS and RECIPE FOR DEATH SERIES). She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.
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Other books by the author:
Fearless
Breathless
Restless
Endless
The King Series Boxset
Undeniable
Unquenchable
The Posse
The Last One
Best Served Cold
Just Desserts
I Choose You
Death Fricassee
Stardust on the Sea
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I Choose You Page 17
