Dylan's Destiny
Page 15
Dylan eyed his sister. “Bargain shopper’s day?”
“We helped solve two cases for the price of one, not to mention Crowe and Silva’s indictment.”
“We?” Zach eyed her. “I don’t seem to recall seeing you at command central while all this was going on.”
“What can I say? I’m too busy playing devoted wife and new mommy to bring down my own bad guys. I have to settle for living vicariously through my baby brother.”
“Settle?” Dylan asked.
“Okay, I’m not settling. I would trade a dozen bad guys for one day with Cole and Elizabeth.” She turned and smiled at her husband, who held a baby girl with chubby cheeks and lots of dark-brown ringlets. Dylan’s niece. She looked healthy and happy.
Just like her mother.
“You like the domestic thing that much?” Dylan asked his sister, who’d once been so committed to her job as a forensics expert that he’d seriously doubted she would ever marry and find herself a happily ever after. She’d been skeptical, as well, until Cole Bishop had turned her life upside down and shown her the true meaning of love.
Just as Julie had shown Dylan.
“It’s heaven,” Lily replied, “so long as I don’t have to do dishes. Or windows. And Cole trades off getting up at night with me. Speaking of domesticity—” she winked at her brother “—are you ready to get a taste of it yourself? Reverend Blair is signaling us to start.”
He slid his arm around his sister’s shoulder and squeezed. “Lead the way.”
* * *
“I NOW PRONOUNCE you man and wife.” The minute the words were out of Reverend Blair’s mouth, a round of applause erupted.
Julie found herself pulled into Dylan’s arms. He hooked one arm around her waist and drew her close. She felt the warmth of his breath, the heat in his eyes, and then his mouth touched hers. He kissed her wildly. He kissed her senseless. He kissed her until she was laughing and crying at the same time.
“I was going to say kiss the bride,” the minister announced when the kiss ended. “But Dylan here obviously couldn’t wait.”
“I’ve been waiting my entire life,” Dylan replied as he held Julie in his arms and stared deeply into naturally blue eyes.
“Me, too.” Julie blinked back the moisture, slid her arms around Dylan’s neck and planted a kiss on her husband’s waiting lips.
The crowd let loose another round of applause, followed by a piercing shriek. Both Julie and Dylan turned to see Lily, Julie’s matron of honor, standing next to them with Thomas in her arms. His cheeks rosy and his eyes dancing, he smiled at his mommy and gave another shriek—his favorite means of communicating these days.
Julie shared his excitement. This day was the best of her life. As she stared up at her new husband, she had the gut feeling there would be many more to come, and if there was one thing she now trusted, it was her instinct.
It had been telling her all along that Dylan was the man for her. All those nights in college when she’d stayed up late studying with him, when she’d cried to him after a particularly defeating chemistry test, when she’d called him up to talk about her problems. All along, she’d felt the connection with him, the intimacy. She’d simply been afraid to see it for what it was—love.
True, till-death-do-us-part love.
“I think he’s happy,” Dylan said when Thomas shrieked again and waved his chubby arms.
She smiled at her husband. “So is his mother.”
“And his father.” At Julie’s sharp glance, Dylan added, “His soon-to-be father. If that’s all right with you?”
“What are you saying?” She wanted to believe, but she couldn’t until she heard him say the words.
“I want to adopt him. To be a real father, emotionally and legally.”
While Julie knew Dylan loved her son, she’d never let herself dream that his love would be so strong, so true.
It was, she realized in a crystalline moment. It had been all along, and she and Thomas were alive and well because of it.
She nodded. “Yes, it’s all right with me. It’s more than all right. It’s the most wonderful idea I’ve heard.”
His fingertips cupped her chin. “Then why are you crying?”
She blinked and wiped at a stray tear. “Because I love you. You really are my hero.”
“Let’s not start with that again.”
“I mean it. You’re my hero, my lover, my best friend and husband all rolled into one.” She shook her head and tried to comprehend her good fortune. Overwhelming to a woman who for so long had never thought beyond tomorrow.
All that had changed now, thanks to Dylan. She had a home here at the Double G, with Lily and Cole and baby Elizabeth and the rest of Dylan’s family. She was his family now.
“You’re my everything,” she told him.
“And you’re mine.”
“Now, now,” Lily said as she leaned toward Julie. “What’s with all the crying? Your guests are waiting and we’ve got a party to go to.”
“And a life to live. Together. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Garrett?”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Mr. Garrett.”
Julie hooked her arm through Dylan’s and they started down the aisle, past the rows of guests, who included so many wonderful friends and family, toward the white carriage waiting at the end of the walk to take them back to the ranch house, to their reception and a future that looked as bright as the Texas sun shining overhead.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460304402
DYLAN’S DESTINY
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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