A SEAL's Consent (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 4)

by Cora Seton

  “I don’t think so.” Jericho shot her a funny look.

  “No, I guess not.” Savannah hung her head. What was she saying? She’d just convinced Jericho she wasn’t like Win. He’d doubt her intentions if she kept acting like this.

  “Maybe… Maybe we shouldn’t get the ring re-sized. Maybe it fits,” she tried again.

  “Savannah.” Jericho stopped and peered down at her. “You just said it would fall off.”

  “I could…” What could she do? Wrap it with yarn? He was right; the ring needed to be fixed.

  “What’s going on?” he added.

  “What did Rose say about our future?” Savannah demanded.

  She thought Jericho would laugh the question off, but he blinked, and suddenly Savannah knew she was right. Rose had held the ring; she’d seen something.

  Something bad.

  “She told me… there was more going on than I knew. And you know what?” He laughed. “She was right.”

  They both stared at the petite woman still helping another woman at the counter. Rose looked up, smiled and waved at them. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” she called.

  “She’ll have to hold it again in order to fix it,” Savannah told him.

  Jericho nodded slowly.

  “We could go somewhere else,” Savannah suggested.

  “Yeah.” But Jericho didn’t move.

  “Well?”

  “Are we really going to let someone else tell us how things turn out?”

  She saw his point. Shouldn’t their relationship be stronger than that?

  “I say we stay,” he said. “Let’s do this. I love you. That’s not going to change.”

  “I love you, too,” Savannah said. “You’re right. No one else can determine our future.” She lifted her chin. She was committed to making their marriage work.

  He took her arm and they walked together to where Rose had just handed a bag to the other customer. “Have a good day, now. Thanks for shopping at Thayer’s.” She turned to Jericho and Savannah. “Hey, you two. I’m so glad to see you. How do you like your ring, Savannah?”

  “I love it. But it’s a little big.” With shaking hands, she pulled the ring from its box, took a deep breath and handed it to Rose. “Can you fix it?”

  Rose took it and closed her eyes.

  A broad grin spread over her face. “I can make it smaller, but I don’t see anything that needs fixing here.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‡

  “I’m nervous,” Savannah said the evening before their wedding. Jericho stood with her in her room at the manor preparing for the rehearsal dinner that was to take place downstairs in a matter of minutes. Maud had sent Mrs. Wood, her cook, over to prepare the meal, and a banquet table had been set up in the ballroom. Her parents had arrived in Chance Creek just after noon, and Jericho had already met them at a stiff, but passably friendly, afternoon tea at the Cruz ranch guest house where they were staying. He felt he could face them tonight without worry. His parents, sister and brother-in-law would attend the rehearsal and dinner, as would his aunt, uncle, Donovan and Jackie. He was far more worried about how that might go.

  After much debate, they’d decided not to serve alcohol at dinner. His parents were sober, and Kara was only newly so. Savannah couldn’t drink because of the baby, and he didn’t want to put the temptation in front of his aunt and uncle; according to Donovan, they’d begun to discuss the possibility of seeking help once they found out they were going to be grandparents. Jericho worried the affair might be stilted without the social lubrication that alcohol provided, but when he’d expressed his fears to Maud and James, the couple assured him they’d thrown many such parties successfully.

  “The key is the food,” Maud swore, “and with Mrs. Wood preparing it, you won’t have to worry. A well-prepared appetizer can be the equivalent of several glasses of champagne. You’ll see.”

  Jericho wasn’t sure he believed her, but it was too late now. “We’ll be fine,” he told Savannah. “All families have their issues. Why should ours be any different?”

  “If it gets too bad we’ll run away and elope.”

  “Then Avery won’t be able to wear her tiara,” Jericho told her.

  “Lord, we don’t want that.” Savannah laughed and Jericho’s heart throbbed. He loved it when his fiancée was happy. “You’re right,” she went on. “No matter what happens we have to make this work because I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.”

  Jericho had wondered what it would feel like to see his aunt and uncle after so much time had passed, but when the moment came, it was as if he’d seen them only yesterday. His aunt cried out happily when she caught a glimpse of him, pulled him into an embrace and hugged him hard. “Jericho, look at you. Just—look at you!” There were tears in her eyes as she hugged him again. His uncle shook his hand briskly when she finally released him.

  “Glad to see you. You’ve grown into a fine man. Very proud of you.”

  “We always watch your show,” Patty said.

  Jericho introduced them to Savannah. “This is my fiancée. Savannah, meet my aunt Patty and my uncle Chris.”

  He had another moment of trepidation when it came time to introduce the families to each other, but to his surprise, Donovan stepped in and made it all easy by cracking jokes, and giving them each a moniker that soon had them all in stitches. He kept control of the social reins through the evening, bossing around all the guests so skillfully, Jericho was able to sit back and enjoy the rehearsal, and the meal, something he hadn’t anticipated doing.

  When Savannah’s mother tilted her head back and roared with laughter at one of Donovan’s off-color jokes, he knew everything would be okay. He took Savannah’s hand under the table. “I love you.”

  “I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Savannah said.

  “Me, neither.”

  After dinner, under Avery’s urging, a number of the men worked together to roll the baby grand piano from the parlor to the ballroom. Others worked to move the rest of the furniture in the room aside, and soon Savannah was able to take a seat on the bench and begin to play a boisterous waltz. Jericho, not willing to let Donovan take center stage all evening, asked Savannah’s mother to dance. Donovan asked Jericho’s mother, and soon a half-dozen couples swirled around the room.

  When Savannah’s father tapped on his shoulder and claimed his wife again, Jericho went and grabbed Avery and whirled her briskly around the floor.

  “Thank you. I hate sitting out dances,” Avery told him, laughing as he turned her more abruptly than was strictly necessary and her dress flew around her ankles.

  “My pleasure.” He’d like to have been dancing with Savannah, but since she was busy providing the music, he figured he’d squire around as many of the other women as possible. A sharp tap on his shoulder startled him and he stumbled when he found Walker glowering behind him. “Don’t get your feathers in a ruffle,” Jericho told him. “You snooze, you lose.” He pretended he was going to keep dancing and laughed out loud when Walker gave him a hard shove that knocked him into Clay and Nora. “Sorry,” he told them and made his way to Savannah’s side, happy that the big man had taken the bait and now wouldn’t leave Avery’s side for the rest of the evening.

  “You handled that well,” Savannah said over the lively music of the waltz.

  “I aim to please.”

  “You are rather pleasing.” She looked him up and down.

  He kissed her, and the notes of the song went a little funny for a minute or two. No one seemed to mind.

  As his parents spun by, dancing together now, his father nodded at him, obviously enjoying himself. Savannah’s parents came by only moments later.

  “I get it now,” her mother called out.

  Savannah botched another set of notes and looked up at Jericho. “What did she mean? Look at her—she’s smiling!”

  Jericho watched Savannah’s parents dance, and wondered how many lives had been changed in the course of their
coming together. “I think she’s happy,” he told Savannah.

  “I know I am.”

  “I always knew I was meant to wear a crown,” Avery said the following afternoon as they gathered in Savannah’s room to prepare for the wedding.

  Savannah was so happy she felt fit to burst, but thankfully Alice had measured well and her gown fit perfectly and camouflaged her pregnancy. Not that it mattered, she thought. Everyone knew her condition. But still, she was glad to retain her figure for the photographs she knew she’d cherish for the rest of her life.

  “You look very regal,” Savannah told her. “We all do.” No matter what tradition dictated, she’d told Riley and Nora they had to stand with her as her bridesmaids, too. They’d gone into this adventure together and she needed them by her side now that she was marrying the man she loved. As the four of them stood together, their graceful tiaras glinting in the sunlight filtering into the room, she thought all of them looked regal, but it wasn’t the tiaras that did it; it was the wisdom they’d gained in the months since they’d come to Westfield. They’d endured hardship and pain and change in addition to the normal ups and downs of life. They’d all grown stronger—more resilient.

  She knew she was ready to face whatever life might throw her way. It made her proud to know that downstairs lay a hand-written copy of the first real song she’d ever composed. A lullaby for her baby. One she’d be able to play and sing when her child was born. A special song belonging only to them.

  She had more music in her—she knew she did. And her schedule was already filling with events and occasions at which she’d been invited to play. Some in town, some several hours away. She could see she’d keep very busy without even straying too far from home.

  The more she sang, the more she realized she wanted that to be a part of her life, too, and she’d joined a local choir. This wasn’t college; there weren’t any tests or grades, so she didn’t have to worry if she wasn’t perfect. This was simply life—and she’d found she could do whatever she liked in it.

  “Tonight you’ll sleep in your very own tiny house,” Riley reminded her.

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Savannah said. She’d watched with interest as it had been built, of course, knowing it would soon belong to Jericho, but it had become a tradition for the wives not to see inside their houses until their wedding night, and Savannah was on pins and needles. All the tiny houses were beautifully made, and she’d share this one with Jericho. “I love it here,” she exclaimed suddenly.

  “I do, too,” Riley said.

  “Me, too,” Nora agreed.

  “Me, three—or make that four,” Avery said.

  Savannah grabbed Riley’s hand and reached for Nora, who took hold of Avery, who reached for Riley and completed the circle. “Look at us. Look how far we’ve come. We’re doing everything we set out to do and so much more. You three saved me from myself. I was creating a life that didn’t suit me at all. I’d never have known Jericho without you. I’d never have embraced a life of music without you. Together we make miracles. And we’ll keep making them, I swear to all of you. We won’t stop making miracles until we’re all happy.”

  “Hear, hear to that,” Avery said loudly.

  “Group hug!” Nora cried and they all fell into each other’s arms.

  The door opened and Savannah’s mother poked her head in. “It’s time.”

  “Uh-oh,” Anders said loudly when Walker entered the second-floor guest bedroom of the manor, where the men had gathered to ready themselves for the wedding.

  Dressed in the old-fashioned uniforms they always donned for these occasions, they looked like a regiment prepared to march off to fight in the Revolutionary War. They’d worn them enough that most required few adjustments, but Alice was taking her time over Jericho’s uniform, making sure it was just right.

  “We all know what time it is,” Boone said, following Walker into the room.

  Walker held up a fistful of twigs, all equally long—or so they appeared. Someone would draw the short straw in a minute. Or rather, short twig. Jericho was grateful he no longer had to worry about that.

  “Four married, six to go,” Boone intoned. “Angus, Anders, Kai, Curtis, Greg, let’s go.”

  “What about Walker?” Curtis muttered.

  “He’s already here,” Boone said.

  The big man held out his fist toward Anders, who stood closest to him. With a sigh, Anders picked a twig, and chuckled when he held up a long one. “That’s another forty days of freedom.”

  Greg picked next, and drew a long one, too. Angus stepped forward almost angrily, and grabbed one randomly from Walker’s fist. Jericho was relieved for him when it turned out to be long, as well.

  Kai was next and he choose his without a fuss—

  But when he held up a short twig, his expression changed. His gaze caught Anders’s, Jericho’s, and Boone’s in succession, and he paled.

  “But—”

  “Congratulations!” Boone clapped a hand on his shoulder. “One wife on the way, just like you ordered. I’ve already got a batch of responses from that ad for Jericho’s backup bride.”

  “But—”

  “You don’t have a fiancée hidden away, do you?” Boone challenged him.

  Kai shook his head.

  “Then like I said, I’ll be happy to provide one for you.” He gave Kai’s shoulder a friendly shake. “All right—it’s time. Let’s get out there and get this done.” He stopped by Jericho on his way toward the door. “Do us proud.”

  “I will.” Jericho wasn’t nervous at all. Not like Kai, who looked about to have a breakdown. Or Walker, who still stood contemplating the last two twigs in his fist.

  He was about to marry the woman he loved.

  And he couldn’t be happier.

  Maud and James had provided a string quartet for the wedding, and as the musicians struck up the chords of the traditional march, Savannah took a deep breath, knowing this truly was the happiest day of her life. Just a few short weeks ago, she’d despaired of ever winding up with Jericho. She’d thought she’d have to navigate her path through life and parenthood alone, but she’d found she was surrounded by friends who’d become her family—and would never let her be lonely for long.

  She understood how much bravery it had required for Jericho to face the fear he couldn’t protect their baby. She knew the depth of his love both for her and their child. She hoped she could show him how to keep that worry at bay long enough to live in the present and enjoy his family, but from what she’d seen, Jericho was already halfway there.

  And now she didn’t feel the need to prove her talent to her family, she’d found her days were all the richer for the variety of tasks she took on. Whether it was playing the piano, singing, teaching, preparing for the next guests to stay at the bed and breakfast, or working with Jericho on the energy grid, she found herself energized and loving the busy complexity of her life.

  Life would get even busier—and more complicated—when their baby arrived. But there would be countless hands to help ease the work—and countless hearts to share her triumph.

  As the music struck up, first Avery, then Nora, then Riley stepped forward to walk down the aisle. Finally it was her turn.

  “I’m proud of you,” her father told her. “Proud of the way you held your ground and made the life you wanted to live. I’m sorry we caused you so much heartache, honey. Your mom and I got off track. We got tied up in an image of success that isn’t serving us well. I think you’ll see some changes from us, too. Big ones. We want to get back to our roots. Back to innovation. We stayed up talking all last night—so we might be tired today, but we’re happy. Really happy—for the first time in a while.” He kissed the top of her head.

  Savannah’s heart was full as she took the first steps of her journey down the aisle to where Jericho stood waiting for her, so handsome in his old-fashioned uniform. Boone, Clay and Walker stood with him and her heart swelled with the knowledge of how much it meant for
him to have them by his side. They’d been there at his darkest moments, and now they were with him at his brightest. Love and gratitude filled her until she thought she’d burst.

  As she took her position by Jericho’s side, and her father kissed her and went to take his seat, she blinked back tears of happiness.

  “Dearly Beloved,” the minister began, and Savannah knew she’d truly come home to where she belonged. Her baby fluttered inside her and she placed a hand on her abdomen, full of anticipation for the life she was about to lead.

  She loved Jericho.

  She couldn’t wait to be his wife.

  When Jericho took Savannah’s hand and repeated the vows Reverend Halpern spoke, he thought his heart would burst with love for the woman beside him.

  The last few months had been so tumultuous they’d had few quiet times together to solidify their relationship, and he looked forward to waking up with her every morning and going to bed with her every night. He knew it was the small things that would make all of this real. Sharing a home with her. Making decisions with her.

  Holding her in his arms at night.

  Jericho’s whole body was aware of the beautiful woman next to him and the knowledge that she was pledging her heart to his—forever—humbled him in a way he’d never expected.

  He swore he’d always protect her—and their child—to the best of his abilities, and he wouldn’t let past failures cloud his mind or judgement.

  He swore he’d keep his heart open, too, even when he was worried for what the future might bring. He didn’t want to separate his heart from the ones he loved. He knew firsthand how painful that could be.

  He swore he’d work twice as hard to make Base Camp a success and to find his place in spreading its message to the world. He knew it was still important—maybe more so than ever. Now that he’d have a child to inherit the world he made, it was paramount to protect that world, too.

  But most of all he swore he’d be there for Savannah, now and forever. He swore to love her. Always.