by Francis Ray
“Beating up Daniel isn’t going to solve anything,” she said, dashing away tears. “He’s their friend.”
“Was,” Kane said, opening the door. Matt followed. Their wives threw one sympathetic look at Madelyn and rushed after their husbands.
Madelyn covered her face with her hands. What a mess.
* * *
Daniel was in a good mood. Everything was set for his surprise. Whistling, he bounced down the stairs, heading for the garage. The pounding on his front door changed his direction.
The housekeeper reached the door first. In strode a visibly irate Matt and Kane, their wives ineffectually trying to hold on to their arms.
In an instant Daniel knew. “I take full responsibility.”
“You should have listened to me,” Kane said, anger in every word he spit out.
“Kane, she cares about him,” Victoria told her husband.
“She picked the wrong man to cry over,” Matt stated, trying to shake off Shannon’s hold without jarring her.
“Crying. What did you do to her?” Daniel asked, closing the distance separating them. “If you upset her, I’ll tear you apart.”
“Me? You’re the one who got her pregnant and dumped her,” Kane said, having just as much difficulty untangling Victoria’s arms from around his neck as his brother was having with Shannon.
“I didn’t dump Madelyn, she dumped me,” Daniel said.
“I don’t believe you, Daniel,” Shannon said, hanging on to Matt’s neck. “Madelyn loves you.”
“That’s why she dumped me,” he explained. “She didn’t believe I loved her in return.”
“Was she right?” Victoria demanded.
“No!” Daniel said. “It just took me a little time to realize it. I was on my way over there now to ask her to marry me again.”
Matt stopped struggling with his wife and almost smiled. “Daddy will be glad to see you.”
* * *
Madelyn’s eyes widened on seeing Daniel and her brothers and sisters-in-law enter her apartment. He didn’t appear bruised or intimidated. Immediately his dark gaze locked on her. There was something softer, warmer in the way he looked at her.
“You’ve got some nerve coming here,” greeted her father, advancing purposely toward Daniel.
Her father’s angry expression caused Madelyn to spring up from the sofa, where she had been sitting with her mother, and place herself in his path. She dreaded doing so because she would have to look into his face again and see the disappointment and pain in his eyes and know she had put it there.
She didn’t think it was a coincidence that he was the one to go and check on the twins after her brothers left. He hadn’t returned until now. “Daddy, please—this will only make things worse.”
With gentle but determined hands, Daniel moved Madelyn out of the way. “Stay out of this before you get hurt.”
“Get away from him,” her father ordered when Madelyn moved back in front of Daniel.
“Daddy, maybe you should know Daniel asked Madelyn to marry him, and she refused,” Kane said.
“What?” Mrs. Taggart said, moving around the sofa to her daughter. “Is this true?”
Madelyn couldn’t stand much more of this. She glanced from one to the other. “I know you mean well, but this is my life—and I’m going to live it the way I want.”
“They’re angry at me, not you.” Daniel’s fingers entwined with hers. “You can do your worst to me if you want, but leave Madelyn alone. She’s been through enough.”
“You caused it,” her father shouted, his voice as sharp and biting as a whip.
“Yes, I did. I take full responsibility. I’m not proud of the way I behaved, but I’m proud of your daughter and our child she’s carrying,” Daniel said, tightening his hold on Madelyn’s hand when she attempted to pull away. “I made a mistake. I won’t make another one. If I can convince Madelyn to marry me, I’ll cherish her always.”
Her head fell. She bit her lip. “I won’t marry you, Daniel.”
“You said you would if I could prove to you I loved you,” he reminded her, wanting to hold her so badly his arms ached.
Madelyn’s head came up, heat flushed her face. No one seemed inclined to leave. “This isn’t the time.”
“I disagree.” He glanced at his watch. “It should be arriving about now.”
The doorbell rang. Kane opened the door. A man in a dark brown uniform stood there. “Delivery for Miss Madelyn June Taggart.”
“There she is,” supplied Shannon, nodding toward an unmoving Madelyn.
“Could you sign this while I start unloading?” he asked.
Kane took the clipboard, since his sister didn’t appear inclined to move. “It’ll be signed by the time you return.”
His hand in hers, Daniel tugged her to the doorway. “I promise you’ll like it.”
She signed her name, then cautiously took a step forward. The man jumped out of the back of the truck, then reached in to pull out a large white box with a huge red bow on top. She looked at Daniel.
He smiled. “I’ll hold it.”
Trembling fingers untied the bow and removed the lid. She glanced from Daniel back to the dozens of colorful slips of paper inside. She picked up one, read it, then held it to her erratically beating heart, her gaze on Daniel.
Victoria and Shannon both rushed over, wanting to know what was written on the paper.
Madelyn swallowed before she could whisper an answer. “It’s a promise from Daniel to fulfill whatever wish or fantasy I have that’s just for me. Anytime, anyplace.”
Victoria and Shannon glanced at their husbands. They simply folded their arms and smiled. The women grinned.
The deliveryman returned and handed Madelyn a slightly smaller box with a red bow. Opening the top, she pulled back the white tissue paper to reveal a beautiful cherry chest.
Her heart rate going crazy, she lifted the lid. On a bed of red velvet lay a ring of keys. Lifting the heavy gold ring, she stared at Daniel.
“They’re to all my properties, my safe-deposit boxes—everything I have. If you’ll look, I had your initial engraved on all of them.” He held up a small key to show her. “Of course your signature will be needed on file in some cases, but a representative can fly out so you won’t have to take off work.”
Her hand fisted over the keys. Sadness touched her eyes. “It wasn’t about money.”
“I know that. It’s about love and trust.” He nodded toward the keys in her hand. “You asked me to give you the heart of the falcon. You have it. Everything that I have—all that I’ve accumulated over the years—is in your hands. In the bottom of the case is the location and the access codes. All my life I’ve worked to be the best there was, but I realized nothing meant anything if I couldn’t have you.”
Pulling a flawless, five-carat pink, heart-shaped diamond from his pocket, he picked up her left hand and slid the ring on her third finger. “I give you my heart, my love, my life. Please marry me.”
A tear slipped past her lashes. For countless moments she gazed at him, then her head lowered. The fingers of her other hand closed over the ring and began slipping it from her hand. Panic assailed him.
“No—wait—please.” He rushed out the door. Everyone in the room except Madelyn went to watch Daniel climb inside the delivery truck. Seeing him emerge moments later, they were even more puzzled.
Daniel was slightly winded from his dash. He knew time was running out, and this might be his last chance. More frightened than he had been in his entire life, he prayed every step of the way to Madelyn. He knew she loved him. He just had to find a way for her to know he loved her.
“You don’t know how much trouble I had tracking this fellow down. I was so nervous, it took me three tries to win him in Brownsville.”
He took a step closer, bringing with him the scruffy teddy bear from the carnival in San Antonio. “Everyone does need love. I was wrong. Don’t shut me out. Nothing I have means anything without you.�
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He racked his brain to come up with something else when she remained unmoved, staring at the stuffed animal. “Madelyn, you have to believe me.” Jamming his hand into his pocket, he pulled out the tattered remains of the targets. “I swear it’s the same teddy bear—the mate to the one I won for you.”
Her head remained bowed.
He looked around desperately as if seeking help from her family members. The sad expressions in Shannon and Victoria’s eyes escalated his fear.
“Madelyn, please. I even tracked down Jerome and gave him a job because I knew you wanted to give him another chance.” In rising frustration, he shoved his hand through his hair, dislodging the band. “I’ve resigned from half the boards I’m on so I can stay home with the baby since I know you want to work. Madelyn, I love you. I’ll even learn how to cook if you want.”
She finally lifted her head. In her teary eyes he saw love and hope and a lifetime shining back at him. With a cry of happiness, she launched herself into his arms … where she belonged. “Oh, Daniel, you really do love me. Give me a little time, and I’m going to cook you the best meals you’ve ever tasted.”
“She must love him,” Kane quipped.
“He must love her if he’s going to eat her cooking,” Matt said, not even grunting when his wife elbowed him in his side.
“Kitten?”
Madelyn briefly glanced at her father. “I love him, Daddy.”
“I’ll be watching,” Mr. Taggart promised.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Daniel smiled down into Madelyn’s glowing face. “We can be in Nevada and married in three hours.”
“There is not going to be another elopement,” Mrs. Taggart said firmly.
“Mrs. Taggart, Madelyn deserves to have the wedding of her dreams, but I think it’s more expedient if we are married as soon as possible, then leak the information to the press in a couple of weeks with an earlier date,” he explained. “My mother can take care of the arrangements for the second wedding.”
Mrs. Taggart humphed. “I have a few suggestions.”
Everyone in the room groaned. Daniel didn’t know or care why. The most important thing was Madelyn and the baby were going to belong to him and he to them. “Whatever you want—although I’ve never been to a wedding, I read a couple of books Rhona helped me pick out at Nia’s, and I think I have everything planned for this one.”
His future mother-in-law sent him a stern look. “I hope you don’t think this absolves you.”
“No, ma’am. I’m just glad you and Mr. Taggart will come to the wedding and give me another chance.” His arm tightened around Madelyn’s waist. “The wedding plans I made for tomorrow wouldn’t mean very much to her if her family wouldn’t be there and happy for her.”
Grace Taggart unbent only slightly. “On that we agree. Just to make sure everything is in order, I’d like to go over those plans with you.”
Again there was a chorus of groans. “Anything you say,” Daniel agreed quickly.
Madelyn smiled up into her future husband’s puzzled face. “Remember, you asked for it.”
“And thank God I’m going to get it,” he said, kissing her with tender restraint and love.
Epilogue
Daniel’s plans for their Saturday afternoon began spectacularly. With surprise and delight, Madelyn used one of the keys on her gold ring to open the massive front door of a magnificent ten-thousand-square-foot, six-bedroom, seven-bath home outside Las Vegas. The turn-of-the-century Mexican colonial hacienda with its beautiful grounds on two private acres with lush greenery, koi ponds, tennis courts, swimming pools, and majestic mountain view was the perfect setting for a romantic wedding.
Daniel insisted the wedding be informal and that Madelyn wear the white gauzy sundress she had worn when they first met. Beneath the arched foyer, he had welcomed everyone to their home, but his gaze never left Madelyn’s.
The passionate look in his eyes caused her to blush, and her parents to glare at their future son-in-law. But the tender way he placed the plastic-enclosed sundress in her arms, then kissed her lightly on the cheek, had her parents nodding in approval.
Moments later the housekeeper escorted Madelyn upstairs to a spacious suite, overlooking an enclosed garden, where she could dress and relax. Daniel watched until she disappeared, knowing that it was the last time he’d ever unwillingly be separated from her.
While the women fussed over Madelyn and helped her to get ready, Daniel listened to the advice of the men and kept his eyes on the magnificent black wrought-iron staircase for his bride. He couldn’t stop smiling.
Somehow he had gotten his parents and their parents, Victoria Taggart’s grandparents, Sid, and even Octavia Ralston and Cleve Redmon from Matt’s ranch in Jackson Falls to his house for the wedding. Daniel was determined that Madelyn know she was loved and cherished, and enjoy their nuptials. He had checked and rechecked every detail. Interestingly enough, Mrs. Tagg—
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he saw Victoria and her daughter, hand in hand, coming down the stairs. They made a beautiful sight. He didn’t have to look around to know Kane wore a proud expression on his face. Mother and child. Daniel’s chest hurt. He couldn’t wait for Madelyn to belong completely to him and to hold his own child.
“Daniel, you have to wait for Madelyn in the gazebo,” Victoria instructed with a smile, then turned to Mr. Taggart. “If you’ll come with me, Madelyn is waiting for you to escort her.”
Mr. Taggart swallowed, placed the glass he was holding on the table, and started from the room. Daniel’s voice stopped him. “Thank you.”
The older man turned. Daniel’s gaze was as steady as his extended hand.
Slowly Mr. Taggart lifted his hand. The handshake was sure and strong. “She’ll always be my little girl.”
“I know,” Daniel said. “That’s why I’m thanking you for trusting me to take care of her.”
“Come on,” Kane said, taking Daniel by the arm as his father started for the stairs again with Victoria and Chandler. “You don’t want to keep baby sis waiting, do you?”
Daniel was the first one out the terrace door. He completely missed Kane and Matt’s pleased smiles.
The initial sight of Madelyn literally stole Daniel’s breath. She had always been beautiful to him, but today she glowed. He didn’t know if it was her pregnancy, her happiness, or that in his eyes she could never be less than perfect. He didn’t care.
Daniel noticed her glancing around as she slowly came toward him and silently went over his list again. She was carrying the water lilies bridal bouquet; all the women held a single water lily.
From his vantage point he could see the buffet table, the three-tiered wedding cake with small, gold-foil boxes nearby for their guests to take cake home as mementoes. A more lasting memento in the form of a Baccarat crystal heart paperweight was probably being placed in each guests’s room at this very moment. He’d even slipped a blue garter to Madelyn while they were on the plane.
Finally she reached his side beneath the flower-draped gazebo. “What’s the matter?” he asked anxiously.
“Where’s Dominique?”
“Between here and the airport in Vegas, I hope,” he said. “I have a helicopter standing by to bring her here as soon as her plane lands from New York.”
“Could we please wait for her, Daniel?” Madelyn asked. “I’d like all of our immediate family to be here.”
Pleased and unsurprised by her thoughtfulness, Daniel ignored everyone and everything and pulled Madelyn into his arms. “I’d like for her to be here, too. As long as I don’t have to let you out of my sight again, I don’t see why not. Today is your day.”
“And yours,” Madelyn said, smiling up at him, their faces inches apart.
“Oh, no, I’m too late,” proclaimed an out of breath female voice from behind them.
Everyone turned toward the sound. More than one might have thought it, but only Sid mumbled, “Goodness gracious.”
> The woman standing at the back of the small wedding party was absolutely stunning. A glorious mane of jet-black hair framed a sensually exotic face. The hot-pink Versace dress flowed flawlessly over a curvacious body and stopped midthigh to reveal long, sleek legs.
“You didn’t miss the wedding, Dominique. Madelyn wanted to wait for you,” Daniel told his sister. “Now be a good girl and be quiet while I marry the woman I love.”
Instead of doing as he requested, Dominique’s gaze flicked from Daniel to Madelyn. “I was thinking of kidnaping you until you came to your senses, but I can see that would take a lifetime.”
There were shocked gasps from the Taggart side of the family and groans from the Falcon side.
“Be happy for me,” Daniel said.
“I will because I see the same love shining in her eyes. I pray that the Master of Breath will bless your love for all of your lifetimes,” Dominique proclaimed, then glanced around. “Hello, Mother, Daddy, and all the grands. Where’s my flower?”
The double-ring ceremony proceeded without further interruptions. Madelyn took great pride and pleasure in sliding a heavily carved gold band engraved with their initials onto Daniel’s finger. No one was surprised when Grace Taggart and Felicia Falcon began to weep softly during the exchange of vows.
After many toasts were made for their happiness, after dinner and dancing, it was time to toss the bouquet and the garter. The only single adults were Octavia, Dominique, Cleve, and Sid. When Madelyn tossed the bouquet, Dominique just happened to lean down to speak to the twins. The flowers landed at her feet. Chandler picked them up. Sid was watching Dominique, and the garter popped off his forehead. Kane Jr. nabbed that one.
Bidding their guests good night, the newlyweds retired to the guest house, leaving the main house to their still partying guests. As soon as Daniel carried Madelyn across the threshold, he kissed her. They were both breathing hard when he lifted his head.
“Thank you for believing in me,” Daniel said fervently, “I won’t let you down.”
“I know. I love you, Daniel.”
“I love you, too.” He set her on her feet. “Why don’t you get changed. I left something for you to put on in the bathroom.”
