“You’re more beautiful than I remember.” His voice was husky with emotion.
I responded with a hiccupping sob. “Hey, you haven’t been gone that long.”
He braced his forehead against mine. “Long enough to appreciate beauty when I see it.”
Minutes slipped past as we stood holding each other tightly, as though we would lose something vital if we broke apart. Rover’s bark demanded our attention. He stood on his hind legs, his front paws braced against Mark’s leg. Mark bent down on one knee and lavished attention on my dog. He ruffled Rover’s ears and stroked his fur and murmured softly, “I’m back, boy. Glad to see you did as I asked and looked after your mistress.”
When he straightened, we headed inside, our arms wrapped around each other’s waists.
Mark immediately went to the cookie jar and helped himself. He bit into a peanut-butter cookie, closed his eyes, and savored the taste.
“Typical man,” I muttered.
“Love you. Love your cookies,” he said, with a smile that rivaled that of a Cheshire cat.
“It’s finished?” I asked, needing to know that he was mine now and there would be no more struggles, internal or external, that would lure him away from me and into danger.
“It’s done. Mission accomplished.”
“You can’t tell me what it was?”
“Sorry, love, perhaps one day. Just know my being there made a difference. A big one.”
I pressed my head against his shoulder, loving the way his arm automatically went around me. “My hero.”
Mark kissed the top of my head, his lips moving down to the side of my neck. “I’ll never get enough of the taste of you.”
That sounded just fine to me as I reluctantly broke away from him. “I have something to show you,” I said and reached for his hand, dragging him to my private quarters. Opening the door, I stepped aside in order to reveal the cradle, which I’d set up in the corner of the bedroom.
His gaze went from the cradle he’d so lovingly crafted and then back to me. “What…how?”
“The Porters stopped by when they came over for a family wedding. Maggie said she felt the strongest urge to return it.”
Mark came to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my front and flattening his hands on my stomach. “I hope we can put that cradle to good use in short order.”
Leaning in to him, I pressed the back of my head against his shoulder. “That’s my hope, too.”
Then, because I had so much to tell him, I twisted around and blurted out the news about Emily and Nick.
“They’re getting married?” he repeated.
“Here at the inn,” I added.
For the first time since he’d returned, Mark frowned. “Not in the gazebo, though. I want us to be the first couple married there.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the engagement ring he’d given me. “No worries there; they have no intention of waiting until spring to marry. Emily has decided on a Christmas wedding.”
Mark approved. “That’s only a couple months away. They certainly aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet, are they?”
“Seems to me if she can put a wedding together within two months we should be able to do the same.”
“But the gazebo…what if it rains or snows?”
“We’ll figure something out. We’ll decorate it with evergreens and lights and make it so beautiful no one will care what the weather is like.”
As far as I was concerned, the shorter our engagement the better. I told him so.
“Could we pull it off in that amount of time?” he asked. “I’m not waiting for you any longer than that.”
“Mark! Are you serious?”
“As serious as a pipe bomb.”
My mind whirled. Could we do it? I had no idea, but I was certainly going to do my best to make it happen.
Mark and I were married on a beautiful, sunny December afternoon. Emily served as my maid of honor and Bob Beldon stood up for Mark. He’d worked for days decorating the gazebo, and it was like something out of a magazine photo, with multicolored lights. Each column was circled with strings of evergreen boughs. A gust of wind came as we exchanged our vows, and our eyes locked on each other. It was fitting, seeing how crazy our lives had been almost from the moment we met. A whirlwind, swirling our lives, but we’d managed to stay together.
My parents were with us and my brother and his family, plus several of my friends from my life before I purchased the inn. And friends from Cedar Cove, too. All in all, there were about thirty people at the ceremony.
Our small wedding was everything I’d hoped it would be. As the pastor spoke, my gaze drifted toward the inn, and my heart swelled with love and appreciation that I had been led here. It wasn’t by chance that I’d found this place. I’d been guided. Just as Paul had promised, I’d found healing here, and so had my guests.
Standing at my side, Mark slipped his arm around my waist and his gaze followed mine. He gave me a gentle squeeze.
As we headed toward the house for a luncheon buffet, he whispered, “I wish I had known Paul.”
“He chose you for me, you know.”
“Yes, and I’ll always be grateful. If you’re willing, I’d like to name our first son after him.”
Tears filled my eyes and I nodded.
“He brought me you,” Mark whispered and kissed my temple.
And more. He’d led me to the inn, knowing I would find a new life here. A new love. A reason to move forward and live again.
We were inside the house with our wedding guests. There was chatter and joy as our family and friends moved through the buffet line. Mark held on to my hand as if he found it difficult to let me go.
Later that evening, once the inn was empty, Mark and I stood outside on the porch, overlooking the cove and Christmas lights strung across the marina and downtown. My heart was full, overflowing.
Mark stood behind me, his arms wrapped securely around my shoulders as we gazed upon the bright lights and the shimmering water below.
It felt like heaven to be here with him, knowing he wouldn’t leave me again and that from this day forward we would be together.
I thought about all the guests who’d come to stay at the inn over the last three years and all the ones who had yet to arrive. Deep down I knew there would be healing for them, too.
The Inn at Rose Harbor. A special place that had touched lives yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A home where Mark and I would raise our family and fill it with love, laughter, and the joyous sounds of children.
I could hardly wait for whatever the future held.
TO MARGO DAY
Who said one person
couldn’t change the world?
BALLANTINE BOOKS FROM DEBBIE MACOMBER
ROSE HARBOR INN
Sweet Tomorrows
Silver Linings
Love Letters
Rose Harbor in Bloom
The Inn at Rose Harbor
BLOSSOM STREET
Blossom Street Brides
Starting Now
CHRISTMAS BOOKS
Dashing Through the Snow
Mr. Miracle
Starry Night
Angels at the Table
NEW BEGINNINGS
A Girl’s Guide to Moving On
Last One Home
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DEBBIE MACOMBER, the author of A Girl’s Guide to Moving On, Last One Home, Silver Linings, Love Letters, Mr. Miracle, Blossom Street Brides, and Rose Harbor in Bloom, is a leading voice in women’s fiction. Ten of her novels have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, and five of her beloved Christmas novels have been hit movies on the Hallmark Channel, including Mrs. Miracle and Mr. Miracle. Hallmark Channel also produced the original series Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, based on Macomber’s Cedar Cove books. She has more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide.
debbiemacomber.com
Facebook.com/debbiemacomberworld
Pinterest.com/macomberbooks
Instagram.com/debbiemacomber
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