“Your hair and makeup look beautiful.”
“Thank you. Thank you for all of this.”
“I don’t want you to regret a moment of this.”
Clara thought about the conversation she’d had with her brother. She had regretted not telling anyone, but it had only lasted a moment. Warner was winning over those feelings. Everyone would know very soon.
Warner tapped his glass to hers. “This is to forever.”
Her heart literally skipped a beat, she was sure of it. “To forever.”
They each sipped their drink.
Warner finally looked away from her and down to his watch. “Okay, it’s time for you to get ready. Your dress is down in the dressing room in the chapel.”
Clara placed her hand on her stomach. “Wow, we’re really going to do this.”
“You can still back out.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not that easy to get rid of me Mr. Wright.” Just enough of the champagne had stirred in her that saying Mr. Wright made her giggle. He certainly was mister right.
“Good. I think Clara Wright has a wonderful ring to it.”
“I do too.”
He took her glass and set it on the table. “C’mon, my bride. I’ll escort you downstairs.”
Clara’s dress hung in the room. It wasn’t fancy at all. In fact, she’d picked one she could wear to almost any event. But it would be very special.
On the vanity there was a handwritten note from Warner. “Now we begin our forever.”
She held the note to her chest. Marrying a man with a way with words would never get old, she was sure of that.
She took her phone out of her purse and took a few pictures of her dress and of the room. She knew they were going to have formal pictures, but she certainly wanted a few behind the scenes pictures to remember the day.
With ten minutes left before their seven o’clock wedding time, there was a knock at the door.
Clara opened the door to the photographer.
“I’d like to get a few shots of you in the chapel before the wedding.”
Clara nodded and followed the woman down the hall.
She was impressed with the woman’s efficiency and she knew the album was going to be as spectacular as the wedding itself.
When it was time, Clara was escorted out of the room.
Witnesses were appointed to be at the wedding.
As the music started one of the witnesses opened the chapel door and Clara walked down the aisle.
Warner had thought he’d lost his heart to her the moment he’d seen her at that stop light a few weeks ago. Then there was the moment when she’d kissed him and again when she’d said she loved him. But seeing Clara walk toward him in a simple, beautiful white dress—he was sure he’d died and gone to heaven.
When she reached him and she took his hand he gazed into her eyes. “Wow. Just wow.”
She smiled softly. “Thank you.”
“I’m one lucky man.”
“And I am one lucky woman.”
The minister started the ceremony and Warner wasn’t sure he heard one word the man said. It was a good thing it was being videotaped. Then he could relive it and he’d thought he’d only added on the video package to the wedding so that her parents could have a copy.
He did hear her loud and clear when she said, “I do,” to the minister’s question as to whether she’d be his bride.
It hadn’t taken long and soon the minister was telling him to kiss his bride.
No moment in his life had held more pride than that moment when he placed his hand on her cheek and pulled her in for the most romantic kiss he’d ever had.
Whatever came his way for the rest of his life couldn’t possibly take away the joy he was feeling as his wife kissed him passionately.
He’d be a good husband and an attentive father, when the time came. But, out of sheer nerves, he knew he worried that Clara too would someday want to leave him.
Chapter Fourteen
Clara figured no honeymoon would ever be long enough when a woman loved a man as fully as she loved her husband. Husband. That too would never grow old.
She kept her arms wrapped around his as they flew back to Nashville. There was going to be so much going on in the next few months she just wanted to soak in every moment they’d have alone.
Warner was going to sign on to do the TV show, they were going to record his music and try and either sell it or get him signed, and she was going to need to decide on which path she was going to take now. Realizing that her lead men were a full ten years younger than she was had hit her hard. And she wasn’t sure she was ready to play the matronly roles yet. Though she’d toyed with telling Arianna that they should do Annie again and this time she thought it would be fun to play Miss Hannigan.
The moment the plane landed in Nashville both Clara and Warner reached for the phones and turned them back on. It was only a moment later that Clara’s phone chimed with a text message.
“Who’s looking for you?” Warner asked with a grin.
She looked at the screen. “Mom wants us over for dinner tonight.”
“Do you think they know?”
After her conversation with her brother she was sure they all did, though she never actually said she’d gotten married or planned too.
A moment later Warner’s phone chimed a text message too.
Clara elbowed him playfully. “And who’s looking for you?”
His brows knit as he looked at the screen. Then his lips pursed and his cheeks grew red.
“Warner, what’s wrong?”
He rubbed his hand over his forehead. “We were sold out.”
He held up his phone to her to see that Jeremy Smith had sent him a congratulations text and a video clip which had already hit the gossip shows. It was a clip from their wedding shot from the back of the chapel.
Clara let out a sigh. “I guess we know that my folks know now.”
“He says Patricia was already interviewed by the local news and is playing up some sob story about me running away to get married and not even including her or my grandmother.”
Clara dropped her shoulders. “Does she really think you’d invite her even if it had been a big event?”
He lifted his brows. “She’s demented. She thinks I’m her kid or something. When I went over the other day to confront her…”
“You went to her house?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“You had a show to do. I guess it slipped my mind.”
Clara bit down on the inside of her cheek. He was her husband and they were still learning things about each other. She was going to have to deal with this and now his stepmother—ex-stepmother—was her problem too.
Then she thought more about what he’d said. “Your grandmother is still alive?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know that either.”
“Clara, I don’t have anything to do with her. She did what she had to and when I was eighteen I had a one way ticket out the door. I already told you she dumped me off in Vegas with an aunt. She’s no more my kin than my own mother.”
The very comment stung. This man needed so much love. It was a good thing she came from a good home. Even though it wasn’t going to be easy, and she could already tell that, she could give him that stable home he needed and deserved. But would he accept it?
Once they made it through the airport and collected their bags they hurried to find Clara’s Jeep. Clara wondered if he was aware of the man who had been following them since they’d collected their suitcases. But just as they threw the last bag into the car Warner turned around and headed toward the man.
“What do you want?” His voice rose in anger and Clara kept her distance.
“I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“Listen, pal. I don’t have anything to share with you.”
Warner turned around and headed back to the Jeep, but the man hadn’t gone on. �
��Why did you elope?”
“None of your business.”
“Is your wife pregnant?”
That stopped Warner in his tracks. He turned back to the man. “Who are you? I am no one you would be interested in.”
“Sure. Everyone is interested in Patricia Little’s son.”
“I’m not her son. She’s not my blood. I wish ya’ll would just leave me the hell alone.”
“But she owns Master Records now, how do you feel about that?”
He thought he just might be sick. That was why Jordan Farr was at her house.
“Listen, I had no future at Master Records. I guess she’ll be making albums now. Good for her.”
He turned around and walked back toward Clara. “I heard Savannah heard you sing.”
Warner kept walking. “That one is public knowledge, pal.”
He hurried and opened the door for Clara and shut it once she got in. She could hear the man rattle a few more questions off to him, but Warner ignored them.
This was going to be strange for her to get used to. Sure, she’d been giving interviews since she was thirteen about the shows they did at the theater, but no one had ever hunted her down. Then she felt the bead of sweat roll down the back of her neck. But someone once had. It felt like that night when she stood on that stage and knew someone was there. Someone who wanted to hurt her.
She tried to suck in a breath. She could still feel his hands on her covering her mouth. Never in her life had she been so afraid, but that night she thought she’d die.
Would Warner’s unwanted fame bring those kind of people into their lives? What if he did sell and become a big name in the industry? What if Savannah really did want him to tour with her?
Clara’s palms grew damp. She and Warner were crazy to put themselves out there so people could hurt them.
He reached over and touched her thigh. Her first reaction was to jump and he quickly retracted his hand.
“I’m sorry. That man has me worked up,” she said.
“That’s going to be the norm. Especially now that she has one more angle to hate me.”
“Do reporters do that to you all the time? Just come after you like that?”
“More lately, now that I’m trying to get my music out there. I can’t wait for her time in the lime light to be over. I have to move on or I have to move away. But if I’m not in Nashville, I’m not where I need to be.”
He seemed to have a level head about it. She sure wished she did.
Warner pulled her Jeep into the driveway and quickly hopped out to open her door. Clara had been quiet the whole ride home and he hoped that reporter, or stalker, didn’t bother her that much. This was Nashville and they were moving themselves into the music industry. If everything worked out this would be the norm and not just because Patricia Little had been married to his father and drove him to suicide.
As he opened the door his beautiful bride smiled at him. He took her hand and helped her out, capturing her in his arms and kissing her solidly on the lips.
“Mrs. Wright, we’re home.”
She rested her head against his chest. “I sure do like the sound of that.”
“So do I.” He pulled her hand and shut the door. “C’mon, I’ve been thinking about this for days now.”
“What?” She was laughing as he pulled her across the front yard.
“I’m carrying you over the threshold of the house. That’s what husbands do.”
“Oh, Warner…I don’t know about that.”
He turned as they cleared the top step. “Well you either let me sweep you up off your feet in a romantic gesture or I throw you over my shoulder.”
Now she was smiling that radiant smile and laughing. This was how it would be, he knew. His wife—their home—he was completely in love and this felt great.
He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “How is it going down, because I’m not kidding. I’ll haul you in here.”
She moved toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I guess I’ll give in to traditional. There has to be something we do that’s traditional right?”
Warner smiled wide as he scooped up his bride. “Remember our wedding night? I do believe that is tradition.”
A blush covered her cheeks. “That was just crazy love taking over.”
“Hmm, well I’m thinking I could take you up on some crazy love right now.”
“Then you’d better keep carrying me straight up those stairs.”
He gave her a nod and a wink and did exactly that. There were a few hours before they were expected at her parents’ house. That gave them a few hours to roll around in the sheets and enjoy one more day of their honeymoon.
***
Warner parked Clara’s Jeep in front of her parents’ house. Considering the driveway and the street was full, it looked like everyone had been invited. But only one person stood on the front porch and that was her father.
“They know,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I expect them to. Besides, they were going to find out tonight anyway.”
“He’s going to kill me.”
Clara turned to face him. “He loves me. He wants to protect me. You love me and you want the same. Don’t assume the worst.”
“I’m not trained to think that way.”
“Start.” She leaned over and kissed him softly. “He’d be more shocked to find out I threw all your condoms in the trash.”
“That was stupid on your part.”
She laughed. “What’s it worth to be married if you have to worry about it?” She gave him a wink and slid out of the Jeep.
Warner opened the door and let his foot touch the ground before he took in the deep breath he was going to need. Before he made it around the truck Carlos was headed toward them, and he wasn’t smiling.
“Hi, Daddy.” Clara moved toward him.
“I cannot believe you did this. I cannot believe you hurt your mother’s feelings by running away.”
“Dad, I’m thirty.”
“And you’ve known him for three weeks,” he said pointing to Warner.
Clara’s hands fisted to her sides. “I’m happy. Would you wish that I was miserable and had waited?”
“No. Just some common courtesy to let us know where you’d gone.”
Warner watched them interact, but he was surprised when Carlos was more upset about the trip than the wedding? He must not have heard that right.
“I left a note.”
“A note that said you’d gone on vacation. C’mon, you could have gotten hurt or something could have happened and we wouldn’t have known where to find you.”
She narrowed her eyes at her father. “I’m sorry.”
Warner noticed there was a shimmer in Carlos’s eyes. “I can’t believe my baby got married.”
Clara pulled Carlos in to her arms and hugged him tight. “I did. Oh, Daddy, I’m so happy.”
“I knew you were.” Carlos sniffed and pulled back from Clara and turned toward him. “You’re going to take care of my baby, right?”
“Yes, sir. I love her very much.”
“I know you do.” He put his hand on Warner’s shoulder. “You’ll take good care of each other.”
“I promise,” Warner agreed and he hoped Carlos couldn’t feel him shake under his hand.
“C’mon.” Carlos wrapped his arm around Clara’s shoulders. “There’s a party happening inside. Darcy can’t decide if she’s happy for you or sad that she wasn’t there or mad that you went first.”
“Ed’s lucky to have her.”
“We all are.” Carlos gave Clara’s arms a squeeze.
Warner began to follow them up the driveway and to the house. “Oh, I forgot the video. It’s in the car. I’ll be in in just a moment.”
Clara nodded and walked through the door with her father and Warner hurried back to the Jeep to get the video.
He also had a little surprise in the glove compartment for Clara.
When he had th
e video in hand and the small box he headed back to the house as his phone rang. He looked at the screen to see the ID read Jeremy Smith.
“Hello.”
“Congratulations! Had no idea that was going to happen.”
“Yeah, kinda goes with the whole thought of eloping.”
He slowed his walk as he approached the house.
“It sure will make for some interesting TV,” Jeremy laughed, but Warner didn’t like that. “Anyway, can you be in my office at ten tomorrow? The others who are doing the show will be here and we need to do some paperwork.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Great. And again, congratulations.”
Warner tucked his phone into his pocket and walked into the house where the noise was nearly deafening.
He was greeted immediately by Darcy running to him and throwing her arms around him.
“God! I can’t believe you took her and got married. That is so romantic!” She yelled in his ear.
As soon as Darcy let go of him her Aunt Simone swooped in. “I like your style.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Curtis and I ran away too.”
“And then she left me on a yacht,” Curtis said as he slipped in behind his wife. “We got pregnant though.” He narrowed his eyes on Warner.
“Oh, we just got married.” He tried to smile though the fear that must have resonated in his voice.
Curtis laughed. “Congratulations.”
He hadn’t seen Clara in almost a half hour, by the time he was hugged and congratulated by the entire family. But it hadn’t gone unnoticed that Madeline was the last to walk up to him.
“Congratulations, Warner.” She kissed him hesitantly on the cheek.
“Thank you.” He made sure to catch her eye as she nervously looked around the room. “I love her very much. I’m going to take good care of her.”
Madeline let out a weak laugh. “Oh, honey, I think you’re in for a shock if you think she needs taking care of.”
“I didn’t mean that she did. I mean that I will love her and comfort and protect her for the rest of my life. I hope I didn’t offend you by getting married alone.”
Madeline shook her head. “I mean, she is my only daughter, I won’t lie that it stung a little.”
Love Songs Page 13
