Walker Bride
Page 17
She looked at Lydia, who was now wiping away tears and then back to Tyson. “What do you mean?”
“I mean my proposal still stands, with Lydia’s blessing. Will you marry me?”
Pearl batted against the tears that stung her eyes and then looked at Lydia who encouraged her by nodding her head. “I was wrong,” she whispered. “Marry the man. Be my sister. I hadn’t looked at it like that. It’s even better than a business partner.”
Now the tears burst through, and she couldn’t control them.
“I love you.”
He smiled and brushed away the tears with his thumb. “I know. That’s why I’m standing here asking you to marry me again. But I’m kind of afraid you’re going to turn me down again.”
She shook her head. “No. No, I won’t turn you down,” she stuttered as she tried to control the tears.
“Is that a very bad way to say yes?” he joked.
“Yes.”
He pulled her in and pressed his warm lips to her trembling ones. He pulled back and reached into his pocket. “This is for you,” he said holding up an older bridal set between his fingers. “My mother and father were very happily married until he died. She says that marriage is an amazing thing to enter into with the person you love.”
“You told your mother?”
He shrugged. “No more secrets.” He took her hand and slid the ring on her finger. “She wants you to have it, but would understand if you decided against it.”
Pearl looked at Lydia. “What about you? This should be yours.”
“I’m not getting married. Remember? I traded love for business.”
She was finding it hard to catch her breath. “This has all been so sudden.”
Lydia burst out with a laugh. “Are you kidding me? He’s been in love with you for a very long time.”
He nudged Lydia. “She doesn’t need to know everything.”
Pearl laughed now. “No secrets.”
He kissed her softly. “Never, ever again.”
Epilogue
Bethany’s dress had been sent out for final alterations. The men in her bridal party had been fitted for their tuxes.
Sunshine walked out of the storage room with a tape measure draped around her neck. “I just checked in all the tuxes for next weekend.”
Pearl nodded as she checked her calendar on the computer. “A new bride is looking to come in next weekend, but I won’t be here.”
Sunshine moved in next to her and nudged her out of the way. “I have fitted thirty brides in the past two months. I can fit another. You are going to go and get married and get out of my hair,” she demanded with a smile while entering the information into the calendar.
Pearl had indeed made the right decision in hiring Sunshine. She wondered what she’d ever done without her.
“I think I should tell Tyson that we have to move this. I mean, it’s silly to get married the week before my sister does.”
“Don’t you dare cancel on me,” he said from the dressing area.
She turned to see him standing there in a tuxedo, his baseball cap and boots still on. “I might if you don’t change your shoes or your hat.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you love me the way I am?”
Pearl moved to him. “I love you in every way.” She kissed him softly. “Does it fit?”
“You felt me up to measure me for it. I don’t know why you couldn’t just use the measurements from before.”
“I love what I do,” she said with a wink.
“You two better get that tux and dress loaded into the car. Your flight leaves in four hours,” Sunshine instructed.
“She’s right, we’d better go. There’s a Hawaiian sunset waiting for us, and only us,” Pearl beamed. “Let me just get my dress.”
I hope you enjoyed the third installment of
The Walker Family Series.
Here is a preview of book four
WANDERLUST
Chapter One ~ Wanderlust
Horses had a way of knowing when a person needed peace. Fairy Godmother was that kind of horse, Dane thought as she stood in the middle of the pasture and let Dane take in the peace of the moment.
He was back in Georgia for another family wedding. That was three weddings in two months, although no one had attended Pearl and Tyson’s wedding.
As he’d packed his bag for this journey, he’d quietly thanked them for not making anyone else reschedule their lives. But now that he was home, he was glad he’d come.
Ohio wasn’t his kind of place. His job wasn’t his kind of job. Somewhere his life hadn’t become his either.
He now found that he envied his brother Eric for getting married and staying at home on the land they called theirs. Their father had promised them all they could build a house there if they wanted. All that time Dane had refused. There had to be more for him, he thought. But now he just wasn’t so sure.
The sound of a rider was coming up from behind him. No doubt it would be Lydia, who housed her horses at the Walker’s barn, taking her morning ride, he thought as he turned Fairy Godmother toward the sound.
With the sun to the rider’s back, he could only see her outline, but it wasn’t Lydia. A high ponytail swung behind the rider who was obviously new to the saddle. He wondered who had let her wander off.
As the rider drew near, she waved. “Hello.”
“Hi,” he called back.
“Beautiful morning.”
Her accent was familiar, but he had to think to where he knew her from. But the moment she came into full view, he remembered.
“Gia, right?” he asked, hoping that was, in fact, her name.
“Gia Gallow. You are correct. And you are Dane.” There was no question in her voice. She’d remembered him.
“Dane Walker,” he mimicked James Bond when he said it.
“I met you at Pearl’s dress shop a few months ago.”
“I remember.”
“I assume you’re here for Bethany’s wedding.”
“I am. I guess if all my cousins and brothers keep getting married, I’ll be visiting a lot.”
Her horse moved quickly, and Dane was ready to adjust on Fairy Godmother to help her out, but she got the horse under control and just smiled at him.
“He is a fidgety one, Mr. Melancholy.”
“Mr. Melancholy?” he chuckled. “Eric gave me a hard time about my horse’s name.”
“Brothers are like that. I have knowledge that he named this one himself. I would not let him judge you on the name of your horse.”
He eased back in the saddle. “I’ll keep it in mind for when I need to pick a fight.”
“Well, I only have another half hour before they will come looking for me. Besides, I need to get back into town and go to work.”
“You have the Italian gift store, right?”
She smiled that beautiful smile that he knew was fueled by pride. “You remember.”
“I know that it was mentioned that you moved into the same building with Susan, Pearl, and Lydia.”
“I did.” She nudged Mr. Melancholy closer to Fairy Godmother. “Will you be in town this week?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Drop by. I would love to give you a tour of my shop.” With a wink, she turned Mr. Melancholy around and headed back to the barn.
Dane remained in the pasture watching her disappear. The thought to ride after her only entered his mind after he couldn’t see her any longer. But he knew it was a bad idea. First of all, riding up on her would spook Mr. Melancholy, and he’d toss her. Second, there was no need to get worked up over the beautiful Italian woman. He was heading back to the hell known as Ohio on Monday. He might as well forget about Gia Gallow.
Meet the Author
Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married moth
er of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.
When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.
A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. Bernadette Marie is also the CEO of Illumination Author Events and Services.