by Marie Force
“Let’s get this bromance on the road to the living room, shall we?” Luke said.
“Lead the way,” Mac replied.
In the bedroom where Syd had spent every summer of her childhood, she fastened the back of the diamond earrings Luke had given her. They’d belonged to the mother he’d loved and lost far too young. The slight tremble in Syd’s fingers was the first sign of nerves she’d experienced all day.
In the full-length mirror, she took a final look at the simple cream silk gown she’d chosen for her second wedding. It was sleeveless with classic, elegant lines and no train. She’d gathered her hair into a loose knot at her nape that showed off the gorgeous earrings.
Wandering to the window, she looked out at the snowy landscape that led to the empty Salt Pond. In the summer, the pond was chockablock full of boats and activity. Today, it was desolate, and the view stretched unimpaired all the way to the Coast Guard station that guarded the entrance to the vast pond.
Sydney thought of all the summer nights she’d snuck out of this house as a teenager to make love with Luke on the beach. She remembered the fine art of sneaking back in before dawn and being so certain each time that she was going to be caught.
Those summers had been among the happiest days of her life. And then they’d grown up, and she’d gone off to college and met Seth, the man she’d married and had two children with. Though she’d been happy with Seth and wild about her kids, she’d never forgotten her first love or forgiven herself for leaving for college one September and never returning to him.
She hadn’t seen Luke again until the previous summer, when she’d come home to the island to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and Luke had come to find her. They’d been together again ever since.
Wandering to the bedside table, she picked up one of the many pictures of Seth and the kids that her mother kept in the house. They’d been gone nearly two years now, taken by a drunk driver in an accident that had left her badly injured and her life in tatters.
Syd ran a finger over the three dear faces: Seth, so handsome and full of life and plans and ideas; Max, with his father’s dark hair and eyes and intellect; and Malena, a girl from the top of her silky dark head to the tips of her polished toes. The kids had been seven and five at the time of the accident, their lives just getting started. She hoped they were looking down on her today and blessing this new union with Luke.
With a kiss to the cool glass that covered the picture, Syd returned the frame to the table and dabbed at the moisture collecting at the corners of her eyes. Today wasn’t a day for tears. Today was a day for joy and new beginnings.
A light tap on the door stirred Syd from her musings. “Come in.”
“Hey,” her best friend, Maddie McCarthy, said. “Are you ready?” Maddie stepped into the room, gorgeous in a red silk gown that emphasized her extravagant curves. “Wow, look at you! Oh, Syd… You look amazing.”
“So do you! That color is perfect on you. Not bad for a couple of old broads, huh?”
“Not bad at all.” Maddie took a closer look at her friend. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She glanced at the photo by the bed. “A little emotional, but I suppose that’s to be expected.”
Maddie reached for Syd’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Of course it is. I have to believe they’re here with you today and they’d approve of what you’re doing.”
“I hope so. Life has a funny way of marching forward even when you think it’s over.”
Maddie blinked back tears of her own. “I’m so proud of you, Syd.”
“Of me? Why?”
“It would’ve been so much easier to curl up in a ball and turn your back on what was left of your own life. You didn’t do that. You chose to live, and that wasn’t the easy path.”
Sydney smiled. They’d been friends since a long-ago summer job at an ice-cream shop in town. “You all didn’t give me much choice. You and Luke and everyone here dragged me out of my grief and gave me a reason to keep going.”
“It was no hardship on our part, believe me. We’re thrilled to have you here with us.” Maddie gave her a quick hug. “Let’s not keep your groom waiting.”
“No, let’s not. He’s already waited long enough for me.”
The home Luke had once shared with his mother was Sydney’s home now, too. They’d decorated the outside with twinkling white lights that greeted Syd when she arrived with her parents and Maddie.
As they drove down the long driveway that was lined with cars, Syd’s heart began to race with excitement and nerves and anticipation. She closed her eyes and imagined how handsome Luke would look in the suit they’d chosen on a trip to the mainland. His silky dark hair would be shiny from the shower, his handsome face freshly shaven, and his brown eyes would be steady and sure. He’d always been so sure about them, despite what she’d put him through.
She’d broken his heart when she left him without a word all those years ago, but he’d been good enough to forgive her, and their second chance had quite simply saved her life. Now they would get their forever, and she couldn’t wait.
Luke had shoveled a path around the house to the kitchen entrance. Taking her father’s arm, Sydney raised her skirt and traversed the path illuminated by the outdoor lights she and Luke had installed in the fall. They stepped into the kitchen to a roar of voices and laughter from the living room.
Syd’s mom turned to her and helped to remove Sydney’s cream wool cape. “You look absolutely lovely, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’ll hope and pray for your every happiness.”
Grateful for her parents’ blessing of a union with a man they’d once disapproved of, Sydney hugged her mother. “Thank you for everything. I never would’ve made it through without you.”
“Oh, honey,” Mary Alice said. “Don’t make me cry.”
“Sorry,” Syd said with a smile for her mom.
“I’ll see you in there,” Mary Alice said.
Maddie’s caramel-colored eyes were bright with excitement when she handed Syd her bouquet of Christmas greens, fragrant white lilies and red roses. “Shall we?”
“Ready, Dad?” Syd asked.
“Whenever you are, my love,” Allan Donovan said.
“Then let’s do it,” Syd said.
Maddie signaled to someone in the next room.
Luke had asked if he could be in charge of the music, so it was a total surprise to Sydney when their friends Owen Lawry and Evan McCarthy played the Firehouse song “Love of a Lifetime,” the same song Syd and Luke had danced to at a party their first summer together.
The song and the memories it resurrected took Syd’s breath away as she was transported back to the sweetness of first love, the heart-pounding excitement and the joy. She’d loved him from the very beginning, and he’d loved her just as much. He’d never stopped loving her, even during all the years they’d been apart. And now he waited in the next room, ready to bind his life to hers.
Sydney slipped her hand into the crook of her father’s arm. “Let’s go, Dad.”
Every eye was on the doorway from the kitchen when Maddie stepped into the room looking gorgeous in a floor-length red dress and carrying a bouquet of red and white flowers.
Luke scanned the gathering of friends and family. Adam McCarthy, home on Gansett for the holidays, stood next to his parents, Big Mac and Linda. Next to them were Grant McCarthy and his fiancée, Stephanie Logan, Evan’s girlfriend, Grace Ryan, and Owen’s girlfriend, Laura McCarthy. Joe Cantrell and his wife, Janey McCarthy Cantrell, were home from Ohio for a couple of weeks during Janey’s winter break from veterinary school. Standing behind his wife, Joe rested his hands on the small baby bump that rounded Janey’s abdomen.
Sydney’s new friend Jenny Wilks, the lighthouse keeper, was there, along with Seamus O’Grady, who ran the ferry company in Joe’s absence, Joe’s mom, Carolina, Maddie’s sister, Tiffany, the island’s police chief, Blaine Taylor, Luke’s friend
and the island’s number-one pilot, Slim Jackson, and cab driver extraordinaire Ned Saunders and his fiancée, Francine Chester, who was Maddie and Tiffany’s mom.
Sydney had debated about whether to invite her friends from Wellesley, where she’d lived with Seth and the kids. In the end, she’d decided against inviting them, since they were short on space and wanted to be able to include all their island friends. Syd planned to send an announcement to the rest of her friends after they returned from their honeymoon.
Luke glanced at Mac, who watched his wife come toward them with a look of unabashed love etched on his face.
Maddie sent her husband a flirtatious smile as she took her place across from Luke and Mac in front of the hearth that burned brightly behind them. Sydney had decorated the mantel with fragrant evergreens, pine boughs and candles. In the far corner, the Christmas tree sparkled with white lights and gold ornaments.
When Syd and her dad appeared in the doorway, every thought drained from Luke’s mind except for one—he was a lucky son of a bitch. Look at her. Oh my God. For a moment, he stopped breathing until Mac nudged him.
“Breathe,” Mac whispered, amused by Luke’s reaction to his bride.
Luke had spent so many long, cold, lonely winters in this house after his mother died, wishing for everything he now had. As Syd came toward him on the arm of her father, she was the answer to his every prayer, the love of his lifetime.
The Reverend Joshua Banks, the new pastor of the island’s nondenominational church, was performing his first wedding since arriving a week ago.
Allan Donovan escorted his gorgeous daughter the short way from the kitchen to where her fiancé waited for her. Before Allan left Sydney, he hugged Luke. “Take good care of my girl.”
“I will, sir.”
Allan kissed his daughter and stepped back to join his wife.
Luke felt like his heart would explode from the overload of emotion that hit him when his eyes connected with Syd’s. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “You’re beautiful.”
“You’re not too bad yourself,” she said with the grin that was so her.
“Dearly beloved,” Joshua began.
The next few minutes passed in a blur for Luke. He’d never remember what Joshua said about marriage. He would, however, remember the vows—to love, honor, protect and cherish. He’d remember the slide of white gold as Syd put the ring on his finger. He’d remember the look in her eyes when he put the matching band on her finger, where it joined the engagement ring he’d chosen for her.
Most of all, he’d remember when Joshua declared her his wife and told him he could kiss her. Luke would never forget the moment when his lips met hers or the surge of love and desire that filled his heart and soul.
Finally, finally, finally.
Mac cleared his throat next to them, reminding Luke they had guests and a party to see to before they could be alone. Reluctantly, Luke stepped back from his wife and noticed the high color of excitement in her cheeks as he squeezed her hand.
She returned the squeeze and smiled at him, happier than he’d ever seen her. Nothing made him happier than her happiness.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Luke Harris,” Joshua said.
Their friends applauded as Mac said, “Let’s party!”
They posed for pictures, they ate, they drank, they danced, they laughed, and when Owen and Evan picked up their guitars, they sang—loudly. It was the most fun Sydney had had in longer than she could remember.
And when she asked Owen and Evan to play “Love of a Lifetime” one more time so she could dance with her husband, they gladly complied.
“I can’t believe you remembered this song,” Syd said, looking up at her gorgeous husband.
“I remember everything.” He’d removed his suit coat and tie as soon as he could, and Sydney had teased him about breaking his personal record for the most hours in a tie. He’d done it for her, he’d said. Looking down at her now, he said, “Are you happy?”
“So happy? You?”
“What’s the word for beyond happy?”
“Thrilled.”
“Yes,” he said, kissing her softly. “I’m thrilled.”
“Good.”
As all the noise and laughter from the party faded away, they moved together with the easy grace they’d known together since the very beginning.
“When are they going to leave?” he whispered in her ear, making her laugh and shiver in anticipation.
“Soon, I hope.”
“I told you we should’ve booked a room somewhere so we could leave.”
“And I told you I wanted to wake up here, in our home, on Christmas.”
“If you’d listened to me, we could leave right now.”
“It won’t kill you to wait another hour.”
“It might.”
The party broke up right after midnight. Mac and Maddie stayed a short time longer to help clean up the worst of the mess.
“We did what we could,” Maddie said, taking a wary look around at the carnage in the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about it,” Syd said. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
“I can come back to help if you want.”
“Absolutely not! Have a wonderful Christmas with your family, and don’t worry about us.”
“Are you having dinner with your folks?” Maddie asked.
“Later in the day.” Even though Syd would’ve preferred to spend the entire day with only Luke, she’d never leave her parents alone on Christmas, a day that reminded them all of what they’d lost so tragically. This year was a time for new beginnings, and Syd was determined to get through the holiday looking forward rather than backward. She gave Maddie a hug. “Thanks again for all the help with the wedding.”
“It was so much fun. I couldn’t be happier for both of you.” She drew back from Sydney and reached for her husband. “Come on, Mac. The newlyweds want to be alone.”
“Can we play newlywed when we get home?” Mac asked his wife.
The slight slur to his speech had Maddie rolling her eyes as she patted his face. “If you can stay awake while I drive you home, we’ll see.”
“I can stay awake, baby.”
Luke closed the door behind them, locked it and waited until they were in their car before he turned off the outside lights.
“Well,” Sydney said, eyeing the wreckage that was their kitchen, “that went well.”
“Very well,” Luke said, coming toward her with intent in his eyes. He took her hands and backed out of the kitchen, bringing her with him.
“We should do something about the mess.”
“Tomorrow.”
“But—”
He stopped her with a passionate kiss. By the time they came up for air, her arms were looped around his neck and his were tight around her waist. “Tomorrow,” he said again, walking backward to the bedroom.
“Oh,” she said at the sight that greeted them. Someone—probably Maddie and Janey, if she had to guess—had sprinkled rose petals on the bed and filled the room with candles. “Wow.”
“What’s in the bag?” Luke asked, pointing to a gift bag on the bedside table.
Sydney went over to look. “It’s from Tiffany. The note says, ‘A few things from my new store to get your marriage off to the right start. Much love and happiness, Tiffany.’”
“Why am I a little scared of what’s in there?”
“Maybe because it’s from Tiffany?” Syd said with a laugh as she withdrew a red silk nightgown, a bottle of massage oil and an object Syd couldn’t identify. “What the heck is this?” It was a purple piece of rubber with one wide end and another narrower end.
Luke busted up laughing. “Ah, it’s a vibrator, babe.”
“Oh.” Sydney felt heat creep from her chest to her face as she dropped it back into the gift bag.
Luke laughed again at her reaction. “What kind of store, exactly, is Tiffany planning to open?” he asked as he pulled off his
dress shirt and came around to her side of the bed.
“I think we just got a sneak peek.”
“That ought to be interesting on this island.”
“No kidding.”
“Let me see that nightgown.”
Sydney handed him the slinky red concoction.
He held it up for inspection, which was when she noticed the material that would cover her breasts was entirely sheer.
“Very nice,” he said. “Put it on.”
“I don’t know. It’s not really my style.”
“Oh, yes, it is.”
“How do you figure?” she asked, perplexed.
“It’s sexy. That makes it your style. I want to see it on you.”
“You’re awfully bossy tonight, Mr. Harris.”
“I’m your husband now, Mrs. Harris,” he said with a sexy grin. “You have to obey me.”
“That was not in the vows.”
“Well, that was an oversight. How’d I let that get by me?”
She shook her head at his silliness. “Will you unzip me?”
“With pleasure.” He kissed and nibbled her shoulder while he pulled down the zipper. “You were so beautiful tonight, Syd. Mac had to remind me to breathe.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.”
With her zipper open, he slid his work-roughened hands over her back and around to her belly, making her quiver with anticipation. “I had this image in my mind of what you might look like as a bride, but you blew me away with the real thing.”
“Was the wedding okay? You’ve never done this before—”
“It was perfect.” He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Want to know why?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Because you were the bride. That was the only part that mattered to me.”
“Luke…”
“Go get changed,” he said, his lips skimming her neck. “Hurry.”
After he released her, Syd’s legs were unsteady as she went into the bathroom to remove her dress and put on the scandalous concoction Tiffany had left for her. It was even more scandalous on. Sure enough, her breasts were easily visible through the sheer fabric, and the hem barely covered all the important parts, ending at the very top of her thighs.
