The Widows of Sea Trail-Tessa of Crooked Gulley

by Jacqueline DeGroot

“No, there’s one thing I forgot,” he said as he reached over to shake Matt’s hand.

  “What’s that?”

  “That exercise ball,” he whispered in my ear.

  I laughed and hugged Cat. “You guys are wicked, you let him kidnap me! He was going to sell me as a sex slave!” I said in mock anger.

  “So he decided he couldn’t get enough of you and decided to keep you instead?” Viv asked, wisecracking as usual.

  Roman joined in, “No, even though she kicked me in the ballocks, I couldn’t part with her,” he said and leaned over to give me a kiss on my nose. “Okay, ladies, we have less than an hour, do what you can with her. There’s coffee and fresh chocolate croissants being set up at the bar.”

  “Ohhh Chocolate croissants . . .” all of the girls said at once.

  “We have to get out to International Water for this to be legal, so get your sea legs on, we’ll be haulin’ass,” he added.

  “What’s the hurry?” I asked.

  “As if you didn’t know,” he winked. “We still have to do the other side.” He grinned and so did I. Then he turned back to his guests. Roman was shaking the Captain’s hand and hugging him to his chest when I turned and made my way back to the ship.

  I was doing it. I was actually going to get married. I was in shock. As I walked back up the pier to the gangway, a black cat with white markings ran across my path, halted for a moment and looked at me with haunting steely glints in his eyes.

  “You again!” I said.

  He turned, swished his tail high up in the air and pranced down the pier. At the next slip, a gray cat joined him and with their heads together they made their way to the area where the fishing boats were just starting to come in.

  Chapter Forty-eight

  The dress

  “Well, what’s keeping her?” Roman asked as Viv

  came to stand beside him.

  “Something about the dress not being right.” “Oh shit! I forgot. Of course it’s not right.” He

  ran through the stateroom that had been set up as a small chapel. When he reached the master bedroom, he knocked on the door and Cat opened it. “Something isn’t quite right about . . .”

  “I know. I know. You go on up, tell the others we’ll be right there.”

  Cat slipped out the door and Roman slipped in closing it behind him. “Tessa?”

  “Roman! This can’t be right, this can’t be how you mean for me to look!”

  I turned and faced him and he could see I was wearing the beautiful gown he had chosen for me but that there was a distinct problem with the bodice. There wasn’t any. The gown was light cream shot with gold threads, sleek from the shoulders to the floor and tiny gold sandals completed the look. The only thing missing was something to cover my breasts. The squared off neckline went just below my breasts and not only outlined them but lifted them and thrust them forward. There were tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over.

  “God, you’re beautiful.”

  “Roman, I can’t go out there like this!”

  “Lord, look at you blush. Ya dinna think that I meant for you to wear the dress like that, did ya?”

  “I put it on and turned to the mirror, I couldn’t imagine . . . but you’ve always picked out such nice dresses for me . . .”

  “I know, I know. But, God, I wouldn’t want you to wear it like that! Although you do look lovely in it as it is. But I forgot to give you this.” He opened his top dresser drawer and took out a pleated gold fan. He held it up to me. “This came with the dress but I thought it looked a bit plain so I had some diamonds sewn on. I just took it out of the safe this morning and forgot to put it with the dress.” He turned it around and I saw that there were a lot of diamonds that had been sewn on making it appear as if the gold fan had fireworks erupting from it. It was a beautiful piece of embroidery as well as a stunning piece of jewelry.

  “Here, it gets tucked in like this,” he said as he gently lifted a breast and slid one end of the fan into the dress, then did the same on the other side. “Shame to cover those pretty breasts but you’ll show them again to me later, wont you?”

  I looked back at the mirror. The top fit beautifully, the centerpiece stunning. Fireworks were leaping out of my chest. It was magnificent.

  “That’s how I feel every time I see you, like fireworks are going off.”

  I turned, “Oh Roman, it’s lovely. It’s the most beautiful wedding dress!”

  “Well, good. Let’s get up there and do this then.”

  Jacqueline DeGroot “Nervous?” I asked.

  “A bit. It is my first time,”

  “I know. And you can’t believe how wonderful it

  feels to know you chose me.”

  “Did ya know I wasn’t even supposed to be there that

  morning? That I got called in because one of the pilots was

  sick?”

  “Karma, huh?”

  “Kismet?”

  I was going to add “Cat,” as in Merlin’s cat, but I

  didn’t. He’d never believe this had all started with a cat. I

  didn’t all the way believe it myself.

  He took my hand in his and kissed it. “Come, become

  my beautiful bride, and be wife to me.”

  I walked with him up the stairs and into the stateroom

  where everyone was waiting. The dress, with its new addition,

  got loud sighs from all the females, or at least I think it was

  the dress, they could have just as easily been sighing over

  Roman in his dress whites, the hat his best man had handed

  him, tucked under his arm. But he was mine now, and I had

  no doubt about it as we answered the Captain’s questions

  and said our vows.

  When it was time to exchange rings, I panicked, but I

  needn’t have. Cat had a beautiful gold wedding band for me

  to place on Roman’s finger and after he turned my claddagh

  around to signify I was now married, he put another diamond

  on the finger of my right hand. “I exchanged the other one for

  this,” he whispered as he slipped the new ring on. “Can’t have

  the stigma of your rejection messing with our karma, now

  can we?” The new diamond was heart-shaped and enclosed

  between two guard bands of baguette-cut fiery mystic topaz

  stones. He had remembered that I liked those bad step-child

  stones and had melded them with a striking blue white

  diamond that glinted in the early morning light. An unusual

  but truly beautiful combination, it was stunning.

  We were pronounced husband and wife and he kissed

  me long and hard. It was a promise of more to come. We greeted all our guests and I was introduced to the

  crew, then everyone toasted us with champagne and we had

  a sumptuous brunch served on deck.

  While cutting the cake, Roman leaned down and

  nuzzled my ear and whispered, “I don’t know what I want to

  do to you first, frig you, fuck you, or feast on you.” “Why don’t you Kneel at the Gate of Pleasure and

  you can do it all?” I asked.

  He looked stunned, “How do you know about that?” “I bought a book on Tantric lovemaking.” “Mmmm. There’s promise for you yet,” he said with

  a snicker. “Now how do we get all these people to leave so

  we can get started?”

  The next book in the Widows of Sea Trail Series: Vivian of Sugar Sands

  About the Author

  Jacqueline DeGroot has published ten novels, a book of short stories and co-authored a local history book. She is active in several writing groups and helps new writers get their manuscripts published.

  Jack lives in Sunset Beach with her husband Bill. Daughter Kimberly recently graduated from UNCW, and two grown sons live in Shallotte and New York. Formerly an overachiev
ing car salesperson in Vienna, VA—she ranked #6 in the country in Pontiac sales—Jack now enjoys full moon parties at the beach, a nice bottle of LaTerre and camping trips with Bill in their “new” motorhome.