The Paris Connection
Page 24
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I think that’s a very thoughtful idea. Just make sure you pick a weekend when Avery isn’t scheduled to spend time with her dad.”
“Oh, good point.”
She turned her attention to the front, where she spotted Julien in his tux. It had been specially fitted for his wide girth, but she had to admit that he was a commanding figure.
“Julien looks happy, doesn’t he? I never imagined Lillian would be the one to wrangle him into matrimony.”
“Really? I always thought they’d make a great couple.”
She rolled her eyes. “You did not.”
“You wound me, Aquitaine. Have you already forgotten what I know?”
“What’s that?”
“I know that the heart wants what the heart wants.”
These words, murmured in her ear, caused her to shiver, and Cole noticed the goose bumps rise on her arm.
“Are you cold?” he questioned. “I can give you my jacket.”
He started to shift away from her to remove it, but she grabbed the end of his tie and pulled him back into position. He ran a hand over her arm, and she shivered happily.
“Oh, look, there’s Ophelia and Dane, up near the front.” She had met Lillian’s daughter and her husband when they flew to Paris from Hawaii after the announcement of Lillian’s engagement. “It’s a good thing Lillian and Julien scheduled this wedding when they did. It doesn’t look like Ophelia will be able to fly much longer. That’s quite the baby bump.”
When Cole didn’t respond, she slid him a glance out of the corner of her eye. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Of Ophelia’s baby bump? That was never a good look for me.”
She nudged him in the side. “You know what I mean.”
He moved his arm and cupped her chin, turning her face to look at him directly. “I’m happy for Ophelia, and I wish her well. But I don’t miss her. Not even the tiniest bit. Let her and Dane keep their island paradise. You and I have the City of Light.”
She thrilled at this reminder just as the music began to swell. The guests all moved to stand, and the sound of rustling fabric filled the sanctuary. Emma turned toward the back, along with the rest of them, and waited for Lillian to appear.
She entered the auditorium in a cloud of tulle and satin, a stylish little hat cocked on her head with a thin veil of netting covering her face. Her gaze swept by them all and went to the front of the room. Emma couldn’t help following her line of vision to see how Julien’s face brightened with pleasure at the sight of Lillian. She suppressed a sigh of contentment.
She loved weddings. And though she and Lillian had experienced a few ups and downs on her return to Aquitaine, it was obvious the older woman made Julien happy. So Emma had gradually learned to put aside her occasional annoyance with the way Lillian handled things and decided to like her.
Besides, she wouldn’t be seeing as much of the company owners in the future. Lillian and Julien had informed them that they would be turning over an even greater amount of control to Cole and Emma in the days ahead. The newlyweds planned to travel and spend a considerable amount of time in Hawaii once Lillian’s grandchild was born.
All the talk of babies had made Avery curious, and she had begun asking Emma if there might be a sister for her one day soon. Emma kept putting the question off, but she knew a secret that she’d been holding close. It was the discovery of a velvet ring box from a jewelry shop she had admired some months ago during an outing to the Champs-Élysées with Cole. She had been dropping off several of Cole’s suits at his apartment, placing them in his closet after picking them up from a dry cleaner’s, when it fell from its hiding place and knocked her gently on the head.
She had picked it up, hesitating, and wondering if perhaps it was from Cole’s failed proposal to Ophelia from the year before, when she’d finally opened it up. If she hadn’t recognized the jewelry shop’s name, she wouldn’t have immediately realized it was for her. She had quickly returned it to its hiding place and hadn’t breathed a word of her discovery to Cole or anyone else.
But she was waiting, eager to see what sort of proposal scheme he’d come up with. For someone who had been so opposed to Paris in the beginning, Cole had proven himself a romantic of the highest caliber. He was forever offering up little unexpected surprises, making her fall in love with him all over again each and every day. Like this morning, when she’d gone into her kitchen to find the words “I love you” spelled out in grains of French lavender across the counter. She still wasn’t sure when he’d snuck into the apartment and set that one up. Perhaps Avery had helped him. She was often his accomplice in that sort of thing.
By now, Lillian had reached the altar, and the guests all resumed their seats. The minister began the ceremony, discussing love and its importance, how it knew nothing of age nor time, that it was eternal.
Cole reached for her hand, and she felt a rush of happiness at the warmth of his fingers around hers. As Lillian and Julien began their vows, she turned her head and looked at Cole, letting everything else fade away save for his face. He met her gaze, and she saw exactly what she’d been looking for in his eyes. Then she nestled into him, placed her head on his shoulder and let his arm come around her as she turned her attention toward the front of the sanctuary and her heart toward the future.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460328170
THE PARIS CONNECTION
Copyright © 2014 by Cerella Delbaugh Sechrist
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