Darkmoon (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill Book 3)
Page 28
And then….
“Look at that,” I whispered to Connor.
He followed my gaze to where Mason stood. A tall young man with brown hair was talking to her, gesturing with a glass of champagne in one hand, and I saw her laugh and flick a lock of long dark hair behind one shoulder.
Good deployment of the hair toss, Mason, I thought, unable to repress a smile.
“Is that…?”
“Yep, that’s my cousin Adam. I guess his heart wasn’t irretrievably broken after all.”
“Wow.”
“I think it’s awesome,” I said. “I hope they flirt all night and then go shack up in a hotel room somewhere.”
“Seriously?”
I thought of how Mason had confessed she wasn’t that thrilled about getting married, since she didn’t want to marry a cousin and was worried that being with a civilian would be too complicated. That wasn’t to say that hooking up with a McAllister might not have its own complications, but I thought it was a step in the right direction.
“Seriously,” I told him. “Or do you want to be the only guy getting lucky in Sedona tonight?”
“Nah, I’m not that selfish,” Connor replied with a grin.
“Glad to hear it,” I said, and that was all the time we had to spend on our speculations, since a couple of his cousins came up to offer their congratulations.
And then it was time for dinner, and I just barely managed to make my glass of champagne last through the cinnamon-roasted duck breast so I would still have enough for the toasts. Even so, I ended up stealing a sip or two from Connor’s glass, just because there were so many toasts — from Lucas, of course, and my father and Tobias and Anthony. Even Bryce McAllister stood up and quite unexpectedly gave us his blessing, which moved me much more than I thought it would. Somehow I hadn’t thought any of the McAllister elders would unbend enough to recognize that Connor and I truly were meant to be together.
After that I kicked off my sandals and danced with my husband, alone on the dance floor, as the moon rose above the mesa to the east and “It Had to Be You” played through the loudspeakers cleverly concealed within the branches of the trees overhead. Once our first dance was over, everyone crowded in around us, the music picking up its tempo, Wilcoxes and McAllisters all moving together in a scene I was sure no one would have believed, if they’d seen it only six months earlier.
My feet were starting to give out on me, even minus the torture devices Sydney referred to as “sandals,” so I went back to my chair and sat down, then put my feet up on the empty seat next to me, content to simply watch the happy crowd. Connor settled in beside me, then handed me a glass of ice water. “Don’t poop out on me now,” he said. “We’ve probably got at least another three hours to get through.”
“I’m not pooping out,” I replied, taking the water and drinking half of it down without stopping. After I let out a contented little sigh, I added, “I’m just waiting to get my second wind.”
“I’m sure it’ll miraculously appear as soon as it’s time to cut the cake.”
“Probably.” I wasn’t going to argue with him on that point; I’d been waiting for that spice cake with buttercream frosting all day.
But then I saw something that made me sit up straighter in my chair and drop my feet to the ground.
“I don’t believe it,” I murmured to him.
“What?”
Pointing would have been rude, so I settled for tilting my head over to the left, to a table a few yards away. Margot Emory had been sitting there alone, watching the dancing. Her expression was hard to read, but to me it almost looked…wistful? No, that was impossible. Margot wouldn’t allow herself to be wistful.
But then Lucas Wilcox approached her. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, of course, but it almost looked like he was asking her to dance. How many glasses of champagne had it taken him to work up the courage for that, realizing he was only going to get shot down?
I didn’t know, of course.
The crazy thing was, it didn’t look like she was shooting him down. She tilted her head back slightly to look at him, her hair, free at last from its eternal ponytail, slipping back over the shoulders of her turquoise sheath dress. Then she stood up, and even allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her to the dance floor. It was a slow dance, “The Way You Look Tonight,” and yet she was allowing him to put his arm around her waist, hadn’t tried to blast him into next week.
“Okay, now I truly believe world peace is possible,” I said at last.
“After everything we’ve been through, I believe just about anything is possible,” Connor told me, picking up my hand and pressing it to his lips.
The touch of his mouth against my skin made a delicious shiver run through me, and I halfway wished we could slip out now and start the wedding night early, spice cake or no. But I knew I would stay. I could do no less for my family…all of them, McAllister and Wilcox alike.
What a wonderful thought that was. So many wounds beginning to heal, so many old prejudices starting to fade away. It would take time, and I knew, people being who they were, that it wouldn’t always be easy. But it would be worth it. For Connor, for me, for our children, and the children who were to come after them.
At long last, the unquiet ghosts of our past had been laid to rest.
The End
* * *
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Also by Christine Pope
THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL
(Paranormal Romance)
Darkangel
Darknight
Darkmoon
Sympathetic Magic
Protector
* * *
THE DJINN WARS
(Paranormal Romance)
Chosen
Taken
THE SEDONA FILES
(Paranormal Romance)
Bad Vibrations
Desert Hearts
Angel Fire
Star Crossed
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
* * *
TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS
(Fantasy Romance)
All Fall Down
Dragon Rose
Binding Spell
Ashes of Roses
One Thousand Nights
* * *
THE GAIAN CONSORTIUM SERIES
(Science Fiction Romance)
Breath of Life
Blood Will Tell
The Gaia Gambit
The Mandala Maneuver
About the Author
Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, and fantasy and science fiction/space opera romance. She now works as a freelance editor and graphic designer in addition to writing fiction. She fell in love with Sedona, Arizona, while researching the Sedona Files and now makes her home there, surrounded by the red rocks. No alien sightings, though...not yet, anyway!
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Christine Pope on the Web:
@ChristineJPope
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www.christinepope.com