One in a Million
Page 39
“And I was a lot out of line. I let my past build up fears about the future.”
He ran a hand over her hair. “I know a little something about that. To tell you the truth, those fears are still there, but they’re not as strong as what I feel for you.”
Moved beyond speaking, she kissed him again, incredibly grateful that they had each found this second chance at love and happiness. All that was missing was an orchestral swell of beautiful music to make this a movie-perfect moment.
“Hey! When you guys are finished sucking face, could someone get me some ginger ale?”
Kenzie felt JT’s smile against her lips and thought, Close enough.
Epilogue
It was a gorgeous June wedding, with Sean serving as best man and Ann, pregnant again, glowing in her matron-of-honor dress. Since weather delays had made it impossible for Kenzie’s parents—doing humanitarian work in South America—to attend, Mr. C. had agreed to give her away. The whole of Peachy Acres turned out for the small but lovely rooftop ceremony, and Mrs. Sanchez made the wedding cake. If anyone thought it was odd for Kenzie’s first husband to be among the guests, they kept it to themselves. For her part, Kenzie was thrilled that he’d honored his promise to be here and to keep the kids while she and JT went to the beach for a weekend honeymoon.
As she walked down the “aisle,” she couldn’t help thinking of JT’s first marriage. I promise to love him as much as you did, she vowed to the unseen Holly, who she liked to think was here in spirit and approved.
After their honeymoon, they’d be moving to a nearby suburb. It was older than the neighborhood Kenzie had almost ended up in, but the house had character and the perfect small building in the backyard to serve as a studio for her new husband, whose recent abstract series Family Portraits was garnering critical acclaim. Leslie and Drew did not share in their mom’s demurring that she couldn’t take responsibility for his talent.
“We take full credit for inspiring him,” they bragged to their friends.
As Mrs. Sanchez cut slices of cake for the happy couple, she reminded them, “I expect to see you both at the Labor Day picnic!”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Kenzie promised.
The older woman raised her eyebrows. “Maybe by then, your sister won’t be the only one pregnant, eh?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with the two I’ve got.” Returning to diapers and sleepless nights after a decade? Probably not. But if she and JT made that decision, she knew she had an equal partner in parenting.
For his part, JT had told her when he proposed that the possibility of her carrying his baby still terrified him, but that he was trying to let go of the fear. “After all, I received one of the biggest blessings of my life when I stopped being scared and let myself love you.”
Now that love was evident on his face for all to see. “Dance with me, Mrs. Trelauney?”
“Happily.” She snuggled into his arms as someone turned up the music. In her peripheral vision, she saw Drew waltz by with the much taller Alicia, and grinned.
“That’s the smile I like to see,” JT murmured.
“Good.” She lowered her voice to a wicked whisper. “Because once we reach our hotel, I plan to spend a lot of time wearing that smile and not much else.”
“Nude, hmm?” Her husband matched her teasing tone. “Maybe now would be a good time to talk to you about a new series of paintings I’m thinking of....”
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ISBN: 9781459222960
ONE IN A MILLION
Copyright © 2003 by Susan Macias Redmond
A DAD FOR HER TWINS
Copyright © 2008 by Tanya Michna
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