***
“What?” he had said with a half-smile. He thought I was kidding.
“I want your father to give me away at our wedding. Do you think he will agree?”
“I… I guess he probably will. He’s grown to love you as much as I do… but won’t that be strange for you?”
“No. I think it will be perfect. It will be like bringing a lifetime of pain full-circle towards the light,” I said. “We’ve all made terrible mistakes and we’ve all paid for them… James most of all.”
Seth laughed and said, “That’s because his were the worst and the most.”
I laughed too. It was good that finally, I could laugh about it. “Yes, they were. But he’s done everything within his power over the past eight months to make up for it.” The business was booming thanks to both mine and Seth’s hard work, and thanks also in part to James working for us as a “consultant.” It made him feel needed and he had done an amazing job, keeping us on the right track financially.
“Okay then,” Seth had said. “Ask him.”
I’d gone to the estate alone and when Hannah let me in, James greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. I looked around and remembered the first time I was in the house. It was that awful night of the ball when James had recognized me. We had really come a long way.
“Adele, it’s always good to see you, but what brings you out today?” he’d asked me.
We sat down and Hannah brought us some tea and after I’d taken a sip I said, “I came to ask you if you’d do me the honor of walking me down the aisle when I marry your son.”
James choked on his tea. Then he stared at me for a long time, speechless, before finally saying, “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I want this to be the final link that holds our family together. One day when Seth and I have children I want to honestly tell them that I think of their grandfather as a father of my own. I don’t want this family to hold on to any animosity towards each other again.”
James had tears in his eyes. He reached over and took one of my hands and said, “I’ve been bestowed with a lot of honors in my life… most of which I didn’t deserve. I’m not sure that I deserve this one, but I can promise you that I’m going to do whatever it takes for the rest of my life making sure that your dreams for this family come true. If it weren’t for you, this family would likely not even exist at this point. Sometimes, maybe to just assuage my own guilt, I like to think that maybe when I was wreaking havoc in people’s lives… this was the infinite plan all along. I would be honored to walk you down the aisle Adele. Thank you so much.”
***
Now here we were at last and when we reached the aisle he lifted my small veil and kissed my cheek. “I love you, Adele. I would say welcome to the family, but it wasn’t a family before you got here.”
I had tears in my eyes now, threatening to ruin my make-up. I kissed his cheek and said, “I love you too. Thank you for making this amazing son for me to love.” He looked at Seth then and smiled.
“Thank God for DNA and his mother,” he said. He clapped his son on the back and then he took his seat. I was finally standing at the altar with the man of my dreams and I knew in my heart that from this point on we could face anything together.
Laying my hand once more across my still flat stomach I thought, “Together, as a family, we’ll be whole.”
Holly Rayner
Stolen: Meant To Be (Contemporary Billionaire Romance) Page 7
