"You already have my soul, Kat, but I guess you need to hear the words."
"I do."
"Then here they are -- I love you."
Her mouth trembled, her legs shook with the force of her emotions, and she had to hang on to his waist so she wouldn't fall to the ground. "I didn't think you could ever say that to me."
"I could have said it days ago. I thought it; I just couldn't get the words out. I was a gutless coward."
"I love you, too, Zach."
"If Rogue loses, I could be a poor man," he warned her. "I've invested everything I have in that horse."
"We'll never be poor. We have each other. And if you don't want to get married, I understand. What Crystal did to you would be hard to get past."
He shook his head. "Oh, I'm definitely marrying you. I want you tied to me for all time."
"You'd take that chance? That empty aisle, all those people watching?"
"For you, yes. Will you marry me, Kat?"
"I certainly will." She smiled into his eyes. "Now, are you ever going to kiss me?"
"Oh, I am definitely going to kiss you.”
He sealed his promise to love her with a spellbinding kiss that made her wish for a very short party.
"How long do we have to stay here?" she asked.
"I think the Stanton want to show you off. You've brought a new light into Claire's eyes. Even Harry seems softer."
"I'm starting to love Claire. Harry will take a little more time. Do you mind sharing them with me, Zach?"
"Sam told me once I needed a pack of my own to run with. I think with you, Harry, Claire, we have the beginnings of something."
"We certainly do."
"You want to go back inside?"
She sighed. "Actually, I'm not sure I'm all that welcome inside. Did you feel the tension in that room when your father held up the cuff link? I have the distinct feeling that someone at the party is my father."
"I know you care who he is, Kat, but I don't. It won't matter to me if it's J.T. Baker or Jimmy Callaway or someone else we don't even know. It won't change the way I feel about you. After all, you're getting Jackson Tyler as a father-in-law. Whoever I get in return has got to be better than that."
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again. "I have so many more people in my life now. Maybe it doesn't really matter if I find my father."
"Oh, it matters. You came halfway across the world to find him. You can't give up now."
"No, you can't," a husky voice said from the dark shadows behind them. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. But I couldn't find the words to tell you the truth."
She whirled around in surprise to see another man standing behind them. He stepped out of the shadows.
"You are so beautiful, and I can see your mother in your eyes."
"You?" she breathed.
"I think you have my cuff link."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Six days later, Katherine slid a satin blue garter halfway up her thigh and let her wedding gown fall to the ground. "I can't believe I'm getting married at the Kentucky Derby." She smiled at her grandmother, who had spent the past week arranging the most spontaneous, spectacular wedding of the season to take place in the infield at Churchill Downs at eight o'clock in the morning, just a few hours before Rogue would participate in the race of his life.
"Luckily, the racing officials saw your wedding as another opportunity for press coverage," Claire replied.
"That and the fact that Harry pulled some strings."
"A lot of them. But the Derby is one big party anyway. Why not a wedding to go with all the madness? Besides, Zach always thought he'd get everything he wanted this Derby day. This is one way to make sure of it."
"If Rogue loses, I might have the most depressing night of my life, and it will be my wedding night."
"Even if Rogue loses, you and Zach will be happy. I know it," Claire said. She took a step back and sighed. "You look beautiful, Katherine. Thank you for letting me share this day with you."
"Thank you for agreeing to be my matron of honor as well as my grandmother." Katherine gave her a quick, loving hug.
"I'm sorry your stepfather didn't want to make the trip. It seems a shame not to have any of your family from California."
"I would have loved to include Mitchell and Cecily, but they have their own life, they always have. I'm sure you'll meet them sometime."
Claire sent her a thoughtful look. "You're very much like your mother, Katherine. Strong enough to stand on your own when you need to and smart enough to follow your heart."
"Thank you. But it takes courage to stay as well as courage to go, and some of that strength I get from you and no doubt from Harry."
"Speaking of Harry. He has a cart outside waiting to take you to the infield." Claire checked her watch. "We should go. It's eight o'clock."
"I'm ready."
"I wish you'd let Harry give you away," Claire said. "I hate to see you walk down that aisle alone."
"I won't be alone."
"What does that mean?" Claire asked.
Katherine smiled to herself. "Come on, it's time to go."
They hurried out of the small dressing room they'd taken over and saw Harry sitting in a four-seater cart with a driver waiting. Katherine held the edges of her wedding dress up from the dirt, then changed her mind and let the material touch the ground. She and Zach were both earthy people. He loved his horses and she loved her garden; a little dirt wouldn't hurt. That was who they were, where they belonged.
Katherine looked out toward the infield where Zach waited for her. She suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed.
"Wait," she said abruptly.
Claire sent her a worried look. "What's wrong?”
"I can't. I have to..."
"Katherine, where are you going?" Claire called after her.
* * *
Zach stood by the makeshift altar and adjusted his tuxedo. He didn't know if he was more nervous about Rogue winning the Derby or about Katherine actually showing up for the wedding.
She loves you, he told himself firmly. She isn't going to stand you up. She's seen the worst of you. The mental pep talk did little to ease his nerves. They were strung so tight, he thought they'd snap at any second.
"Easy now," Sam said in his ear. "She's coming."
"She better."
"You love her. She loves you. I knew it from the first day."
"When she almost killed us?"
Sam grinned. "Yep."
Zach sighed. "A lot has happened since then. I don't want Katherine to think I rushed her into this."
"But you did."
"Well, I didn't want her to change her mind.”
"I doubt she'd do that."
"She's coming, right, Sam?"
Sam nodded, not a doubt in his eyes. "She's coming. I'd stake my life on it."
The minister they'd hired came over to join them. He held up his watch. "We're running a little late. Do you know where your bride is?"
"She'll be here," Zach said, feeling a terrible sense of déjà vu. He'd said the same words to the minister right before Crystal had jilted him. He hadn't even considered at that first wedding that the bride wouldn't show up. Now it was all he could think about. There were the same people sitting in the chairs, all the Paradise Valley folks, more friends than he'd had that day, or else they'd just accepted the invitation so they could witness another humiliation.
Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Zach."
"I'm trying. We should have eloped, then I would have known for sure we'd be together at this moment."
"Why didn't you?"
Zach thought about the question. "I guess I wanted to prove to her that she was worth the risk."
"You and Katherine have what it takes," Sam said quietly. "Most folks don't have what you have. Or if they do, they don't know it."
"Then where the hell is she?"
* * *
Katherine made it back to the cart, breathless but
now ready to get married. "Let's go," she said, hopping into her seat.
"What was that all about?" Claire asked. "For a moment you had me worried."
"I forgot something."
"Another secret? You've been acting mysterious since you and Zach announced your engagement."
She smiled to herself but didn't reply, and Claire let it go because the cart had stopped at the back of the roped-off area. Her gaze ran down the white runner leading up to the front where Zach was waiting.
She waved to him and he waved back, a wide smile spreading across his face. Her gaze drifted across the crowd gathered to witness their wedding, Leeanne and Jimmy, Mary Jo and J.T., Justin and his wife, and dozens more.
Claire handed her a bouquet of flowers laced with lavender. "It's only appropriate, don't you think?"
She took a whiff and knew that somehow her mother had brought her here, to this day, to her grandparents, to Zach and even to her father.
She looked at Claire. "I'm ready to get married.”
"I'll go first," Claire said. "Are you sure you don't want Harry--”
"I'm sure." Katherine took in a breath of sweet, fresh Kentucky air. "I want my father to walk me down the aisle."
"Your father?" Claire asked in shock. "You know who he is? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to have him all to myself for a few days, to find out what happened between him and my mother. I know that this may be painful for you, but he's my father, and he never knew Margaret had a baby until I came to Paradise. She didn't tell him. And just as she deprived you of a grandchild, she deprived my father of a daughter. Whether or not you'll hate him for what happened all those years ago is up to you. But I intend to have him walk me down the aisle."
"Well, I don't know what to say." Claire looked over at Harry, who had gone still as a statue.
"Who -- who is your father?" Harry asked, squeezing out each word with fearful deliberation.
Katherine turned to the man who had come up the cart. She stepped off, standing next to him, and slipped her hand into his, knowing they would both need courage.
Claire and Harry looked at their joined hands in disbelief.
"Oh, my God!" Claire breathed, putting a hand to her mouth. "I never would have guessed."
"I loved your daughter," her father said slowly. "We knew that it wasn't right, us being together. You wanted more for her, and at the time I wanted more for myself. But when she left, I had no idea she was pregnant." He took a deep breath, then went on. "If I'd known, I would have stopped her, I would have stood by her. I would have married her. But Margaret didn't give me a chance to help her. She told me she was leaving because she was tired of Paradise, because the last thing in the world she wanted to do was take over the horse farm, and most of all because she didn't love me. I'm sorry to say I was hurt enough to believe every word." He took a deep breath, then went on.
"I told myself I was glad she was gone. But I didn't mean it. And when I had chances to move on, to leave Paradise, I didn't take them. There was a part of me that kept hoping she'd come back. When she came back in a coffin, I still couldn't tear myself away." He glared at Harry. "That was cruel."
Harry looked down at the ground. Claire shook her head. "I don't know what to say. There are so many things we need to talk about, but where do we start?"
"We start today," Katherine said simply. "Start by mending our fences. There sure are a lot of 'em here in Kentucky, but I think we can do it, if we all try. Everyone here shares responsibility for what happened. But we can't change the past, only our future, and I want all of you in my life. So what do you say?"
Claire nodded. "We can try. Can't we, Harry?"
Her grandfather looked at her and at her father. "You're a son of a bitch. You betrayed me."
"I fell in love with your daughter. It had nothing to do with you."
Katherine stepped between them. "Don't, please, not now."
Her father let out a breath. "I don't really care what you think, Harry. I loved Margaret. And I intend to love my daughter."
"We'll talk about this later," Claire said decisively, slipped her hand through Harry's arm. "We've all made terrible mistakes, but right now we're dealing with the present. Today Katherine is going to marry the man she loves, and I'm going to watch every second of it, and so are you, Harry Stanton. So are you."
She smiled at her grandmother. "Thank you." She turned to her father. "Ready?"
"Are you sure you want me to do this with you? I haven't been much of a father."
"You haven't had a chance."
"I'm going to do everything I can to make up for lost time. Zach told me how you'd never let yourself think that your father was anything less than a good person. I've never known such faith. I only wish Margaret would have had as much faith in me as you do."
"Me, too," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "I better go get married before Zach gives up on me."
"He'll never do that."
Katherine took her father's arm and walked down the aisle. They stopped next to Zach, and Katherine stood in the middle, her father on one side, her husband-to-be on the other. She had never felt so loved, so cherished. She'd finally found the place where she belonged.
"Who gives this woman to be married?" the minister asked.
"I do," the man next to her said proudly and loudly. He smiled down at her. "I'm Sam Jordan. Her father."
Katherine heard the murmurs, the gasps of shock, but she didn't care. She squeezed Sam's hand, then handed him the cuff link Zach had taken from Jackson at the party. "I'd like you to wear this today, so I'll feel like my mother is here, too."
He slipped it into his sleeve, matching the other one he'd kept tucked away in a drawer. "I would have worn these the day I married your mother, if she'd stayed with me, if she'd trusted me to make things work. I would have given up the horses for her. I would have moved to California, but she never asked."
"I know," Katherine said, giving him a hug. "But I think she's watching right now, and she's happy we're together."
Sam drew the back of his weathered hand across his eyes, then stepped back so Zach and Katherine could move forward together, to stand in front of the minister, to pledge their love.
Zach took Katherine's hand in his and smiled down at her. "From now on, it's just the two of us, Kat. We're starting our own family." He gazed into her eyes with the serious intensity she'd come to adore. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
"For better or worse," he said.
"In sickness or in health," she added.
"Hey, those are my lines," the minister interjected. "You're getting ahead of me."
Zach laughed. "We've got a race to get to. Could you speed this along?"
"Do you, Zachary Tyler, take Katherine Jones Whitfield Stanton to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"Do you, Katherine Jones Whitfield Stanton, take Zachary Tyler to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"You're going to have to get rid of some of those names," Zach whispered to her as the minister continued with the blessing.
"I only need one now. Tyler."
Zach kissed her on the mouth, long and hard, promising her a lifetime of happiness.
"Uh, sir," the minister said, clearing his throat.
"What?"
"You may kiss the bride."
"I'm way ahead of you."
"I can see that."
Everyone laughed as Zach kissed Katherine again, long and hard and passionately endless.
* * *
Mary Jo turned to J.T. "Sam is her father? I don't understand why you had that photograph of Margaret if she was involved with Sam."
"Sam took the photo, and I stole it, because I was jealous. I wanted Margaret for myself."
"You did?" Mary Jo felt a shaft of pain.
"Then I met you. Then I fell in love with you.”
"You did?" she repeated with a sense of wonder.
J.T. lo
oked into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mary Jo, for a lot of things, but you have to believe me when I say I married you for love. When I couldn't give you a baby, I felt worthless. I screwed things up. But I want to change. I want another chance, not just with you, but with our farm. Unless you still want to sell out to Zach?"
Mary Jo smiled. "I think Zach has his hands full." She turned to Leeanne, who was sitting next to her. "We were both wrong, huh?"
Leeanne sighed. "Yes. Imagine -- J was short for Jordan, Sam's last name. Margaret was awfully secretive, wasn't she?"
"Like everyone else in Paradise."
"So it's back to life with my normal, boring husband. Who I absolutely adore," Leeanne added with a mischievous smile. She leaned over and planted a wet kiss on Jimmy's cheek.
"Leeanne," Jimmy complained. "This isn't the time."
"See? Same old thing."
* * *
Five hours later, it was time for the big race.
The jockeys had mounted, the horses had been called to the post and paraded before the crowd, and there was nothing left to do but lead each highly-strung thoroughbred into the gate that would start the race of a lifetime.
"This is it," Katherine said as she and Zach stood at the rail with the grooms and trainers and real horse people, letting the Stanton and others sip champagne in the luxury boxes of Millionaire's Row.
"This is it," Zach echoed. "I've been living a long time for this day, dreaming about this moment, wishing for success, happiness, all the things I never thought I had."
Sam came up on the other side of Katherine, his body as tense as Zach's. Katherine silently prayed for success.
Within seconds the gate opened and Rogue came out fast and clean, the jockey wearing the Stanton colors of burgundy and gold. Katherine couldn't hear the screaming crowd, her heart was pumping too loud. She wanted Rogue to win for Zach. She wanted it more than anything.
Zach turned and looked at her, actually taking his eyes off the race.
Almost Home Page 24
