She doubted that, but didn’t argue the point. When he stepped close, she said, “It’s good to see you.”
He lifted a hand and caressed her cheek. “You, too. Though you look worn-out. Everything okay?”
“Yes, just tired. Long day.”
She gave him the quick rundown of everything that had happened since she’d last talked to him—the latest on her mother’s condition, how Adam’s arrest and a statement by federal investigators had finally gotten the press off her tail and how she and her mother were going to handle the situation going forward.
“Sounds like the past isn’t dogging your steps anymore,” he said.
“No, it’s finally put to rest.” She yawned wide, making her jaw pop. “And speaking of rest…”
He traced his fingertip across her chin. “Do you think you could hold off sleep for a few more minutes?”
“Maybe. Depends on the reason.” She gave him a saucy smile.
“Close your eyes.”
She did as instructed, which made the sound of her beloved Willow Creek more pronounced. “You do know you’re tempting fate here, right? If I close my eyes, I might fall asleep and you’ll have to carry me to bed.”
“I can think of worse things.”
A delicious shiver raced up Audrey’s spine. Brady took her hand and led her forward along the gravel drive. “What are you up to?”
“It’s a surprise. Just keep your eyes closed.”
“Okay.” She tried to figure out what was going on based on the direction he was guiding her, and it felt like it wasn’t toward the mill. What in the world?
“Stand here for a minute, and don’t peek.” Brady let go of her hand, and a couple of seconds later she heard a click. “Okay, open your eyes.”
Her mouth fell open at the sight in front of her. Thousands of tiny white lights covered a finished white gazebo. White and pink tulle decorated the ceiling. She glanced down and saw the rock path leading from the driveway to the gazebo steps. Happy tears welled in her eyes.
“It’s beautiful.”
She walked forward feeling as if she’d dropped into some magical fairy world. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see actual fairies flit by.
After walking the length of the stone path, she took the first step leading into the gazebo. “It’s exactly how I pictured it.” She shook her head slowly in disbelief. “How?”
“Dad helped, and Sophie did the poufy stuff,” he said as he pointed toward the tulle.
She smiled. “Poufy stuff? That the technical term?”
“How would I know? If it’s not sold at Lowe’s or 84 Lumber, I’m clueless.”
Audrey gazed at the gazebo some more, ran her hand along the freshly painted wood. “You three make a good team.”
“So you like it?” Brady asked as he approached her.
She turned to find that her spot on the step had brought them eye to eye. “Like it? I love it.”
“And I love you.”
Audrey’s breath got stuck trying to leave her lungs. “Oh, Brady.” She leaned forward and kissed him with all the emotion flooding her body. In that moment, she realized how much she’d missed him while they’d been apart. And she had the strangest sensation that she’d missed him even before they’d met.
When the kiss ended, a small laugh escaped Brady, cooling her wet lips. “I take it by your response that you at least like me a little.”
She leaned back and ran her fingertips along his strong jaw, soaked in every detail of this face that was never far from her mind. “I passed up liking you a little a long time ago.”
“Yeah?” Brady teased.
“Yeah. In fact, I’m pretty sure I love you, too.”
“Good, because I have something to ask you.”
If she’d thought it was hard to breathe normally before, it was nothing in comparison as she watched him pull something from his pocket then drop down to one knee.
“I know we haven’t really known each other that long, but it feels like we have. You wanted this gazebo for weddings, so I thought you and I could be the first to use it.” He opened a little black box and lifted it so she could see the contents. A diamond ring winked back at her, embodying everything she’d wanted deep down but dared not hope for. “Audrey York, will you make me a very happy man and marry me?”
More tears welled in her eyes and spilled over. She covered her mouth to stifle a cry.
Brady’s happy but nervous expression faded, replaced with worry. “I’m sorry. It’s too soon.”
He started to stand, but she placed her hands on his shoulders to keep him where he was. She shook her head. “No, it’s not too soon. And yes, I will marry you.”
Brady did stand then. Well, actually, he sprang to his feet and swept her off hers. She laughed as he spun her in a circle before placing her feet back on the step and kissing her until her head spun.
“You still sleepy?” he asked as he held her close.
“Who needs sleep?”
He placed his left arm behind her knees and swung her into his arms. As he carried her toward the mill, she giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” She ran her fingers over his biceps. “I was just thinking that all that manual labor comes in handy when you want to literally sweep a girl off her feet.”
“Was that your ulterior motive for making me work so hard?”
She swatted his arm. “I didn’t make you do anything.”
He stepped inside the mill and headed for the stairs. “True. I would have done it all for free.”
The way he said it, his words deep and husky, made her skin warm. She continued staring into his eyes as he carried her across the loft and set her on her feet at the foot of her bed. Without words, they started slowly undressing each other. With each button undone, each article of clothing dropped to the floor, the fact that she was going to spend the rest of her life with this man sank in a little more.
When all the clothes lay puddled at their feet, Brady lifted her again and lowered her onto the bed. She smiled as he slid in beside her.
“What’s the smile for?” he asked.
“Because I’m happy. You make me happy.”
He caressed her cheek. “The feeling’s mutual.” He lowered his lips to her mouth, then found his way to her neck, her ear, then blazed a trail of kisses to her breasts and stomach.
She ran her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes as all her nerve endings sparked to life.
Brady kissed his way back up the same trail. “You seem to be breathing a bit heavily,” he teased as he reached her mouth again.
“And you’re not breathing heavily enough.” She grabbed him and pulled him down to her, letting all her desire flow into the kiss she gave him. She only broke the kiss and gasped when he joined with her. Her fingers gripped his muscled back as she met his movements with enthusiasm. How was it even possible to feel this good? This wonderfully complete?
They didn’t have to be quiet, and they weren’t. She no longer had to hold everything inside for fear the truth would ruin her life yet again. And that knowledge made their lovemaking even better. She found her release first, followed closely by Brady. Afterward, he cradled her close and she didn’t think she’d ever felt so loved.
She noticed the light coming in the window for the first time. “You forgot to turn off the gazebo lights.”
“Maybe I didn’t forget.” He nuzzled her ear. “Or maybe I had other things on my mind.”
She laughed. “I thought when I pulled into the driveway tonight that I would be hitting this bed alone to sleep.”
Brady shifted so he was looking down at her, his warm chest pressed against hers. “Sorry, I’m not going anywhere. But I figure you’ll get that sleep.” He lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a toe-curling kiss. “Eventually.”
What was it she’d said out by the gazebo? Oh, yeah. Who needed sleep?
Chapter Twelve
She wouldn’t cry. Even thoug
h her mother should be here on her wedding day instead of on the other end of a phone line, Audrey refused to cry on this happiest of days. She didn’t want to mess up her makeup or arrive next to Brady in a few minutes with red, puffy eyes.
“I wish you were here,” she told her mom.
“I’m there in spirit, honey. I’m sure you are the most beautiful bride Tennessee has ever seen. Brady is a lucky man.”
“I’m the lucky one. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling the entire two weeks since he proposed.”
“I remember that feeling.” Thomasina let out a sad sigh. “Your father would have loved walking you down the aisle. Is Nelson accompanying you?”
“No, I’m walking alone.”
“Oh, sweetie.”
“It’s okay, really. It wouldn’t feel right having someone other than you or Dad.”
“I’m sorry.”
Audrey made a scolding sound. “Now, what did we say about apologies?”
“That we’d said ‘I’m sorry’ enough to last a lifetime.”
Quiet stretched between them for a moment. Audrey could hear the guests talking outside and her three new café employees, including magenta-haired Meg, downstairs getting things ready for the wedding reception to be followed by the café opening.
Word had not only gotten around about the new café but also about who she was. When she’d found out the latter, all her old fears had come back until Nelson had told her he’d made it clear at church that people weren’t to judge her based on her mother’s mistakes. And, well, once someone as respected as Nelson Witt made a proclamation in church, everyone seemed to fall in line.
“Audrey?”
“I’m here. Just daydreaming a little.”
“Are you nervous?”
“Strangely, no. It all feels…right.”
“I’m so happy for you. I can’t wait to see the pictures.”
“We’re making a video for you, too, so you can feel like you were here.”
“Oh, I’ll be popular at movie night.”
Audrey laughed. She was really proud of her mom. Not only was she beating a life-threatening disease, but she was trying to touch the lives of the women with whom she was incarcerated. She didn’t call it a ministry, but in a way it was. A ministry of friendship and a shoulder to cry on and a willing ear to listen. Audrey had no doubt some of those women would lead better lives once they were released because of her mom’s empathy.
A knock on the door drew Audrey’s attention. “I think it’s time for me to go.”
“Enjoy this day to its absolute fullest. It’ll be one of the happiest of your life.”
“I will. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart. Now go marry that handsome man.”
Sophie poked her head in as Audrey hung up the phone. “You ready to make an honest man of my brother?”
Audrey laughed at her bridesmaid as she stood. “I suppose. I can’t have his reputation in tatters.” She took one last look at herself in the mirror, unable to believe the person looking back was her. She lifted her hand to the two pink rosebuds adorning the hair piled atop her head—one for each of her parents not here today. But even that tiny emptiness didn’t dim how happy she was, like sunshine was bursting out of her.
“Okay, let’s see if I can make it down the stairs without breaking my neck. I hear neck braces are so out in bridal wear this year.”
Sophie had outdone herself, using all her bridal contacts to make the inside of the café and the gazebo look like a fairy tale, like it was a prince and princess getting married instead of a café owner and a construction worker. But as Audrey started down the stone path to the gazebo accompanied by gorgeous harp music, her eyes settled on Brady and she thought maybe Sophie had it right. She certainly felt like a princess, and Brady was definitely her prince.
AUDREY LOOKED across the dining room of the café from the kitchen’s pickup window and felt a swell of pride. More than ever, she was convinced of karma’s existence. For so long, it had seemed like her life was never going to be happy again. But today had been perfect—the weather, exchanging vows with Brady, how many of her new neighbors had shown up for the reception and promised to come often to sample the café’s offerings.
She’d been stunned by the number of gifts and was convinced they were given because of Brady until people started talking to her as if they hadn’t a clue she’d ever been touched by scandal. She and Brady had received everything from wineglasses to a homemade quilt to a brand-new Easy-Bake Oven from Sophie. Brady had turned a payback-is-hell look on his sister while she, Audrey, Nelson and Craig had nearly laughed themselves out of their chairs.
After the reception, the Willow Creek Café had officially opened for business and had been packed ever since. Sophie, who had taken a break from videotaping the café’s opening at the end of the wedding tape, sat at a table with Nelson, Craig and Kelly. By the quick glances Kelly shot in Craig’s direction, Audrey suspected the architecture intern had a serious case of the yearnings for Craig. Of course, Craig, being a clueless man, evidently hadn’t noticed.
Audrey jumped when Brady wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her ear.
“Hello, Mrs. Witt.”
A thrill went through her at the sound of her new name. She’d been Audrey York for so long that Audrey Witt was going to take some getting used to. But she did like the sound of it and all it represented.
“Hello, yourself. Thanks for helping tonight. We were busier than I anticipated.”
Brady looked out into the dining room. “Seems to be slowing down a bit.” He nuzzled her ear. “Why don’t you leave the rest of the work to someone else so we can go have a proper wedding night.”
She laughed as she turned in his arms. “I think perhaps we ought to have fewer people downstairs once the wedding night begins, don’t you?”
“Then let’s kick everyone out.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She punched him playfully in the chest. “Yeah, that’d be really good for business.”
“It’d be good for me.”
“You are impossible.” She gave him a quick kiss, then whispered, “We close at eight o’clock. We’ll have a proper wedding night then.”
“I can hardly wait.”
That made two of them.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3295-6
HER VERY OWN FAMILY
Copyright © 2009 by Trish Milburn.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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