The boy rolled over and blinked. “Hi, Mom. I had strawberry-shortcake ice cream. It was real good.”
“I’m glad, son.”
Donnie’s gaze flicked to Garrett. “It’s too late for checkers tonight. Maybe tomorrow.” He started to roll over.
Charity pulled him back. “Honey, I know you’re sleepy, but this is important. We need to talk—just for a minute. It’s about your father.”
His eyes widened and he blinked. “Huh?”
“I’ve never told you who your father is because... well, it’s hard to explain.” She glanced up at Garrett in search of some help.
He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m your dad, son. I didn’t know that till just recently but I’m so proud that you’re mine, well, I’m pretty much popping my buttons.”
Donnie frowned.
“See, the thing is, son,” Garrett continued, “your mom and I are in love. I’d like to ask your permission to marry her so we can be a family.”
“Would that mean I wouldn’t have to have Homer for a dad?”
“Not ever, son,” Garrett said. “You and your mom would be mine.”
The boy blinked once. “Way cool.” With that, Donnie turned over and was once again fast asleep.
Charity met Garrett’s gaze and grinned. “At least you rate somewhere above Homer.”
“Guess I have my work cut out for me, huh?”
“Not with me, you don’t.” Leaning forward, she kissed him. “I love you, Garrett Keeley.”
“I love you, too, cinnamon girl.”
Epilogue
It was the biggest wedding Grazer’s Comers had seen all summer.
It was also the only one where the bride and groom had actually managed to exchange their vows without some disaster occurring.
Charity looked around the hall at the country club, amazed she, of all people, would be having her wedding reception here and that half the town would attend. But with Garrett and his father footing the bill, how could she object?
Bud and Hailey were there, of course. So was Donnie, though for the moment Charity had lost track of him. He’d been adorable standing up with Garrett as best man, solemnly presenting the ring right on cue.
In the corner, she spotted Kate Bingham, now Mrs. Mitch Connery, having landed the cowboy who’d stolen her right from the altar. Fortunately the former groom-to-be, Moose Harmon, didn’t look all that miserable with the blond Betsy Muller on his arm. It looked like things might be heating up in the cosmetic department at Harmon’s store.
From her spot at the head table, she cast her gaze around the room again.
Jordan Grazer was so in love, she glowed. She was looking up into the eyes of the man who used to be the town bad boy, Tanner Caldwell, a reformed rebel if Charity ever saw one. It also turned out he was a security expert worth megabucks, fully a match for Jordan’s snooty parents.
Idly Charity wondered if she looked at Garrett with as much love and passion as she saw in the eyes of both Kate and Jordan for their men. She supposed she did. It would be impossible not to, the way she felt about Garrett.
To Charity’s delight, Homer had accepted her invitation to the wedding and had come with a darling young woman on his arm, the romantic lead from the current production at the local little theater group. She wished them both the happiness she felt.
Returning from wherever his groomly duties had taken him, Garrett whispered in her ear. “The photographer says it’s time to throw the bouquet. You ready?”
She clasped the fragrant flowers, mostly wildflowers with a single rose in the center. “I hate to part with it.”
“I’ll buy you as many flowers as you want, sweetheart. But these you’ve got to toss to the next lucky girl. It’s tradition.”
She remembered how she’d caught—inadvertently, she was sure—Jordan’s bouquet as she’d been swept away by Tanner on his motorcycle. At the time, Charity had never expected she would be the next to marry.
But then, perhaps catching a wedding bouquet— at least one in Grazer’s Corners—had more powers of prediction than she had ever anticipated.
Garrett escorted her to the patio area the photographer from Modesto had designated for the shot. She’d checked out his credentials, and although she’d rather have been in two places at once, both as bride and photographer, she thought he’d do a credible job. She certainly hoped so.
The single women gathered around, though there weren’t all that many. Charity prepared for the big toss.
“Mom! Watch out!” Donnie screamed. “Rambo followed us into town. He’s on the loose!”
She whirled.
Rambo was lumbering through the country-club grounds, a man with a flailing golf club fast on his heels. Charity tried to dodge the onslaught of a thousand pounds of pork on the hoof. People screamed. Garrett, always quick, grabbed her around the waist, and in the process dislodged her bouquet, sending it into an arc over Charity’s head.
At the last moment, Rambo veered away from the crowd. He and the golfer raced toward the eighteenth hole.
Behind her, Charity heard titters and shocked laughter.
She turned to find Agatha Flintstone clasping the bridal bouquet, her cheeks bright as a summer sunset, and her eyes glued to an equally mature gentleman they’d all come to know as Mr. B, a close friend of Jordan Grazer Caldwell’s new husband.
“Interesting,” Garrett commented, finally relaxing his grip on Charity’s waist.
“Hmm, do you think Agatha’s about ready to give up her fantasies of Norman conquerors for something made of flesh and blood?”
“I don’t know about her, cinnamon girl. I’d just like to get out of here as soon as possible. I figure our honeymoon is about eight years overdue.”
Charity agreed. And with Agatha still holding the wedding bouquet, Charity and Garrett slipped away. No one in Grazer’s Comers was likely to miss them. By tomorrow morning, there’d be a new topic of speculation at the Good Eats Diner.
Smiling lovingly at her new husband, Charity decided she definitely preferred it that way.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-6088-7
THE HOG-TIED GROOM
Copyright © 1998 by Charlotte Lobb.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills. Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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The Hog-Tied Groom (The Brides of Grazer's Corners #3) Page 20
