by Sara Orwig
“We’ll be fine,” Megan said, looking at her plain satin dress that was simplicity itself.
“Megan, it’s time for you,” the tall, brunette wedding planner, Stacy Goldman, said, opening the door. She helped Megan with her train as they walked to the foyer. Her hand rested on her uncle’s arm as the wedding planner gave her the signal to start.
Megan’s gaze went to the tall, handsome man who would soon be her husband. Her heartbeat quickened, racing with joy and love for Jared. He looked incredibly handsome, his black hair neatly combed and the black tux emphasizing his dark hair and eyes.
She loved him with all her heart—the lost years seemed nothing now. Jared was here and he loved her. In minutes he would become her husband. He was already Ethan’s daddy, and they’d had the birth certificate changed to state the true parents.
As she drew closer to the altar, she glanced at Ethan, the ring bearer, standing beside his daddy. She smiled at Ethan and winked at him and he smiled in return, looking up at Jared with a big smile.
And then she was standing beside Jared, and her uncle placed her hand in Jared’s. His warm fingers closed around her hand as the minister began to speak, but she barely heard the words. She glowed with love for Jared, so happy, knowing she was the most fortunate woman on earth.
Together, they repeated their vows, and finally they took Ethan’s hands and the three of them walked up the aisle together. They went out the door to go around to the back entrance to come back in for pictures..
“I love your mommy, Ethan,” Jared said, swinging his son up into his arms and giving Ethan a hug and a kiss on his temple. “I love you. I love both of you with all my heart,” Jared said, holding Ethan with one arm while he put the other around Megan’s waist to hug her.
“I love you,” Ethan said, hugging Jared’s neck and then looking at his mom and reaching out to give her a hug.
They returned to the sanctuary to pose for pictures. Jared’s dad was his best man, and his cousins, Chase and Matt, were groomsmen, plus Tony, a close friend from Dallas.
The reception was at Jared’s ranch, where tents had been set up and tables were covered with food, including a six-tier wedding cake decorated with rosebuds and small pink orchids.
Jared took Megan into his arms for the first dance and she smiled up at him. “I can’t believe I’m finally your wife.”
“Believe it. I’ll make it real for you if we can ever get away from here. I love you, Meg, darlin’, and I’m going to tell you every morning and every night.”
She laughed. “No, you won’t! But if you do just some of the time I’ll be happy. I think Ethan is as happy as I am.”
“I hope so. God knows, I’m happy, Meg,” he said, gazing at her with warmth. “Let’s get out of here soon. They can all party without us.”
“We will,” she promised.
When the music stopped, Jared’s dad claimed her for the next dance. Later Megan danced with Ethan, and halfway through Jared joined them, and the three held hands, smiling and dancing together.
“Here comes Chase,” Jared said, and she glanced around to see his cousin approaching.
“May I have the next dance?” Chase asked, stepping up to take her hand. Jared and Ethan left and she danced away with Chase, his green eyes sparkling. “You’ve made him one happy man,” Chase said.
“And he’s made me a happy woman, Chase. And Ethan loves his daddy beyond measure.”
“It’s good for all of you, then, but I know it’s good for my cuz. Megan, I don’t want to bring up a bad time except to say one thing—Jared was brokenhearted when he left here. You’ll never know.”
“I can imagine,” she said, looking toward the sidelines and seeing Jared watching her while he talked to Matt and friends.
“But that’s over, and now he’s so happy, he’s goofy. And since it was our bet that got you two together again, it’s even better, because he’s too in love to win. He’s so muddled right now, he’s probably letting all kinds of deals slip through his fingers.”
She laughed. “Don’t count him out yet, Chase.”
Chase grinned at her. “It’s amazing how much Ethan looks like Jared. He’s the spitting image.”
“Yes, he is. He’s so happy with Jared. Jared’s already a good dad.”
“He surprised me there. He’s nuts about Ethan. I’m happy for all of you,” Chase said, gazing at her. “This is really great.” He looked past her. “Here comes Matt for his turn to dance with you.”
Megan turned, seeing thick black curls and blue eyes as Matt sauntered up to them and the dance ended. “You’re rushing us,” Chase said as Matt jerked his thumb.
“You’ve had your dance.” He smiled at Megan. “May I have this dance?”
“I’d be delighted,” she said, smiling in return. “Thank you, Chase,” she said.
“My pleasure, Megan. Best wishes. And take care of him,” he said, brushing her cheek with a light kiss.
“I intend to,” she answered. Wind caught locks of Chase’s straight brown hair and tumbled them on his forehead. He combed them back in place with his fingers as he walked away.
While a ballad commenced, she turned to Matt and they began to dance. “I hope you’re both happy,” Matt said. “Jared is, I know.”
“Thank you, and I am, too. I love him.”
“I’m glad you’re in the family now. Of course, you know, now you’ll have to attend Dalton family reunions and Christmas gatherings.”
“That sounds wonderful. I like all the Daltons I know so far.”
“Good thing. You’re stuck with us now. Take Jared on a long, long honeymoon, and keep him out of Chase’s and my hair. We’ve got unfinished business, and if you’ll keep him busy, we can get a lot done without him.”
“Could you be referring to a bet you made?”
He grinned. “Dang! He told you about our bet?”
“Yes, he did. Knowing Jared, he’ll compete, honeymoon or not.”
“Speak of the devil,” Matt said and they stopped as Jared stepped up to take her hand from Matt.
“You guys go away. You’ve danced with her long enough, and Chase has had his turn.”
“How you got her to marry you, I’ll never know!” Matt teased, and Jared shook his head, taking her hand to dance away from his tall cousin.
“At last, I have you to myself again.”
“Your cousins are charming,” Megan said.
“You bring it out in them. Have I told you that you’re gorgeous?”
“Yes, but I don’t mind hearing it again,” she replied, looking into his dark brown eyes and feeling the current that spun between them.
When the dance ended, they posed for more pictures and then cut the cake, and shortly after, she was separated from Jared as friends crowded around to talk to her about the wedding.
In the afternoon, Jared found her and took her hand and led her to the dance floor for another dance.
Jared danced her away from the crowd and around the corner of the house, then stopped. She was surprised to see her aunt and uncle standing there with Ethan, and she glanced at Jared.
“I told them to meet us here so we could tell them good-bye,” he said.
She turned to hug her aunt and then her uncle. “Thank you both for all the help you’ve been. Thank you for everything and for keeping Ethan for us.”
“You enjoy your honeymoon. Ethan will be fine,” Thomas said, kissing her cheek.
Her aunt hugged her. “I’m so happy for you, Megan. I hope you have the joy that Thomas and I have had. Now don’t worry about Ethan. We’ll take good care of him.”
“I promise, I won’t worry.” She kissed her aunt and then turned to pick up Ethan. “Give me a big hug,” she said and hugged him in return.
He leaned back. “You’ll come back and get me?”
“Yes. We’ll be gone two weeks and then we’ll come get you and take you with us for two weeks.”
“Wow!” he exclaimed.
“Be
a good boy.”
“I will,” he promised, and Jared lifted him to hug him. Jared reached into his pocket and pulled out a box that was wrapped in blue paper. “Here, Ethan, this is for you.”
“Thanks, Daddy!” Ethan said, taking the box and ripping into it to pull out something folded up. Jared helped him unfold it, and a wire frame covered by a nylon net popped up.
“It’s a bug cage, Ethan. Now you can catch a bug and put it in there and watch it. You’ll have to feed it something or put some grass or flowers in the cage. After a day or two, let it go so it can go home.”
“Thanks!” Ethan repeated, his eyes shining.
“We’ll get going before we’re missed,” Jared said, taking her arm with another flurry of good-byes.
“Jared, what about your family? And I have to change clothes.”
“I’ve already told my family good-bye, and I told them we’re slipping out. You can change on the plane. Your aunt gave me your dress and your things, and they’re on the plane. Let’s go.” Holding hands, they ran to a waiting limo where Jared’s chauffeur held the door for them.
She fell into Jared’s arms, turning to kiss him, aware he had closed the partition to the front of the car and that they had privacy, with darkened windows.
“I love you,” she finally said, raising her head. His hair was tangled over his forehead and he opened his eyes slowly, gazing at her with warmth in his expression.
“I love you, Mrs. Dalton.”
“That sounds wonderful, Jared. I can’t ever hear that enough,” she said, smiling at him and tracing his lips with her finger as he smiled in return. “Now, where are we going?”
“To the airport. I have a seaplane that will fly us to Minnesota, to a cabin I bought on a lake there. We’ll spend two days there and then we’ll fly to my home on the Mediterranean. You’ll like it. In two weeks, we’ll come back and get Ethan, and we’ll all go to Switzerland.”
“Jared, this is a dream.”
“No, it’s real. I’ll convince you of that today and tonight,” he said in a husky voice.
“And how long before we get to that cabin in the woods?” she asked, running her hand across his chest.
“About two hours.”
She groaned. “That’s forever, Jared.”
“I agree, but it’s the best I could do, short of going to the hotel in town. We’ll think of some way to make the time fly,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again.
They finally were on the last approach, and the pilot landed on the ice-smooth surface of a brilliant blue lake. A man came out in a small boat to take them to the dock. Nestled in tall pines was a sprawling two-story chateau with a corral, barn and outbuildings.
“Jared, how many people live around here? And a cabin? This is a mansion in the woods!”
“There are a lot of people who work for me who have homes up here, and there are a few people who live around here all the time. It’s an elegant cabin, I’ll admit, but I don’t care to rough it for my honeymoon.”
At the door, Jared scooped her up to carry her over the threshold and set her on her feet.
She barely saw the house, glancing at polished oak floors, lots of pine and dark wood walls, but the minute Jared set her on her feet and closed the door, she turned to slide her arms around his neck. “Are we finally alone?”
“Yes,” he said, drawing her to him. As she kissed him she could feel his fingers tugging free the long row of tiny buttons to her dress.
“Jared, you’ll never know how much I love you and want you. I want to make up for all we lost. I want to kiss every inch of you, caress you, drive you wild,” she drawled in a sultry tone, running one hand over his hip and winding the other in his hair. “You’ve always been the only man in my life.”
“Ah, Meg, love. I’ve loved you since that moment on campus when you said hello to me. I don’t think I ever really stopped loving you. I tried, but there was never anyone else I loved,” he admitted, kissing her throat and ear, turning to cover her mouth with his until he paused. “I just didn’t recognize what I felt for you.”
His kisses were passionate, his lips warm on hers, and he shifted to caress her with one hand while he held her with his other arm. He pushed away her dress and inhaled, running his hands over her.
He raised his head. “You’ve made me the happiest man on earth, Meg.”
She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, finally leaning away, “I love you and I want to make you happy always. Jared, this is so good,” she whispered and then placed her mouth on his.
Her heart pounded with joy and she held him tightly, knowing they were a family now, and she would love him with all her heart for the rest of her life.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3125-6
DAKOTA DADDY
Copyright © 2009 by Sara Orwig
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