by Calista Fox
Kate was accustomed to living outside the family norm. This, however, might send her mother over the edge. Therefore…
“Let’s just keep it all under our hats for now,” she told Jude. And sipped her mimosa, because she was in desperate need of some fortification. With any luck, she’d arrive at the Plaza with a nice buzz and a smile on her face.
At least she could rest easy that Nikki was back in Mexico to maintain a stabilizing presence with Sophie and continually explain to her that Kate would return that very weekend. After tomorrow’s family brunch with the newlyweds, in fact. A little more than twenty-four hours, which Kate knew would feel like weeks to both her and Sophie.
God, how she’d gotten attached without even fully realizing it!
But the heart and the soul made these types of decisions—just as her heart and soul had chosen Jude. And by all that was wonderfully cosmic, his had chosen Kate.
She grinned at him, clinked the rim of her champagne glass against his bloody Mary tumbler and said, “I can survive a day of Stockmans and complete and utter silence about what happened in Mexico City. I have you to keep me centered.”
“And if anyone suggests you stay in New York longer, I will insist we have to get back so I can help the last of the survivors with their passport issues.” There’d been some detainment on the part of the embassies in Mexico City, for those who had questionable backgrounds or a criminal offense on their record. Rectifying the reentry into another country without proper documentation required extensive communication and a lot of paperwork that Jude had been trained to facilitate.
Mostly, though… He was offering to be the excuse that got him and Kate out of New York and back to Sophie all the faster.
She leaned in close and murmured against his lips, “You truly are my soulmate.”
“And you know I’d do anything for you… Right, Kate? I love you more than I ever imagined it was possible to love another human being.”
“Thank you for that.”
“You saved me,” he whispered, his gaze locked with hers.
“We save each other, Jude. That’s what makes this love so magical.”
“Resilient,” he added.
“That, too.”
He kissed her softly and Kate sighed. Then she quietly said, “I wonder if we should make a stop at City Hall before we go to the Plaza.”
His eyes widened.
Kate laughed. “Why so surprised? I told you I’d marry you, Jude McMillan.”
“I still haven’t properly proposed, Kate Stockman. I did promise to sweep you off your feet, if you’ll recall.”
“You do.” She kissed him again. “Every single second of the day.”
“But this is different. We haven’t made anything official yet.”
“We’ve already been discussing an engagement party, Jude. Forgone conclusion and all that, right? I don’t need rose petals on the bed and candles burning and seductive music playing when you pop the question… All I need is you.”
“Kate—”
“You do recognize that you haven’t made one single protest about me wanting to adopt Sophie?” she queried. “I didn’t even have to tell you my thoughts on it—you instantly knew what jumped into my head the moment we heard Isabelle didn’t survive her surgeries. I never made a promise to that woman that I’d look after her child if something this horrific happened to her, but I feel very strongly that she knew, deep in her heart, that I’d step in. That gave her peace of mind. You didn’t question my desire to give it to her—or to help Sophie. You didn’t say a word, Jude, other than to tell me you’d figure it all out for us.”
Tears welled in Kate’s eyes.
Jude whisked away the few that tumbled down her cheeks.
“You will give me everything I want,” she continued. “I’ll never doubt that. But what I want is also what you want, Jude. I didn’t fully realize it until this week. The marriage, the family, the traditions… They won’t all be conventional, but they will be spectacular.”
He set aside his cocktail, cupped the sides of her face and stared deep into her misty eyes. “I will marry you this morning, Kate. We can fill out the application online, right now. I’ll arrange for a judicial waiver so we don’t have to wait out the twenty-four hour period. All we have to do is arrive onsite, sign the license, have an officiant complete the ceremony, which I will also arrange, and then file when we’re official. Piece of cake.”
“I love that you know people,” she murmured.
“I love that you want to marry me.”
“I do,” she assured him. Then laughed at her choice of words. “We’ll be hearing that a lot today, apparently.”
“I only care that it’s coming from you,” he said with all honesty.
“Jude…” She drew in a long breath. Let it out slowly. “You understand we can’t share this with anyone else today, either. Will you be okay with that? I absolutely cannot steal Charlotte’s thunder.”
“Kate…” His lips pressed to hers. Then he said, “The fact that I’m about to jump out of my skin over you wanting to marry me as soon as we land tells me all the pomp and circumstance means nothing in comparison to us agreeing right now to commit ourselves to each other.”
“There is something incredibly exhilarating about spontaneity,” she confessed. “Especially when it feels so perfect, when we both know we were headed in this direction anyway, so why the hell should we drag our feet any longer?”
“Exactly. Except… Fuck!” he grumbled under his breath.
Kate’s brow crooked. “You do still want to marry me, correct?” she cautiously ventured.
Jude chuckled. “Never doubt that, babe.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Because, clearly he’d thought of one.
“I don’t have a ring for you. Or for me, for that matter. It wasn’t like I was going to haul them around Afghanistan, and Lord only knew where else we were headed when we left Manhattan seven months ago.”
“Oh, is that all?” She winked. “Little thing called personal shoppers, my love. While you work out the marriage license, I’ll surf Tiffany’s website and have the rings delivered.”
His gaze narrowed on her. “That’s not me surprising you with a huge rock on bended knee, Kate.”
She kissed him again, then said, “That’s me picking out the huge rock that will look fabulous on my finger. And who says you can’t propose on bended knee once it’s in our possession? We make our own rules, remember?”
“Hmm, to an extent.”
“Yes, that’s true. But this is a very definitive case of the heart wanting what the heart wants—with City Hall, Tiffany’s and a judicial waiver giving it all to us. Thank God Denny and Charlotte chose to get married on a weekday!”
“I’ll drink to that.”
They touched rims again and sipped.
Kate beamed. For all her worries over what may or may not transpire with Sophie, she could at least take solace in knowing this incredibly momentous life-occasion could be pulled off without a hitch.
Except that Nikki wouldn’t be there by her side. Or Charlotte.
And Jude wasn’t exactly getting the traditions he was trying to set as precedence in his own life.
This gave her pause.
But he was already on his laptop, using the flight’s wifi, pulling all the pieces together. The way he so expertly did.
And Kate had to admit, this was the proper path for them at this very moment.
If Jude felt compelled down the road to fulfill conventional ideals… Kate would say hell, yes to every single one of them.
In fact… Perhaps when all was resolved in Mexico City—for better or for worse—she’d enlist Nikki and Charlotte’s help in planning a surprise wedding and reception that might sweep Jude off his feet.
The man certainly deserved it.
And Kate found it was precisely the favor she wanted to return to him.
She’d say life couldn’t possibly get any better. But then she r
ationalized that she had her family to contend with today. And there were absolutely no guarantees that the Mexican government would grant her and Jude custody or an official adoption of Sophia-Maria Santos.
Kate accepted a fresh mimosa from the first-class flight attendant and sipped, willing her pulse to slow a bit and telling herself that she literally had to take this all one minute at a time. So that none of the balls in the air she suddenly juggled would drop. So nothing would come crashing down around hers and Jude’s ears…
29
OMG—who are you?
Kate laughed. The text came from Nikki—following the photo Kate texted her of the gorgeous six-carat, pear-shaped diamond ring Jude had slipped on her finger just minutes ago.
She’d selected a stylish titanium band for him that she would eventually have inscribed, but for today’s purposes, she’d simply told him—with the deepest sincerity and love, “I am forever yours.”
As she’d slid his ring on, she’d also added, “There’s no accounting for how I got this lucky, Jude. I am literally the happiest woman in the world. I want to tell everyone how amazing this feels…being your new wife.”
“Soon. We’ll tell them all soon, Kate,” he’d said before kissing her so deeply, so passionately, she was certain she’d heard the lovely female officiant sigh.
Jude had further avowed, “We will overcome any obstacle, Kate McMillan. Together.”
Hearing her new name, which felt like her truest identity, brought tears to her eyes. Kate was a strong, independent woman who’d only ever envisioned helping others to heal, not being labeled as a wife, a mother, a certain so-and-so’s significant other, etc.
Yet it occurred to her as she and Jude scrawled their names on the dotted lines that Kate had been destined for more than she’d ever realized. It’d taken Jude’s persistence, his love, his guidance, his empathy and patience—perhaps even his pain—to lead her to this stunning revelation.
She belonged to an even higher purpose. To a continued pursuit of helping others, of course. One-hundred percent. But she was more than just a psychiatrist. She was a woman in love, a best friend and…God- and legal affairs-willing, the guardian of someone who had lost so much.
Granted, if there was some way to be the daughter her parents had always wished her to be, that’d be astounding, too. Yet her mother and father had never really wished for a daughter, Kate knew. Raising sons who followed in their father’s footsteps was their thing.
Kate could accept that. And they had to accept that she was going to continue to be her own person.
Yes, they’d be eternally distraught she’d gotten married without telling them. But she had to admit, there was something so delicious and revitalizing about committing herself to Jude and having no one else know it aside from Nikki. A woman who was more like a sister and who would understand and support—not to mention be absolutely ecstatic over—Kate’s impromptu decision.
Charlotte would be over-the-moon, too, no doubt. Unlike everyone else, she would grasp why Kate had married on the sly. Why, when the whim and desire had struck her, she’d appealed to Jude and had let him know she was full-on ready to be everything to him.
Sometimes that was how things came about in life.
Like with Sophie. From tragedy, hope sprung eternal. Kate’s sudden yearning to step in as a parental presence was completely shocking to her—as much as it would be to anyone else. However… That was how the universe worked on occasion.
When all signs were flashing in the right direction, one would be a fool not to follow them.
As if Kate weren’t already giddy over this path she now traveled, Jude added more fuel to the vibrantly burning fire as he leaned in close to her while they ascended the red-carpeted steps of the Plaza, toward the entrance. He whispered in her ear, “Wait until our wedding night, baby. Ep-ic.”
Kate nearly melted into him. Her inner thighs quivered. Her clit tingled. Her nipples tightened behind the lacy cups of her bra.
“Oh, how you tease me,” she quietly retorted.
“I always make good on my promises, don’t I?”
“Keep it up, and we are for-sure not making it to this wedding.”
Jude let out a low, sexy groan. “I’d be all-in for skipping it, but you’ve been spotted by one very exuberant Mirabeth Presley—and that means you’re now the bridesmaid with the biggest secret to keep under wraps.”
Kate strategically turned into Jude, thus putting her back to Mirabeth as she rushed toward them. Kate slipped off her ring and pressed it into Jude’s palm.
“Take yours off, too,” she insisted.
He did, and casually put them both in his pocket.
His lips touched hers and he murmured, “I still feel duly official.”
“So do I.” She smiled. “I love you so much.”
“I love you more.”
They shared another kiss.
Then Kate tore her gaze from him and turned to greet Mirabeth.
“Oh. You. Two!” Mirabeth declared as she clasped her manicured hands together. “Get a room, already!”
Kate opened her mouth to agree, but of course Mirabeth interjected.
“Just joking, of course! There’s sooo much to do! Kate—we need you in the bride’s suite post-haste. Charlotte is still in a quandary about her lipstick color, even though she’s been with her stylists every day for the past two weeks, trying makeup hues, hairstyles, fingernail sculptures—good Lord, even her toenails aren’t perfected yet!”
That boggled the mind, in Kate’s opinion, but then again… She and Charlotte were not cut from the same cloth.
Kate hadn’t given a second thought to her manicure when she’d married Jude. But she did understand how Charlotte required every tiny detail to be absolutely perfect. So she followed Mirabeth to the elevators, leaving Jude to his own devices.
Something told her he’d find the groomsmen at the Champagne Bar.
She shot one last text to Nikki: I heard everything you said about you and Conner—that night we celebrated our new venture over champagne. When you have something precious, you hold onto it with both hands.
Nikki texted back: Amen, sister.
Nikki had lost her “something precious.” But it hadn’t destroyed her. Not fully. She’d bounced back.
Well, to an extent.
Though… The spark Kate had seen in her friend’s eyes when they’d been in Nico Valdiviesio’s hospital room proved Nikki still retained the capacity to move on…perhaps to love again?
Kate had to tuck that notion away for the time being.
She and Mirabeth entered the gorgeously decorated and incredibly chaotic bridal suite—and all Kate could think was…
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Thank God she and Jude had already tied the knot!
From the right side of the room, Tulia Evers cried, “I can’t fucking find the match to this shoe!” She held up one stunning high heel, but at her feet were at least two dozen boxes with their lids off and the tissue paper strewn in all directions.
From the left side of the room, McCarthy Andrews screeched, “Who the hell turned the flat-iron up to eight? For the love of all that’s holy, are you trying to fry my freaking hair?!”
Charlotte declared, “I have five diamond necklaces to choose from, ladies! My crisis overrules yours!”
“This is your crisis,” Tulia shot back. “Two dozen shoes to choose from, Charlotte? Really? On your fucking wedding day you’re still deciding which shoes to wear??!”
Kate bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing—or even cracking a smile.
“Oh, my God!” Charlotte heaved a sharp breath. “This is a disaster. A complete and utter disaster.”
Since Kate knew a thing or two about disasters that could truly rock one’s foundation, she remained calm.
“Girls,” she said, “Let’s divide and conquer here. Tulia—” She pinned the socialite with a steady gaze. “What was the last shoe Charlotte went nuts over?”
/> “Uh…um…” Her gaze swept over the lot. Then she reached for a striking pair with diamond-studded heels. “Cartier all the way.”
“Ahh, Charlotte,” Kate said with enthusiasm, nodding encouragingly, so that all the gals gathered around followed suit. “How in the world could anyone go wrong with Cartier diamonds on their shoes?”
“Oh, my God.” Charlotte now breathed a sigh of relief. “You are so right, Kate. I loved them the second I laid eyes on them.”
“I can’t imagine a more incredible statement piece,” Kate told her. “Except for that necklace your fingers are lingering on. What’s the weight of that center stone? A good fifteen carats?”
“Yes,” Charlotte said, suddenly entranced by the sparkling radiance. “It’s been in my family for centuries.”
Kate splayed a hand over her heart. “For centuries... Charlotte, that is so amazing.”
“I know, right?” she emphatically agreed.
“I can see you now,” Kate said, captivating the entire audience of bridesmaids and one enrapt maid of honor, Miss Mirabeth Presley. “Walking down the aisle with the right amount of classic sparkle—at the neck, the hint of the shoes, and with a very elegant and delicate shade of shimmering rose-gold gloss on your lips. Nothing to overwhelm because those eyelash extensions make your eyes pop and that’s what will mesmerize your groom. Not to mention,” Kate added, weaving a mystical trance, “the softest shade of shell-pink on your nails will set off your wedding ring. You don’t want anything to detract from it. And let’s face it, Charlotte…you will be so breathtakingly beautiful walking down that aisle, nothing should catch the eye other than the complete package that you are.”
“Oh, my God, yes,” Tulia Evers breathed. “She is so right. The complete package, Charlotte. Not one particular thing jumping out at everyone, but the whole picture. You. Stunning. All in one glorious visual.”
Kate crossed her arms over her chest and gave the bride a confident yeah, that look.
Tears sprang to Charlotte’s eyes.
