The Wager, стр. 58

Music sounded from outside. “Well, I’m not done just yet.” He held out his arm just as his father came around the corner.

“You ready, dear?” Dad said as he wiped some tears from his eyes after he’d kissed Kacey on the cheek.

“Ready.” She swallowed and looped one hand through Jake’s arm, and the other through his dad’s. “Let’s do this.”

Char approached, holding Kacey’s flowers. Jake sent her a quick wink before turning back toward the door.

Jake felt Kacey shaking beside him.

“I love you, Mom and Dad,” Kacey whispered under her breath.

“I am so proud of you,” Dad said, and a tear fell down his cheek before he could walk away. “And I know they are, too.”

Jake squeezed her arm tighter and nodded at his dad, fighting with everything he had not to fall prey to his emotions.

But it was hard.

Especially when the music started.

And just like that, the memories came.

The wedding ceremony was near the tree house. Kacey was transported back in time, as she watched her five-year-old self run around the tree, Jake chasing her the entire way.

Her mom came around the corner yelling. “Kacey you put that down! Don’t you dare throw mud on him!”

Kacey didn’t listen.

And then the memories skipped ahead a few years, the same tree house, same boy. Jake was older then, he and Travis were arguing, and then Travis told her he’d found a snake and held it in front of her face.

Her mom came running out of the house with Bets, screaming at Travis to kill the snake.

And then it was high school. Travis was watching her from the house while she and Jake went out by the river. She looked back at him and rolled her eyes as he and her dad came out on the back porch to put the rest of the fishing gear in the truck.

“Be safe!” She’d yelled.

“Always!” Her father called back, and then, as if he’d just remembered something, ran toward her, arms open wide. “I almost forgot!”

“What?” She giggled as she ran toward him.

“A prince always deserves a kiss from his princess before he goes off to war!”

“You’re not going to war; you’re hunting fish.”

“And lions and tigers and bears!” Her father’s eyes widened as he kissed her cheek again and again.

“Stop!” She pushed him away and laughed. “Fine. Here is your kiss, good sir.” She did a curtsy as her father bowed. “Will you wear my colors, dear prince?”

“But of course!” Her father pulled a pink ribbon from her hair and held it in his hand. “I shall keep it forever and always, dear lady!”

As Kacey was brought back to the present, she realized all those memories, all that time spent here at Titus Abby—it was as if her parents were with her, pushing her toward her future.

Travis lifted his gaze.

And suddenly she couldn’t walk fast enough. Eyes locked on his, she made it all the way to the front of the gazebo. He was so handsome in his black suit. His hair was slightly mussed still and his tan just made his smile that much more devastating.

Travis took two steps toward her. Wescott released her arm, as did Jake, and then Travis reached for her hand.

As he took it, he flipped it over and opened her clenched fingers.

And into her palm he dropped a worn pink ribbon.

Travis’s eyes welled with tears as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I’ll keep it forever and always.”

Forgoing tradition not to touch her husband until the one giving her away was approached by the pastor, Kacey threw her arms around Travis’s neck and bawled.

It was a full five minutes before she could regain her composure. And even then she knew she probably looked a mess, but she didn’t care.

Travis took the ribbon from her hand and pinned it underneath the pin Jake had given her.

“So.” The pastor grinned. “Who gives this woman to this man?”

Wescott didn’t say anything and neither did Jake. She looked behind her, and then someone touched her arm.

Grandma. She beamed at Kacey and wrapped her soft hands around Travis’s and hers. “Her parents and I.”

“And I,” Jake said from her right.

“And my wife and I,” Wescott added.

Never had Kacey felt more loved or at home. And to think, she was in the same yard she’d played in all her life. With a watery smile she hugged them all and joined Travis at the front of the gazebo.

A warm breeze picked up. Kacey looked out to the water just as the pastor motioned for the guests to be seated.

And maybe she was imagining things, but she could have sworn she saw her parents on the dock, holding hands and watching her, smiling.

Chapter Sixty-one

“Are you ready?” Jake whispered in Char’s ear.

She shook her head. How could anyone be ready? They were doing a damn fertility dance, in front of everyone! Though it didn’t truly look that way—it was more of a tango, but still. Why Grandma was forcing them to perform it was beyond her, but there they were in the middle of the dance floor, waiting for the music to start, when Grandma cleared her throat into the microphone.

“Oh no,” Char whispered. “That can’t be good. Is she going to sing during our dance?”

“Not like this can get any worse…” Jake mumbled.

“Is this thing on?” Grandma tapped the microphone, causing it to make a shrieking noise, and then laughed loudly into it. “Oh I do love technology.”

“Yeah, we know, Grandma,” Char said.

“I’m so happy to see both my grandsons married and settled down. This next dance was planned with great detail. Every move has a meaning.”

“Just kidding,” Jake said. “It got worse. She’s going to explain the mating ritual.”

“The first twirl,” Grandma explained, “means true love. The second means a happy life forever spent in the other person’s arms. Ancient belief in this dance stems back to the gypsies. They believed one dance could unite two people forever, regardless of background, race, past hurts—”

As Grandma continued talking Char’s eyes widened, as did Jake’s.

“So, my wedding gift to Char and Jake is the dance. The one they learned a few weeks ago. Surprise, and enjoy.”

The music started.

Char couldn’t move.

Grandma had planned it all along, from the dance to everything else, she was sure of it.

She swallowed the emotion in her throat as Jake walked around her and then pulled her into his arms.

He twirled her once then twice, each time watching her so intently it would’ve been impossible not to fall in love with him again and again. Each time he twirled her she saw a new part of his smile that captivated her, that said I love you, I want you.

Jake tugged her close to his body as she wrapped her leg around his waist and was dipped back. He kissed her exposed neck and twirled her again.

The rest of the dance was face to face.

He leaned in, his lips brushing her cheek. “I’d miss you—if I’d never met you, I’d still miss you, because I’d know there was some part of me that wasn’t present.”

She sucked in a breath.

“If I’d never met you… I’d still want you.”

Jake ran his hands down her shoulders and tugged her waist closer. “I miss you even now.” His lips grazed her ear. “Because every time I touch you it’s as if you aren’t close enough. My body aches to be closer. But even when there’s nothing but skin separating us, my desperation doesn’t let up. It won’t ever let up. Because the very essence of you is what I crave.”

The dance ended with both of them staring at each other.

Char closed her eyes as she pulled Jake’s face closer to hers, wrapping her hands around his head as they stood there, motionless.

His lips met hers softly and then he sighed against them. “I’ll spend my life chasing you, wanting you, spoiling you, discovering you—”