A Chesapeake Shores Christmas (16 page)

“You can have it all, if you’d just—”

She smiled and touched a finger to his lips. “I’m turning that one over to God. If it’s the right thing, I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

He took heart from that. “Okay, then, but as good as things are, they could be even better.” He poured champagne for the two of them. “Normally I don’t condone drinking and driving, but I’m thinking one toast just up the street from our home wouldn’t be inappropriate. Here’s to us, Meggie, and the future we can build together.”

She sipped from her glass. “As excellent as this champagne is, something tells me you didn’t bring me up here just so we could share a private toast.”

He chuckled. “You know me too well.”

“Something you’d do well to remember,” she replied.

“Well, as you may recall, one week from tonight we have a wedding scheduled,” he said casually, then held her gaze. “Are you planning to show up?”

She regarded him with a startled expression. “Mick, I’ve been telling you for weeks now that we need to wait. That hasn’t changed, at least not entirely.”

“What does that mean?”

“I had a really good talk with Connor this afternoon,” she began, looking as if she might burst with excitement. “Oh, Mick. It’s wonderful! He’s given us his blessing.”

“Well, hallelujah!” Mick said. “Not that I needed it, but I know you felt it was important. If he’s not standing in our way, then what’s the problem? Let’s get this show on the road!”

Megan laughed. “You are such a guy,” she said. “Nothing’s planned. That’s the problem.”

“
Everything’s
planned,” he corrected. “All I need is the go-ahead from you.”

Megan regarded him with a stunned expression. “I don’t understand. I thought you knew that one of the biggest problems we have is the way you take over and just ignore the rest of us to get your own way. Now you’ve obviously gone and done it again. If and when we get married, Mick, I want a say in the kind of wedding we have.”

“Believe me, I’ve gotten that message loud and clear,” he assured her.

“Then why would you move forward without saying a word to me?”

“You’ve been distracted,” he said. “And I have a pretty good notion of what you want.”

She looked skeptical. “Oh, really? What kind of flowers do I want in my bouquet?”

“Lilies of the valley just like the ones you planted along the walkway outside. You love that scent so much, it’s in the perfume you wear.”

She blinked at that. “Okay, that’s a lucky guess. What about my dress?”

“Abby spoke to your tailor in New York. She took her a picture you’d admired and the dress is hanging in a closet at her house right now.”

“Bridesmaids?”

“Carrie and Caitlyn claimed those spots. Abby has their red velvet dresses, as well.”

“What about the cake? I’m very particular about the kind of cake I’d like.”

Mick chuckled. “Which you’d apparently made plain to Jess and Gail at the inn weeks and weeks ago. It’ll be exactly as you wanted it, right down to the raspberry cream filling.”

He could see that she was rapidly running out of objections, but he waited. “Anything more?”

“I never picked out invitations,” she said eventually, obviously seizing at straws.

“Because you said we didn’t need them if we were only inviting family,” Mick said, barely containing a smile. “And to save you the trouble of hunting for more excuses, I’ve hired the band you liked from last summer’s concert series on the green, the reception dinner will have your favorite prime rib as the main course. The only thing I’m not telling you now is where we’re going on our honeymoon. That’s a surprise.”

She studied him with shining eyes. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”

“I’ve tried. Don’t you get it by now? I will do anything within my power to make you happy. If you want a guarantee, I’ll give you one, in writing if you’d prefer it that way.”

A full-fledged smile broke across her face. “Then I suppose I’ve run out of excuses,” she told him. She reached up and touched his cheek. “I do love you, Mick, more than ever. I have no idea why I was being so stubborn.”

He laughed at that. “I do. It runs in the family.”

Christmas morning dawned with an inch of snow on the ground. It wasn’t much, but it added to the excitement as kids ran in and out of the house and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” played over and over again.

Megan sat next to Mick as wrapping paper and ribbons were tossed in the air amid excited squeals. When Davy opened the package with a baseball mitt, he let out a whoop and ran to his father. “Daddy, see, I told you Santa wouldn’t forget. He just left it here instead of at our house.”

Kevin grinned at him. “So I see. What about you, Henry? Did Santa leave something special here for you?”

Henry looked up at him with wide eyes. “It’s the sports video game I wanted. It has baseball and bowling and everything. Can we play?”

“Of course you can,” Connor said, looking as eager as the kids. “I’ll set it up in the den. Dad, you coming?”

“On my way,” Mick said, then turned and stole another kiss from Megan. “Just to tide me over till later.”

As soon as he’d left the room with all the children and the men, Abby, Bree and Jess surrounded Megan. “Well? Did you say yes last night? I know Dad took champagne up to the cliff and planned to ask you again to marry him. Are we having a wedding New Year’s Eve?” Abby demanded.

Megan touched her daughter’s cheek, then tucked a wayward curl behind Jess’s ear. Before Bree could complain of being neglected, she patted her expanding belly. “Next year we’ll have another little one here for Christmas.”

A smile spread across Bree’s face. “I can hardly wait.”

“Mom! You’re stalling,” Abby protested.

Megan looked at her three precious girls. Right this second she couldn’t let herself think of all she’d missed over the years they’d been apart. What mattered was now and all that lay ahead for them as a family.

“Since, according to your father, you all seem to have everything under control,” she told them, “then there doesn’t seem to be a single reason for me not to go along with the plan.” She grinned. “We’re having a wedding.”

Whoops of happiness greeted the announcement and an instant later, she was enfolded in a group hug that filled her with a joy unlike anything she’d experienced in far too many years. She was within days of having everything she’d ever wanted. Her children were back in her life. Her grandchildren would grow up around her, filling the house with laughter. And the man she’d loved from the moment she’d known the meaning of the word would be by her side forever. It seemed it really was the season of miracles.

Epilogue

T
he Inn at Eagle Point had been decorated for the holidays with twinkling lights in all of the surrounding trees and shrubs. Inside, the staircase railings were trimmed with fragrant boughs of evergreens and more lights. An eight-foot-tall tree filled the foyer with the scent of pine and the golden glow of white lights, sparkling gold ornaments and flowing gold ribbons. Chunky white candles and slender tapers burned on every tabletop. It was an elegant, fairy-tale setting for a wedding.

Carrie and Caitlyn could barely contain their excitement as they waited to walk down the aisle. They’d been practicing for days.

Megan stood just outside the door of the room that had been chosen for the ceremony, her heart in her throat.

“Stop fidgeting,” Abby instructed. “You’ll muss your dress.”

Megan ran her hand over the slender, cream-colored satin sheath that had been custom made for her, thanks to Abby. The simple scoop neckline was awash with beads and tiny pearls that sparkled and shimmered in the candlelight.

“What if he changed his mind?” she asked, unable to dismiss her fear that the evening could yet be ruined.

“He’ll be here, Mom,” Abby said for the tenth time.

“I know he said he’d do it,” Megan agreed, her worried gaze searching the hallway.

Then she saw them, Kevin
and
Connor walking toward her, ready to escort her down the aisle.

“You’re late,” she scolded mildly, then kissed their cheeks. “But I am so glad you’re here.”

“You try getting someplace on time with a baby,” Connor grumbled. “He kept crying and calling for Ga-ma. My son can’t say Mama or Da-Da, but he knows what to call you. You’ve stolen that kid’s heart.”

Megan regarded him with a misty-eyed look. “And he’s healed ours.” She searched her son’s face. “Hasn’t he?”

Connor smiled slowly. It was the carefree expression she’d remembered, but hadn’t seen for far too long. “We’re okay, Mom.”

“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Kevin grumbled. “This tux is killing me.”

“But you look oh-so-handsome,” Connor teased. “If I weren’t your very straight brother, I’d give you a second look myself.”

“Oh, bite me,” Kevin retorted.

Megan laughed at the familiar sound of their bickering. It had been like this as far back as she could remember. It was nice that some things would never change.

She urged the twins to begin the walk down the aisle, then linked arms with her sons as the music rose. This was it, the moment she’d feared might never come.

Just as they stepped through the doorway, she winked at Connor. “You’re next,” she whispered. “I intend to see to it.”

That may have been why Connor stumbled on his first step down the aisle. But then his gaze landed on Heather, seated in the back row with his son. Megan saw how his eyes lit up, and knew she’d been right to coax her into coming here tonight.

Then she turned her attention to Mick, waiting impatiently at the front of the room, and everything else faded as she walked toward her future.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-6886-3

A CHESAPEAKE SHORES CHRISTMAS

Copyright © 2010 by Sherryl Woods.

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The Sweet Magnolias

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Trinity Harbor

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Chesapeake Shores