Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance) (27 page)

Not just to Rosciano and to her family…but to
the most wonderful man in the world.

The first times they’d made love, he’d been
her secret lover, then boyfriend. Now, he was her fiancé. In just a
few days, she thought in wonder as she put his hands over her
heart, he’d be her husband.

She’d been Mary Ferrer for thirty-two
years.

She couldn’t wait to be Mary Sullivan for all
the rest.

A long while later, just as the first rays of
morning light were starting to sneak in through the bedroom window,
she slid from beneath Jack’s strong arms, tied her robe on and
tiptoed back down the hall to her bedroom. A naughty—and
well-pleasured—smile remained on her face all morning as she dived
headfirst into putting on the Christmas wedding her mother had
always dreamed of.

Mary’s first memories were of sitting on the
floor at her mother’s feet, surrounded by what seemed like acres of
lace and silk as Lucia transformed them into dreams come true. Her
friends had always fantasized about the day Mary’s brilliant
seamstress mother would make them their wedding dresses, and before
Mary had left Italy, she’d had the pleasure of watching her closest
girlfriends walk down the aisle in the beautiful gowns her mother
had so lovingly made for them by hand.

At long last, it was her turn.

With her arm around her mother’s waist to
keep her steady, Mary walked slowly into the bride’s dressing room
in the back corner of the church. Her father had brought over the
beautiful wedding dress earlier and had hung it from a strong hook
in the middle of the stone wall.

“Sit, Mama.” Mary helped settle her mother
into the most comfortable chair, still concerned that she was too
weak from her illness to be expending so much energy.

Lucia should have spent the days before the
wedding resting, but despite how many times Mary tried to pry the
needle and thread from her fingers, she’d never succeeded at
getting her to stop. Mary didn’t have her mother’s incredible
skill, but she was proficient enough to work on the gown’s lining
which no one would see. Together, the two of them had sat by a
blazing fire in the living room and worked on her wedding dress,
made from combined pieces of her mother’s wedding dress and new
fabric to create a style that would be Mary’s alone.

They filled up the hours with stories from
the past thirteen years of each other’s lives. Her mother asked her
about the various celebrities she’d met, and Mary made sure not to
leave out one single glittering detail. Likewise, her mother left
no stone unturned in their town, and as old friends and neighbors
she’d grown up with came by one after the other to visit, she was
amazed by how easy it was to rekindle those relationships, as if
she’d only been gone thirteen weeks instead of thirteen years.

And, of course, everyone adored Jack. As Mary
and her mother had worked on her dress, Jack and her father had
worked on Jack’s Italian language skills. She’d known her fiancé
was a brilliant man, but that didn’t make her any less surprised
two days later when she walked into the living room and realized he
was actually having a conversation in Italian with the little
four-year-old girl from across the street who had been sent over
with her mama’s panettone, a classic Italian Christmas cake. For a
moment, Mary wondered if jet lag had finally gotten a hold of her
brain.

Jack’s use of her native language was still
halting, of course, and he had to ask the girl to repeat herself a
half-dozen times, but from moment to moment the man she loved
continued to astound her. The little girl watched with big eyes as
Mary moved to his side and kissed him right then and there in the
middle of the living room with the cake in his hands and the midday
sun streaming in through the window.

That night, when she snuck into his bedroom,
she taught him the romantic, sexy phrases her father had left out
of his schooling. And as Mary and Jack loved each other, Italian
and English endearments fell from their lips in a seamless blend of
cultures and backgrounds.

She didn’t realize she was standing and
staring at her wedding dress until her mother gently said, “It’s
time to put your dress on now,
cara
.”

Mary could no longer imagine her life without
Jack in it, and yet up until this week, past hurts and fears had
kept her from being absolutely certain that she could give her
entire heart to him. She’d told him that night in his garage full
of computers and circuits that she was still waiting for the cracks
in her heart to heal, but he’d done so much more than just heal her
broken heart.

He’d given her his heart, too.

Joy coursed through her as she undressed and
folded the clothes she’d worn to the church in a neat pile. She
reached for the beautiful dress she and her mother had made
together, and carefully slid it over her head and shoulders. Her
mother rose to help her with the dozens of tiny pearl buttons that
ran down the length of her spine.

After helping her mother to sit back down,
Mary moved in front of the full-length mirror. She’d modeled
wedding gowns many times during her career, but they’d only been
costumes she’d worn for the camera.

As she gazed at herself in the dress in which
she’d promise forever to Jack, Mary finally understood why women
spent so much time and money and energy on their wedding gowns.

One day in the future,
would her own daughter wear this dress?

As if her mother had read her mind, Lucia
said, “You’re a beautiful bride, and you will be an amazing
mother.”

“I hope so.” Both she and Jack had agreed
they wanted a large family, one full of laughter and love. She
could see their family already, little boys full of boundless
energy and mischief, little girls that wrapped everyone around
their fingers with big eyes and laughter.

Her hands trembling with emotion, Mary
reached for her veil, but her mother said, “Not yet. Bring me that
box first.”

Mary had wondered if the medium-size box tied
up in red-and-gold ribbon had been a wedding gift dropped off here
instead of at the reception hall where they’d be later. Now she
realized it was a gift from her parents.

Just as she had so many times as a little
girl, it was natural for her to sink to her knees in front of her
mother as she put the box in her lap.

“Your Jack told me about your first
kiss.”

Mary felt her face flush at the potent memory
of Jack’s lips against hers in the San Francisco bar, beneath the
mistletoe. “From the first moment we met, even though I was
frightened by what I felt for him, I think I already knew I would
love him. But when he kissed me…”

Her mother’s lips curved up into a soft
smile. “When I met your father, he was eighteen and so sure of
himself. I was a headstrong fifteen-year-old who couldn’t wait to
have a dozen men fall at my feet. It was Christmas Eve, and when we
ran into each other in front of the fountain, the kiss he gave me
was the best Christmas present I’d ever had.” Lucia put her hand on
Mary’s cheek. “Your first kiss with your true love is something you
will cherish forever. Your father and I were hoping you would want
to wear this for your wedding.”

As Mary carefully removed the top from the
box, she truly had no idea what she’d find inside, only that it was
meant to remind both her and Jack of their very special first
kiss.

What she found atop a layer of red velvet was
a beautifully made tiara of mistletoe, the plump white berries
woven around bright green leaves in an intricate pattern.

With steady hands, her mother lifted the
tiara from the velvet and placed it on Mary’s head. “Today, when
your true love kisses you under the mistletoe, it will be
forever.”

“I love you, Mama.”

Her mother held her close. “I love you,
cara
.”

* * *

Jack stood at the front of the beautifully
decorated church, his heart pounding hard and fast with
anticipation as he looked out at the large crowd. Mary’s hometown
had not only welcomed her back with open arms, but they’d thrown
their arms around him, as well.

Through every conversation he’d had with her
friends and neighbors during the past week, he had gained a little
more insight into the woman he loved. She’d grown up surrounded by
so much love that it was no wonder she was overflowing with it
herself.

Lucia Ferrer was holding court at the front
of the church, beaming with the joy of her dream for her daughter
finally coming true. Jack had come to love his soon-to-be mother-
and father-in-law a great deal during the days he’d spent in their
home, so much that he was more than a little tempted to remain in
Italy for a while. Larry and Howie had been extremely happy to hear
that Mary’s mother was doing well and that he and Mary had decided
to tie the knot right before Christmas. As soon as they’d filled
him in on the incredible sales and response to the Pocket Planner,
Mary had taken the phone from him and promised she’d have Jack back
in California and behind his computer by January second.

Jack’s thoughts were brought back to the
present as his gaze was caught by movement at the entrance to the
church, where the little girl from across the street was waving at
him from the doorway. As their flower girl, she stood proudly in a
pretty white dress with a heaping basket of poinsettia flower
petals in her sturdy little hands.

Again and again throughout the week, Jack had
caught himself dreaming of the children he and Mary would have. Her
mother had made him a photo album of Mary’s childhood photos, from
birth until she’d left to pursue modeling, and he could so clearly
see himself lifting a little girl in his arms who looked just like
her mother.

Everyone in the church was dressed in their
best clothes, with holly decorating the ends of every pew. He knew
the children must be counting down the hours until Christmas Eve
and when they could open the packages under their Christmas trees.
But, considering all the excitement, they were an extremely
well-behaved bunch.

Just then, Jack’s brother Ethan walked in
through the side door with a huge grin on his face. Jack had called
his family to let them know about the wedding, and though he hadn’t
expected any of them to be able to make it to Italy on such short
notice, as luck would have it, Ethan had already been in London and
promised to make the trip to Italy to support Jack at his wedding.
True to form, Jack thought with a matching grin, Ethan had squeaked
in just under the wire.

Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” rang out loudly
from the organ high above the pews, and Jack instantly turned his
focus back to the front doors of the church.

The flower girl skipped down the aisle
tossing petals from her basket, and then everyone gasped with awe
as Mary appeared on her father’s arm.

Everyone and everything but Mary and the
soul-deep love he felt for her fell away. Wonder wove through him
as she slowly came up the petal-strewn aisle on her father’s
arm.

She was impossibly beautiful in her wedding
dress, a dark-haired angel in lace and silk. Even through her veil,
he could see all the love she felt in her eyes as she smiled at
him, her joy a living thing. She was wearing a crown made of bright
green leaves and berries, and as he worked to recover his senses,
it took him a few beats longer than it should have to realize it
was a crown of mistletoe.

I love you, Angel. I’ll
always love you.

He knew he didn’t need to say the words aloud
for her to hear them pass from his heart to hers.

At the final pew, Mary’s father pressed a
kiss to her cheek, but she never took her eyes from Jack’s. Moving
down the few steps that separated them, Jack held out a hand for
his bride, and when she took it, instead of drawing her up to where
the priest was waiting for them, he couldn’t stop himself from
lifting her hand to his lips.

A moment later her arms were around his neck,
and her mouth was soft against his in a promise of love that had
nothing to do with priests or wedding gowns. They’d come so far,
from their first kiss under the mistletoe when they were two
strangers drawn to each other, to this beautiful day when they
would make vows of forever.

Everyone was waiting to hear those vows, but
Jack decided they could wait a little while longer as he pulled her
flush against him and deepened the kiss. When they finally drew
back from each other with bright eyes and flushed faces to take
their places before the priest, the crowd was quite happily
scandalized.

As Jack held both her hands in his, the
priest led them through the traditional ceremony that they had
learned during the past few days of
matrimonio
classes when the priest had prepared them
for their marriage and the vows they would make to each other. Jack
drank in every breath, every tremble, every flush of heat across
Mary’s soft skin.

Taking the simple gold wedding band from the
intricately stitched pillow the priest held in his hands, Jack slid
it onto Mary’s ring finger.
“
Tu sei tutto per me, la luce dei miei occhi, sei mia per
sempre.”
S
he was his entire world,
the heart of his heart.

When two tears slid down her cheeks and he
gently reached out to wipe them away, she pressed her face to his
palm in a gesture of boundless trust.

“All my life I dreamed of adventure, and I
thought all of my dreams had already come true,” Mary said softly
as she slid the gold band she’d had made for him onto his ring
finger. “But then I found you and realized you were the dream I had
been waiting for all my life.
Ti amo dal profondo
del cuore e non vedo l’ora di cominciare quest’avventura con te,
amore mio.”
Everyone in the church sighed as they heard her
tell him that she loved him with all of her heart and soul…and that
she couldn’t wait to take this adventure with him.