Uniform Desires (Make Mine Military Romance) (67 page)

Kendall gave herself up to Lilly’s expertise, and everything flowed right until a sharp rap sounded on the door. Deedra peeked around the edge then let herself in.

Kendall fought to keep the smile on her mouth.
 
The two of them had never gotten along. Deedra considered Kendall competition for Frank’s attention and more than once Emily had overheard the red haired witch badmouthing Kendall. She just had to laugh, though. Deedra’s motives for doing anything were so transparent.

The woman walked across the room when she spied Kendall’s dress and held it out from the door, as if trying to imagine it on her body, then turned away with a derisive curl to her lips. She caught Kendall’s gaze in the mirror and moved toward them.

“Well, aren’t you looking just like a bride. Hi, I’m Kendall’s stepmother Deedra.”

She held her hand out to Lilly, but the other woman gave her a look and nodded her head instead. “Sorry, my hands are full. Nice to meet you.”

Kendall gritted her teeth as Deedra fluttered about like the damn flitter-gidget Emily always called her, sticking her fingers into things that didn’t need messed with. At one point she wrapped the necklace Kendall planned to wear around her own neck, then dropped it to the vanity. The woman seemed oblivious to Kendall’s growing anger. Lilly finally snapped at her to go check on the caterers.

Deedra tossed Lilly a scathing look, then tottered away as quickly as her ridiculously high heels allowed her.

Tension flowed with her out the door. Now that Deedra wasn’t twittering in her ear, fretting over things, Kendall could pretend her life wasn’t going to change in less than an hour. She looked up at her friend. “Thank you very much.”

Lilly grinned. “My pleasure.”

The time finally came to put on the dress. Lilly, again, was invaluable. The tiny seed pearl buttons running down the back were no problem for her nimble fingers, and within just a few minutes, Kendall turned to face herself in the mirror.

She’d worn designer dresses before, but nothing like the pale white, strapless confection that now hugged her body from breast to thigh. An intricate design in Swarovski crystals traced from her breasts and down the right side of the dress. The skirt poufed out around her legs, showing glimpses of the matching, completely frivolous, crystal encrusted sandals. She’d been incredibly lucky that a designer she used to work for had had them both available at her shop downtown, and had been willing to let the dress out just a bit. Kendall refused to feel guilty for not being the model standard anymore.
 

Yes, she was getting married in her father’s home, but she wanted to look pretty for the few guests that had been able to come on such short notice.
 

She hadn’t seen Grif yet. He’d run down to do errands, but that had been more than an hour ago. Nerves began to chew at her confidence. What if he didn’t make it back in time, or got caught in the snowstorm predicted for the area?

She wanted a glass of wine to calm her nerves. She settled for a butter mint Emily had brought her earlier.

Nobody knew about the pregnancy, but Emily had looked at her with a brow raised, as if she could tell something were different but she didn’t know exactly what. Kendall wanted to tell her, but Grif had been right in that the less people that knew about the baby the better. They’d agreed to act as though they were hooked on each other. They probably couldn’t pull off looking in love, but they definitely had attracted down.

Lilly had looked at her strangely when Kendall said she liked Grif. But she didn’t dig, and she went out to join the rest of the guests.

Kendall had made it a point to invite a few of the stockholders in the company, some of her father’s oldest friends. Hunter and his family would be here as well.
 

Emily slipped in the room just then and Kendall smiled when she saw her. Mom had refused to fly out to see her get married “in that man’s house”. She seemed to miss the point that the day was about Kendall, not her years’ old relationship with her father. And though Kendall had wished otherwise, she hadn’t been surprised.

Emily had been ecstatic to step in and help out, and speechless when Kendall had asked her to stand up for her with Lilly. She’d have done a bigger production than put the little party and dinner together if she’d been allowed, but Kendall had wanted it super small. Just a few close friends. Easy food.
 

Tears came to the older woman’s eyes as she looked Kendall up and down. “You are beautiful, Munchkin. I can’t believe you’re getting married.”

Kendall shrugged. “It seems right, Emily. I never thought Parks would be the one, but he suits me. We click.” She shrugged, unwilling to dig a deeper hole for herself.

It really wasn’t though. They did get along well, now that they’d thawed with each other a little. She’d only seen him for a few minutes on Sunday because he’d had to run to Denver for the personal paperwork he needed to get the marriage license. Monday afternoon they’d gone to the family lawyer’s office to have a quick, complete pre-nuptial done. The older man had paled when they’d told him how quickly they needed it, but he’d come through. Sometimes the Herrington name came in handy.

Nobody asked out-right if she was pregnant, but she could see the question in their eyes. She just refused to answer it. None of their business.

“I have something for you, honey.”

Kendall looked at the pale blue square Emily held out.
 

“This will cover your something borrowed, something blue and something old. My mother gave it to me when I was a young woman, to be used when I walked down the aisle.” She shifted uncomfortably and her eyes turned a little glossy. “I never had a chance to use it, but I’m overjoyed that I can give it to you to use.”

Letting the gossamer-fine cloth fall open, Kendall gasped as she saw what it was. A very fine women’s kerchief, obviously antique, with a stylized ‘E’ in one corner. Tears started in her own eyes and she reached out to pull Emily into a hug. The woman had been more of a mother to her than her own and Kendall loved her desperately. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Emily sniffled and pulled away, then held out a small box. “From your father. Your something new.”

Kendall flipped open the lid, revealing glittering diamond studs encircled by tiny emeralds. “Oh, my!”
 

“If the flitter-gidget had seen them, you’d have never gotten them. That woman’s like a damn crow, going for the shinies. I caught her wearing one of my necklaces the other day.”

Choking out a laugh, Kendall pulled the velvet card from the box and removed the earrings, inserting them into her ears. Then she peeled down the sweetheart peak of the dress and pinned Emily’s cloth inside. When she folded it back, it rested right above her heart.

A few tears slipped down Emily’s cheeks. “I couldn’t love you any more than if I had actually given birth to you. You’ve turned into a remarkable woman.”

Kendall fought not to break into tears. “Why couldn’t you have been my mother, damn it?”

They laughed together and hugged, then Emily helped her repair her makeup and left to check on the details out front.

Kendall paced, too restless to sit down in the expensive dress. Her father came to get her a few minutes later, looking distinguished in his suit. He teared up when he saw her too.

“Beautiful. Just simply beautiful.”

Proudly, he offered his arm to escort her through the house and into the wide open great-room. The furniture had been moved away from the massive stone fireplace and turned into an altar where she would exchange her vows. Every chair in the room was filled, and every person rose when she stepped in.
 

Grif stood at the fireplace, waiting expectantly. He wore a suit every day when he stood guard at her back, and he looked phenomenal, but the Marine Dress Blues put him into a completely different class. She would never have expected to see him in uniform, and it suddenly gave her a greater appreciation for everything he had sacrificed before he came to work for her father. Grif, Duncan and Calvert were all dressed in uniform, medals gleaming from their chests. He hadn’t said anything about wearing his uniform to get married, but he must have grabbed it when he went home for his paperwork.

Lilly and Emily stood opposite from the men, looking just as stunning in their own way, waiting for her.

As the wedding march played on the speakers and she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, Kendall did her very best to breathe deeply and not burst into tears. Emotion cinched bands around her chest. When she was a little girl, she’d dreamt of having a normal life where she could go to a normal school, and just be like everyone else. Have a regular family, with a mother and father that loved each other and lived in the same house.

Now, she stood on the edge of her own potential happiness.
 
Terrified, yet exhilarated at the same time.

Grif looked a little pale. He’d shaved recently and his square jaw was clenched. His springy hair had been moussed and combed into shape. His white gloved left hand clasped his gloved right, but the thumb on his left was sweeping back and forth with nervousness. It did her heart good that he appeared just as nervous.

Kendall tried to imprint every single detail into her mind, like the feel of Grif’s hand holding hers, and the faint scent of roses from arrangements around the room. His eyes held hers the entire time the officiant spoke and he repeated every word flawlessly. When it came time to exchange rings, she was stunned when Duncan handed him a platinum band with inlaid diamonds and a substantial solitaire in the center. She’d been prepared to wear something more plain, but she fell in love with it upon sight. It glistened in the light as he slipped it onto her quivering finger.

Lilly handed over the band Kendall had chosen for Grif. Platinum as well, but with a darker central band, centered with three understated diamonds. She had a feeling he wouldn’t want anything flashier.
 

As she slipped it on his hand, her eyes lifted to his, and the banked emotion in his expression made her tear up.
 

“By the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, you may kiss your bride.”

Grif covered her mouth with his own and Kendall felt a tear slip down her cheek. He kissed her like she meant something to him. She took that feeling and wrapped it in her heart.

They celebrated for the rest of the night. As they ate the veal chops and grilled asparagus, Emily appeared with an elaborately decorated wedding cake, complete with tiny bride and a uniformed groom on top. Kendall looked up at her in surprise.

The older woman shrugged. “I always wanted to try to make a wedding cake. I think I did a damn fine job.”

Kendall’s weepy eyes flooded again at the kind gesture and she stood to hug her. “You are an incredible woman.”

Hunter wandered over at one point while they were mingling and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You look gorgeous, Kendall. I can’t believe you pulled all this off without anybody knowing.”
 

Kendall shifted under his sharp gaze.

“Well, we wanted to keep it quiet for a while because we weren’t sure where the relationship was going.”
 

“Well, I’m very happy for you.”

A hand settled on her waist and she knew without looking that it was Grif. His touch had become very familiar to her.

Hunter offered to shake hands and there was an awkward pause. Grif reached out his prosthetic and shook, then pulled back. Hunter frowned as if he’d been presented with a dilemma. “Is that a…”

Grif turned her away with an, “If you’ll excuse us.”

“That was very rude,” she whispered.

“I don’t care. He’s been gunning for your spot for a while. Don’t give him any ammunition.”

Kendall looked at him sharply. “You think I don’t know that? He’s always tried to be better than me. If his father wasn’t my father’s best friend, I’d have plowed Hunter under the ground a long time ago.”

Grif grinned down at her in appreciation. “Good. I’m glad you realized he was your competition.”

She fought not to roll her eyes. “Not really. He can’t do anything without his father’s approval. He is a true trust fund baby. And I think most everybody knows that.”

Her new husband chuckled and squeezed her to his side. “Stay the smart cookie you are.”

She returned the squeeze, appreciating the words as much as the action.

“Is Jamison a family name?”

Grif’s face darkened with anger and his lips twisted. “You could say that. It’s my mother’s favorite liquor. She loved it so much she named her son after it.”

Kendall cringed. “I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t know.”

She squeezed him the way he had her just a few seconds before.

“It’s okay. There was no way you could have known. No big deal.”

She realized it was a big deal, though, because it took him a while to shake it off.
 

Other than that one aberration, Kendall had a wonderful afternoon. And the guests appeared to as well. The only minor issue, other than the handshaking incident, was the apparent chumminess between Deedra and Hunter. Since he had perfected the art of charm and she the reception, the two of them seemed to get along fabulously.