Walker Revenge (The Walker Family Series Book 5) (18 page)

“Chelsea, do you want pink or red
roses?”

Chelsea batted her eyes. “I’m sorry.
Roses?”

Bethany dropped her shoulders and looked at
the others. “Seriously? You all waited for me to tell her?”

Pearl laughed. “We just figured you’d be the
first one to crack.”

Bethany shook her head and laughed as well.
“I’m just too freaking excited.”

Chelsea boosted Lucas on her hip and looked
at all of them. “Is this some new Walker Christmas tradition? I’m
lost.”

Bethany exchanged looks with everyone else
and then threw her arms up. “Fine. I’ll tell her. Why didn’t he do
this?” She looked at Glenda.

“Just tell her.”

Bethany put her hands on her hips. “Chelsea,
we’re here to throw you a wedding.”

Her hand came directly to Lucas’s back as if
to protect him because she’d suddenly gone shaky.

“I beg your pardon?”

Pearl put her arm around her and guided her
to the sitting area where brides would try on dresses. Waiting
there was a tray of champagne and strawberries dipped in
chocolate.

“We all started receiving texts at one this
morning. Russell said he proposed and wanted to give you a
Christmas wedding.”

“It’s not possible. I told him that.”

Pearl nodded. “It’s not possible for most
people, but he has family in the business. So he’s arranged for you
to pick a dress with me. Bethany is putting together your bouquet.
Audrey will be here in a bit to do your hair and makeup. Susan is
cooking us an enormous celebration meal, and Lydia is an
officiant.”

“She is?”

“Yes. It made sense since she owns different
event venues. It's amazing what you can do on the internet.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll marry me,” Russell’s voice came
from behind them and she turned to see him there with his father
and his brothers already in tuxedos.

She moved to him, setting Lucas down on the
ground, she wrapped her arms around Russell tightly. “Russ, this is
crazy,” she said laughing through her tears.

“Yep. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” He
rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I couldn’t get your parents
and sister here, though. But they send their love. Your father even
gave me his blessing.” The tears streamed down her face, and he
wiped them away. “Is that okay?” he asked.

"I love you.”

“I love you, too. Tomorrow when we come to
town, we’ll get that license and file it. Then we’ll start on
adoption.”

She bent down to hold him. When she was
little, she’d dreamed of being a fairy princess, and her prince
would sweep her off her feet. How many other girls had their dreams
come true like this, she wondered?

“Come here.” Russell held his arms out to
Lucas as Chelsea stepped back. “You’re coming with the boys,” he
said lifting him on his lap. “This is my best man. We have to get
him dressed. I’ll see you in an hour.”

She only nodded, because words wouldn’t form
correctly to tell him how surprised and blessed she was. They’d
have time for that.

~*~

Pearl had been thinking of the perfect dress
since she’d been awakened at one in the morning by Russell’s text,
she told Chelsea. A new sample had arrived the week earlier, and
she knew it would be the perfect wedding dress for her.

It was form fitted, off the shoulder, and
white satin. Elegant without being over fancy.

Chelsea fell in love with it right away. “I
never thought I’d look this good on my wedding day. I kinda thought
we’d end up at the courthouse.” She laughed. “And that would have
been fine too,” she sighed as she looked in the mirror.

“Russell would never leave it for the
courthouse. Although, why he didn’t want to wait until he was on
two feet, I’ll never understand.”

Glenda raised her glass of champagne. “He
said it’s about the commitment. He doesn’t want another day to go
by without Chelsea as his wife.”

Gia held her hand to her chest. “That is
precious.”

Glenda took a long drink of her champagne.
“My boys are finally getting married. I was worried. Eric wasn’t
getting any younger when Susan finally came along. Now Gia and Dane
are getting married. And Russell is marrying Chelsea, just as he
always should have.”

Chelsea smiled and swallowed hard. She
wanted to take it badly that Glenda had said,
just as he always
should have
, but even she’d said that too.

Bethany sat in the other room fixing up a
perfect bouquet and Audrey, Pearl’s sister—another one of Russell’s
cousins—had come by to put up Chelsea’s hair and do her makeup.

Chelsea laughed as Audrey sprayed her hair
in place. “I was serious when I told him this was totally
impractical. I would never have dreamed he’d throw me a wedding for
Christmas.”

Audrey rested her hand on Chelsea’s
shoulder. “Don’t be upset when he doesn’t live up to it every year.
Just keep this one close to your heart. You know how men are.”

They all had a good laugh at that as they
continued to ready the bride-to-be for her walk down the aisle.

~*~

Russell sat by the door waiting for word
that Chelsea was ready. His father had gone next door to check on
them, and he took Lucas with him so that Chelsea could see him in
his little tuxedo.

“I thought
I
lived life in the fast
lane,” Jake gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder and took the
seat next to him. “When I came to visit you in the hospital, it
didn’t seem as though you two were hitting it off.”

“We have a history. It just all came
back.”

“Yeah, and isn’t she still in some trouble?
Word around town is she had that truck that ran you off the road.
Smythe could arrest her for that.”

Russell clenched his jaw. “It was in her
possession and was stolen from her. She’s been in touch with
Phillip Smythe the whole time. We’re good here.”

Jake nodded. “You’re cool with the kid
too?”

Russell clenched his fist to his side. “Best
thing to happen to me. Him and Chelsea that is. So yeah, I’m cool
with it.”

Jake chuckled as he stood. “You’re a good
man.”

As he walked away, Russell wondered how many
others felt the same way. Seriously, was this such a big deal? He
loved her years ago, and for the three years they weren’t together,
he still loved her. Now was his chance to capture that and not
waste any more time.

Did it matter what his cousin thought? The
man was used to just having women fall at his feet. What would
happen if the great, fast, Jake Walker ever got caught? Oh, Russell
would bring up this conversation, he thought. Yes. He’d question
his thoughts when the man decided to get married.

The thought made him chuckle to himself.
They’d always been a little competitive. Russell had the fire
inside him just like Jake. Russell used his to fight, and Jake used
his to race.

Only now, Russell was going to have to think
about things a little differently. He had a son to raise and to
mold. And that hit him. What kind of influence could he possibly
have on a young mind?

Gerald walked toward him carrying the
crutches he’d had in storage. “Are you sure about this?” he asked
as he handed them to Russell. “You haven’t done this.”

“I’m not going to look up at her while I
marry her. I’m going to stand like a man for the fifteen minutes I
need to stand up.”

“Well, you’d better be ready, because she’s
ready.”

Russell’s heart began to hammer in his
chest. This was it. The day he’d waited years for. He’d done it.
He’d managed to put a wedding together on Christmas Day.

Chapter
Twenty-One

The lights of the hall were dimmed, and
sparkling white lights illuminated the altar where Lydia stood, and
Russell waited. Chelsea stood at the back of the center, ready to
walk toward him with his entire family looking on. His brothers,
their wives, and fiancées watched. His cousins and their spouses.
Even his uncle had come to witness the wedding, and Chelsea had
heard that he’d had to
think
about even walking his own
daughter Bethany down the aisle, which was some of the reason Pearl
eloped.

In the corner, she saw Audrey with a cell
phone faced toward her, and she knew at that moment, even her
parents were in attendance via Face-Time.

Could she have fallen in love with a better
man? She should never have left him in the first place, but that
was water under the bridge as he’d said. This was a new beginning,
and her forever.

Glenda sat in the front row of white chairs
with Lucas on her lap. It looked as though he’d fallen asleep, and
the thought made Chelsea giggle to herself. He was comfortable with
his new family. That’s all she could ever hope for.

She gave Lydia the nod, and Lydia then cued
someone to start the music. Chelsea made her way toward the man she
loved, who sat in his wheelchair only a few feet away. And once she
reached him, she’d get her happily ever after.

His family stood as she passed them, and
made her way to the altar.

Russell didn’t say anything. He only looked
at her. He then turned to Gerald, who moved between them. Ben held
on to the chair, and Gerald helped Russell up on his good leg, and
secure the crutches under his arms.

“What are you doing?” Chelsea whispered as
Gerald moved away and she saw him standing there.

“I wasn’t going to sit down for this. Lydia
has a time frame,” he joked and winked at Lydia, who nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. Today I’m out to prove I can do
anything when it comes to you.”

She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but
it was bound to happen. From the corner of her eye, she saw Everett
move toward her, and he handed her a handkerchief, then kissed her
on the cheek.

Once her tears had been wiped, she took
Russell’s hand, which she noticed had been taken out of the sling,
and turned to face Lydia.

Lydia could have been speaking Chinese.
Russell didn’t understand a word she was saying. All he could focus
on was the beautiful woman to his side—his wife—his lover—the
mother to
his
son.

He felt his heart rate kick up, and he
willed it to slow. If he showed any signs of weakness she’d push
him back into that chair, and at this moment in his life, he didn’t
want that.

As it was, he couldn’t even take his new
bride home and make love to her. But when he could, he would. It
would be a night they’d never forget.

Lydia finally got to the part of the
ceremony where they could exchange vows. Chelsea’s eyes grew wide.
“I don’t have anything,” she whispered to Lydia.

“Speak from your heart. That’s all.”

Chelsea took a deep breath and raised her
eyes to Russell’s. “It was Christmas when we fell in love the first
time. It only seems appropriate that we’re standing here now taking
these vows and starting our own life—our own family. I will cherish
you forever, Russell Walker. You’re my soulmate, and fate must have
known that.”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed
it.

“Chelsea, I wanted to marry you today, not
only because you said you would,” he said smiling. “But to show you
that I could make miracles happen for you. You’re right. Fate
brought us together again, and I never want another sunrise to
happen without you by my side. I love you and Lucas. And I promise
to be the best, most attentive husband and father I can be.”

Lydia wiped a tear from her cheek and then
looked at them both.

“Do you, Chelsea Quinn, take Russell Walker
to be your husband?”

“I do,” she replied, nearly before Lydia had
finished.

“Do you, Russell Walker, take Chelsea Quinn
to be your wife?”

“Oh, yes I do.”

The glimmer in her eyes said she was happy,
and he was happy. Nothing could ruin this union now—nothing.

“Russell, the ring.”

Now her eyes went sad. “Russ, I don’t have a
ring.”

“Shhh, we can discuss that later.” He pulled
a ring from his pocket and held it at her finger.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” he said,
repeating after Lydia and he slid the ring on her finger.

“You got me a ring.” Chelsea stared down at
it.

“I got it when I got you the necklace. I
knew what I wanted.”

Lydia began again. “By the powers vested in
me by the state of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife
you may…”

He never heard the rest. He pulled Chelsea
close to him. “Hold on to me,” he warned and handed the crutches to
Gerald.

“I’ll never—ever let you go,” she promised
as he covered her mouth in a kiss that filled his very soul and
gave him a purpose for his life, which he had thought he might have
lost along the way.

~*~

Russell wrapped his arm around his new bride
as they lay in
their
bed with
their
son asleep in his
bed, his new bear tucked up under his arm.

Every moment of this Christmas had been
nearly perfect he thought as he brushed a strand of her blonde hair
from her face while she slept.

The only times he wasn’t full of only joy,
were when he’d received the text from Phillip about Dominic’s
mother, and when Jake had questioned him about Chelsea having had
the truck that ran him off the road.

At this point, it could all go away, and
he’d be happy. He’d be walking again soon, and Chelsea would now
live in the house with him until he made plans to build their
house. They could even start adding to their family now. Someone
set out to hurt them, but no one would ever touch them again. He
knew that in his gut. No Walker would allow someone to get to them.
And Phillip Smythe would have their back, too.

The next morning, Chelsea was on the phone
bright and early. She was checking in with the nurses overseeing
her training and giving them updates that should corroborate those
that Karen and Esther had given. There would be a supervising nurse
at his doctor appointment today too, just so they could talk to
Chelsea, the doctor, and Russell. If he had his way, he’d tell them
all she was overqualified, but he figured he’d better just prove to
them that he was healing from his surgery, and was ready to move
forward with recovery.