Autumn Promises (15 page)

“No hurdles. And don’t get up.” She scooted closer and reached out to him with her left hand.

He held it, but looked searchingly into her eyes. “I didn’t exactly finish my proposal. Will you marry me? Now?”

Meg blinked. “Now? Like soon? Of course. We’re too old for a protracted engagement,” she said with a smile. “When do you think we could arrange it?”

Evan grimaced a little and checked his watch. “It’s eight. How about in two hours?” He turned away and picked up the box she’d forgotten all about. “CJ says, ‘Turnabout is fair play.’”

Meg took the box and opened it. A white lace dress sat nestled in tissue paper. “I bought her wedding dress,” Meg said, tears in her voice. “Evan, we can’t just get married. There are legalities.”

He handed her an envelope. “Taken care of. You left a copy of your birth certificate in the safe at Laurel Glen. Holly Dillon knows someone in the government here who pulled some strings. And Pastor
Jim found us a Christian minister to perform the ceremony. For the rest, Cris found a company that works with this cruise line to arrange weddings on board. We’re not the first to do this, apparently.”

She tore the envelope open and found an official-looking marriage license that lacked only signatures.

Meg beamed a misty smile at him. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Could I suggest yes? I really need to let the captain know the wedding’s on. Oh, and the bridal suite just happened to be empty, so I booked it for the return trip. Ross and Amelia are arranging a reception for us when we get home and Jackson and Beth are flying in for it.”

It was all so perfect it took her breath away. He had done this for her. They all had. “I guess I’d better get ready.”

“Guess you’d better,” he said, and gave her one of those quick nods. Her heart turned over as she felt the ring slide onto her finger.

She looked down at it. A single sapphire surrounded by diamonds winked up at her. Until then she hadn’t noticed. She’d seen only Evan.

“The captain will come by to escort you to the deck,” he whispered in her ear, and then he kissed her cheek and melted away. “Yahoo!” she heard him shout after the cabin door shut behind him.

She laughed. “My cowboy.”

Two hours later on the top deck of the ship called
Destiny,
with the clear blue ocean surrounding them and the sun shining down, Evan Alton and Meg Taggert made solemn promises to each other joining their lives. It might be the autumn of their lives, but they both felt younger than springtime!