Daring Brides (9 page)

“Shut the front door,” Peggy said. “I’ve never heard him sing.” Okay, maybe a couple times in the shower, but she so wasn’t sharing that.

“Yeah, it was so cool, Mom,” Keith said. “Rhett is so off-key he’s breaking everyone’s eardrums, but everyone else is really good.”

Tanner ruffled his hair. “That’s what Rye said.”

“Yeah,” Keith said in that eager high-pitched voice of his. “And Rye is the best guitar player ever. He even taught me some chords.”

“That was nice of him,” Peggy commented. Rye and Rhett were two flavors of the same kind of trouble, all right, but somehow they always ended up making her smile. That didn’t mean she didn’t watch them like a hawk though.

“I was told to come and get you,” Tanner said. “We’re getting close to wedding time. Keith, come here and let me straighten your bow tie.”

Her son squirmed under her brother’s ministrations, as eager as a kid who’d just downed a whole bag of Halloween candy.

“Okay, Mom,” he said when he finally darted away from his uncle. “Let’s go get married.”

To Keith’s mind, they were both marrying Mac, and she had thought it was too cute to correct him. Besides, in some ways, Mac
was
marrying them both. And that’s why she was having Keith walk down the aisle with her. She was too old to have anyone give her away, and that tradition seemed kind of weird to her anyway. Not that she had a father to give her away.

They all left the penthouse and took the elevator down to the main floor where they would have the wedding.

Waiting for them in the lobby was Mac’s assistant, who was handling most of the wedding arrangements. She looked relieved to see them. “Wonderful. You’re here. Let me go grab your bouquet. Head on down the hall to the event room, and I’ll meet you there.”

She nodded and led their group
to the event room,
which sounded way too official to Peggy’s ears. Simply put, it was a fancy room the hotel used for gatherings. And the location was one of a handful of decisions Peggy had been loath to make.

Fortunately, the whole flower thing had been taken off her plate. Mac’s sister, Abbie, had made her bouquet personally, and not just because she handled all the flower arrangements at Mac’s hotel. She’d designed it with Mac’s input because Peggy had grown clammy at the mere mention of wedding colors—another wedding horror to her mind. Why they needed to pick colors she still didn’t understand, but Mac had chosen white and blush. It turned out that blush was the kind of soft pink people painted a nursery for a baby girl. Peggy was surprised by how much she didn’t dislike it. Pink was so not her thing.

The woman returned moments later with a bouquet of white and blush-colored roses with a pink sprig of something too lacy and delicate to survive the hour. The ribbon-wrapped stems felt awkward in Peggy’s hands, and she was afraid she’d break them without trying.

While she might have delegated the wedding flower and color choices to Mac and Abbie, she had drawn the line in the sand on one thing. Peggy wasn’t really a bouquet thrower, so there would be none of that single ladies nonsense. It was too embarrassing.

Having delivered the bouquet, Mac’s helper was now pinning a boutonniere on Keith, who was squirming again. She couldn’t blame him.

Tanner put his hand on her arm and gave her a soft smile, like he knew the thought of everyone staring at her as she walked down the aisle was making her get all fidgety. “Break a leg.”

She laughed half-heartedly, and then Jill and Meredith hugged her and disappeared behind the massively carved wooden double doors.

The woman checked her watch—a fanciful confection with diamonds around the face. Peggy couldn’t imagine wearing a watch like that, but then again who was she to judge? She was wearing a giant ruby around her neck.

“Two minutes and counting,” the woman said in a drill-sergeant tone.

Did she plan on counting down the seconds when they got to ten like it was New Year’s Eve? Peggy hoped not.

Keith curled his hand in hers, and she looked down at him. His brow was furrowed.

“Are you nervous?” she asked, wishing her stomach would stop acting like there were magic jumping beans inside it.

“No,” he said quietly. “I just…don’t want to mess anything up.”

She dropped to her haunches so they were eye level. “You could never do that.”

“That’s what Dad said,” he muttered, looking down at his shiny black shoes.

“Well, he’s right,” she told him, smoothing down his cowlick. “This is our special day, and
nothing
could ruin it.”

“Because we’re really going to be a family now, right? In the eyes of the law and everything?”

Her heart swelled with pride. “Yes, in the eyes of the law and everything.”

“Then it’s going to be okay. Dad says us being a family is all that matters.”

She couldn’t agree more. She knew she and Mac were going to last. She knew it like she knew she wanted to be a cop.

She stood, and all her nerves about being in the spotlight slipped away. The woman opened the doors, and suddenly a long aisle with a white runner stretched out in front of her. She took a step, feeling Keith match her stride.

Together, they walked down the aisle.

***

Mac had thought Peggy’s brother would give her away. And since Peggy had balked at a wedding rehearsal, saying, “How hard can it be to walk a straight line?” he hadn’t pressed.

But he hadn’t been prepared. Not for this.

The woman who’d captured his heart was walking toward him hand-in-hand with the little boy he already thought of as his son. And she was wearing the ruby pendant he’d given her. As far as life moments went, this one was pure perfection, and he almost wished she’d walk slower so he could savor it. But even with “Here Comes The Bride” being played by the orchestra he’d hired, she couldn’t stop herself from giving into her natural gait: a power walk.

Keith was grinning, and as soon as he cleared the last row of chairs decorated with roses in white and blush, he let go of his mom’s hand and ran to Mac.

“Dad!” he cried as Mac swept him up into his arms. “We’re getting married. Finally!”

“Amen,” Rhett added from the front row.

The guests all laughed, and Mac felt a grin tug at his mouth.

“I’m glad you brought your mom down the aisle,” he told Keith. “That was a nice surprise.”

“Mom said we both had to do it since you’ll be living with both of us now,” Keith said, his missing tooth utterly charming as he smiled back at Mac.

He was moving into her smaller house with them because she wasn’t comfortable with the thought of something grander yet. Honestly, he didn’t mind where they lived as long as they were there together.

His gaze shifted to Peggy, who seemed a bit out of her element, like she had no idea what to do with the bouquet in her hand. He gave his assistant a significant look, and as perceptive as always, she stepped forward and took the flowers before disappearing into the background.

“Give me a big hug, and then go sit by your Uncle Tanner,” Mac told Keith, squeezing him tight. “I need to say hi to your mom.”

Peggy was watching them patiently with a small smile, giving them their moment together.

As soon as he set the boy down, Keith ran over to Peggy and wrapped his arms around her. “Go get married, Mom.” Then he ran to the open chair next to his uncle.

“I’ll be a good father to him,” he told her quietly.

“I know,” she simply responded.

Mac covered the short distance between them, grabbed Peggy’s hand, and raised it to his lips for a kiss—simply to fluster her. “You look beautiful.”

“You look…like you.” Then she gave a charming blush. “I mean…you look handsome—like usual.”

The grin he’d been fighting broke free. She was still working on mastering compliments—the giving and the accepting of them. “The pendant suits you, my Warrior Bride,” he said, wanting to caress her cheek but refraining. There would be plenty of time for that later, once the guests departed.

“If you hadn’t come up with that story, I don’t think I could have worn it,” she said in that purely honest way of hers, fingering the ruby.

“I know,” he said because he admired the way she always told the truth. He led her to where the minister stood. “Let’s make this legal.”

Her mouth tipped up at his use of her vernacular, and for the rest of the ceremony, everything faded until the moment she said her vows to him and accepted his ring on her finger.

There was that special light in her brown eyes, the one reserved only for him, as he said his vows to her, and his chest swelled from all the love in his heart.

When the minister pronounced them husband and wife and said he could kiss the bride, Peggy stayed in his arms longer than he’d expected. Her mouth softened, and she even gave one of her breathless sighs. The kind that shattered his control.

He forced himself to step away from her and tucked her arm through his own. Then he leaned down and said, “I love you. Never forget that.”

She turned her head up to him. “I won’t.”

“Good,” he responded and held out his hand to Keith, who came bounding over to take it.

Together, the three of them walked down the aisle as a family.

***

Receptions were a funny thing, Peggy decided as she excused herself to find the ladies’ room. They hadn’t invited a lot of people, but it had felt awkward greeting everyone in the reception line, particularly since so many of the guests had pulled her into hugs without even asking. Mac had been his usual smooth self, thanking people for coming, graciously accepting their congratulations. She’d mostly been tongue-tied. Halfway through, Mac had leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry. It’s almost over.”

Of course, she didn’t mind talking to the people she knew, but it was weird having people stand in line for the privilege.

As she was turning around to head to the ladies’ room, Rhett swept her off her feet and swung her around, making her seriously consider whacking that crazy Southern loon in the back of the head. But even she knew it would be frowned upon for the bride to smack a guest. She was a police officer, after all. Of course if the guest were being fresh, she wouldn’t hesitate for a second. She’d smack him with just cause and then some.

“You look beautiful,” Rhett said, setting her back on her feet. “And you just made my buddy the happiest man on earth.”

She’d thought no one but Mac, who liked to say crazy things to her, would call her beautiful, but there had been dozens of compliments. “Ah…thanks. I…ah…need to go to the bathroom.” Jeez, could this be any more awkward?

Rhett playfully tapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t take too long in the powder room, or Mac will be wasting away from missing you.”

The powder room? Wasting away? She gave him a wan smile and boogied away from his brand of craziness to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands under the luxurious gold sink—who had a gold sink?—Jill bounded into the bathroom.

“How about some more lip gloss?” she asked, opening her clutch.

“How about you find someone else for Makeup Torture Hour?” she bandied back.

“Come on,” Jill pleaded. “Brian is taking care of the twins with my mom and dad right now. This is probably my only adult moment for the rest of the night.”

Even though she knew Jill was stretching the truth, she caved. “Okay. But only lip gloss.”

Jill rushed over, her glistening wand already in hand. “Are you sure? Because I swear, your eyes would seriously pop with a little mascara.”

They had already argued about this, and she’d won that round. “You
will
die if you so much as make a move toward my eyes,” she said without a trace of humor in her voice.

“Would you leave my twin girls motherless?” Jill asked with crocodile tears popping into her eyes. Never underestimate Jill.

“Yes,” she said since she knew they were joking. “Now, swipe that crap on my lips and go to the can. Isn’t that why you came in here?”

“No,” her friend said, touching the lip gloss to her mouth like Peggy was a model in New York’s fashion week. “I came in here for this.”

“You are so weird.”

“I know,” she replied with a lopsided grin. “We’re a match made in heaven.”

When she left the bathroom with Jill, Rhett caught her again before she could make it to the head table. The man seemed to have her in his sights today, and she couldn’t understand why.

“All right now,” he drawled, giving her outfit an eyeful. “Instead of wearing a garter, did you strap your gun to your thigh?”

She’d considered it for a moment, but she knew Mac wouldn’t have approved. He had his own security for the hotel, but you never could tell what might happen. She liked to be prepared. She felt almost naked without her gun—not that she was going to say that to Rhett. He’d only start talking nonsense about getting
buck
naked, one of his favorite topics. She still didn’t understand what a “buck” had to do with it. And she wasn’t going to ask.