Kiss the Bride (38 page)

And she loved him for it.

Now all she had to do was tell him exactly how she felt.

It was a media circus around the house for the next few days. Delaney kept expecting Nick to call her, but he never did. She knew he’d gone back to work and she supposed he was too busy to make contact, and that he was trying to give her some privacy.

But when a week went by and he still hadn’t called her, she began to worry.

She called Lucia and was distressed to learn not only had Lucia not heard from Nick, but that the buyer for her house had backed out of the deal and it was back on the market.

She called his cell phone. No answer. Same with the home phone.

She had to face facts. He was screening his calls and didn’t want to talk to her. Heart breaking, she came to the
awful conclusion their time together hadn’t been as magical for him as it had been for her.

In the past, she might have accepted defeat, but no longer. She’d been through too much. She’d learned how to speak her mind and tell people what she wanted. Sure, she might get rejected, but wasn’t it better to get rejected than to never express your opinion, never get what you really want, and always settle for second best because you were afraid to speak up?

She picked up the phone and called Lucia again. Delaney had a plan.

That night, Delaney dreamed of Skylar. She was wearing the same black baby-doll-style KISS T-shirt and faded blue jeans that she’d worn to the concert on the day she’d died. She was also wearing the wedding veil and carrying a pink suitcase.

“So what’s up? You eloping with a KISS roadie or something?”

“Witty,” Skylar said, “but no. I just dropped by to say so long.”

Delaney sat up in bed. “So long? What do you mean?”

“I got my wish.”

“What?”

“I wished on the dream version of your veil on the same night you wished on it, and well, the deepest desire of my soul came true.”

“What did you wish for?”

Skylar gave her a wistful smile. “You can’t guess?”

“You wished for me to find true love?”

“No, you had that covered.”

She met her sister’s eyes and saw tears shining there. “For Mother’s secret to come out?”

“Not exactly.”

“What exactly?”

“I wished for you to be able to let go of the past—to let go of me. I was happy to be here for you, in your dreams, Delaney, since I couldn’t be here in the flesh, but you don’t need me anymore. You’ve confronted your demons, faced off with Mother, and found your true self. You don’t need me anymore. And that’s a good thing.”

Anxiety gripped her. She’d been dreaming of her sister almost weekly for the last seventeen years. What would she do without her? “But I don’t want you to go!”

“It’s okay. It’s time to embrace the future, embrace your new life with Nick, and you can’t do that with me hanging around.”

“Skylar,” her voice, brittle with tears, cracked open.

“Adios, little sister.” Skylar leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Never forget I’ll always love you.”

And with that, her sister picked up her pink suitcase and was gone.

A week later, Nick was moping in his truck on the beach at Galveston Island where he and Delaney had almost made love, listening to sad country-and-western songs. Going to Delaney’s home, seeing how she really lived in opulence and glamour, had brought out the fact that he was pipe dreaming if he thought he was ever going to fit in with a woman like that. No matter how down to earth she seemed.

He took a pull off his soda and tried to tell himself that everything was going to be all right. That they’d had a good time together, and it needn’t be anything more than that. But deep down inside he knew it was a lie. He loved Delaney as he’d never loved another.

Finally, he understood why Amber had left him for
another man. With Feldstein, she’d found the magic that was missing in their relationship. The magic he thought he’d found with Delaney.

But now he wasn’t so sure. Would love and magic be enough to bridge the chasm between their upbringings? He feared it would not.

Despair consumed him.

He reached up to start the engine and accidentally hit Lalule. She hula danced.

Shake it up.

What on earth had compelled him to let down his guard and let her get so close to him? Why had he told her about his mother? Why had he given her a hula doll of her own?

From the minute Delaney had tarped him outside Evan’s office, he’d known she had the potential to hurt him bad. He hated feeling like this—all soft and mushy. He wanted his hard outer shell back, wanted his cynical cop attitude back.

It was too late for regrets. He’d fallen in love with Delaney, but she was out of his league, out of his reach.

There was a knock on his window and Nick almost jumped a foot. He looked up and saw Trudie standing there, a deep frown on her face.

He rolled down the window. “Jesus, Trudie, you about scared me to death.”

“What are you doing out here feeling sorry for yourself?”

“I’m thinking,” he said.

“Well, your grandmother is looking for you. She just found a new buyer for the house, but she wants your approval first.”

“She didn’t want it before, why is she suddenly interested in my opinion now?”

“Don’t be a putz,” Trudie said. “Get over to the house.”

Grumbling, Nick drove over to Nana’s. Lalule did the hula.

Shake it up.

Damn that hula doll.

He parked in the driveway of the house he’d grown up in and his chest tightened. He hated that he was losing both Delaney and his home too.

“Nana,” he called as he went up the steps, house keys in hand. He turned the key in the lock, pushed open the door. “Nana? What’s up?”

The smell of lasagna was thick on the air. Damn, but he was going to miss the smell of this house.

He went to the kitchen.

And stopped dead in his tracks.

There at the stove stood Delaney. Wearing nothing but high heels and an apron.

What was this?

She turned to smile at him. “Welcome home, Nick.”

“What do you mean, welcome home?”

“I’m your grandmother’s new buyer.”

Damn if his smile didn’t spread all the way across his face. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. Unfortunately, this house is just a little bit too big for little ole me. I was hoping that maybe you could help me fill it with children.”

“Why, Delaney Cartwright,” he said. “Are you proposing to me?”

“Why yes, Nick Vinetti, I think I am.”

And that’s when Nick Vinetti knew all was right with the world.

T
he winter issue of
Society Bride
declared the double wedding ceremony of undercover cop Nick Vinetti to successful business entrepreneur Delaney Cartwright—and oil tycoon Jim Bob Cartwright to Fayrene Doggett—the “must crash” nuptials of the season.

Texas Monthly
decreed that following on the heels of her daughter’s faked kidnapping from her wedding to Evan Van Zandt, the outing of Philadelphia blue-blood Honey Montgomery Cartwright’s true identity was nothing less than a Texas-sized scandal.

The
Houston Chronicle
dubbed it the best water-cooler gossip of the year.

Bouquet clutched in her hand, Fayrene walked down the rose-petal-strewn garden path in the backyard of her daughter’s home on Galveston Island. Accompanied by the traditional Wagner’s wedding march and escorted by Nick’s father, Vincent, Fayrene wore a simple pale blue dress and the happiest smile on her face. When she got to the makeshift altar, she stopped and turned to wait for her husband and daughter to come down the cobblestone walkway behind her.

The backyard was packed with friends and family. Tish was recording it all on video. Jillian and Rachael were bridesmaids. Lucia and Trudie sat in the front row, beaming like the conniving matchmakers they were. Chalk up another one for the whammy.

The wedding march ended and the band struck up the Cars’ tune “Shake It Up.”

Jim Bob was dressed in a Texas tuxedo—tuxedo top, blue jeans on the bottom, and shiny new cowboy boots. Honey would have had a hissy fit over such lax wedding attire. Fayrene, however, thought he looked adorable.

Delaney wore an off-white gown and the wish-fulfilling consignment-store wedding veil that had foretold this very day. She looked to the altar where Nick stood to the right of her mother, patiently waiting for her. He looked stunningly handsome in his own Texas tuxedo. She’d never seen a more glorious sight.

Her father shifted his weight. “You sure you want to do this, princess?”

“Positive. How about you?”

Jim Bob looked to his wife. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Me either. Let’s go then.” She didn’t even wait for her father to take the lead. Delaney was already hurrying down the aisle, pulling him along with her. She couldn’t wait to marry Nick. Couldn’t wait to start the next chapter of their lifelong romance.

When they got to the altar, her father put her hand in Nick’s, then he stepped over to his bride and looped his arm through hers. The minister stepped forward to renew the vows between her parents.

“You look so beautiful,” Nick whispered. “I’ll never forget this day for as long as I live.”

Their eyes met and Delaney’s heart soared. She didn’t hear the minister’s words to her parents, didn’t smell the scent of the sea on the air, didn’t see the crowd surrounding them. She only had ears and nose and eyes for the man standing beside her.

He was gazing at her with eyes so bright she thought she might stop breathing. This, then, was nirvana. Happiness enveloped her so completely she lost awareness of everything but him.

In that moment, true courage was born in her. She was not afraid of anything. Not with Nick.

For most of her life, she’d lived in the illusion of the perfect world, shielding herself from pain and the uncertainty of taking risks. But through knowing Nick, she’d learned to say “yes” to what she wanted and “no” to what she didn’t.

She’d come full circle and now she was back where she’s started, but totally changed. She was a fully realized person now. She could see clearly all the ways in which she’d held herself back, let her mother run her life. And she could see it in her friends too. Tish, who was afraid to admit she loved her ex-husband. Jillian, who was terrified to love altogether. Rachael, who fell in love too easily. She wanted desperately to help them all.

Her heart swelled with the exquisiteness of everything she’d learned, with the sweetness of her journey. And as the minister joined her and Nick together, Delaney knew what she must do to help her friends.

The band played “Shake It Up” again as they went back up the aisle accompanied by applause. Tish had taken up a crouching position at the end of the back of the last row of folding chairs. She started to stand up as Delaney and Nick walked up, but ended up bumping her head on the corner of the gift table.

“Son of a…” Tish started to swear, realized she was recording, and clamped her lips closed.

“Wait.” Delaney placed a restraining arm on Nick’s hand. “There’s something I need to do.”

He stopped, waited patiently. He would always be there for her. She knew it as surely as she knew her own name. “Do what you have to do.”

Delaney reached up, took the veil from her head, walked over, and handed it to Tish.

“What’s this?” Tish asked.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Delaney said, gazing happily at her new husband. “Because you’re going to get your soul’s desire.”

“Huh?”

Delaney left her friend staring with puzzlement at the wedding veil and went back to Nick. He took her hands, kissed her tenderly, and then just before family and friends descended upon them, Delaney caught sight of someone standing at the far corner of the backyard.

Claire Kelley.

Her eyes met Delaney’s,

Claire nodded at Tish, winked, and then she was gone.

And in that whisper of a second, Delaney realized the truth of the universe. The magic of the wedding veil had been inside her all along. Faith—in herself, in love—was what had activated it.

With that, she took Nick’s hand and walked into her brand-new life.

This book is dedicated to my parents,
Fred and Maxine Blalock, who lost two children
but never lost their faith or love in each other.

No one writes a book alone. It feels like it sometimes, all those hours spent in front of a computer wrestling with the words, but if it weren’t for the following people propping me up, I wouldn’t be able to make the magic happen.

To my husband, Bill, who takes care of all the domestic details so I don’t have to worry about any of that and who loves me unfailingly. I’m the luckiest person on earth.