Mistletoe and Magic (27 page)
Read Mistletoe and Magic Online
Authors: Carolyn Hughey,Gina Ardito
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Humor, #Self-Help, #Relationships, #Love & Romance, #Health; Fitness & Dieting, #Humor & Satire, #General Humor, #Two Holiday Novellas
She bristled. “That’s not funny, AJ.”
“No, I’d say it’s a tragedy,” Santa replied. “Why don’t you have a special man here with you tonight?”
Tears stung her eyes, and she stubbornly sniffed them back. She was distinctly aware of someone in the corner filming this exchange. “Rhys had to go to Hong Kong on business,” she murmured with an enormous dose of self-pity.
Reaching into his breast pocket, Santa removed a black box and pushed a button on the box’s side. “Are you sure about that?”
Rhys. She’d know his voice anywhere, that distinctive smoky tone and British accent. She looked past the fake beard and silly red velvet hat and into hazel eyes she loved so much. “Rhys!” Flinging herself at him, she wrapped him in her arms. “You’re here!”
“Did you honestly believe I’d choose Hong Kong over you?” he asked as he pulled off the beard and hat.
“But how…when…?” she sputtered.
“Magic, of course. I got here on time today, and AJ was kind enough to pick me up at the airport.” He pointed behind her, and she turned to see AJ wave from behind the video camera. “He and Mallory helped me spring this surprise on you.”
“But what about Hong Kong?”
He shook his head. “No Hong Kong. Not now, maybe not ever.”
She pulled away to look at him. She still couldn’t believe he was here. And nothing he said made much sense. Or maybe she was still too stunned to understand. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll see.” He took her hand and led her toward the coffee table, which was draped in a white cloth with a round loaf of bread seated in the center. “AJ, would you do the honors, please?”
“You bet.” After handing the camera to Mallory, he plucked an embroidered red napkin from the fireplace mantel.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rhys announced to the crowd. “Last year, I met this extraordinary woman in Krakow, and she willingly pledged herself to me in marriage, according to the traditions of her mother’s homeland.” Stopping her at the edge of the table, he moved to stand across from her. Taking her hand again, he held their clasp directly over the loaf of bread. “Now, I ask you to join us as we follow this tradition to its natural end.”
AJ stepped up and wrapped the red cloth around their clasped hands, tying them together.
Polina sucked in a sharp breath. Oh, God. She knew where this was headed.
After clearing his throat, AJ put on his most serious face. “Rhys and Polina, do you come here willingly to marry, to share your lives and duties?”
“I do,” Rhys answered, loud and strong, then looked at her.
Polina looked down at her faded jeans and plain pink sweater and grimaced. “I would have liked to be wearing something a little fancier, but yes, I do, too.”
While the guests broke out into enthusiastic applause, AJ shouted to be heard over the noise, “Two hands joined together over a loaf of bread. This is the most beautiful sign of togetherness, this happy joining of two people who will now travel the same road. Two hands joined together until death do them part.” He leaned forward and said, “Rhys didn’t tell me if this was part of my speech, but I probably won’t ever get another chance to say it so, ‘You may now kiss your bride.’”
Rhys’s white-gloved hands cupped her face, and he pressed his mouth to hers. Grounded as their tied hands kept her, she flew over the moon. An overindulgence of love and happiness intoxicated her. Around them, the crowd went wild with cheers and hoots. Polina didn’t care. She had Rhys. Now and forever. Nothing else mattered.
When he finally released her, she told him, “I love you, Rhys. I’m ready to follow you anywhere.”
“You don’t have to follow me that far.” He jerked his head toward the windows behind them. “Just across the street.”
Her heart plummeted. Of all the rotten luck. “No. I mean, yes, but we can’t. My house has been sold.”
“I know.” He grinned. “I bought it.”
“You…” Her feeble brain couldn’t take anymore.
“I love you, Polina. I know I said I’d wait while you found yourself, but I guess I’m more selfish than I realized. I don’t want to wait to spend my life with you. And I have no right to make you change your dreams to fit my life when I could easily adapt my life to your dreams. I’ve spent the last ten years searching for my happiness, and when I finally found her, I left her to chase happiness in another state. You’re my happiness, Polina. I am never letting you get away again.”
“And you’re my home, Rhys. The only magic I’ll ever need.”
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