To Love, Honor and Betray (16 page)

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”

“Her mother and I do,” Walter said, and Callie heard the tremble beneath his rough voice, felt the shake of his burly arm as he handed her over to Eduardo’s keeping. Kissing her father’s cheek, Callie smiled down at her mother in the front row, who held baby Marisol in her lap.

As the parson spoke the wedding homily, Callie listened to the soft wind against the barley. She heard the creak of the old barn around them as Eduardo spoke his wedding vows, and the low timbre of his voice reverberated through her soul. She felt the strength of his powerful, gentle hand as he slid a plain gold band on her finger, simple and special and eternal. Just like their growing family.

Callie hid a smile. She could hardly wait to tell him that he wasn’t just becoming her husband again, but a father again, too. Their baby was due in February. Perhaps she would whisper the news in his ear during their first dance, while they swayed together surrounded by flickering torches, beneath a sky so wide it stretched forever. Maybe they’d spend the summer here, autumn in New York, winter in Spain. Their love crossed oceans. But when it was time for her baby to be born, she knew there was only one place she wanted to be. Home.

And as she looked up at Eduardo, that’s exactly where she was. In his arms, she was home. No matter where their lives took them.

“And do you, Calliope Marlena Woodville, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to love and cherish from this day forward, until death do you part?”

In the breathless hush, Callie glanced back at her baby, at her family and friends in the old barn. It was exactly like she’d always imagined it would be. Closing her eyes, Callie took a deep breath, remembering all the impossible dreams she’d had as a girl.

Then, opening her eyes, Callie turned back to Eduardo, and spoke the two words that made all those dreams come true.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Jennie Lucas 2012

ISBN: 978-1-408-97419-3