Alpha Me Not (34 page)

Fifteen minutes later he had Susie on his lap and fed her sips of juice while recounting what Sam had told him.

“So Mr. Arnold
doesn’t
have Alzheimer’s? I wonder what it was that he told that phone repair guy. I bet it had something to do with Gemma pushing him down the stairs and not the fire like I’d thought.”

“What phone repair guy?”

When she told him about the phone repair guy, Joe considered her idea. “You could be right. I imagine we’ll find out a ton over the next few days.”

“We should turn on the news while we’re waiting for the food.” Susie took the glass from his hold and set the rim to his lips. “Your turn.”

He sipped, reached for the remote on the far side of the table, and hit the Power button. The local station’s noon news broadcast was in full swing.

“
Authorities have Carmine, Gemma, and Jeffrey Arnold in custody on murder charges. The three members of the Arnold family are accused of multiple counts of homicide. Most of the Arnolds’ victims appear to be young, homeless boys. When asked, the lead investigator on the case, Detective Taunton, stated that there appears to be no connection between the Arnolds and the recent disappearance and subsequent discovery of Petey Flanagan’s body. We’ll have more on this case on the six o’clock news.
”

Joe lowered the volume.

“I hope they don’t go on and on about Petey. It’ll really upset Barb. I think the only thing keeping her going now is the baby. Last night she told me, she was going to think of the baby as Petey’s last gift to her and Kieran.” A tear rolled down Susie’s cheek, and she swiped at it. “You were right. They’re both strong, and between the baby and each other, I think Kieran and Barb are going to be okay.”

Epilogue

It had been an exasperating, exhilarating, challenging month.

Susie nearly brained Joe when he offered to opt out of their engagement because of his dyslexia. So it could be inherited? So what?

Joe took her engagement ring shopping and insisted on a humongous square-cut stone. Susie didn’t have the heart to say no.

He demanded a proper wedding. She tried to talk him into a Vegas weekend. He countered with the threat of inviting everyone he’d ever known. They compromised on a backyard ceremony and reception.

When Joe Skyped Terri about the venue, she insisted he use her backyard too.

Barb, when not felled by morning, noon, and night sickness, proved to be an organized and knowledgeable dynamo.

While Susie worked furiously on her thesis and met with Dr. Surgue and the rest of her committee, Joe, Barb, and Tate planned the entire event.

Susie did her best to ignore the sudden bouts of fear and doubt that plagued her during the four-week lead up to the wedding.

Laila and her three daughters visited the second they heard the news to congratulate Susie. The girls sweetly volunteered Rex’s service as ring bearer. Susie countered by offering them flower girl positions, which they accepted with an alarming alacrity. Zaara, it turned out, had been planning her own wedding since the girl glimpsed her first copy of
Bride
magazine.

Jackie, Susie’s niece, would be the ring bearer, which meant, of course, that all the dresses had to be pink. Her two sisters, Melanie and Lizzie, were bridesmaids, and Susie asked Barb to be her matron of honor.

Tate insisted on joining Barb and Susie for the wedding, flower girl, and bridesmaid dress shopping. The alpha wolf knew fabric better than a seamstress. He had an inherent sense of taste and was an incredible font of information regarding style and fashion.

Every night Joe taught her a different dance. He used every room in the house for the lessons, and by week three Susie figured they’d christened every available surface in the cottage.

Susie’d come to relish Joe’s dawn arousals, and just when she figured he couldn’t find another sexy way to wake her, he did.

Mama, Melanie, Mike, and Jackie arrived three days before the wedding. Gray and Lizzie flew in the following day. They all came over that evening for dinner cooked on the robo-stove Susie had finally mastered after much trial and error.

Jackie squealed with delight when shown the pink bedroom, pleaded amid many a dramatic burst of sobs to sleep there, but quieted when told Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t be joining her.

Mama Maria’s insisted on hosting the rehearsal dinner the evening before.

Susie still hadn’t met the reclusive and elusive Mama.

“What are they worth this morning?”

Joe, head propped on an elbow, tickled her belly.

She clamped her hand on his. “Probably not even a cent.”

“You’re really not looking forward to tomorrow, are you?”

She chewed her lips and played with his chest hair. “You know I love you and that I want to marry you. I just wish we could do it quietly without any fuss. No looming dates. We could still elope.”

He kissed her knuckles. “You won’t regret not having any pictures? Not having Melanie, Mike—”

She cupped a hand over his mouth. “Okay. Okay. You’re right. I want the end result, just not the lead up.”

“Your mother and sisters are kicking me out in about six minutes. I’d better hustle.”

* * * *

It didn’t make sense to have hair appointments for today and tomorrow, but Susie’s protests had been totally nullified. The Hassani females joined Susie, Lizzie, Melanie, Mama, Barb, and little Jackie at the beauty and nail salon for primping.

Despite her nerves, Susie thoroughly enjoyed the four young girls’ growing excitement. By the end of the day, she had laughed so much most of her tension had dissipated. Everyone went back to the cottage before heading to the rehearsal dinner.

“The photographer and video maker want to check the light in the backyard. He’s insisting you have to be in the dress,” Barb interrupted Susie’s admiration of Jackie’s neon-pink nails.

“Really?” Susie groaned.

“Pictures are all you’ll have to show your kids, Susan Elizabeth White.” Melanie, hands on hips, dared Susie to disagree. “We have loads of time before the dinner. You march right into your bedroom and change. If not, we’ll all strip you and dress you right here and now.”

When Melanie got that tone in her voice, there was no stopping her. And Susie was plain too overwhelmed to put up much of a fight. With Barb’s help, she donned the dress, put on makeup, and slipped into the glass Cinderella shoes that Tate had insisted upon.

“You’re beautiful.” Barb stood behind her, and their gazes met in the mirror. “Tate was right. This one-shoulder sheath suits you perfectly. That little touch of chiffon for the bodice adds a great elegance. And your hair looks perfect with the woven fresh flowers and ribbons. Joe’s going to love the whole thing.”

“It is nice. You know what would be perfect? If we could do it right now.” She stood gingerly, afraid to wrinkle the satin.

“Think you just got your wish, sis.” Gray appeared at Barb’s side. “There’s no rehearsal dinner. I’m here to escort you down the aisle or, in this case, pavers.”

All the oxygen drained from Susie’s lungs, and she blinked to keep the room from spinning. “What are you saying, Gray Theodore White?”

Her brother held out his arm. “They’re waiting for us. Draw the curtains, Barb.”

Barb beamed at her and complied with Gray’s suggestion.

Stupefied into total silence, Susie stared out the now visible window. The backyard had been turned into a perfect garden wedding setting with arched, flowery trellises, folded chairs with pink bows, and a huge pink-and-white-striped tent covering Terri’s lot.

How?

When?

Joe.

She swallowed away the achy, going-to-bawl itchiness in her throat and blinked back the tears. Looked up at Gray and couldn’t voice a word.

He kissed her brow. “Joe knew what you really wanted.”

And damn it if he hadn’t.

They walked out onto the deck. A beribboned trellis ran the length of the structure and blocked the assembled wedding party from their audience. But Susie could catch snatched glimpses through the slats.

“Do you like the surprise?” Zaara, dressed in an empire-style, creamy pink floor-length dress, asked.

Too choked up for words, Susie nodded. Each girl carried a basket filled with pink peonies, save for Jackie, who sported a pink pillow bearing twin wedding bands. Long pink ribbons streamed from the headpieces they wore.

Azzo held the hands of the younger two girls, while Tate had charge of the others.

Strains of a song she had learned to love during her dance lessons wafted to Susie’s ears. Joe had chosen all the music for the wedding. She smiled when the jazzy rhythm of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” filled the garden.

Azzo carried Jackie and Wania down the steps.

Tate escorted Zaara and Irsa.

Everyone laughed when Azzo and Tate gave the girls their freedom, because Zaara, Irsa, and Wania skipped and boogied down the cobbled path, tossing pink peonies in a whirlwind.

Only Jackie, gaze fixed on the pillow, walked sedately down the path. She beamed with pride at the audience when she reached her assigned position.

Lizzie, Melanie, and Barb glided up the cobbled pathway to the strains of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”

Susie understood then why Barb had insisted upon using waterproof makeup.

Gray handed her his handkerchief. “Somewhere, somehow, I know Papa and Grandpa are watching you and grinning with pride and joy. Do them proud and stop the waterworks.”

She rounded on him and then realized his diversion tactic. “Thanks, Gray. No one could have a better brother.”

For a second Susie could’ve sworn she saw a shimmer in her brother’s black eyes.

The strains of “The Wedding March” soared around them.

“Ready?”

“Very.” She beamed at him.

The backyard was the epitome of the ultimate fairy fantasy garden. Flowers of all kinds filled every spare place, all in different shades of pink. From the palest peachy pastels to the darkest, duskiest rose, daisies, orchids, tulips, carnations, filled vases and baskets.

Pink balloons danced in the wind.

But all Susie saw was Joe.

He wore a metal-gray morning suit, a white shirt, and an intricately composed cravat. She had shared her love of all things Regency with him, and that he’d actually hunted down the relic of a necktie and worn it had her heart turning over in her chest.

Gray halted in front of Joe. He switched her hand from his arm to Joe’s.

“Take great care of her. She’s more precious than life itself.”

“I know.” Joe covered her hand with his. “Trust me. I know.”

The minister moved to them.

Very proud at not breaking down during the ceremony, the tension finally seeped out of Susie’s knotted neck when they sat for the wedding dinner.

Joe captured her wrist and studied her ring finger. “I took this wedding band out of the safe right after I dropped you at the college all those weeks ago. Gran-gran would’ve loved you.”

“I’m sure I would’ve loved her too.” She flicked a wayward curl from his collar. “After all, she raised you.”

“Happy?” His eyes had taken on the familiar amber tint that heralded his urge to mate.

“Ecstatic.” She decided not to tell him about the baby until after their week-long honeymoon at his grandmother’s restored cabin.

Susie hardly tasted the exquisite seven-course meal prepared by Mama Maria’s. She shed more than a tear during Tate’s moving speech. Used her napkin to dab her eyes when Gray delivered a surprisingly sentimental and emotional, but mercifully short, discourse.

When the DJ got ready to play the first dance, she took a deep inhale. Susie had no idea what song Joe had chosen, and crossed her fingers, hoping against hope, she wouldn’t mess up and try to lead as usual.

Joe stood, palm extended.

She rested her hand in his.

The strains of Orlean’s “Dance with Me” echoed around the tent. How had he known that was her favorite song?

Joe led her onto the open-air dance floor.

“Dance with me, I want to be your partner,” she hummed the words and relaxed in Joe’s embrace. Never had any moment felt so enchanting. A light breeze circled the garden wrapping a heady, flowery aroma around them. Joe’s hips brushed hers when he swirled her into a series of long, lazy turns.

“Starry eyes and love is all around us.” She paused on a deep sigh.

“I can take you where you want to go. Dance with me, I want to be your partner.” Susie lifted her head when Joe finished the verse. She met his gaze, and the entire universe vanished.

For the first time ever, Susie gave herself to the music, to Joe, to his lead. It was a fairy-tale dance. She never wanted it to end. They moved as one, effortlessly, twirling, and whirling to the poignant strains of the song and compelling lyrics.

“That was magical.” Susie couldn’t take her eyes away from Joe’s.

“Perfect.”

His stunned expression prompted her smile.

“You didn’t try to lead once.”

“I have a new motto.”

Joe raised a brow. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Alpha me.”

Loose Id Titles by Jianne Carlo