Deliver the Moon
Thank you for purchasing this Wild Rose Press publication.
Deliver
the Moon
by
Rebecca J. Clark
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Deliver the Moon
COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Rebecca J. Clark
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by
Kim Mendoza
The Wild Rose Press
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com
Publishing History
First Champagne Rose Edition, 2012
Digital ISBN 978-1-61217-148-7
Print ISBN 978-1-61217-147-0
Published in the United States of America
Praise for Rebecca J. Clark’s
BORROWED STILETTOS
"It is one of the best contemporary stories I’ve read this year."
~Long and Short Reviews (5 Books)
~*~
"The book...was definitely a page turner. I could not put it down."
~The Romance Studio (5 Hearts)
~*~
"Delightful, sexy, witty...let me see if I can come up with more wonderful words of praise here. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this one up. The cover sold me, the blurb enticed me, the characters seduced me. Rebecca J. Clark is an author to watch."
~author Catherine Bybee
Dedication
To my kids, K and T, for putting up with a messy house and late-night dinners while I listened to the voices in my head. May you someday be blessed with equally awesome children. You both make me incredibly proud.
And to my critique partner and dear friend, Candis Terry, for believing in this story. Thanks for making me a better writer. I'm so happy your own writing dreams finally came true!
Chapter One
Louisa D’Angelo smoothed her long satin skirt for the third time in as many minutes as she waited for her cue to walk down the aisle.
“Don’t be nervous, dear,” the wedding coordinator said in a voice that had probably honeyed the nerves of many a bride. “Just keep your eyes on the altar, and you’ll do fine.” With that, she gave Louisa a gentle nudge forward.
Louisa wasn’t nervous, nor was she the bride. As the maid of honor, she just wanted to get this wedding over with. It would be a relief when the “I do’s” were finally exchanged, the union finally sealed with a kiss. It had been touch and go for a while.
As she made her way slowly, slowly down the aisle, sunlight streamed through the spectacular stained glass windows on either side of the church, painting the wedding guests all colors of the spectrum. Louisa’s mother frowned at her from the front pew and motioned for her to lower her bouquet. The overflowing bunch of white roses and ivy hovered near her chin. She dutifully lowered it to her waist, relaxing her death grip on the cool plastic handle.
Okay, maybe she
was
a bit nervous. It had been a long time since she’d stepped foot in a church, particularly
this
one, and she couldn’t say she felt altogether comfortable here. If her best friend wasn’t marrying her brother, she would have passed on the experience. After all, she’d walked down this very same aisle, in this very same church, with this very same minister...
Stop it
! That was a long time ago. These were happier times.
She sought out Evan’s reassuring gaze from his position in the front pew beside her parents. He wasn’t lit up like a rainbow from the windows as were most of the people around him, but stood in pale illumination from the artificial lights above, like his body had been cut and pasted into the rest of the scene. Odd. Louisa blinked away that thought when he smiled at her.
Her life was finally coming together. After many struggles and detours, it was finally just the way she wanted it. Well, close enough anyway. And if Evan had his way, her next walk down the aisle would be as a bride. He’d asked her to marry him last night, and she’d promised him an answer today.
She’d have answered him on the spot, but something had held her back. Something she didn’t quite understand. She’d been having the oddest premonitions lately. Not
déjà vu
exactly, but more of a heightened awareness. Evan’s proposal, although welcome and expected, had given her that same strange feeling.
It was happening again now. The sensation tickled the hair on the back of her neck and fluttered her pulse.
****
From his hard wooden seat in the back row, Gabe saw her the moment she began her slow walk between the pews. His chest tightened. She looked beautiful—better than the day he’d left.
Her dark curly hair was piled high and fashionably jumbled with loose tendrils spilling onto her face and bare shoulders. The lights from the stained glass windows shimmered in the sable curls, a kaleidoscope of colors to halo her face.
Louisa wasn’t beautiful in the conventional sense. Her face was too small and pale, overpowered by her wild tresses, and he’d be willing to bet she still hadn’t given in to her mother’s urgings to get her teeth straightened. But Gabe liked those minor imperfections. Always had. To him, she was perfect.
For a moment as he watched her, all their old problems, old arguments, seemed so trivial. So avoidable. Oh, who was he kidding? He still loved her. He knew that just as clearly as the day they’d met ten years ago. Which meant it had been five years since he’d walked out of her life.
Five years.
Had it really been that long? Yes, of course it had because he’d been counting them, one lonely year after another. How could he have gone five years without seeing her face? Without hearing her voice?
He blew an impatient sigh and shifted in his seat, the wooden back of the bench grating against his lower spine. Life had a way of turning inside out on occasion, and he and Louisa had made their choices. But seeing her walk down the aisle again, even from this distant vantage point, was a heavy hand across his heart for what they’d once shared.
“Lou.” Her name escaped his lips in a wistful breath, just loud enough for his own ears, as he watched her float toward the altar.
Her forward progress faltered slightly, and she glanced his direction, a searching look on her face, almost as if—
No way
. She couldn’t have heard him.
Gabe ducked back into his seat at the end of the row, knowing the woman beside him was adequate cover with her fancy, wide-brimmed hat. He didn’t want Louisa to see him yet. Not during the wedding.
****
“It was a beautiful wedding, don’t you think?” Louisa asked Evan as they arrived at the reception.
He led her into the huge ballroom of the upscale Seattle hotel. The sensual sounds of a violin quartet greeted them. “It was too long. Weddings should be short and to the point.”
Evan Payne could never be accused of being a hopeless romantic, she mused with an inward sigh, filing away his preference for short wedding ceremonies for future reference.
She pushed back the negative thoughts before they dampened her spirits. Her gaze traveled the crowded ballroom until it found the wedding coordinator setting up the receiving line on the parquet dance floor. Louisa went that direction while Evan headed for the bar.
The new Mrs. Sarah D’Angelo, her best friend of many years, caught Louisa’s eye and extracted herself from a crowd of well-wishers. “Hey, sister-in-law,” Sarah said.
The women hugged fiercely.
“I thought this day would never come,” Louisa murmured, pulling away and readjusting her friend’s veil around her shoulders. “You had me worried lately.” She studied Sarah’s face, unused to seeing her friend so made up. Her typical look was natural and fresh-faced.
Sarah shrugged off the comment without really looking at her. “Wouldn’t
you
have second thoughts about having Beverly Rhodes as your mother-in-law? No offense, Louisa, but your mom would scare the pants off Hannibal Lector.”
Louisa giggled at her friend’s brutal honesty. “Speaking of whom—” She tilted her head to the left. “She’s waving us over to the receiving line. We’d better get over there. You don’t want her on your case on your first day in the family.”
****
Gabe ran a finger under his collar and adjusted his tie, loosening it just enough so his throat didn’t feel like it was in a perpetual noose. He’d never felt at home in suit and tie, and today was no exception, especially with the warm June weather outside. At least this place was air-conditioned.
Louisa’s parents must’ve had a hand in providing the reception, unless Sarah’s family had come into money in the years he’d been gone. From the swan ice carving afloat in the fountain, to the mammoth eight-tiered cake, to the quartet of violinists warming up on stage, it all screamed of money. Lots of money. The Rhodes family, Louisa’s mom in particular, had always been a tad too ostentatious for his taste.
He, on the other hand, had been more than a tad too poor, much too uncouth, and altogether too unworthy for
their
taste. Louisa always insisted he was just insecure around her family because they were so different from what he was used to. That was true. But he’d been around the block enough by then to recognize contempt when he saw it. The daughter of a United States Congressman—which the now
Senator
Rhodes had been at the time—could certainly do better than the son of a heroin addict.
As he waited for the bartender to hand over his drink, Gabe’s eyes sought out Louisa in the receiving line. Laughing and animated, she was a breath of fresh air in this stuffy environment. She drew people to her like bees to honey. Everyone liked her. Being around her brought with it the hope that her glittery presence would rub off. God, how he’d missed her.
She looked happy, Gabe thought. She certainly deserved to be after everything she’d been through.
He reached for his drink and took a long swig, but the cool liquid did little to douse the old memories. Maybe it was a mistake to come here, but he owed it to Sarah and Arty to be at their wedding. They had all been such close friends once.
Speaking of the happy couple—Gabe supposed he should congratulate them. Carrying his half-empty glass with him, he wove his way through the guests and across the dance floor. Quickly downing the rest of his drink, he set the glass on a passing waiter’s tray.
“Senator Rhodes, Mrs. Rhodes,” Gabe greeted, stepping in front of the elegantly attired couple. All the old insecurities came back to choke him tighter than the tie around his neck. He forced a smile.
Arthur Rhodes did the classic double take as he extended his hand, his practiced politician’s smile well in place. “Gabe. We, uh, certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”
Louisa’s mother wasn’t so gracious. “How dare you show your face here, young man.” She must’ve realized that wasn’t proper decorum for greeting guests, because in the next instant, her persona transformed back into courteous hostess, and she slipped her white-gloved hand into his. “Mr. Gabriel. What a surprise.”
He’d forgotten she used to call him that. He still hated the nickname.
Gabe wasn’t surprised by the icy reception. They’d never treated him with anything more than mere tolerance—and that was on a good day. But he surmised they hadn’t known he was invited. It occurred to him Louisa might not know either…
He cleared his throat and turned to Louisa’s father. “Congratulations on the election, sir.”
Arthur Rhodes accepted the transparent words with aplomb, both men knowing full well that Gabe would have voted for his opponent. Their political views were only one way in which the two had clashed.