Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) (34 page)

Stunned that Marcy had called him, and more than that, astounded that he’d raced down here to talk to me, I stared at him in amazement, trying to digest what he’d said. “Your parents are worried sick about you. They said you ran out of work hours ago, without telling anyone where you were going.”

“After I talked to Marcy, I knew I had to come see you right away, so I booked a flight and I only had enough time to race to the airport. I almost didn’t make it in time, then I took a cab here.”

Love and hope blossomed inside me. He loved me so much that he did that, all for me, just to talk to me. “But why didn’t you just wait until I came home?”

He shook his head, his expression grave. “I couldn’t take a chance on you convincing yourself to end it with me. I know you well enough to know that once you make up your mind, it’s hard to change it.” He smiled. “I had to intervene.” He stepped toward me, and gently ran his finger down my jaw. “Will you marry me, Lily?”

I gazed at him, my love for him filling me up completely, and I nodded. “Yes. I will.”

His smile grew. “Today. We have to do it today.”

My eyes grew wide. “Today?”

He nodded, then moved closer to me. “Yes. I don’t want any more of this nonsense about whether we’re right for each other or not. I want to make it official so that no one can get in the way.”
 

A thrill of desire raced through me, and I nodded, helpless under the gaze of his incredible green eyes. This wasn’t like with Trevor, who had pressured me to marry him when I was still uncertain if I should. I wanted this as much as, if not more than, Marcus. Yes, there was no doubt that this was the right thing for me to do.

He slid his arms around me and pulled me close, and my arms went around his neck, then our lips met, and I thought I would fly apart with the depth of feeling I had for him.

After a moment Natalie reminded us that she was there, and we reluctantly separated. I turned to take care of her, then I remembered my promise to Jeff that I would let him know if I heard from Marcus. “You need to call your parents,” I said as I spooned some food into Natalie’s mouth.

He sighed. “Yes, I do.”

“What are you going to tell them? About us, I mean.”

“I’m going to tell them that I’m going to make you my wife today.”

I frowned. “Won’t they be upset not to be here?”

“We can have a more formal wedding later, but I won’t let them talk me out of making you my wife. Today.”

I smiled, loving the determination he had to make me his wife.
His wife.
The phrase I’d dreamt of, but had lost hope of ever having come true. I nodded, leaving his family issues in his capable hands, as Marcy had said I should. It felt good to not worry about it. I wanted to make his family my family also, but after Trish’s apology, I was confident it would happen in time.

I listened to his side of the conversation, but focused on caring for Natalie. When he ended his call, I asked how it went.

He grimaced. “You were right that they aren’t thrilled about this, but as you heard, I made it clear that this is what I want, and in the end, they supported me.” His grimace turned to a smile. “And I promised my mother that we’d have a more formal wedding soon.” His eyebrows rose. “She’ll probably want to be involved in the planning.”

“That’s fine with me.” I put Natalie on the floor to crawl around, then put my arms around him. “As far as I’m concerned, she can plan the whole thing. The only thing that matters to me is that I’ll be your wife.”

He held me close, and a few minutes later I heard the front door open.

“Oh,” Marcy said as she walked into the room where we stood.

We turned to face her. “Marcy, this is Marcus.” I grinned at her. “I believe you’ve talked to him on the phone before.”

Her face flushed, and she stepped forward and gave Marcus a hug. “I didn’t know you’d be coming down.” Then she looked at me. “I’m sorry, Lily. After you told me how you were feeling, I just thought I needed to call him and let him know what was happening.” With a look of chagrin, she said, “I borrowed your phone when you were taking care of Natalie this morning.”

I smiled. “It’s okay. I’m glad you did.”

She looked relieved. “It’s not something I would normally do, but I just felt like it was the right thing to do.”

I nodded. “I understand.” I paused. “We have some news.”

A look of expectation swept over her. “Yes?”

“We’re getting married.”

She chuckled. “You kind of mentioned that this morning.”

I laughed. “What I mean is, we’re going to get married
today
.”

“Oh! That is news. Congratulations.” Then she laughed. “This is Las Vegas. Lots of places to get married here.” She looked at Marcus. “But what about your parents? Surely they’d want to be here.”

“I talked to them and let them know this is what we’ve decided to do. They weren’t thrilled, but we’ll have another ceremony later.” He paused. “And I hope you and your family will come to that one.”

Marcy put her arm around my shoulder. “Of course we will.”

It felt great to have this support from her, and impulsively, I hugged her close. “Thank you, Marcy. For everything.”

“I consider you one of my daughters, sweetie,” she said, smiling. “Now, do you know where you’re going to go to do this?”

I looked at Marcus, but he just shrugged.
 

“First of all,” Marcy said, “I hope you’ll allow John and me to be there.”

I nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”

She smiled. “Good. Second, I hope you’ll let us babysit Natalie overnight tonight. It will be your wedding night, after all.”

I slipped my hand into Marcus’s. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Good. Finally, let’s find a place nearby where you can get married. John should be home soon, and we can go whenever you’d like.”

Excitement pulsed through me. Marcus and I would be married in a matter of hours. I didn’t care that I wouldn’t have the fancy wedding dress, or all the guests, or the flowers and the walk down the aisle—I’d had that once before. All that mattered was that Marcus would make me his.

A short time later John got home. Marcy explained what was going on, and he graciously welcomed Marcus to their home. Then we looked online and found a place where we could be married, and we called and reserved a time slot.

An hour later, the five of us were on our way. I’d put Natalie’s car seat in John and Marcy’s car so they could bring her home afterwards, so they drove her to the chapel we’d chosen. We arrived a short time later and walked in together. John, Marcy, and Natalie sat on the front row of the chapel to witness the ceremony.

As Marcus took my hands in his, and promised to love and cherish me forever, tears filled my eyes. We’d only had time to buy a pair of cheap rings on our way to the chapel, but that didn’t matter—they were only a symbol. The only thing that mattered was the officiant pronouncing us husband and wife.

“You may kiss your bride,” he said.

Marcus pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately, and I allowed myself to be enveloped by the feelings that poured through me. When he released me, I was breathless, and we gazed at each other, love flowing between us.

Marcy and John hugged us, and we took pictures of us holding Natalie. A short time later John and Marcy took Natalie home, and Marcus drove me to one of the fancy hotels. After checking in, we walked hand in hand to the elevator, and rode up to our floor. We walked to our room, and I waited while Marcus unlocked the door.

“Allow me to carry you across the threshold, Mrs. Oliver,” he said, grinning.

My smile matched his as he scooped me into his strong arms and carried me into our room, then set me on the floor. He put a
Do Not Disturb
sign on the door, and locked it from the inside, then turned to me with love in his eyes.
 

I gazed back, then moved into his arms and reveled in the security of his embrace. His lips met mine, and this time when feelings of desire overwhelmed me, I let them engulf me, and I savored being his wife, hardly able to believe that my dreams had come true, and I’d found love at last.

Epilogue

One Year Later

Holding Natalie’s hand, Marcus walked into my hospital room. “Look there, Natalie,” he said. “You’re a big sister now.”

She raced over to me and jumped onto my bed. She was nearly two years old and had been excited for this baby to come. As she gazed at our new baby boy, she tenderly touched his head, then she turned to Marcus. “Look, Daddy.”

“Yes, sweetheart, I see.” Marcus leaned over and kissed me on the lips. “You are amazing, Lily.”

I smiled at him, feeling like I was lit from within with love and happiness. He’d been so good to me ever since the day I’d met him, and he’d never let me down. I knew he loved me with all his heart, and he always put me and my needs first. “And you’re wonderful,” I said, touching his face.

After our wedding in Vegas, we’d come home to a warm welcome from Trish and Jeff, and as Trish and I had planned the more formal wedding, she and I had actually become good friends. Once we’d gotten to know each other better, she’d broken down in tears, expressing how sorry she was that she’d pushed me away from Marcus when it turned out I was so good for him.
 

She’d explained that she’d always had a picture in her mind of what Marcus’s life would be like, and it didn’t involve a widowed woman with a baby. But she’d come to realize that things didn’t always turn out the way she’d planned, which was probably a good thing, as she knew now that maybe she didn’t always know what was best for everyone.

As promised, John and Marcy attended the formal wedding, as did Chris, Scott, and their families. Chris was polite, and seemed to be warming to me, and I felt confident that we’d be friends one day, although I suspected his attendance was due to John and Marcy’s urging. His wife, Melody, pulled me aside after the wedding and confided to me that after she’d learned the details of Trevor’s actions, she’d had a long conversation with Chris, which seemed to help him soften towards me.

Alyssa and Ty had come to the wedding as well, and after having a chance to get to know Marcus, Alyssa had finally discovered for herself why I was so in love with my husband, and she’d told me that she believed I’d made the right choice. She told me she’d talked to Cameron before coming to the wedding and not only was he happy for me that I’d finally found happiness, but he’d found a wonderful woman who he was getting serious with. In the short time I’d known him, he’d been really sweet to me and I was glad to know he was finding his own happiness.

With John and Marcy’s blessing, Marcus had formally adopted Natalie, which thrilled me to no end. And now we’d added a baby boy to our growing family. Even though Marcus was officially Natalie’s father, I planned on Natalie spending plenty of time with John and Marcy. I wanted her to know her grandparents. I’d expressed as much to John and Marcy, which I’m certain was instrumental in them feeling good about Marcus adopting Natalie.

Now, as I looked at my husband and two children, I knew my life couldn’t be any better. I’d been through extremely difficult times, but I’d persevered, and now it seemed my joy knew no bounds. I knew there would be challenges ahead—who didn’t have challenges? But with Marcus by my side, I knew I could get through anything.

# # #
 

Coming this Fall: Alyssa and Ty’s story.

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In the meantime, enjoy the first six chapters of
Over You
,
a romantic suspense novel, which is available for FREE in its entirety everywhere eBooks are sold. To get it now, click
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Book Description

When Jessica Stevens temporarily moves in with her elderly aunt to help care for her, she plans to use the time to heal from a recent break-up. But when her aunt decides to do some remodeling on the old house, Jessica is dismayed to discover that the contractor is her ex-fiancé, a man who dumped her several years before.
 

Helping distract her from her troubles are mysterious fifty-year old letters she finds in her aunt's attic. The contents of the letters spur Jessica to do some digging, but as the truth of the past begins to be revealed, Jessica regrets ever finding the letters.

Over You Chapter One

“What now?” Jessica Stevens asked as her cell phone rang. She frowned as she read the name on the screen, then sighed before shutting off the ringer. “I don’t want to talk to you, Alex” she said in a sing-song voice. Turning her focus back to her laptop, she continued working, but the cell phone drew her attention once again when it chimed.

Trying to ignore the fact that a message waited for her, she concentrated on the programming code she was writing, but found her eyes drifting away from the computer screen and toward the cell phone. “Fine. You win.” She grabbed the phone and punched in the number for voice mail, then frowned as she listened to the recording.

“Jessica, I know you don’t believe me, but I’m really sorry about everything.” The caller released a ragged breath as if trying to control his emotions. “I care about you so much. Please let me see you. I need to talk to you in person. I need to explain.” He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked. “Just give me one more chance.” He paused again. “I hope to talk to you soon. Bye.”

Jessica deleted the message, set the phone down, and massaged her forehead. Leaning back in her chair, she stared at the ceiling as if the answer to her problems would somehow reveal themselves among the swirls of textured plaster. Something landed in her lap and she jumped, startled for a moment, until she locked eyes with her gray tabby, Hudson.

“Hey there. Are you trying to tell me it’s time for a break?” She scratched his chin and he purred as he nudged her hand toward his ears. “You like that, don’t you?” Glancing at the clock on her laptop, she lifted him from her lap and set him on the floor, then went into the nearby kitchen. He followed close behind, and when she opened his cat food with the can opener, he meowed.