To Catch a Thief (18 page)

“My experience with partnerships hasn’t been all that great,” she reminded him. “I told Tony I’d come back and work with him. I’ve known him my whole life. He would never betray me.”

“Maybe not, but this thing with you and me would be a very personal partnership,” Rafe pointed out. “No comparison.”

“Can I trust you not to run out on me?”

“Absolutely.”

“What are the terms? I want to know exactly what I’m getting into.”

“Love, honor and cherish. Now and forever. The usual.”

It sounded like a pretty decent deal. “Just one more thing. I intend to work for Tony. Eventually I’ll take over. If the place is swamped, are you going to help cook?”

“Only if the chef rewards me later.”

Gina held out her hand. “It’s a deal.”

But—typical lawyer—Rafe wasn’t satisfied until they’d sealed it with a lot more than a handshake.

T
here had never been a doubt in the world about where their wedding reception was going to be held. Tony and Francesca started planning it the day Gina and Rafe shared the news that they were getting married. Now that the day had arrived, however, Tony had barred Gina from the kitchen.

“I will do this,
cara mia.
You are not to worry.”

“But I could help,” Gina protested uselessly. “Besides, I’m the bride. Shouldn’t I have some say over what the cake looks like, at least?”

Tony regarded her with exaggerated indignation. “Do you not think that my Francesca knows what will please you?”

“Of course, but—”

“Go,” Tony ordered. “The wedding is in an hour. You must be beautiful.”

“Okay, okay,” she said, though she didn’t think an
hour was going to make much difference. The summer heat had already frizzed her hair, and it would melt her makeup the moment it was applied.

The instant she stepped outside the restaurant, she was surrounded by the Calamity Janes. “Francesca called you, didn’t she?”

“She did,” Emma said. “She said you were getting in her way.”

“I wasn’t in her way. Tony wouldn’t even let me near the kitchen.”

“This is one meal you are not going to cook yourself,” Karen insisted. “Besides, as bridesmaids it is our duty to make sure you’re dressed and at the church on time. You don’t want to make us look bad, do you?”

Cassie was amazingly quiet as she studied Gina. “Prewedding jitters?” she asked eventually.

Gina gulped and nodded. “How did you know?”

Cassie and Karen exchanged knowing looks. “Been there, done that,” they said in unison.

“Trust us, though, you are going to be deliriously happy. Rafe will see to it.”

Gina smiled at last. “He already has.”

“Well then,” Emma said briskly. “There’s nothing to worry about, is there? Let’s get this show on the road. I have my list right here. If we follow it, we’ll stay right on schedule.”

Gina chuckled. “Wait till it’s your turn,” she warned Emma. “We are going to show you no mercy.”

“I predict this fall,” Lauren said.

“Definitely before Christmas,” Karen said.

“Oh—” Emma began.

“Go suck an egg,” they all chimed in. “You’re not convincing anymore, Emma, so give it up,” Lauren added. “You and Ford are next.”

Gina looked around at her best friends and felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She loved these women, and thanks to Bobby’s treachery and Rafe’s understanding, she had them back in her life. The Calamity Janes were a gift worth treasuring. She’d never lose sight of that again.

“Oh, no, she’s about to start blubbering,” Cassie noted. “Stop that, right this second. You can’t get married with your eyes all red and puffy.”

“Rafe won’t care,” she said with a sniff.

“Maybe not, but you will when you have to look at the wedding pictures in the years to come,” Lauren added, giving her a hug. “Trust me on this. If there’s one thing I know about it’s how a bad picture can turn up years later to bite you in the butt.”

They got her to the church and into her gown with five minutes to spare. She spent those minutes with her parents.

“Thank you,” she said, hugging them fiercely.

“For what? The wedding? It was our pleasure,” her mother said. “We’ve dreamed of this day for a long time.”

“Not just that,” Gina told them, holding her father’s hand tightly. “For letting me go all those years ago and for welcoming me back now.”

“Just give us some grandbabies and you will have paid us back in full,” her mother said. Her father scowled. “Don’t rush the girl, Jane. She hasn’t even said ‘I do’ yet.”

“That’s okay,” she told her father. “I think mother and Rafe are on the same page on that one. For a man who claimed to know nothing about relationships or family, he’s adapting to the concept pretty quickly.”

“How does that mother of his feel about being a
grandma?” her father asked. “I can’t imagine she’s happy about it. I’ve never seen a woman so determined to shave twenty years off her age.”

Gina grinned at the assessment. It was true. Rafe’s mother worked astonishingly hard at being youthful. Grandchildren were going to rattle her.

“She’ll adapt,” Gina’s mother said. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll get those precious grandbabies all to myself.”

There was a knock on the door just then. “I think they’re ready for us,” Cassie called out. “And Rafe is prowling around the front of the church looking impatient.”

Gina opened the door. “Then by all means, let’s not keep the man waiting.”

Rafe had worn dozens of tuxedos in his time, but he was fairly certain this one was going to choke him to death. He ran his finger under the shirt collar.

“Stop fidgeting,” his mother mouthed from the front pew.

The admonition made him grin despite himself. How many times had he heard that as a boy? A million, probably. It was good to know that some things never changed.

At last the music began, and his gaze flew to the back of the church. The procession seemed endless. First Cassie, Lauren, Karen and his own sister as the bridesmaids. Then Emma, looking softer and more feminine than he’d ever seen her, as Gina’s maid of honor. Finally Caitlyn as the flower girl, happily scattering rose petals along the aisle as she grinned at Rafe.

There was a pause in the music, and Rafe’s breath caught in his throat. Gina appeared on her father’s arm, and his throat went dry. How had he ever gotten so lucky?

Her dress was simple, but she looked like a million
bucks in it. He grinned at the thought. That was exactly the price tag that had been put on Café Tuscany a few weeks ago, when the paperwork for Gina’s deal with Deidre and Ronnie was being drawn up. All three of them had stared at the bankers in disbelief. Gina had insisted that the deal be for less than half of that.

“They’ve paid the difference a thousand times over,” she had told the bankers. “It’s because of them that it’s worth so much now.”

To Rafe’s amusement she had gotten her way and the deal had been struck. Now there was nothing left to tie them to New York. They were in Winding River to stay.

“I love you,” he whispered when Gina reached his side.

“You’d better,” she whispered back, but her eyes were filled with laughter.

When the time came for the vows they had written for themselves, Rafe shocked the crowd with his first words. He could hear the gasps as he began by saying, “From the moment I met you, I knew you were a thief.”

The only person who wasn’t the least bit startled was Gina. She watched him solemnly with love in her eyes.

“You stole my heart,” he said quietly, drawing a relieved sigh from the onlookers and the beginnings of a smile from Gina. “Even when I struggled to get it back, you held on and taught me what it means to share love and friendship. You taught me about loyalty and commitment. Today I give you my heart willingly, because I know you’ll keep it safe forever.”

There were tears shining in her eyes when he finished. She brushed at them impatiently as she began her own vows. “I know the value of what you are giving me, because I know how difficult it was for you to overcome all of the doubts you had about me at the beginning. It’s
a funny thing about distrust. It can destroy a relationship or it can make it stronger. I think ours is stronger because of the way it began. I will spend a lifetime proving to you that I deserve your trust and giving you everything that my heart has to share—my family, my friends, my town, and most of all, my love.”

When the priest pronounced them man and wife and blessed them, Gina held her face up for his kiss. Rafe covered her mouth with his own, and once again he was back at the fairgrounds on a hot, steamy afternoon, tasting her lips for the very first time, unable to stop, savoring every single second of the kiss.

The congregation erupted into laughter and applause when he finally released her. Gina grinned.

“I guess we’re destined to giving them something to talk about,” she said.

He winked. “It certainly works for me. How about you?”

“Any time. Any place.”

“Forever?”

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, another slow, melting kiss that rocked him to his core.

“Definitely forever,” she said.