Wonderful You (34 page)

“I was beginning to fear that the renovations would not be completed in time,” India told her, “and we really only just made it by a few days.”

“What are you going to use it for after the wedding?”

“Darla is going to have a little restaurant here, as well as a home for her catering business. We’re thinking of maybe even renting out for other weddings.”

“How will people get back and forth?”

“Pete will run a shuttle.” India set her makeup case on one of the loveseats. “Darla’s even thinking maybe she’ll do luncheons during the bird migrations next spring. It would offer a comfortable place to observe the birds without getting in their way. Oh, Darla, there you are. We were just talking about the plans for the lighthouse.”

Dar
l
a hugged her friend and said, “The only plans I have right now are to get through this day without a snag. I hope Jason gets here in time to get the grills started for the fish. And I hope that that new generator doesn’t pop and blow out the refrigerators. And
…
”

“Enough!” India laughed. “I forbid any more talk of what could go wrong. Come into the bathroom and fix
my hair and stop worrying. Everything is going to be just perfect, Dar.”

And it was just perfect, from the simple ceremony on the dock overlooking the calm inlet to the music and the incredible buffet. India and Nick’s wedding could not have been more perfect than it was.

“You really are the most beautiful bride.” Delia had sniffed back the tears as she fussed with India’s veil of gossamer tulle held in the front by combs covered with fresh flowers.

“Thank you, Delia.” India kissed her on the cheek. “And you are the most elegant mother of the groom I’ve ever seen, in that pale champagne-colored silk dress.”

“I didn’t want to clash with the decor.” Delia sniffed and her daughters all laughed.

“Mother, you’re the only person I know who would take orchid petals with her to shop for a dress,” Zoey said.

“I wanted the photographs to be balanced,” Delia defended herself archly, then laughed good-naturedly. “Your dresses are such a pale shade of gold, and August is wearing a deeper color. I thought my dress should complement the overall color scheme.”

“And you do, exquisitely.” August squeezed her arm. “Ahh, are those violins I hear?”

Laura looked out the window. “Yes. There’s a string quartet, just warming up.”

“Oh, good, they made it.” India peeked out the window and grinned.

“I guess violins make an easier crossing than an organ,” Zoey commented. “Or a five-piece band.”

“Oh, we’ll have a regular band later, but we had to have violins for the ceremony.” India smoothed her gown of creamy white satin. “Did you know that on the night Nick proposed to me, he had arranged for a string quartet to serenade us?”

“Oh, how romantic.” Laura said. “No wonder you said yes.”

“I would have said yes anyway.” India began to puddle
up. “How could I not have loved him? He’s sweet, loving”—she sniff
ed slightly—“kind, thoughtful…
”

“Who is she talking about?” Zoey stage-whispered from the doorway.

“I’m not sure,” Georgia pretended to frown. “But Nicky had better not hear about it.”

“I’m talking about Nick,” India told them.

“You’ll have to pardon us, but the man you’re describing doesn’t sound anything like the Nick we grew up with.” Zoey’s eyes began to gleam. “Georgey, do you remember the time that Nick—”

“Don’t you dare,” Delia warned her daughter sternly. “No ‘bad-Nicky’ tales on his wedding day. Now, girls, let me take a last look at
you
…
Zoey, let me fix those flowers, they’re hanging half out of your hair. Laura, would you please straighten the back of India’s dress?”

“Is everyone ready?” August asked from the doorway. “Tucker has just brought over the last boatload of guests.”

“Then it’s time,” Darla said simply. “India?”

“Let’s do it.”

And with that, one of the most unusual weddings ever to be held in Devlin’s Light began. A blend of tradition and improvisation, the marriage of India Devlin to Nicholas Enright would be talked about for years.

When asked “Who gives this woman?” Augustina Devlin, the bride’s aunt, stepped forwa
rd and an
nounced, “I do,” in her customary crisp fashion.

The Enright women had come properly prepared for the emotional ceremony with handkerchiefs hidden in the hands that wrapped around bouquets and tissues in Delia’s purse. There was barely a dry eye among those who stood in the sunlight and witnessed the exchange of vows between the lithe golden-haired young woman— the last of the Devlin descendants—who had so recently returned to the town in which she had been raised, and the tall, broad-shouldered man who made a place for himself in Devlin’s Light.

“Do you, India Sarah Devlin, take this man, Nicholas Burton Enright
…”
Reverend Carlton Douglas began what Zoey always thought of as the
real
ceremony, the only part that
really
mattered.

Nicky really is so handsome, he really is such a love,
Zoey thought as she watched her big brother, who stood so straight and solemn before all of their family and most of the town of Devlin’s Light as he exchanged his vows with the woman he loved.
I’m so glad he found India, she really is just right for him.

And Ben really is just right for me. We belong together just as surely as Nick and India do
. If he leaves now, I think I’ll
die
…

The fear tugged at
her heart—as it had, more and
more, begun to do lately—that he would, in fact, return to England, to the life he had known before he had come back.

He’s driven in Grand Prix races. He’s traveled all over the world. His life has been filled with fast cars and, I would guess, fast women. What man would trade all that
—
France, Italy, M
onaco—for Chester County, Penn
sylania?

Ben would.

Wouldn’t he?

The inner dialogue went, back and forth.

He belongs here, he’ll stay.

This is just a diversion for him, he’ll go back as soon as he’s able.

It was beginning to make Zoey slightly ill. She tried turning down the volume on the taunting little voice and tried to concentrate on what was going on.

She turned slightly to look for Ben in the-crowd that had gathered on the dock, and found him standing just slightly in the shadow of the lighthouse, between Laura and Mrs. Colson. She caught his eye and winked, earning a broad smile from the only man who had ever turned her blood to fire and caused her palms to sweat. He looked so handsome, in his navy blue blazer and white
linen slacks, though surely no more alluring, she reasoned, than he had looked in a green and white checkered sheet earlier that morning.

He couldn’t
—
wouldn’t—leave her.

Zoey turned her attention back to the ceremony—“Do you, Nicholas
Burton Enright, take this woman”—
t
o
see her mother dab at her eyes. What a day this was f
or Delia. Gaining a daughter…
Zoey glanced back to Laura
…
make that
two
daughters. Ben lifted Ally, who had been straining to see, onto his shoulders.

Make that two daughters and one—no, two granddaughters, counting Corri.

“By the power invested in me by the state of New Jersey, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, Mr. Enright,” Reverend Douglas was telling Nick.

And kiss her he did, while the guests tossed birdseed and rose petals, as requested by the aunt of the bride. Cheers rang out and violins played a lively tune and, as the bride had wished, waiters appeared instantly, carrying trays of fluted glasses bubbling with champagne to lift a toast to the lighthouse, and to the spirit of the bride’s late brother.

The buffet was both sumptuous and inspired, with mounds of icy cold shrimp and delicate lobster salad, tureens holding cold strawberry soup, and large porcelain bowls of chicken salad plump with pineapple and grapes. Then came the trays of summer salads—minted rice, potato salad with lavender, green beans and mushrooms in a mustardy dressing, and a fruit salad garnished with fresh tender violets. Later, Darla’s crew grilled salmon and swordfish and shrimp wrapped in bacon, a favorite of Nick’s. The wedding cake—exactly as Corri had promised—was a three-tiered delight of rich dense chocolate covered with white buttercream frosting. From the top tier cascaded white lilacs, and around the base of each layer, buttercream roses grew. The dessert buffet was a staggering testimony to Darla’s ability, with chocolate-covered strawberries, creampuffs
with mocha filling, and every variety of fruit tart imaginable.

“What a staff you must have, Darla!” Zoey exclaimed as the waiters passed by with trays of tiny cheesecakes and miniature souffles. “To prepare so much of so many different things.”

“Thanks, Zoey, but I’m afraid that you’re looking at most of the staff.” Darla dropped wearily into a chair.

“How could you possibly have done all this?”

“It takes a lot of organizing. And you’d be amazed at how much can be prepar
ed ahead of time. For the last-
minute assembly, it helps to have people whose skills you have confidence in. And of course I did have some help
…
just not the dozens of people everyone assumes I have.”

“Well, everything is exquisite, Darla.” Delia joined them on the deck. “I will never use another caterer for anything. We’ll simply have to bring you to Westboro for the next party.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Enright.” Darla put her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn. “Please forgive me. I’m starting to wind down.”

“It must be really difficult to do so much.” Georgia shook her head. “I’m just amazed at it all.”

“Actually, one of the most difficult things has been to find the quality of herbs that I like. If I could grow them myself, I’d do it.” Darla stifled another yawn. “I just don’t have the time, but I often think about it.”

“Where do you buy from now?” Georgia asked.

“I buy from several farmers, but it makes for a lot of driving around. This one grows rosemary, that one grows sage, someone else grows the best dill. It would be a great business to get into, growing top-quality fresh herbs for resturants and caterers. If I had the time, I swear I would do it.”

“Ah, there you are, Zoey.” Ben wandered through the door leading from the lighthouse onto the deck.

“Where did you disappear to?” Zoey stood and went to him.

“Cor
ri
took my grandfather and me out to the end of the jetty to show me how Devlins look for birds,” he told her. “And while we were out there, we noticed a boat circling around between the inlet and the bay side of the light. Captain Pete’s son has gone to investigate, but it looked like a fisherman.”

“So, Mother, it would seem that there was no great influx of nosy reporters after all.”

“Isn’t that a pleasant surprise.” Delia smiled.

“And while Laura’s strong family resemblance certainly is noteworthy, I haven’t heard a lot of speculative whispering,” Georgia noted.

“That’s because I told everyone in the family in advance.” Delia smiled and sipped at her wine.

“What?” Zoey and Georgia both asked.

“I said, I already told everyone. I called all of my cousins over the pas
t two weeks and told them every
thing. I decided that I’d be damned if I was going to waste a minute of my only son’s wedding day worrying about how anyone would react to finding out about Laura. So I called them on the phone and I just figured anyone who had a problem with it could stay home.” Georgia and Zoey exchanged surprised glances.

“So?” Zoey waited for her mother to elaborate.

“So, you will notice that everyone is here except for my cousin Carolyn.”
Delia shrugged. “She was oh-so-
shocked in an oh-so-pleased sort of way. But I don’t care. It’s been a beautiful wedding and a wonderful day—one totally
perfect
day. All the people I most love are here with me.” She stood and tilted her wineglass in the direction of the dock, where Laura stood with Ally watching the gulls circle. “The circle is complete, children, and my cup, indeed, runneth over.”

25

“
S
o,
what’s this I hear about Nicky having offered you his cabin for the night?” Zoey nuzzled closer to Ben as they danced yet one more slow dance on the patio that looked out over the inlet. In the distance the lights of the houses back on shore were just going on for the night, and the moon was just beginning to peek out
of
the clouds. Someone—probably India
—
had turned on the spotlight that now shone from the top of the lighthouse, and the pale yellow glow spilled into the bay like warm butterscotch. Zoey sighed. Everything about this day had been filled with romance, from the minute she had opened her eyes to see Ben watching her to this exact moment, when they danced together in the moonlight.

Ben sighed too. If she snuggled any closer, they wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not Nick had offered to let Ben stay in the cabin that night. Ben would be tossing her over his shoulder and heading for the deck of that cabin cruiser that was tied to the nearest dock. “Yes, my love, he did,” Ben told her.

“Oh, goodie, when do we leave?”

“I think it’s customary for the bride and groom to
leave first,” he told her. “I think it would be considered a serious breach of etiquette for—”

She kissed him, a long, serious kiss.

“Then again, I suppose if one could slip out discreetly, so as not to be missed
…
” He nibbled at her bottom lip.

“Zoey, come on, India’s waiting for you. She’s ready to toss her bouquet.”

Zoey looked up to see Darla standing on the deck. “You catch it for me, Dar.” Zoey smiled dreamily at Ben.

“You get your butt up here, Zoey Enright,” Georgia called down to her. “If I have to stand there and play catch, you have to stand there and play catch. Besides, Mom said you have to.”

“Why?” Zoey frowned.

“She said she wants to see who’s next. Now come on.”

“I guess we’re stuck here for a while,” Zoey told Ben.

“There are worse things that could happen.” Ben kissed the side of her face near her ear and led her toward the lighthouse. “At least there’s still some of those little fruit tarts on Darla’s dessert table.”

“How many of them have you had?”

“Who’s counting? Darla has given gluttony a respectable name, raised it almost to the level of virtue,” he confided as they walked inside the lighthouse where the party was still in full swing.

India stood on the third step holding her bouquet of white roses and palest pink lilies. She winked in Zoey’s direction, and Zoey winked back.

“Nana, why is India throwing her flowers away?” Ally asked Delia. “Do
esn’t she want them anymore?”

“It’s customary for the bride to throw her flowers to all of the unmarried women at the wedding,” Delia told her, smoothing the child’s hair affectionately. “Supposedly, the one who catches it will be the next one to get married.”

Ally pondered how this might work while all of the single women in the group gathered at the foot of the steps. India looked around and, satisfied that all were
present and accounted for, turned her back, counted to three, and tossed the bouquet.

It hit Georgia right smack in the chest.

“Wow!” Corri jumped up and down. “Georgia will get married next.”

Delia laughed, watching her youngest twirl the bouquet she’d caught, knowing that Georgia’s devotion to dance had left her with precious little time for a social life.

But a little romance would be good for her.

And wouldn’t she make a beautiful bride someday,
Delia mused.
Won’t each of my girls make beautiful brides? I would suspect Zoey might actually be next, judging by the way she and Ben are panting
—
discreetly, of course—after each other.

She smiled. Ben Pierce. Almost as dear to her as her own son. To think that he and Zoey were in love. Her
daughter and Maureen’s son…

“And oh, Maureen, he’s grown into such a fine young man,” Delia whispered to the night, “you’d be so proud. As proud as I am, of all of them.”

The circle that had once held only Nick, Zoey, and Georgia had widened, and now Laura, Ally, India, Corri, Ben—and, of course, August—had stepped inside. Delia smiled with pleasure, wondering who else, as yet unknown, would someday join them. Someone for G
eorgia, someone for Laura…
and maybe, a tiny voice inside her whispered, just may
be, someday, someone for me…

The guests whooped and hollered as Nick withdrew his hands from beneath India’s long skirt and held up her garter, then, without ceremony, tossed it directly to Ben, who caught it easily with one hand. Laughing, he caught the eye of his grandfather, who stood in the doorway with his guest for the occasion, the stalwart Pauline, who looked pleased as punch to be there.

“Does this mean that Georgia has to marry Ben?” Ally tugged at Delia’s skirt.

“No, sweetheart.” Delia patted her on the head, then
signaled to the photographer to keep busy. She wanted lots of pictures of this very happy day, so that someday when she was older, when she needed something to remind her, she would be able to see every bit of it again and again.

Ben had had a devil of a time explaining to Zoey that Nick’s invitation to sleep in his cabin that night had not included an invitation for Ben to sleep with Nick’s sister.

“I wouldn’t feel right,” Ben told Zoey reluctantly when they got back to shore.

“It wouldn’t bother me a bit.” She laughed.

“What are you going to tell your mother?”

“Hmmm. My mother.” Zoey frowned. “Hmmm. You’ve got a point there. Could be sticky.”

“How ’bout if we leave early tomorrow?” Ben suggested.

Zoey nodded. “You’re supposed to come to the Devlins’ for brunch in the morning, and then we’ll just leave from there.”

It had sounded like a good plan, but now, alone on the narrow porch overlooking the dark bay, Ben almost wished he’d been a little less honorable. He’d changed into jeans and a cotton shirt upon returning to Nick’s cabin, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and sat himself down in one of the rocking chairs to watch the stars. Now and then something splashed out in the water, and the night cries of owls and other, unknown birds of prey echoed over the marshes. He rocked and drank his beer and reflected. Maybe it was time for that trip to a breeder of Big Dogs. For now, he wished he had already made the trip so that his Big Dog would now be lying by the rocker, sharing the night sounds and smells in this most perfect of places.

Nick Enright was a very lucky man to have such a life here on this peaceful bay, and a beautiful new wife to share it with.

Ben thought back to catching India’s garter. That Nick had thrown it directly to him was, he thought, Nick’s way of giving his blessing to the relationship between his
sister and the man who was still, after all these years, a treasured friend. Ben smiled, happy that Nick approved. He intended to be around for a long time.

He leaned back in the chair and placed his feet upon the railing. Watching Zoey that day had been a joy. She was beautiful and animated and it made his heart ache and his chest tighten just to look at her. He could barely remember how it had felt not to have her in his life, although it hadn’t been that long ago that he was in his flat in London, cursing his luck and wondering if his life would be worth living again.

Meant to be together.
That’s what Zoey had said about Nick and India, but the phrase had never left Ben’s head. It was how he felt about her now, and from the minute he had heard her say the words, he had known it was true.

Funny, after all these years, after all the women I've known, to come home and get knocked on my butt by a girl who used to follow me through swamps to catch tadpoles.
Ben laughed out loud.
That will be something to tell our children, won’t it?

And there would be children,
he mused. Lots of them. They would live in a big rambling house in the country, like Delia’s, and they would spend their summers in Devlin’s Light, playing with their cousins. And he and Zoey would build a house like this one, and at night they’d send the kids over to their Uncle Nick’s house, and he and Zoey would make love on the back porch, on nights just like this. Oh, yes, life will be wonderful, full of love and rich with laughter.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and wondered when he should tell Zoey.