Читать книгу Special Deliveries Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 90

The wedding wasn’t as small as Nathan wanted and not as large as Amanda had feared.

There was family—Jake, Terri and the kids. Pam and JT, practically joined at the hip. Amanda had the distinct feeling it wouldn’t be too long before there was another wedding in Royal.

And there were friends. Piper and Chance and Abby and so many others gathered together to wish them well.

Nathan had surprised her by outfitting the wraparound porch of their home with all of the rockers and gliders and chairs that she’d talked about once. She could see them in the years to come, sitting on that porch, surrounded by family, and it filled her heart to the point of bursting.

To avoid the steaming heat of a Texas summer, on the last day of July, the wedding was held in the evening. Lanterns were strewn across the yard, lending a soft glow that was matched only by the early starlight. Flowers in vases, wreaths and vines trailed from every available surface and sweetened the air with a perfume that flavored every breath.

Tables groaned with food and music played from the stereo situated on Jake’s front porch. Children clambered all over the swing set Jake and Nathan had built while their parents chatted with friends. There was laughter and there was love.

Amazing how love, when it finally arrived, made the whole world shinier, brighter, more filled with promise.

“A bride as beautiful as you are shouldn’t be standing here alone,” Nathan said as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She leaned back into him and smiled, loving the feel of him pressed close, knowing, trusting now, that he always would be. “I was just thinking how perfect today was.”

“Agreed,” he said and dipped his head to kiss her cheek. “The only way it could have been better was if Alex were here, too.”

Amanda turned in his arms and looked up at him. She knew his friend’s disappearance was haunting Nathan. It had been nearly a month now and there were just no clues to follow. “You’ll find him, Nathan. And everything will be okay.”

He nodded, glanced out over the crowd gathered at the Battlelands, then turned his gaze back to hers. “I’m going to have to officially declare him missing.”

A twinge of worry caught her, but she let it go again because of her faith in Nathan. He would find a way to make this right. “You’ll find him.”

“I will,” he said, then smiled. “But that’s for tomorrow. Today is for dancing in the moonlight with the woman I love.”

“I’m never going to get tired of hearing that, you know.”

He led her onto the makeshift dance floor installed on the front yard specifically for the wedding. And as they moved to the music and their friends and family applauded, Nathan promised, “I’m never going to stop saying it.”

Amanda gave herself up to the moment, to the magic, to the man who would always be the very beat of her heart.