Читать книгу Christmas Brides And Babies Collection - Rebecca Winters - Страница 37

FOUR DAYS LATER Maeve went home with Connor and Rayne—her family. Home being to the manse and the fabulous cooking of Louisa, who had decided the new mother needed feeding up.

Rayne, being fed three meals a day at least, was chopping wood at an alarming rate to try and keep his weight down from Louisa’s cooking.

Simon went back to Sydney for work and planned to return each alternate weekend, and Tara was going to fly down to Sydney on the other weekends until their wedding in four weeks’ time.

Selfishly, Maeve was glad that Tara had stayed with them, instead of following Simon to Sydney, and with Rayne booked to do the occasional shift over in the hospital on call, she had ample back-up help with Tara and, of course, Louisa, who was in seventh heaven with a baby in the house.

They’d shifted Connor into Rayne’s room with the connecting door open and Rayne bounced out of their bed to change and bring Connor to her through the night.

Life took on a rosy glow of contentment as she and Rayne and Connor grew to be a family. The joy of waking in the morning in Rayne’s tender arms, the wonder on his face when he looked at her with Connor, the gradual healing of her body, the steady increase of confidence in breastfeeding, managing Connor’s moods and signs of tiredness, and the ability to hand him to his father’s outstretched hands all gelled. Life was wonderful.

Her brother’s wedding approached and their mother was coming. It was four weeks after the birth of Connor and Maeve was suddenly nervous.

Rayne decided Maeve had been twitchy all morning. Her mother was due to arrive along with Maeve’s three older sisters. He’d seen her change her clothes four times and Connor’s jumpsuit twice before the expected event.

On arrival her mother kissed Maeve’s cheek and an awkward few moments had passed right at the beginning when she looked Rayne over with a sigh and then stepped forward and shook his hand.

‘Hello, Rayne. Maeve said you were very good when Connor was born.’

So this was what Maeve would look like when she was older. Stunning, sophisticated and polished, though Desiree was blonde, perhaps not naturally because she had dark eyebrows, but a very successful-looking blonde.

He glanced at Maeve and the woman holding his son had it all over her mum for warmth. ‘It was Maeve who was amazing.’

A cool smile. ‘I’m glad she’s happy.’

‘So am I.’ Which left what either of them really meant open to interpretation.

Maeve broke into the conversation. ‘You remember my sisters, Ellen, Claire and Stephanie.’

‘Ladies.’ He smiled at the three women, who were cooing at Connor.

Maeve hung onto his hand and Connor was unusually unsettled, probably receptive to the vibes his mother was giving off.

Luckily Desiree was swept up into the final wedding preparations and they all managed to ease back on the tension for the rest of the afternoon.

The next day Simon and Tara’s wedding was held in the little local church and most of the town had come to celebrate with them.

It was a simple and incredibly romantic celebration. The church ladies had excelled themselves with floral decorations. Tara looked like the fairy on top of the cake, thanks to the absolute delight Mia, Simon’s stepmother, had taken in spoiling her, and beside him, Simon nearly cried in the church when she entered.

A big lump had come to Rayne’s throat when he thought about his friend finding such happiness and he couldn’t help his glance past the bride and groom to the chief bridesmaid, his Maeve, who looked incredible in the simple blue gown Tara had chosen for her attendants.

Except for the divine cleavage, nobody would suspect Maeve had recently given birth, because she’d returned to her pre-pregnancy size almost immediately.

As Rayne listened to the words of the priest the certainty inside him grew that he could answer yes to all of it.

By the time Simon and Tara were married all he wanted to do was hold Maeve in his arms and tell her he loved her.

But he would have to wait.

The reception was a huge outdoor picnic, all the speeches a success, and the ecstatically happy couple finally left for their honeymoon in Hawaii and would then fly on to Boston, where Maeve’s father waited to meet his stepson’s new wife.

Back at the manse after the wedding Rayne needed a beer and a bloke to drink with, because the only sane woman was Louisa, who kept feeding him.

Maeve still hadn’t settled, though she seemed to stress more than anything about Connor being even a little upset, which was strange when before she’d sailed along blithely and just enjoyed him. The help from her mother wasn’t doing its job.

Rayne decided he would survive until Maeve’s mother left. He’d lived with worse people and his lips twitched. Could just imagine Maeve’s mother’s downturned mouth if she knew he was comparing her to a cellmate.

‘There you are, Rayne.’ The object of his thoughts appeared and he plastered a smile on his face.

‘Connor is crying and Maeve asked for you. Though I can’t see what you can do that I can’t.’

‘Thank you.’ Excellent reason to escape. ‘The wedding was great but I think everyone is tired now. I’d better go and see.’

When he gently opened the door to their room he found Maeve with tears trickling down her face as Connor screamed and kicked and fought the breast.

‘Hey, Connor, what are you doing to your poor mum?’

Maeve looked up tragically and he crossed the room to sit beside her on the bed. He dropped a kiss on her head. ‘He won’t feed. And Mum keeps telling me to put him on the bottle.’

‘Bless her,’ Rayne said, tongue-in-cheek and Maeve’s eyes flew to his, ready to hotly dispute that, until she saw his smile.

Her own smile, while still watery, gradually appeared. ‘She makes me crazy.’

‘Really? I hadn’t noticed.’ He leaned forward, kissed her, remembered again how each day he felt more blessed, and took the unsettled Connor from her. Tucked him over his shoulder and patted his bottom. ‘It’s been a big day. And you’ve been busy making sure Tara had a fabulous time so you’ve run yourself into the ground. Why don’t I take Connor for a drive and you can have a rest before tea?’

‘No, thanks.’

Maeve looked even sadder and he frowned. ‘What?’

‘Can’t I come with you both?’

He grinned. ‘You mean escape? And leave your mother here without us?’

Maeve looked guilty at the disloyal idea. ‘She means well.’

‘I know. Maybe we could get Louisa to look after her. Your mum’s probably tired too. It’s a long flight and she only got here yesterday.’ He had a vision. One that he’d been building up to for days now but had wanted to leave until after the wedding. ‘I’d really like to take Connor to the duck pond. Would you like to come with us for an hour until sunset?’

Maeve nodded, looked brighter already, so he left her to get ready, and sought out Louisa first, begged a favour he promised to repay, then found Maeve’s mother.

Gently does it, he warned himself. ‘What do you think if I take Connor for a little drive. Just to get him asleep in the car?’

A judicious nod from the dragon. ‘That’s an excellent idea.’

Now for the smooth part. ‘Maeve wants to come but she feels bad about leaving you on your own.’ Desiree opened her mouth but before she could invite herself he said, ‘But I see Louisa had just made you a lovely afternoon tea and is dying to have a good chat with you. What would you like to do?’ Opened his eyes wide.

Desiree slid gracefully into the trap and relief expanded in his gut. ‘Oh. Poor Louisa. It would be rude not to stay for that. Of course.’ She looked pleased. ‘How thoughtful. She really is a lovely woman.’

‘One of my favourite people.’ And wasn’t that true. Then he escaped to his family and bundled them into the car.

Ten minutes later Maeve sat on the bench in front of the lake, holding Connor in the crook of her arm. Their son had decided he preferred to feed alfresco and was very happily feeding. Every now and then Maeve would throw breadcrumbs to the ducks with her free hand.

Rayne stood behind her, gently rubbing her shoulders. They both had smiles on their faces.

Maeve said, ‘I don’t think I could bear to lose a man who rubs my shoulders like you do.’

Rayne felt the happiness expand inside him. ‘Does this mean you want me to stay?’

She twisted her neck to look at him and pretended to consider it judiciously. ‘Yes, I think so.’

Rayne had waited for just this opening and unfortunately in the euphoria of successful strategies he rushed it. ‘Only if you’ll marry me.’ The words were out before he could stop them and he cursed his inability to be smooth and romantic when she deserved it all. He’d done everything the wrong way around here.

She opened her mouth to reply and quickly he moved around to face her and held up his finger. ‘Wait.’

‘So bossy,’ she murmured, and he smiled as he went down on one knee beside her—right there in front of the ducks.

‘Please. Wait for me to do it properly.’ He took her free hand in his, brushed the crumbs off it and kissed her fingers. Maeve leant back against the bench and Connor ignored them both as he continued with his afternoon tea.

Rayne drew a deep breath and let it go. Let everything go, let the past, the mistakes and the pain and uncertainty all go so they could start fresh and new and perfect. Because the three of them deserved it. ‘My darling, gorgeous, sexy …’ he paused, smiled at her ‘… impossible Maeve—’

Before he could finish she’d interrupted. ‘Impossible?’

‘Shh.’ He frowned at her and she closed her mouth. ‘Darling Maeve—’ and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face ‘—will you do me the honour, please, of becoming my wife and share with me the rest of my life?’

Her face glowed at him, a trace of pink dusting the high cheekbones that were still far too pale. ‘Now, that, as a proposal of marriage, was worth waiting for.’

‘An answer would be good. Come on.’

She teased him. ‘My darling, strong, sexy as all get out Rayne.’ Leaned forward and kissed him while he knelt before her. Connor still ignored them both. ‘Yes. Please. Pretty please. I would love to be your wife and share your life.’

His relief expanded and he squeezed her hand. ‘You won’t regret it.’

Her face softened. ‘I know I won’t. But my mother wants a big wedding.’

He smiled. He could do that. It was a small price to pay for the world he now had. ‘I thought she might. As long as Connor is pageboy and you are my bride, I will agree to anything.’ He stood up and hugged her gently again and smiled into her hair. ‘It’s not going to be dull.’

A month later Maeve woke on the morning of her wedding in her parents’ house huge in Boston. Down the hall Tara was sleeping without her new husband because Simon had gone to support Rayne on the night before his wedding. She wished she’d been able to stay with Rayne but they would never have got that past her mother.

Connor stirred beside her and she sat up with a warm feeling of relief in her stomach and reached for him. Rayne would be missing Connor and her as much as they missed him.

How could life change so dramatically in just two months? The answer was simple. Rayne loved her. Which was lucky because her mother had put them all through hoops as she married the first of her daughters off in the grand fashion.

There had been family dinners at exclusive restaurants, wedding breakfasts under the marquee in the back garden, and bridal teas with all the local ladies, as well as bridal showers and multiple rehearsals and today, finally, the wedding of the year.

Maeve had always wanted a big wedding, the chance to be the big star, but funnily enough now that it was here she knew she would have been happy with a two-line agreement in front of a celebrant as long as she was married to Rayne.

Her mother wouldn’t have been happy, though, and it was good to see Desiree finally pleased with her. But today she would marry Rayne, they would pack up and leave on their honeymoon then head back to Lyrebird Lake, and Maeve couldn’t wait.

Her husband-to-be had been amazing. Patient. Comforting when she’d become stressed, loving when she’d least expected it but had secretly needed that reassurance, and always so brilliantly patient and capable with Connor—and her mother.

When she thought about it, Rayne had learnt to be patient with mothers very early in his life and he was showing his skills now.

Her over-achieving sisters were here and she realised she’d finally grown out of worrying that about a hundred relatives were scattered in nearby hotels. She and Rayne and Connor were united in the birth of their family and their future and she couldn’t wait.

Eight hours later Rayne stood beside Simon, this time as the groom and Simon the best man, and Rayne’s hands were just slightly shaking.

In Boston, their bigger than Ben Hur wedding that Maeve’s mother had organised had seemed to never get any closer.

But finally, today, it would happen. Their family would officially be joined forever. Maeve was putting so much trust in him he felt humbled, and before God, and before the ceremony even started, he silently vowed he would never let her down.

The music started, the congregation stood, and then she was there. A heartbeat, a shaft of divine light, and she appeared. Standing at the end of that very long, very floral-bouqueted aisle, with her father beside her and a huge church full of people to witness them being bound together.

Maeve’s next older sister, the first bridesmaid, was almost up to them, coming closer with stately precision, Connor in her arms in his tiny suit, because that was the only thing Rayne had insisted on.

Then the second sister, and then the third, and then … Maeve. Sweeping down the aisle towards him, way too fast. To hell with the slow walk, he didn’t bother to look for her mother’s frown at the break in protocol, just grinned at her and held out his hand. He loved this woman so much.

The mass began and he missed most of it as he stared at the vision beside him. Remembered the last two months, the joy he’d found, the deep well of love he hadn’t realised he’d had to give.

‘Do you take this woman …?’

Hell, yes! He remembered to let the reverend finish. More waiting until finally he could say, ‘I will.’

‘Do you, Maeve, take this man …?’

The words drifted as he stared again into her eyes. Those eloquent eyes that said he was her hero, always would be, that she believed in him so much and loved him. What more could a man want?

Then she said, ‘I will.’ That was what he wanted!

‘With the power vested in me and before this congregation I now declare you man and wife …’ And it was done. Rayne lifted the veil, stared into her tear-filled eyes and kissed his wife with all the love in his heart in the salute.

Maeve clutched her husband’s hand and couldn’t help the huge smile on her face. The cameras were flashing, she was moving and signing and smiling, and all the time Rayne was beside her. Protecting her, loving her, and finally reaching out to take Connor from her sister so that he carried their son and it was time for the three of them to walk back up the aisle as a family.

Maeve met Rayne’s eyes, saw the love and knew this was the start of an incredible life with the man she had always loved. She couldn’t wait.