A Risk Worth Taking (23 page)
She twined her arms around Chris’s neck, grateful no matter what he had her back. “I’m so happy. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away,” she told him in case he was actually worried about the temperature of her feet. She pulled back, dabbing at tears which despite his jest were still pooling at the corners of her eyes. “Once Katie gets back with my flowers, I’ll be ready to go.”
Right on cue, Katie burst through the door. Her blond hair flying, she skidded to a halt. “Oh my God, Abby, you’re gorgeous,” Katie squealed. “Grant’s going to have a fit when he sees you.”
Abby brushed her hand over the knee-length ivory dress she and Katie picked out. With spaghetti straps, an open back, and a few sequins at the waist, she could easily have worn it to a summer cocktail party or the beach as was the case.
Still beaming, Katie handed Abby the bouquet of white orchids and roses. “I’m totally claiming credit for this romance,” she added with a wink. Then she scanned the room. “Do you have everything?”
“Absolutely,” Abby answered, not referring at all to the traditional old, new, borrowed, and blue her matron of honor, Katie had seen to.
In her wildest imagination Abby could have never envisioned finding herself as the bride, and now that the impossible had come true she couldn’t imagine wanting anything more.
“Then let’s go. Jackson’s only going to be able to keep Grant occupied for a little while longer. He’s already threatening to come get you if you’re late.”
The words had no more left her lips when the sound of fist against wood echoed around the hotel suite. “Abby, open up,” Grant insisted. “I need to talk to you for a second.”
“No, you don’t,” Katie shouted. Scurrying to the door where she continued, “This isn’t your first rodeo. You know good and well it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”
“I don’t need to see her. I just want to talk,” came his muffled retort. Stress had turned his normally sultry voice to thin and reedy.
Something about hearing the anxiety in her soon-to-be husband’s voice calmed Abby’s nerves. Grant hadn’t appreciated one bit that he’d had to spend his last night as a single guy without her. Nor had he wanted to make himself scarce while Katie and Abby had enjoyed a spa day. He’d called every hour until Jackson had taken his cell phone away.
“All right, but just for a second,” she told him, moving across the plush carpeting in the outrageously over-priced heels Grant insisted she needed. After engaging the chain lock, she opened the door. “Sweetheart, I promise I’m not going to change my mind. I have no plans to be the runaway bride, no matter what Chris suggests.”
“What?” he roared, reaching for her through the open door.
Abby clasped his searching hand, patting it like she would a child’s. “He was just teasing,” she cooed. “Now what did you need to tell me?”
“I wanted to give you your wedding present,” Grant said, tugging her wrist.
Keeping the rest of her body hidden from view, she let him draw her arm the door’s opening. “You didn’t have to give me something,” she said, feeling him attach something cold and heavy to her wrist before he pressed a kiss into her palm. Abby drew her arm inside to see a diamond tennis bracelet joining the aquamarine one she never took off. Her breath caught. “Oh, Grant, it’s gorgeous.”
Gracefully accepting his over the top gifts was a work in progress. His latest extravagance probably cost more than her first car, but sharing his wealth was how he showed people he loved them. “You realize if you keep this up, you’re going to have a very spoiled wife on your hands.”
“I’d like nothing better in the world,” he told her, reaching for her again.
She was never truly going to be comfortable with his money, but the good thing was he totally got that about her. He hadn’t pressed her to quit her teaching job, nor had he asked her to sell her home. A fresh wave of emotion expanded her heart even more than his love already had.
“Close your eyes, and put your face up to the door,” she told him. Once his handsome face appeared, eyes obediently clenched, she leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. “That’s a little something to hold you over till the ceremony.”
He moaned into her mouth. “That might just be enough,” he said, slipping back to his side of the door.
Abby closed the door and turned to her bridal party. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Fifteen minutes later, she stood behind a pair of closed French doors trying not to strangle the bouquet in her hands. “You ready?” Chris asked as the music began.
Abby nodded and with her arm tucked into Chris’s, followed Katie to the hotel’s patio. Her gaze darted to their guest of honor, Grace, who sat quietly on her mother’s lap. Then her devilishly handsome groom caught her attention.
Wearing a beige linen suit and a smile that lit up her insides, Grant stood between Jackson and the officiant.
“Dearly beloved,” the justice of the peace began, sending her pulse into triple digits.
Abby’s eyes never left Grant’s as they repeated those binding words. With the vows complete, Grant pulled her into his arms. A grin flashed across his face seconds before he dipped her deep and kissed her long.
When he finally let her up for air, he asked, “Mrs. Davis, would you care to dance?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The five piece band began the opening measures as he steered them to the poolside deck. Then the vocalist belted out the soulful lyrics, doing justice to jazz great Etta James about how it felt to have found her love.
“At last, indeed,” Abby murmured.
Their surroundings disappeared as she gave herself over to the soulful lyrics and pounding surf, the scent of his aftershave, and the feel of her husband’s arm. Going by the way Grant’s hand had slipped to her bottom, his mind had leapt ahead to the honeymoon.
Which was more than fine with her, but while her thoughts had joined his, when he made a quick and slightly awkward turn, she stumbled. “Oh, we are so not doing that again.”
Abby glanced over his shoulder to see the pool inches from her shoe. “I agree. There are some aspects of that night which shouldn’t be repeated.”
They moved silently together for several measures, caught in their own little bubble. “Are you happy?”
Abby buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Unbelievably.”
His laugh rumbled against her body. “I still can’t believe you’re actually going through with this.
Confused, Abby looked up. “What, scuba diving?” Sure, she was still too chicken to follow him in most of his athletic pursuits, but she’d taken the classes and been okay.
He tilted her chin. “No. Taking a risk on me.”
“Sweetheart,” she began, making the truest statement of her life. “Loving you is the surest thing I’ve ever done.”
A word about the author...
From the time Melissa was old enough to hold a book, reading has been her favorite way to relax, dream, and sometimes escape. That love of books led her to writing, where now she’s able to create her own worlds instead of just reading about them.
Following a career in the legal field and education, she devotes herself to writing stories about men and women who know what they want out of life and aren’t afraid to go after it. She lives in Georgia with her family.
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