Dream of You (50 page)

             
No, not maybe.
Definitely
.

             
Her hands were on him the moment her bedroom door clicked into place. Her palms flat on his stomach and smoothing up his t-shirt between the halves of his jacket, sliding up around his neck while she lifted on her tiptoes and sought his mouth for a kiss.

             
He still held the folder in his left hand, so he cupped the side of her face with his right, pulling her in closer, pushing her lips apart with his and deepening the kiss.

             
“You know,” she said, voice breathy, eyes iridescent silver in the lamplight when she pulled away. “I don’t think I could have imagined this any better than it is.”

             
He traced his thumb along the ridge of her cheek and lifted his brows in feigned surprise. “Not any better than the courthouse?”

             
“Nope.” She beamed.

             
Jordan grinned. “Remind me of that tomorrow.”

**

              Ellie was awake before the alarm went off at five-thirty. Its electronic bleating was an intrusion on their dark room that sparkled with her excitement, and Jordan slapped it off like he’d been awake too. She waited for the sheets to rustle and for him to roll out of bed, but he stayed, arms propped behind his head, staring at the ceiling, the low, radiant light from down in the driveway giving shape to his profile.

             
She slipped through the cool, smooth layers of covers until she made contact with warm skin and she slid an arm across his chest, pressed her body against his and rested her head against the solid plane of his pec. “I’m getting married today,” she said and imagined the words silver and shimmering as they touched the wall and came back to them.

             
“You didn’t come to your senses in the middle of the night?” His voice was clear and alert; he’d been staring at the ceiling for a while now.

             
“Decidedly not.”

             
It was a cold morning, and the warmth of coffee and the meager breakfast she couldn’t make herself eat did nothing for the goose flesh that covered her skin beneath her pajamas and robe. She showered while Jordan went for his run, dressed and applied her makeup with shaking hands, curled her hair and fluffed her bangs. She was rocked with nervous tremors that rippled through her one after the next, and they were the kind that came with a smile that made her face ache and captured her breath in happy snatches behind her breastbone. She hadn’t ever allowed herself to hope for this, and she was a little girl on Christmas morning to think that she’d become Mrs. Walker before lunch.

             
She was smoothing glossy paste to the ends of her hair when Jordan came in, shirtless and damp from exertion, his hair curling. “You have visitors,” he said as he leaned in to cut on the shower taps, and he looked, under his impassive mask, like he was struggling to hold back a smile.

             
“Visitors?” she asked, and her mood plummeted. “It’s not my parents, is it? Jordie, you didn’t
tell them
- ”

             
“Just go see.”

             
The face peeping at the sidelights did not belong to either of her parents or her sister. It looked a lot like Jordan’s, actually, and her stomach rolled over in happy relief when she recognized Jo.

             
“Hi…” She trailed off when she opened the door and saw that Jo wasn’t alone; Delta and Jessica were bundled up in coats alongside her on the front stoop. “Guys, what are you - ”

             
“The courthouse is so Jo and Tam’s thing,” Delta said.

             
“And Jordie assures us you have better taste than me,” Jo said with a grin.

             
“I…”

             
“He didn’t give us enough time to rent a space,” Jess said, and Delta nodded.

             
“But my parents are in Barbados for Christmas, so we’ll have the house to ourselves.”

             
With fresh, white morning sunlight pouring in around the gaps between the three of them, they looked a bit like angels. Ellie blinked and shook her head in hopes of clearing it. “Are you…did you plan me a wedding?”

             
“Well, technically your groom did,” Jo said, “but he needed some help.”

             
“Lots of help,” Jessica added.

             
Ellie felt tears building. She gripped the edge of the door so she didn’t shake completely to pieces. “I don’t know what to say.”

             
“Don’t say anything,” Delta advised, “just go get in the car.”

**

              The dress came to just above her knees, an ivory sheath with delicate straps and a scooped neckline with a lace boat-neck, three-quarter sleeve overlay. It was form fitting but elegant and antique too. Ellie had gasped when Delta whipped it out of the Nordstrom garment bag and she shook her head as she regarded her reflection now that she was wearing it.

             
“I can’t let you give me this,” she protested. “It’s too much.”

             
“It’s Nordstrom, not Vera Wang,” Delta assured with an offhand wave. “Once you account for my employee discount, it’s practically free.”

             
“Still…” she said, and touched the borrowed strand of black pearls that gleamed at her throat.

             
They were gathered in the upstairs bedroom that had once been Delta’s, amid the white on white on white color scheme that smelled like money and dazzled in a subtle, tasteful way. Ellie stood in front of a floor length, free standing mirror in her new dress and black peep-toe slingbacks, her bridesmaids reflected behind her all in black. They all wore cocktail dresses; Paige’s loose and shapeless, accompanied by biker boots and a pink and blonde topknot; Jo’s strapless and A-line, black flip-flops in place of heels; Delta’s one-shouldered and Grecian, lovely as a painting; and Jessica in fitted silk and stilettos.

             
Her grandmother and the rest of Jordan’s immediate family were downstairs waiting. They were having the ceremony in front of the fireplace. Caterers had brought lunch. And the beautiful little round cake with its pearls and roses from the night before was her wedding cake that she would cut with her husband.

             
She started to tear up for the fiftieth time and batted her mascara coated lashes in a furious attempt to beat them back.

             
“I don’t know how to thank all of you enough,” she said as she turned to face them.

             
“It wasn’t difficult,” Delta assured. “Jordan and Paige knew exactly what you’d want.”

             
Paige was wiping at her eyes, smearing her mascara, and Ellie knew if she went to hug her, they’d both start bawling and completely ruin their makeup. They shared a look that said
congrats
,
I told you it would happen
,
love you
,
thank you
, and
good luck
all at once.

             
Jo produced a small bunch of white roses bound with black ribbon. “You ready?”

**

              The Brooks’ home looked like a five star hotel decked out for the holidays. Jordan stood in the middle of what Delta had called the “family room,” though it felt more like a furniture showroom. The cavernous space was floored in rich hardwood, Oriental rugs spread beneath opulent sitting groups of chairs and sofas done in a neutral palette. The fireplace he stood in front of was large enough to walk inside, and its mantle was heaped with white Christmas lights, flickering candles of varying heights and shiny, expensive-looking ornaments done in reds and blues. Two sofas had been moved to allow for a wide, cleared space where the ceremony would be held. And the great curving staircase strung with twinkle lights and flanked by a whole grove of white artificial Christmas trees was the place from which Ellie would descend.

             
In about two minutes.

             
He was starting to sweat inside his blazer.

             
They’d all agreed on jeans, white oxfords, black ties and black sport coats. Walt and Mike looked designer. Tam had opted for his leather jacket rather than borrow somebody’s sport coat.

             
“You don’t have cold feet, do you?” Randy asked and clapped a big hand down on his shoulder.

             
“No.” He truly didn’t. He was still certain. But he was starting to have this irrational, swelling fear that Ellie might change her mind. That she –

             
Movement fluttered at the top of the staircase and then Jess began her descent: black cocktail dress, high heels and white roses. The girls were all wearing black, because Ellie loved black, and because when he’d been asked about bridesmaid dresses, he hadn’t been able to think of a single jewel tone she would want. He hoped that was the right call. He hoped –

             
She was smiling in a terrified, shaky way as she appeared on the landing. Delta’s choice of dress had been perfect: it hugged her body and looked like her. Sexy and sophisticated and…perfect.

             
All his nonsensical anxieties melted away as she came down the steps to him. When her eyes latched onto his, he knew just how right the decision to do this for her had been. She would have been fine with the courthouse, would have loved it and told him so and been quaking with happiness. But her artistic, soft, big-dreaming heart wanted, needed, for this moment to be something more than signatures and a judge’s approval.

             
He could give her this, and he could give her a home inside her house, security and promises and children and a chance to chase her dreams. He could do all of that, because he was dreaming again too.

**

              Ellie’s tears started during the vows, and continued now, crystal drops she dashed away, as she hugged her spindly little grandmother and stroked the old woman’s white hair. Abigail was the source of Ellie’s sweetness, Jordan had learned. Apparently, more than disease and disorder skipped generations: goodness skipped too sometimes.

             
“She really loves you, you know,” Jo said at his elbow, and he was surprised to glance down and see his little sister sporting red-rimmed eyes.

             
“I know.” Jordan smiled. “Don’t tell me you’ve turned into one of those chicks who cries at weddings.”

             
“It’s the baby.” She rolled her eyes and put a hand on her belly. “But” -  she blew out a breath - “well, I dunno. I’ll miss you at home.” She blinked and a tremor plucked at the corner of her mouth. She forced a laugh. “We’re these grown up married people now and…”

             
For some reason, he hadn’t expected Jo to get emotional about his marriage, but it made sense. They were the “twins.” They were the youngest. He pulled her into a careful sideways hug, mindful of her baby bump, and her arms went around him tight.

             
“I’m only five minutes away,” he said, and heard her muffled, tearful chuckle against the front of his jacket. “The mailman’s babies gotta stick together, right?”

             
“Oh, you’re not funny,” she said. “But I love you anyway.”

             
He’d taken Tam by the figurative hand and walked him back into Jo’s life. And Tam had forced him to look at the blinding truth over a game of solitaire. His family was too close and too tangled and they all leaned on each other…and he didn’t know what he’d do without them.

             
“Love you, too.”

**

              Paige had left all the Christmas lights on, and when they returned, alone, in the dark, a little bit buzzed on champagne, Ellie thought the old house looked beautiful on the inside as she shed her coat in the foyer. She’d strung all the lights and garland herself, had decorated the tree, but it was like seeing it for the first time. The colors seemed more vibrant, the air tasted like snow, and maybe it was just the champagne, but she swore it felt more like Christmas than it ever had.

             
Or, rather, maybe it was her husband waiting behind her when she turned around.

             
Whatever she’d intended to tell him died in her throat and she stood silent, watching him loosen the knot in his black tie.

             
“I look like a Blues Brother in this thing,” he complained, and then his eyes flashed up to hers and a curious half smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “What?”

             
“I can’t believe you planned me a wedding,” she said, and didn’t know how she had any tears left to form as his face wavered in front of her.