Every Beat Of My Heart: The Sullivans (Wedding Novella) (5 page)

Heather looked at the women gathered together in Chase and Chloe’s living room, the most central meeting location for the group. Lori had come north from her farm in Pescadero and Nicola south from her vineyard in Napa. “We’re so grateful to all of you.”

“All four of us are grateful,” Vicki agreed. “Even if Ryan has to be at the stadium to get ready for the first World Series game—”

“And Zach would rather have a root canal than be on a wedding-planning committee.” Lori’s statement had everyone laughing at the truth of it.

“Chloe and Lori,” Vicki continued, “you’re saving our butts big-time by putting together the look of the wedding and choreographing where everyone needs to be during the double ceremony. And Sophie, we are hugely thankful for your encyclopedic knowledge of the Sullivan family tree and all its various branches all over the world. I know you offered to call and email everyone in addition to sending the invitations, but—”

“It’s my pleasure,” Sophie assured them. “It’s been too long since I’ve spoken to some of our relatives anyway.” She looked down at the long list of names. “How did I not know that Jansen is now living in Prague?”

Zach and Ryan’s mother, Mary, leaned over to explain, “Jansen is one of their second cousins once removed on Jack’s side.”

Heather couldn’t keep from laughing out loud. Yes, this double wedding was a daunting task, but it was already so much fun getting to spend time working on it with so many amazing women. She’d never dreamed of having such a big family, but boy, did she enjoy every second of it. Falling in love with a Sullivan meant falling for all of them. And she couldn’t
wait
to make it official.

Back when she’d first met Zach, she’d been certain he was a player. After all, with his perfectly chiseled face, blue eyes, broad shoulders, and effortless charm, how could he be anything else?

But she’d been wrong. Totally wrong. Zach Sullivan loved with everything in him. His family. The dogs.

And especially
her.

Heather’s dog, Atlas, had seen Zach’s true character from the start. Heather had saved her Great Dane from a dangerous and neglectful puppy mill, so he had never been very comfortable around men. But he’d been Zach’s biggest fan from day one.

Turning to Nicola, she added more thanks. “It means so much to us that you’ve offered to sing at the wedding.”

“Actually, I have some really fun news about that.” Heather had spent so much time with Nicola over the past few years that it was hard to remember she was one of the biggest pop stars in the world. She was married to Zach’s oldest brother, Marcus, and when Nicola wasn’t touring to support her music, they lived on an extraordinary vineyard property in Napa Valley. “Mia’s husband, Ford, and our mutual friend Drew Morrison would both like to play at your wedding with me, if that’s okay with you.”

Heather turned to Vicki in shock. Her friend’s expression mirrored her own. “Are you really asking if it’s
okay
with us?” She knew she probably looked like a fool right now, but this wedding was already so far beyond her wildest dreams, she felt as if she could barely get her brain to fire correctly anymore. “That would be
incredible
.”

“Beyond incredible,” Vicki echoed.

“Ford can’t wait.” Mia beamed at them through the computer monitor from her desk in Seattle. “He was just saying how it’s been too long since we all got together. And what better reason than a wedding? I so wish I could be there in person with all of you. It sure looks more fun than the showing I have in fifteen minutes with the most uptight couple you’ve ever met in your life.” She made a face. “But before I go, I wanted to give you even more good news. I convinced the property managers at those two estates next to Marcus and Nicola’s winery to let us have the houses for the wedding weekend.”

“That’s great news, Mia. Thank you.” Heather knew that Zach’s cousin Mia was the top Realtor in Seattle, but the Napa Valley estates weren’t even vacation rentals. They were private homes. How on earth had Mia managed to persuade the owners to let them use them?

As if she could read Heather’s mind, Sophie said, “Mia always has had a magic touch.”

“All Sullivan women do.” Lori winked at the group. “Speaking of magic, I was just on the phone with Brooke during my drive into the city. She’s really sorry she couldn’t make this meeting, but she said she’s pushing off her retail orders for the next two weeks so that she can focus on making special chocolates for your wedding.”

Heather wasn’t much of a crier—and she knew Vicki wasn’t either—but both of them got a little sniffly at that point.

Heather and Zach had agreed to wait until after the wedding to tell his family their big news, but she simply couldn’t hold it in anymore. Not when she was surrounded by such love. And not when she knew for sure that her children were never going to grow up the way she had—with parents whose lies had made her question whether real love actually existed. Now she knew for sure that love was real. Zach and his family proved it to her every single day.

“I have news too.”

Zach would take a bullet for anyone in his family—and so would Heather. She looked around the room at the women who had become her best friends in the world. Her sisters in every way that counted. Finally, she got to Mary. Zach’s mother was one of the warmest people on the planet, and from the overjoyed look in her eyes, Heather knew she had already guessed her news.

“Zach and I are going to have a baby.” Heather’s hand automatically went to her still-flat stomach.

Every woman in the room leaped to her feet for what amounted to the best group hug
ever.

“I’m so happy for you.” Vicki held on to Heather even after the other women had moved away to open up a bottle of wine and toast each other. “No wonder Zach was so insistent about keeping the wedding date no matter what. Ryan and I can move ours so that the fifteenth can be all yours.”

“No way.” By now, Heather couldn’t imagine having any other wedding. “Ryan also looked really intense about making sure he married you in two weeks. And I know it’s what you want, as well.”

Vicki hugged Heather again. “Promise me you’ll save a spot on your mantel. Because I just got the perfect idea for your wedding gift.”

Heather and Zach were already lucky enough to own one of Vicki’s sculptures. Though they now sold in the mid-six figures, last Christmas Vicki had given them clay figurines of Atlas and Cuddles curled up together in the dog bed they shared. It was one of Heather’s most prized possessions and made her smile every time she looked at it.

“I’ve got a good idea for you too,” Heather said. One of her favorite dogs that came to Top Dog—a miniature poodle and Pekingese mix—was about to have a litter of puppies. By the time the puppies were nine weeks old and ready to find homes, Ryan and Vicki should be back from their honeymoon. If they wanted one of the sweet little bundles of fur, she’d make sure they could have first pick.

Heather and Vicki had only just sat down when little Emma, Jackie, and Smith came barreling out of Chloe’s back room where her babysitter was watching the kids during the wedding planning. The college student had baby Logan on one arm and baby Julia on the other as she chased the bigger kids. “Sorry, they heard everyone cheering and were desperate to be a part of the celebrations.”

“Mommy!” Emma climbed into Chloe’s outstretched arms. “What did we miss?”

Chloe nuzzled her daughter before looking at Heather. When she nodded, Chloe said, “Aunt Heather and Uncle Zach are going to have a baby.”

With unerring aim, Emma threw herself into Heather’s arms and gave her a big wet kiss on the lips. “I love more babies!”

“We do too,” Smith and Jackie agreed as they got on Heather’s lap too.

Though Sophie told her twins to be careful that they weren’t crushing Heather, she felt anything but. Wrapping her arms around the three kids as best she could, Heather closed her eyes and let herself savor all the happiness she’d once been so afraid she could never have.

Vicki could sit in the stands for a thousand World Series games, and she’d never get used to the butterflies in her stomach. Every time Ryan let a ball rip, she held her breath. And every time he struck out yet another batter, she nearly lost her voice from screaming his name. The Hawks were behind 3–4 at the top of the seventh inning, and the series was tied at one game apiece. If this was to be Ryan’s final season, she wanted him to go out on a high.

Fortunately, though, Ryan didn’t look nervous at all. She was always amazed by how calmly he approached his job. He’d been like that even as a teenager—so steady and confident without being cocky.
Fun first, winning second
was his motto.

She’d learned so much from him, not only how to be more steady and confident, but also how to love with her whole heart. And how to trust that she would be loved back.

After striking out the third batter in a row, Ryan blew her a kiss from the mound. She blew him one back as the butterflies danced in her stomach for an entirely different reason now. He laughed as he reached out with his mitt to “catch” her kiss, and she was struck for the millionth time how wonderful it was to be with someone who was always laughing, always filled with such joy.

Every time they made love, she felt utterly cherished, but last night had been extra special. Almost as if the knowledge that they were close to finally making their vows to each other had amped up their emotions. Of course, it didn’t hurt that for all his laid-back ease, Ryan was alpha to the core when it came to lovemaking.

Three years ago, just after their fake engagement had been announced, another woman had asked Vicki how it felt to tame the ultimate bad boy. She’d replied that he was nowhere close to being tame, and truer words had never been spoken. Because after the deliciously wicked things he’d done to her last night—things that made her feel owned, possessed, and claimed in all the best possible ways—she could confidently say that Ryan Sullivan would never be anywhere close to
tame
.

“You two are still so adorable together,” Ryan’s sister Lori commented as she found her seat when the seventh-inning stretch began. “I always think how sweet it is that you’ve been in love with each other since high school.” Lori and her husband, Grayson, had been caught in bad traffic and had just arrived holding a huge tub of popcorn for everyone to munch from. Lori obviously hadn’t waited to start snacking, as her question came around a mouthful of kernels. “Any crazy new wedding requests come in since last night?”

Vicki laughed. “Not yet.”

Lori looked down at Ryan’s team in their dugout. “Ballplayers can be so weird. Weird but hot. Although nowhere near as hot as my cowboy.” She looked up to where Grayson was walking down the stands, his arms full of boxes of candy. “Look at how all the girls in the stands are shamelessly drooling over him. I’m going to have to make it clear that he’s all mine.”

Vicki couldn’t stifle her grin as Grayson came into their box and Lori planted a majorly hot kiss on him in front of the whole world. Somehow he managed to keep one hand on the candy while taking a handful of his wife in the other. By the time they pulled back, everyone in the stands was watching, wide-eyed.

Everyone except Zach and Heather, who had eyes only for each other a couple of seats away. Vicki wasn’t at all surprised to see how protective he was of his pregnant fiancée. Zach had always been the biggest player of the bunch, but Vicki now knew it was true what they said about reformed rakes: They really did make the best mates. Zach was utterly devoted to the woman he loved. Just the way
all
Sullivans were devoted to their significant others.

More than once, Vicki had been tempted to pinch herself to make sure this was really her life. She was an army brat who’d moved more than she stayed. She never got to have a close circle of friends until the Sullivans had taken her in when she was fifteen and made her feel like she finally belonged. Even then, she’d made some huge missteps, especially marrying the wrong man and staying with him for ten too-long years. Every single day of the past three years, she had been amazed by the love she’d managed to find—the love she’d rediscovered—with Ryan.

Their love made any amount of hard work to put on this double wedding absolutely worth it. They’d all been working pedal to the metal on it for the past week and, amazingly, it had been mostly smooth sailing. A majority of the guests were able to clear their schedules, even on such short notice. And Vicki was pretty sure that neither she nor Heather had been particularly high maintenance.

When it came to their men, on the other hand?

She and Heather had to laugh at just how similar Ryan’s and Zach’s professions were—especially all the superstitions that preceded each of Ryan’s games and Zach’s races.

Ryan himself wasn’t particularly superstitious, thankfully. But his teammates were, which was why the Hawks insisted that Ryan and Vicki walk through an arch of baseball bats to get to the altar. Okay, so it might not be the most romantic vision in the world, but Vicki was willing to roll with it. Thank God he didn’t believe in staying celibate during the series, like so many of his teammates. After having been away in France for two weeks, even the mere
thought
of another two weeks in which they couldn’t make love would have pushed both of them over the edge.

Surprisingly, Zach’s racing colleagues were even nuttier about the wedding than Ryan’s baseball team. First, Zach’s pit crew claimed that if anything green was used in any part of the decorations (apart from the grass and grapevines, which obviously couldn’t be changed), Zach would lose all future races. But they were even more serious about Zach not shaving off so much as a millimeter of his facial hair between now and the wedding. To do so, they insisted, would be the ultimate jinx.

“Since we’ve got a few minutes before the game starts again and three out of four of you are here,” Lori’s twin, Sophie, said, “I thought we could get some extra wedding business done.”

“Megan isn’t here,” Lori groaned, “and we can’t do anything without her spreadsheets, right?”