Getting to the Church On Time (12 page)

Levi grabbed his brother and gave him a huge hug. “Thank you.”

Joe slapped him on the back. “For what?”

“Taking care of her, taking her to Vegas—or trying to—getting her back here.”

“Of course. That’s what brothers do.” Joe patted Levi’s back again, then pushed him toward Kate.

Levi glanced over his shoulder at Phoebe. “Love you too, Red.”

She winked at him. “Of course you do. I’m awesome.”

Then Levi wrapped an arm around Kate’s waist and put one hand at the back of her head.

He looked into her eyes and Kate had trouble catching her breath for a moment.

“That,” she finally said softly. “Right there.”

“What?” he asked.

“That look in your eyes. I want
that
for the rest of my life. Just that.”

He smiled. “Done.”

“Levi, I—”

The doors to the main part of the church burst open before she could finish.

Phoebe and Joe ducked into one corner of the foyer and Kate and Levi into another, not wanting to upstage the big moment. They watched the three newly married couples gather in the doorway, their backs to the congregation.

“Okay, on three,” Ty said with a huge grin.

Levi leaned to see what was going on.

Ty, Tucker and TJ all held the bridal bouquets.

“One, two, three!” Ty called, and they all turned at the last minute and let the flowers fly.

Levi couldn’t help but laugh. The tosses were very intentional. Ty’s bouquet went straight into his friend Bryan’s lap, where he was sitting in his wheelchair in the middle of the aisle following them out. Tucker’s bouquet landed squarely in the hands of the hometown-boy-turned-doctor, Jason Gilmore. TJ tossed his more gently, but still directly to Hope’s half-sister Peyton, who turned bright red.

Looked like there were some other matchmakers among them.

The three grooms then took their wives’ hands and started for the doors again, but they all came up short when they saw Phoebe and Joe.

“Phoebe!” Delaney exclaimed.

Ty ran into her from behind. “Hey.”

Delaney elbowed him in the gut. “Phoebe and Joe are here.”

“Phoebe!” Hailey said happily.

“Phoebe’s here?” Hope pushed forward from the back of the group.

“And Joe,” Joe said dryly.

“Hey buddy,” Tucker greeted. “What are you—”

Joe pointed to the side, where Levi and Kate were standing.

Kate knew they looked more like a bride and groom than the three brides and grooms that had just gotten married. Levi had his suit on—the sapphire-blue suit he’d specially ordered for the occasion. And she’d been planning to have Levi meet her in the gazebo with the minister, so she’d taken a few minutes in the bathroom at the Stop—the local gas station/pizza place/ice cream shop—to change into her wedding dress. Her hair was kind of a mess, her makeup was far from perfect and her shoes were not appropriate for walking in snow, but she’d fallen in love with the blue heels that matched Levi’s suit and she known she would be wearing them when she said I do.

There was a heartbeat of silence and then a general squeal of happiness and surprise. Hope, Hailey and Delaney rushed toward her. They enveloped her in hugs while the men surrounded Levi. Soon their little crowd had grown exponentially as people came out of the sanctuary. Lauren and Travis joined them first. Kathy and Thomas Bennett were close behind. Adrianne and Mason were just behind them. Kate caught sight of Hope’s half-sister, Peyton, and their father Dan. All four of Delaney and Tucker’s boys were there, of course, as was Phoebe’s mom and dad with their daughter Kaelyn, who saw her mom and dad and immediately squealed a squeal that was heard over all of the other noise in the foyer.

“Excuse me everyone!” TJ Bennett’s voice boomed out in the small, mostly marble space.

The group quieted immediately for their mayor.

“We aren’t quite done here tonight,” TJ said, shooting a smile at Kate and Levi. “The guests of honor are finally here. How about we head back inside?”

A little cheer went up and everyone turned and started back for the pews.

Kate looked up at Levi. “I was planning to surprise you at the gazebo with a small ceremony, just you, me, Phoebe, Joe and the minister.”

Levi watched the crowd streaming into the church. “We could do that,” he finally said.

Kate studied the face of the man she was going to love forever. And laughed.

“What?” he asked.

“Yes, we could do that. But be honest, small and quiet isn’t really your style.”

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I kind of like flashy,” he admitted.

Kind of. Right. She laughed. “You
love
flashy. You love throwing the party and being the center of attention and having a ton of people around.”

He nodded. “I do.”

“So seems like a wedding is the perfect thing for you to do.”

“It does.”

“The only question is what you’re going to do after this. You can’t get married again.”

He pulled her in. “No but I can have an anniversary party every year. And there are birthdays. And holidays. And baby showers. And kids’ birthdays. And—”

“Baby showers and kids’ birthdays?” she asked. “Really?”

He gave her the most solemn look she had maybe ever seen from him. “Really.
Lots
of them.”

“Lots?” she parroted.

“I’m not really a small-family kind of guy,” he said.

She lifted an eyebrow. “It was just you and Joe, and you’re not that close to your parents or grandparents. I didn’t know for sure if you wanted—”

“I want, Kate,” he said before she could even finish the thought. “I want it all. With you. Forever. Starting right now.”

She wrapped her arms around him, her heart so full she was afraid it was going to burst right out of her chest. “Well, too bad. Because forever started a year ago.”

He dipped his head to kiss her but Joe came out from the sanctuary just then. “Hey, let’s go. Everyone’s waiting.”

Levi looked into Kate’s eyes. “Marry me.”

She smiled. “Yes.”

Levi gave her a nod and took her hand, tugging her toward the back of the church.

Joe grinned and turned to give the organist a thumbs up. The wedding march started…again…and Kate felt her heart thump.

“You’re not supposed to walk down the aisle with me,” Kate whispered to Levi as he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and moved them into place.

“From this moment on, right beside you is exactly where I plan to be for everything,” he told her.

She couldn’t deny that was sweet. Besides, Levi wasn’t a traditional kind of guy. The blue suit for his wedding was only one small example.

She watched Phoebe and Joe proceed down the aisle.

“Ready?” Levi asked.

“Beyond ready,” she said honestly.

“Okay, here we go.”

Kate and Levi stepped into the doorway. The congregation stood and turned toward them.

She took in all of the beloved, familiar faces, watching her with smiles and obvious happiness and love, and all of the butterflies in her stomach quieted, her heart rate slowed and she took a big deep breath. This was exactly where she was supposed to be.

She and Levi took that first step together. And then all of the following steps. Kate knew she’d never been happier.

“By the way,” her soon-to-be husband said softly about half-way down the aisle. “We’re stepping up our candy cane routine on this very special occasion.”

Smiling widely at their friends and neighbors as she walked, Kate said, “Oh? I really like our candy cane routine.”

“Well, I’ve got some plans for the white chocolate peppermint cheesecake leftovers in my truck.”

Kate tripped slightly but Levi caught her with a chuckle. “Focus, Katie. You gotta promise to be mine forever before I break out that cheesecake.”

They stopped in front of the minister and Kate turned to face him, full of so much love, happiness and hope that she almost couldn’t contain herself. “Like I said, forever started a year ago.”

Levi gave her a sexy wink as the minister started, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here
again
…”

And don’t miss the story where it all started with Levi and Kate…

Getting in the Spirit

A Sapphire Falls holiday novella

by Erin Nicholas

Kate just wants one perfect Christmas.

Levi’s just trying to get back on Santa’s good side.

Neither of them put love on their Christmas list.

But a not-so-little mix-up, a kiss under the mistletoe, a couple of candy canes later, and December in Sapphire Falls has never been hotter.

Excerpt

She sat staring at him, pressing her lips together, looking bewildered and turned on.

He could work with both of those things.

“Let’s go somewhere warmer.”

He started to shift to get up but she didn’t move. Since she was on his lap, that meant he didn’t get far. She was light. He could have easily picked her up and carried her off to his—Joe’s—truck. But he sensed her hesitation.

Considering they’d just met, that made some sense.

Joe and Phoebe had set them up. They had no reason to fear that the other was a serial killer or anything, but that didn’t mean they should hop into bed together.

Did it?

Levi pondered that for a moment. Why not? Joe wouldn’t set him up with someone crazy. And Lord knew they had the chemistry for it. He was turning over a new leaf but he wasn’t becoming a priest. Having sex with a nice girl who might expect him to show up at her grandmother’s for Sunday dinner and take her to the movies on Friday night would definitely be different.

Different was what he needed.

“I have one question,” she said. “Before we go to your place.”

Yes.

“Whatever you want,” he told her sincerely. “And if it involves tinsel, all the better.” At her little grin he leaned in and said softly, “But turnabout is fair play. Remember that.”

“What if you never want to see another piece of tinsel again in your life?” she asked.

He gave her what Phoebe had labeled his bad boy grin. “There’s always candy canes if I can’t take the tinsel.”

She seemed to be considering that. Carefully. And thoroughly. Much to his delight.

“I may never be able to look at a candy cane the same way again. And that’s just based on my imagination.”

He stared. Completely surprised and as turned on as he’d ever been talking about candy.
”I’m buying every candy cane in this town.”

She laughed. “You can’t. Other people deserve candy canes too.”

Was there any chance, any chance at all, that this woman was thinking the things he was thinking about candy canes?

“Fine, we’ll leave three or four. But I’m a huge fan of peppermint flavored…things.”

She laughed but it sounded breathless. “I can’t believe I’m talking like this with you.”

He ran a hand over the curve of her hip to her butt. “Because we just met?”

“Because you’re a nice guy who’s doing Phoebe a favor by taking me to the formal.”

No way had Phoebe told her that. If anything Phoebe would look at this as a favor on Hailey’s part—going out with her brother-in-law, keeping him out of trouble.

“I’ll tell you a secret.” He ran his hand over the delectable curve in his palm. “No guy is so nice that he isn’t willing to do dirty things with candy.”

“Is that right?” Her grin was huge.

“Trust me.”

“Any candy?”

“Any candy.”

“I did not know this.” She was clearly amused.

“Well, I’ll tell you another secret.”

She leaned in. “Can’t wait.”

“Women are pretty much our candy.”

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Getting in the Spirit
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