His 24-Hour Wife (The Hawke Brothers 2) (14 page)

A huge lump lodged itself in her throat, and she had to swallow
twice before she could get her voice to work. “I’d rather plain, stumbling words
that were heartfelt and yours alone than all the pretty words in the world.”

Adam’s eyes misted over, and she knew in that moment, beyond
any doubt, that he felt this as deeply as she did, and he was making a
commitment to her for life, not until he changed his mind. The sight was
beautiful and it filled her with joy.

He leaned in and kissed her. It was like stepping off a ledge,
flying in free fall, without having to worry about the landing, because this man
would always be there for her, she knew that now. Just as she’d always be there
for him.

At a certain point, she’d wondered who was there for him, and
had desperately wanted to be that person. And now she was. It was almost too
much to contemplate all at once.

Dylan’s voice rang out. “Are we having a wedding or what?”

Adam raised an eyebrow in question, his gaze steady on her.
“Callie? It’s your call. You know what I want.”

Her heart felt as if it was hitting her rib cage on every beat.
“If you’re proposing again—”

“I am.”

“—then yes. A thousand times yes.”

Adam dropped the umbrella, gathered her up in his arms and
kissed her again. A cheer went up from the combined family group and she smiled
against his mouth, but didn’t break the kiss. The light rain was soaking her
dress and dripping down his face, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered but
being in his arms again.

When they finally broke apart, he lowered her to her feet.
“Come and marry me, Callie.”

Heart overflowing, she picked up the discarded umbrella and
took his proffered hand. While they walked with him into the chapel, she was
unable to look away from the man at her side. At the door, they were met with
hugs and well-wishes.

Liam said, “Should I tell the celebrant we’re ready?”

“Yes,” Adam and Callie said together, smiling at each other as
they left Liam to organize the details.

Faith carefully reached into a large handbag she had in the
crook of her elbow and came out with a small bouquet of the Bridal Tulip,
interspersed with tiny blue flowers.

She slid off a clear plastic cone that had been protecting the
flowers and handed the bouquet to Callie. “I had it ready, just in case.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” Callie said, touched.

Faith again reached into her bag and came out with a single
snowy white tulip and pinned it to Adam’s lapel. Then she stood back and
grinned. “You might be having a simple wedding, but we couldn’t have a Hawke
brother getting married without
any
flowers.”

“Or something borrowed,” Jenna said from beside her. She had a
glittering tiara in her hands. “This also counts as something old, since it’s
been in my family for several generations.”

Callie took the tiara, her heart in her mouth. If this had been
in Jenna’s
royal
family for generations, then it was quite possibly
priceless. “These diamonds are real?” she asked, hardly daring to consider the
possibility.

“Shhh,” Jenna said with a sparkle in her eye. “I’m not really
supposed to bring it out without a bodyguard. But I don’t think Adam is going to
take his eyes off you tonight, so it should be safe.”

Adam took the tiara from her fingers. “It’s beautiful, thank
you, Jenna.” He slid it onto Callie’s head and smiled. “A princess for a night,
but queen of my heart forever. I love you so much, Callie Mitchell. I love you
with everything inside me.”

The tears she’d been holding back finally started to slide down
her cheeks. Since her face was already damp from the rain, she didn’t need to
wipe them away. Everything just blended together.

As Jenna stood back, Callie could see Faith was pinning single
tulip buttonholes to Liam and Dylan’s jackets and then she handed Summer a
bouquet consisting of a single tulip and tiny blue flowers.

Dylan stepped forward. “Faith said you have something blue in
the flowers and that Jenna brought something borrowed and old. So you just need
something new.” He pulled out a long silver necklace with a locket. “I had this
made for your original wedding—wait, no, that would have been your second
wedding. Man, you guys need to stop getting married!”

Callie laughed and kissed Dylan’s cheek. “Thanks.”

“Open it,” he said, and she did. It was a tiny picture from the
official wedding announcement photos, which was strange, because he’d thought
their wedding was a sham when he would have had this made.

Before she could ask, he said, “I wanted you to know that even
after your official wedding ended, you’d always be a part of this family. No
matter what was going on with Adam and you, the rest of us would always be there
for you. Of course, now you’re making it all official and real, so this doesn’t
have the same meaning—”

His words cut out when she threw her arms around his neck.
“Thank you, this means a lot.”

The celebrant appeared and called them in, so the group moved
into the chapel, but Callie hesitated, tucking her damp hair behind her ear.

“What is it?” Adam asked.

“What about our parents? Neither set is here.” This wasn’t the
wedding with the complete guest list that they’d been planning, but she was sure
all four parents would hate to miss the event.

“My parents are babysitting Meg and Bonnie so Liam and Jenna
could come, but Dylan has them on a video call, so they can watch.” He nodded to
where they could see Dylan through the arched door, talking into a phone cradled
in his palm.

Surprised, she swung her gaze back to her groom. “You told your
parents about tonight before you knew whether I’d come or not?” He was always so
guarded and unwilling to share information that would make him emotionally
vulnerable that this didn’t make sense.

“I have nothing to hide. I want you, and I’m happy for the
world to know it.” He kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose and each
cheek. “Also Liam said he asked Summer for your parents’ contact details a few
minutes ago, and they’re calling your parents now.” On the other side of the
short aisle, Summer was talking to someone on a tablet screen, then she handed
it to Jenna and moved to the front of the pews, beside a waiting Liam and the
celebrant.

Callie shook her head in amazement. “Considering this wasn’t
planned, everything seems to be falling into place.”

Adam grinned at her. “I have no idea what we were doing,
spending all that time planning the other wedding. This one took hardly any
effort at all.”

“Just a video message,” she said and then placed a hand over
his heart. She could feel its steady thump through his shirt and jacket. “Adam,
I understand how difficult it would have been for you to make that message. It
means a lot.”

“It resulted in you coming here tonight, so it was nothing.” He
leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips in the sweetest of kisses.

Prerecorded organ music started playing, and Adam eased back
and held out his arm. “Ready?”

“Wait!” Summer called to the room and then whispered something
to the celebrant, who flicked a switch on a panel to his side and the music
stopped. Summer pulled an MP3 player from her pocket and connected it to the
panel with a cord the celebrant handed her, then thumbed a button on the player.
The room was flooded with the introductory notes of “The Lady in Red.”

Adam chuckled. “I think that’s become our song.”

“It’s perfect,” Callie said, and walked down the aisle on the
arm of the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

Ten minutes later, they were married. Again. Each of their five
guests threw streamers and popped party poppers. Then they all headed back to a
suite Liam had booked for a low-key reception, filled with champagne,
room-service food and as much love as one room could hold.

After only an hour or so, Callie met Adam’s gaze from across
the room. Within seconds, he was at her side. “Ready to get out of here?”

Callie smiled. “Absolutely.”

Adam cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Thank you for
everything you all did tonight. It’s time for us to go.”

“You have to throw the bouquet first,” Jenna called from the
sofa.

They all looked around the room. Everyone was paired off except
Summer, who said, “I’m fine. Don’t throw it just for me.”

Faith gently turned Callie by the shoulders. “It won’t be just
for you, Summer. Jenna and I aren’t married yet, and we don’t know which wedding
will come first. We’ll all play.”

Callie picked up her bouquet, turned her back to the women and
threw it over her head. When she turned around, Summer was holding the tulips
with a look of resigned humor.

Then Adam slid his arms around Callie from behind, and she
forgot all about everyone else. All she wanted was to be alone with her new
husband.

Sliding her hand into his and interlacing their fingers, she
tugged a smiling Adam toward the door. Toward the rest of their lives.

* * * * *

If you loved this story pick up these other
HAWKE BROTHERS
books from Rachel Bailey

THE NANNY PROPOSITION
BIDDING ON HER BOSS

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by Maya Banks.

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