Mr Destiny (37 page)

Eve looked at Kate.

Kate reached out and felt Alex's forehead. “Are you sure you're feeling okay, Alex? Being mushy is so not you.”

“I was not being mushy!” Alex rolled her eyes. “For once, I was just trying to tell you how much you both mean to me.”

“Mushy,” Kate and Eve both said, nodding at her.

“Okay!” Alex shifted the baby to her other hip. “Maybe I'm not the same hard-nosed person I used to be. You lose your identity
when you've been an executive and you suddenly switch from worrying about board meetings to worrying about nothing but bowel
movements.”

“Then maybe you should go back to work,” Kate suggested.

“Don't worry,” Alex said. “I intend to do just that.” She smiled and looked down at her son, “Just as soon as Johnny starts
kindergarten.”

“Well, for what it's worth,” Kate said, “even though I'll be living in Queens I'm still only a taxi ride away, Alex.”

“And just because I'm moving to Connecticut doesn't mean I don't intend to be fully involved in my godson's life,” Eve spoke
up. “That means I expect both of you to keep a spare room ready for me when I make my regular train trips back to New York.”

“Stop trying to humor me,” Alex said. “You've both made your point. No more mushy.”

Kate said, “I wasn't going to bring this up, either, because it does freak me out when I think about it. But have either of
you realized what today is? Other than my wedding day?”

Alex shook her head. “Unless it has something to do with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too, don't look at me for an answer.”

Eve said, “It's the one-year anniversary of the blackout. I heard it on the news this morning.”

“You're kidding me!” Alex gasped.

“No,” Eve said, blinking. “I'm serious. I heard it on the news first thing this morning.”

Alex looked at Kate.

Kate looked at Alex.

Eve would always be Eve.

And they wouldn't have her any other way.

“I swear Tony and I didn't plan this,” Kate said. “Today just happened to be the first available Friday in August that we
could reserve the Boathouse. I was concentrating on the day being a Friday, definitely not on the actual date.”

“Does Tony know?” Eve asked.

Kate laughed. “I was afraid to mention it to him when he called me this morning. You have to admit, everything surrounding
our entire relationship has been anything but normal from the very beginning. I was afraid if I added one more twist to the
mix, it would push him over the edge.”

Alex said, “But you also have to admit how amazing it is that one day changed the course of all three of our lives forever.
Think about it. When we had breakfast together one year ago today, I was going to let John sign papers with a surrogate agency.
Kate had made up her mind she was never going to see Tony again. And Eve was off to meet George, never dreaming she'd finally
have to face the snake.”

“Ewwww. The snake,” Eve said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

“And look at all three of us now,” Kate said, leaning over to kiss her godson on the cheek. “You have a precious son. And
Eve and I are going to marry the men of our dreams.”

“Wait,” Alex said, putting a finger to her forehead. “Madam Alexis is receiving a very important message. I predict…”

“STOP!” Kate said before Alex could finish. “Don't you dare tempt fate today, Alex. Not on the anniversary of the blackout.
And definitely not before I say my wedding vows. Everyone has worked hard to make this wedding perfect. Something could still
go wrong.”

Alex looked at Eve.

Eve looked at Kate.

Kate looked back at Alex.

“Don't be silly,” Alex said. “What could possibly go wrong? You're only minutes away from walking down the aisle.”

Kate didn't know why, but she still wasn't nervous.

Not when Tony's three nieces threw their rose petals.

Not when Tony's five sisters walked down the aisle.

Not when Eve and Alex followed along after them.

Then the wedding march started.

Kate got nervous.

No. Catatonic.

That was a better word.

Baby's new shoes were definitely glued to the carpet.

She felt her father tug on her arm.

Kate still didn't budge.

“It's time, Kate,” he said.

Still, Kate couldn't move.

She couldn't explain it, but she felt as if she were drowning in a huge sea of doubt. Not about her love for Tony. She had
no doubts about loving him. But the last twelve months suddenly seemed like nothing but a blur to her.

Especially the last few months.

She'd been busy planning her new gallery.

Tony's work schedule had been crazy.

They really hadn't spent much time together.

Even the time they had spent together lately had been spent with his mother or her grandmother, going over detail after detail
after detail of this megamonster of a wedding they were having.

Maybe that was the problem.

Her big sea of doubt was centered around how Tony really felt about her. Did he really love her? Or had he just been caught
up in the famous Petrocelli marriage prediction legend from the very beginning?

Lately, their entire relationship had become about nothing but the wedding. The wedding that was supposed to be in progress
at that very moment. The wedding that Gina Petrocelli and Grace Anderson had worked so hard to make absolutely perfect. The
wedding where four-hundred-plus guests were patiently waiting behind that closed door for her to come walking down the aisle
with a big smile painted on her suddenly scared-to-death face.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

This was not the time to get prewedding jitters.

The wedding march started over again.

“Kate,” her father said. “We have to go now.”

He reached out to open the door.

Kate grabbed his hand.

“I need to talk to Tony,” she said.

“But, honey,” he said, patting the hand that was clutching his arm in a death grip. “You can talk to Tony after the ceremony.
Everyone is waiting for us.”

“No,” Kate said. “I need to talk to Tony now!”

The door at the back of the banquet room opened.

Everyone's head turned in that direction.

Tony started grinning from ear to ear.

Until Kate's father peeked around the door.

When Rob motioned for Tony, Tony frowned.

What the hell?

Tony could feel the heat creeping up his neck as he started the long walk to the back of the room.

The music had stopped now.

People were buzzing with conversation.

He glanced at his nervous-looking mother, who now had her hand dramatically over her heart and her lips moving silently in
prayer. Grace was glaring at him rather suspiciously. That son of a bitch Harold—whom he still wouldn't mind punching out—had
an amused smirk on his face.

The Wellingtons had been on Grace's invitation list.

Rather than start an argument, Tony had kept quiet.

But that didn't mean he had to like the guy.

Tony hurried on down the aisle, trying to ignore the snatches of conversation that were skipping around the room.

“You don't think she's changed her mind, do you?”

“Maybe she fainted.”

“Brides do get nervous, you know.”

“I bet this wedding cost a damn fortune.”

“What a shame if she backs out now.”

If she backs out now.

Kate would never do that.

She loved him.

Tony knew that, whether anyone else did or not.

He opened the door and found Kate standing there.

Her face was almost as white as her wedding dress.

She was in his arms before the door closed behind him.

“Baby, what's wrong?” Tony held her close while she sobbed against his shoulder.

He looked over her head at her father for an answer.

Rob only shrugged.

She finally pushed away from him, and said, “I need to hear you say you love me, Tony. Forever kind of love me. I need to
hear you say that before I walk down that aisle.”

Tony said, “I love you
beyond
forever, Kate.”

He leaned forward and kissed her for reassurance.

“You're positive?” she asked, when he stepped back.

“Beyond positive,” Tony told her.

“Even though I've just messed up our beautiful wedding ceremony? Even though my makeup is a mess now? Even though your mother
and my grandmother are definitely going to kill me? You do still love me?”

“Beyond completely,” Tony said, and grinned.

“Okay,” Kate said. “That's all I needed to know.”

“Does that mean you're ready to marry me now?”

“Beyond ready,” Kate assured him.

Tony leaned forward and kissed Kate again.

The wedding march started up again.

The door at the back of the banquet room opened.

Everyone's head turned in that direction.

This time, Kate walked through the door.

She smiled when she heard the oohing and aahing.

But Kate only had eyes for Tony.

He was standing at the altar, a big grin on his face.

She loved this man.

Madly.

Truly.

Deeply.

Kate stopped walking when they reached the altar.

Her father stepped back and handed her over.

Tony reached out and took her hand.

Kate proudly stepped up beside the man she loved.

“You do look beautiful in that dress,” Tony whispered.

Kate whispered back, “Why, thank you. This really cute cop I met in
Central Park bought it for me.”

“Maybe the two of you were destined to be together.”

“Definitely,” Kate said, and squeezed Tony's hand.

Candy Halliday
would win a gold medal if the Olympic committee recognized multitasking as a sport. In addition to being a wife, mother,
and grandmother, Candy works a day job and pens her romantic comedies by night. Her books have been published in six different
countries around the world. Candy lives in the Piedmont of North Carolina with her husband, a schnauzer named Millie, and
an impossible cat named Flash. Never too busy to hear from readers, she can be reached via e-mail at her homepage
www.candyhalliday.com
.