Prescription For Love (The Kingsley Series) (22 page)

Kneeling carefully with her profile against the mirrors, she peeked through the sheer layer of the veil and met Tabitha's eyes. "I feel like this makes my thighs look big, like
I
look big. Graceless," she muttered.

"You look hot," Chelsea said, laying a hand on Cass's shoulder. "Just hold on, try it." Another deep breath lifted the veil slightly away from Cass's face, and then she nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. Turning again, she faced the door, looking up to the hooks that held her wedding gown. A smile flickered over her glossy mouth, her round cheeks flushing slightly just as Tabitha's camera began to click speedily. Cass lowered her face, her hair spilling around her shoulders beneath the veil, and she brought her hands up to gently swipe beneath her dark eyes.

"Want to see?" Tabitha asked. "I brought my laptop, so if you want to have the twins help you with getting your gown on, I can bring these up for you to look through."

"Okay," Cass whispered again, a hint of panic creeping into her tone.

Outside the bathroom, Tabitha plugged her camera into her laptop, bringing up a slideshow of the photos she'd just taken. Cameron, Eva, Harmony and Janet surrounded her, each murmuring quietly as they admired the quickly taken boudoir session of Cass.

"Oh, that's the one," Cameron said, pointing, and the other women were quick to agree. The photo depicted Cass from the side, the curve of her back and hips flattering in profile. The spill of her breasts was sexy but understated by the position of her arms as she raised her hands to her face. The dim light Tabitha had created in the bathroom had given the photo a surreal look, as though the photo were taken in the sexy dark hours of night. "That's definitely the one," Cameron repeated.

"Is it fine?" Cass called from the bathroom. "Don’t send it! I'm almost done; I want to see first!"

Grinning, Tabitha scooted from her place at the small table and took her laptop to the bathroom, where the women could hear Cass squealing in disbelieving pleasure.

"Oh my gosh, send it, send it!!" she exclaimed.

"Wait!!" Cameron shouted, her hands in the air. "As the wedding planner, I'm obligated to keep track of the bride's dressing, but I'm to check on the groom and his men as well. I can use that to our benefit. Give me a few minutes before you send that, so I can get to Drew, and I can watch him open the text of the photo."

"Oooh, I love that," Cass said with a giggle. "Will you come back and tell me?"

"Of course," Cameron assured her, turning to leave the room. Walking down the hall, Cameron took a moment to enjoy the quiet, to breathe on her own, and to acknowledge the silent wish growing inside her; she couldn’t help wishing that someday she might celebrate her own love, in her own beautiful wedding gown.

Approaching the door to the groom's suite, she took a break to steady herself, listened to the rowdy sounds of men behind the door, and twisted the knob.

"Hey, Cam," Drew said, walking over to fold her against his bare chest. He wore his slacks and his shoes already, though the button of the slacks had been left open; his belt was threaded around his waist but also unfastened. Releasing Cameron, he turned to their brother Michael to accept the undershirt being handed to him.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, popping his head through the neck of the simple t-shirt.

"I'm the planner," Cameron said with a grin, propping her hands on her hips. "It's kind of my job to come check that all is in order and going properly."

"Nyeh, nyeh, I'm the planner, my responsibility, nyeh, nyeh, nyeh," Evan mocked, raising his voice to a girlish tone. The boys all laughed as Cameron rolled her eyes at the youngest Kingsley brother.

"Now, boys, be nice to your sister," Adam said, stepping through the crowd of men in the room to drape an arm over Cameron's shoulder. Winking at her brothers first, he looked down into her dark eyes and said, "But if you came here looking for sexy muscles, Mac's not in here."

Cameron flushed, fire rising to her cheeks as her father and brothers roared with laughter. "Well, I can see there's no worry the beers left in here would go to waste, then," she retorted tightly.

"Oh hang on," Drew said, holding his stomach as if to hold in his laughter. He dipped his hand into his pocket and lifted his cell phone, flipping it open as the noise in the room quieted.

Cameron watched curiously, her lips lifted in a mocking grin as she watched her brother's eyes grow wide. His mouth fell open, and her laughter spilled out.

"You're welcome," she said, and turned to leave.

***

Sitting in the pew behind her parents, Cameron watched the flash of Tabitha's bright grin as she worked with her camera. Tucked behind the minister who was officiating the ceremony, Tabitha was the one in charge of capturing the most emotional parts of the ceremony and preserving this day for the wedding couple.

"They look so in love up there, don't they?" Mac whispered from beside her. His fingers were laced through hers, their hands resting together on her thigh as they watched her brother and his love take their wedding vows. With a last look at Drew and Cass standing between the Kingsley brothers and the Keaton sisters, Cameron turned to study Mac's easy grin, taking in the dimples that flickered in his smooth cheeks, the twinkle in his blue eyes.

"You are loving this, aren't you?" she whispered back with a grin.

"What can I say?" he answered. "I love love. Ooh, it's time for the good part!" He raised the hand that wasn't attached to hers, pointing toward Cass and Drew as they began the process of speaking the words that would bind them together.

"I promise that I will love you always, and that I will encourage you as you grow in your role as my wife," Drew said, turning to take Cass's hands into his own.

"I promise that I will love you also," Cass answered, her voice wobbling slightly. "And that I will encourage you as you grow in your role as my husband."

"I promise to hold you when you cry, to nurture you when you are feeling broken, and to communicate with you fully and honestly," Drew said, his voice going rough with emotion. From her vantage point in the second pew, Cameron could see the glimmer of a tear as it slipped down his cheek.

Reaching up to catch the tear from his face with a nervous giggle, Cass sniffled and answered him, saying, "I promise to appreciate your strength, to accept your need to help and provide for me, to lean into you when I am struggling, and to be a safe place that you can lean when you are in need. I promise also to communicate with you fully, and honestly."

Blinking rapidly, Drew's chest swelled and then narrowed with his sigh. He winked and said, "I promise to be the big spoon, to leave the toilet seat down, and to keep my socks put away throughout our life together."

Cass's mouth tightened momentarily in surprise, her eyes widening. She grinned, then, and answered saucily, "I promise to be the little spoon, to keep the dishes clean, and to keep you pleasantly surprised throughout our life together."

Drew grinned, having lightened the mood and sent the audience into giggles. Sobering, he stepped slightly closer to Cass and said, "I promise I will love you if we have plenty, and not to blame or resent you if we are in want. I promise to care for you if you are ill, and to celebrate with you when you are in good health. I will treasure you and cherish you all of our days, until the day that one of us leaves this life behind."

Cameron felt Mac stiffen, and she squeezed his hand in sympathy, knowing he must be thinking of his deceased wife. He squeezed back, and they listened together as Cass repeated her vows to Drew, saying tearfully, "I promise I will love you if we have plenty, and not to blame or resent you if we are in want. I promise to care for you if you are ill, and to celebrate with you when you are in good health. I will treasure you and cherish you all of our days, until the day that one of us leaves this life behind."

Taking one hand from Cass, Drew raised a fingertip to swipe his eyes, his face flaming with embarrassment at the emotional display. "Here before our families and our friends," he said, "I vow to remain faithful to you, to remain respectful and honorable at all times, and to never let you forget how very much I cherish your presence in my life."

"Here before our families and our friends," Cass answered, her voice hoarse with emotion, "I vow to remain faithful to you, to remain respectful and honorable at all times, and to never let you forget how very much I cherish your presence in my life."

"How perfect," Mac whispered, draping his arm lightly around Cameron's shoulders and pulling her close. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, he lowered his mouth to her ear and murmured, "I'm so glad I'm here with you."

Smiling, Cameron dropped her eyes to her lap, unsure of what to say.

"And the circle of this ring," Drew was saying, slipping Cass's wedding ring onto her finger, "represents between us the bond that holds us together. I bid you always wear this ring as a symbol of the love I feel for you and the commitment that I offer you."

Cass took a ring from Chelsea, turning back and slipping it onto Drew's finger. "The circle of this ring represents between us the bond that holds us together," she said, her voice breaking toward the end. She sighed shakily, gathered herself, and went on. "I bid you always wear this ring as a symbol of the love I feel for you and the commitment that I offer you."

"Oh," Cameron said softly, love and happiness for her brother and his new wife warring with her own sense of envy. Mac tightened his arm, pulling her in closer to his side.

"And now for the unity candle," the officiator said, waving to Janet Keaton and Eva Kingsley. Together, the mothers walked to the altar, each hugging the other woman's child before lighting one of the candles on the altar. Hugging their own children then, they returned to their seats. Drew and Cass each took their mother's candles, tipping them together to merge the flames and lowering them to light the center candle together. "And now we are one," they said together.

Drew left Cass at the altar, walking back to the pew and presenting Janet and Eva each with a small bottle of colored sand. "Please take part with us in one more joining," he said to each of them.

Walking back to the altar, the mothers uncorked their bottles of sand, along with the bottle uncorked by both Cass and Drew. Taking turns, they poured the sands together in crazy but beautiful stripes of amethyst, emerald, sapphire, and pristine white. "And now we are one family," Cass said, kissing each of their mothers in turn and sending them back to their seats.

"And now you are man and wife," the officiator said, as Cass and Drew came together in front of him again. Taking Cass's hands in his, he kissed her cheek and instructed, "Thou shalt be a loving wife." Passing her hands over to Drew, he laid one hand gently on Drew's shoulder and instructed, "Thou shalt be a proper husband."

Placing one hand on each of their shoulders, he turned the couple to face their audience and said loudly, "I give you, with pleasure, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Ryan Kingsley!"

***

Mac turned her one last time and as the song faded out, slowly bleeding into the next tune, they left the floor together. A catering server passed them; Cameron reached out to touch his arm, thanking him for the punch she swiped from his tray.

"I don't know why I'm so thirsty," she laughed. "Must be all the dancing. You really are a great dancer, Mac."

"Well, you know, I try. Still, I had no idea you knew the Macarena," he answered, running a loose curl through his fingers. He'd been giving her heated looks all night, and as they'd danced, Cameron had had to struggle not to press herself wantonly against his body. He was just so warm and strong, and at the same time completely safe. It was intoxicating, being around him.

It's a good thing I don't drink,
she thought.
Or I'd probably have had my panties on the floor by now. Jeez, he's sexy.

Aloud, she said, "Well, you know, I try." Giving him a sassy wink, she downed her punch and pointed over to her brother Drew, standing near the sweetheart table nuzzling his new bride. "Don't they just look so happy?"