When the Heart Falls (27 page)

“
Well,” he started. “I don’t know about you, Misty, but I always wanted a yard full of kids. We don’t have to use all of the bedrooms if you don’t want to. I just thought I’d be prepared.” He looked at her and waited for her reaction.

Her mouth popped open slightly, forming a small “o” shape. She took in a shaky breath to calm the tears that were forming in her eyes once more. She walked over to the door way to where Dylan was standing and stood on her tip toes to bring her lips to his. Her fingers twisted themselves in his hair as his arms wrapped around her waist.

“
That’s my dream too.” She smiled and looked into his eyes.

He smiled back and brushed away a tear that had slipped from her eye with his thumb.

“
Here, let me show you our room.” He led her down to the other end of the hall and opened the door for her.

Misty walked into to the large room and gasped. She stopped for minute, and then turned to Dylan with a suspicious look.

“
I thought you said you were waiting for me to pick out the furniture?” She turned around again to face the huge four poster bed that sat on the far wall, complete with white sheets, a white comforter, and a green and white wedding ring patterned quilt folded up and sitting on the foot of the bed. The walls were painted a warm green and the windows were flanked with sheer curtain panels. Two antique looking night tables were stationed on either side of the bed with matching lamps.

“
I just thought we should have some furniture and figured this would be the best place to start. You’re not mad are you?” he asked with a hopeful tone.

“
No I’m not mad. How could I be? This is beautiful.” She turned to look at him and smirked. “Who helped you decorate?”

“
What makes you think I had help?” he asked, acting like he was shocked by her question.

“
I know you had help because no man would ever think to put that many pillows on a bed,” she explained and waited for his answer.

He laughed softly. “So the pillows gave it away. Ok you caught me. I had Beth help.”

“
I’ll have to make sure I thank her. Did she pick out the green?”

“
No that was all me,” he said.

“
Why did you pick green?” she asked.

“
It’s the color of your eyes, and therefore, one of my favorite colors.”

She bit her bottom lip and blushed a little. “Ok, that was cute.” She giggled.

“
Thanks,” he said and pulled her into his embrace. “Misty, I hope I’m not being to forward here, but I don’t want a long engagement.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and toyed with his hair. “My thoughts exactly. How about we plan on two weeks from now? We can have a simple ceremony at my parent’s house and a small party afterwards to celebrate.”

“
That sounds perfect,” he said and leaned his head down to kiss her.

“
You know, it’s a good thing you proposed to me when you did,” she said when the kiss ended.

“
And why’s that?” he asked curiously, looking down at her.

“
Let’s just say, we’ll be needing furniture for one of those spare rooms sooner than later,” she said and held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

He gave her a puzzled look for a moment. Then the light bulb went off and he looked at her with a shocked expression.

“
Are you telling me you’re?” He dropped the question without finishing it.

“
Mmm hmm,” she nodded. “You’re not disappointed are you?” she asked, not knowing how to take his reaction.

“
Disappointed?” he asked curiously. “Misty, I’m far from disappointed. I’m thrilled!” He hugged her tightly, kissing her softly then pulled away so he could rest his hand on her belly. “I’m going to be a father,” he said astonished.

She rested her hand over his and they shared one long silent moment together.

“
Now,” she said, bringing his attention back to the present. “What do you say we stop ignoring that pretty bed over there and practice for the honeymoon?”

He caught on to her mood quickly and swept her off of her feet, carrying her to the four poster bed.

*** 

“
By the power vested in me, by the state of Texas and the almighty God above, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Dylan removed his cowboy hat and drew Misty close, gently joining his lips with hers. The small crowd of friends and family cheered, clapped, and threw in a few whistles. When the kiss ended, Dylan and Misty turned to face their friends and family with the glow of newlyweds on their faces.

“
Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Dylan McCoy.”

Dylan and Misty made their way down the aisle and walked over to the backyard where a small reception was to be held. Everyone else followed and took their seats at the tables. The band started up and Dylan and Misty shared their first dance as husband and wife.

“
You look very pretty, Mrs. McCoy,” Dylan complimented Misty as he took in her appearance. She had chosen a simple white floor length spaghetti strap dress for the occasion. Her hair was styled in a simple half up half down do with soft curls.

“
Thank you, Mr. McCoy. You look pretty dashing yourself.” She always did like the way he looked in his black wranglers, black boots, and crisp white shirt, topped off with his black cowboy hat.

“
Are you happy?” he asked as they swayed back and forth to the music.

“
More than happy,” she replied. “I don’t think there are enough words to describe how I feel right now.”

“
I feel the same. I’m definitely looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you, Misty,” he said, kissing her softly.

“
Me too.”

EPILOGUE

8 months later…

Dylan wiped the sweat from his hands on his jeans as he walked down the corridor of the hospital. When he opened the doors to the waiting room, fives heads popped up in his direction with anticipated looks.

He took in a deep breath and exclaimed, “It’s a boy!”

Everyone jumped up in excitement, giving hugs and wiping away tears of joy.

“
And a girl,” Dylan shouted above the commotion.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and gave him a confused look.

“
Twins?” Katherine asked.

Dylan nodded. “Yup.”

“
How come you didn’t tell us?” Maggie asked.

“
We didn’t know.” Dylan laughed softly. “The ultrasounds never picked up the other baby. She was hiding behind her big brother.”

“
Well this is a wonderful surprise,” Beth said and leaned her head down to the baby in her arms. “You’ve some new cousins to play with, Miss Charlotte Ann Mason.”

“
Congratulations,” Alan said, taking his turn to shake Dylan’s hand. He leaned forward and whispered under his breath, “I’ve got some congratulatory cigars for us to smoke later.”

Dylan nodded and took turns receiving hugs and kisses from all the ladies.

“
Can we go see her and the babies?” Maggie asked in a hopeful tone.

“
Let me go check and I’ll come back and get you when it’s ok. The doctor was just finishing up when Misty told me to come tell y’all the good news.”

“
Well get back in there, son, and give my daughter a kiss for me,” Jack said, giving Dylan a gentle nudge towards the door.

“
Will do!” Dylan made his way back to the room and opened the door slowly. Misty was lying in the bed, propped up with pillows and holding the babies; one wrapped in blue and the other in pink.

“
Hey, sweetie,” he whispered and walked over to the bed.

“
Hey you,” she replied with a dreamy smile. “Do you want to hold one?” she asked.

“
Of course,” he said and lifted the bundle of pink carefully into his arms.

“
What do you think we should name them?” Misty asked with a content smile.

“
I was thinking Wesley Donovan McCoy for our son. Do you like that?” he suggested.

She smiled. “I love it.”

“
Any ideas on girl names?” he asked.

She thought about it for a moment and replied, “How about we stick with the family names and call her Katy Margaret McCoy, after your mother and my mother.”

“
I like that, and I think they’ll like it too,” Dylan said, staring down at his daughter. He turned to look at Misty and she watched as a tear slipped from his eye. “You’ve made me so happy, Mis.”

She smiled softly and rested her head back against the pillow. “I told you I’d keep things exciting.” She chuckled quietly.

“
You sure did, Misty. You sure did.”

The End

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading my very first novel,
 When 
the Heart Falls. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As you may know, I have many people that I need to thank for helping me along the way and getting me to where I am now. First I would like to thank my parents, Louise and Gerald, for always supporting me and encouraging me with my creativeness. I love you both so much and appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. I couldn’t ask for better parents. I would also like to thank my brother, Michael, for helping me out with my cover by posing on horseback till I got that perfect shot. It was a long process of me yelling out commands and him dutifully following them, and I truly appreciate his patience with me. Next I would like to thank my best friend, Ashley, for keeping me going through the writing process and reading every single chapter as I finished them. You gave me the will to keep going with your positive comments and I truly appreciate that. I would also like to note that the whole reason I even decided to write a romance novel was because of Ashley. She got me into reading them and the inspiration to write my own came soon after that.

The next two people I would like to thank are my Aunt Jan and my cousin Kristi. They were nice enough to offer to proof read my novel after I completed it and give me their feedback and suggestions, both of which I appreciate very much because it made my novel better. They are two of the most honest people you will ever meet and I am truly grateful to have them in my life. 
 
I would also like to thank my mother in law, Stephanie, for being a positive influence and being genuinely excited for me. I love her very much and I am lucky to have a friend like her to keep me going and help me along the way.

And last but most certainly not least I’d like to thank my husband Rob. I don’t know about other author’s out there and how they go about writing their novels, but with me I was trying to be sneaky about it and keep it a secret, even from my dear and loving husband. Of course all of that went down the drain when he caught me one day in the midst of writing. And although I was immediately embarrassed, that feeling quickly faded away when he told me how proud he was of me and I couldn’t be happier now because none of this would have been possible without him. He took it upon himself to look into the best ways for marketing and was even able to get a professional opinion on my novel from someone in the writing industry. I would also like to add that he graciously read every chapter, even though romance novels aren’t his thing, and gave me his positive comments and suggestions. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful, smart, caring, and loving man as my husband.

And I’m not forgetting you dear reader. Thank you so much for taking a chance on an unknown author. I truly hoped you enjoyed this novel and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my next few stories which I hope to have completed soon. Thank you again!

With sincerest appreciation,

Kimberly Lewis