A Tricky Proposition(56)

“I think it might be time to get to the hospital,” she said, her brown eyes appearing darker than ever in her pale face.

“How long has this been going on?” he demanded.

“Since this morning.”

Nathan growled.

“I’m fine. I wanted both of us to be here for Rachel and Max. And now I’d like to go to the hospital and give birth to our son.”

“Stubborn woman,” Nathan muttered as he put a supporting arm around his wife and escorted her down the aisle.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Max’s mother asked, following on their heels. She reached her hand back to her husband.

“No.” Emma shook her head. “Stay and enjoy the party. The baby probably won’t come anytime soon.” But as she said it, another contraction stopped her in her tracks.

“I’m going to get the car.” Handing his wife off to Ming, Nathan raced out of the church.

Ming and Emma continued their slow progress.

“Has he always been like this?” Ming asked, amused and ever so envious.

“It all started when my father decided to make marrying me part of a business deal Nathan was doing with Montgomery Oil. Since then he’s got this crazy idea in his head that I need to be taken care of.”

“I think it’s sweet.”

Emma’s lips moved into a fond smile. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

By the time Ming got Emma settled into Nathan’s car and returned to the church, half the guests had made it through the reception line and had spilled onto the street. Since she wasn’t the immediate family of the bride and groom, she stood off to one side and waited until the wedding party was free so she could tell them what had happened to Nathan and Emma.

“The contractions seemed fairly close together,” Ming said in answer to Susan Case’s question regarding Emma’s labor. “She said she’d started having them this morning, so I don’t know how far along she is.”

“Hopefully Nathan will call us from the hospital and let us know,” Max’s father said.

Sebastian nodded. “I’m sure he will.”

“In the meantime,” Max said, smiling down at his glowing wife, “we have a reception to get to.”

A limo awaited them at the curb to take the group to The Corinthian, a posh venue in downtown Houston’s historical district. Ming had never attended an event there, but she’d heard nothing but raves from Missy and Emma. And they were right. The space took its name from the fluted Corinthian columns that flanked the long colonnade where round tables of ten had been placed for the reception. Once the lobby for the First National Bank, the hall’s thirty-five-foot ceilings and tall windows now made it an elegant place to hold galas, wedding receptions and lavish birthday parties.

Atop burgundy damask table cloths, gold silverware flanked gilded chargers and white china rimmed with gold. Flickering votive candles in glass holders nestled amongst flowers in Rachel’s chosen palette of gold, yellow and deep orange.

Ming had never seen anything so elegant and inviting.

“Susan really outdid herself,” Missy commented as she and her husband stopped beside Ming to admire the view. “It almost makes me wish Sebastian and I hadn’t run off to Las Vegas to get married.” She grinned up at her handsome husband. “Of course, having to wait months to become his wife wouldn’t have been worth all this.”

Sebastian lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. The heat that passed between them in that moment made Ming blink.

She cleared her throat. “So, you don’t regret eloping?”

Missy shook her head, her gaze still locked on her husband’s face. “Having a man as deliberate and cautious as Sebastian jump impulsively into a life-changing event as big as marriage was the most amazing, romantic, sexy thing ever.”

“He obviously knew what he wanted,” Ming murmured, her gaze straying to where Jason laughed with Max’s father.

Sebastian’s deep voice resonated with conviction as he said, “Indeed I did.”





Twelve


Keeping Ming’s green-clad form in view as she chatted with their friends, Jason dialed his brother’s cell. Evan hadn’t mentioned skipping the wedding, and it was out of character for him to just not show. When voice mail picked up, Jason left a message. Then he called his dad, but Tony hadn’t heard from Evan, either. Buzzing with concern, Jason slid the phone back into his pocket and headed for Ming.

She was standing alone, her attention on the departing Sebastian and Missy, a wistful expression on her face. Their happiness was tangible. Like a shot to his head, Jason comprehended Ming’s fascination. Despite her insistence that she wasn’t cut out for marriage, it’s what she longed for. Evan had ended their engagement and broken her heart in the process. Her decision to become a single mom was Ming’s way of coping with loneliness.