“What the hell …?” Jack greeted his two best friends with a broad grin.
“Fine greeting that is,” Taye griped. “I fly in all the way from Singapore—”
“I thought you were in Paris.”
“That was last month.” Taye paused, and his angel’s face assumed a wicked expression. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? I couldn’t miss your wedding, could I?”
Jack spared Derek a brief glance. “You told him?” he asked.
“About the wedding, yes.”
“About the reason for it, no,” Taye contributed with the comfortable brazenness of an old friend. “But I can make a fairly good guess. And I’m guessing that it has something to do with Isabella and that ongoing fight you’re having with CPS. Am I right?”
Jack started to agree, then for reasons he didn’t dare analyze, he hesitated. “Isabella’s part of the reason,” he grudgingly admitted.
He couldn’t explain his reluctance to go into the finer points, but suspected it had something to do with Annalise. Even though Derek had drawn up the prenup that spelled out every last detail of their forthcoming marriage, he felt a bone-deep urge to protect his bride from his two best friends, which struck him as vaguely ludicrous. Even so, he didn’t want them to think she was marrying him for financial gain, mainly because he knew that wasn’t her true reason. Like him, she was simply putting Isabella first, and that fact had to be protected and celebrated.
Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Well, well. Who’d have thought?”
“Thought what?” Jack asked defensively.
“That the great Jack Mason has been brought to his knees by his nanny.”
“Stuff it, Fletcher. It isn’t like that.”
“Huh.” Taye appeared intrigued. “I think it’s exactly like that. I don’t doubt Isabella is a big part of the reason for the hasty marriage, but I think you have a thing for your bride-to-be.” Before Jack could argue the point, he added, “But, the more interesting question is why the hell would she marry you, Mason?”
Jack felt his anger stir. “If that’s the attitude you two are going to adopt, you can support me on my wedding day by taking off.”
Taye chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I can definitely see the appeal now.”
“You know …” Derek chimed in, “Taye raises an interesting point. I thought she was marrying you for the obvious reasons.” He and Taye exchanged a knowing look and chimed in together, “Money.”
“You don’t think she is?” Taye asked.
“Guys—”
Derek shrugged. “I’m not so sure. When I met with her yesterday, I didn’t read ‘gold digger,’ if you know what I mean.”
Jack lost his patience. “That’s because she isn’t.”
“Which brings us back to Taye’s point.” Derek lifted a sooty eyebrow. “Precisely why is she marrying you, Jack? For Isabella’s sake? Fast work, that. What in the world would prompt a woman to sacrifice two years of her life for a child she barely knows?”
“Unless it was for money.” Taye slipped the suggestion in again with far too much cynicism. But then, he had cause, as Jack knew all too well. A small case of been there/done that. “If it wasn’t for the money …” Taye allowed the comment to trail off.
Jack shrugged uneasily. “She cares about Isabella, just as I do. She plans to get her master’s over the next two years, and this will provide her with the perfect opportunity to set herself up for the future while helping Isabella.”
It sounded weak, even to his ears. As though sensing his concern, his friends exchanged meaningful looks and deliberately changed the subject. Jack listened with half an ear. Now that he stopped to consider the matter, he had to admit that his plan to circumvent CPS had fallen into place with impressive ease. Granted, he’d always had a knack for getting his own way and making things come together to his advantage. This was just one more example of that, right? But he couldn’t stop the question from fomenting in the back of his mind.
Why had Annalise really agreed to marry him? Was it for Isabella’s sake, as she claimed? Or did she have a very different agenda?
The wedding itself took place late that afternoon in the serenity of his backyard, with Taye and Derek at his side. Annalise and Isabella walked together across the lawn toward him, hand in hand, while a string quartet played softly and a photographer worked discreetly in the background. His bride paused halfway to the makeshift altar and stooped to adjust his niece’s hat. Dappled sunlight framed them, capturing them within a golden glow. And just like that, his heart stopped.
In that moment, his wife-to-be had to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her hair had been pulled back from her face and allowed to tumble in an abandoned riot of curls down her back. Her wispy veil was anchored in place by a circlet of gold and silver, the craftsmanship of the leaf-and-diamond-encrusted piece drawing attention to her vivid eyes. Her ivory gown was perfectly suited to her tall, lean figure, the bodice fitted, the sweeping skirt complemented by a long flowing train. She looked like a fantasy creature from another era, and yet he knew just how real she was.
Isabella also wore an ivory gown with lace insets that matched the trim on Annalise’s wedding gown. As far as Jack was concerned, his niece resembled nothing more than a small angel. Instead of a veil, she wore an adorable wide-brimmed bonnet that framed her apple-cheeked face. Gold-tipped brown ringlets peeked out from the edges and bobbed in the gentle breeze. She beamed with excitement.
Instead of carrying her Nancy doll—something he rarely saw her without—she held a basket full of ivory and blush-pink roses. Then, much to his amusement, he noticed the doll perched at the base of the tree near where he was standing. He grinned. His adorable niece had dressed the doll for the occasion in a gown and bonnet that, even to his untrained eye, appeared identical to the one Isabella wore.
An instant later, the two joined him beneath the weighty fuchsia blossoms of a crape myrtle, and the minister spoke the traditional opening words that would soon join them together as husband and wife. The ceremony took no time at all. One minute he was a man who’d sworn never to take a wife. The next instant he was married to a woman who gazed at him with such a wealth of emotion that it took every ounce of self-control to keep himself from sweeping her into his arms and carrying her off to where they could spend the next twenty-four hours in uninterrupted seclusion.
That wasn’t part of the plan, he reminded himself. This marriage had nothing to do with his new bride and everything to do with the child standing at their side. And he’d do well to remember that.
The minister cut across his thoughts, speaking the timeless words to conclude the ceremony. “You may now kiss the bride.”
Jack didn’t require any further prompting. He cupped Annalise’s face and tilted it upward. Her veil fluttered like a flag of surrender, while her curls shivered in protest. But her eyes, those glorious honey-gold eyes, gazed at him with undisguised want. Was she even aware of how much they gave away? He doubted it. If she had the least suspicion, she’d have done everything in her power to tuck the truth away behind that serene facade she clung to with such determination. He hoped Taye and Derek didn’t notice her expression. That was his, and his alone, something he refused to share with anyone else.
Slowly he lowered his head and captured her mouth. Her lips were softer than the roses in Isabella’s basket and tasted of sunshine and warmth. He filled his hands with the glorious weight of her hair and the silken curls twined around his fingers, anchoring them together. She sighed against his mouth, the sound one of sweet surrender. If he could have gathered up all the various scents and sounds and tastes and preserved them for all time, he would have given his fortune to do so. But moments like this didn’t last, and their kiss was no exception.
From the direction of the house a great booming woof broke the spell and the ground shook beneath their feet. Madam erupted from the kitchen and spilled onto the patio. Catching sight of the three of them, she gave her widest, most delighted grin and charged across the lawn.
The minister uttered a word that Jack was fairly certain couldn’t be found anywhere in the Bible he held and scurried behind the nearest tree. The string quartet grabbed their instruments and made a beeline for the gate exiting from the yard, toppling chairs in their haste to escape. Taking a cue from them, the minister made a speedy departure, as well. Only Taye, Derek and the photographer didn’t budge. While his friends burst into shouts of laughter, the photographer simply kept snapping pictures as the beast joined in the festivities.
With a thundering bark of excitement, Madam reared back and lunged at Jack, felling him with one blow. Unfortunately, his hands were still anchored in Annalise’s hair. She tumbled onto the grass beside him, in a tangled heap of silk and lace. Isabella launched herself at Madam, attempting to pull the dog off them. It was like watching a kitten attempt to subdue a moose. She ended up riding Madam like a pony, her bonnet turned half sideways, her dainty skirts hitched to her knees.
Beside him he felt Annalise’s shoulders tremble and a muffled sound escaped, something that sounded suspiciously like a sob. “Are you hurt?” He tried to find her through all the lace, satin and tulle. “Sweetheart, please don’t cry. It’ll be all right.”