Dani looked over her shoulder, half-expecting to see Evan. It might be the ramblings of a medicated man, but just in case, she leaned down and whispered in Eli’s ear. “Tell him I love him, and that his daughter’s beautiful.”
“He knows, Irish. He wants you and his friend to be happy.” His eyes closed and his breaths faded to nothing.
Dani buried her face in Logan’s chest and wept for the boy who’d only wanted to be good like his brother.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The October day promised to be perfect. Logan stood on the deck outside his bedroom and watched the sun come up over the gulf. At his feet, Luke yawned mightily.
“No one said you had to get up,” he told the Doberman. Luke’s answer was another yawn.
The baby monitor crackled to life. “Wont Uke.”
The dog scrambled to get his feet under him and took off. Logan chuckled. It was a toss-up which of the two was more besotted. Regan considered Luke hers, while Luke thought the baby belonged to him. Sadly, they hadn’t been able to save Matthew, but John and Mark were deliriously happy hunting alligators with Decourdeau. Logan thought Luke had gotten the better deal.
He turned back to the sun, rising bright yellow over the water. Yellow was a happy color, and he hoped her toenails were painted that glittery color that day, their wedding day. He looked out over the gulf and thought of his friend. “I’m marrying her, Evan. I hope you’re okay with that.”
A group of pelicans flew past. One broke from the flock, veered toward him, and left his calling card on the railing in front of him. Logan jumped back. “Son of a bitch, Evan, always with the jokes.” Logan stared down at the gray and white wet pile and grinned.
His heart might not survive the day. Everyone was there but his soon-to-be wife and her mother. His sister sat on the sand next to Buchanan, Regan on her lap and Luke leaning on the baby. His new daughter gave the Doberman a smack on his head. “Uke,” she said. Logan would swear the dog’s eyes blissfully crossed.
Jared and Scott, smiling at Regan’s antics, sat next to Mrs. Jankowski. He’d flown the two men in the day before as a surprise for Dani. Dani’s father stood near the stairs waiting to escort his daughter to Logan.
They had dinner the night before on the beach with all their family and friends around a roaring fire, sharing in their joy. The numerous toasts had been embarrassing in their insinuations, and he couldn’t wait for them to come true.
Dani had, for reasons he still didn’t understand, put a hold on sex of any kind until they were married. “So you’ll be really horny on our wedding night,” she’d said. He snorted. As if he didn’t always have a hard-on any time he was in her general vicinity.
Spread out on blankets, Barbie, Ken, Turner, and the rest of his employees chatted while they waited for the ceremony to begin.
Logan stood ankle deep in the gulf and waited for his bride. Movement at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach caught his eye. Lifting his gaze, he let out a sigh. She hadn’t run away. Why that had worried him, he wasn’t sure, but until she appeared, he hadn’t been able to believe he could be this blessed.
With her father on one side and her mother on the other, Dani held his gaze as she approached, a beautiful smile on her face. Logan’s heart did a merry dance. In a matter of minutes, she would be his.
On seeing her mother, Regan pushed away from Maria and crawled toward Dani. Dani’s father picked her up and brought mother and child to Logan.
“I believe these two belong to you,” he said.
Logan glanced down at Dani’s toes and smiled. “Yes, they do.”
He married the woman of his heart with Evan’s daughter in his arms and Eli’s dog pressed against his leg.
The three-quarter moon was high in the sky, the fall night warmer than normal. Logan walked up behind Dani and pressed himself against her back. He put his arms around her and lowered his mouth to her ear. “I love you, Mrs. Kincaid.”
She turned and in her hand was a yellow rose. “Ditto, Mr. Kincaid. Friends forever?”
“I prefer friends and lovers forever.” He took the flower and traced the swell of his wife’s breasts with the petals. His wife. He’d never believed he would have one. Yet, there she was, his ring on her finger, and looking up at him with soft, warm eyes.
Well, hell, what a lucky bastard he’d turned out to be.
Since one of the benefits of having a wife was that he could kiss her any time he wanted, and God above, he wanted, he lowered his mouth to hers. He tasted the spicy berries of the wine she’d been drinking, felt the warm wet of her tongue on his, and heard her soft sigh.