A Winter’s Wedding (Christmas Cove #3)

Chapter 30

Having been separated from his bride for far too long, Leo waded through the sea of wedding guests. He glued his eyes to the back of America’s head. Her long dark hair hanging in gentle curls to her waist. A waist that begged to be handled. Her crimson dress spilled across the floor like an invitation to come to her.

He was tired of speaking politely to each and every one of their guests, tired of answering questions about the wedding and the road trip, and tired of pretending he wanted to be somewhere he wasn’t. Dinner had been wonderful, and he had sat beside America the whole time, but being positioned at the front of the room with all those watchful and questioning eyes boring into him, wasn’t his idea of a romantic meal.

Their sweet Valentine’s date in Vegas now seemed all the more perfect for how private it had been. Their road trip that had followed had been one of the best times of his life, he knew that now. Nothing could replace that intimate time that he was able to share with his love. But one thing that had been missing from their unexpected wedding and subsequent adventure in the car, was having that first dance with his stunning wife. An oversight that he was committed to remedying.

A violinist plucked a string, then another. The staccato notes beat in time with his heart. Each step, another note, each heartbeat, closer to America.

He placed a hand on her upper back and traced the buttons descending to her waist. She turned with glimmering eyes, happy eyes, and a grin—his favorite one-sided grin—pulled her cheek up. “May I have this dance?” he asked and presented his left hand for her.

Carol and Pa looked on with giddy excitement as a stunned and radiant America took his hand without saying a word. Her fingers glided over his, allowing him to take control of her body. He used his right hand resting on the space where her bodice and skirt came together and spun her to face him. Her breath caught when her chest collided with his and he liked how their bodies fit together.

Heat coursed through his fingers where their palms touched. Another pluck of the violin string and a long pull of the bow wrapped them in anticipation. Releasing her waist, he directed her to the center of the room under the crystal chandelier that spread the candlelight around the room like a million little stars. Another violin joined the first and the music built along with the desire between him and America.

They had danced before, but never like this. Never as husband and wife in a room they built, filled with the people whom they loved, and knowing that this would be the only first dance they would have. With the dance floor cleared, Leo presented America in a large arc around himself. Gasps and cooing could be heard coming from those watching the entertainment, which only spurred Leo to want to give them the best show.

As America came around the full circle, he yanked her and spun inward into him. His arm wrapped fully around her body and their free hand touched at the fingertips. He kissed her nose and flung her back away from his body. She giggled and bit her bottom lip between her teeth. Oh, how he wanted to free that lip from its temporary trap.

Taking her right hand in his, he stepped in time with the music, leading her in a large pattern around the space. Her dress swooshed along the wooden floor and firelight flickered in her eyes anytime he came around the side of the room by the stone fireplace. Joy oozed from her with every rock and sway of her hips.

Holding her close was nice. He buried his face in her hair and smelled the warm vanilla and floral scent that was activated by their vigor. Feeling her pulse pound against his lips when he kissed the spot on her neck just below her ear, was the best thing he had ever felt.

The music began to quiet, and he dipped her low, taking her entire weight on his forearm. From here, she couldn’t go anywhere, and he liked it that way. He bent his neck down and met her face to face. Her labored breathing threatened to break the bindings of her dress. Her chest heaved up and down from the exertion and he took the moment while she caught her breath to take in her silky skin glowing in the low light. He wanted to sear this image into his mind forever.

Her lip quivered and he was desperate to give America what she wanted. His lips crushed against hers, taking her breath away in a new form. He felt the subtle vibration of pleasure shiver through her and only broke their kiss because he was smiling too wide.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded and dabbed the corners of her mouth with the back of a finger.

Leo lifted her from the dip while the guests clapped for them. It was a show they had come for, and it was a show in which they had gotten way more than they had anticipated. The entire day had been a beautiful celebration of their love for one another.

Carol and Pa joined them on the dance floor. “Thank you for the most beautiful wedding we could have never planned ourselves,” Carol said and took America’s hands in hers.

“Because you two would have never gotten out of your own way long enough to see what was right in front of you this whole time,” America joked. “You just needed a little push—you both did the rest.”

“That we did,” Pa said and nudged Carol’s shoulder. It was obvious their days of giving each other a hard time weren’t over, but Leo supposed this was the way they had been showing their affection to each other for a very long time whether they knew it or not.

“I have one question,” America said, her face losing all the joy that had just been present. “Which one of you picked the stew?”

Carol and Pa looked at each other, then back to America, and back at each other—the final time with fingers pointing at the other person. They laughed. “It was you,” Carol said.

“I believe it was you,” Pa accused back.

“I haven’t lost my memory, Edwin. It was only a few days ago that you and I sat right over there, and taste tested all the food. It was you who ate two whole servings. One of which was mine. And don’t get me start?—”

“Enough!” America and Leo said in unison causing the couple to quit their bickering.

“You two have a lifetime to fight over it. Needless to say, it was unexpected and delicious,” Leo said.

Carol nudged Pa. “See, I told you.”

“I’m glad this all worked out. Pa, Carol. Congratulations,” America said and kissed Carol’s cheeks. “We’re going to call it an evening.”

Thandie and Grant walked hand in hand like they were on a mission and laser-focused on the four of them standing in the center of the room. “You weren’t thinking about leaving without going to the Grove, were you?”

“I nearly forgot,” Leo said and kicked the invisible dirt in front of his foot. “Let’s get it over with,” he said.

Outside, Thandie and Grant sat in the front seat of a golf cart and held two shovels and a large cardboard box on their laps. “Get in,” Thandie said.

Carol and Pa took the two seats directly behind Thandie and Grant, while Leo was content to have America to himself in the rear facing seats in the back, their legs dangled off the back, his nearly brushing the gravel drive, while America held all of her fluffy skirt layers in a pile in her arms. The guests, who were able, followed them out of the Harbour House doors holding lamps to light the way.

They made their way to a spot near the recently repainted white gazebo. A path had been cleared in the snow, no doubt by Grant, that led from the sidewalk to the Grove. Alighting from the golf cart, Leo helped America walk through the snow, her shoes would likely be ruined, but participating in the new tradition would be worth it.

Grant handed a shovel to Pa, and one to Leo. “You know what to do,” Grant said and shined a larger spotlight where they were to get to work digging their holes.

Leo’s shovel went right through the loose snow and crashed into the frozen ground hidden beneath, while the flash from the photographer caught him off guard. He had nearly forgotten their every move was being documented until then. As he dug the hole, one small shovelful at a time, the symbolism wasn’t lost on him that his marriage would be hard work too. But as he and America took the little sapling from Thandie’s cardboard box and planted it in the earth, he knew that all that hard work would pay off.

As beautiful as the occasion was, Leo did most of the work, since America’s dress was so gigantic, she was in no position to offer much more than encouragement. Even so, he was glad to shoulder this one, this time. Carol on the other hand was right down in the dirt, kneeling down beside Pa. They patted the ground around the sapling’s root ball.

“They really are happy, aren’t they?” Leo said.

“As happy as I’ll be when I can get out of this dress.” America winked and began trudging back up the hill.

“Wait up!” he said and hurried behind her.

They ran, hands linked, through the snow until Leo had had enough with all those layers slowing her down. He swooped America off her feet and carried her the last hundred yards to their waiting car. Placing his bride directly in the front seat of his old red pick-up truck, he smooshed her skirt inside the door and closed it before any could fall back out.

Cam held the driver’s side door open and shook Leo’s hand. “Congrats, man.”

“Thanks for everything,” Leo said and sat down, pulling the door shut. He leaned out the window and waved at all their loved ones who had come to see them off. Their bags were packed and sitting in the bed of the truck, with their Italian honeymoon waiting. The car pulled out and the sound of scraping tin cans on the gravel caused them to laugh out loud. The silly gesture summed up their week in a way words couldn’t. He looked at America, beaming. Her fingers drummed on the little windowsill as she shifted her gaze from their friends waving farewell outside, to his eyes, locking onto him like an eagle. “You ready?”

“Now. Always,” she said, and the layers to her answer had him swallowing the possibilities of her meaning down his throat.

He intended to spend the rest of his life uncovering all the ways she loved him and showing her the depths of his heart. A love he no longer wished to compare to anyone else’s. It was theirs alone. A love like no other.