Going to the Chapel: A Novella (17 page)

Tension knotted Levi’s neck as he rolled up to the
WELCOME
sign for Matrimony. The last time he’d come here, the sign had been twisted and dented, but someone had put up a new sign, a wooden one carved with the town’s name, and with a big fat red Christmas bow on top.

Christmas lights and garland dangled from the street signs ahead, and as he drove down Main Street holiday music flowed through speakers, adding to the festive mood.

Odd how in just a few weeks, the little hole-in-the-wall town had changed. Lulabelle’s looked busier today with a giant Santa and sleigh in the front, and white blinking icicle lights decorated One Stop Weddings, making it look like a Norman Rockwell painting.

All because of Izzy and her wedding-planning business.

He’d read online that they were hosting a ceremony for some couples who wanted to renew their vows tonight at the chapel. That the entire town had pitched in to make it happen.

Of course, Nellie Needlemyer was probably lurking around waiting for something to go wrong to feed the gossip vine.

He rubbed the envelope in his pocket, his nerves on edge. He could have mailed this to Izzy or sent it to her aunt when she’d butchered him over the phone, but he . . . wanted to see Izzy.

Correction. He
had
to see her.

He hadn’t slept the past few days for thinking about her. Wanting her.

Needing her.

He’d never
needed
a woman before.

Never had one get in his head so badly that nothing else mattered.

Hell, he’d finally understood his father, how he’d loved his mother so much that life seemed empty without her.

Izzy probably hates you.

Still, he’d driven all the way from Texas and put his job—hell, his life—on hold just to be here.

And ask for her forgiveness.

And . . . well, he’d like one more kiss.

He checked his watch. Dusk. Wedding time.

He veered onto the street leading to the little chapel on the hill.

Izzy and her sisters had bustled around all day finishing the wedding plans. The chapel glowed with candles that shimmered off the dozens of red and white poinsettias. White-laced bows adorned the pews, and soft piano music echoed through the sanctuary.

Aunt Dottie’s crocheted ornaments and the tiny silver wedding bells glinted in the candlelight. The ceremony had been personalized by the three couples, who’d included photos of their years together in the antique frames by the bridal book.

It was exactly the wedding she’d planned for Levi and Elsa.

And the one she would have wanted for herself.

She swallowed back the bitterness, and focused on the amazing couples who stood in line ready to stroll down the aisle to renew their vows. They had nearly a hundred and fifty years of marriage among them. Christmas music flowed around them, the mood so touching that she fought more tears.

Maybe the chapel was magical after all.

And tonight, it was packed. Caroline was snapping photographs while Daisy checked the flower bouquets and boutonnieres.

The wedding march began, and Sally squealed and spun around, watching her tea-length taffeta dress swirl around her ankles. “You like my dress, Aunt Izzy?”

Izzy stooped over to smooth the satin bow, then kissed Sally’s cheek. She’d fallen in love with the little girl the moment she’d set eyes on her. “Honey, you look like a princess.”

Sally bounced up and down on her patent leather shoes, her small hand already digging through the rose petals in the basket. Caroline had confessed that she hated raising Sally without a father, but Hugh had announced that he didn’t want to be a father to Sally, so she’d had no choice.

All the more reason Caroline and Sally needed to move to Matrimony permanently. Caroline hadn’t committed yet, but she and Aunt Dottie and Daisy were working on her.

Sally needed her aunts just as much as she, Daisy, and Caroline had needed Aunt Dottie.

“It’s time,” Daisy whispered.

Aunt Dottie and Uncle Harry led the processional, with Faye and her husband following, but just as Ruby and her husband started their walk, the back door of the chapel opened.

Izzy gasped when Levi stepped inside.

He was wearing a long black duster just like the one she’d suggested he wear for his wedding. His dark hair was combed back, although slightly brushing his collar, his chiseled jaw tanned.

He looked so sexy that he literally robbed her breath.

Somehow she’d forgotten how he curled her toes. At least she’d tried to forget.

But her heart stuttered wildly, and her knees wobbled.

“Izzy,” he said. “Can we talk?”

Oh, dear heavens. His gruff voice dragged her back to reality. Was he here to collect the money she owed? Or to cart her to jail?

She gestured toward the ceremony that was starting. “Can’t it wait until the ceremony is over? I don’t want Nellie to get another story out of this.”

Levi narrowed his eyes as if confused. “Out of what?”

She ducked into the corner by the ladies’ room and yanked him toward her. “My arrest. I don’t want to embarrass my aunt. She’s trying to save Matrimony.”

A small grin tugged at Levi’s mouth. “I’m not here to arrest you, Izzy.”

“You’re not?”

“No.” His look softened, and he removed an envelope from his pocket. “The widowed women Ray cheated were so happy to learn that their husbands loved them enough to die for them, and that you helped catch Ray, that they offered a reward.”

Izzy opened the envelope, shock bolting through her. A check for a hundred thousand dollars. “Is this for real?”

“Yes,” he said. “It’s all yours.”

Her stomach lurched as she looked up into his eyes. “Levi, I want you to know that I had no idea what Ray was doing.”

Levi’s eyes darkened. “I know that.”

“But you thought I was working with him,” she said, hurt still needling her. “That’s why you lied to me.”

Levi’s expression looked torn. “I knew something was fishy when I talked to Ray the very first time. I came here to find the truth. Undercover work is what I do.”

“But you still thought I was capable of conning those innocent people.”

“I don’t think I ever believed it,” he said gruffly. “But I . . . well, trust doesn’t come easily to me. A hazard of the job, I suppose.”

“And it obviously comes too easily for me,” Izzy mumbled in a self-deprecating tone.

“Don’t say that,” Levi said. “Trusting and believing in others—that makes you special.”

“Still, I was a sucker.” And she had made a huge mistake in marrying Ray. Maybe the magic lay in making the right choices. “But thank you for the money.”

She fanned her face. Lordy, lordy, she was perspiring, wanton images flooding her. She had to get away from Levi before she did something foolish like throw herself at his feet.

Would she never learn?

His masculine scent wafted around her, tangling her thoughts to an irrational level. “I can’t believe you came all the way here to give it to me. You could have simply mailed it.”

“Well, actually, there is something else.”

Now came the bad news. There always had to be bad news. “What?”

He dropped to one knee, slid his hand inside his pocket, and removed a ring box. Izzy gasped as he held it up and opened it.

“You told me everything you wanted in a wedding except the kind of ring you’d choose.” He swallowed hard, his hand shaking as he captured her hand in his. “So if this isn’t what you want, we can take it back. Or if you don’t want it at all . . . well, I’ll accept that.”

“Levi?”

He licked his lips. “I love you, Izzy. I tried to go back home and forget about you, I didn’t want to fall in love with you, but I did. And nothing seems right without you now.”

Emotions welled inside Izzy. She’d made so many mistakes. Could she trust her heart now?

He squeezed her hand. “Will you marry me, Izzy?”

His declaration rendered Izzy speechless. But the teardrop diamond glittered in the dim light, and her heart fluttered with love and hope.

“Izzy?” Uncertainty tinged Levi’s gruff voice.

Her throat felt thick. “I’m not sure I believe in marriage, Levi, not anymore.”

Levi gestured at the couples standing together renewing their vows in the candlelight. “Yes, you do. You couldn’t do this if you didn’t believe.”

Izzy had sworn not to trust again. Not to love again.

But sometime while she’d been starting this wedding business and Levi had been investigating her for fraud and murder, she’d fallen in love with him.

“Please, Izzy, don’t ever change.” He kissed her palm so tenderly that tears burned her eyes. “Don’t you see how much I need you in my life? How much I love you?”

“I love you, too, Levi,” she whispered. “But what . . . how would we work it out? I hate to leave One Stop Weddings just as it’s getting off the ground, and my sisters need me, and—”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “I don’t want you to leave. As a matter of fact, I’m going to stay a PI. Running my own business will be more flexible and give me more time for us.”

Izzy’s pulse pounded. “You’d move here for me?”

“I’d do anything for you.” His relieved breath rushed out. “That is, if you’ll be my wife?”

“Yes!” She threw her arms around him and knocked him over. Their
thunk
on the floor brought all eyes from the chapel turning in their direction.

A camera flashed, blinding her, but Izzy didn’t care if Nellie put this in the paper.

She closed her mouth over Levi’s and kissed him, a scandalous kiss that brought cheers and a round of applause from the guests in the chapel.

A kiss that told her that she and Levi would last forever because they’d found the magic they needed right here in Matrimony.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my incredible Amazon team: Hai-Yen for buying the novella and Kelli Martin for her invaluable help in making the story stronger!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo © 2008 Marie Williams

USA Today
bestselling author Rita Herron wanted to be a writer as a child but didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she earned a teaching degree instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job! She loves stories of all kinds and writes dark romantic suspense thrillers as well as lighthearted romantic comedies. She has over sixty titles to date and has won several awards, including a lifetime career achievement from
RT
, the Maggie Award of Excellence, and the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense.