Harbor Lights (28 page)

“Mommy looks really, really beautiful,” Carrie told Trace.

“I’ll bet she does,” he said.

Caitlyn reached for his hand. “Wanna see?”

“Nope, it’s bad luck,” Trace said, holding back.

Both girls stared at him, not comprehending. “How come?”

“It’s just a silly superstition,” Mick said. “But women believe it, so men have to act accordingly.”

“I don’t get it,” Carrie said.

“Neither do I,” Mick said. “How about I take you two over to the inn? We can check and make sure everything’s ready for the ceremony. Trace, you want to come along? We’re just in the way around here.”

“I’ll grab Davy and meet you there,” Kevin said. “I want to go over his duties as ring bearer again. Otherwise the wedding rings are likely to wind up at the bottom of the pool.”

Trace frowned at him. “Don’t even joke about that.”

Kevin patted his shoulder. “Settle down. Everything is going to go smoothly. Davy is going nowhere near the pool, with or without the rings.”

“Okay, fine,” Trace said, wiping his brow.

Mick shook his head, his expression pitying. “For a man who was so intent on getting on with this wedding, you’re in a sorry state today.”

“I’ll be fine after the ceremony,” Trace repeated. “Has anyone heard from my folks?”

“They’re meeting us at the inn,” Kevin reminded him.

Trace nodded. “Right.”

“In case you were wondering, your sister’s inside with Abby,” Mick added. “Now that everyone’s accounted for, can we go?”

“Sure,” Trace said, following Mick and the girls to the car.

Fifteen minutes later, Kevin found them on the lawn at the inn where chairs had been set up on the grass for the ceremony. Tents had been set up for the reception following the service. The bay, splashed with the colors of sunset, would serve as a backdrop for it all.

There were only about fifty guests expected, and most had already arrived. He spotted Shanna, holding Henry’s hand, standing off to the side. He crossed to her. She saw Davy and immediately knelt down.

“Don’t you look handsome,” she told him, adjusting the collar of his tiny tuxedo. Then her gaze met Kevin’s. “How are you doing? You look almost as nervous as the groom.”

“I have a lot of responsibility making sure my kid makes it down the aisle with the rings,” he told her. “Trace is already freaking out about it.”

She chuckled. “Based on what I saw, Trace is freaking out about everything.”

“If you ask me, your friend Laurie and Drew had the right idea. Do all this on impulse and get it over with.”

“Now there’s a romantic notion,” she commented.

“Georgia and I put our wedding together in two days and got married in the airport,” he said, then wished he’d kept his mouth shut when he saw Shanna’s expression. She looked dismayed. “I suppose you had a big, fancy wedding.”

“It was really, really big,” Henry confirmed. “I was there.”

Shanna sighed. “Which just goes to prove that it doesn’t really matter what kind of wedding you have. There are no guarantees.”

“True,” Kevin said, suddenly feeling deflated. Lately he’d been feeling more optimistic, about his life, about the two of them. Now, in less than a minute, he’d brought them both down.

“Look, I’d better get Davy over there with the rest of the wedding party. I’ll see you after the ceremony, okay?”

She nodded.

He started away, then turned back. “You look beautiful by the way. I don’t think I mentioned that before.”

She smiled self-consciously.

“Even prettier than the bride,” he added.

She chuckled then. “Don’t you dare say anything like that to Abby. She’ll be justified in hurting you.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

As he walked away, he fingered the jeweler’s box in his pocket and wondered if somehow before the end of the day, he’d find the courage to ask Shanna to marry him.

Shanna stood on the inn’s lawn, openmouthed with shock, when Abby’s bouquet landed in her arms. She hadn’t even been aware of reaching for it.

“Well, I guess that all but seals things,” Bree said in an undertone. “You have to marry my brother now.”

Shanna laughed. “I don’t see his name tucked among the flowers.”

“Well, you certainly can’t run off and marry someone else,” Bree said indignantly. “It wouldn’t be right.”

Kevin walked up just then and scowled at his sister. “Go away, Bree.”

“I’m just saying—”

Kevin cut her off. “Go away. I’ll take it from here.”

“You know she’s just looking out for your interests,” Shanna told him.

“She’s implying that I can’t figure out what I want and go after it,” he said. “Come on. I feel like taking the boat out.”

“But the boys—”

“Gram and Mick are taking them back to the house.”

“You were so sure I’d agree to go with you?”

“I was hoping. Well? Are you coming with me?”

With her heart hammering in her chest, she nodded and followed him to his car. Minutes later they were on the boat and he was casting off.

When they were in the middle of the bay, surrounded by sparkling water, stars and moonlight, he dropped anchor and let the boat drift. Then he joined her at the railing.

Shanna turned to face him and lifted her gaze to his. “What do you want, Kevin?”

“You,” he said without hesitation.

She blinked at the certainty in his voice. “Really?”

“You had to know that,” he said, studying her. “What about you? What do you want?”

She’d risked her heart by taking Henry in. It had paid
off, too. The court had agreed to let him stay indefinitely. Now she dared to risk it again. “You.”

“I wasn’t sure after the way I treated you.”

“I’ve wanted you for a long time,” she admitted candidly. “But I wasn’t sure I had the right to love anyone or to be loved after what happened with Greg and Henry.”

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of being loved,” he told her. “Can we start fresh, Shanna? Can we move forward from right this moment with no secrets between us, and see where we go?”

“I already know where I want us to go,” she said, not willing to wait. Life could be all too short, something he should understand even better than she did. She regarded him with a moment’s uncertainty. “You do know that Henry and I are a package deal, right?”

“I knew it the first time I saw you with him,” he said. “I think Davy will like having a big brother. I know I’ll love having a stepson when the time comes.”

When the time comes?
His words sent a chill through her. He was hedging his bets. She could tell. He wasn’t all in, not the way she was.

“I thought you knew what you wanted,” she said. She gestured around them. “I thought that’s what this was all about.”

“I do know,” he insisted. “But I rushed into marriage once for all the wrong reasons. I want to take my time with you, savor every step. When you and I get married—and there’s not a doubt in my mind that we will, just so you know—it will be because we’re both a hundred percent ready for that kind of commitment. We have two boys to consider, too. They need a family they know will last.”

Shanna saw his hesitation as an unwillingness to com
mit, as an inability to trust what they had. He was looking for guarantees that were impossible.

“Kevin, I’ve already said I love you and I meant it, but—”

A look of pure panic crossed his face. He cut her off. “Marry me,” he blurted.

Shanna reeled from the sudden change. “What?”

“I don’t want to lose you. Just now, I saw that look in your eyes and realized you might walk away. I can’t let that happen.”

She studied his face intently. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I started thinking about this weeks ago and then Henry appeared and I started coming up with a thousand and one excuses for waiting. Bottom line, just like you, I know what I want. Why wait?”

She regarded him doubtfully. “Less than a minute ago, you wanted to wait, to make sure you weren’t making a mistake like the one you believe you made with Georgia.”

“I can’t argue with you about that. The timing, the circumstances…” He shrugged. “I believed Georgia and I had something special. I wanted to believe it. And I’ll never regret that I have Davy because of that decision.”

“Of course not,” she said.

“I know what I want,” he insisted. “For real this time. There’s not a shred of doubt in my head or in my heart. I want you and me and those boys, forever. Maybe a couple of girls of our own.”

“You don’t get to pick,” she reminded him.

“Girls, more boys, it won’t matter. The point is that you’re the wife I want, this is the family I want. Waiting won’t change that.”

She wanted to believe him so badly. “You’re sure? A hundred percent?”

“A thousand percent,” he said. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a box. “See. I’ve been carrying this around. I walked down Main Street at least three dozen times planning to come in and propose.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Something held me back,” he admitted.

“Paralyzing fear maybe?”

He shook his head. “No, I was waiting for this. You and me, with stars in the sky, a path of moonlight on the water. I wanted to give you the romance. Being out here on my boat, with the lights and stars sparkling on the water, beckoning us back to shore, to home, it just seems right.” He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “We’re both always so darn practical. For once I wanted things to be special. I wanted to do something you’ll remember always.”

Her lips twitched slightly. “You proposing is pretty memorable. The setting is just the icing on the cake.”

“And this?” He slid a diamond onto her finger.

She studied the ring in the moonlight, seemingly fascinated with the way it sparkled. “How could I not say yes to a man who just gave me the stars?” she whispered. “Who knew you had that kind of magic in you?”

“It’s not me. It’s love. It brings out the magic in everyone.”

And as he looked into her eyes, Shanna knew it was true. What they had was magic. Maybe even strong enough to guarantee forever. But even if magic alone wasn’t enough, she knew with everything in her that they had what it took to make it. They just had to keep their hearts open and listen.