Magical Weddings (48 page)

“Hey, where do you guys think you’re going? Daisy, come,” he yelled, but she paid no attention. As he ran after them, he wished now that he’d driven his car to the park.

He hadn’t jogged in a while, and it showed. He had to keep up his speed, though, or he’d lose sight of them. When they crossed over onto Main, it was apparent that they were headed for the shore.

****

Kya stared out the window as Lyn buttoned up the back of her wedding gown. The grounds below had been transformed into a pink-and-white wonderland. Guests were being seated, and she shivered thinking that soon she’d be walking down the aisle.

“Are you okay?” Lyn asked.

“I don’t know.” She clasped her hands together to try to stop them from shaking.

“Well, don’t cry. You don’t want to mess up your gorgeous makeup.”

“Maybe I better grab a tissue just in case.” Kya reached for the box on the bedside table and noticed her cell phone beside it had a message. “Guess I missed a call when we were in my mom’s room.” She picked up the phone to listen to the voice mail and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh no,” she gasped. “Debbie’s in a panic because Lucky jumped the fence at the shelter and took off.

“I never should have left him there. And I shouldn’t be doing this.” Kya grabbed a fistful of chiffon from her dress. “Mark and I have nothing in common, and he doesn’t like dogs.” She knew she was bordering on hysteria, but she didn’t care. “Lyn,” she cried, “I can’t marry him!”

“This isn’t just about the dog, is it? No matter how much you might want to deny it, you’re in love with someone else.”

She shook her head sadly. “I’m not fooling myself into thinking there’s a future with Devon, but because of him, I know I should feel more than what I do for Mark. He’s not a bad guy, just not the guy for me.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“The first thing is, I’m going to find Lucky.” Kya lifted the front of her dress and was about to run out of the room when Lyn grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“You don’t have to go far.”

“What do you mean?”

Lyn spun her around and pointed out the window at the grounds below. “Look!”

A flash of brindle and white followed by a streak of reddish gold barreled down the aisle, knocking over a large urn filled with pink roses.

“I knew Lucky didn’t like Mark, but to go to this extreme, and to involve Daisy…” Kya laughed. “I’d better go get them before they do more damage.”

“Whoa.” Lyn held on to her arm. “Dressed like that? By the time you get down there, they’d have devoured the entire buffet table. No, you wait here. I’ll get them, and then I’ll get you out of your gown.” Without waiting for a reply, she took off at a gallop.

Kya watched the chaos outside a little longer, then started to dial Debbie at the shelter when the door to her room flew open. “Wow! That was quick…” She turned around expecting to see Lyn, but it was Mark standing there, looking like he was about to explode.

“That-that animal of yours is here, and he’s making a mess of things. There’s a golden retriever too.”

“Mark, I’m—”

He held his hand up. “It’s too late for an apology.”

“I wasn’t going to apologize.”

“You weren’t?”

“No. I was going to say…” She paused. “I am saying… I’m not going to marry you.”

He stared at her for a moment, then sank into an overstuffed armchair next to the window and put his head in his hands. A minute later, he looked up at her with what appeared to be relief. “We weren’t right for each other. I’ve known it for a while, but I didn’t know how to undo all of that.” He looked outside at the huge white tent full of splendidly dressed tables, then over to the perfectly manicured grounds where all their guest were seated, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

She blinked quickly, totally baffled. “Really? You felt that way too?”

He shook his head and undid his bow tie. “After last night, it was pretty clear things had gone from bad to worse. And now with the dogs…” He sighed. “Kya, we’ve got to go our separate ways. Besides, I shouldn’t be marrying anyone. All I do is travel.”

She went over to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you. Too bad we didn’t have this talk sooner, though.”

“Yeah, well, at least we had enough sense to do it before we said our vows and not after.” He kissed her cheek. “How do you want to handle it? Want me to go down and make an announcement?”

“No, I’ll do it. The last thing I want is for you to have to face my mom.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. You go on. There must be plenty for you to do to get ready for London.”

He gave her a hug. “I do love you, you know.”

“Same here.”

She watched him leave the room, then she slipped off her heels and padded over to the window, wondering what was taking Lyn so long. As she scanned the grounds, she heard footsteps behind her. “It’s about time.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Devon’s rich baritone voice was music to her ears.

She turned to face him. He looked sweaty and out of breath, but she could fall into his big brown eyes “Are you here for Daisy?”

“Not just.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “Then why else?”

He walked over to her and took hold of her hands. “I’m here for you. I know it’s too late. You’re getting married in a few minutes. I should have told you that I’m in love with you. Maybe then it might not have—”

She leaned forward and covered his mouth with hers, cutting off his words. Their kiss deepened, and he wrapped his arms around her waist at the same time she curled hers around his neck. When their lips parted, she said softly, “You’re not too late. Love’s never too late. Mark and I aren’t getting married.”

“Thank goodness,” Lyn said from the doorway as Lucky and Daisy bolted past her and into the room. “But what are you going to tell all your guests?”

Kya thought for a moment. “Everything’s already paid for, so just because I’m not getting married doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the day. As my mom would say, ‘Never pass up a chance to dress up and party.’”

“We could think of it as a dry run,” Devon added.

Kya opened her eyes wide. “A dry run?”

“For our wedding.”

Lucky thumped his tail against her legs.
See, I told you I’d get you two together somehow.

Devon looked down at the dog, then at Kya. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” she asked with a grin.

“I could have sworn I heard Lucky say something.”

Kya’s smile grew wider. “Well, maybe you did. Lucky’s an amazing dog.”

“You’re amazing.” Devon’s kiss was like a vow, and she’d never felt such happiness as she did at that very moment.

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Raine English writes sweet small-town romance, paranormal, and Gothic romantic suspense. She’s a Daphne du Maurier Award winner and a Golden Heart finalist. Her new lighthearted contemporary romance series, Love Always, will be available June 2015. It features three childhood friends who encounter a lot more than anticipated while searching for love. Raine lives in New England with her family and her French bulldog, Bailey. To learn more about her, visit her website at
www.RaineEnglish.com

Tamara Ferguson

Copyright © 2015 by:

Tamara Ferguson

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His eyes scoped out the beach as he struggled to reach the pathway from the parking lot, steering away from the crowd. Following the trail to the very edge of the sand, Luke stumbled over moss and patchy grass until he found shelter under a canopy of scrubby pines bordering the park.

He groaned, when he finally dropped down to the sand. His stepdad had really done a number on him this time–the pain was pretty intense. Resting his shoulder gingerly against the trunk of one of the pines, he sighed. It was such a hassle, having to constantly be on his guard–especially when he was always having to come up with excuses for teachers, explaining why he was missing so much school.

Luke grimaced. And hiding the welts and bruises? It was becoming nearly impossible–since a couple of the idiots in his class had decided to say something to his counselor, after seeing Luke without a shirt on in the locker room. Everything was beginning to catch up with him, he realized, as his eyes filled with tears.

But he was way too old to cry, he decided. With a shaking hand, he swiped away his tears.

He got a whiff of the smell of popcorn as it drifted through the air from the nearby concession stand–and his stomach growled.
Damn,
that smelled good. Luke took in a deep ragged breath as he focused his attention on the crowded beach. That little Callahan girl was at it again, making the rounds. With her white-blonde hair and deep-blue eyes, she sure was a pretty little thing. And, man, what a personality–he was guessing she was only about six-years old. Even at thirteen, Luke knew he’d been cursed with a
bad
reputation. And ever since he’d acquired that tat, not to mention the scar that ripped through the side of his face, most little kids, and nearly all of his classmates, seemed to be scared of him–like he was someone out of a horror flick.

But not her. She reminded him a little of his younger sister, Cassie. Just remembering Cassie made him cry a little harder.

For some crazy reason, Luke had always been drawn to this beach. Probably because deep inside he knew—all the stories and superstitions were true—Dragonfly Pointe
was
magic. It was the only place in this world that he seemed to feel alright. Here, he could forget about the deep, dark problems in his life, and chill out just long enough to recharge before returning home.

Home?
He snorted. He hadn’t had a home for a very long time, he realized, as he began dozing off.

An hour later, as Luke began to slowly awaken, he felt like something was off. Studying his surroundings, he turned his eyes to the far end of the beach, where sixteen-year old Dan Callahan was standing amidst a group of his friends. Although her twin brother Jeff was playing with some kids in the sand nearby, Kelly Callahan was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly noticing a pair of flailing arms far out in the water, Luke jumped to his feet after quickly glancing over at the lifeguard station.
Where in the hell was the lifeguard?
Racing across the sand and whipping his shirt off from over his head, he cringed as the scabs from the welts running across his back ripped open. Barely noticing the pain, he slipped off his sneakers and began to plow through the water until he was deep enough to begin swimming.

After what seemed like forever, he was finally close enough to Kelly to pull her into his arms. It appeared that he’d reached her just in time.

“It’s okay–I’ve got you, Princess,” he reassured her, as he began treading water. Luckily, she was light as a feather, because it took a few moments to calm her down as she coughed and spit out water.

“I’m sorry,” she said, still sputtering. Clinging more tightly, Kelly wrapped her arms over his shoulders. “I’m never supposed to go swimming by myself,” she said, in a shaky voice.

“Well, at least you’ll probably never do it again,” Luke said, calmly. He was beginning to feel light-headed. He’d already been exhausted after biking five miles just to reach Dragonfly Pointe. Plus he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had something to eat. “I need to get you back to the shore, Princess.” Prying arms loose, that were wrapped like an octopus over his shoulders, he stared into sapphire blue eyes, filled with fear. “You’re gonna have to trust me.”

Hesitating, she agreed with a jerky nod. Luke was guessing Kelly was beginning to sense the urgency of the situation, when she peeked around him nervously at the shore.

“You’ll need to let go of me–so you can lie back in the water.”

She looked ready to panic again, so pulling her more tightly into his arms, Luke rubbed her shoulders reassuringly.

Kelly spoke nervously into his ear. “Like doing the backstroke?”

“That’s right. I’ll be sure to stay underneath you, too, while I’m swimming–so that I’m holding up your head.”

Although she was obviously terrified, she allowed Luke to flatten his hand against her back while she followed his directives. Wrapping an arm around her neck, and holding up her chin, he propped up her body as her feet floated close to the surface of the water. With smooth, rhythmic kicks, Luke swam through the water effortlessly until they were closer to the beach.

Luke felt Kelly being lifted from his arms. When he slowly stood up, and his feet touched the ground, he found himself staring into the eyes of Kelly’s older brother, Dan. “You should’ve been watching her,” Luke muttered reproachfully, expecting resentment.