My Sweetheart (24 page)

             
Jane nodded and threw her arms around Tate’s neck, holding him tightly. “Yes! And Toa and Kam and your cousins are going out to Hunter’s house in the morning to start the pig roasting in some pit or something so it will be ready for the reception. Kit thinks it’s great and Julie is ordering more tables for all of the Samoan food that your family is bringing. Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked leaning back to look in his face.

             
Tate was blinking fast and looking away and Jane stopped and touched his cheek. A tear slipped down his face and she hugged him tightly laying her head against his chest. Tate held her back hiding his face in her hair as he struggled to control his breathing.

             
Layla and Kit walked into the room and stopped but turned around and immediately left them alone. Jane ran her hands up and down his back soothingly until his emotions were under control again. He lifted his head and let out a breath, a large smile covering his face.

             
“I can’t believe it. I was sure it would be years and years before my aunt and uncle changed their minds.
What did you do?”
he asked, his mouth lifting on one side.

             
Jane laughed. “Now why do you think I had anything to do with this? It’s obvious that your uncle and aunt adore you.”

             
Tate raised one black eyebrow and stared at her. Jane sighed and stepped back from Tate, shoving her hands in her apron pockets. “I might have seen them the other night and introduced myself to them. I think I might have mentioned how much I love you and how much I honor and respect them and how grateful I am for them loving you and raising you to be the incredible man that you are today,” she said quickly, blushing as he stepped closer to her trapping her against the glass case.

             
“You are the most amazing woman in the entire world,” he said and picked her up in his arms and swung her around until she begged him to stop.

             
Tate set her down, his eyes light and his face beaming. “This is going to be the best wedding,” he said to himself with a shake of his head.

             
Jane bit her lip and grabbed his hand. “Tate? You know, after the wedding I suppose we’re going on a honeymoon. Have you decided
where
we’re going so I can pack?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

             
Tate laughed and shook his head. “I keep telling you, it’s a surprise. I probably won’t see you tonight by the way. I get off late and I promised to talk to my uncle and that will take a while. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

             
Jane frowned and waved him off. “Dang it,” she muttered and went back to work.

***

             
The next two days flew by and Friday night, Jane and Tate sat at a table with Michael and Layla as they watched Kit and Hunter mingle at the wedding dinner.

             
Jane stared around the art gallery mesmerized by the paintings and sculptures and knew this had been the absolute perfect choice of venue.

             
“Kit must be in heaven,” she said smiling at her sister, beaming at Hunter as he laughed at something an older man was saying to him.

             
Layla nodded her head and patted her lips with her napkin. “Hunter’s parents are determined to make everything perfect for Kit. They practically worship her,” she said happily.

             
Tate frowned a little and turned in his seat as he stared at Jane. “You probably feel like Cinderella watching everyone at the ball but not getting your own wedding dinner, huh? I’m sorry Jane. My family couldn’t afford it even if they had approved of our relationship from the beginning. I hope you’re not too disappointed.”

             
Jane stared at him in surprise, but her mouth was full of crab cake and she couldn’t say anything. Michael reached over and patted Tate on the shoulder. “Tate, everyone knows how thrilled Jane is to be married to you. I’ve always thought wedding dinners were kind of unnecessary myself. I mean, you’re having a huge party with food the very next day, right?”

             
Jane nodded her head. “Tate, I’m not disappointed. Really, I’m not. Don’t feel bad,” she said reaching out and grabbing his hand. “But if you are feeling bad, the one thing that would probably make you feel better is to tell me where we’re going on our honeymoon.”

             
Layla and Michael laughed and Tate relaxed, grinning at Jane. “Ah Sweetheart, I can’t tell you. How will it be a surprise if I just blurt it all out?”

             
Jane pouted and turned her head away, ignoring Tate. She was totally losing patience with the man. “How in the world am I supposed to pack?” she said under her breath as a waiter brought over a tray of desserts for her to choose from.

             
Tate leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Pack your swimsuit, that’s all you’re getting from me.”

             
Jane pursed her lips thinking of all the places in the world where she could swim. “That’s not the best hint.”

             
Tate laughed and picked a large piece of strawberry cheesecake. “I wasn’t trying to give you a hint. I was trying to help you pack.”

             
Jane glared at him and Layla laughed. “Look Michael, it’s their first fight. Isn’t that cute?”

             
Jane turned and stared at Layla and raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? We’re amusing to you?”

             
Michael laughed and held up his hands. “She’s pregnant. She’s allowed to be feisty. If you don’t mind, I’m going to take my girl over to the dance floor and work off a little dinner before I eat any dessert.”

             
Layla stood up, blowing a kiss to Jane. “We’ll be back soon.”

             
Tate and Jane watched them go and turned to look at each other. Tate scooted his chair closer to hers and leaned over and took her hand in his. “Tomorrow, you’re going to be Jane Matafeo. You only have a few hours left to back out on me.”

             
Jane shook her head and leaned over and kissed Tate lightly. “You mean
you
only have a few hours to back out.”

             
Tate laughed. “Are you kidding, why do you think we’re getting married so fast? I’m scared to death you’ll realize you’re making a mistake and run for it.”

             
Jane put her arms around his neck and grinned at him. “I bought my wedding dress months and months ago while you were still pretending you didn’t like me. I’m in this Tate.”

             
Tate sighed happily and kissed her cheek. “Pretending was right. And I wasn’t very good at it either.”

             
Jane fixed Tate’s tie for him. “You never told me how it went with your uncle? What did Toa want to say to you?”

             
Tate took a bite of his cheesecake and shrugged a little. “Just that he’d been horribly wrong about us being together and then he asked me for forgiveness and told me he loved me. You know, the typical conversation.”

             
Jane laughed her eyes softening as she saw how happy Tate was that he and his uncle were on good terms again. They spent the rest of the evening dancing and enjoying themselves but when Tate dropped her off back at home, she started to get butterflies.

             
“I don’t know how I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” she admitted as he walked her to the door.

             
Tate hugged her gently. “Dream of me. Dream of us swimming through the water together.”

             
Jane snuggled in close to his chest and sighed. “
Mmm
, I’m going to love Hawaii,” she murmured tiredly.

             
Tate stiffened and pulled away from her with a frown. “Who told you we were going to Hawaii?
Was it Feke?
Because I’m going to kill him if it was,” he said dangerously.

             
Jane slipped out of his arms and jumped up and down as she clapped her hands excitedly. “
Oooh,
I got it out of you! I am so excited,” she said opening the front door. She blew a kiss to Tate who was still frowning fiercely and shut the door and locked it.

             
Tonight, she would dream of Hawaii.

             
Jane woke up the next morning at six and was surprised to find that she had slept well the night before. The wedding ceremony itself would be at ten and the reception would start at six that night. She peeked under her bed at the boxes of cinnamon rolls she’d bought at the grocery store to decorate Kit’s car with. Kit was going to die laughing.

             
After her shower, Layla pounded on her door insisting on helping her get ready. But she had to run back and forth between her room and Kit’s room since she was doing double duty. Before she knew it, she and Kit were downstairs, in their wedding dresses staring at each other with big eyes and bigger smiles.

             
Kit walked over and grabbed her hands. “I can’t believe we’re both getting married today. This is too amazing, too good and I’m
way
too happy. Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”

             
Jane grinned and reached over and straightened Kit’s pearl choker. “It’s very real because if it’s not I never want to wake up. How do I look? Too poofy?”

             
Kit grinned and looked her up and down. “For me? Yes. For you?
Never
. You were born to out-poof us all. Any woman brave enough to marry Tate Matafeo would have to have the swag to pull this dress off. And you do. Beautifully.”

             
Jane laughed and looked down at her over- the- top dress.
Swag
. That’s what she had. “Well, thank you Kit. I feel much more able to flaunt all this lace now. Now you,
you
look amazing. And I’m so glad you left your hair down. Hunter will be so happy.”

             
Kit smoothed her hands over her hips and sighed happily. “The man is crazy in love with me. What can I do? I live to make him happy.”

             
Layla hurried into the room and took a picture with her phone. “That was a cute shot, but you girls have to get going now. Michael’s here with the limo. Get a move on, we’re burnin’ daylight.”

             
Kit and Jane paused and looked at each other in horror. “No way did she just quote John Wayne to us,” Kit said, staring at Layla as if she were an alien.

             
Jane raised her eyebrows and picked up her skirts with her hands. “Let’s just put it down to pregnancy hormones and forget it ever happened. I blame Michael.”

             
Layla laughed and ushered her two younger sisters out the door.

             
For the next two hours, Jane felt like she was watching herself from a distance. But when she was instructed to kiss her husband, she didn’t hesitate. It was a quick light kiss since there were so many people staring at them, but it finally dawned on her,
she’d done it
. She’d married Tate. She blinked her eyes in surprise and he cupped her face with his large gentle hands.

             
“I love you,” he whispered softly just for her ears.

             
Jane nodded, ignoring the tears that slipped gently down her face. “I know.”

             
Tate grinned and wiped a tear away. “And you love me.”

             
Jane closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “More than you’ll ever know. More than you’ll ever need. You are
very
loved.”

             
Tate leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes too. “My Sweetheart.”

             
Twenty minutes later, they were surrounded by friends and family and being pulled in seven different directions getting their pictures taken. After an hour and a half of pictures her cheeks were hurting and she needed a break.

             
Layla put an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Honey you look a little worn down. Let’s get you home and out of that dress. You can have a little nap and then we’ll meet at Hunter’s house for a light lunch Julie is making us and then we get to prepare for the reception. Sound good?”

             
Jane nodded her head and looked for Tate. He was standing with a group of his cousins and was looking around for her. “Let me go tell Tate I’ll be leaving okay?”

             
She reached Tate’s side and he held his arm out for her. She slipped her arms around his waist and smiled up into his face. “Layla wants me to leave now. What are your plans my darling husband?”

             
Tate frowned and glanced at Layla. “
What?
We’re married now. We stick together.”

             
Pika stepped forward smiling at her nephew and patted his cheek. “No Tate. You will come home with us. Hunter said to come for lunch but
you and Jane
?
Together?
No
no
.”

             
Jane blushed and laughed at Tate’s stern expression. Kam laughed and pounded Tate on the back. “The honeymoon doesn’t start until this is all over brother.”

             
Jane giggled, horribly embarrassed and quickly kissed Tate on the cheek and hurried back to Layla. Kit waved goodbye to Hunter who looked just as abandoned as Tate. They drove in the limo back to the bakery where they quickly changed out of their dresses. Layla ordered them both to take a short nap since they’d be exhausted by the end of the day if they didn’t.

             
Jane lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, but instead of sleeping, she went back over every moment of her marriage ceremony, sighing happily and stretching out on her bed. One of the best parts was seeing how happy Tate was that his aunt and uncle were there to be with him.

             
Now, the only thing left?

             
The party of her life.

             
She must have fallen asleep though because at two o’clock, Layla was peeking her head in her room and knocking on the wall the same way she’d done when they were girls getting ready for school.

             
“Jane, it’s time to go over to Hunter’s house for lunch. We’ll just bring your dress over with us. We’ll need to pack your luggage for your honeymoon so that you don’t have to come back for it. You can wear something casual right now if you want,” she said walking into the room and sitting on the bed beside her.

             
Jane sat up and yawned sleepily. “I’m wearing jeans then.”

             
Layla grinned. “Of course you are. Listen, I know you’ll be twenty three in a month, and you’re a woman of the world and all that stuff, but mom isn’t here to talk to you and I just wanted you to know that if you
, um
, have any questions
uh
. . . about
um
, later tonight when you’re with Tate . . . I’d be happy to explain things to you,” she said, blushing bright red.             

             
Jane laughed out loud and flopped on her back again. “The birds and the bees? I think I have a basic understanding of how things work, but thank you for being so willing to share your bounteous knowledge with me,” she said giggling helplessly.

             
Layla picked up a pillow and whacked her with it hard. “You think it’s so funny. Here I am, just trying to be a good sister. . .”
Whack
“ . . .and you have to mock me,” she said throwing the pillow at Jane for good measure.

             
Kit poked her head in Jane’s room and frowned. “A pillow fight? Why didn’t you invite me?” she said and picked up a pillow and began whacking Layla with it.

             
Jane wheezed out a laugh and pointed to Layla. “Kit, she was giving me the birds and the bees talk and got mad at me when I started laughing.”

             
Kit grinned at Layla and sat on the bed. “Where’s
my
talk? Just because Jane is the youngest doesn’t mean I don’t need some advice.”

             
Layla pushed her blond hair back and glared at Jane before turning to Kit. “We’ll call it advice then. Jane is acting like an immature eighth grader in health class. Come on Kit,” she said and dragged Kit out of the room.

             
Jane smiled and watched them go. She was nervous but she trusted Tate to be gentle with her like he’d already promised. She’d be fine.

             
She quickly got dressed and carried her dress bag and suitcase downstairs. Kit was already there, directing Michael to her bags. Jane hurried back up to grab her purse, her carry on and her sack of cinnamon rolls for Kit’s car and glanced at her bedroom one last time. This was the room where she’d dreamed of Tate, where she’d realized she was in love with him and this was where she’d dreamed of being married to him. She smiled and shut the door, hurrying downstairs. Sometimes, reality was way better than a dream.

             
It took them thirty minutes to get to Vashon Island and as soon as they drove down Hunter’s long gravel driveway she could see Tate standing on Hunter’s large wrap around porch. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she watched his face turn from stern to happy. She jumped out of the car as soon as it came to a stop and ran to him. Tate caught her easily in his arms and kissed her deeply.

             
“What took you so long?” he demanded. “I missed you.”

             
Jane glanced over her shoulder at Layla and Kit and laughed. “The birds and bees. There was so much I didn’t know,” she said with a straight face.

             
Tate raised his eyebrows in surprise, letting her down slowly. “Uh, Jane, did you
need
that talk?”

             
Jane burst out laughing and he narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re going to get it,” he threatened and then grabbed her, tickling her until she begged for mercy.

             
Jane stared in awe at the small army of people canvassing Hunter’s beach. The wedding planner was busy with her crew setting up tables and tents and a dance floor. Julie and Hunter came out to greet them and ushered them inside. After a light lunch of salmon cooked in lemon and dill, salad and rolls they helped Julie with the last minute details.

             
Meredith and Tawni showed up an hour before the reception and carried her three wedding portraits to different areas. Tate had already changed into his tux and came over to see what they were smiling over.

             
Jane glanced up as he approached and bit her lip. Meredith had had very strong opinions about what a wedding portrait should be. She slowly turned the large frame around and showed Tate.

             
Tate’s eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly as he stared at the portrait of Jane, in her wedding dress, sitting on a bench surrounded by flowers holding a large cupcake in both her hands, holding it up so that only her large brown eyes were seen above the dessert.

             
Tate shook his head, grinning. “I love it,” he said taking the portrait in his hands to get a closer look. “It captures Jane completely. Her playfulness, her cupcakes and her beauty. We’re hanging this in the bakery for everyone to see,” he said, still staring.

             
Jane laughed and glanced over her shoulder at Meredith. “You owe me twenty bucks. I knew he’d love it.”

             
Meredith shrugged. “He hasn’t seen the others. You’re not getting one cent yet.”

             
Jane laughed and took her portrait and set it on the easel Tawni had brought for the occasion. Meredith dragged them to the next portrait set up by the table for gifts.

             
“No way will he approve of this one,” Meredith said, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

             
Jane smiled as she looked at her favorite portrait. Even if Tate didn’t approve, she did. Meredith had taken her to a local elementary school and had her swing on a swing. Meredith had caught her as she’d leaned back, staring up at the sky as if she were caught in a daydream.

             
Tate’s face softened and he touched the frame with one finger. “
Beautiful,
” he whispered and put his hand behind Jane’s neck, bringing her face close to his so he could kiss her.

             
Meredith cleared her throat. “Okay,
okay!
No honeymooning yet. Fine, he has good taste in photography. Listen, I am not a professional photographer but that’s what you get for free. This last one is okay, but I don’t know,” she said, dragging Tate to the last portrait.

             
Jane picked up the portrait and turned it around to face Tate and Meredith. It was a picture of Jane laying in the grass surrounded by fairy tales. There was an old Cinderella picture book opened, one of Rupunzel, Beauty and the Beast and Snow White and on Jane’s chest she was holding a picture of Tate over her heart. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling slightly.