Seducing Zeb (Tarnished Saints Series) (27 page)

“Well, I won’t be able to make that, but tell me, have you planned a honeymoon yet?”

“We haven’t even discussed it, but I want to take Cat somewhere nice. And I want it to be romantic.”

“Then I have the perfect idea. I want you two to be the guests of honor and spend your honeymoon aboa
rd the Seduction.”

“The Seduction?” asked Zeb, thinking this sounded as if it was made for them.

“Yes, it’s the name of the cruise ship I’m employed on right now. Come have your honeymoon here. My treat. I’ll even make sure you get the honeymoon suite and the whole elaborate package.”

“Well, that sounds good to me. But let me ask Cat.”

“Yes!” she said from right behind him, having had her ear close to the phone and listening to the whole conversation. “I’ve never been on a cruise, Zeb. I would love to go. Especially since the ship is called Seduction. It’s perfect for us, don’t you agree?”

“All right then,”
said Zeb with a laugh thinking how wonderful this all sounded. “When does the ship leave port?”

“A week from tomorrow
. Can you make it?”

He pulled Cat into him and she snuggled against his chest. Then he kissed her atop the head. “We’ll be there,” he told him. “A
nd a cruise is perfect because Catalina and I are going to be enjoying our honeymoon to the fullest.”

Chapter 23

It was a week later and Cat nervously waited in the enclosed glass sun porch of Thomas and Angel’s house for the wedding to start. Her head was spinning from making all their wedding plans so fast. But since they were only required to wait three days after getting their marriage license before they could actually wed, and Zeb’s entire family pitched in to help however they could, everything was working out perfectly.

She’d talked it over with Zeb and they decided since they were going on a lux
urious honeymoon they would both try to change their ways a little and just have a small hometown wedding with the immediate family and some close friends instead of the huge, expensive one they both really wanted to have.

Actually, Nat
e had put a down-payment on Burley’s Bar since it was for sale again, and very cheap. And with Zeb’s professional help to rush through the closing, he was now the new proprietor. He offered the bar for the reception but Cat and Zeb had decided it was too dark and gloomy and instead had tents with tables and chairs set up on the huge lawn in front of Thomas’s house where they would have an outdoor wedding and reception.

“Cat, the music’s starting,” said
Laney walking into the sun porch with Aunt Cappy who had a bouquet of flowers in her hands. Aunt Cappy had the local florist in Kalamazoo make them up and they consisted of white and red roses with glitter-sprinkled baby’s breath. They matched the ruby and diamond necklace Zeb gave her and that she was wearing and would cherish forever. Zeb had told her they could pick out nice wedding rings, but with everything going on and Zeb trying to still take care of his clients this week, as well as help Nate with the bar, they just hadn’t had time. So they decided to just use the rings they’d been married with in Vegas until they could find replacements. Cat still had hers, as well as Zeb’s from the day she found it on the sink.

“The yard looks wonderful,” said Laney
. “And you were so lucky that it is a beautiful day and it didn’t rain.”

“
And let’s keep that thought,” said Cat trying not to break her good luck streak. She had a new outlook on life now, and since she’d been attending Laney’s meditations, she discovered how to still her mind and stay positive. “Thanks for all the help,” Cat said. “If it weren’t for you two and Angel and Candace, I don’t know what we’d have done.”

“You would have gotten married in the church like my brother would have wanted and then had your reception at the diner just li
ke everyone else in this family,” said Cappy in a scolding manner.

“I know
you’re not happy about our choice, Aunt Cappy, but Zeb and I wanted to do something different than his brothers. Besides, it is so beautiful by the lake and there is much more room for everyone outside and the kids don’t have to sit still the entire time.” I want to say thank you both again for standing up for my wedding. And Aunt Cappy, you being my maid of honor is special to me, because lately you have been reminding me a lot of my mother.”

“I hope that’s a good thing,
dear,” she said.

“A very good thing,” Cat answered, feeling the presence of her mother in the room every time Aunt Cappy was near.

Just then Cat’s brother Lorenzo walked into the room with a smile on his face and a baby in his arms.

“Lorenzo! You made it for the wedding.
” She ran over and hugged her brother.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said. “And Cat, I want you to meet the newest member of the family, Rose.”
Lorenzo’s wife and daughter followed him into the room and Cat greeted them as well, as this was the first time she’d ever met them.

“
So you named the baby Rose?” Cat looked down to the little baby girl in his arms. “She’s precious. And you named her after our mother.”

“I wanted our mother’s spirit to live on through my daughter. I wish I had known her as well as you did, but we can’t go back and change the past.”

“Are you going to walk me down the aisle?” Cat asked, feeling an emptiness inside her of not having had a father to love and give her away on this special day.

“Of course,” he said
, handing his baby to his wife who took their children and headed back out to join the rest of the crowd. “And Cat, although I know our father did some bad things and you hate him still, I want you to know that he was good to me. He’s gone now, and you need to forgive him and move on.”

“I know you’re right, Lorenzo
. And I will try, I promise I will.”

“We all make mistakes,” he told her. “But
as long as we learn from them, that’s all that matters.”

“Yes, and I think I am living proof of that.”
Cat thought about all the mistakes she’d made in her life and how Zeb accepted her without judging her past. He loved her for who she was and she loved him also and wasn’t going to try to change anything about him again.

Nate’s band started playing a unique version of the wedding march, and Cat followed Laney
and Aunt Cappy outside, holding onto the arm of her brother. Her stomach started twitching again and she figured her nerves were starting to get to her. She just hoped she wouldn’t get sick on Zeb on their wedding day.

Zeb looked up across the lawn to see the most beautiful girl in the world making her way toward him. Cat wore a sleeveless, long, white, lace wedding gown with a low neckline trimmed in small pearls. She looked so sexy showing her cleavage, and he had to admit that he liked it. Her hair was left long, just the way Zeb liked it, and hanging down past her breasts. Her nails were done in a French tip and her makeup was more subtle than when he’d first met her in the casino with very painted eyes and lips.  Now she looked more natural. Matter of fact, Zeb thought she looked as if she were glowing.

She was so beautiful she didn’t need makeup
or fancy baubles, though the necklace he’d given her did look impressive around her neck.

He looked at the crowd on the front lawn
and just smiled. It was mostly just Zeb’s brothers and their families. But they had invited a few extra guests from town such as Mrs. Durnsby, Gus from the gas station and his family, and Charolette, J.D.’s best friend.

Cat had managed to take a simple lawn and make it look
elegant. They had canopy-type tents set up with tables and chairs inside that were wrapped with white cloth and big red bows. Vases of wildflowers were atop each table, and Zeb and his brothers had built a raised platform for Nate’s band as well as a small wooden gazebo that they were going to stand under to get married. It, too, was decorated with flowers, ribbons and bows and was painted a bright white with yellow trim.

She had a talent for decorating
and Zeb was impressed by all her talents that he’d recently just found out she had.

Lorenzo s
topped in front of the priest and handed Cat over to Zeb. The music stopped as well, and Zeb felt an overwhelming feeling of love in his chest. He looked over to his best man and twin brother James who was wearing his cowboy hat with his tux and almost laughed. Zeb wore a black tux as well, with a white shirt and red bowtie. Laney stood to the side next to James and Aunt Cappy fussed with Cat’s hair.

H
e looked over to the front row where his brothers, Thomas, Levi and Judas were standing with their wives and their many children.

He wished the rest of his brothers could have been here, but he also realized it was short notice. But he and Cat didn’t wa
nt to wait to be married the second time around. And though this may be rushed it was not nearly as rushed as going to a drive-up chapel.

“Are you ready?” asked Reverend Black, the pastor from the Twelve Apostles
Nondenominational Church, looking over the top of his bifocals with the prayer book in his hand.

Zeb
looked over to Cat and smiled. “We’re ready,” he said.

The appropriate prayers were said and when it came time for the vows, they had written their own.

Cat was first, and he listened intently.

“Zeb, I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” she said. “I know I was very manipulative with my ways when we
first met, but I feel as if I’ve changed since we’ve been married – the first time,” she said and laughter went up from the crowd. “I don’t want to change you, because I love you just the way you are.”

“Even wit
h two black eyes?” he asked, and again a laugh went up from the crowd. “Especially with two black eyes,” she told him. “After all, it shows what we’ve been through. I gave you one black eye and the other you got defending me. Thank you. For everything. And I will be so happy to be your wife.”

Then it was
Zeb’s turn to say something, he took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Cat, I know our road has been rocky but together we can pave the way to our future. I look forward to growing old with you and to raising a family with you as well. I know I’ve lived a life that most people would think is reckless and crude, but I’m willing to change however I can so we can start a new life together.”

“Don’t change
too much, though,” she said, her hand going to her ruby and diamond necklace.

The crowd chuckled again and then it was time for the rings.

James stepped forward and pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it and took out two rings and dropped them into Zeb’s hand.

“These aren’t our rings,” Zeb said, looking down to
his palm to see the ornate gold and diamond wedding rings James had bought when he thought he was marrying Cat instead.

“I know,” said James. “But I want you two to have them.”

“James?” asked Cat looking up to Zeb’s brother. “Are you sure?”

“Use them for now,” he said. “And if you decide you want to sell them and replace them later, I won’t mind.”

“I don’t know,” said Zeb, thinking maybe James was still wishing it were him being married to Cat. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“Zeb, you are my twin brother
,” said James. “We’ve shared our looks, our clothes and . . . even our girlfriends in the past.” Again a chuckle from the crowd. “I know you and Cat are in love and that you two were meant for each other. I’m more of a simple kind of man and Cat is – more complex and enjoys being surrounded by the finer things in life - like you. It never would have worked between us, and I have no hard feelings about any of this. I love you both – as family and nothing more. Now please accept the rings as my token of appreciation to have such a wonderful brother and now a wonderful sister-in-law too.”

“Well,” said Zeb, running his hand over the back of his head. “What do you think, Cat?”

She looked up and smiled at James, then looked to Zeb and nodded slightly. “I think you’re lucky to have a brother like James and that we should accept his gift because it came from the heart.”

“Not to mention you really paid for those rings at the poker table anyway,” James said with a smile.

“That’s true,” Zeb agreed. “All right, then,” he said, taking Cat’s hand in his and glancing over at the preacher. “Just keep this short and simple,” he whispered.

“Of
course,” Reverend Black whispered back. “Repeat after me.”

The vows were said and the rings
exchanged and then the preacher made the announcement. “I now pronounce you man and wife. Everyone, let’s congratulate the new Mr. and Mrs. Zebedee Taylor.” The crowd clapped and cheered and then the preacher looked back at Zeb. “You may now kiss the bride.”

“Now this part, I’ve been waiting for,” he said, pulling Cat into his arms and kissing her passionately – much too passionately to be doing it in front of everyone.

“Oh my!” he heard the ex-mayor, Mrs. Durnsby gasp.