Authors: Terri Dulong

Tags: #Romance

Sunrise on Cedar Key (24 page)

BOOK: Sunrise on Cedar Key

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W
hen I awoke the next morning, I felt momentarily disoriented. I heard Lucas's soft breathing beside me and smiled. Holding up my left hand, I felt my smile grow wider as all of the events from the night before came rushing back.

Making love with Lucas was everything I knew it would be. Falling asleep in his arms was pure bliss.

I shifted carefully so as not to wake him and stared at the handsome face of the man I had committed to marry. My heart constricted with sorrow as I recalled his loss of Genevieve, but I knew without a doubt that together we would always keep her memory alive.

Lucas stirred, opened his eyes, and smiled.

“I want to wake to that beautiful face for the rest of my life.”

“You will,” I said. “And I have the ring to prove it.”

He laughed and reached for my breast.

I sighed as his hand slid slowly down my body, igniting the desire of the night before.

“You have to open the bookshop, don't you?” I mumbled.

“I'm the owner, and right now I'm going to make love to my fiancÃ©e.”

Who was I to argue?

“I think I hit the jackpot,” I said, taking a bite of the omelet that Lucas had prepared. “Not only are you handsome, witty, and charming, you're the best chef I know.”

Lucas laughed as he refilled my coffee mug and joined me at the table.

“Oh, and by the way,” I told him between bites, “I really
can
cook. Maybe not as well as youâbut you won't be expected to do all the cooking in our house when we're married.”

“I enjoy cooking, but yes, we will share the cooking if you like.” He took a sip of coffee, then reached for my hand. “Grace, there's one more thing I wanted to discuss with you that I didn't get to last night.”

What more could there be,
I thought.

“About children,” he began.

But I cut him off. “Yes ... I know, and I know even more so now. It's okay, Lucas. Really. I understand why you don't want a childâand I'm okay with that. I really am. We have each other, and ...”

Now he cut me off. “No, no. I also gave that a lot of thought over the weeks we were apart.” He took a deep breath. “I love children, Grace. You have no idea how much. But losing Genevieve ... well, it frightened me. The thought of having another child and something happening ... well, I wasn't sure I could face that again.”

“And now?” I asked.

“And now I know we have no control over those things, but to never take another chance would be an even bigger loss.”

I swear I could literally feel my heart swell with even more love for this man. “And so, you mean ...”

“I mean, let's see what happens. Is that agreeable to you?”

I jumped up to throw my arms around Lucas's neck and laughed when he pulled me into his lap.

“Yes,” I said, stroking the side of his face. “Yes, that's extremely agreeable to me.”

He kissed my lips and then gently pushed me up. “Okay, now be a good girl and go eat your breakfast or you'll have me dragging you off to bed again.”

I laughed as I sat in my chair. “And that would be so bad, why?”

“Because I do have to open that bookshop by noon and you have to get home to poor Annie.”

I glanced at my watch and saw it was eight-thirty.

“Right, but Suellen said she'd go over around seven this morning and let her out again for me.”

“And when you called her last night, you didn't tell her we were engaged?”

I smiled. “Nope. I only told her I was spending the night here. I heard a snicker come across the phone line and would swear she was thinking, âI told you so.' She was convinced we loved each other and would get back together.”

Lucas laughed. “She was right.”

“So I'm going to invite her over this afternoon and I'm going to tell her and Aunt Maude at the same time. God, they'll be ecstatic.”

“And Chloe? Are you going to tell your sister we're engaged?”

During all of our talking the night before, I had told Lucas about the part that Chloe had played with me and Beau.

“If she finds out I'm engaged, it won't be from me.”

We were gathered at Aunt Maude's kitchen table, and I looked across at two expectant faces waiting for me to say something.

“Okay.” I let out a chuckle. “Knowing how you both thrive on good news, I wanted to share my very exciting news with the two people I love at the same time.”

I whipped my left hand, which I'd been hiding under the table, out in front of them as I said, “Lucas and I are engaged.”

“Lord above,” Aunt Maude said at the same time Suellen jumped up so fast from her chair that she knocked it over and came to scoop me into her arms.

“I knew it. I just knew it,” she kept saying in between bursts of laughter. “I knew you two were destined to be together.”

Aunt Maude laughed. “Oh, Gracie. I couldn't be happier for both of you.”

“Thank you, thank you,” I said, standing to take a mock bow, glowing in the limelight.

Suellen righted her chair and sat back down. “Okay, now details. We want details as to exactly what happened. I take it all is forgiven about Lucas seeing you with Beau?”

“Yes, that's true. But I have a lot more to fill you in on and all of it isn't happy. Actually, it's quite surprising and sad.”

I went on to tell them about Lucas's daughter, his loss, and the difficulty he had dealing with all of it.

“Oh, my goodness,” Aunt Maude said, shaking her head. “It's no wonder Lucas was cautious. What a horrific ordeal to go through.”

I saw the tears glittering in Suellen's eyes. “God, I can't even imagine what I'd do if something happened to Ashley. That poor man. Does anybody ever get over something like that?”

“Not easily,” Aunt Maude said. “But it sounds to me like Lucas has worked through it and gotten to a good place. And Grace, I have no doubt you had a lot to do with that.”

“Oh, gosh,” Suellen said. “Well, it certainly makes sense now why he never wants any more children.”

I smiled. “That's not entirely true. He feels he's ready to take another chance. He loves children, so who knows. We've both agreed to see what happens.”

This caused Suellen to jump up again, rush over, and pull me into a tight hug. “Oh, girlfriend, I'm so happy for you. You and Lucas will make the best parents.”

I laughed at her exuberance and confidence.

“So when's the wedding?” she asked.

“We haven't set an exact date, but we're thinking October.”

“Oh, perfect time with the cooler air arriving.”

“And, Aunt Maude ... we were wondering if maybe we could get married in your garden? It's such a beautiful spot, and this house really feels like home to me.”

“Grace, I'd be honored. The garden will be a perfect spot for a wedding, especially in autumn.”

“I'm so excited for you,” Suellen said. “My little first-grade friendâfinally getting married.” Tears filled her eyes again.

I laughed. “And romantic that you are, I'd love for you to be my matron of honor. And I'm going to need lots of help choosing a gown, doing decorations, and all that sort of thing.”

She began laughing and crying at the same time.

“Really? Your matron of honor? Of course I will! And any help you need, just let me know. Oh, gosh, this is going to be so much fun. Hey,” she said, reaching out. “Let me see that ring again. It's gorgeous.”

I proudly displayed my left hand. “It belonged to Lucas's grandmother.”

“It's really lovely, Grace,” my aunt said. “Family heirlooms are so special.”

It didn't escape me that neither my aunt nor Suellen had mentioned Chloe's name at all.

Lucas and I were relaxing with coffee after dinner in my living room. Both Annie and Duncan were curled up side by side at the end of the sofa.

I smiled. “I think they're both going to adjust very well to living together.”

“I agree. They've always liked each other, which is nice.”

“Oh, hey,” I said, putting my mug on the table. “Gosh, we have so many things to discuss about getting married. Where will we live? Your place or mine?”

“Well, I did give that a little thought and it's really up to you, but I thought maybe here might be better. With you doing the knitting retreat weekends, you have your office out there in the carriage house and ... besides, your place is larger. You knowâjust in case we need that extra bedroom.”

I smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. “Yes, I know, and I like your way of thinking. Okay, so
here
it is. I have no doubt my aunt will be pleased to have us upstairs.”

“See, that was easy. One thing settled. What's next on the list?”

“I mentioned to my aunt that we'd like to get married out in the garden, and she said that would be fine. I think she was thrilled that we'd chosen her prized garden for our wedding. Oh, maybe we should decide on a definite date?”

“Good idea. Got a calendar?”

I jumped up to retrieve the one from my desk. “Here we go,” I said, laying it out on the coffee table.

Lucas thumbed the pages to October. “Well, do you want early or late October?”

I stared at the boxes and numbers. “Hmm. Well, we don't want it hot and humid, so maybe later October? How about the twenty-fourth?”

“Sounds good to me, and remember that trip to Paris that I'd mentioned? I'm taking you to Paris for a two-week honeymoon. If you would like that.”

I threw my arms around Lucas's neck. “Like it? I'd love it! Oh, wait till romantic Suellen hears this. That will be such a special trip.”

“It will be, and if you don't mind, I'd like to take you to PÃ¨re Lachaise Cemetery while we're thereâso you can meet my daughter.”

“I'd like that, Lucas. I'd like that a lot,” I said, placing a kiss on his cheek.

“You won't need me to do the shopping for a gown and that sort of thing, will you?” he asked.

I laughed. “No, you're excused from that duty, Mr. Groom. Suellen will be my assistant with that.” This caused me to think of Chloe again.

“Forgiveness is hard, isn't it?” I said.

Lucas nodded and pulled me into the circle of his arms as if he knew what I was thinking and wanted to give me comfort. “Forgiveness can be very hard, yes. But ... it's also very necessary in order to go on with one's life.”

“Have you forgiven Danielle?”

Lucas didn't answer right away. “A part of me has,” he then said. “But a part of me still blames her for taking my daughter away from me. Maybe that's natural. I don't know. But I do know that until I was willing to forgive her I was stuck. I was going nowhere, and that's when I made the decision to relocate to Brunswick. And now, I can't help but feel that move ultimately led me to you.”

I smiled. “The same with me. Maybe I had really forgiven Beau long before I even realized I had. I've now come to understand that it was
me
I was having a hard time forgiving for all these years. But when I saw him again, spoke with him, I suddenly knew the time had come to also forgive myself.”

“Sometimes we're much kinder when it comes to forgiving other people.”

“Do you think Chloe is sorry for what she did? Calling Lila and telling her about Beau and me.”

BOOK: Sunrise on Cedar Key

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