Sweet Tomorrows (33 page)

Mark promised me he'd only be away as little as two weeks, but it'd been nearly two months and I had yet to hear a word from him. By all that was right I should be climbing the walls with worry. Certainly I was troubled, but when I felt my mind drifting down that crooked pathway, all I had to do was remember the cradle the Porters had delivered. I felt the cradle was God's sign that Mark would return to me, with none of the consequences of his last visit. I clung to that promise with both hands as if I was clinging to the water edge of a lifeboat, holding onto a single rope.

My resolve only faltered once, and that was when Emily and Nick came to see me.

The instant I saw the smile on Emily's face and the way Nick looked at her, I knew the two had found the path that led to each other.

“What's up with you two?” I'd asked, although I could clearly see they were in love. “I thought you were going to wait four months before you got together again.”

“Not happening,” Nick answered for them both.

“So I see.” It was hard for me not to say I told her everything would work out.

We sat inside because of the weather. The autumn rains had arrived and lasted a good week before the air turned cool and crisp. Already the trees on the property had turned, and the leaves glowed with tinges of orange, yellow, and brown. Just the other day, I'd spent a full afternoon with my rake in hand, with Rover racing crazily across the lawn. Autumn was my favorite time of year, and more than anything I looked forward to sharing those crisp mornings with Mark.

Emily and Nick took a seat, and I noticed they held hands.

“Em and I have decided we want to be married,” Nick announced.

I clasped my hands together, so pleased it was all I could do not to leap to my feet and embrace them both. “Congratulations.”

“If possible, we'd like to be married at the inn,” Emily said. “Neither one of us wants a large wedding. What's important is that we're together.”

My eyes watered with happy tears. “Looks like you're going to get your house after all.”

Nick raised Emily's hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “We plan to fill those bedrooms by adopting foster kids.”

“What a wonderful idea.”

“I knew almost from the first that Em was the one,” Nick said, turning to look at her with such adoration that I felt my breath hitch. No one needed to spell it out. The way Nick looked at Emily with such love and tenderness twisted my stomach. It was the way Mark looked at me just before he'd left for the Middle East, as if I were his everything and he couldn't imagine life without me. In the same way Mark completed me, Nick completed Emily and she him.

I was happy for them both. Reaching out, I spontaneously hugged Emily.

She hugged me back. “I didn't believe any of this was possible. It really is like a dream come true.”

Nick's arm was around Emily. “You can see why we would like to be married at the inn.”

“You believe what I told you about the inn now, don't you?”

Emily's smile was answer enough. “I'm a convert.”

“I am, too,” Nick added.

“Holding the wedding here would be perfect.” Together we'd check the books and come up with a date that worked for us both. “What can I do to help?” I asked.

Emily's face was filled with joy. “Don't worry, I've got this covered. After all, I've already planned two other weddings.” She laughed. “I never thought I'd be grateful for being jilted twice, but I am. With all my connections, I'll be able to arrange everything in a matter of hours.”

“You know what they say about the third time around,” Nick joked.

It did my heart good to see these two this happy. The inn had worked its wonder yet again. Paul's promise to me had been fulfilled over and over. I had to believe that promise included me and Mark.

After Emily and Nick left I remained sitting, and rays of sunlight broke through the steel-gray skies just before the sun sank behind the Olympic mountain range. Rover strolled over and joined me. “I knew they were meant to be together,” I gloated. My wish was that one day our children would play together and be friends. I knew Emily and Nick wanted a family, and so did Mark and I.

I heard a car door close in the distance. My guests had gone and I wasn't expecting anyone else until the following day. Standing, I walked around the corner of the porch and came to a shocked standstill.

Mark stood in the middle of the driveway, a duffel bag at his feet.

Mark. Alive. Vital. Healthy.

It took a full minute for my breath to find its way back into my lungs. When I could breathe again, I flew down the steps and threw myself into his embrace. Wordlessly, he grabbed hold of me, wrapping his arms around my middle as he lifted me off the ground. His hug was hard enough to injure my ribs, but I couldn't have cared less. I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in, relishing the fact he'd come back to me.

Overcome with emotions, neither one of us seemed to be able to speak.

Then for no reason I can explain, other than relief, happiness, and joy so profound it was impossible to hold it in, I started to sob. Not little ladylike sobs, either, but giant, gulping, oxygen-stealing ones that shook my entire body.

“Baby, baby,” Mark whispered. “It's okay. I'm here. I'm home.”

“Home,” I repeated when I could breathe again, lifting my head so I could look at him. “You're home.” His facial features were blurred from the tears clouding my eyes. The one thing I could plainly see was his smile, which was wide and happy. Dazzling in its intensity.

Mark set my feet back on the ground and brushed my hair away from my face, holding it in place with both of his hands. “I told you I was coming back.”

“And I told you I'd be waiting.”

He kissed me then with the hunger of a man who'd waited far too long for this very moment. He cupped my ears as he angled his mouth over mine in a kiss I felt in every part of my being. His kiss was rough and tender both in one. As if he wanted to swallow me whole, devour me. With a single kiss he told me how much he'd missed me, how deeply his love ran. When he lifted his head, he used his thumbs to wipe the moisture from my cheeks, and I saw there were tears in his own eyes. Seeing them made me love him all the more. He'd been afraid he would lose me, lose himself, but he could relax now.

“You're more beautiful than I remember.” His voice was husky with emotion.

I responded with a hiccupping sob. “Hey, you haven't been gone that long.”

He braced his forehead against mine. “Long enough to appreciate beauty when I see it.”

Minutes slipped past as we stood holding each other tightly, as though we would lose something vital if we broke apart. Rover's bark demanded our attention. He stood on his hind legs, his front paws braced against Mark's leg. Mark bent down on one knee and lavished attention on my dog. He ruffled Rover's ears and stroked his fur and murmured softly, “I'm back, boy. Glad to see you did as I asked and looked after your mistress.”

When he straightened, we headed inside, our arms wrapped around each other's waists.

Mark immediately went to the cookie jar and helped himself. He bit into a peanut-butter cookie, closed his eyes, and savored the taste.

“Typical man,” I muttered.

“Love you. Love your cookies,” he said, with a smile that rivaled that of a Cheshire cat.

“It's finished?” I asked, needing to know that he was mine now and there would be no more struggles, internal or external, that would lure him away from me and into danger.

“It's done. Mission accomplished.”

“You can't tell me what it was?”

“Sorry, love, perhaps one day. Just know my being there made a difference. A big one.”

I pressed my head against his shoulder, loving the way his arm automatically went around me. “My hero.”

Mark kissed the top of my head, his lips moving down to the side of my neck. “I'll never get enough of the taste of you.”

That sounded just fine to me as I reluctantly broke away from him. “I have something to show you,” I said and reached for his hand, dragging him to my private quarters. Opening the door, I stepped aside in order to reveal the cradle, which I'd set up in the corner of the bedroom.

His gaze went from the cradle he'd so lovingly crafted and then back to me. “What…how?”

“The Porters stopped by when they came over for a family wedding. Maggie said she felt the strongest urge to return it.”

Mark came to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my front and flattening his hands on my stomach. “I hope we can put that cradle to good use in short order.”

Leaning in to him, I pressed the back of my head against his shoulder. “That's my hope, too.”

Then, because I had so much to tell him, I twisted around and blurted out the news about Emily and Nick.

“They're getting married?” he repeated.

“Here at the inn,” I added.

For the first time since he'd returned, Mark frowned. “Not in the gazebo, though. I want us to be the first couple married there.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the engagement ring he'd given me. “No worries there; they have no intention of waiting until spring to marry. Emily has decided on a Christmas wedding.”

Mark approved. “That's only a couple months away. They certainly aren't letting any grass grow under their feet, are they?”

“Seems to me if she can put a wedding together within two months we should be able to do the same.”

“But the gazebo…what if it rains or snows?”

“We'll figure something out. We'll decorate it with evergreens and lights and make it so beautiful no one will care what the weather is like.”

As far as I was concerned, the shorter our engagement the better. I told him so.

“Could we pull it off in that amount of time?” he asked. “I'm not waiting for you any longer than that.”

“Mark! Are you serious?”

“As serious as a pipe bomb.”

My mind whirled. Could we do it? I had no idea, but I was certainly going to do my best to make it happen.

Mark and I were married on a beautiful, sunny December afternoon. Emily served as my maid of honor and Bob Beldon stood up for Mark. He'd worked for days decorating the gazebo, and it was like something out of a magazine photo, with multicolored lights. Each column was circled with strings of evergreen boughs. A gust of wind came as we exchanged our vows, and our eyes locked on each other. It was fitting, seeing how crazy our lives had been almost from the moment we met. A whirlwind, swirling our lives, but we'd managed to stay together.

My parents were with us and my brother and his family, plus several of my friends from my life before I purchased the inn. And friends from Cedar Cove, too. All in all, there were about thirty people at the ceremony.

Our small wedding was everything I'd hoped it would be. As the pastor spoke, my gaze drifted toward the inn, and my heart swelled with love and appreciation that I had been led here. It wasn't by chance that I'd found this place. I'd been guided. Just as Paul had promised, I'd found healing here, and so had my guests.

Standing at my side, Mark slipped his arm around my waist and his gaze followed mine. He gave me a gentle squeeze.

As we headed toward the house for a luncheon buffet, he whispered, “I wish I had known Paul.”

“He chose you for me, you know.”

“Yes, and I'll always be grateful. If you're willing, I'd like to name our first son after him.”

Tears filled my eyes and I nodded.

“He brought me you,” Mark whispered and kissed my temple.

And more. He'd led me to the inn, knowing I would find a new life here. A new love. A reason to move forward and live again.

We were inside the house with our wedding guests. There was chatter and joy as our family and friends moved through the buffet line. Mark held on to my hand as if he found it difficult to let me go.

Later that evening, once the inn was empty, Mark and I stood outside on the porch, overlooking the cove and Christmas lights strung across the marina and downtown. My heart was full, overflowing.

Mark stood behind me, his arms wrapped securely around my shoulders as we gazed upon the bright lights and the shimmering water below.

It felt like heaven to be here with him, knowing he wouldn't leave me again and that from this day forward we would be together.

I thought about all the guests who'd come to stay at the inn over the last three years and all the ones who had yet to arrive. Deep down I knew there would be healing for them, too.

The Inn at Rose Harbor. A special place that had touched lives yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A home where Mark and I would raise our family and fill it with love, laughter, and the joyous sounds of children.

I could hardly wait for whatever the future held.