Waiting for You (23 page)

“Actually, I think Kate is planning a little get-together,” Devon
answered. “Perhaps tomorrow?”

“Kate was in on this?” It was Aidan’s turn to scowl. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Once Alex and I settled on our plans, I called to introduce myself
and to ask if she minded our family descending on her winery for a
while. She was all for it. I believe it was her husband’s idea to surprise
Aidan, too.”

“Of course it was.” Aidan rolled his eyes. “I’ll have to thank him for that one personally.”

Karise
bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Go get Zoe. You can thump
Gavin later. Can you two come by for whatever Kate has planned?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he promised.

Karise watched him go, her head spinning from all that happened
in the past few hours.

“He’s cute.” Jane came to stand by Karise.

“He’s a total doll.” Alex joined them.

The three women watched him stop to chat with the kids in the
yard before hopping in his truck and pulling away. Now that she’d abandoned her fears and agreed to marry him, she wanted to do just that, right away. She couldn’t wait to start their life together.

Her attention was pulled away from Aidan’s retreating truck back
to her family. She had two nieces and a nephew to meet, and years to catch up on.

KARISE COULDN’T HELP
peeking through the curtains one more
time, wondering why Aidan wasn’t back yet with Zoe. Of course,
maybe it was for the best that he wasn’t here to listen to Devon recount
their welcome to Gavin and Kate. The former was enjoying the tale entirely too much.

“I even scheduled a meeting with her, thinking that would ensure
she’d be home and free.” Devon shook his head as if he didn’t know what to do with his incorrigible little sister.

She turned from the window to frown at him. “I sent you a text
canceling.”

“I didn’t get it; I was on a plane on my way here.”

Karise shrugged. “I tried.”

“I can’t help it if you two can’t keep your hands off each other.”

Karise couldn’t be sure if he was teasing. She surprised herself with
her response, though. “Have you seen him?”

Alex snickered. Kate beamed. Gavin guffawed.

“You seem especially eager for Aidan to get here tonight,” Kate
observed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled, but I’m beginning to wonder
if there’s something going on here.”

Karise’s only response was a knowing smile. She’d asked her family
not to tell Kate and about the engagement until Aidan arrived. Now
he was taking so long to get back, she was about to burst with the news.

“You two really should come visit us in Tuwanga sometime.” Alex
steered the conversation away from Aidan and Karise gave her a look
of gratitude. “It’s a lovely little island. Although your home is like
something out of a painting.”

“Actually, this is my aunt’s home. Karise is building us a home
of our own on the other side of the property,” Kate explained. “I’ll have
to show it to you tomorrow. It’s amazing.”

“I’d like that.”

“You don’t seem like royalty,” Gavin observed, then amended, “In
a good way.”

“We’re not,” Daniel corrected. “Lani is the only royal. I’m her guardian.
Alex is just a tagalong.”

Alex smacked Daniel’s arm. “You are such a jerk.”

“But a handsome jerk,” he reminded her.

“You’re not as cute as you think you are.”

Karise would have begged to differ. Daniel’s bright, pretty eyes reminded Karise of the ocean. His hair looked like it had been kissed
by the sun. He had a solid jaw and the kind of body that made women
give a happy little sigh before they could catch themselves.

Of course, Alex was a beautiful woman. She shared Devon’s coffee-
colored hair and toffee eyes. They even had the same dimple. She
was long and lean and full of sass. Karise realized with a start that a good part of her avoiding Alex for so long was she felt inferior. Now that she owned the emotion, it seemed obvious and kind of stupid.

Her revelation was interrupted by the rumble of Aidan’s truck.
She brightened, forcing herself to wait for him to park before going
to greet them. She opened the door just in time for Clyde to happily let himself in.

“That’s a lot of dog.” Daniel let out a low whistle. One of his toddlers
made a beeline for Clyde while the other took off in the opposite
direction, terrified. Lani glanced up from her phone to see what Daniel
was talking about before returning to the text conversation that had held her captive for the better part of half an hour.

Zoe came bursting in right behind Clyde, greeting Karise with a
delighted squeal before realizing the room was full. Shyness overtook
her and she leaned in to whisper in Karise’s ear, “We got you a present.”

“Really? Thank you, sweetie.” She gave Zoe a quick hug.

“Hello, my love,” Aidan greeted her with a kiss.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Karise admonished lightly, accepting
the bag he held out to her.

“Someone wise told me good things are worth waiting for,” he reminded her, a twinkle in his eyes. “Open it.”

He closed the door behind him, leaning against it and watching Karise as she peeked inside the bag. She pulled a small box from it, opening it with trembling hands.

“It’s a ring!” Zoe clapped. “I
knew
you were going to marry my daddy.”

Karise was vaguely aware of Kate’s happy dance. Her eyes flew from the ring to Aidan and back again. “It’s beautiful.”

He took the ring out of the box, holding it up so she could examine
it. The round cut center stone was framed by two smaller pear cut stones.
The delicate white gold band swirled around the diamonds prettily. “It’s called ‘Poppy.’ That seemed fitting.”

“It’s perfect.” She held her hand out for him to slide it over her
finger. It fit as if it had been crafted for her alone. She grabbed the back
of his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him. Not to be left out, Zoe hugged Karise’s leg.

Aidan scooped up his daughter, wrapping her in the hug he gave
Karise. “My girls are perfect.”

Kate rose to join the hugging party. “I’m going to die of happy right here and now.” Gavin proposed a toast to the happy couple as
laughter and congratulations flowed freely. Zoe was thrilled to be part
of the center of attention. She also was completely and totally enthralled
by the real-live queen in their midst, who’d pulled herself away from the phone to enchant them all.

Karise watched Alex interact with Lani, wondering how long it had taken the pair to form such a close bond. Maybe Alex could offer Karise some advice on being a stepmother. As it was, the prospect terrified Karise. Her time alone with Zoe had proven to her the mom gig wasn’t her forte. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to have it nailed down.

Dinner was a noisy affair; the conversation never dimmed. Jonathan,
the youngest in the room, took it all in with wide-eyed fascination.
Alex’s twins treated him like a new play-thing – he wasn’t quite sure
what to make of that. Kate surprised them all by announcing that he’d
have to get used to it, because she and Gavin had decided to try for
their second child.

“Two children under two years old?” Aidan shook his head. “You
know, most people call that an accident.”

“Kate never does anything by the book anymore.” Gavin shrugged.

“I used to always do everything by the book,” she reminded him.
“It’s your fault, Gavin. You created this monster.”

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her tenderly on the lips. “And I’ve never regretted it for a second. I’d have a dozen babies with you. We do good work.”

“How many children do you guys want, Karise?” Daniel surprised
her with the question.

“Not a dozen,” was Karise’s laughing response.

“But maybe close,” Aidan amended, earning him a wary look from
Karise.

“Can we compromise and say four?”

“You’re having
children
?” Zoe dropped her f
ork
and
stared
at them.

“It’s been discussed,” Aidan began cautiously.

“
But we’re mostly being silly right now,” Karise assured her. “When
we get serious about that topic, you’ll be in on the discussion.”

“I’m not sharing my room.” Zoe’s entire face went into her frown.

“Then I guess we need to start by finding our compromise on that
house addition, huh?” Karise kept her tone light. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alex smack Daniel on the arm and she had to stifle a giggle.

“You know Zoe, Devon and I are going to have children soon,” Jane joined the conversation.

Zoe nodded, turning her attention to the woman. “Yep. Two girls
and a boy. Will they be as pretty as you?”

“Thank you for that lovely compliment.” Jane blushed a little.
“
They don’t look like me, but they are each very beautiful. I can’t hardly
think of anything else besides bringing them home. I think that’s why
Devon brought me with him, so I don’t sit at home watching the
calendar.”

“And I’d have been sad if he hadn’t,” Karise amended.

“You know, one of our little girls is just about your age. You’ll
have someone new to play with next time we visit. Or maybe you
could come visit us sometime.” Jane had a way about her that had
Karise nodding right along with Zoe. There was such love pouring
out of Devon’s eyes when he watched her; it made Karise’s heart happy
to see them together.

In fact, each of the couples surrounding her had that. Karise looked
around the table, marveling at what she saw. All of their stories were different, but each had the same central theme running through it: Love wins. Karise had spent the bulk of her life thinking love was a pipe dream meant for fools, and she couldn’t have been more wrong. She’d spent so much time focusing on the pain Victoria had caused Pablo that she’d ignored the years of happiness that came with his
marriage to Lucia. Her focus had been all wrong; she’d given way too
much attention to the bad things. That stopped now.

Dinner wound down as they all declared they were much too full
for dessert, although the kids managed to squeeze in a bite of cake
before their mothers declared it bath time. As Kate went to get Jonathan
ready for bed, Alex roped Karise into helping her wrangle the twins. Jane and Zoe were sitting on the floor playing with Zoe’s pixie dolls. Karise couldn’t help noting that Jane seemed to be faring better than Karise had in that department.

“You guys should go dancing after the little ones are in bed. I can
babysit.” Lani surprised them with the offer.

Alex paused, looking to Daniel and raising an eyebrow. He turned
to look at Lani, as if trying to decipher her intentions.

“Please let me. When I’m in America, it’s my only chance to be a normal teenager.” The girl had perfected the pleading face.

Daniel softened. “Does everyone even want to go out?”

“I never in a million years thought I’d say this, but I’m too tired
to go dancing.” Alex was the first to answer, looking slightly horrified
at the words that had tumbled out.

“I think we all are,” Karise reassured her.

“But you could go do something,” Lani persisted. “Karise got
engaged today! That has to be worth celebrating.”

“You know what?” Devon stepped in. “She’s right. We’re together
for the first time ever, Karise is getting married, Jane and I are finally
going to have our family – we do need to celebrate. Thank you for the
offer, Lani.”

“We don’t have to go all the way into the city,” Gavin suggested. “I think there’s a pub in downtown Napa that has a nice patio with some live music.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with so many kids?” Aidan
hesitated
.

“The little ones will be asleep, so that just leaves me and Zoe. What
time do you want her in bed?”

“Eight,” Aidan and Karise both answered. It was his question to answer, but she was proud she knew the answer too.

“That gives us a whole hour to watch a little TV and maybe paint
our toenails.”

“Can we, can we, can we, Daddy?” Zoe hung from his leg and looked up at him with her most imploring eyes. “Please?”

“Do you promise to be good? To mind Lani?”

Zoe nodded, beaming at him. She knew she’d won. And just like that, plans changed gears. The little ones were bathed and put to bed
while Zoe was tucked in on the couch, delighted to be chatting with a real-live queen. Karise couldn’t blame her. She was a little awe-struck
by the 17-year-old, too. The young woman would have stood out even
if her world had been a mundane one. Her perfect olive skin was even
prettier against the deep pink dress she wore. The occasional tendril
of rich brown hair found its way loose from the braid cascading down her back, perfectly framing her wide chocolate eyes, straight nose and
full lips. There was a hint of a natural pout to those lips, making Karise
think Daniel would’ve had his hands full if Lani had gone to public high school.