stomach. When she reached them, she opened her bag, digging around inside the black leather before producing a ring box. Macy's eyes widened when her grandmother opened the lid.
'These belonged to your grandfather and I,” she said. “I want you to have them.'
Macy opened her mouth three times before she could get the words to come out. “I can't take those, grandma.'
'Sure you can. Your grandfather has been gone for a long time now. I'm sure he would love to know you were wearing our wedding rings.'
Macy stared at the two plain gold bands before looking back up at Sean. His gaze was darting around the room. He didn't look quite so calm now. Her panic must have finally rubbed off on him. His hand tightened around hers for a moment before his eyes widened a bit. “We forgot the marriage license, too,” he said.
'What?” Macy gasped, playing along. Turning her head to her mother, she stared at her, gaping. “Mom! How could we have forgotten something so important as rings and a marriage license?” Her heart was going to bust out of her chest any minute now. She was dizzy as the adrenaline pumped through her veins and she hoped for this sham to be over quickly. When her mother laughed and shook her head, Macy could only stare.
'Macy, calm down,” Rose said. “We didn't forget anything. Your grandmother offered the rings days ago. It was actually her idea for you to have them. The boys told me Sean had forgotten your engagement ring and when we decided you'd get married here, Grandma Avery offered her rings to us then. Lucky for us, she's had those rings in her purse since the day your grandfather died.'
'Oh.” Macy deflated a bit, looking at her grandmother's face. She looked excited and still held the ring box out to her. Macy took the box, closing her fingers around it before looking down at the rings. They were simple gold bands but had spent over fifty years on her grandparents’ fingers. Refusing them would hurt her grandmother more than having to take it from her dead grandfather's hand. She smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Grandma. I'll cherish them always.'
When her Grandma walked back across the room and sat down, Macy stared at her family. “We have rings but we still don't have the license.'
'Sure we do,” Bruce said. “I picked it up yesterday.'
Macy's eyes widened. “Huh?'
Bruce grinned and wrapped his arm around Pam's shoulder. “I went to town yesterday and got it.'
'But…” Macy blinked at him and shook her head. “You couldn't have,” she said. “We didn't sign for a marriage license.'
Bruce's face reddened a bit. “Well, that was a small technicality,” he said. “Luckily for me, Faye Robinson is the clerk of court.'
'Faye Robinson?'
'Yeah. You might have been too young to remember her but I dated her back in high school. Anyway, we're still friends and when I told her what we needed, she was more than happy to help out.'
Macy looked at Sean. He was watching Bruce with an unreadable look on his face. He must have felt as flummoxed as she did.
'How did you get a marriage license without our signature?” Sean asked.
'Easy,” Bruce said. “We fibbed on the paperwork.'
'You fibbed?” Macy asked, incredulous. “You mean you lied? That's illegal, Bruce!'
'So? I have the license. It's been entered into the registry. It just needs your and Sean's signature's to make it legal.'
Macy floundered like a fish, her mouth opening and closing several times before she turned to look at Sean. He was still watching her family. “Sean,” she whispered. “What do we do now?'
He looked down at her for long moments, his gaze boring into hers before he smiled. “Well, we tell them the truth… or, you can marry me.'
Macy stared at him, speechless. Had he really said what she thought he did? He raised his hand and cupped her face in his palm before smiling. “When you told me about your problem a week ago, I helped you because I wanted to,” he said. “I came up here knowing that I'd get to spend a week pretending to be something I couldn't ever be. Something I was too old to even dream about being.'
'You're not old, Sean.'
He smiled again. “I'm a lot older than you, Macy. You're young and beautiful and I'm… well, I'm just me. A veterinarian who is creeping closer to forty with every new year.'
'I've never thought you were too old for me,” she said.
He shrugged a shoulder and glanced around the room. “Being here with your family has been the best holiday I've had in years,” he said, looking back down at her. “Even with all the problems, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I certainly wouldn't trade what I've been able to share with you. I didn't lie when I asked you to marry me. I did want you the first time I saw you.” He grew quiet for long moments before whispering, “I still want you, Macy.” He smiled, his palm on her cheek moving to cup her chin. “I'm in love with you. I've never been as happy as I've been this week and that's all because of you. Marry me. Be my wife.'
Macy couldn't breathe. She stared up at Sean until tears clouded her vision and he became blurry. “You really want to marry me?'
'Yes. More than anything in the world.'
'What will people back home say?'
He grinned. “Who cares,” he said. “If they ask, we'll just blame it on the mistletoe.'
Macy laughed and blinked the tears away. “You really want to marry me?'
'For the second time, yes,” he said, grinning. “Do I have to get down on one knee and ask you again? I will if that's what it takes.'
He wanted to marry her? Sean was in love with her and wanted to marry her? Macy grinned before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. “I love you,” she said, when she pulled away.
'Is that a yes?'
'Yes,” she said. “I'd love to marry you, Sean.'
'The kissing is supposed to come last,” Matt yelled, earning laughs from her family. Macy glanced over at them and smiled before looking back at the preacher. “Can you make this quick,” she said. “We've wasted enough time as it is.'
'Yes, Ma'am,” he said, grinning. “One wedding ceremony, coming right up!'
When their vows had been spoken, her grandparents’ rings in place on their fingers, and the preacher announced them as man and wife, Macy stared up at Sean, her husband, and knew that every Christmas from that day forward would remind her of this day. The day the man she loved proposed to her and married her under the magical spell of the mistletoe.
About the Author
LILY GRAISON resides in North Carolina, a stones throw away from the Blue Ridge Mountains and a few hours from the Outer Banks. First published in 2005, her debut novel won a Reviewers Choice Award. Writing mainly in the contemporary romance genre, Lily also dabbles in erotica, paranormals and occasionally in a fantasy realm of her own making. Her love of adventure, and a very active imagination, take Lily to worlds she can only imagine.
Visit Lily at: www.lilygraison.com
