Something in his voice told her she could trust him to do exactly that. “I want a small wedding. Just family. I want to wear my mother’s wedding gown.”
At his startled look, she added, “I didn’t wear it when I married Paul. I saved it all these years so I could wear it if you and I ever got married.” She sniffed and wiped at the tears tracking down her cheeks.
“Consider it done,” he promised.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Suddenly she was uncertain. “Is that selfish? Is your mother right about this being important to you for business reasons?”
He laughed. “Sweetheart, my mother thinks every occasion is an opportunity to solidify business relationships. Don’t give that a second thought.”
“But she’s already invited the governor.”
“And I’m equally certain the governor has enough events to attend that he won’t mind if I call up and tell him we’ve decided to elope.”
“Elope? I didn’t say…”
“In a manner of speaking,” he added hastily. “I think perhaps we should plan the ceremony for Friday, tell the family they’re simply coming here for a rehearsal dinner and let `em know after it’s over that it was the real thing.”
Kelly chuckled as she considered how that news would go over with Mary Adams. “Your mother will kill us.”
“The most important thing is you and me getting married, right?”
No doubt about that, Kelly thought. She’d been waiting a lifetime for it to happen. “Right.”
He stood and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Then leave the rest to me. Six o’clock, Friday evening, you and I are getting married.”
Kelly flew off of her chair and wrapped her arms around him. “Jordan, I do love you.”
As soon as the impulsive words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She hadn’t intended to let him see so soon that her heart was on the line. It would have been far better to let him go on thinking that he was making a business acquisition of sorts.
He folded her into his arms and rested his chin on her head. She thought his heart was beating a little faster than usual, thought she detected a faint shudder sweeping through his body. Small signs, but they gave her hope. In time, surely Jordan would be able to say those words. In time…
Chapter Ten
The wedding was going to be as unconventional as the reasons behind it. An hour before the scheduled ceremony Jordan glanced around Kelly’s living room and surveyed the hastily accomplished preparations with a sense of amazement. Admittedly he was no judge of such things, but it looked perfect. Informal, romantic and unique, just like the woman he was marrying.
Dear heaven, he was getting married tonight! He had actually won the battle to claim Kelly’s heart. He was marrying a woman who’d been a part of his life for so long that he couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been important to him.
His proposal might have been impulsive, but he sensed without a doubt that he’d made the right decision. He and Kelly were a good match. Marriage wasn’t nearly so intimidating or confusing when it was approached in a logical manner. Obviously she’d seen that, as well.
“Nervous?” Luke asked, amusement in his dark eyes as he watched Jordan pace amid the bouquets of wildflowers set on every available surface.
“About marrying Kelly? Not in the least,” he said candidly. “About Mother’s reaction when she finds out this is the real thing, you bet. She’s going to pitch a fit. But if this will make Kelly happy, it will all be worth it. Frankly, I’m glad to be getting it over with. I keep thinking Kelly’s going to change her mind.”
Luke patted him consolingly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about Kelly. She’s been in love with you ever since I can remember. As for Mother, she won’t stay mad, not for long, anyway. Daddy will be so pleased by all of this, he’ll see to it she handles this with her usual aplomb. And as long as he’s happy, she won’t bat an eye.”
Jordan had his doubts, not about his father’s powers of persuasion, but about his mother’s flexibility. “I hope you’re right. I don’t want her and Kelly getting off on the wrong foot.”
“Standing up to her is the only way to get off on the right foot,” Luke said. “Jessie figured that out early on, while she was still married to Erik. She really had to take a stand once the baby was born or Mother would have taken over Angela’s upbringing. Mother finds Jessie a challenge, but she doesn’t dislike her. Besides, have you had any indication after all these years that Mother has anything at all against Kelly? It’s not as if you’re marrying some stranger.”
Jordan wondered about that. Kelly had seemed more perplexing to him lately than she had in all the previous years he’d known her. “If you say so,” he said, glancing anxiously toward the stairs. “I wish they’d hurry up.”
“You don’t want them down here before Mother and Daddy arrive, do you? Once Mother sees Kelly in her wedding dress and you in your tuxedo, she’s going to know something’s up. In fact, it might be a good idea for you to hide out in the kitchen for a while with Consuela,” he suggested, referring to his housekeeper. Consuela had been more mother than hired help to Jordan and all of his brothers. When Luke had elected to build his own ranch, rather than remaining at White Pines, Consuela had gone with him after assuring herself that she was leaving Harlan and Mary in the capable hands of her cousin Maritza. She had always loved Kelly, who’d been in and out of the Adams kitchen as a child. The minute she’d heard about the change in wedding plans, she’d insisted on coming along not just as a beloved guest, but to fix the wedding dinner and bake
