Picture Perfect (Weddings by Design Book #1): A Novel

  Cuddling up against Drew, I felt contentment settle over me. I’d found mine, no doubt about it.

  When the roar of the crowd—both the one on television and the one in the Rossis’ living room—settled down, my father rose and stretched. “Well, that was great fun,” he said with a half smile. “But now I have a little announcement to make. Hope it gets you just as excited as the show did.”

  My mother’s eyes widened. I’m sure this impromptu move of his had her nervous. I certainly wondered what he had in mind.

  “It’s almost Christmas,” my father said, reaching into his back pocket. “And I have a little gift I’d like to present. Early, I know. But appropriate under the circumstances.” He took my mother by the hand and asked her to join him.

  She rose, looking plenty nervous. “Michael, what are you up to?” she whispered.

  “Watch and see.” He handed Mama an envelope.

  She opened it, and her eyes widened as she pulled out a notecard inside and read it. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Michael, am I reading this right?”

  “You are.” He bowed and grinned. “I’ve signed us up for ballroom dancing lessons. A twelve-week course, lasting through much of the spring.”

  “W-what?” I stared at him, blown away by this news. “Are you serious?”

  “Sure am.” He turned to face Mama, who brushed away tears. “I planned to wait until Christmas to tell you, but I figured this would be the perfect night, since everyone is in a dancing mood. And who knows . . . maybe next year we’ll be so good at the tango that we’ll get invited to be on that crazy show.” He did a funny little jig across the room, and everyone erupted in laughter.

  I didn’t bother to tell him that one needed to be a celebrity to be considered for Dancing with the Stars. Let the man reach for the stars. He might very well find himself dancing on one. After all, he did have connections now.

  My parents took to kissing, which got a couple of whoops and hollers out of the men in the room—as well as Bonnie Sue, who seemed to get a kick out of it. Mama blushed in my father’s arms, which got me tickled. And a little embarrassed.

  Bella rose and faced the group. “Well, while we’re on the subject of good news, I have something to share. I got a call from Brock this morning. He wanted to let me know that he snagged twenty tickets for next season’s Dancing with the Stars premiere show. He’s sending them to me and told me to give them to whoever I wanted.”

  We began to talk on top of one another, voices overlapping as everyone vied for a chance to land the tickets. This, of course, led to a debate about who loved dancing more. I listened in as the ladies in the room took their turns, sharing their love of the show and of dance in general.

  At one point, Bella looked my way. “What about you, Hannah? You want to go to Hollywood to watch the show?”

  “I’m a dance fan, no doubt about it.” A little sigh escaped as I thought about that. I gave her a smile. “Do you remember that day at Parma John’s when I told you that I wanted my lilt back?”

  “Sure do, honey,” Twila chimed in. “I’ve been praying about that very thing, but I daresay you’ve found it.” Her brows elevated as she looked back and forth between Drew and me.

  “Thank you.” I couldn’t help the grin that followed. “That’s why I like dancing so much. When you’re dancing, you don’t have time to fret over anything.” I looked at Bella and Scarlet. “It’s like when we were little girls. Remember dressing up in anything that even remotely looked like a ballet costume and dancing around the living room? I’m sure you two know what I’m talking about.”

  “I used to love that.” Scarlet sighed.

  “Little girls just love to dance, that’s for sure,” Bella added. “At least, I always did. And I’m sure Rosie will too, when she’s old enough.”

  “Bella would entertain us for hours,” her mother said. “I still remember when she danced to La Traviata.”

  “I guess that’s my point,” I said. “Dance comes naturally to us when we’re little but fades when we get older. Too many people let the stresses of life get them wound up. I think there’s something to be said for cutting loose and having a good time. And hey, people even danced in Bible days.”

  “Amen, sister.” Twila rose and did a funny little two-step. “The Bible says that King David danced before the Lord.”

  Before long all of the ladies were up on the floor, showing off their dance moves. We laughed until tears ran down our faces.

  At some point, I looked at Drew, who rose and stood off to the side of the room. Not dancing. Looking nervous, in fact. A little nauseous, even.

  “You okay?” I whispered.

  “Yeah.”

  But he didn’t look okay. He looked . . . ill.

  When the ladies calmed down, Drew clapped his hands and got our attention. “I . . . could I ask everyone to take a seat, please? I have a little presentation I’d like to make.”

  We all settled back into our chairs, and I looked on, wondering what the boy was up to. He went into the front hall and returned with a strange scroll-like paper in his hand. Opening it, he uttered a few words in Gaelic.

  The boy knows Gaelic? Sounded like a prayer.

  I glanced at his mom, who gave him a nod. Very strange.

  Opening the scroll, he switched to English, but his words ushered forth with a thick brogue, one that made him even more appealing. “Let it be known this day amongst all who will hear that the feudin’ betwixt Clan McDermott and Clan Kincaid shall cease, both now and forevermore.”

  “I thought you told him that whole feuding thing wasn’t true,” Scarlet whispered in my ear.

  I giggled. “Don’t think he cares. He’s trying to make a point, I guess.”

  As he continued to read the proclamation, I started wondering just what sort of point the guy was trying to make. When he got to the “till death do us part” line, I realized this was more than a simple proclamation written in fun.

  The room now came alive as the folks around me began to speculate.

  Drew took several steps in my direction and reached for my hand. I gave it to him, feeling shaky and flushed, then rose to join him. He went to the front hallway and returned with a sword, which he placed on the floor between us.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  “It’s the age-old tradition of the merging of the clans.”

  “Merging of the clans?”

  His eyes sparkled with merriment. “Go with me here, Hannah. I saw this once in a movie.”

  “O-okay.”

  He knelt down in front of the sword, reached into his back pocket, and came out with a tiny box. My heart sailed to my throat. All around me, folks began to cheer—some in Tex-Italian, others in Gaelic. I couldn’t make out any of it. My eyes were firmly planted on the handsome clansman in front of me.

  Drew’s eyes twinkled as he opened the box, revealing a beautiful princess-cut marquise. Wowza!

  “Hannah McDermott of Clan McDermott, I’m askin’ ye for yer hand in marriage.”

  My thoughts reeled and I couldn’t seem to speak. “I . . . I . . . I . . .”

  “Is that a yes?” he asked, his gaze narrowing. “Because if it’s not, I’ll have to rethink my speech.”

  “Yes!” I stood in rapt awe as he slipped the gorgeous ring on my finger. “Oh yes!”

  Drew wrapped his arms around me as the room came alive with cheers and laughter. “Yer gonna be a Kincaid from now on,” he said. “Now, how does that make ye feel?”

  My hands trembled nearly as badly as my voice. “Like I’m getting a fresh start. Though I can’t help wondering what Grandpa Aengus would’ve said.”

  My father rose and gave me a hug. “He would’ve said, ‘Health and a long life to you. Land without rent to you. A child every year to you. And if you can’t go to heaven, may you at least die in Ireland.”

  This got another round of laughter from everyone in the room. Well, everyone but Bella, who told me I might want to reconsider that
“child every year” line. I couldn’t help but agree with that one. But it looked like I had a lot more to consider than that. Like a wedding, for one thing.

  Wedding?

  Oh. Help.

  I looked back and forth between Scarlet and Bella, my heart in my throat. They approached and wrapped their arms around me, all laughter and smiles.

  “Don’t fret, Hannah,” Bella said, looking far more confident than I felt. “Just leave the details to me.”

  “And leave the cake to me,” Scarlet added. “I’ve been planning your wedding cake ever since the Bing and Bob party. You liked that chocolate truffle recipe, right?”

  “Right.” I chuckled. “Well, I’m glad one of us knew this was coming.”

  “Of course I knew, silly.” She offered up a little sigh. “You and Drew are perfect together. You’re the cream to his coffee, the garlic in his twists, the icing on his cake.”

  I didn’t know about all of that. Still, as he swept me into his arms for a crazy spin around the living room floor, I did have to admit we made a pretty good dance team, one even my grandpa Aengus would be proud of. And I would go on dancing with Drew Kincaid . . . for the rest of my life.

  26

  True Love

  Here’s to the wings of love.

  May they never molt a feather,

  Till your little shoes and my big boots

  Are under the bed together.

  Irish wedding blessing

  Twenty minutes after Drew Kincaid asked me to marry him, I telephoned my sisters and asked each one to serve as a bridesmaid. Their squealing—and affirmative reactions—nearly deafened me. Afterward I used my cell phone to change my Facebook status to “Engaged.” This, of course, got a bevy of comments from my online friends, including Jacquie Goldfarb, who seemed genuinely happy for me. So happy, in fact, that I offered her an official invitation to the wedding.

  She accepted right away.

  As that decision was made, peace settled over me. No more angst. No more looking back. Only happy days from this point forth.

  Scarlet and Bella pulled me into the dining room of the Rossi home, where we shared more tiramisu and lots of girlish chatter about the upcoming wedding. They flowed with ideas, more than I could possibly comprehend.

  “I still can’t believe you’re getting married,” Scarlet said as she took a big bite of her tiramisu. “I’ll be the last single woman on Galveston Island. Promise you’ll toss the bouquet my way.”

  “Why do you need the bouquet?” I giggled. “You’ve got Kenny.”

  “Hmm.” She looked at her plate.

  “What?” I asked.

  Glancing up, she shrugged. “I didn’t want to tell you, but we broke up.”

  “No way.” My heart twisted at this news.

  “Yeah. I guess we weren’t really much of an item, anyway. He’s always been sort of a hanger-on-er. I guess you could say I was using him.” A sigh erupted. “Kind of like I used you to promote my business.”

  “I never felt used, Scarlet.” I reached over to squeeze her hand, noticing the tears in her eyes.

  “And look at how that turned out,” Bella said with a smile. “Now you get to work with Aunt Rosa.”

  “True.” Scarlet sighed again and turned my way. “But promise you’ll toss me the bouquet?”

  “First I have to order the bouquet,” I said. “And the food. And the wedding dress.”

  “Hannah, remember what I told you. I’ll take care of the details.” Bella gave me a wink. “Now, let’s settle on a date, okay? I need to get you on the calendar. What are you thinking? Springtime? Early summer? We’re booked most Saturdays, but I’ve got several Friday nights open.”

  My head swam with possibilities. Half an hour ago, weddings were the farthest thing from my mind. Now I had to plan one?

  My heart danced to my throat as another realization set in. “Oh no. I’ve got to hire a photographer. What am I going to do about that? We can’t very well shoot our own wedding.”

  “True.” Bella chuckled. “Well, you’ll love this little tidbit. My brother and sister-in-law are coming back from Italy for a few months. She’s having a baby and wants to be near the family.”

  Two emotions washed over me at once—concern that Bella wouldn’t need me anymore once Joey and Norah came back, and relief because we now had a wedding photographer.

  Not that I had time to worry. Bella whipped out her phone and pulled up her calendar app. She listed off several possibilities for wedding dates, but I couldn’t respond until I’d talked to Drew.

  Do all brides move this fast?

  I headed into the living room to find Drew and caught him in the middle of a conversation with D.J.’s parents about their motorcycle ministry. Not wanting to interrupt, I headed over to the other side of the room to join Mama and the Splendora sisters, who were deeply engrossed in a conversation of some sort. I got there just in time to hear my mother say that she was happy to finally call herself an empty nester.

  What?

  “Wait, Mama.” I narrowed my gaze. “What are you saying? You’re happy that I’m moving out?”

  A hint of a smile turned up the edges of her lips. “Well, I don’t want you to feel like you’re not wanted, Hannah. But I’m going through a lot of changes right now.” She lowered her voice to whisper the next part. “And not just menopause. I want to get into shape. So I’ve been thinking about turning your room into a fitness center.”

  “A fitness center?”

  “Yes. As my cooking skills get better, I’ll need to focus more on working out. Wouldn’t hurt your father to join me. I think it would be fun to get one of those elliptical machine thingies. And Twila told me that she’s got some sort of gaming system that has workout software. She uses it every day. It helps her keep track of calories and everything.”

  “That’s right,” Twila said. “Maybe we can all get in shape together.”

  Mama patted her midsection. “I figured while I’m changing so many other things in my life, I should go ahead and be proactive with my health. If I’m learning to cook Italian food, I’ll need a way to keep it from going to my hips.”

  My father drew near and wiggled his brows. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it on your hips, Marie. Wouldn’t offend me in the least.”

  Ew.

  Just one more reason I should be happy to move out.

  Drew approached and pulled me into his arms, kissing away any concerns. “Long life to you, the future Mrs. Kincaid.”

  “Long life to you too,” I said and giggled. “We’re getting married.”

  “Yep. Merging the clans.” He gestured to my father, who followed D.J.’s parents out of the living room. “Speaking of merging forces, you know what they’re up to, don’t you?”

  “Nope. I have no idea.”

  “Follow me and you’ll see for yourself.”

  Seconds later I stood on the veranda of the Rossi home, watching as my father climbed aboard the back of a motorcycle and rode off into the sunset with a Kingdom Riders jacket on to ward off the chilly night air.

  I shook my head. “This has got to be some sort of a weird dream. I could have sworn I just saw my father ride off on a motorcycle with a man named Dwayne from Splendora.”

  “You did.”

  “It wasn’t a weird lasagna-induced dream?”

  “Nope.”

  “Not sure which has me more discombobulated—the fact that he’s doing something so out of character, or the fact that he just ate a full plate of Italian food and enjoyed the finale of Dancing with the Stars. I don’t recall ever seeing the man eat lasagna in my life.”

  “You never know, Hannah. Could be he ends up with a whole new palate.”

  I laughed. “Grandpa Aengus would turn over in his grave.” Or maybe not. The man was adventurous, after all.

  “What would he say on a night like this?” Drew pulled me close and placed several sweet kisses on my cheeks.

  “Oh, he’d probably share one of his favorite p
roverbs. Something about how lucky we are to be Irish.” I laughed, then shivered as the cool night air wrapped itself around me.

  “I’d say I’m pretty blessed, but I don’t really think it has anything to do with being Irish.” Drew’s arms encircled my waist, and a kiss sweeter than Rosa’s tiramisu followed.

  As I lingered in his arms, I heard the sound of laughter from inside the house. Then the melody to “White Christmas” rang out in perfect three-part harmony. Looked like Twila, Bonnie Sue, and Jolene were giving another one of their impromptu concerts. Not that I minded. Not at all. In fact, I felt like singing myself. And dancing. And . . .

  With Drew’s gorgeous blue eyes now fixed on mine, I felt like tossing every care to the wind and celebrating this picture-perfect day.

  Bonus Feature

  Grandpa Aengus’s Favorite Irish Sayings

  You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.

  Never interrupt your opponent while he’s making a mistake.

  May the Lord keep you in his hand and never close his fist too tight.

  May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

  May you be half an hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.

  May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent.

  Who gossips with you will gossip of you.

  A handful of skill is worth a bagful of gold.

  A friend’s eye is a good mirror.

  Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms.

  There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be.