They waved them off as Linda drove Big Mac’s truck down the driveway.
“Ready to check out the honeymoon suite?” Quinn asked, extending a hand to Mallory.
“So ready.”
He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and escorted her up the stairs to the third-floor suite that Lizzie kept off-limits to brides and grooms until after the wedding. As a result, they had no idea what to expect when they stepped into the candlelit room.
“Oh, wow,” Mallory said, taking in the beautiful room with the king-size bed. White curtains fluttered in the ocean breeze, and a table had been set with a late-night snack of cheese, crackers, grapes, chocolate-covered strawberries and more sparkling cider.
Mallory had never had more cider in a single day than she’d had that day. Years after giving up alcohol, she didn’t miss it at all—or the way it made her feel sick the next day.
“This is great,” Quinn said of the room.
As he stepped toward the table for a closer look at the snacks, she noticed a slight limp from being on his feet most of the day. Most of the time, it was easy to forget he was an amputee, until he did too much and paid the price.
“Is your leg hurting?”
“A little. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“What do you say we get out of these clothes and make ourselves comfortable?”
“I say that sounds like a very good idea.”
“I thought you might approve.” She turned her back to him. “Can you unzip me?”
“I’d be happy to, although I’m sad that I’ll never again see you in this amazing dress.”
“It’s my favorite dress ever,” she said of the off-the-shoulder silk dress that had made her feel young and sexy.
From behind her, he kissed her shoulder and neck. “At least we’ll have pictures.”
“Yes, we will.”
He unzipped her slowly and nudged the dress off her shoulders, letting it fall into a cloud of silk at her feet. Extending his hand, he held hers while she stepped free of the dress, his eyes going wide at the sight of the getup Tiffany Taylor had talked her into for under the dress.
“What the…”
“You like?” she asked of the bustier, garter belt and stockings that had made her giggle earlier when she put them on, anticipating this very moment.
“Holy hell. Can I take a picture of this?”
“No!”
“Please? I promise no one will ever see it but me.”
“Famous last words.”
“I mean it. I want to remember the way you look right now for the rest of my life.”
How could she say no to that? “All right. As long as you promise it’s only for you.”
“I wouldn’t share you with anyone.”
Mallory felt ridiculous as she struck a pose for her new husband, who took a quick photo and then tossed his phone aside. He’d just reached for her when the phone rang. Groaning, he said, “I need to check that in case it’s Jared. I told him to call me if they needed anything with the baby.”
“No problem.”
He glanced at the phone. “It’s my parents. I’ll be quick.”
“Take your time.”
“Hey,” he said. “Yes, it was a great day. Glad you were able to watch the ceremony. How’s Italy?” After a long pause, he said, “Don’t feel bad. You were here in spirit.” To Mallory, he said, “They say happy birthday to both of us.”
“Tell them thanks from me.”
“She says thanks. We’ll do that. Call me when you get home, and we’ll make some plans. Love you, too.” He ended the call and put the phone on a table. “They said they are so sorry they missed the big day and want to come visit when they get back from Italy.”
“That would be fun.”
“Enough of everyone who isn’t my gorgeous wife.” He put his arms around her and stared down at her for the longest time.
“What?”
“Just looking at what’s mine. I feel so lucky to have you and us and this.”
“I feel just as lucky. I thought I was done being in love and getting married and all that, and then there you were to show me otherwise.”
“In case you’re wondering, this was the absolute best day of my entire life. And I know this day is tied with another for you.”
“No, it’s not,” Mallory said, choosing her words carefully. “This was the best day of my life, too, because it’s proof that life goes on, even when you think it won’t. I don’t mean to take anything away from my wedding day with Ryan, because that was right up there as one of the best days. But this one means even more to me after everything I went through to get here. What we both went through.”
“Well said, love. I know Ryan will always be part of you and part of us.”
“Thank you for honoring him that way.”
“Thank you for marrying me,” he said, smiling.
“Best thing I ever did.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “I’ve been thinking about changing my name.”
“Have you?”
She nodded. They hadn’t discussed that before the wedding. “I’d like it to be Mallory Vaughn McCarthy James. What do you think?”
“I love that, and your dad will, too.”
“Mallory James. I like the sound of that.”
“I do, too.”
As he kissed her and held her close to him, Mallory experienced a feeling of peace that she’d finally ended up right where she belonged following so many years of spinning after her first husband’s sudden death. Finding her father and family on Gansett Island had led her to Dr. Quinn James and a second chance at forever love.
* * *
In Providence, Mac and Maddie McCarthy were in the neonatal intensive care unit, visiting Evelyn and Emma. He still couldn’t believe that they’d been born in a helicopter during his sister’s wedding. Leave it to Maddie to make every other chaotic birth look tame by comparison.
“What are you thinking?” his wife asked from the wheelchair he’d pushed from the OB unit to the NICU.
She was still unsteady on her feet after giving birth to the twins, and her nurse had insisted on the wheelchair. The girls’ lungs weren’t quite ready for life outside the womb, but the doctors expected them to be there for only a week. Two at the most. They’d been told the extra time in the NICU was perfectly normal for twins born almost a month early.
“I’m still trying to process everything that happened today,” Maddie said as she gazed at the babies.
“Me, too.”
“It’s a good thing they’re our last ones, or you’d be putting a moratorium on any more babies.”
“I would indeed. A helicopter, Madeline,” he said for the tenth time. “Honestly.”
She laughed as she shrugged. “I’d say I’m sorry, but it’ll make for one heck of a story for the girls to tell someday.”
“I never thought I’d say that I can’t wait to get a vasectomy.”
“I never thought I’d hear you say those words either. Your precious junk and all that.”
“My junk is very precious, but I can’t handle any more pregnancies, births or babies.”