Page 140 of The Formation of Us
He closed his hand over her soft, warm skin, his heart lifting. She was worth waiting for, and someday he would make her his wife. “For now,” he said, feeling shaky and eager. “But I can’t WAIT until you’re sixteen.”
“I can’t WAIT either,” Rebecca squawked, and they both laughed, their smiles fading slowly as they held hands.
“Will you hate me if I steal a kiss now and then?” he asked, knowing he would, that despite his effort to be good and honorable and live up to the Grayson name, Rebecca’s sweetness and warmth would be too tempting to resist.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
God knows he wouldn’t disappoint her desire for a kiss. He just hoped he could keep his urges under control and not disappoint himself.
“Maybe we should go get some cookies,” he said, because he couldn’t stand there and look at her without wanting to kiss her. She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, and he guided her to the food table, proud to have her at his side.
Adam wove through the crowd and greeted everyone who’d been at Duke and Faith’s wedding. Duke’s younger brother Boyd caught him as he passed by, and clapped a strong hand over Adam’s shoulder. “I hear you’re a Grayson now,” he said, clowning like he did at the sawmill.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s yes, Uncle Boyd,” he said, scrubbing his knuckles on the top of Adam’s head.
Adam laughed and elbowed him away, but it was the best night of his life. He had a dog, a dad, and Rebecca’s friendship. And later, maybe more.
o0o
Duke watched Boyd joke with Adam and his heart flooded with warmth. He linked hands with Faith and drew her to his side.
The joyous sound of bells filled the room and drew their attention to the front of the room. Bells in hand, Iris stood with Patrick beside the huge pine tree that Tansy, Claire, and Anna had strung with red and gold ribbons. “Welcome to our first annual family soiree,” she said, giving the bells a jolly shake that made everyone clap.
Everyone except Duke. He wasn’t chancing any activity that would make his shoulder ache, because come hell or high water, he was making love to his wife tonight.
Iris winked at him. “This year we have much to be thankful for. I’ll start listing our blessings by giving thanks for each one of you with your loving, forgiving, accepting hearts that have allowed me and my family to find a real home.”
Duke lifted his glass of ale. “Here’s to you, Iris, and your outrageous family, who has taught me not to take what I have for granted.” A loud cheer shook the rafters, then everyone fell quiet, waiting for him to go on, but he was so choked by emotion he could barely speak through the gratitude and love filling him. He moved his glass in an arc to encompass and salute his friends, his brothers and mother, his wife and children, and the Wilde women he’d come to love. “To each of you, for being too stubborn and noisy to let me die in peace.”
His comment made them laugh, and one by one each person in the room added to the long list of their blessings. Rebecca said she was thankful to have a mother and father who loved her.
“I’m thankful to be a Grayson,” Adam said, casting a half-grin at Duke that made his chest tighten with pride. “And to have a bunch of uncles who are as crazy as my aunts.”
“Crazy?” Boyd lunged at Adam, and the boy danced away with a laugh.
“I got a pony!” Cora shouted.
When the laughter died down, Duke’s brothers joked that he would have to carry the piano downstairs by himself, and teased him about taking so long to get back to work at the mill, but they all gave thanks that he had survived his injury.
“Amen.” His mother raised her glass. “I’m eternally grateful to Faith and Doc Milton and this big, crazy family for nursing my son back to health.”
Faith’s arms slipped around Duke’s waist, and she smiled at him with those lush lips. “I miss you,” she whispered, making him want to ravish her on the spot. Her smile faded and tears glistened in her eyes. “I love you, Duke. I’m so grateful for you and for what we share. I feel so much love and . . . Oh, darling, there just aren’t words—” She broke off and pressed her lips to his jaw. He drew her close, agreeing that what they were feeling was too big, too deep, and too powerful for words.
He pulled her closer, tighter, longing to make love with her. “Tonight’s the night,” he whispered near her ear.
“I know.” She looped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him.
“Whoa you two!” Boyd lifted his palms. “Before you start a fire, I’ll go play Faith’s special request.” He swept Claire into his arms and danced her across the floor to the piano. They sat and began playing “Kissing in the Dark.”
The rich sound of the piano filled the room and Duke gathered his wife in his arms and kissed her in front of everyone. “I love you,” he whispered. He would kiss her in the light of day and in the dark of night and every chance he got.
He opened the dance floor right where they were standing, holding his wife in his arms, sharing their deep and true love. He longed for Faith and the privacy to love her, but he savored the moment and the blessing of having this big, loving family gathered around him.
The dance floor filled, and Patrick and Iris twirled past, their bodies close, their eyes sparking with desire and fixed on each other’s face. “She’ll marry him,” Duke said, resting his hand against the curve of Faith’s waist.
“I hope so.” She looked at Iris and sighed. “But you don’t know my aunt like I do. She’s stubborn and independent and terrified of giving her heart to a man.”
