Page 29 of Christmas Past
“Devynn did that,” Seth said simply. “She helped me understand that home isn’t just a place or a time. It’s the people you choose to share your life with.”
“Angela will be glad to hear that,” Connor replied, the beginnings of a smile touching one corner of his mouth. “She’s been fretting about whether we did enough to help you settle in, whether you really felt welcome in the clan.”
“More than welcome,” Seth assured him. “You and Angela gave me a place to belong when I had nowhere else to go. I’ll never forget that.”
Connor was quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “You know,” he said at length, “when Angela and I first got together, we thought we were just breaking a curse. Two people from feuding clans falling in love, ending a century of hostility. But it turned out to be a lot more than that. We’d found our soulmates, sure, but we also found our purpose. Together, we created something new, something neither of us could have built alone.”
Seth thought he understood what Connor was trying to tell him. “So,” he said, the words coming slowly as he pondered the other man’s comment, “you think Devynn and I have something like that?”
“I think you two have already proven it,” Connor replied. “The way you’ve supported each other, the way you’ve built a life together despite coming from completely different times — that’s something special.”
“Thank you,” Seth said, and hoped the primus could hear the gratitude in his voice. “To both you and Angela — for welcoming me, for trusting me with the store, for treating me like family.”
“You are family,” Connor replied, his tone now firm. “And after today, Devynn will be, too…officially. But I think we all knew that already.”
Breakfast was livelier than Seth had expected, since his table was joined by several McAllister cousins who’d driven over from Payson and Prescott, along with Rachel McAllister, who’d owned the mercantile before Seth and Devynn took it over, and, thanks to the craziness of time travel, was also Seth’s great-niece despite being almost sixty years older than he was. Everyone made sure to keep the conversation light, clearly doing their best to distract him from the upcoming ceremony.
“I still can’t believe how quickly you figured out how to work the computerized inventory system at the store,” Rachel said with a shake of her head. Her hair was entirely gray now, but he’d heard it had been red in her youth. “I struggled with that thing for months when I first installed it.”
“Devynn helped,” Seth replied. “Quite a lot, actually. I think I would have thrown the whole system out the window and gone back to paper ledgers if she hadn’t been patient with me.”
“That’s what partners are for,” said Kirby McAllister, Bellamy’s father. “Taking care of each other’s weak spots. Bellamy’s brilliant with wine and business, but ask her to fix a leaky faucet and she’s hopeless. Lucky for her, Marc’s handy.”
Seth smothered a grin. Somehow he doubted that Bellamy would much appreciate being called “hopeless,” but he thought he knew what Kirby was talking about.
A little past noon, Seth excused himself to go back upstairs and get ready. His wedding clothes hung in the hotel room’s closet — a beautifully tailored dark gray suit that Devynn had helped him choose during one of their shopping trips to Scottsdale. Some details about its cut made it somewhat different from the suits he’d owned in the past, but overall, he was a bit surprised by how little menswear had changed over the past hundred-plus years.
As he shaved and styled his hair and got into the suit, Seth found himself thinking about his parents and his brother back in 1926 — a brother who would soon be getting ready for his own wedding. By now, his parents would have found his note and realized that he and Devynn had disappeared again. They would probably assume, correctly, that this time the departure was permanent.
The thought brought a pang of sadness, but not the crushing grief he might have expected. That Christmas visit had given him the closure he’d needed, a chance to say goodbye and let his family know he was choosing his own path rather than simply being swept away by circumstances beyond his control.
And really, it was enough. Because in just a few hours, he would be starting a new chapter of his life with the woman he loved, surrounded by the people who’d become his chosen family.
At two o’clock, Seth made his way downstairs to the Asylum restaurant. The space had been transformed for the occasion — candles flickered on every table, garlands draped the walls, and creamy-white and blush flowers had been used to create arrangements that looked deceptively simple but which he knew had required a good deal of work. As far as he could tell, everything matched Devynn’s vision for the ceremony, and he couldn’t wait for her to see the space.
Their guests were already seated in the several rows of chairs that had been arranged to face the improvised altar at the far end of the room. As he scanned the people in the audience, Seth saw his McAllister cousins, Devynn’s mother and her older sister and younger brother, Marc and Bellamy, Bree and Bill, Angela and Connor. Everyone who mattered most to both of them, gathered together to witness their commitment to each other.
At the front of the room, near the fireplace where a fire crackled cheerfully, Connor and Angela waited. As the clan leaders, they would be officiating the ceremony, and Seth thought that being married by the prima and primus felt like even more acknowledgment that he truly belonged here.
Seth took his place beside Connor, his hands steady as he adjusted his tie one final time. Through the restaurant’s windows, he could see snow continuing to fall — not enough to cause any travel problems, but just enough to make Jerome look like something out of a fairy tale. Perfect wedding weather, as far as he was concerned.
“Ready?” Connor asked in an undertone, and Seth nodded.
“More than ready.”
The soft sound of a string quartet began to fill the room — Bree’s contribution to the ceremony, since she’d arranged for some of her musician friends to provide the music. Seth recognized the melody as something classical and beautiful, although he couldn’t have named the piece if his life had depended on it.
And then the door at the back of the restaurant opened, and Bellamy appeared.
She looked radiant in a deep green dress that complemented her coppery hair perfectly, and she carried a simple bouquet of white roses and evergreens as she walked down the short aisle wearing a grin that could have powered half of Jerome. Behind her was Bree, a golden goddess in her green dress. She smiled as well…but Seth could see the way her gaze searched for Belshegar in the small crowd. Was she thinking of the wedding she’d just begun to plan?
Possibly. He had no doubt he’d hear more about it at the reception.
And then came Devynn’s father, Robert Rowe, distinguished in his dark suit and looking proud enough to burst. And on his arm….
Seth’s breath caught.
No one else, in this century or any other, could have been as beautiful. Her wedding dress was ivory silk, elegant and timeless without being fussy, and it seemed to make her creamy skin glow in the candlelight. Her long brown hair had been swept up in a loose bun that showed off the antique diamond earrings he’d given her for Christmas, and her blue-gray eyes shone with happiness as they met his across the room.
