Married for Christmas (Willow Park) by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online

interrupted her response. Then
Daniel’s voice sounded from outside. It was impossible not to recognize his
warm, resonant baritone.  “Micah? What are you doing in there?”
    “Giving her the necklace. What do you think?”
     “It’s taking an absurdly long time.”
    “I’m done.” He stepped over and kissed Jessica on the cheek.
“I’ll pray for you. Living with him, you’re going to need it.” The laughter was
back in his voice, and it made her feel a lot better, like things were normal
again.
    Daniel said, “So get out of there. I need to talk to her
too.”
    “No!” That was Kim, from outside the door. “No peeking
before the wedding.”
     “I need to talk to her for a minute. I’ll close my eyes if
I have to.”
     “It’s fine,” Jessica interrupted, walking with Micah to the
door. “He can come in. I’m not big on tradition anyway.”
    It wasn’t true, but there was no use in getting hung up on
tradition for this particular wedding. Daniel wasn’t going to be blown away on
first seeing her walk down the aisle.
    Micah left, and Jessica was standing in the middle of the
room when Daniel came in and shut the door.
    He wore a black tux—no tails or bowtie, since it wasn’t a very
formal wedding—and he looked so handsome and sophisticated she couldn’t breathe
for a few seconds.
    She couldn’t believe she was actually marrying him.
    Pulling it together, since no good would come from swooning
over how gorgeous and masculine he looked, she asked, “So what’s up?”
    He didn’t answer. He just stared at her with the strangest
look on his face.
    “Daniel?” she prompted. Maybe he was feeling guilty or
uncomfortable and wanted to call the whole thing off.
    She’d given up the little house she’d rented. She’d said all
her goodbyes in Charlotte. She’d packed up her entire life to move back here to
Willow Park. Into the manse. With Daniel.
    If he was about to renege on their agreement now, she might
have to hit him.
    “Daniel,” she repeated, her voice slightly sharp. “What’s
the matter?”
    He shook his head, as if shaking away cobwebs. “You look
beautiful.”
    “Oh.” She felt her skin warm at the compliment and what she
now saw was admiration in his eyes. Her dress was fairly simple—strapless with
delicate embroidery on the bodice and a full skirt without a train.
    She shifted from foot to foot. “Well,” she said at last.
“You don’t have act so flabbergasted. I can occasionally look decent, you
know.”
    “I know.” He smiled, appearing more like himself. “Aren’t
you cold?”
     “A little,” she admitted. Without thinking, she walked over
to a chair, where she’d thrown the flannel shirt she’d worn that morning. She
pulled it on over her dress and felt more like herself. “Is it going to snow,
do you think?”
    It was steel gray outside, but no trace of even a stray
flake yet.
    “That’s what they’re saying.” The corners of his mouth
turned up slightly. “The flannel is particularly attractive.”
    She giggled at his dry tone and glanced down at herself.
“I’ll probably take it off before I walk down the aisle. Oh, and thank you for
this.” She put a hand over her necklace. “I love it.”
    He smiled again, almost tenderly. “Good.”
    “What did you want, anyway?”
    “Is everything okay?”
    “What do you mean? What did you want?”
    “I just wanted to make sure you’re absolutely certain about
going through with this. We both take marriage seriously, and I don’t want you
to have acted spontaneously and then later regret it.”
    She liked how seriously he was thinking of her feelings,
thinking of her future. “I’m not going to regret it. I know what I’m doing. I
want this.”
    He looked at her a long time.
    “Why are you so convinced I might regret it? What about you?
Are you sure yourself?”
    “Of course. But I’ve been married to a woman I loved. I’ve
had that part of life. But you never had. Are you really all right