Page 57 of Close to My Heart

The guests tapped on their glasses, and I knew it was coming from the Calloway side. No one from my side would do something so tacky at a wedding. I wondered what Grandma thought of his family as he kissed me.

It was enough to get the hecklers to leave us alone, but the kiss itself left a tingle on my lips that wouldn’t go away for the rest of the night.

We danced and ate dinner and cake, then danced some more. We talked and laughed with his sisters and brothers. At some point, I found myself at a table alone with his father, Al.

“I like you for him,” Al said.

“But you know—” I gestured helplessly around me. “None of this is—” I couldn’t bring myself to say real.

Al cocked a brow, “Isn’t it?”

We were interrupted when Izzy asked her grandfather to dance.

He grinned at her and winked at me. “I’d love to.”

What had he meant when he said he liked Wes for me? Did he mean as a friend or something more?

“Are you okay?” Wes asked when he returned to the table with a glass of champagne.

I frowned. “Your dad just said something, and I’m not sure what he meant.”

“He’s getting cryptic in his old age. What was it?” Wes asked lightly.

“He said he likes me for you.” I sipped the champagne, wishing it would soothe my dry throat.

Wes’s jaw tightened. “He said something the other day about wanting all of us to fall in love like Daphne and Fiona. He worries about us.”

“He wants this to be real. He wants us to be in love.”

Wes shrugged. “But he doesn’t tell our story. We do.”

What did Wes want our story to be?

When Fiona signaled it was time for us to leave, the guests formed a wall on either side of the front door so we could exit and get into Wes’s truck. I’d insisted we use his vehicle. I hadn’t wanted a town car or anything fancy. I just wanted one thing that was real and true.

The guests blew bubbles at us as we held hands and hurried toward his truck. Wes opened the door for me and helped me inside. The skirt was unwieldy.

“I can’t wait to get out of this thing,” I said when Wes climbed in next to me. His eyes flashed with what could only be described as heat.

Someone had written Just Married on the back window, and at some point, they’d tied cans to the bumper. As we drove away the cans smacked the roadway. I was fairly sure it was his brothers wanting to be funny, but I loved it. It felt so traditional even though my family would think it was cheap.

“Where are we spending the night?” I asked him when he drove in the opposite direction of his house.

Wes was the one Fiona tasked with the wedding night. I assumed we’d be going to his house.

“I rented a room downtown at one of the historic inns. Fiona packed you a bag.”

“That sounds nice.” My nerves tingled because this sounded like a real wedding night. “We never discussed what comes after?—”

Wes glanced over at me. “You’re already living with me.”

I took a deep breath, and then said, “I meant the physical stuff. Will we consummate our marriage?”

“Whatever happens next is up to us. Your grandmother required you to get married, and that’s done.”

I chewed my lip, thinking about what I wanted. “We have to convince her it’s real.”

“Are you saying you’re open to something more between us?” The look that Wes gave me wasn’t one I’d seen from him before. It was filled with tension and heat.

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