Page 38 of Needing Happily Ever After

Chapter Eleven

It was a perfect summer day.There wasn’t a cloud to be seen and the blue sky was the perfect backdrop for their nuptials. Damon took a breath and turned to look over the valley below, letting the view he loved so much fill him and bring him calm before he turned around again to look at the small gathering of family members who had collected on the decks of ElkView.

He made eye contact with Debbie, who smiled before dabbing her eyes with a tissue. His own father had a small satisfied smile on his face, as if he were pleased with himself for getting exactly what he wanted. And maybe he had. Damon was finally meeting one of his expectations and getting married. The usual aggravation that Damon would feel toward his father, just thinking about him getting what he wanted, didn’t materialize. He shifted his gaze toward the cottage, where he knew Katie was getting ready to join him.

The only thing he was feeling was calm. Even the stress and tension of the last few days had vanished after the night he’d shared with Katie. He’d been a little worried about how she would react after the fact, but when she’d told him that it all felt right, he couldn’t have agreed more. It might be a little ridiculous really, but Damon couldn’t help but feel like maybe everything happened for a reason, and he and Katie were actually meant to be together.

It was crazy, but hey…crazier things had happened. And maybe, after all of this, there would be no reason to have the marriage annulled and they could just—

The music began as the door to the cottage opened and then…there she was.

She was stunning. Damon’s breath caught in his throat.

Katie wore a simple, fitted dress that showed off every single one of the curves he’d had his hands all over only hours earlier. She was sexy and innocent, all at the same time. But most important was that she was walking directly toward him, her pretty pink lips curved up into the slightest smile as her eyes locked on his.

Logan held tightly to his sister’s arm, but Katie didn’t need any guidance as they made their way across the patio toward him. Finally, when brother and sister were standing in front of him, Damon looked away from his bride long enough to shake Logan’s hand and thank him. But then when he turned and took her hands in his, he once again only had eyes for her.

Vaguely, Damon registered the justice of the peace, who was talking about love and commitment next to him. He saw Katie nod once or twice, and then it was time to exchange vows, which in their case, because they had decided to keep things as simple as possible, meant repeating after the officiant and finally saying, “I do” before she declared them husband and wife and let him kiss his new wife.

The kiss was probably not family appropriate, but Damon didn’t care because more than anything, it had become crucially important to wrap his arms around his beautiful bride and kiss her senseless so that there was absolutely no mistaking how he felt about her. Not to anyone.

When he was finally able to pull himself away from her, Katie took his hand in hers and together they walked over to the table where they signed the marriage license and Faith handed them each a glass of champagne.

“Nicely done,” she said. “Congratulations, you two.”

“Thank you for all your work on this, Faith. I know a wedding in only a few days isn’t an easy request.”

She shrugged. “This was nothing. You guys made it extra easy on me. Now if you’d wanted a big blow-out with all the fancies…that might have been a little bit more.”

Next to him, Damon thought he heard Katie sigh. He squeezed her hand and bent to whisper in her ear. “Are you okay?”

She nodded but her smile told him the truth. She was fine.

“You look absolutely gorgeous,” he said and she smiled wider. “That dress is amazing. But as much as I like it, I’m going to like it a whole lot more on the floor when I rip it off you later.”

Katie turned a sexy shade of pink, her blush reaching all the way down her deliciously exposed cleavage. But she didn’t have a chance to respond to his comment because their parents chose that moment to join them in a toast.

“It was a beautiful ceremony.” Debbie pulled her daughter into a hug. “And you look absolutely stunning, sweetie.”

“I was just telling her that.”

Katie’s blush deepened and she shot him a look but she focused on her mom. “Thank you, Mom. I appreciate all your help.”

“Of course.”

Katie turned next to his father. “And Mr. Banks, thank you so much for your support. And for letting us use ElkView for the ceremony. It was just perfect.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and Damon watched his father react to the attention. The smile that crossed the old man’s face lit him up in a way that Damon couldn’t remember seeing since his mother was alive.

“I couldn’t be happier for the two of you,” Anthony said. “And knowing that the two of you are going to live right here and make ElkView your home, well, it couldn’t be more perfect.”

“You are?” Debbie asked. “I don’t know why, but I guess I thought you might live…well, I don’t know. But I hadn’t thought of ElkView.”

“Of course, ElkView.” His father turned to face Debbie. “And it worked out so perfectly since I wasn’t willing to sell it to a single person. I wanted a family to buy the place ideally, but for Katie and Damon, well, I made the exception that the sale could go to a married couple.”

Anyone else might have missed Debbie Langdon’s reaction to his father’s words, but Damon didn’t, and he knew Katie hadn’t either. She paused, her champagne glass almost at her lips, and she slowly put it down before looking first to Katie, then to Damon, and then finally to Anthony. “I didn’t realize there was any kind of stipulation on the sale of ElkView.”

Katie squeezed Damon’s hand in warning, a signal he got loud and clear.

“It was just a formality.” He jumped in before his father could answer. “And it worked out perfectly as far as timing went for the two of us.”

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