Page 49 of Love Beyond Wanting
I faced her and took her hand.“I’m glad you like it.Now, let’s go and finish up all of the last minute stuff so we can get you married.”
Laurel wasn’t the only one that got a surprise before the wedding.Minutes before the ceremony was meant to start, as residents of the Isle found their seats in the garden, I left Laurel in her bedchamber with our mother so that I could run downstairs to make certain everything was ready for her entrance.As I neared the castle doors, some unexpected guests arrived—Sydney and her husband, Gillian and Orick, and Callum’s brother, Griffith, walked in looking nothing like they’d just spent days on the road.
I quickly ran over to hug Sydney.“How did you get here?Oh my gosh, Raudrich is going to be thrilled to see you, Sydney.”
She smiled.“Is he…” She pointed outside.
“Yes, he’s already at the front, waiting for his bride.”
Sydney nodded as if that was what she’d expected.“Okay, we will slip in and sit in the back.I’ll talk to him after.”
“You guys didn’t ride here, did you?I thought you didn’t want to travel on account of the baby.”
“We decided to make the trip to Morna’s house via car and have her send us back here from there.She assured me the baby would be in no danger.”
The sun had long since dipped, and the stars were out in full show.It was time for the wedding to begin.
“Okay, well, David is ushering everyone to their seats, so go on in.I’m so pleased that you all are here.”
With none of his immediate family remaining, it would mean the world to Raudrich that Sydney had come.Ever since he’d kidnapped her to save her life (long story) several years ago, they’d been the best of friends.
After making certain the garden looked perfect, I went to retrieve Mom and Laurel.Laurel had never looked more radiant, and I started to cry the moment I saw her.
“Oh my God, Laurel.You’re stunning.”
She looked down at her gown a little self-consciously.“Do you think so?”
“I know so.Are you ready to do this?”
“I’ve never been so ready for anything in my life.”
Together, with my mom on one side of Laurel and me on the other, we made our way down to the garden.
Raudrich’s expression when he saw Laurel was one I knew I would remember for the rest of my life.
Following the ceremony, we quickly cleared out the chairs and had the reception out there as well.It was the perfect setting, and something about the beauty of the place seemed to make people a little less rowdy than I suspected they would have been had we moved everyone inside the castle.
There was ale, music, dancing, and laughter, and Laurel and Raudrich seemed to love every minute of it.
As the sister of the bride, I felt some responsibility to make certain everything was going smoothly, so rather than enjoy the festivities myself, I continually made my way around the garden checking on things and making small talk.
An hour or so into the reception, Marcus came up and gave my wrist a gentle tug.“Come and dance with me, Kate.Everything is fine.There’s no need for you to wear yourself out running around.”
I smiled and allowed him to pull me into the area surrounding the fountain where people were dancing.
“Do you know how to dance these Scottish dances, Marcus?”
He shook his head and laughed.“Not at all.I’ll just hold you and we can sway back and forth a bit.”
“Sounds perfect.”
We danced with one another in silence for a moment, and I lost myself in thought until Marcus bent down to whisper in my ear, “Penny for your thoughts?”
“I was just thinking about Raudrich.Did you see the way he looked at Laurel?Do you think I’ll ever find someone to look at me that same way?”
He pulled back a little so he could look down at my face.“You’re kidding, right?”When I said nothing, he continued.“Kate, you do have someone who looks at you like that.I was standing directly across from Maddock on Laurel’s side of the aisle, and the look on Maddock’s face...”He hesitated and gave me a grin.“It would have been easy to mistake him for the groom, but he wasn’t looking at Laurel.”
“No.”I shook my head, quickly dismissing it.“You’re mistaken, Marcus.He might have been attracted to me, but I did a really good job of ruining that a few days ago.”
