Page 107 of Enchant the Dawn

“He’s marrying a girl we haven’t even met! A girl who’s already pregnant!”

“Lily likes Maddy. You’ll probably like her, too. And just think, you’ll have another daughter to love.”

“That’s true,” she said with a smile.

“And if I recall right,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, “we didn’t wait for the wedding either.”

A slow smile spread over Callie’s face. “You Falconer men,” she muttered. “You’re just too darn sexy to resist.”

* * *

Maddy didn’t know how Ava managed to find a church and arrange for the wedding to take place the following night. Magic, she supposed.

While Dominic went hunting, Ava and Lily came over to keep her company. Ava conjured a bridal magazine, and the three of them spent an hour looking at wedding gowns before Maddy found one she loved. Ava taught her the necessary incantation and in a matter of minutes, the loveliest wedding gown she had ever seen appeared in a shower of stardust.

She ran her hands over the floor-length skirt, which was a froth of lace and silk. The sleeves were long, the neckline square.

“Let’s see how it looks on you,” Lily said.

A moment later, Maddy was looking at herself in a full-length mirror conjured by Lily. “It’s beautiful,” Maddy exclaimed softly.

“And you look beautiful in it.” A murmured word by Ava produced a shoulder-length veil in one hand and a longer one in the other. “Which will it be?”

“The short one, I think,” Maddy decided.

With a nod, Ava set it in place.

“I can’t wait to get married,” Lily said as she took the unwanted veil and placed it on her own head. “Just so I can wear a dress like that and a veil like this.”

Ava looked at her sharply. “Is there something we should know?”

“What?” With a laugh, Lily shrugged. “No. I haven’t met anyone I’d even consider marrying.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“I don’t think so,” Lily said with a pout. “I’m an old maid.”

“Child, you don’t know what old is.”

“I know I’m twenty five and I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

Maddy grinned as she listened to Lily and Ava, relieved that she liked Dominic’s sister and his great-grandmother. She just hoped she would like his parents as much. And earnestly prayed they would like her.

* * *

Maddy woke before sunrise the next morning. Heart pounding, she glanced at Dominic, asleep beside her. Tonight, he would be her husband. The thought sent a thrill of excitement skating down her spine, along with a bit of doubt. Everything was happening so fast. It was like living life on speed—meet Dominic, meet Ava, fall in love, discover he’s a vampire, Ava a witch and that, she herself is a witch, meet Lily, learn she’s pregnant, get married. Maybe they should have waited a while to tie the knot. And they would have, she thought, except for the baby. She couldn’t let her child, an innocent, be born out of wedlock.

“Second thoughts?” Dominic asked, his eyes still closed.

“Yes. And no.”

“We can wait if you want.” He sat up when she didn’t say anything. “Have you changed your mind, Maddy? If so, just tell me. I’ll support you and the baby no matter what you decide.”

Maddy sighed. What had she ever done to deserve such a man? She would be crazy to let him go. Reaching for him, she pulled him down beside her. “I haven’t changed my mind. Just a touch of wedding jitters, I guess.”

“Understandable. We haven’t known each other very long and yet, in some ways, I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

She was melting inside, Maddy thought as he captured her lips with his in a long, searing kiss that threatened to melt her bones, even as it erased every last doubt from her mind.

---