Barefoot by the Sea

Chapter Twenty-nine

That might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Lacey glided into the spa massage room that, in the last few hours, had been transformed into a makeshift bridal dressing room, her eyes on her cell phone.

“What is?” Tessa asked, pulling away from the mascara wand Zoe held to her eyes.

“The guys as groomsmen.” Lacey clicked and grinned. “I got a picture of the three of them with John. Look.”

They butted heads trying to see the tiny screen, peering together at a posed shot of the four men.

“Oh, look at Oliver,” Zoe exclaimed. “I could eat him alive. Again.”

“Wow, Will looks hot in a suit.” Jocelyn pointed to the phone. “And I thought that baseball uniform did him justice.”

“How about Clay?” Lacey gave a nudge. “That boy is sexy.”

They all looked expectantly at Tessa, who managed to pull her gaze from the dizzying sight of Ian Browning—groom.

“Well?” Zoe asked. “Boyfriend assessment?”

“He’s not my…” She straightened and slid the mascara wand from Zoe’s hand. “I’ll finish this.”

But they all continued to stare at her with twinkles in their collective eyes. Oh, this would all get worse on Monday when she had to tell them that John took off, too freaked out by the speed of their romance, and they’d split up. Then the happy eyes would turn to pity hugs.

At least she wouldn’t have to fake a broken heart.

“What?” she finally said. “I’m telling you, this is a fun fling with a hot guy. I can already tell he’s getting itchy to fly. Don’t be surprised if we’re looking for a new chef soon.”

“Why are you doing this?” Jocelyn demanded.

“Why am I being realistic?” she fired back, irritation making her stomach burn. Although she’d pretty much felt like throwing up since she’d gotten up this morning and remembered it was her wedding day. You know, the day before her “husband” disappeared forever.

“Why are you being fatalistic?” Jocelyn replied. “It’s like you won’t even give the guy a chance.”

“I know him better than you.” Much better. “I know the signs of a man who won’t settle down and, honestly, I’m fine with that.” She leaned back from the mirror and checked out her makeup. “I look a little—”

“Gorgeous,” Lacey said. “You look gorgeous.”

Actually, she was going to say pale and suggest more blush, but she went with Lacey’s assessment. “Guess it’s time for the dress, huh?”

Three loud knocks at the door cut into the reaction. “Tessa, you in there?”

At the woman’s voice, they all shared a quick, slightly panicked look. Lacey held up a finger to hush them. “One second, Willow.” She leaned closer to the girls. “I haven’t heard a peep from them since last night, have you?”

“They loved the spa treatments,” Jocelyn mouthed.

“I saw them on the beach this morning,” Zoe said. “They seem really happy.”

“And they were walking around the wedding setup when I came in here, so”—Lacey held up two sets of crossed fingers—“let’s keep up the good work.”

She walked to the door and opened it, letting in all three of their VIP guests to fill the tiny room with a whole lot of female squealing and laughter and jokes.

Tessa, terrified she’d say one wrong thing about the fake-wedding-that-wasn’t-really-fake, played the subdued bride.

“Where’s the gown?” Gussie had short blue hair this weekend, and wore it quite well. “You know that’s my specialty?”

“It’s not exactly a gown.” Tessa opened the closet door where the dress she’d picked in Naples hung. An onslaught of oohs and aah ensued.

“So, not your first time, huh?” Gussie asked, fingering some pearls. “That’s usually why the blush color.”

“Not my first time,” Tessa confirmed. “That’s why the whole event is so low-key.”

That and the fact that we pulled it together in two weeks for your benefit.

She could practically hear Lacey, Joss, and Zoe’s shared thoughts.

“I like low-key weddings,” Arielle said, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter. “As a set specialist in charge of all the logistics, I can tell you it’s the over-the-top events that give me consulting headaches. This place is tailor-made for small and intimate, which is very much in keeping with the economy and mind-set of a lot of brides.”

Lacey couldn’t hold back the smile. “So you guys like what you’ve seen so far?”

It was the wedding consultants’ turn to share a look, one that had its own secret language that Tessa and her friends couldn’t quite read.

“So what shoes?” Gussie asked, breaking the awkward silence.

“No shoes for the ceremony,” Tessa said. “Because of the sand.”

“It is Barefoot Bay,” Zoe added. “And our motto is ‘Kick off your shoes and fall in love.’”

The women laughed and exchanged another impossible-to-read look.

“Great motto,” Gussie said. “For a great place.”

“I’m really intrigued by how you built this resort from nothing,” Willow commented. “What was here before?”

“My grandparents had most of the property and I bought the neighboring lots,” Lacey told her. “But, trust me, it’s been a group effort.”

“We’ve never been anywhere quite like it,” Willow said.

“It’s like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere,” Gussie added.

Well, that was damning with faint praise. Did they like the place or not?

Lacey was obviously thinking the same thing. “Not going to lie,” she said. “We’d really love it if Casa Blanca made your recommendations list.”

Willow gave a quick smile, a little too noncommittal for any of them to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Is there anything you think we could do to attract more destination-wedding business?” Jocelyn asked.

Once again they shared a look, and Tessa felt that same sensation of sickness roll around inside her. Something was up with these three. Did they know the wedding was a charade? Did they hate the resort?

“A better dressing room for the bride,” Gussie said, gesturing to the surroundings. “This is a massage room.”

“We could create a dressing area,” Jocelyn said quickly. “The spa’s always in flux.”

“And I had my baby in this room,” Lacey added with a smile. “So we think it has good vibes.”

The other three women gave the unexpected dropped jaw.

“My fiancée delivered it,” Zoe added.

“And my husband proposed while the baby was being born,” Jocelyn finished.

Gussie gave a hearty laugh. “Sounds like you guys have stories.”

Once again the three guests gave each other a look no one could decipher.

“Well, we gotta hear these stories,” Arielle said, pushing up from the chair she’d taken. “But you better get your wedding on, ladies.”

“Good luck today, Tessa,” Gussie said. “What’s your ONBB?”

Tessa gave her a confused look. “My…what?”

“Old, new, borrowed, blue,” Willow explained. “It can take brides weeks to figure that out.”

Not this bride—a real one. Was this a test? Did they know that the whole thing was a farce?

“Oh, we’re covered there,” Lacey said quickly. “I was about to give her my grandmother’s earrings for something old.”

“And the dress is new,” Jocelyn added.

The all looked at Zoe expectantly. She lifted her foot gingerly, a bright-blue shell ankle bracelet dangling. “Borrowed and blue,” she assured them, slipping it off. “We have every angle of a wedding covered.”

Willow gave a wave and Gussie blew a kiss. “You’ll be a beautiful barefoot bride,” she called out as she left.

Right before the door closed, Willow exclaimed, “Barefoot bride! Clever, Gus. We could work with that.”

The remaining four women stood stone still until the others were out of earshot. Then Lacey collapsed in a chair and Zoe let out a grunt of frustration and Jocelyn shook her head.

“That was kind of a weird vibe, wasn’t it?” Tessa asked.

“What does ‘We could work with that’ mean?” Jocelyn mused.

“I can’t tell if they love this place or not.” Lacey dropped her head back and closed her eyes. “I hope this whole thing isn’t a complete waste of time and money.”

“It’s not,” Tessa assured her, reaching for the dress hanger. It was the perfect way to get Ian a legitimate marriage certificate without anyone the wiser.

“They did seem a little underwhelmed,” Jocelyn said, gnawing on her lower lip. “I wonder what we’ve done wrong.”

“Nothing,” Zoe insisted, fluttering the anklet in front of Tessa. “Put this on. And don’t anyone fall into a worry spiral. Let’s get this show on the road.”

With little urging, Tessa stepped into the dress and the silk sighed over her skin at the same time her three best friends circled her with a chorus of appreciation.

Tessa turned to the mirror and stared, a little light-headed at how pretty she looked.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“He’s going to love that,” Lacey said.

That was the problem: He already did.

But Tessa smiled and took the steadying hands offered by her friends. “You guys, I…” She blinked, hating that the tears welled. She was an emotional wreck lately. “I have to tell you something.”

Not the truth, but something close to it.

“What?” they asked in unison.

“I don’t think you three know how much I love you.” Because if she didn’t, she’d probably leave on Monday and never look back.

“Oh!” They embraced in a group hug that lasted long enough for Tessa to remember why she had to stay.

Because this was her real family.

When Tessa appeared across the beach in a pale pink dress and bare feet, her hair blowing in the late afternoon breeze, her three closest friends hovering like mother hens, Ian forgot everything.

He forgot that he’d somehow orchestrated this surreal event.

He forgot that he wasn’t truly marrying the woman he deeply loved.

And, best of all, he forgot that he’d done this once before, a long time ago.

He flat-out forgot everything but how beautiful Tessa was and how insanely nervous he’d become.

A slow smile pulled at his lips as she walked over the sand toward him, her gaze down like she was still looking for that damn junonia shell. Didn’t she know she could buy one in any tourist shell shop in Fort Myers?

She finally looked up and caught his eye, and it felt like someone took a mallet to his chest and cracked it wide open, exposing the raw reality of what was happening.

He was using her to get what he wanted. “I can’t do this,” he murmured.

Instantly, the mayor’s hand was on his arm. “Sure you can, son. Cold feet are natural, but that there is a lovely young woman. She’ll make you happy and give you babies.”

Exactly. That was exactly what she should do. For some deserving man who didn’t have the devil on his back and a price on his head. He had no right to do this to her, this selfish act that was purely for his convenience. No matter that it was on paper only; he was about to take vows and sign that paper, just so he could have a life on the run and in hiding with Shiloh and Sam.

It was such a stinking ugly betrayal of love. But…

“Who do I love more?” he muttered.

“Exactly,” the mayor said. “No one. That’s the woman you love and if your feet are cold, son”—he gave a squeeze and looked down at the hard, wet sand and their bare feet—“it’s natural.”

But was what he was doing natural? Dragging her into this, using her, and leaving her? Yes, he wanted to be with Shiloh and Sam, but he also wanted Tessa. Why, good God, why couldn’t he have both?

Maybe he could. He hadn’t really asked her, and she hadn’t offered. Maybe now was the time to ask—in front of everyone. Without anyone but Tessa knowing. How could he do that?

How could he not?

“Here’s your bride,” the mayor said under his breath.

As she reached him, the small crowd hushed and a wave splashed and off in the distance a seagull squawked his own wedding song. Without thinking, Ian reached out his hand, only a little stunned that it trembled, and Tessa did the same.

A little electric shock jolted when they touched.

“Dearly beloved…” Mayor Lennox’s words were loud, but they sounded like Ian’s head was underwater and he…couldn’t…breathe. The mayor went on about lifelong commitments and joined hands, but Ian didn’t listen.

He looked at the woman he loved and loved her even more for what she was doing for him.

Tessa looked as pale as he felt, her chin quivering a little, her palm damp against his hand. Every cell in his body wanted to scream his love for her and howl that leaving her was the number-one biggest mistake he’d ever made.

“I have the copies of your vows.” The mayor pulled two cards from his pocket, leaning in to whisper, “I’ve yet to meet a couple who remembered them even when they swore to memorize.”

“I don’t need that,” Ian said, waving off the card, his gaze locked on Tessa. “I know what I want to say.” The certainty of that pressed on him, and the weight felt good.

“I’ll take the card,” Tessa said softly. “I don’t think I could remember my name right now.”

The guests in the front laughed softly, but Ian didn’t. “I can’t remember mine, either.” Because John Brown seemed…right.

“John?” The mayor said. “Can you state your vows to Tessa?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat, and took both her hands, lifting them a little, clutching them too tightly. “Tessa Galloway, I want to marry you.”

The mayor let out a soft laugh, but Tessa frowned at the words, a question in her eyes. He could read that question. Was this real?

“For real and forever,” he added.

Her mouth opened in an “O” shape, so he squeezed her hands again to underscore how serious he was.

“I don’t want to live even a day without you.” Another squeeze. “I don’t ever want anyone or anything or any…circumstance to come between us. Not time or space. I love you and I want you to be my wife and partner and mother of…” He swallowed. “Our children.”

Would she understand what he was asking her to do?

A few of her friends “aahed” audibly but the color continued to drain from Tessa’s cheeks as if she did understand.

He stood silent, not at all certain what else to say. That was it, right? After an awkward beat, he added, “Okay?” and got another laugh from the mayor.

“Very much okay,” Mayor Lennox said. “Heartfelt. Tessa?”

She stared at him, glancing down at her card, then back up as she let it flutter to the sand. “John Brown, I want to make you happy and whole and help you find the things you’ve been looking for all this time.”

His children. That was what she meant, but he wanted—her.

“I’m vowing to do whatever it takes even if, sometimes, I don’t…understand.” He heard the soft undercurrent of surprise from the people close by and felt the mayor bristle, but Ian knew what she was saying. She’d do anything—even give him up—so that he would be happy.

Would she give up everything?

“Is that all?” the mayor asked after a beat.

“Yes. No! I also want to say publicly and officially that”—she glanced to the crowd—“no matter what happens I think you are the finest man I’ve ever met…” The words caught, but she swallowed again and finished. “And I love you.”

He lifted her hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers, closing his eyes to fight his own tears.

“Do you have a ring?”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “I never thought of that.”

The mayor looked at him. “Do you?”

“Um, sort of.”

“You do?” Tessa looked stunned and almost scared.

“Not exactly a ring,” he said, reaching into his pocket to close his hand over the seashell. He’d planned to give it to her as a parting gift when he’d left, but nothing about this day or weekend was going as planned. “I have this.”

She gasped softly, her jaw unhinged. He slipped the junonia into her palm and closed her fingers over it. “It means your every dream will come true.”

For a long minute they looked at each other, both hands clasped over the shell, the connection as real and powerful as when they made love.

“Well, then, that’s unconventional,” the mayor joked. “But good enough for me to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, sir.”

They both waited a second, then leaned into each other, angling their heads, meeting their mouths, and finally breaking their clasped hands to put their arms around each other.

“Don’t throw that shell away,” he whispered in her ear.

“Not this time,” she promised.

The cheer went up over the beach, but the crowd really didn’t know what they were cheering for. A life found, that was what.

Ian threw an arm around Tessa and walked through the small gathering, nodding to a few people he recognized from the resort and restaurant, holding his wife tight to his side. As they got through the crowd and reached the sea grass, he stopped.

“We’re going over to Rockrose to sign the papers,” she said. “That’s where we’re supposed to meet the mayor.”

He shook his head.

“No?”

“Yes, but not yet.” Taking her shoulders, he pulled her closer. “Tessa, listen to me. This is important. I made a—”

“John Brown?”

He whipped around, ready to jump down the throat of whoever felt it was necessary to congratulate him now. Then he just froze and stared at the very last person he ever dreamed he’d see here. Bloody hell.

Sharp-eyed, bearded, and leaning in to lower his voice, Henry Brooker always had impeccable timing. “You need to come with me. Now.”

Instinctively Ian stepped in front of Tessa, wanting to protect her from this part of his life, this dark, broken, abnormal life of his. “Why?” he demanded.

“It’s now or never if you want any chance of getting Shiloh or Sam. Things have changed. Drastically.”

Yes, they had.

“What’s going on?” Tessa asked, her face china white now, her eyes wide with horror.

“Nothing.” Damn it, he wouldn’t let Henry toss him around like a rudderless boat on whitewater. He had to have a life, and Tessa was his—

“Ms. Galloway,” Henry said softly. “John is going to leave now. You have about one minute to say good-bye.”

“What?”

“One minute,” he said gruffly.

She put her hand on her chest, and, right in front of him, Tessa collapsed in the sand.