Chapter 12
The ceremony was very nice, Bill supposed.
The towering stone arches of the church and the gleaming rainbow of light from the stained-glass windows made for a majestic setting.
And everyone there was dressed to the nines and glittering with so many jewels that they must have emptied the Diamond District.
The city would be talking about this shindig for the next decade.
But try as he might to attend to the droning minister, he couldn’t stop stealing glances at Ann.
That dress she was wearing might have been demure at first glance, but the tissue-thin silk hugged her curves so lovingly that he couldn’t hold back errant thoughts of what it might be like to touch her, hold her, caress every part of her.
The magnificent embroidery on top drew his eyes where he knew he shouldn’t be looking.
And then there was what she said back at the house about letting go of her woes for the evening and enjoying the company of a handsome man. Handsome. She thinks I’m handsome.
His heart soared when she leaned toward him, and he could swear they almost kissed. If only they hadn’t been interrupted! He loved his family. Truly. But Christ, did they have poor timing. A few more seconds and he might have found out what those lips he’d been dreaming of tasted like.
Nonetheless, it warmed his heart to see her sitting with them in the second pew.
It was where she belonged—with them. With him.
As he stood at the front of the grand sanctuary, listening to the sacred words echo in the rafters, he couldn’t help but envy Hank.
Bill hadn’t let himself think seriously about matrimony since Betty.
In such surroundings, though, he could hardly stop himself from thinking what it might be like to stand at the front of the church and take vows.
He didn’t just want to win Ann’s heart. He wanted to keep it. He wanted to stand beside her before God and his loved ones and make life-long promises.
Good God. Who was he, and what had he done with Bill O’Donnell?
His friends would never have let him live it down if they could read his thoughts.
Although they had gone surprisingly easy on Hank about his tying the knot.
It was so obvious to everyone who saw them that he and Rory were made for each other.
And God knew, he went through the wringer with that awful accident.
Bill stole a glance at his friend. Hank shifted ever so slightly on his crutches as the minister intoned, but all in all, he seemed to be holding up well, given his injuries.
They’d asked the minister to keep the ceremony as short as possible for Hank’s sake.
The man might have looked like he was carved from marble, but he’d only been out of bed for a week.
The minister cleared his throat. “Do you, Hank Hawley, take Aurora Belmont to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Ah. Now they were getting to the good part.
“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
It was a battle for Bill to keep his eyes on the bride and groom. He wanted to steal another glance at Ann. What must she have been thinking as she watched all this? Was she thinking of him just like he was thinking of her? Or, more likely, was she remembering her wedding to Roger?
What if she was hurting? What if the ceremony opened the wounds that were still so fresh for her?
He gave in and looked over. Tears streamed down her face, and she was dabbing at her cheeks with a handkerchief.
Dammit. How could he have been so insensitive that he thought she was thinking of him when obviously this wedding would only remind her of her loss?
He wanted to reach out to her, comfort her, hold her until the pain eased.
Ernie elbowed him in the side. “Pay attention. You’re supposed to be looking at the bride and groom,” he scolded under his breath.
Right. Yes. The bride and groom. They were doing just fine by the looks of it.
The way they were making doe eyes at each other, there wasn’t a chance they had noticed Bill’s momentary inattention.
But still. Ernie was right. He was the best man, and he had a job to do, which, at that moment, was to stand and look supportive, whatever that meant.
As Hank and Rory exchanged rings, Bill couldn’t help thinking of his own previous brush with matrimony.
When Betty was expecting, they talked about tying the knot.
He wasn’t in love with her, but he would have gone through with it and made the best of things.
While he regretted how they parted ways, deep down, he was relieved not to be tied to her for life.
Especially now that he’d met Ann and had a glimpse of what it could be like with someone he truly cared for.
Not just cared for. Loved. There was no pretending otherwise.
He’d fallen by degrees over the last few months, but from the night they met, she’d tugged at his heart like no one else.
It was far too soon to tell her. She would likely need years before she was ready to consider sharing her heart and her life with another man after Roger.
And though he might have had reason to feel jealous of the husband she lost, he couldn’t bring himself to resent a dead man, especially one who had died serving his country like so many of Bill’s comrades.
He wanted to respect her love and her grief, even as he craved her affections for himself.
But how could he show her that? How could he prove that he cared about her too much to press her to move on before she was ready, even if he ached to hold her in his arms and kiss her pain away?
“With this ring, I thee wed.” Hank’s baritone brought him out of his revery.
Saints above! This was it. The legendary Hank Hawley was leaving behind bachelorhood forever. Bill could practically hear the disappointed sighs from ladies across the eastern seaboard. It was the end of an era, though also the start of something new.
“I now declare you man and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the minister intoned.
Bill was happy for his friend, but he had no intention of watching that. He stole another glance at Ann. She’d dried her tears. Mary had her arm around her. Mum was holding Junior.
Their gazes met, and she gave him a shy smile that made him want to dance a jig in front of the entire congregation of Belmonts, Astors, Carnegies, and Rockefellers.
He grinned back at her and winked. Then he made himself turn back to the bride and groom, catching sight of them just as they pulled apart making bedroom eyes at each other.
There would be plenty of time for that later.
First, they had to survive a reception at Delmonico’s with all of high society in attendance.
The happy couple made their way down the aisle, Hank surprisingly agile on his crutches.
Then it was Bill’s turn to offer his arm to Evelyn Carnegie.
He’d only spoken to her a handful of times, and all at the wedding rehearsal, but every time she had made him laugh.
At the moment, she was smirking at him with an all-too-knowing gaze.
She might have been two feet shorter than him, but she made up for her diminutive stature with sheer cheekiness.
“Was that Mrs. Prince you kept stealing glances at during the ceremony?” she asked as they made their way down the aisle.
Of course. Evelyn must have met Ann through her work with the PBA. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She gave him a withering glance. “You’d better not break her heart, Bill O’Donnell, or you’ll have me to reckon with.”
He had to laugh at that. It warmed his heart to know that after all Ann had been through, she had such powerful allies. “I would never.”
Evelyn dug her nails into his suit jacket, giving him a dazzling, threatening smile. “Good. Because she’s a lovely woman and has been through quite enough.”
Bill swallowed hard. Why was he afraid of this woman who was roughly half his size? And yet he was. “Yes, Miss Carnegie.”
They reached the back of the church. He expected her to relinquish his arm, but instead she turned to face him.
“Don’t ‘Miss Carnegie’ me. I’m Evelyn, plain and simple.
And I mean it about Ann. I know Rory and I aren’t supposed to have favorites amongst the women we offer to help, but we both adore her.
There’s something special about her. We admire her grit. ”
“So do I.” More than he dared let on in current company.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes, and Bill felt as if he were in grade school being scolded by Mrs. Putney for throwing paper airplanes again.
“What did O’Donnell do this time?” Ernie sidled up to them, looking back and forth between them.
“Nothing yet,” Evelyn answered without taking her narrowed eyes off Bill. “But I’m watching.” With that, she let go of his arm and sauntered away to talk to one of the other bridesmaids.
Ernie turned toward him, eyebrows raised. “You going to tell me what that was all about?”
Not likely. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Does it have to do with a certain Long Island widow with a penchant for strawberry cake?”
Dammit. Was he so transparent? “Fine. Yes. She warned me to watch myself with Ann, or she and Miss Belmont… Pardon me. Mrs. Hawley…would have words with me.”
Ernie chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Watch out, or you’re going to go the same way as Hawley.”
He should be so lucky! But he didn’t want his friends trying to matchmake at the reception. “The last thing Ann needs is another pilot husband. I won’t pretend I don’t care for her deeply—”
“Mmm hmm.” Ernie crossed his arms.
“But she isn’t ready. She may never be ready. She’s still grieving her husband, and I will thank you to keep your smirks and your insinuations to yourself at the reception. The fact of the matter is I don’t deserve her.”
“Truer words have never been spoken, you old hound dog.”
And that was the problem. He wanted to be with her with all his heart. He was willing to wait as long as it took. But would he ever be worthy of her, no matter how patient he was?
Ernie let out a sigh. “Don’t look so sad.
You think Hawley deserved Miss Belmont? I can see you’ve got it bad for Mrs. Prince.
I never thought I’d see the day when you’d settle down, but you may surprise us all.
Sometimes love comes when we least deserve it.
And that’s the beautiful thing about it. You can’t earn it because it’s a gift.”
Shit. If Ernie Pritchard was lecturing him about love, he must have been even worse at hiding his feelings than he thought. What must Ann think of me?
The organ music stopped, and wedding guests began to flood the vestibule.
Quick. Think of a wisecrack, or Ernie will keep teasing all night. “Maybe you’re right.”
Good job, O’Donnell. That will definitely put him off the scent.
Ernie grinned and squeezed his shoulder again. “She’s coming this way. Good luck.”
With a little shove, he turned O’Donnell into the onslaught of wedding guests. Sure enough, the entire O’Donnell clan was making a beeline for him with Ann at the center.
Her gaze caught his. She smiled, and he forgot to breathe. Even with a bit of lingering redness around her eyes, she outshone everyone around her. And that dress… Dear Lord in heaven, that dress did things to him.
“Bill, wasn’t that the loveliest ceremony you’ve ever seen?” she asked as his family engulfed them.
Too bad he didn’t see half of it because he was too busy looking at her and thinking about her and imagining embarrassing happily-ever-afters with her. Did he have cherubs and hearts floating around his head like a newspaper cartoon? Because it certainly felt that way.
“Absolutely beautiful.” Whether he was talking about the ceremony or the woman in front of him, he wasn’t sure.
Get it together, O’Donnell.
“Shall we head to the reception?” He held out his arm and was very proud of himself for not sighing audibly with contentment at her light touch.
“Hold on. Let me take Junior back.” Ann reached for her son, who was cooing happily in Mum’s arms. “Thank you for all your help, Mrs. O’Donnell.”
“It was my pleasure,” said Mum as she handed over the baby. “And I hope I get to spend some more time with him at the reception. You young people should go enjoy yourselves.” She looked back and forth between Ann and Bill.
Yes, there were definitely cupids flying around Bill’s head, and Mum could see every one of them.
“Hurry along, now. We’ll see you at the restaurant.” Mum shooed them away with the most self-satisfied grin he’d even seen.
This was going to be an evening to remember, for better or worse.
And he could only pray he didn’t muck up the tenuous connection between them.
He wanted everything, and he wanted it right then.
But to win and keep her trust, he had to hold himself in check, let her set the pace of their courtship.
Because that was what this was—good, old-fashioned courtship.
For him, she was the one, and he had to do everything in his power to sway her heart.