Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tabitha
From my seat in the front row, I watch as the groomsmen walk up to the altar and take their places alongside the groom. When Spencer finally asked his brother why Hugh was going to be the best man, Kendall told him nobody had asked his opinion on that topic. Of course he wanted Spencer to serve as best man. Kendall had lost all his nervousness about the wedding once his brother arrived to give him a morale boost. He talked Spencer into trying the notorious Dùndubhan Masterpiece, a single-malt whisky that makes everyone incredibly horny. That”s not what I overheard someone else say. Spencer let me taste a little bit of that whisky.
All I can say is...whew. That stuff is lethal.
But it”s the kind of lethal that makes a girl weak in the knees. Yeah, Spence and I had uh-may-zing sex that first night at Sommerleigh, thanks in part to Thane Buchanan”s magical whisky. I ordered a few bottles from Thane”s online store. They”ll be shipped directly to our apartment. Yes, that”s right. I”m giving up my apartment to move in with Spencer. We plan on visiting my family in Asheville at least every other weekend. We also invited Mom, Dad, and Sabrina to come to Arlington for a visit anytime they like.
Right now, they”re sitting beside me in the front row, along with Hugh, Avery, Rosalyn, and of course, Spencer”s brother and sister as well as his parents. Bindy punched Hugh in the arm when she saw him at Sommerleigh a few days ago. She was ticked that he”d made it sound like Kendall was in trouble. But she understood once everyone explained why they did that.
Tears begin to gather in my eyes as I watch Rachelle gliding up the aisle. She looks so beautiful in her white, off-the-shoulder gown that has tiny beads woven into it for a shimmery effect. The expression of pure love on her face gets me a little choked up.
My mom clasps my hand and whispers, ”Soon, you”ll be the one saying ”I do” in front of everyone who loves you.”
Rachelle and Kendall are reciting their vows now, so I don”t respond to what Mom said. I know it”s true, though. I can feel it when Spencer makes love to me. We could wait an arbitrary length of time to tie the knot, but I can tell he wants to pop that question soon. And I”m sure he realizes I want to say yes.
The second the minister declares that ”you may kiss the bride,” Kendall pulls Rachelle into his arms and kisses her like he means it, like he”s infusing that lip-lock with all the love and passion they feel for each other. The tears that had welled up in my eyes now spill over my lids to trickle down my cheeks. I dig a tissue out of my pocket to wipe at my eyes.
Kendall sweeps Rachelle up in his arms, facing the crowd, and they both grin. Then the groom leaps off the dais to rush down the aisle. The bride tosses her bouquet while being whisked away by her husband.
The bouquet lands on my lap.
Spencer trots up to me, holding out his hand. ”Come with me, love. We don”t want to miss Kendall and Rachelle”s first dance as a married couple.”
I stand up and wave the bouquet in his face. ”Better find a jewelry store, Spence. The universe has spoken.”
We reach the makeshift dance floor just in time.
Spencer holds my hand as we watch Kendall and Rachelle floating across the floor, smiling with the kind of fairy-tale love I”d always dreamed of but denied I wanted if anyone asked me. But thanks to Spencer, I”ve not only embraced the idea of true love, but I”ve also found my Prince Charming.
I take a spin around the floor with a lot of handsome men during the reception, but my favorite moment is when Kendall asks for a dance.
While we”re navigating between other couples, he tells me, ”I need to thank you, Tabitha. You”re a miracle worker.”
A nervous laugh bubbles out of me. ”I”m just a corporate administrative assistant, not an angel.”
”I disagree, and I can back up my claim with proof.”
”That sounds intriguing. Give it a try.”
Kendall spins me around once before he explains. ”Spencer has always been obsessed with work. No matter how hard we all tried to convince him to give up his workaholic ways, he always brushed off the idea.” Kendall smiles. ”Then you came along, and suddenly, my brother became a different man. You”ve given us back the Spence we all knew and loved when we were growing up. So, yes, Tabitha, our family owes you a debt of gratitude.”
”I owe your family too. Spencer has changed my life in more ways than I could count. I”m happier than ever and ready to start a new life with my Prince Charming.”
Kendall stops moving and kisses my hand. ”I need to dance with Avery now. Go, Tabitha, and find Spencer. I think he has something he”d like to say to you.”
I rise onto my tiptoes and search the crowd with my gaze. ”I don”t see Spence.”
”Bindy will take you to him.” He grasps my shoulders and turns me around. ”See? There she is.”
While Kendall finds Avery, I approach Bindy. She”s been standing at the edge of the dance floor with her children, Tucker and Gemma. Her husband, Charles, is currently dancing with Rosalyn. Tucker is the cutest five-year-old I”ve ever seen, and his eight-year-old sister is so sweet and pretty, just like her mother.
Bindy beckons me over to her. ”Come with me, Tabitha.”
”Where are we going?”
”To the garden.” She starts walking in that direction, keeping pace with me as we enter the beautifully manicured garden that”s almost a maze. ”I”m sure Kendall told you how he feels about you and Spencer becoming a couple. Now it”s my turn. You”ve saved my brother from a lonely life in America. I”m so grateful that you came into his life at exactly the moment when he needed for you to appear. You”re a true angel, Tabitha.”
”I wish you guys would quit gushing about how amazing I am. It”s kind of embarrassing.”
”Oh, tosh.” Bindy waves a dismissive hand. ”You are a member of the Halfenaked family now. We adore you, and that will never change.” She smiles with a sneaky slant to that expression. ”I would love to have some nieces and nephews. Kendall and Spencer had better get started on that soon.”
Before I can respond to that statement, we arrive at our destination. I know that because Spencer is standing there, surrounded by tall, green bushes.
”She”s all yours, Spencer,” Bindy announces.
Then she hurries away.
Spencer holds out his hands to me. ”Come closer, darling, please.”
I approach him and accept his hands. My throat is already tightening, and my eyes have already begun to sting. I know what he”s about to say, and just thinking about it makes me feel like I”m floating on a cloud.
Spencer drops to one knee, bringing out a satin box. He flips the lid up. ”I love you, Tabitha Primrose Remington. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
”Yes.” I can”t say anything else. I”m too choked up.
He smiles as he slips the ring onto my finger. ”I was hoping for a more exciting acceptance speech, but that isn”t important. ”Yes” is the only word that matters.”
My vocal cords finally decide to start working again, and I throw myself at Spencer, laughing and repeating one word over and over in between lavishing kisses on his face. What is that one word?
Yes.
By the time we return to the reception, everyone already knows we”re engaged. Bindy blabbed. I don”t mind that she did. This wonderful woman will be my sister-in-law soon, and I can”t wait to change my last name to Halfenaked.
Spencer”s brows shoot up into the stratosphere when I make that announcement. ”I wouldn”t blame you if you”d rather not use my surname.”
”I”m proud to be your fiancée, and I”ll be even prouder to become your wife and take your last name. You know by now that I don”t give a hoot about what other people think of me.”
”That”s one of the qualities that made me fall for you.”
Wow, my life has changed more in the past few weeks than I ever imagined it could in an entire lifetime. But the next morning, it”s time to fly back to Virginia on Dane Dixon”s jet. Yes, I met him at the wedding too. I met a lot of Spencer”s British buddies as well as their American wives and husbands.
Spencer and I are standing beside the limo, waiting while my family climbs inside, when Rosalyn approaches us.
”I have a confession to make, my dears,” she says. ”Desmond Rademaker gave Spencer a week”s extra holiday time because I asked him to do it.”
My fiancé stares at Rosalyn. ”What? How do you know him?”
”We met at university, back in the Dark Ages, when he was an American exchange student. We even shagged a few times.”
”Mum!” Hugh shouts from the top steps of the house. He”s gaping at Rosalyn. ”You can”t tell everyone that. I didn”t need to know, and neither did anyone else.”
”It was before I met your father, Hugh darling.” Rosalyn touches my arm. ”The American Wives Club, British Branch, couldn”t risk either of you getting cold feet about your relationship, so we made sure you would fly to England. There, you could meet all the couples we”ve helped find their happily ever afters. Spencer did not get his job in America because of Desmond, though. I didn”t ask for his help until later, and he knew nothing about the Parrish family”s connection to the Halfenakeds.”
The shock of what Rosalyn said doesn”t fully sink in until Spencer and I walk into our apartment. My fiancé insists on carrying me across the threshold. Naturally, we make love until we”re too tired to do it anymore.
But the next morning, it”s back to work.
Once the boss has settled in behind his desk, I grab my tablet and sashay into his office. I set the tablet down in front of him. ”Here”s your itinerary for the day, Mr. Halfenaked.”
He gives me a sly, sexy smile. ”Darling, would you mind getting a very important document out of that file cabinet for me?”
”Which file cabinet, Mr. Halfenaked? There are three of them.”
He gestures toward the cabinets. ”The one at the far end. The document seems to have fallen down behind the drawers, and my knee is acting up. Would you be a love and retrieve it for me?”
”Sure thing, Mr. Halfenaked.” I sashay over to the cabinet and bend over, pulling the drawer open. And I purposely hoist my ass in the air. ”Oh, there it is. I found your document.”
”Thank goodness.”
I walk back to Spencer and set the blank sheet of paper on the desk, then rest my bottom on it too. ”What else can I do for you this morning?”
He rises and wraps his arms around me. ”Stay with me for the rest of our lives, that”s what you can do.”
I lock my legs around his hips. ”A good corporate administrative assistant always obeys her boss”s commands.”