Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
When Jaxon had said he wanted to marry Tully as soon as possible, he hadn’t thought she’d want to marry him two nights later at Honky Tonk Heaven’s grand opening.
He should have known better.
Like his mama, his girl had a special connection to the dancehall and always would. But there was a big difference between the two women. Tully would never let a bar come before the people she loved.
She’d just finished proving that.
While there were still a lot of last minute things to get done at Honky Tonk Heaven before the wedding, she had lured him back to her bed where she had satisfied all his needs .
. . and he’d satisfied a few of hers. He wished he could stay in her arms all night, but he knew there were traditions to uphold.
“I need to go. It’s almost midnight and it’s bad luck to see your bride on your wedding day.” He started to get up, but she pinned him to the mattress with her sweet naked body and straddled him.
“You aren’t going anywhere, Jaxon Hennessy. I don’t want you going home and getting cold feet.”
She knew him too well.
He had already started to worry that he was forcing her into marriage too quickly. He figured he’d always struggle with insecurity and doubts. That was what happened when you had an insecure childhood. But he refused to give into those doubts.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her toward his waiting lips. After he had a good, long taste, he drew back and smiled. “I’m not going anywhere, Tull. Ever.”
The next morning, he woke with a sexy-as-hell woman and a snoring cat sleeping on his chest . . . and the doorbell ringing. He squinted at the clock on the nightstand and realized he’d overslept. He was supposed to meet his siblings at the dancehall an hour ago to set up for the wedding.
Figuring the incessant doorbell ringing was his impatient little sister, he eased Tully over, cozied Dumplin’ in next to her, then got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans before heading for the door.
But when he pulled it open, it wasn’t Poppy standing on the other side, holding a bagged wedding dress and the handle of a roller suitcase.
It was Tully’s mama.
If her widening eyes were any indication, he looked like a man who had done exactly what he’d done . . . spent the night having wild sex.
With her daughter.
He flushed and quickly finished buttoning his jeans. “Uhh . . . good mornin’, Mrs. Gentry . . . I’ll just go get—”
Laura Gentry swept past him, cutting him off. “No need to wake my daughter.” Once inside the house, she gave him the onceover. “Especially when it looks like she could use the extra sleep.”
Could embarrassment burn a man’s face off?
“Yes, ma’am.” He ran a hand through his hair. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go get a shirt.”
“No need. I’ve seen a man’s naked chest before.” She carefully laid the dress over the lifted handle of the suitcase and headed for the kitchen. “Do you like French toast, Jaxon Hennessy?”
Fifteen minutes later, Jaxon was sitting at the table eating French toast while Mrs. Gentry sipped coffee and studied him like he was a rare germ specimen.
“This is delicious, ma’am,” he said, even though he could barely taste over his jumpy nerves.
“Thank you. I suppose Tully told you that she doesn’t like to cook.”
“Umm . . . no, ma’am.”
“Did you know she has an allergy to shellfish?”
He cleared his throat. “No, ma’am.”
She studied him. “What’s her favorite cake flavor?”
He pushed back his plate, no longer able to eat. “I don’t know.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “What do you know about my daughter, Jaxon Hennessy?”
All the doubts he’d been fighting came flooding back like a swarm of bees, but this time, he didn’t let them get the best of him. This time, he fought for what he and Tully had.
“I know she’s strong and determined and refuses to let fear rule her life.
I know when she believes in you, she believes in you and won’t let a little idle gossip sway her mind.
I know she loves you and her daddy and wants to make you proud—just not at the expense of her own life and what she wants.
” He paused. “And for some reason, she wants me. I know I’m probably not your first choice for a son-in-law.
I’m probably not even your last. But I love your daughter.
I love her more than I ever thought possible.
I might not know she doesn’t like to cook or she’s allergic to shellfish or what her favorite cake flavor is.
But I know she loves me. And I’m going to do everything I possibly can to be worthy of that love. ”
Mrs. Gentry set down her cup of coffee and got up.
As he was taught, he rose to his feet. He didn’t know what she planned to do.
Walk from the room or slap his face and yell that he would never be worthy of her daughter.
But he did not expect her to pull him into a tight mama-hug that made his eyes sting.
“That’s all I needed to know, Jaxon,” she said as she gave him an extra squeeze.
“That’s all I needed to know.” She drew back and smiled a one-dimple smile just like her daughter’s.
“Just so you know, I’m not surprised at all.
My daughter has always had her eye on you.
And what Tully wants, she always figures out a way to get. ”
He couldn’t have asked for a better gift. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Laura. That’s what everyone calls me.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, not everyone. Tully’s ornery father still calls me Laurie even though he knows I hate it.” But the sparkle in her eyes didn’t say hate to Jaxon. He had to wonder if there weren’t still some feelings there.
He started to thank her again when Tully spoke.
“Mama?”
Jaxon turned to see her standing in the doorway. And if there was any question in her mama’s mind about how they’d spent the night, it probably evaporated when she saw her daughter. Tully looked thoroughly ravished standing there in his T-shirt with her wild hair and whisker-burned cheeks.
But to him, she looked breathtakingly stunning. He watched with a full heart as she raced over to hug her mama. They did the huggy sway thing that women do for what felt like forever before her mama drew back and smoothed a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.
“Well, we can’t be standing around hugging when we have a wedding to get you ready for.” She looked at Jaxon. “Out! You shouldn’t be seeing the bride on the wedding day.”
* * *
Hours later, Jaxon’s heart got even fuller as he watched Tully walk down the aisle between the chairs he and his siblings had set up. She looked stunning in her mama’s wedding dress with her curly hair falling around her shoulders and her Bambi eyes filled with love.
When she reached him, she turned to her parents and gave them each a hug.
Her mama and daddy hung on tightly with tears in their eyes.
Their show of parental love made Jaxon feel a lot of things.
Happiness. Jealousy. Regret. But mostly it filled him with the strong desire to give his and Tully’s children the same kind of strong love and affection.
At one time, he’d worried that he’d be like his parents, but now he realized that he was nothing like his parents. He knew how to love. He’d proved it with his siblings.
After taking Tully’s hand in his, he turned to those siblings who stood with the preacher and Magnolia in front of the beautiful mahogany bar Huck had made.
They were all looking at him with looks of love as deep as his for them.
All three would no doubt be leaving once they got their inheritance, but he intended to make sure they came home on a regular basis.
Home.
Jaxon glanced around the dancehall. It looked just like it had looked in all his memories. The only thing that was different was the feeling that welled up inside him. The dancehall had always filled him with resentment. Now it just filled him with hope.
All it had taken was a brown-eyed girl to remove his blinders and give him that hope.
He glanced down at that girl. “I love you, Tully.”
She smiled up at him, one dimple winking. “I love you too, Jaxon.”
Once they’d exchanged vows and the preacher pronounced them man and wife, Tully tipped her chin up and closed her eyes, waiting for him to kiss her.
But Jaxon had other plans.
He took her hand in his and led her out to the dance floor.
“What are you doing?” She asked. “The dancing isn’t supposed to start until everyone eats and we cut the cake.”
He stopped in the middle of the dance floor and drew her into his arms. “The food and cake will wait. But what can’t wait is fulfilling my wife’s dream . . . and mine. Can I have this dance, Tallulah Grace Hennessy?”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “Oh, Jaxon . . . yes, you can have this dance and every dance for the rest of my life.”
Jaxon couldn’t have planned the song he wanted Dawson to play on the jukebox better.
As if on cue, Anne Murray started singing “Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life” and Jaxon waltzed his brand new bride around the solid oak dance floor as everyone in town watched.
He did feel like he was skating on ice. Or maybe just walking on clouds.
There were no words to describe the happiness he felt as he looked down into Tully’s beaming face. He decided right then and there that every night after they closed up Honky Tonk Heaven, he would dance with this sweet, determined, beautiful woman who had brought such happiness into his life.
The song ended and the bar erupted in whistles, whoops, and applause as Jaxon dipped Tully over his arm and kissed her like any bad boy worth their reputation should kiss his woman.
When Jaxon drew back, he grinned at her like the lovesick fool he was.
“Welcome to the Hennessy Hooligans, Mrs. Hennessy!”
THE END