Chapter Twenty-Two
“Oh, that is soooo romantic.” Her mother sighed and leaned back against the chair.
“Our Darryn tends to be very spontaneous when he feels deeply about something, and he obviously feels deeply about you,” Rosa said with bright eyes. “Jumping on a plane to be with you—that’s Darryn.” She smiled. “He wasn’t sure about the details, but he knew what he wanted.”
Hannah smiled. She and Darryn had called everybody from New York to announce their engagement.
They returned yesterday, and this morning she opened her eyes to a message from her mother, informing her everyone was coming over for a glass of champagne and a chat.
Everyone, of course, included her sisters, Darryn’s mother, and her mother.
Darryn’s brothers and dad had taken him away, “to give him some pointers about women,” as they’d put it. Her sisters had been grilling her about the details of the proposal.
“Now your story is really only beginning,” her mother said with a smile, blissfully happy to have heard a real-life love story playing out around her.
“So, come, on, give us some details. Did he take to you a restaurant? What were you wearing when he proposed? How did he ask? Come on, give. We’re old married women,” Dana said.
Hannah felt the blush creeping up her neck again. “Well, it…I…we…”
“Don’t you remember?” teased Zoe.
“Of course I do. It’s just…” She glanced at her future mother-in-law who was cooking in the kitchen. Well, she’d hear about it at some point. She might as well tell the whole story.
“We never left the apartment,” she said, and her sisters leaned forward.
“Yes?” Caitlin breathed.
“In fact, we never even left the bedroom.” She paused for effect. “Or the bed, for that matter.”
“So you were on your bed and wearing…” Dana asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” Hannah declared with a straight face.
*
The feminine giggles welcomed them home.
Darryn opened his front door and motioned his brothers and dad inside. His mother had to be cooking, because delicious smells welcomed them.
“This has to be the shortest bachelor’s party in history,” Dale grumbled.
“Oh, no,” Don said, slapping him on the back. “He’s not getting off that easily. We’ll get him at a time he’s not in such a hurry to return to Hannah.”
“Well, then you’ll have a long wait,” Darryn said, moving toward the voices in his living room.
He rounded the corner, searched the faces until he found her. His heart settled; his shoulders relaxed. With long strides, he made his way over to her.
“There you are,” he said and lifted her from the couch for a kiss.
“Now that,” her mother exclaimed behind him, “that’s the stuff romance stories are made of!”
*
A month later, he was standing on the beach in Mahé where he’d seen Hannah for the first time, waiting for his bride to appear. They both wanted the wedding to be held there. Standing with the ocean behind him, flanked by his brothers, he felt ten feet tall.
Today, he was marrying his Hannah. She still had contracts she couldn’t break, he had work that had to be done, but they were figuring things out as they went along. Whenever he could, he traveled with her, and so far they hadn’t spent a night apart.
They had both agreed on a family-only wedding. The whole ceremony had been kept quiet—a circus was the last thing they wanted.
His mother, Hannah’s mother, and his sisters-in-law nearly had a fit when he’d grudgingly agreed to wait a month to marry Hannah. It was impossible, they said, nobody could do that, they moaned, but in spite of all their complaints, they managed to pull it off.
There was movement on the beach. His heart tripped. And then Hannah’s sisters and Dana came walking down a pathway of pink rose petals, but he barely even glanced at them.
His eyes searched for Hannah. And there she was. This time his heart stopped completely. Smiling, her hand on her mother’s arm, Hannah glided toward him. A smile started deep within him. She was wearing a beautiful white dress with a skirt made of layers and layers of white tulle.
As he stared, she stopped, lifted the layers and, laughingly, she twirled. With a swoosh, the oxygen returned to his body, and his feet were moving before he knew what he was doing.
*
“Look at him, sweetheart, he can’t wait, he’s coming for you,” her mother said while they were only halfway down the aisle. “This, I’m going to remember.” She chuckled and leaned in for a kiss.
Hannah looked up and there he was—his brown eyes nearly pitch-black with emotion, not wavering from her face.
“I’ll look after her, always,” he said gruffly to her mother and kissed her.
As if walking on air, she put her hand on his arm and together they moved forward to where the minister was waiting for them, an indulgent smile on his face.
And with the sound of the sea in her ears, the faces of their family close by, she and Darryn promised one another a lifetime of loving. All the questions and the what ifs were forgotten. With Darryn by her side, she was ready for any challenge.
*
“Will you wait here for two minutes?” Darryn asked and slid her down his body so she could stand. “Two minutes,” he said and went into his room. Their room now.
Hannah hugged herself. They’d spent the most amazing week on Mahé and had only arrived in Cape Town earlier tonight. Darryn had been quiet on the way here. She now knew him well enough to know he was probably planning another surprise.
“Okay, Mrs. Calvallo,” he interrupted her thoughts and picked her up. “Let’s do this properly.”
Giggling, she threw her arms around his neck as he walked into the big room.
And then she saw it. Slipping from his arms, she walked closer.
Above the bed, hung a huge print of her, twirling around in the pink tulle skirt.
He had to have taken this on the beach two years ago, that first time she’d seen him.
“Darryn,” she whispered and felt his arms around her from behind. “That was the day…”
“I fell in love with you,” they said simultaneously.
“That,” he said and pointed toward the picture, “was the moment you looked up and saw me. And that was the moment you touched my very being. And that was the moment my heart ultimately surrendered to you. How could I not fall for you?”
He pulled her into his arms.
The End