Abby Gaines – The Wedding Plan (страница 11)

Sure enough, Dwight and Stephanie arrived a minute later. Stephanie, pushing Mia in a stroller, was smiling brightly enough to light up a Christmas tree, and even Dwight looked almost jolly.

“Did you tell him?” Stephanie asked.

John lifted his head. “Tell me what?”

Merry gulped. Drew a breath. Before she could speak, Lucas said, “Merry and I got engaged last night.”

Any doubts Merry might have had evaporated in the burst of elation that came over her father’s face. “Merry, that’s…” He stopped, choked by emotion. His jaw worked. “That’s wonderful.” He stretched his arms out; carefully, she went in for a hug. He kept his left arm around her while he shook Lucas’s hand. “Smart decision, Lucas. You won’t regret it.”

“I know,” Lucas said with such sincerity that she stared. Then she realized he meant he wouldn’t regret faking an engagement for a few days.

Nor will I. Not now that I see how happy it’s made Dad.

Her father chuckled. “To think that all you two needed was a little push from me. Dwight, didn’t we always know they were destined to be together?”

Lucas’s dad was more about logic than destiny, but he nodded.

“We should have pressured them years ago,” John continued.

“We should have,” Dwight agreed. “If you recall, Stephanie wouldn’t let us.”

His wife swatted his arm, and he caught her hand and kissed it.

“So, where’s the ring?” John asked.

“We haven’t had time—” Merry began.

“Right here.” Lucas pulled a dark blue velvet box from his pocket.

What the heck? Merry held her breath as he opened the box. Nestled on the plush white lining was a ring. A square-cut emerald flanked by two diamonds. Where did this come from?

“You going to put it on, honeybun?” Lucas asked.

Hadn’t she said no honeybun?

Lucas placed a finger beneath her chin and lifted. Ugh, she’d been standing there with her mouth open.

“No, she is not going to put it on,” Stephanie said.

Merry turned to her gratefully.

“Not even you could be so unromantic, Lucas,” his stepmom scolded. “You’re going to put it on her.”

Lucas paused. “Of course I am.” Next moment, he had the ring out of the box and was advancing on Merry.

He took her fingers in his. For a long moment, he examined her hand, as if weighing his options. Don’t you dare back out now.

He must have read her thoughts, because he slipped the ring on swiftly, decisively. Slightly too large, it glided over her knuckle.

Stephanie applauded; little Mia clapped her hands in imitation.

John gestured to Merry that he wanted to inspect the ring. She moved closer, relieved to get away from Lucas.

The bad-tempered nurse came in with John’s breakfast. “Very nice,” she said about the ring, though no one had asked her. She plunked the tray down on his table and marched out again.

“I gave your mother an emerald,” John said, his voice heavy with emotion. He closed his other hand over Merry’s. “Nice job, Lucas.”

“Thanks, John.”

“So, when’s the wedding?”

From the jerk of Lucas’s chin, Merry guessed he hadn’t anticipated the question. Lucky for him, she had.

“It’ll take us a couple of months to get organized,” she said.

Her father’s face fell. “I was hoping it would be before…”

He seriously expected her to go from single to engaged to married in just a few days?

“There’s nothing we’d like better, John,” Lucas said. “Unfortunately, blood tests and waiting times and the like mean it can’t be done. We figured we might as well wait a little longer and do it properly.”

Nice work. Merry telegraphed the message with her eyes.

He gave her a smug look that said, What do you expect from a guy with a degree in Rocklike Calm?

“There’s no blood test in Connecticut,” Stephanie said, sounding confused. “No waiting time, either. Don’t you remember, Dwight, you rushed to get our license, thinking it would take forever? And it turned out you could just roll up, pick up a license and get married five minutes later.”

“That’s right,” Dwight said. “Lucas, where did you get your information?”

Oh, heck. Merry held her breath.

“It’s been a while since you and Stephanie tied the knot,” Lucas said. “Things have changed.”

Good, she congratulated him mentally. Good thinking.

To her horror, Dwight pulled out his iPhone.

“Let’s see,” he said. He typed surprisingly fast for an old guy typing with his thumbs on a virtual keyboard.

Dread pooled in Merry’s stomach. Let Lucas be right. Let the rules have changed.

“Ha,” Dwight said with a note of triumph that sent her hopes plummeting. “You’re right, darling.” Darling being Stephanie. “No waiting period in Connecticut and no blood test. You can apply for a license Monday to Friday between eight-thirty and four, and get married five minutes later.”

Lucas looked faintly green.

“Today’s Wednesday,” John said. “Isn’t it?”

Merry nodded.

“Well, then. Nothing to stop you.” Uh-oh, he was looking teary again. “To see my little girl get married…a man could die happy.”

“I—I don’t have a dress,” Merry blurted. As if that mattered.

“You can wear mine,” Stephanie said. “It’s not new, but it’s Vera Wang. Great design doesn’t date.”

Merry whimpered.

“Merry,” Lucas said calmly, “could I see you for a moment?”

In the hallway, he dragged her out of sight of her father’s glass-walled room. “You do realize you need to tell your dad that we’re not getting married?”

“Of course I do!” she hissed.

“Then stop talking about your damn dress, and get back in there and do it.”

Immediately, her hackles rose, the way they had since they were kids. “It’s not that easy. You’re the one who told him the blood test was all that stood in our way.”

“How was I to know there’s no blood test in Connecticut?”

Grouchy Nurse Martin walked by, eyeing them curiously.

Merry waited until she’d passed. “You’re the one who gave me an engagement ring—no wonder he thinks we want to get married.”

“I was trying to look convincing,” Lucas said.

“Where did it come from, anyway?”

“Jeweler friend,” he said. “Let’s get back on topic. Namely, telling your dad there won’t be a wedding.”