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“Are you happy?” he asked, fairly certain his answer was found in the sky-blue gleam in her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”
“That’s how I want to keep it, sweetheart.” He pressed her close and kissed her forehead, brushing his lips over her cheeks and nose and finally landing on her sweet mouth.
“I loved our sunset wedding,” Portia said. “This is a special place.”
Their first dance ended and Juan Carlos swung Portia to a stop in the center of the circle of their guests, who applauded them, their dance and their marriage. Portia’s elegant grace, her help in discovering the hidden artworks and her work with local charities had endeared her to the country. Even the doubters had begun to come around as she constantly proved to them that she belonged at his side. It was a good thing, too, because Juan Carlos would rather give up the throne than live without Portia.
His cousins approached. “Welcome to the family, Portia,” Rafe said, his very pregnant wife on his arm. “We couldn’t be happier for you both.”
“It was a lovely ceremony,” Emily said.
“Thank you. I’ve heard all about your special ceremony, as well,” Portia offered, glancing at Emily, Rafe, Gabe and Serafia. “I’ve never attended a double wedding before.”
“We wish we would’ve known you then,” Serafia added.
“Might’ve been a triple wedding, who knows?” Gabe said with a teasing smile.
Juan Carlos found it all amusing. His cousins had met their wives in uncanny ways and now every one of them was married. Rafe had resumed his position as head of Montoro Enterprises and the company was thriving. Good thing, too, because Rafe’s father had decided to retire in Alma. After the ceremony he’d been the first to offer his congratulations, giving Portia a kiss on the cheek and wrapping Juan Carlos in a tight embrace. Juan Carlos owed a great deal to the man who had raised him from early childhood.
Gabe, the younger of his male cousins, had finally shed his bad boy ways and settled down with his lifelong friend and love, Serafia.
“I think I just felt something,” Bella announced. She took James’s hand and placed it on her small rounded belly. “Here, see if you can feel the baby.”
James kept his hand there several seconds. “I’m not sure,” he said softly, diplomatically. “It’s early yet, isn’t it, honey?”
“Maybe for you, but I think I felt it.” Bella’s eyes were two bright beams of light. She was carrying James’s child.
James kissed her lips. “I can’t wait to feel our baby, too.”
Portia slipped her hand in Juan Carlos’s and they watched the scene play out. James had one child already and Bella was proving to be a fantastic stepmother to one-year-old Maisey. And now, their family was expanding. Juan Carlos was glad that Bella and James had settled in Alma and James was back playing professional soccer—football as they called it here—and winning games for the home team. Things had been rough there for a while between James and his father, oil tycoon Patrick Rowling. Patrick had picked James’s twin brother, Will, to marry Bella. The arranged marriage was an antiquated notion to say the least, and Bella was having none of it. James was the man for her. And then Will had also found love with Catalina Ibarra, his father’s maid. The whole thing had sent Patrick into a nosedive but he was finally coming around and softening to the idea that perhaps his sons could make up their own minds about their love life and beyond.
“Now that we’re all here together, I have good news to share with all of you,” Juan Carlos said. He couldn’t help his ever-present smile from intensifying. He had his family’s attention now. “I’m told by Alex and the prime minister that Alma has never seen a better year. The country is well on its way to being financially solvent again. Thanks in part to our efforts here, I might add. With the discovery of the lost art treasure, tourism will climb, especially once we put those pieces on public display. We are working to that end. Since the state of Alma is now finally secure once again, a sizable portion of the Montoro fortune has been repatriated. It has been decided that the money will fund a new public school system named for my grandmother Isabella Salazar.”
“That’s wonderful,” Bella said.
Rafe and Gabe slapped him on the back with congratulations.
“If it wasn’t for Tia Isabella’s determination to see the Montoros return to Alma in her lifetime—and those letters I discovered—none of this would even be possible,” Bella said.
