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CHAPTER16
Acool, Spring breeze blew in off the sapphire toned ocean. The sky was a light, pale blue, drifting to mauve as the sun sank towards the horizon. Georgie sat next to Ryan on a timber foldout chair. She’d agonized over what to wear to Rafe and Mikayla’s wedding. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to dress up so much. In the end, she’d asked Leah, who had jumped online immediately and chosen an ankle length, slim fitting dress in a sparkly, dark blue material that shimmered in the sunlight. Ryan looked devastatingly handsome in his suit, dress shirt and tie. But then, he always looked devastatingly handsome. He’d been in Melbourne over the last few days and Georgie had missed him. More than she wanted to acknowledge.
Rafe stood, with Callum and William next to him, up on the edge of a dais at the end of a strip of red carpet. It would be the dance floor later on, Georgie knew. A trellis laden with flowers formed the backdrop. Fairy lights trailed behind the trellis, ready to be roped up over the dance floor later. It was all stunningly gorgeous. Georgie saw Rafe straighten and she turned to see an ambulance pulling up at the curb. The guests rose to their feet as Len opened the back doors of the ambulance and Mikayla, John, Leah, Juniper and Billy clambered out. The opening bars to Queen’sYou’re My Best Frienddropped and Georgie smiled. It was all just so perfect.
Billy stepped onto the red carpet. He’d told Georgie he knew what he was doing, since he’d done this job before when his parents got married. He certainly didn’t muck around, marching up the aisle with a frown of concentration on his face. He held his hand out as he came level with Georgie and without thinking about it, she gave him a high five. His frown cleared and he grinned up at her before moving on. Leah and Juniper came next, the wind catching at their flowing, mint green dresses as they walked. Then Mikayla was there, in her long, ivory silk dress with its fitted lace sleeves and thin, gold ribbon sitting just above her baby bump. Her red hair hung loose over her shoulders, burnished a dark copper by the setting sun. Georgie sighed. Mikayla looked absolutely, perfectly beautiful. And she beamed as she walked up the aisle, keeping her glowing eyes on Rafe the whole time.
As she stepped up onto the dais, Rafe moved forward and took her hand in his. Georgie saw him mouth, “I love you. Don’t cry,” before leading her to stand under the trellis in front of the celebrant. As everyone sat down, there was a collective gasp as two dolphins burst from the sea, high into the air and back down under the surface. Once. Twice. Then once more. Mikayla’s gaze flew to Callum. He laughed and shook his head. The ceremony went smoothly and Georgie had to blink back a tear when the bride and groom kissed. Then Rafe and Mikayla stepped down to receive everyone’s well wishes.
Not long after that, Georgie found herself sitting in a circle with Juniper and Leah, nibbling on food from the nearby food truck.
“I can’t decide if I’m hungry or exhausted,” Mikayla said, flopping onto a chair and rubbing her hand over her belly.
“Try these and we’ll see if we can rule out hungry.” Georgie held out the plate of snacks.
“Oh, meatballs. Yum!” Mikayla took one and closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Okay, I’m hungry.”
“I’ll load you up. Hold this.” She handed over her glass of wine and went off to grab a plate piled high with nibbles and brought them back. Juniper grabbed glasses of non-alcoholic wine for Mikayla and Leah.
“It’s a shame Brandon couldn’t make it,” Leah said, reaching for a mini quiche.
“Yeah. I’ve got no idea what he’s up to. But he’s planning something.”
“What are the options? I mean, what could he possibly be doing?”
Georgie shrugged. When he’d first started planning whatever it was he was planning, he’d behaved strangely. Avoiding and evading Georgie’s questions. She’d felt a frisson of alarm, thinking that maybe he had started using again. But she’d rejected that idea immediately. He was just too happy, clear eyed and determined. “I really don’t know. But he’ll tell me when he’s ready, so I’ll have to wait for that, I guess.”
“You’ve got more patience than me,” Mikayla observed. “I would have nagged it out of him by now.”
Georgie laughed. “The one thing I know about my brother is, he doesn’t do a single thing he doesn’t want to do. If he doesn’t want to tell me what’s going on, nothing I do could possibly change that.”
“Fair enough.”
Mikayla said something else, but Georgie’s mind drifted off. She was watching Ryan, grinning at Rafe as they put the dance floor in place. He’d taken his suit jacket off and she could see his muscles bulging through his shirt. God, she wanted him. She imagined standing up and walking over to him, grabbing his expensive silk tie and dragging him away somewhere. As though he could feel her gaze on him, he turned his head and looked directly at her. He was about twenty feet away and even from that distance, Georgie felt the impact of the look right to her core. Then he broke the connection, turning back to respond to something Rafe was saying to him.
“Ah, Georgie?”
“Hmm? Yeah?” Georgie turned back to Leah. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Mik wants to know when this goddamn shagging is going to happen.”
“Tonight.” Yes, tonight she would ask Ryan O’Shannessy to take her to bed. She felt heat pool in her belly and her heart flutter with excitement.
Mikayla squealed.
“Ssshh,” Leah admonished with a giggle.
“I’m just excited.”
Georgie chuckled. “Yeah, me too.” It felt so easy now. The most natural thing in the world. She acknowledged a little trepidation and nerves, but she knew she could trust Ryan to help her through all of that. “Think I’ll just go and give him a kiss,” she said when she saw that the dance floor had been assembled to John’s satisfaction.
She kept her gaze on Ryan as she walked across the sand, thrilling at the heat she saw in his eyes when she got to him. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” He put his arm around her and pulled her against his side. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?”
“You did, yes. A few times actually.”
“It bears repeating. You look astoundingly beautiful, Georgie May.”
