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He kissed her more fiercely until she gasped and pushed him away. “I can’t stand it any longer. Wait right here.”
She ran upstairs, and despite the fact that he was approaching hypothermia, he was more than willing to wait her out. He moved around to get warm and saw that more magical creatures had appeared on his dining room walls, including a benevolent-looking dragon. He also noticed that the caravan door was painted wide open and two tiny figures stood silhouetted in the window.
Her footsteps tapped behind him. He turned. If he discounted her black biker boots, she wore only a lacy pink bra and tiny matching panties. His Blue in pink. He could hardly take it in. She’d found the courage to wear soft clothes and paint soft pictures.
“Race you!” With a teasing smile, she shot ahead of him into the kitchen and out the side door, her small buttocks peeping from beneath her panties like halved peaches. He lost a few seconds enjoying the view but still managed to catch up with her halfway across the yard. The rain had turned to sleet again, and he’d lost his towel, which left him buck naked, barefoot, and freezing to death. She moved ahead again so she reached the caravan first. She laughed, as mischievous as any of the imps she painted. Icy drops sparkled in her hair, and the shadows of her nipples showed through the wet, silky cups of her bra. He followed her inside.
The caravan was frigid. She kicked off her biker boots. He peeled off her damp pink panties. Pulling her beneath him, they fell into the cold bunk. He drew up the comforter so that it covered their wet, shivering bodies, then tugged it over their heads. In their dark cave, they warmed each other with their hands, their kisses, their bodies, and the pledges they needed to make.
The sleet pounded on the curved roof, tapped at the small windows, rapped at the blue door. They lay together, perfectly sheltered.
Epilogue
Tuxedos must have been invented just to be worn by Dean Robillard, Blue thought as she stood next to him at the altar. He was so dazzling she had to mentally undress him to keep from feeling intimidated, although she looked pretty amazing herself, thanks to the Vera Wang bridal gown April had found for her. Putting this wedding in April’s hands had been Blue’s second smartest decision, right after marrying this man, who’d turned out to have as many insecurities as she did.
Hundreds of white orchids flown in from halfway around the world filled the sanctuary. Hand-sewn crystals sparkled on the pale blue bows decking the pews and floral pedestals. More crystals spelled out the bride’s and groom’s initials on the blue aisle runner. The church was jammed with Dean’s friends and teammates, who’d flown in for the February ceremony, plus the new friends they’d made in Garrison. Thanks to Dean, the Stars had only fallen one game short of the AFC Championship, an incredible feat, considering their slow start.
Jack stood next to Dean as his best man. His tuxedo was immaculately fitted like his son’s, but Jack had accessorized it with silver and jet earrings. As Blue’s matron of honor, April’s long, ice blue gown was more formal than the sundress she’d already chosen for her upcoming Hawaii nuptials. That wedding would be a family-only affair, although April and Jack were letting Riley bring her best friend from school so she had somebody her own age to hang out with. Dean had already given his parents the land around the pond for their wedding present, and they’d be tearing down the cottage soon to build their own vacation house.
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”
Nita rose from the front pew. She was majestic in a flowing blue caftan. “I do,” she said in a voice that left no room for debate. Nita had walked Blue down the aisle, which seemed perfect to both of them. Virginia was still in Colombia, standing up for those with no voices. Dean had shipped her a disposable cell phone, and she and Blue had been talking more frequently, but Blue knew the phone would soon end up at an orphanage or helping out a medical care worker.
Riley rose from the front pew. She looked beautiful and happy in her pastel blue gown with white rosebuds in her dark hair. Jack picked up his guitar to accompany her on the ballad they’d written together for the ceremony. Riley’s amazing voice filled the church, and when Jack joined her on the chorus, tissues rustle
d everywhere.
It was time to speak their vows. Dean gazed down at her, his eyes shining with tenderness just as she suspected her own were. Everything beautiful surrounded them: the candlelight, the orchids, their family and friends. Blue eased to her tiptoes. “Thanks to April,” she whispered, “you have the wedding you’ve dreamed about ever since you were a little girl.”
Dean’s boom of laughter was one more reason she loved this man with all her heart.
They spent their wedding night alone at the farmhouse. Tomorrow, they’d leave on Jack’s plane for their honeymoon at his house in the south of France, but for tonight they were content to lie naked and sated on the bed of comforters they’d made in front of the living room fire.
She slipped her knee between Dean’s thighs. “For two guys who make fun of men hugging each other, you and Jack sure did your share of it today.”
Dean pressed his lips to her hair. “At least we didn’t almost start a brawl, which is more than you can say.”
“Not my fault. How did I know Karen Ann would decide to crash our reception?”
“I’ll bet she’ll never threaten another wedding cake. You dove over two linebackers to get to her.”
Blue grinned. “My favorite part was when April started yelling, ‘No, Blue! You’re wearing Vera Wang!’”
He chuckled. “My favorite part was when Annabelle jumped in to help you out.”
They started nuzzling each other. One thing led to another, and some time passed before they resumed their conversation. “I’m still trying to adjust to having a rich wife,” he said.
“Hardly.” Still, her paintings were selling like crazy. Ordinary people who knew nothing about great art, but knew what they liked, were buying them as quickly as she could finish them. Her work had also given Dean the future direction he’d been looking for. He and April were going into business together, marketing a whimsical line of clothes based on Blue’s designs. April would kick things off next year with a few basic items. By the time Dean retired, they hoped to be ready to expand into furniture and home decor. Considering their impeccable eye for style and Dean’s business acumen, Blue had no doubt they’d be successful.
Dean gazed at the huge canvas that dominated the longest wall of the living room, the reason they were celebrating their honeymoon here instead of upstairs in their bedroom. He stroked her shoulder. “I don’t think any bridegroom ever got a better wedding present.”
“I saw it in a dream.” Blue tucked her head into the crook of his neck. “Exactly how it was going to be for us. I hardly slept while I worked on it.”
She’d painted the farm, but like all the rest of her creations, this was a magical world of summer and winter, spring and fall. She’d opened the walls of the farmhouse to show everything going on inside. In one room, all of them sat around a Christmas tree. In another, they surrounded an old woman blowing out birthday candles. Puppies romped in the kitchen. A Super Bowl victory party took place in the backyard, and the town’s Fourth of July celebration filled the side yard. On the front porch, a tiny figure in a beaver suit, minus its head, sat on a Halloween pumpkin. A well-worn path led from the farm to the pond, where a father and daughter played their guitars next to the water and a woman with long blond hair raised her arms to the sky. Horses grazed in the pasture. Fanciful birds perched on the roof of the barn. And right above the farmhouse, a hot air balloon descended with a pair of smiling babies peering over the basket, natural born charmers each one.
Dean’s wedding ring glimmered in the flames as he pointed toward the left side of the canvas. “After the hot air balloon, that’s the part I like best.”
Blue didn’t have any trouble figuring out what he meant. “Somehow I knew you’d feel that way.”
