She didn’t think she could be more excited until they arrived at the front of the people seated for the wedding and she looked to her right to see her mom. It was all she could do not to run and throw her arms around her and her eyes filled with tears.
“No crying, remember?” Rain whispered to her as they arrived in front of the minister.
Autumn took a deep breath, and swallowing, tried to control her emotions as she made eye contact with Malcolm. She mouthed a “thank you” to him and he smiled at her, giving her the slightest nod in response. She pushed down her other emotions and beamed at him, knowing that there was no way he could have made this day better.
“Who gives this woman away?”
“I do,” Rain replied, kissing her on the cheek before stepping to the side and allowing her to join hands with Malcolm.
Rain took his seat in the front row beside their mother as the minister began the ceremony. She and Malcolm stood there, both hands holding on to the other. For a little while, no one else existed but the two of them.
They floated through their vows on what seemed like a cloud. She felt like a jittery girl by the time they got to the “I do” and “I will” portion of the ceremony and like she might pass out as the minister pronounced them man and wife.
“You may kiss your bride,” the minister announced, and she was sailing as he pulled her close and kissed her as if he’d never known another woman but her in his whole life.
Cheers went up all around then as everyone celebrated their big moment with them. Turning, Autumn and Malcolm faced them and threw their arms up in victory before running back down the aisle toward the open curtains that lead to their house. Inside the back doors, Autumn kissed him again.
“I don’t know how you got them here or what it means for the future, but thank you,” she told him.
“You’re welcome. Now, go get changed, and we’ll get back out to the reception to spend some time with our guests.”
“On it,” she said, kissing him again before running off to get changed.
Malcolm stripped off his cummerbund and bowtie before stepping back out to the patio. She paused across the room to watch him talking to her brother and smiled for a moment before going to their bedroom to slip out of her dress. Niva was right behind her to help.
“Thank you for everything, Niva. I’m so grateful for everything that you’ve done to pull this all together.”
“Oh, honey. You are so welcome. It’s been my pleasure. Now, let’s get you out of that corset so you can breathe,” she laughed, already untying the strings in the back.
Autumn let her finish and then picked up the pale blue and white satin dress she had bought for the reception, slipping it over her head as Niva left the room.
“See you out there,” she called behind her.
“You sure will,” Autumn replied, hurriedly getting dressed to go see her new husband, her brother, and her mother.
She couldn’t imagine how the day could have been better.CHAPTER FORTY-TWOMalcolm
Malcolm couldn’t help but be a little overwhelmed by the wedding and by the happiness he could see in Autumn’s eyes as she clasped his hand and spoke to her mother and brother.
“I just can’t get over how beautiful you looked today,” her mother told her.
“I’m lucky to have made it through the ceremony without collapsing into a big puddle of tears. I was so happy, just with everything. I had no idea that Malcolm had arranged to bring the two of you here.”
“We were surprised when he called us. Well, I was. I think Rain was more shocked to learn you were alive, and he’s almost forgiven me for it by now.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” he told her, looking back toward Autumn. “I had no idea what you’d been through until after Dad died and Malcolm called. He talked her into telling me the truth.”
“I was just afraid that telling even one person might put you at risk. One slip up from Rain while he was in the wrong company seemed like a risk, and I couldn’t take it. I’m sorry.”
“Please, Mom. No more apologies. You are both here now and that’s all that matters,” Autumn told them. “How long can you stay?”
“Not long. We told the clan that we were going to spend the weekend at a bereavement seminar so they wouldn’t bother us for a few days.”
“Bother you?”
“Yeah, I took Dad’s old job with the Alpha,” Rain told her.
Autumn seemed to freeze for a moment, looking at Malcolm uncertainly and then back at Rain.
“Don’t worry, Sissy. I’m not Dad. No one will ever know I’ve found you and that you’re alive and well. If anything, it will help me keep on top of what they are up to so that I’ll know way ahead of time if they are on to anything that might lead them to you somehow.”