He arched an eyebrow. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”

She hit his chest playfully. “Never mind. I like you better this way.” She reached up and slid her arms around his neck. “Sarah says she won’t mind if I hug and kiss her. So can I hug and kiss you, too?” she asked daringly.

His mouth quirked a little. “I guess so.”

“You might show more enthusiasm,” she said.

He bent his head and whispered, “I can’t. You’re sore.”

She blushed and opened her mouth to protest just as his came down and settled over her lips. He kissed her gently, swinging her lightly in his arms from side to side as he held her mouth under his.

“That was nice,” she told him huskily.

“I thought so, too.” he let her go abruptly, the hardness back in his face. “I’ll line up a charter flight to San Antonio for Tuesday. We can have your furniture sent out.”

“It’s a furnished apartment.” She smiled. “All I have is my clothes, a few manuscripts and my computer stuff.”

“Okay. We’ll have that sent out.”

“Blake, you’re sure, aren’t you?” she asked seriously.

“As sure as you are,” he replied. “Now stop brooding over it. I’ll get the license and set up the blood test for you tomorrow. Sarah can go with you to the doctor, because it will only take a minute.”

“All right. It sounds like a nice day.” She sighed.

“Every day is nice with you, Meredith,” he said unexpectedly and with a wry smile.

But just as they started to go down to Bess’s, a friend of Blake’s arrived out of the blue, and Meredith went by herself, letting Sarah stay with her dad and his friend while she told Bess what was going on.

Bess was overwhelmed when she heard the news. “Congratulations!” She laughed. “It’s the best thing that could have happened to both of you. You’ll make a good marriage.”

“Oh, I hope so.” Meredith sighed. “I’ll do my best, and at least Blake likes me.”

“At least,” Bess said, and laughed. “If you need witnesses, Bobby and I will be glad to volunteer. Elissa and King, too.”

“You can all come,” Meredith promised. “I’ll need as much moral support as I can get.” She shook her head. “It seems like a beautiful dream. I hope I don’t wake up. Well, I’d better get my things and get back up to his place. I hope you don’t mind, but he, uh, doesn’t want me out of his sight until the ceremony Wednesday.”

“Fast mover, isn’t he?” Bess grinned and hugged her friend warmly. “I’m so happy for you, Merry. And for Blake and Sarah. You’ll make a lovely family.”

Meredith thought so, too. She carried her single suitcase out to the Porsche and drove up in front of Blake’s house. Sarah Jane met her at the door as she set her case down, and Blake came out of the living room smiling.

“Well, what did she say?” he asked. He answered her silent glance into the living room. “He’s gone. What did Bess say?”

“She said congratulations.” Meredith laughed. “And that we’ll make a lovely family.”

“Indeed we will,” Blake murmured gently.

“Merry, can I be a flower girl?” Sarah asked from behind her.

“You certainly can,” Meredith promised, kneeling beside the child to hug her. “You can carry an armload of roses.”

“But, Merry, they’re all crushed.”

“Daddy will cut some more,” Meredith said, warming when she remembered how the roses had gotten crushed. She glanced at Blake and the look in his eyes made her blush.

The next two days went by in an unreal rush. The blood tests were done, the license obtained, and a minister was lined up to perform the ceremony at the local Baptist church where Meredith’s parents had worshipped when she was a child. For reasons that Meredith still didn’t understand, Blake had given her a guest room to sleep in until the wedding, and although he’d been friendly enough, he hadn’t really attempted to make love to her. She preferred to think it was because she was still uncomfortable from their first time rather than because he had any regrets.

The ceremony was held late Wednesday afternoon, with King and Elissa Roper and Bess and Bobby for witnesses. Meredith said her vows with tears in her eyes, so happy that her heart felt like it would overflow.

She’d bought a white linen suit to be married in, with a tiny pillbox hat covered in lace. It was so sweet when Blake put the ring on her finger and lifted the veil to kiss her. She felt like Sleeping Beauty, as if she’d been asleep for years and years and now was waking to the most wonderful reality.

The reception was held at the Ropers’ sprawling white frame house outside Jack’s Corner, and Danielle and Sarah Jane played quietly while the adults enjoyed champagne punch and a lavish catered buffet.

“You didn’t have to go to this kind of expense, for God’s sake,” Blake muttered to big King Roper.

King pursed his lips and his dark eyes sparkled. “Yes, I did. Having you get close enough to a woman to marry again deserved something spectacular.” He glanced at Meredith, who was talking animatedly to Elissa and Bess a few feet away while Bobby, the exact opposite in coloring to his half-brother, King, was watching the kids play.

“She’s a dish,” King remarked. “And we all know how she felt about you when she left here.” His dark eyes caught Blake’s green ones. “It’s not a good thing to live alone. A wife and children make all the difference. I know mine do.”

“Sarah likes her,” Blake replied, sipping punch as his eyes slid over Meredith’s exquisite figure like a paintbrush. “She’s a born mother.”

King smiled. “Thinking of a large family, are you?”

Blake glared at him. “I’ve only just got married.”

“Speaking of which, why aren’t you two going on a honeymoon?”

“I’d like that,” Blake confessed. “But neither Meredith nor I like the idea of leaving Sarah behind while we have one. She’s had enough insecurity for one month. Anyway,” he added, “Meredith’s got that autographing in town Saturday, and she doesn’t want to disappoint the bookstore.”

“She always was a sweet woman,” King remarked. “I remember her ragged and barefoot as a child, helping her mother carry eggs to sell at Mackelroy’s Grocery. She never minded hard work. In that,” he added with a glance at his friend, “she’s a lot like you.”

Blake smiled faintly. “I didn’t have a choice. It was work or starve in my case. Now that I’m in the habit, I can’t quit.”

King eyed him solemnly. “Don’t ever let work come before Meredith and Sarah,” he cautioned. “Bobby had to find that out the hard way, and he barely realized it in time.”

Blake was looking at Meredith with faint hunger in his narrow eyes. “It would take more than a job to overshadow Meredith,” he said without thinking. He finished his punch. “And we’d better get going. I’ve got reservations at the Sun Room for six o’clock. You’re sure you and Elissa don’t mind having Sarah for the night?”

“Not at all. And she loves the idea of sleeping in Danielle’s room,” King assured him. “If she needs you, I promise we’ll call, even if it’s two in the morning. Fair enough?” he added when he saw the worry in Blake’s eyes.

“Fair enough,” Blake said with a sigh.

A few minutes later, Blake and Meredith said their goodbyes, kissed Sarah good-night and went to the Sun Room for an expensive wedding supper.

“I still can’t quite believe it,” Meredith confessed with a smile as she looked at her husband across the table. “That we’re married,” she added.

“I know what you mean,” he said quietly. His eyes caressed her face. “I swore when Nina left that I’d never marry again. But it seemed the most natural thing in the world with you.”

She smiled. “I hope I don’t disappoint you. I can cook and clean, but I’m not terribly domestic, and when I’m writing, sometimes I pour coffee over ice and put mashed potatoes in the icebox and make coffee without putting a filter in it. I’m sort of absentminded.”

“As long as you remember me once in a while, I won’t complain,” he promised. “Eat your dessert before it melts.”