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“And you shall have it,” Caitey assured her.
“Thank you,” Jenna said softly. “By the way, when does your parents’ flight arrive?”
“Mom flew in from Portugal yesterday, but the best flight was into San Francisco—after a plane transfer in Atlanta. She’s hanging out in San Francisco for tonight to adjust tothe jet lag and waiting for my dad’s flight to come in late tonight. So tomorrow they’ll catch an early flight to LAX. They should be here by mid- to late morning. Just in time. Of course, the wedding isn’t until five o’clock, so it works out great.”
“Perfect,” Jenna said, bouncing in her seat. “How do they like their ambassadorship in Portugal? It’s so wild to me that your father is a diplomat. Maybe he can give us the latest scoop on international relations and all the gossip, haha.”
Caity laughed at that. “Yeah, right. It’s all pretty boring. He and Mom go to lots of parties and state dinners, but Dad’s days are filled with meetings upon meetings. Not very glamorous.”
“I can’t wait to travel with Logan. We have so many dream trips on our bucket list.”
“Bucket lists are for retirement!”
Jenna sighed. “True, but why wait until you have arthritis? Oh, I can’t believe it’s happening.My dream wedding to the man of my dreams is coming true in only twenty-four hours!”
Laughing at her, Caitey rose from the stone bench. It struck her that she was chilled to the bone. Her entire backend was like ice.
When she and Jenna dashed for the back door, Caitey swore she spotted the shadowed outline of a tall male figure retreating from the window.
The window had been cracked a few inches, but whoever had been standing there shut it and pulled the drapes closed.
She was positive it wasMarcus. Had he heard their conversation about his sad love story? Caitey was still shocked that the man had gone through something so horrible and tragic.
No wonder he was awkward around other women. After such a betrayal, a person could hardly trust anyone quickly again. It would take some time, a lot of time.
But she certainly didn’t want him thinking they were gossiping about him or the horrible things he’d gone through. His past trauma just made Caitey want to comfort him, to sympathize—and yes, she wanted to be in his arms, too.
She stepped aside to let Jenna go inside first, and just as Caitey was about to step inside the French doors, she turned back for a moment just as the sun sank below the tree line, creating shadows among the rose garden and the alabaster Roman goddesses.
The air was so quiet and peaceful as if she were somewhere quite magical.
But before she reached the back door, Caitey swore a tiny white snowflake hit her nose.
A snowflake? That was impossible. This perfect fall weather was supposed to last for three more weeks.
Caitey told herself that it was just a tiny flake falling from a stray cloud. Even if it rained a little, the garden would smell fresh and lovely, and the small storm would be over by morning.
At the moment, only the carpets and chairs were set up. The padded seat covers still had to be attached, the archwaydecorated, and the candles lit. There was plenty of time to wipe down damp chairs and let things dry out before the afternoon.
No, Caitey would not let a light rain shower spoilthiswedding. Optimism was the name of the game!
This wedding was going to be spectacular. The most significant gift she could give to Jenna and Logan, her cousin’s true love.
CHAPTER 13
MARCUS
Marcus had gone to sleep listening to the patter of light raindrops against the windowpane in his bedroom.
The soft, soothing sound reminded him of the times when he was a newly enlisted Navy grunt before he began his SEAL training and had to teach himself to sleep on a ship in any weather, or any noise.
Now, the sound of a banging fist nearly took down his bedroom door. Or was that part of the dream he was having about Caitey Belgrave?
Now, where did that come from? He had to admit that he found her extremely attractive, kind, and sweet, although sometimes distant. Marcus determined he needed to find out why.
His eyes always lingered on her perfect figure, thosefantastic legs, and the elegant way she walked.Those lips—herlips. That mouth of hers needed kissing. Badly. But only by him, of course, he mused selfishly.
The banging on his door startled his sleep again—just like his commander used to do, barging in and yanking him out from under the warm blanket?
