Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers, #2)(69)

I smiled. “You’d better go.”

He hopped up and walked across the room. After stuffing socks in a pair of shiny black dress shoes, he grabbed the plastic-covered tux hanging in the closet. He swung the hanger over his shoulder. “See you soon.”

“Thomas?”

He stood with his hand on the door, turning his head to the side, while he waited for me to speak.

“Do you feel like we’re going a hundred miles per hour?”

He shrugged, the things in his hands pulling up as his shoulders did. “I don’t care. I’m trying not to think too hard about it. You’re doing that for both of us.”

“My head is telling me that we should tap on the brakes. But I don’t really want to.”

“Good,” he said. “I don’t think I could have agreed to that.” He smiled. “I’ve done a lot of things wrong, Liis. Being with you isn’t one of them.”

“See you in an hour,” I said.

He twisted the knob and closed the door behind him. I sat back in the chair and slid down, taking a deep breath and refusing to overanalyze the situation this time. We were happy, and he was right. It didn’t matter why.



Travis pulled Abby into his arms and leaned her back a bit as he kissed her. We all clapped, and Thomas caught my eyes and winked.

Abby’s veil blew in the Caribbean breeze, and I held up my cell phone to snap a picture. Camille, on one side of me, and Falyn, on the other, were doing the same.

When Travis finally righted Abby, the Maddox brothers and Shepley all broke into cheers. America was standing next to Abby, holding the bride’s bouquet with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other. She pointed and laughed at her mother, who was dabbing her eyes, too.

“I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Travis Maddox,” the pastor said, his voice straining over the wind, ocean waves, and the celebration.

Travis helped Abby descend the steps of the gazebo, and they walked down the aisle before disappearing behind a wall of trees and shrubs.

“Mr. and Mrs. Maddox ask that you join them at the restaurant Sails for dinner and the reception. I speak for them when I say thank you for being present on this most special day.”

He nodded, and everyone stood, gathering their things.

Thomas joined me with a wide grin, seeming relieved that the ceremony was over.

“Say cheese!” Falyn said, holding up her camera phone.

Thomas wrapped me in his arms and kissed my cheek. I smiled.

Falyn smiled, too, showing us the picture when she was finished. “Perfect.”

Thomas squeezed me. “She is.”

“Aw, cute,” Falyn said.

Taylor tapped her shoulder, and she turned to hug him.

A palpable tension overwhelmed the space around us when Trenton pulled Camille into his arms and kissed her.

Jim clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Grab your ladies, boys. I’m starved. Let’s eat.”

Thomas and I walked, hand in hand, following Jim with Trenton and Camille. Taylor and Falyn, and Tyler and Ellison were not far behind.

“Taylor looks relieved,” I whispered.

Thomas nodded. “I thought he was going to pass out when she texted him, saying her plane had landed. I don’t think he believed she was coming until then.”

We walked to the outdoor restaurant. Large white canvases shaded the tables from the glow of the sunset. Thomas led me to a table where Shepley and America were sitting with who I recognized as Jack and Deana from my research prior to the trip. We had barely sat down when the server approached, asking for our drink orders.

“I’m so glad to see you, sweetheart,” Deana said. Her long lashes blinked once over her hazel-green eyes.

“It’s good to see you, too, Aunt Deana,” Thomas said. “Have you met Liis?”

She shook her head and then reached across Thomas. “We didn’t get a chance to meet before the ceremony. Your dress is absolutely stunning. That violet is so vivid. You’re practically glowing. It’s perfect with your skin and hair.”

“Thank you,” I said, shaking her hand once.

She and Jack turned to give their drink orders.

I leaned into Thomas’s ear. “She looks so much like your mother. If I hadn’t read up on it before, I would have been very confused. You and Shepley could be brothers.”

“It throws people off all the time,” he said. “She’s right, by the way. You’re stunning. I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but when you walked around the corner, I had to force myself to stay in the gazebo.”

“It’s just a purple maxi dress.”

“It’s not the dress.”

“Oh,” I said, my lips curving upward.

Abby and Travis walked in, and the hostess announced their arrival over the PA system. A rock ballad came over the speakers, and Travis pulled Abby out to dance.

“They are so sweet,” Deana said, her bottom lip trembling. “I wish Diane could have been here to see it.”

“We all do, baby,” Jack said, curling his arm around his wife’s shoulder and squeezing her to his side.

I looked over at Jim. He was sitting and chatting with Trenton and Camille. When Jim watched Travis and Abby dancing, he had that same sentimental smile on his face. I knew he was thinking about Diane, too.