Chapter 38

The reception was absolutely beautiful. It was in a picturesque setting outdoors by the pond with a slight breeze rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees and creating a romantic ambiance. The setting sun was displaying a brilliant show of its own with orange and light pink colors swirling across the western sky. It was a beautiful summer evening and they could not have asked for more perfect weather. The tables were set up and covered with beautiful white linens and decorated with a simple floral arrangement with a small lantern in the middle of each table.

As Nathan twirled his bride around on the dance floor, Elizabeth looked up at him with an expression of adoration on her face. She thought back to their journey to get to this point and she couldn't even understand now how she had ever not known that Nathan was the one for her. She regretted the pain she had caused Nathan early on, but wouldn't have changed any of it because it was the journey that had finally brought her to him. She knew her heart was taking a risk by letting him in, but she had learned that opening her heart to anyone would have presented the same risks regardless of their job. In the end she knew that her heart would not be happy with anyone less than Nathan Grant.

She smiled up at Nathan, her eyes twinkling with delight as they met his and she instantly got lost in the deep dark blue pools of life shining back at her. She sighed and he pulled her in closer to him nuzzling his face into her hair and planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes again and grinned at her before finally speaking, "I love you, Mrs. Grant."

She sighed and responded back to him, "I love hearing that name, Mrs. Grant."

"I love saying it and calling you my wife. I still wonder if this is all a dream and I'm going to wake up from it at some point."

She leaned upward and kissed him briefly, "Nope, like I said before not a dream. I am yours and you are mine. You make me so happy Nathan Grant and I am so looking forward to starting this journey with you and I love you so very much. No, it's all very real."

"By the way, you are a sneaky one Mrs. Grant. I can't believe that you were able to get my mother to come to the wedding, I was not expecting that at all. The last time I talked to her she said she wished she could travel, but didn't think she could. How did you manage to make it happen?"

"Well, I have my ways. I wanted to meet her and I wanted to surprise you. She and I spent some time together last night after you left my house, chatting with one another. She told me some interesting stories about you," she teased him.

"Oh really? What stories would that be?" He lifted an eyebrow at her, his curiosity peaked.

"Oh no you don't, I'm not spilling what I know…..at least not yet," she playfully flirted with him.

"Well we will see. I have my ways of getting things out of people. I am an investigator you know, it's in my job description to question people."

"Nope, my lips are sealed."

He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear as the song slowly came to an end, "We will see about that later, I bet I can make you talk." He pulled back and winked at her as he watched her breathing deepen a bit and could see her physically slightly shudder in awe of his boldness, leaving her speechless and breathless with slightly tinged red face.

The spell was broken when Bill walked over and asked to cut in, leaving Nathan momentarily without his bride. She watched him as he went to his mother's side and started chatting with her.

"You look beautiful tonight, Elizabeth, and I don't think I have seen you this happy and laughing like this in a long time," Bill spoke to her as he led her around the dance floor.

"Ah, thank you, Bill. I am happy, the happiest I have been in a long time. I feel so blessed to have Nathan in my life and I know he is going to be a great roll model for Jack."

Bill nodded his head slowly, "of course."

"Bill, you have been such a pillar of strength for me in the past few years. I know you were close to Jack and that he was like a son to you. You will always have a place in Little Jack's life and in ours. As far as I am concerned you are a part of our family and always will be."

Bill smiled at her tenderly and with glistening eyes responded, "Thank you, Elizabeth. That means more to me than you know." He twirled her around once before the music came to a stop and he then took a step back and cleared his throat, "I think it's time for you two to cut that cake."

Elizabeth smiled across the room at Nathan and then watched as he walked towards her, "Are you ready to do the cake, Nathan?"

"Ready if you are." He grabbed her hand and led her over to the table where the cake that Bill had made was sitting. It was a beautiful 3 layered cake, each layer a little smaller as it went upwards and was covered in a beautiful white buttercream frosting with red flowers accenting it around the base of each layer, complimenting Nathan's red serge.

Before they could cut into it, Bill was getting everyone's attention and raising his glass to the room, "I want to make a toast first before you two cut into the cake. I just want to say how happy I am for you both. There was a time when I wasn't even sure the two of you would ever find your way, but with a little help and encouragement from certain people you managed to make your way to each other. I had a hunch when I first saw you together that something was going to blossom there and it did. Elizabeth, Jack would be happy to know that you have opened your heart up again and have found someone who loves and cherishes you as much as he did. I know he would approve," he raised his glass up higher, "to many happy years together, I wish you both the best in the years to come." They smiled at one another as everyone around them clank their glasses together and toasted to the couple.

"My turn," shouted Rosemary, "Nathan….Elizabeth. I just wanted to say how happy I am that you have found one another. I watched and listened to Elizabeth many nights talk about and agonize over her relationships and I know that she made the right choice. The road to get here may not have been a smooth one, but it is so very clear that the two of you belong together. I think I knew long before Elizabeth did that there was something growing between the two of you, but I knew that Elizabeth couldn't be pushed and needed to discover it for herself. May you never go to bed angry with one another, cherish each other every day, serve one another and take care of one another's needs. I can see how much the two of you love one another and I wish you many more happy years to come." She raised her glass up in a toast and then took a sip from it.

Elizabeth grabbed the knife off of the table and then smiled up at Nathan as he looked down at her with his blue penetrating eyes, he then covered her hand with his own and they sliced the cake together. Elizabeth picked up a piece of the cake and holding it up fed it to Nathan in a clean take.

Nathan then picked up a slice and smiled mischievously at Elizabeth. Elizabeth smiled back at him coyly, "you wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I would," he raised his eyebrows up in a flirtatious manner and then swiping his finger through the frosting playfully tapped the it onto the tip of her nose before placing the rest of the cake in her mouth. Elizabeth feigning disdain couldn't contain it any longer and began to giggle at him as she watched his shoulders raise up and down in a silent chuckle before leaning in to capture her lips with his own.

He slowly pulled away while gazing into her eyes with an intensity that took her breath away, "I don't know about you, but I think I am about ready to say goodnight to our guests and head out."

"I have to toss the bouquet first and we should say goodbye to the children."

"Of course, I couldn't leave without doing that first. Should we go find them?"

The music had started up again and people were starting to head back onto the dance floor. Elizabeth nodded at him and then he glanced over his shoulder, "I don't think we will have to look far."

Nathan turned to see what Elizabeth had been staring at and then Elizabeth heard the groan that she knew had been coming. Dancing in the middle of the floor together was Robert and Allie. He turned back to Elizabeth, "I don't like it."

Elizabeth reached for his hand and she could feel him instinctively squeeze hers. "She is growing up, Nathan. We can't keep her little forever."

He sighed and looked down at the ground, "I know, but I wish I could. When I look at her I sometimes still see the four-year old little girl who would crawl into my lap and snuggle up with me as I read to her. Those years went by so quickly. This will take some getting use to."

"We will face these years together. You are not alone in this anymore."

He smiled down at her and squeezed her hand once more, "I'm so glad, that it is with you, Elizabeth. For now, I think I am going to go interrupt those two and cut in. I want to dance one more time with Allie before I blink and she's grown."

"Go ahead, I'm going to go say goodnight to some of our other guests and then we can say goodnight to both Allie and Jack before we head out." She watched as he turned and walked towards the dance floor and then lingered her gaze at them a while longer as Nathan danced with his niece. Oh, how she loved that man for many reasons, but his relationship with Allie was one of the first things that had endeared him to her and not the red serge. She had known even then how special he truly was to take in his four-year old niece and raise her as if she was his own. It was his heart towards family that had first attracted her to him and it was that same heart that had finally helped her to realize that Nathan would always put family first and helped ease her mind into accepting the fact that she had feelings for him and could take a risk to love again.

The music had stopped and she realized that she had never actually moved from that spot. Nathan led Allie over to where she was still standing and asked, "Elizabeth if you're ready than I am."

She nodded and smiled at him, "I'm ready, Nathan." She leaned over and gave Allie a hug, "We will miss you guys while we are gone, but we will be back in a week."

"Don't worry about us, we will be just fine. Mrs. Coulter already has a lot of things planned for us to do while you are away and I can't wait. We are going to have so much fun and I promise I will watch over Jack."

Elizabeth smiled down at her, "I'm sure you will. Allie you are going to make a great older sister, I can already tell."

She beamed back at her, "Thank you! Now you two should get going."

"We need to go say goodbye to Jack first and then throw the bouquet," Elizabeth answered.

Nathan and Elizabeth made their way over to Jack and after giving him lots of hugs and kisses, Elizabeth was finally ready to throw the bouquet. She watched as all the single ladies gathered in the middle of the dance floor. Elizabeth turned around and then threw the bouquet of flowers over her head and into the middle of the women. She turned around just in time to see Fiona snag them out of the air." They smiled at each other from across the floor and then Elizabeth turned to Nathan and took his offered arm.

"Ready, Mrs. Grant?"

"Ready." They both turned to everyone and waved goodnight as they climbed into Lee's car.

Lee turned back to Rosemary, "I'll be back after I drop them off and then I'll drive you home."

Rosemary nodded and then turned to Elizabeth one last time, "Don't worry about the kids, they will be fine. You two enjoy your time together."

"We will, Rosemary and thank you, for everything."

"Anything for my best friend, anytime." Rosemary smiled at Elizabeth and stepped aback away from the car as Lee cranked it up and drove Elizabeth and Nathan up the road. Elizabeth and Nathan sat there quietly as they bumped along both looking out the window until they came to the little hunting cabin in the woods. Nathan had not told her where they were spending their wedding night, just responding each time she asked by saying it was being taken care of and it was a surprise. She stared at it in awe as Nathan exited the car and came around to open her door.

Lee grabbed their luggage and brought it inside for them and then came back out. "Well, I'll be back tomorrow to drive you both to the train station. Congratulations and have a wonderful night."

With that Lee hopped back into the car and drove away and just like that Nathan and Elizabeth were alone for the first time as a married couple. They both stood there staring at the little cabin and avoiding one another's eyes before Nathan finally cleared his throat and then offered his arm to her with a shy smile, "Shall we go inside?"

She smiled back and nodded at him and then they walked towards the door where he suddenly stopped. Elizabeth looked up at him questioningly, "Nathan, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Elizabeth, but I think it's tradition that the groom carries his bride across the threshold." He then scooped her up into his arms without warning and Elizabeth gleefully laughed and threw her arms around his neck. Smiling at each other he walked both of them into the tiny cabin and then sat his bride down while giving her a long, lingering kiss that only deepened with desire for her. He had been at this point before and had always drawn back out of respect for Elizabeth, but now there was freedom to move forward without any boundaries so he released her lips and trailed kisses down the side of her face, finding the side of her neck and taking in the intoxicating scent of rosewater as he gently kissed her soft skin. He could feel her shudder in pleasure under his touch and then he pulled back as a smile slowly spread across his face as his eyes met hers, shining with love.

She finally broke away from his gaze to look around the room and then gasped as she took it all in wide-eyed with wonder, "Oh Nathan, this is amazing. Far beyond what my imagination was dreaming up."

The cabin was decorated with plants and roses all around and in the middle of the room a large bed with an ornately carved design in the headboard. It barely looked like the cabin that they had their fight in or the one they spent a night together in during the storm. It had been cleaned up and romantically set up. Nathan sheepishly looked down at the floor and back up at Elizabeth, "I uh….I made the bed myself."

Elizabeth stared at him in amazement, "Wow Nathan. I don't know what to say, it's beautiful."

Nathan beamed back at her, "I'm glad you like it. I'm going to start the fire. Are you still hungry or anything?"

She shook her head no and then continued to look around the room as Nathan lit the fire and then returned to her side. They stood their facing each other for a few moments before, Elizabeth finally spoke, "Are you nervous, Nathan?"

"I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous."

"You don't have to be. I love you and I'm so ready to spend the rest of my life showing you how much." With those words, Elizabeth reached up and cupped the side of his face with her hand before leaning into him and meeting his lips with hers. The kiss started off gentle and soft and then slowly moved into a deeper desire until it suddenly wasn't enough to satisfy their hunger for one another anymore and they succumbed to those desires that for the past few months had been suppressed, but now were allowed to be released.

Outside the crickets sang and the moon was spreading its soft glow onto the little cabin in the woods. A dove sang its cooing song in the distance calling to its mate as the darkness of that memorable evening finally sank in.

TBC…..