Cavanaugh on Duty

Epilogue



It was another Cavanaugh wedding.

This time it was Kari’s sister, Kendra, marrying Matthew Callaghan, the detective whose mother had married Kari and Kendra’s father last month.

This, Esteban had said to Kari when she told him about the upcoming nuptials, put a whole new emphasis on the term family ties.

But another Cavanaugh wedding meant another pulling-out-all-the-stops celebration. And this time Esteban found himself really looking forward to attending rather than feeling it was just something he was forced to put up with.

“So, Detective Fernandez, are you enjoying yourself?” Kari asked after extricating Esteban from a small group of men comprised of two of her brothers as well as a couple of her cousins, one of whom was also Brenda’s husband, Dax.

Esteban looked at her appreciatively. The floor-length light blue gown she had on adhered to every curve and made him think of one of the goddesses straight out of Greek mythology. He couldn’t recall ever thinking of a bridesmaid’s dress as being sexy. But that was the word for this one.

And for her.

“I am now,” he confided.

“Good,” she said, taking him by the hand and drawing him onto the dance floor that had once more made its appearance in Andrew Cavanaugh’s spacious backyard. “Then dance with me.”

“Are bridesmaids allowed to dance with civilians?” Esteban murmured, taking her into his arms and swaying to the music. “Aren’t you supposed to be dancing with one of the guys standing up for your brother?” he asked. “The guy they paired you up with?”

He’d been surprised just how much it actually bothered him, seeing her walking down the flower-strewn aisle with another man at her side. It had set him thinking.

“Groomsmen,” she supplied the term for him. “They’re called groomsmen.”

“Yeah, those guys.” He deliberately pretended to play dumb, slowly leading up to his point. “Aren’t you just supposed to be dancing with one of them?”

She laughed, wondering if he was actually serious. But then, she gathered that there hadn’t exactly been many weddings in his world before he’d become her partner. Only funerals.

She winked at him. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“I don’t want you breaking any rules on my account,” he told her with a perfectly unreadable expression.

“That wouldn’t be because you don’t want to dance now, would it?” she asked him. Because, reluctant or not, the man was really a wonderful dancer. He had natural rhythm—unlike a couple of her brothers.

“Not want to dance?” he repeated incredulously. “What red-blooded American male wouldn’t jump at the chance to have an excuse for putting his hands on you in public?”

Kari laughed and shook her head. “Ever the gentleman.”

“That’s me,” he agreed, loving the way they moved together.

“You didn’t really answer me before—are you enjoying yourself?” she asked him again. “At my father’s wedding, you told me after it was over that you’d had a good time.” She’d caught him looking strangely introspective a couple of times during the ceremony. “Is this one not measuring up?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” he assured her. “It just made me think.”

Was this going to be bad? Was he going to tell her that he’d decided he needed to be alone, to move on, maybe go somewhere else...away from painful reminders of his past? “About what?”

“About what I’d want if this was my wedding.”

Stunned, she could only stare at him. Finally finding her tongue again, she heard herself ask, “And what would you want if this was your wedding?”

He looked into her eyes and said quietly, “Something more intimate.”

She tried to read between the lines. Were there lines to read between? She didn’t really know. “You mean less people,” she guessed.

He nodded. “I think an intimate group of, say, ninety to a hundred would be my limit. Give or take,” he added with a hint of a smile beginning to curve the corners of his mouth.

Exactly what was he trying to say? “That doesn’t sound very intimate. That sounds like—”

“Your family?” he asked, the smile blossoming completely.

“Well, yes.” He wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying—was he? Men like Esteban ran from things like that, didn’t they? “About this wedding...” She wasn’t sure just how to proceed.

He twirled her around the floor, never taking his eyes off her face. “Go on.”

She drew her courage to her, hoping she didn’t sound like a babbling fool in the process. “Is it something that might be happening anytime, you know, like soon?”

He inclined his head, as if he was thinking. “Well, that all depends.”

She could feel her breath backing up in her throat, all the while telling herself not to get too carried away. If she was wrong, the fall back to reality would be excruciatingly painful.

“On what?” she breathed.

“On when you’ll say yes.”

Her heart was pounding so hard, it made it difficult for her to talk. “When, not if?”

Esteban looked at her for a long moment. “You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”

Oh, God, no, she didn’t want him changing his mind. “Not beg, but it would be nice to hear a few words.”

And he knew which few she was referring to. “You want me to tell you I love you.”

That made it sound forced, she thought with dismay. “Well, only if you do...” she qualified.

He shook his head. Did that mean he didn’t love her? She felt an icy chill slide down her back.

“I thought you were a good detective.”

He had officially lost her. “What does that have to do with it?”

Finding her insecurity adorable, Esteban laid it all out for her. “A good detective would have already realized just how much I love her.”

Relief took on the proportions of a tidal wave as it washed over her. It took her a moment to catch her breath and then she urged him, “Tell me anyway.”

“Kari Cavelli-Cavanaugh, I love you and I want you to add my name to that long parade of last names you already have.” Still swaying with her, he paused and laughed. “And I think we should stop dancing.” He nodded toward the band. “The music’s stopped.”

“No it hasn’t,” Kari contradicted as she continued dancing to the music in her heart. “And yes.”

“Yes?” he questioned. He wanted to be perfectly clear what she was saying yes to.

“Yes,” she repeated. Laughter filled her throat. “In answer to your first question. Yes, I will marry you. And in case there’s any doubt, yes, I love you.” Her eyes were shimmering with tears of joy and she grinned up at him.

“What?” he asked, sensing there was something more.

“Uncle Andrew is going to be on cloud nine when we tell him.” Three weddings in three months would make the former chief of police a truly happy man.

In case she had any thoughts of running off to find the man now, Esteban held her tightly in his arms.

“‘Uncle’ Andrew can wait to find out later,” he told her, just before lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her in the middle of the now empty dance floor.

Uncle Andrew, Kari thought as she encircled her arms around Esteban’s neck, undoubtedly already knew.