“Your parents?” He felt a slight resistance in her hand, but she didn’t pull away from him. “Why?”
“I’ve got something to say to them.”
Before Lena could ask any more questions, Elliot pulled her up the aisle to where his parents stood in front of the arch of foliage Cher and Oz would wed under. His mother had paused, while instructing one of the staff members to tack back some of the ribbons that trailed from the display, to stare at them in astonishment. The look intensified when he and Lena barreled up to her. His father came to stand beside his mom, his face already set in disapproving lines. Typical.
“Mom, Dad, I know you don’t approve of my plans to expand the charity. But I’m going to go ahead with them, anyway. I’d like to share our plans with the rest of the board and get their input. I know you like things the way they are, but everything could be run much better, and I intend to see it done. You put me in charge of the charity, so let me truly run it. And if you and the board all vote against me, then Lena and I will start a foundation without your backing. It would be better to expand on what is already there, but this idea is good. It’s worthwhile, and with Lena’s brains and my contacts, I have no doubt we can make it a success.”
His parents stared at him, stunned into silence for once in their lives. His dad recovered first.
“Elliot,” his dad said, “we discussed this already, and we decided against it.”
Elliot nodded and took a deep breath, holding on to Lena to give him strength for the words he never thought he’d say. “Then I resign. I’ll start my own foundation, without your help.”
His father’s face flushed bright red, and he opened his mouth to respond, but his mom put her hand on his arm.
“Now is not the time or place for this conversation.”
His dad blinked and looked around at the wedding guests and staff that had begun to filter in and were now watching the confrontation.
“Actually, now is the perfect time,” Elliot said. “I’ve spent my whole life waiting for something amazing to come along. Well, something finally has,” he said, drawing Lena closer to him. “I’m not going to let her get away.” He turned back to his parents. “And I’m not going to let this idea go, either. I’m going to create this foundation, with Lena at my side.”
His mother looked at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. But his father stepped closer, as near to truly losing his temper as Elliot had ever seen him.
“You’re going to go against us? For her?”
Elliot’s blood pressure shot up until he could feel the vein throbbing in his neck. He really hadn’t wanted to make this a drag-out fight, but if his father didn’t watch what he said about Lena, things were going to get ugly fast.
His father continued on as if he wasn’t aware that Elliot was almost at his breaking point. He probably didn’t. He hadn’t ever paid attention to what Elliot felt.
“You’ve spent your whole life working to get where you’re at now. Think long and hard about what you are throwing away before you do this, Son.”
Elliot shook his head. “Throw away? I’m not throwing anything away, Dad. I’m gaining more than I ever dreamed possible. This incredible woman is willing to stand by my side and help me make something worthwhile out of my life. How many people ever find someone like that? She’s brave and brilliant and the most beautiful person, inside and out, that I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. I’m not throwing anything away for the chance to be with her. I’m giving myself the opportunity to achieve everything I ever wanted. She’s amazing. And so is her son. I’m falling for both of them, and the only tragedy here would be if I threw away the chance to see what the three of us can become.”
His parents were struck well and truly speechless. It was probably the best moment of Elliot’s life.
Then Lena started to laugh. He turned to her, eyebrows raised. His parents stared at her like she’d gone crazy. Maybe she had… It had been kind of an intense morning so far.
“Sorry,” she gasped, cupping his face and giving him a quick kiss while her shoulders still shook with laughter. “I was so nervous about what I was going to say to convince you to give us, and your foundation, a chance. And you just said everything that I had been thinking. We are on the exact same page. Again,” she said, beaming up at him.
He laughed with her, his heart soaring. “Well, I guess that answers the rest of my questions.”
He drew her in against him.
“Elliot, this conversation is not over,” his dad said.
Elliot didn’t even look at them. He kept his gaze firmly glued to Lena’s. “Yes, Dad. It is.”
Then he leaned down and kissed the woman in his arms, letting his lips show her how much he’d come to value her, how excited he was to discover their future together, how much he wanted to take her back to his room and show her everything he was feeling in a little more detail. Okay, a lot more detail.
The wedding guests erupted in applause, clapping and cheering until Elliot and Lena looked up, startled. Lena laughed and tucked her head against Elliot’s neck, hiding a little from the audience they had apparently accumulated. Oz and Cher whooped loudly from the back of the courtyard.
“Shit,” Elliot said quietly so only Lena could hear him. “I think we just upstaged the bride and groom.”
Lena glanced back at their beaming siblings. “I don’t think they mind.”
“All right, all right!” Oz called. “I’m glad you two have finally come to your senses. But can we get on with our wedding now? My honeymoon starts in four hours, and we’ve got a flight on a puddle jumper to the next island. We don’t want to miss it!”
Everyone laughed and Elliot took a little bow, then escorted Lena back to the staging area where they got in line with the other wedding attendants. They marched up the aisle together, stood smiling at each while Oz and Cher said their vows, and cheered louder than anyone else when the pastor pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Oserkowski.
On the way back down the aisle, Tyler ran over to them, and Elliot scooped him up in one arm and wrapped the other around Lena’s waist. Caught between the two of them, Elliot thought it was safe to say he’d never been so happy in his entire life.
And it was just the beginning.
Epilogue
Lena stood at the edge of the pool at Elliot’s North Carolina house, staring down into the clear water with her heart pounding in her throat. Elliot and Tyler had been splashing around for fifteen minutes already, but so far, they hadn’t been able to coax her in. She’d gotten over her fears enough that she could wade into the shallow end and relax enough for it to be enjoyable, but that was in the shallow end, and only if she could take her time getting in. Elliot wanted her to jump. All the way in. All at once. Into the deep end. He had dared her to. She couldn’t ignore a straight-out dare. But she wasn’t sure she could man-up and jump in, either.
She sucked in several deep breaths. She wasn’t sure, but it was a good bet that she was on the verge of hyperventilating. It didn’t help that his pool was three-times the size of the pool at her condo complex. When she’d finally been able to save enough money, thanks to what she made working for the foundation and from her gift basket and all-natural remedy sales, she and Tyler had gotten their own place. Getting one with a pool had been Elliot’s idea. One she’d liked and had even learned to enjoy. It was big enough to play in but not enough to give her a total panic attack. Not anymore. Elliot had been working with her. Their tub sessions were… She shivered with remembered pleasure, wishing she was back in his big garden bathtub right then instead of staring at the wrong end of several thousand gallons of water.
Elliot’s tub she’d take any day. But his pool… She wasn’t sure she was ready for that yet.
“Come on, Len. I’ll catch you.” Elliot reached his arms out to her.