Epilogue
Maddy D’Argenson watched Nicole Corisi spin in her Marchesa wedding gown before a floor-length mirror in her bedroom suite. The amazing white gown was long-sleeved with a high neckline and lace bodice, the skirt layered in silk organza with tulle petals. Her long black hair was confined to a tight chignon on the crown of her head that would soon sport a long veil.
Nicole was radiant, smiling, and beautiful in a way only a bride can be.
Maddy sat on the edge of a chaise lounge, happy Nicole had allowed each attendant to choose her own style of bridesmaid gown. She’d chosen a figure-forgiving empire-waist chiffon one. She wasn’t sure she would have fit into something with less give, considering how her stomach had seemed to double in size in a way it hadn’t for her first pregnancy. “My father and Uncle Victor are already arguing over names for your first child. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Looking over her shoulder at Maddy, Nicole smiled. “I love your family.”
“Our family,” Maddy said seriously. “It’s about time that you’re officially part of it, too. Stephan should have married you the first time around. Uncle Victor should have never gotten involved.”
“He meant well,” Nicole defended her future father-in-law.
“He was wrong to try to break you up. At least he finally apologized.” Maddy placed a hand on her stomach as her baby kicked. “If you ask him, he still says he did it because he cares about you and thought his son needed time to grow up. I hope I don’t ever meddle in my children’s lives like that.”
“You? Meddle? Never,” Nicole said, tongue in cheek. In a more serious tone, she continued, “It was easy to forgive Victor. He did it out of love. You have no idea how lucky you are that you have a family who cares so much about each other.”
Maddy made a sympathetic face. “You have your brother, Dominic, and his wife. They both love you. You’ve mended your relationship with your mother. You have family who loves you—today all you’re doing is doubling the number of them.”
Nicole cocked her head to one side.
“Okay, quadrupling them,” Maddy amended. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” Turning to face the mirror again, Nicole tucked a loose lock back into place. “You’ll never know how grateful I am to your family. You not only gave me Stephan, but you also brought my brother back into my life. I want to cry every time I think about him walking me down the aisle. This whole day is better than I ever dared dream it could be. I might throw up.” With a shy smile, Nicole said, “Is every bride this nervous? Are they all afraid to wake up and discover it was a dream?”
“You cannot vomit on a dress that beautiful.” Maddy chuckled. “And don’t worry. This is real. If it were your dream it wouldn’t have been postponed a day.”
Nicole turned, clasping her hands nervously in front of her. “I understood why Stephan asked me to. He couldn’t let his cousins leave upset.” Nicole looked out the window. “He brought them all back. Even Gio. I heard he flew in this morning.”
“He would have returned last night, but he and Julia had quarreled. Looks like they made up because she came back with him.”
Nicole smoothed the skirt of her gown. “I really like her.”
“And?”
“And he looks happy when he’s with her.”
“And?”
Nicole shook her head in confusion.
Maddy gave her an impish grin and a triumphant wiggle. “You can say it—I was right about her.”
Nicole laughed delicately and nodded in concession. “You were definitely right. She’s probably still a little afraid of you since you practically kidnapped her to introduce her to me, but your idea that helping Gio and his brothers find love might bring them back to the family seems to be working. At least with Gio.”
A light knock on the door announced the arrival of the other women in Nicole’s bridal party, each dressed in similarly colored dresses of different lengths and styles.
Abby Corisi rushed over and hugged her sister-in-law. “You look stunning.”
Abby’s sister, Lil Walton, followed suit and gave Nicole a bone-crushing embrace. “I didn’t think I could be happier than I was at my wedding, but I will probably bawl through this whole ceremony. Every time I think about you almost losing Stephan this summer, I get goose bumps. I mean, to have gone through so much and then . . .”
“Lil,” several of the women in the room said in unison to halt her from saying more, then realized what they had done and burst into laughter.
Lil stepped back and smiled sheepishly. “What I mean to say is—enjoy every moment of today. You two have earned it.”
Nicole chuckled. She’d grown to love Lil’s impulsive bouts of honesty. She looked around the room and grateful tears came to her eyes. After a lonely childhood, to be part of this large and loving family was more than she’d ever dared wish for. She hugged Lil tightly. “I knew what you meant, and thank you.”
Lil plopped onto the chaise lounge beside Maddy. “So, about our bet. I see only one of the Andrade cousins brought a date. Was she anyone’s? Alethea and I planted an IT ex-swimsuit model we thought would be perfect for Gio, but apparently he’d already met—what’s her name again? Julia?”
“Yes, Julia,” said Abby. “I spoke to her this morning and she and Gio are engaged. No ring yet, and they don’t plan to announce anything until after the wedding, but isn’t that exciting?” Then she looked at her sister and asked, “What do you mean, ‘planted an IT person’?”
Lil looked away at the ceiling as she said, “We didn’t do anything illegal. We just made a few phone calls. Cogent had an opening. If everyone else’s online résumés disappeared, is that so bad?” Lil’s expression turned skeptical. “Are you honestly telling me that you didn’t plant anyone?”
Nicole jumped in with a smile. “Engaged. I knew it would happen fast for them the moment I saw them together. But don’t try to look all innocent, Abby. You had to have planted someone. Even Maddy and I did. Although we didn’t think Gio would be the first one to cave. We found an amazing woman who is going to school to work with young children and has a chauffer’s license. We thought she’d be perfect for Nick, but she was transferred to another department of Cogent soon after being hired.”
“Marie and I thought Nick would be the easiest one, too,” Abby finally admitted. “We gave his normal secretary a position at Corisi Enterprises and sent over someone we loved. She was efficient and adorable but she was transferred also. I’ve spoken to her, though, since then and she says she loves her new job. I think we all will have to be more subtle with our next one.”
Lil snapped her fingers. “So Julia was an independent choice. Looks like none of us won this one.”
Maddy stood and crossed to the window. She looked down at Gio and Julia standing with her father. Nick, Luke, and Max were mingling with the other guests. Her heart swelled with hope. “I’d count this as a win for all of us.”
Nicole joined her by the window and nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Meeting Nicole’s eyes, Maddy said, “I just wish I’d been able to convince their mother to come. She seemed interested when I told her about Julia. I thought she’d like to know her son had finally met someone.”
Abby joined them. “You didn’t tell me that you went to see Gio’s mother. How did that go? I thought you said she and your family didn’t get along well.”
Maddy shrugged sadly. “They don’t. I wish I knew why. I told her that Stephan and I were actively trying to mend our relationship with her sons. I’d hoped she would join them here this weekend.”
Nicole said, “I don’t know, Maddy. I’m not sure she wants the family back together.”
Maddy raised her chin stubbornly. “I disagree. She invited me to come see her again. I don’t know what happened between her and my uncles, but she definitely wanted to hear more about our bet.”
With a gasp, Nicole raised a hand to her mouth. “You told her?”
“I thought she might want to help,” Maddy said defensively. “Luke says that his mother has always felt like an outsider in our family. She needs to know that we trust her.”
Nicole looked down at the wedding party again and said softly, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Maddy.”
Confidently, Maddy said, “I do.” She turned away from the window and said, “How are we on time?”
Abby said, “We should start heading down now if we want any pictures before the ceremony.”
As they gathered up their accessories, Nicole walked over to her soon-to-be sister and said, “Maddy, this is your family. I don’t mean to question how you deal with them.”
Maddy hugged Nicole and said, “No, it’s our family. You’ve been an Andrade for a while now—today simply makes it legal. I understand why you don’t trust people, Nicole, but I’m right about this. Trust me. Patrice Stanfield needs to know we care about her. Then she’ll come around.”
Nicole glanced back over her shoulder at the window and said, “I hope you’re right, Maddy. I really hope you’re right.
The End
Read on for an Excerpt from Home to Me, Book 2 of the Andrades