Chapter Twenty

Dawson

In the end, we weren't as late as we feared, although I'd have risked being later. Holding Macy in my arms and telling her how happy she makes me felt more important than anything else. It needed to be said. Just like I needed to ask her to tell me if I ever did anything that made her uncomfortable. She'd scared me to death with her reaction to that quickie, and although we ironed out that little misunderstanding, I wanted to make it clear that she could tell me anything… anything at all. Especially if it was something I was doing wrong.

Now I know how much she enjoyed being taken that hard, it's something I intend doing again. Not all the time, of course. But from time to time… when she's least expecting it.

There are still twenty minutes until the ceremony is due to begin, and I haven't let go of Macy's hand since we got here. That's partly because I like there to be some kind of connection between us, no matter where we are. But it's also because this is Peony's place, and I'll admit I'm nervous. I'm bound to see her at some stage today, and I'm dreading it.

"Don't look so worried," Macy whispers, leaning up slightly, so I can hear her.

"How did you know?"

"It's written all over your face." I try to change my expression, but she just shakes her head, presumably to let me know it's not working, and then she rests her head against my shoulder, and says, "It'll be okay. I'm here."

That's about the most comforting thing I've ever heard, and I put my arm around her, feeling her perfect body mold to mine. Her dress is stunning, although I was blown away by what's underneath it. I think the quickie proved that, and I have to smile, trying to control my reaction to the memory of her divine ass, framed by that lacy garter belt as I took her so damn hard. Even so, I love this dress, and the way it looks on her. It's a very pale pink, with darker pink flowers sewn onto the fitted bodice, and scattered over the flowing skirt, and I've never felt more proud than I do at this moment, to have someone so beautiful in my arms.

She tenses slightly, and I look down, wondering what's wrong, as I notice she's staring across the room. I follow the line of her gaze, my eyes alighting on Peony, who's standing over by the door. Her hair is as untamed as ever, which suits the pale blue flowing dress she's wearing. Beside her is a tall guy, who I guess must be her husband. His suit looks handmade, even from here, and he's carrying a baby in one arm, while the other is wrapped around Peony. He bends his head, whispering something to her, before he takes her hand and surprises me by pulling her in our direction.

"They're coming over," I whisper and Macy looks up at me, twisting out of my arms to take my hand.

"Yeah, they are."

I suck in a breath, drawing strength from her before I glance back at Peony. She looks terrified, and I feel bad about that. It's my fault, after all, and I'm the only one here who can do anything about it.

I step forward, bringing Macy with me, because while Peony's husband has helped her make the first move, it's down to me to complete it.

I smile at her right before we meet, and it seems that's all it takes for her to relax, her lips twisting upward.

"I'm sorry," I say before she can even open her mouth.

"What for?"

"The silence. It was my fault."

"I was the one who stayed away," she says, shaking her head.

"Maybe. But I could have made it easier for you."

"Did you blame me for what happened?" she asks, like she needs to know why I've let the silence linger for so long.

"Hell, no. I just let it get to me too much. But you weren't to blame, Peony."

Macy leans up and says, "Neither were you, Dawson."

"I know," I say, bending my head to kiss her cheek. "Thanks to you."

"We haven't been introduced," Peony's husband says, turning to me and maybe sensing we could all use a change of subject. "I'm Ryan Andrews."

"We might never have met, but I've heard a lot about you."

"Not all bad, I hope."

"None of it bad, as it happens."

He smiles and shifts his son slightly. "You haven't met Rory, either, have you?" he says and I shake my head, reaching out and caressing the infant's soft cheek.

"No."

I let my hand fall again, wondering if our silence might be about to return, when Ryan says, "I understand you and Tanner go back a long way?"

"Further than I care to remember." He chuckles, when a thought suddenly occurs to me, and I turn to Peony. "I've just realized… I've been so disconnected from reality until recently, it's never occurred to me to ask how Tanner's gonna get here. Nash can hardly drive them, can he? He's only eight."

She smiles. "Tanner's driving them himself."

"Please tell me he's not bringing Zara, too."

"No. He's bringing Zara's mom and her aunt, but Zara's here already, over in the farmhouse." She rolls her eyes. "She was gonna spend last night at home with Tanner, but I talked her out of that and persuaded her that, as she isn't having any bridesmaids and doesn't really know anyone in the town, she could come and stay here, to avoid breaking with tradition."

I nod my head, relieved I haven't screwed up.

"I didn't know about that," Macy says.

"It was only arranged at the last minute," Peony replies.

"A bit like their wedding night."

Peony looks at her and says, "What's this?"

"Their wedding night," Macy says. "They weren't gonna have one until Dawson stepped in."

Peony turns to me, and I feel I have to explain. "I don't know if you knew, but Sabrina announced a few weeks ago that she was going away this weekend, which meant Nash would have to stay with Tanner and Zara overnight."

"Tonight?" Ryan says, frowning.

"Yeah."

"She did that on purpose," Peony says, shaking her head.

"Of course she did, but that didn't alter the fact that, even though Tanner and Zara had no plans for a honeymoon, their wedding night was gonna be… well, let's just say a little less exciting than it might have been."

"They're not having a honeymoon?" Ryan says, raising his eyebrows.

"No. They've just moved into a new house. Sabrina's made a point of sucking Tanner dry since the divorce. I don't think they can afford it."

He nods, letting out a sigh. "So, what have you done?" Peony asks. "About their wedding night, I mean?"

"Zara decided to invite her mom and Aunt Charlotte to stay, thinking it might make things easier."

"How?" Ryan asks, snapping out of his momentary trance.

"I think her idea was that she and Tanner would be able to have more time together."

"With everyone in the house?"

"Yeah," I say. "I pointed that out to him, but he seemed okay with it… kinda."

"In other words, he wasn't happy."

"He's happy. He's got Zara, and I don't think he's capable of being anything other than happy with her. But I got the feeling he was a little disappointed by the way things turned out. So, I did something about it. I've arranged for them to stay at the hotel tonight, in the honeymoon suite."

"That's kind of you," Peony says, and I shrug my shoulders.

"That's what friends are for. Obviously, I had to contact Zara's mom, so she could agree to look after Nash by herself, and pack a few things for Tanner and Zara, but…"

"You mean they don't know about it?" Ryan says.

"Not yet. As far as they're aware, they're going straight home after the reception."

Peony chuckles. "I can't believe I've organized their wedding, and I knew nothing about this."

"I'm good at keeping quiet, in case you haven't noticed," I say with a smile, and she smiles back.

At that moment, Rory whimpers and then lets out a cry.

"His timing sucks," Ryan says, although he hands his son to Peony. "He's beyond tired, but I can't go back to the farmhouse with him. Zara's over there, and I don't wanna walk in on her unannounced."

"It's okay. I'll take him. I don't think he'll take long to settle, and hopefully by then Tanner will be here, and I can escort Zara back."

She leaves with a smile, and Ryan goes with her, at least as far as the door, although they both stop there for a moment, and exchange a few words with Everly Wright. I haven't seen her for ages and am surprised that she's carrying a tiny baby in her arms. I'd heard she was pregnant, but didn't realize she'd given birth… to a girl, I'd say, judging by the pink ribbon in her hair.

"Who's that?" Macy asks.

"Everly Wright. She owns the coffee shop."

"She appears to be alone. Is her husband not here?"

"She doesn't have a husband," I say, turning from Everly and looking down at Macy.

"Okay. Boyfriend, partner, fiancé, whoever the baby's father is. Is he not here?"

"No. He left town sometime last spring, I think. I can't be sure about the timing because I was barely sober…"

"He left his pregnant girlfriend? Sounds like a nice guy," she says, shaking her head, her disapproval obvious.

"Oddly enough, Seth was a nice guy. I don't know anyone here who had a bad word to say about him… but I guess kids aren't for everyone, are they?"

I notice her shoulders drop and she steps away from me, just slightly. "No, they're not. But if that's the case, isn't it more responsible to ensure they don't happen? Isn't it better to be careful than to abandon your girlfriend and leave her to raise your child alone?"

"Hey…" I put my arm around her waist and pull her closer, moving us over to the side of the room. "Whatever happened between Everly and Seth, it's not our fight, babe. I can't even be sure they broke up because of the baby. It could have been something else altogether. Like I say, I wasn't sober enough to know what I was doing, let alone what was going on in someone else's life."

"I'm sorry," she says, and I pull her into a hug.

"Is something else worrying you? It's not like you to react like this."

"No, it's not." I lean back slightly, looking down into her eyes, and she bites on her lip. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"It's just I'm kinda confused."

"What about?"

"You," she says.

"What about me?"

"It's just… you seemed quite enamored with Rory, and then you came out with that line about kids not being for everyone, and…"

I get where she's coming from now. "You wanna know how I feel about kids? Is that it?"

"Yes."

I smile down at her. "I like them," I say simply, and she nods.

"Okay, but does that mean you like them when they belong to other people, or you want to have one or two of your own?"

"I'd like to have at least one, yeah."

She nods, and although I expect a smile, it doesn't happen. She just continues to stare at me and then says, "Why didn't you have any with Stevie? You were together a long time, and…"

"I know, but we never got around to it."

"Even after all those years?"

"I guess there was always something else… refurbishing the bar, making it work, fixing up the apartment."

"So you never discussed it?"

"Of course we did. Not all the time, but it came up in conversation every once in a while. Neither of us was making excuses. It was just there was always a reason to put it off for another six months, or another year. Stevie was only thirty-two when she left me. It felt like we still had time."

"So it wasn't that you didn't want to?"

"No. Not at all…" I stop talking, realization dawning, or rather hitting me like a freight train. "Hold on a second. Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Like what?"

"Like that you're pregnant?"

"I'm on birth control, in case you've forgotten."

"I haven't, but I also know it's not infallible."

"It is in this case. I'm not pregnant." I feel slightly disappointed about that, but I hold it in, because I've got another question. "Can I take it you'd like to be? Is that what you're saying?"

"I guess what I'm saying is that I need to know you'd like me to be… one day. I mean, there's no rush…"

"There isn't? We've rushed everything else. Why should we make an exception for this?"

She smiles and says, "Has it occurred to you that maybe I'm not ready to share you yet?"

"That's supposed to be my line, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but it's nice to know we're on the same page."

I lean down, my lips hovering over hers. "Always, Mace." I close the gap and kiss her, holding her close, only pulling back when I realize the room has gone quiet. We both glance around and notice everyone else is sitting down. Tanner's standing at the front, looking across at us, a smile etched on his lips, and even Nash is grinning at me. They're wearing matching gray suits, and I chuckle, shaking my head at the pair of them, and with Macy blushing to the roots of her hair, we make our way to our seats in time for the ceremony to begin.

"Can you explain something to me?" Macy says as everyone stands, applause ringing around the barn, while Tanner and Zara walk, arm in arm, down the aisle together as husband and wife.

"What's that?"

"Why doesn't Zara know anyone in the town? Peony mentioned it earlier, but I didn't understand what she meant."

"Zara only moved here in the fall, babe," I say, taking her hand in mine.

"She came here to be with Tanner?" she asks.

"No. They didn't know each other before she arrived here. They met last September, right before she started her job at the elementary school… the one Sabrina got her fired from."

"Are you saying they only met five months ago, and they're getting married already?"

"Sure. Tanner proposed to her within a few days of them meeting."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." I lean in and she looks up, surprise written all over her face. "That's the thing with love, Mace… when you know, you know."

She giggles, shaking her head. "Are you gonna introduce me to them?" she asks.

"Of course."

I crane my neck, looking toward the back of the room. Everyone is milling around now, talking, but I can see Tanner clearly. He's with Zara, their heads bent close together, and keeping a firm hold on Macy's hand, I pull her through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of them.

"Macy, I'd like you to meet my oldest friend, Tanner, and his wife, Zara."

"Man, that sounds good," Tanner says, grinning broadly.

I've never seen him look this happy… not even when he married Sabrina, and I have to smile, because I know how he feels.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to introduce you to each other before," I say.

"It's not your fault." He reaches over and pats my arm. "We've all been busy." He turns his gaze to Macy. "So, you're the woman who's brought him back to life?"

She blushes and says, "I don't know about that."

"I do," I reply and Tanner says exactly the same thing, at exactly the same time, making us all laugh.

"You've certainly tamed his beard," Tanner says, studying my face and shaking his head. I'm by no means clean-shaven, but my facial hair is significantly better trimmed than it was.

"Macy likes the beard," I say. "And I'm better able to control it these days."

"Glad to hear it." He nudges in to me, giving me a smile.

"I love your dress," Macy says to Zara, stepping away from me, just slightly. I'll admit, it's very pretty, in an off-white, with simple straps and a fitted bodice, embellished with embroidered leaves and flowers.

"Thanks," Zara says. "I was worried I'd be cold, but at least there's heating in here…"

"And I can keep you warm now," Tanner says, and although Zara smiles at him, she turns back to Macy, and they continue their conversation, while I move closer to Tanner.

"The beginning of a beautiful friendship?" he says, his eyes still fixed on his bride.

"I hope so."

Macy giggles, and Zara joins in, and although I've got no idea what they're talking about, I can't help smiling. Neither can Tanner, it seems, although he drags his eyes away from Zara for a moment and turns to me.

"Someone told me they saw you talking to Peony earlier. Is that true?"

"Yeah. We cleared the air."

"It's about time," he says.

"I know. I was being an idiot… as usual. It wasn't her fault that Luca left her for Stevie, any more than it was my fault she left me for him."

He frowns, then tilts his head. "You said his name. You actually said the guy's name."

"I know. I'm over it all now… thanks to Macy."

He sucks in a breath, letting it out on a long sigh. "You're a lucky guy," he says.

"So are you."

"Don't I know it."

His eyes dart around the room, settling eventually, a smile etched on his lips. I glance across the barn, and see Nash, holding the hand of a pretty, dark-haired girl, who's wearing a deep pink dress and the prettiest smile.

"Is that Nash's girlfriend?" I ask, turning back to Tanner.

"Yeah," he says, facing me again. "He asked us to invite her, and we couldn't refuse… although it meant inviting her parents, too. She could hardly come on her own."

"No… although I've gotta say, the boy's got taste."

He grins, nodding his head. "Yeah. He gets that from me."

I chuckle as he looks back at Zara, and I notice something like regret in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask and he turns to look at me again, moving close enough that he can lower his voice.

"I know I said I was okay with our plans for tonight, but I'm starting to wish I'd made more of an effort. Zara kept telling me everything was fine, but I feel like I've allowed Sabrina to take the edge off of what could have been a perfect day. I could have planned something if I'd thought it through, but I just let it slide… and now it's too late. I've let her down."

"No, you haven't… and it's not too late."

He frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's a honeymoon suite at the hotel that's got your name on it."

"What the fuck? How? I mean… how?"

"I arranged it all… once I'd finally sobered up."

"You arranged it?"

"Yeah. And it's all on me, before you start arguing. Chester has my credit card details, and strict instructions to charge me for anything and everything you want."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"You did all that?"

I nod my head. "I had help, though."

"Who from?"

"Macy to start with. She helped me come up with the idea, but then there was also Zara's mom."

His frown deepens, and he pushes his fingers back through his hair. "How did you even get hold of her?"

"That was kinda tricky," I admit. "Even once I was sober, I wasn't sure how I was gonna go about it. But I knew I couldn't manage my scheme without her. All I knew was her name, and that she lived somewhere in Vermont. It seemed like an impossible task, but then I had a flash of inspiration, and I called Brady."

"Brady? What could he do to help?"

"He's the sheriff. He has ways of tracking people down, and once I explained the situation, he was happy to help."

"So you spoke to Sylvia?"

"Yeah. I called and told her what I wanted to do, and asked if she'd be okay looking after Nash by herself for the night. She agreed, and then I asked if she'd pack a bag for the two of you. If everything's gone to plan, it'll be in the trunk of your car."

"You're kidding."

"No. I'll take Nash, Sylvia and Zara's aunt back to your place later on, and you can take Zara to the hotel and enjoy a night of peace together."

He chuckles. "You think we're gonna get much peace?"

"Of course I fucking don't."

We both laugh and he throws his arms around me. "Thanks, man," he says in my ear. "Thank you so much. I owe you."

"You owe me fuck all. I've been a truly shitty friend to you over the last few years."

"No, you haven't."

"Yeah, I have. But that's all gonna change now."

"Thanks to Macy?" he says, pulling back and looking over my shoulder to where Zara and Macy are standing, looking at us.

"Absolutely."

"I'm gonna keep this a secret from Zara," he whispers, and I nod my head.

"Is everything okay?" Macy asks, looking up at me.

"Everything's just fine. I was apologizing to Tanner for the way I've been behaving since Stevie left." I give her a surreptitious wink as I'm speaking and she smiles up at me, clearly understanding the need to keep quiet.

Zara doesn't seem any the wiser, and simply gazes up at her new husband, clearly just happy to be married. And who can blame her for that?

The afternoon goes quickly, and I have to say that, although the wedding was quiet, it was also the nicest I think I've ever attended… including my own.

Macy spent about an hour talking with her aunt, and I left them to it, because although Macy's been over there to visit a couple of times, they haven't been able to spend very long together. That doesn't mean I didn't watch her the entire time, though, or return her smiles every time she looked up and caught me doing so.

At the end of the day, after saying their goodbyes, Tanner sweeps a very confused Zara away to the hotel, ignoring her questions, while Macy and I take Zara's mom, her Aunt Charlotte and Nash back to the house.

Nash may be exhausted after such an exciting day – most of which he spent with Billie – but he's full of questions. Sylvia deals with answering him, thank goodness, while I focus on driving. I haven't been able to spend much time with Aunt Charlotte until now, and I'm struck by how much older she looks than Sylvia. Tanner led me to believe there wasn't much of an age gap between them, but it doesn't look that way and I wonder if Charlotte's accident took more out of her than I'd expected. She looks at least twenty years older than her sister and seems to rely on her heavily for everything from communicating to walking.

"Are you sure you can cope?" I ask Sylvia as I help her from the car. "I hadn't realized Charlotte was this bad."

"I'll be fine. It's just for one night, and Nash is a good boy. He won't be any trouble." I notice she doesn't deny Charlotte's poor health, and tell her to call me if she needs anything.

"You're a good friend to Tanner," she says, resting her hand on my arm for a moment.

"I haven't been for quite some time, but I'm back now," I say and she smiles.

I go in with her and help them get settled, writing my cell number on a notepad in the kitchen, before I return to Macy in the car.

"Are they gonna be okay?" she asks as I sit behind the wheel.

"Sylvia says they will, but I've told her to call if there are any problems." She nods her head, deflating slightly. "Are you tired?"

"I am. I'm more tired than I thought I would be."

"Let's get you home."

I start the car, making quick work of the drive back to the bar. It's in darkness, but I let us in and don't bother with the lights, guiding Macy to the door at the back, and up the stairs into the apartment before I bother with any illumination. Not that it stays on for long, because Macy makes straight for the bedroom, and I follow her there, switching off the living room lights again as we go. There's no need to turn on the lights in the bedroom. It's a full moon, and we can see well enough to undress… although there's something I need to do first, and I grab Macy's hand, pulling her close to me.

"I know you're tired, babe, but can we talk for a minute?"

"Can't we get into bed first?"

"No. I'll be too easily distracted… especially as I've got no intention of letting you take off those stockings, or that garter belt."

"You don't?" she says, and I can see the sparkle in her eyes, even in this dim light.

"No. Not for a while."

"Okay," she says, moving closer. "What did you wanna talk about?"

I love her impatience, and I smile down at her. "Do you remember, before the ceremony, we were talking about having kids?"

She leans back slightly. "Don't tell me you've changed your mind already?"

"Not at all. It's just that, being there, at Tanner's wedding, talking about things like that and seeing how happy he and Zara are together, it got me thinking."

"What about?"

"About making things more permanent between us."

"Are you talking about getting married, because if you are, we can't do that," she says, surprising me.

"Why not? Because it's too soon?"

I get my arguments ready to contradict her, but she surprises me with a firm, "No."

"Why then?"

"Because of your past, Dawson. I know how hard it would be for you to get married again after everything that happened, and I'm okay with that."

"Are you? Because I'm not. Besides, when I say I wanna make things more permanent, I'm not just talking about getting married. This is about so much more than that."

"Like having kids?" she says. "Because we don't have to be married to do that."

"I know. This isn't about that, either."

"Then what…?" she stares up at me, confusion etched on her face, worry shadowing her eyes and I hold her tight against me.

"I wanna show the world you're mine, Mace. And I want everyone to know I'm yours, too. Not just by kissing you in public every chance I get, or by giving you my last name, or by having kids with you… but by doing something I never even contemplated with anyone else."

"What's that?" she asks.

"Signing half the bar over to you."

"Excuse me?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while, and it's the best solution."

"The best solution to what?"

"To the fact that I hate treating you like an employee."

"But I am an employee."

"Not for much longer. We're gonna be business partners, and I've already made an appointment to see Ezra on Monday morning to talk it through."

"Who's Ezra?"

"A lawyer. He'll deal with all the paperwork."

"But you can't do that. This place is yours. It always was. Even Stevie didn't have a part of it, and she helped you create it."

"I know. But it's like Tanner said earlier, you brought me back to life. I told you once that I started drinking because of Stevie, and I carried on because I felt inadequate and lonely, and because I wanted to forget. What I didn't tell you was why I stopped." I brush my fingers gently down her cheek. "It was because of you, Mace. I wanted to be better… for you. And now, I want to do this for you, too."

She stares up at me, blinking hard. "But… But you told me it was called Dawson's for a reason."

"It was. And I thought we could change it to MD's… for a reason. Because it's ours. It's not just mine anymore."

"MD's?" she says.

"Yeah. Our initials."

"In that order? Mine first?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I toyed with the idea of calling it Macy's, but that's been done before."

She giggles, and I can't ignore the bells this time. I stare down at her, closing the gap between us, and kissing her deeply, her arms coming up around my neck, as I flex my hips into her, our tongues flicking and fluttering until we're breathless with need.

I could easily take her to bed right now, but there's one more thing I need to say and I pull back, keeping hold of her.

"There's something else I wanna do."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I wanna find a manager to help run the bar."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I love working with you, babe, but it's like I said, we need to live together, too. You switched your hours so we could spend more time with each other, and I wanna do the same thing."

"That sounds amazing." She leans against me, resting her head on my chest. "It would be so lovely if we could visit Aunt Bernie together every once in a while, and I was thinking just the other day how much I'd love for us to have the time to do simple things, like going for a walk, or watching a movie together."

"I know. I was thinking the same thing. It's called dating, I believe." She giggles again, and leans back, smiling up at me. "We've never really done that, have we?"

"No."

"Well, it's never too late," I say, kissing her forehead before I drop to one knee, taking her hands in mine as she gasps. "I wanna marry you, Macy Potter. And I wanna date you, have kids with you, raise a family with you, run a business with you, and grow old with you… as disgracefully as possible."

"That sounds perfect," she says. "Can we start now… with the disgraceful part?"

I chuckle and get to my feet, keeping hold of her hands. "You mean you're not gonna tell me I'm rushing things?"

"Not this time," she says, shaking her head.

"And you'll marry me?"

"In a heartbeat."

I lift her into my arms, twirling her around and around as she giggles, the bells ringing loudly in my head, and although I could silence them with a kiss, I'm not going to. Not yet. I love that sound, almost as much as I love her, and just like loving her, I never want it to stop.

The End

Thank you for reading Dreaming of Dawson .