Her brows furrowed slightly, and she sighed regretfully. “You need to go help Ike now.”
“Ike?”
“A little-boy spirit, coming to see you. He said he’d wait, but he wants to see his parents,” she explained. “And he actually pushed me down the pathway to get me here,” she said with a smile. “Well, he and your grandmother.”
“They pushed you?”
She nodded. “The light was strong, and they knew I needed help.”
“I’ll make sure to thank Ike then. And I will go help him cross, but then I’ll come back to take you home.”
“Home,” she repeated. “To the plantation?”
“If that’s what you want.” He added, “You know that if you marry a Vicknair, you’ll also be expected to help spirits.”
Those beautiful moss green eyes were alive with excitement. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
19
CELESTE HAD BEEN in that hospital bed for four months, an extremely long time indeed. However, those four months seemed like nothing compared to the four weeks the two of them had to wait for their wedding.
Typical for Louisiana, the week of Christmas was marked with unseasonably warm weather, perfect for an outdoor event. Celeste’s mother had been doubtful when they told her they were going to be married outdoors on Christmas Eve at the Vicknair plantation, but after arriving in the bayou, Marian Beauchamp had quickly learned that December in Louisiana was like April in Tennessee.
The plantation was more breathtaking than Dax had ever seen, definitely the best that it’d been since the hurricane took its toll. Tiny white lights circled the eight porch columns and almost completely disguised the fact that they were still slightly leaning from Katrina’s damage. The same type of lights were also mingled through the poinsettia hedges to cast a red glow against the sides of the house.
Nanette had borrowed several huge white tents, traditionally used during the Mardi Gras festivities in February, from the high school, and guests were currently enjoying champagne beneath their curved roofs, also lit with tiny white lights. The mingling conversations had the same basic theme-the bride was radiant, the ceremony was beautiful and the Vicknair plantation was the perfect setting for such an incredible festivity. Everyone was impressed to see how far the cousins had come toward restoring the place to its original magnificence-except for the parish president, Charles Roussel, of course.
Although Dax tried to persuade Nanette to include John-Paul and Clara Vicknair’s letters with the nomination packet she sent to the state historic preservation officer, she’d refused, saying that if they absolutely had to bring the letters into the equation to save the house, then they would. But for now, they’d see what happened with the State Review Board, and they’d move on with the originally planned house renovations, which meant that, in a few weeks, they’d be starting on the structural problems. But Dax didn’t want to think about all the work ahead of them right now; this was his wedding day, after all.
“Okay, let’s get one of the bride and her family before it gets too dark,” the photographer instructed, and Celeste, her parents and Nelsa posed in front of the bounty of twinkling red poinsettias beside the house.
“Beautiful,” the photographer said and Dax agreed.
“Yes, she is, isn’t she?” He slowly neared his bride, then kissed her softly.
Every touch from Celeste made his insides sizzle with heat…and with need. It’d been her idea to wait until their wedding night to make love again, and Dax had been hard since he woke up this morning merely from thinking about finally having her.
Four weeks had never seemed so long.
As if knowing where his thoughts had headed, she leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, “I can’t wait to get out of this dress.”
“What a coincidence. I can’t wait to get you out of that dress.”
She smiled seductively, and Dax grew even harder.
“I’m having a difficult time here, chère. Keep teasing me like that, and we might have to leave this party early, head into the house and-”
“I know where I want our first time to be-our first time as husband and wife, that is. And it isn’t the plantation.”
“Care to enlighten me? Because it better not be far from here. I’m not kidding about how badly I need you, Celeste.” He nuzzled her ear, then lowered his voice to a raspy whisper. “I need to feel your naked body against me, to press against your wetness, then slide inside…”
Her gasp was audible, the pulse at her throat quickened and she arched her body against his.
Dax smiled. He’d wanted to see if she was as eager as he was, and she almost seemed more.
She turned her head to look directly at him, and Dax was momentarily spellbound by the green of her eyes. He was still getting used to the vibrant color.
“Celeste, I have a wedding present for you,” Nanette said as she neared the two of them.
“I’ve already got everything I need right here.” She rose on her toes and nibbled on Dax’s ear. “And I’ll have everything I want real soon, won’t I?” she whispered to him.
“I won’t argue with you,” Nan said, not hearing the whispered addition, “but I do have something that I want to tell you about.”
“What is it?” Celeste asked, sliding her arm around Dax and massaging his behind.
Enjoying this game, he moved his hand to the small of her back, then dipped it inside her gown to finger the top of her thong.
She giggled softly, but Nanette didn’t appear to notice, and plunged on. “I learned at my school’s staff meeting this week that Norco Elementary had one of their kindergarten teachers leave at the Christmas break. She’s not coming back for the remainder of the year, and they really need to hire someone who can begin as soon as school starts back in January.”
“Norco Elementary?” Celeste asked. “Wasn’t that the school that Angelle attended? I think I remember her saying that name.”
Nan nodded. “It isn’t far from here. I thought you might be interested, so I spoke with the principal.”
“And?” Dax asked.
“She wants to talk to you whenever it’s convenient.”
Celeste wrapped her arms around Nanette and squeezed her. “Oh, Nanette, thank you so much. That’s the best wedding present! If I could get a job here, so close to the plantation…well, that’d be a dream come true.” She looked at Dax. “Another dream come true.”
“Well, I didn’t get you the job, but I would say that you’ve got more than a foot in the door. The principal there is a friend of mine, and I think he’ll pay special attention to my recommendation.”
Celeste’s eyes were glistening with tears when she turned to Dax. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
He nodded, truly enjoying seeing her so happy.
“No way,” Nanette mumbled, looking beyond them toward the plantation house.
“What?” Dax asked.
“Roussel. He walked into the house. I guarantee you he’s taking advantage of your wedding to snoop around.” She slapped her hands together. “Well, we’ll just see about that.” She stomped off as Dax chuckled.
“The parish president hasn’t exactly earned any brownie points with Nan.”
“So I see.” Celeste watched Nan grab handfuls of her red bridesmaid skirt to get it out of the way as she barreled up the front steps in hot pursuit of her sworn enemy.
“Don’t tell her I told you this, but I think she actually enjoys sparring with him. So, I’d say she’s still having a good time at our wedding, Charles Roussel or not. In fact, I believe all of my family is having a good time.”
His parents, living in a retirement community in Florida now, had driven in for the wedding, and they were currently visiting with his aunts and uncles who had also come back to the plantation for the big event. None of them had seen the place since Katrina, and while they were dismayed at the hit their beloved home had taken-and the fact that their children hadn’t called them for help-they’d been impressed that the six cousins currently serving medium duty had pulled together to make things right and were very pleased with all that they had accomplished so far.