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The man had stared at her in amazement. And she was satisfied. Her face glowed and he added something to make her eyes appear larger. Her brows were tapered and arched, giving her a kind of seductive look.
Her lips were coated in shimmering bronze and her hair shimmered with even the slightest movement from her. He had added subtle highlights, and she grudgingly realized she liked it that way.
Stepping back from the mirror, she turned in time to see her aunt coming into the room.
Something old, something borrowed and something blue.” She declared briskly as she came further in and stopped to stare at her niece critically.
“Oh, my dear.” One hand flew to her throat and her dark eyes filled with surprising tears.
Sherrian had never seen the woman display very much emotion over the years that she had lived with her and the fact that she was doing so now, sent her guilt up several notches.
“Please forgive me.” She walked over to pin the lovely sapphire brooch above her left breast. “I stood in this very room with your mother when she was getting ready to marry my brother.” Her eyes were damp. “They got married at this quaint little chapel a few miles from here and she spent the night, along with her attendants.
She was so happy and so beautiful.” Gloria patted her cheeks and blinked the tears away. “She would have been so proud of you. You make an unbelievably beautiful bride and look so much like her.”
“I miss her. Miss both of them.” Sherrian murmured huskily, touching the brooch. “Thanks for this.”
“Of course. I just want to see you happy. Now.” She clapped her hands briskly. “Let us get this started. People are starting to arrive, and I do believe your fiancé’s mother is already here.”
“Is she?”
The nerves were threatening again. She had spoken to Celeste Coleman several times over the phone and the woman had sounded pleasant enough, if a little concerned that her son was rushing into marriage.
“My dear, it’s no reflection on you of course, but he’s my only child and my fervent hope is for him to be happy.”
Leo had taken the phone from her and reassured his mother that this was what he wanted.
Taking a deep breath, she left the room with her aunt.
*****
He appreciated the fact that Gloria had gone to a lot of trouble. The setting was romantic. The woman’s house might bedrafty and slightly decrepit, but the garden was lovely and well maintained. A variety of flowers were bursting with color along the cobbled path.
The ceremony was being held outdoors with the graceful, latticed arbor a black and white backdrop with a thin trickle of water just a few feet away. Chairs had been placed on the grass for the few guests and the strain of classical music was coming from a live band set up a few feet to the left side
His mother, looking lovely in her chic lilac wool, sent him a slight smile, a look of uncertainty on her brow. Celeste Coleman had lost her husband ten years ago and never got over it. Leo admired the devotion between the two and vowed that he would not settle for anything less than that.
“Are you sure about this?” She had arrived just yesterday and insisted on staying at one of the company’s apartment.
“I am. You do not have to worry about me.”
“It is my job and you’re not too old for me to be concerned. She is not your usual type.”
“That should be of some comfort to you,” he teased.
“She is…, unusual.”
“Isn’t she?”
Celeste had chosen to migrate to the UK to live close to her sister who was not doing very well. As soon as he started making money, he had ensured that she was comfortably off and set her up in a lovely home in Birmingham.
Thoughts of his mother flew out of his head the minute he saw her coming towards him.
His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the vision coming towards him.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” He had been so intent on looking at her that he had forgotten all about Michael.
“Yes, she is.”