Love and Dreams: The Coltrane Saga, Book 6 Read Free Page A

burned as brightly as ever. She was dressed in a stunning but simple gown of mocha satin, her only adornment earbobs of emerald to match her combs, for she had not wished to take any attention from the bride.
    Kitty’s eyes shone with love and pride as her gaze swept over Jade, and she proclaimed, “I just know there’s never been a lovelier bride, except perhaps for my Dani! My son is a lucky, lucky young man.”
    Jade returned her smile. “I’d have been only a shadow compared to the day you married Monsieur Coltrane, I’m sure.”
    Kitty laughed. “Someday I’ll tell you all about our wedding—me in simple muslin, Travis in a battered old Yankee uniform, and Colt crying to be fed.”
    Jade was not shocked. She’d heard the story before. Once, it had probably evoked much pain for Kitty and Travis to remember or talk about, but history had a way of becoming factual without emotion. When Travis rode away with General Sherman in the waning days of the terrible War Between the States, he’d not known Kitty was carrying his child. Neither had he known about Corey McRae and his hellish scheme to make Kitty his wife, how he’d intercepted Travis’s letters to her, causing him to be angry and bitter not to hear from her after they’d pledged undying love to each other. Finally returning to North Carolina after the war, Travis had believed the gossip about Kitty’s marrying the rich, powerful carpetbagger to keep from losing her precious family land…just as he’d believed the son she’d given birth to was Corey McRae’s. How was he to know the baby was his? Eventually, he learned the truth, and after the death of McRae in a land war, he and Kitty found each other again.
    “It wouldn’t have mattered if you got married in sackcloth or satin. I’ll bet your eyes shone like your earbobs,” Jade said.
    “Probably,” Kitty conceded with a warm rush of remembered love for the man she’d adored so long.
    “But,” she went on, “I didn’t come here to reminisce about my wedding day, Jade, or to merely compliment you on how pretty you are on yours. I came to tell you how happy Travis and I are that you’re marrying our son. We want you to know that it’s our prayer you’ll both have a long, long life of happiness, and that you’ll love as we have loved.”
    Jade wondered how many times on this momentous day she would have to blink away spontaneous tears of joy to keep them from dancing down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispered, “and I want you, and Colt’s father, to know that I’ll do everything I can to make him happy.”
    Kitty went on to express Dani’s regrets over not being able to attend her brother’s wedding. “You’ll remember I told you Dani’s mother, Marilee, died giving birth to her, and the doctors are cautious about Dani, especially since she miscarried just a few months after she and Drakar got married. They’re being even more cautious this time, and they’ve ordered her to bed for the rest of her pregnancy. Poor child,” she said, sighing with pity, “she’s only into her third month, so that leaves a long time to do nothing but lie in bed. I feel so sorry for her, but she wants a baby so badly she’s willing to do everything she can to keep from losing this one.
    “And Travis,” she continued gravely, “is the one I’m really worried about. Of course he wants a grandchild, but he’s more concerned about Dani, because he remembers how it was with her mother, and he just doesn’t need the added stress and strain right now.”
    Jade understood. “Is he truly all right, Kitty? I’ve noticed the two of you have left the socials quite early, and Colt and I have been worried that all the goings-on were just too much for his father.”
    Kitty nodded quickly. “They certainly are, but he’s not about to miss anything. He says he’s only going to have one chance to see his son marry a princess, so he’s going to enjoy every minute.”
    She rushed on to attempt to