Heaven Inside You by Mina Snowe

whole church. When he saw her enter behind the bride, clad in an green silk dress that made her eyes shine with an ethereal vibrancy, her glorious mane of hair adorned with lilies artfully piled up on her head—a picture of grace and beauty—he almost stopped breathing. A magnificent sight that floored him. And she was his. She had damn well admitted it. Their return to New York would mark the start of a new life for both of them.
    He wanted to talk to her about a few ideas he was considering. She had told him how she loved working with authors but wasn’t completely happy with her job. She also wished she had the time to write her own book. They certainly had a lot to think about in the coming months. He wanted a family, children. He wanted her. This day, he pledged his heart to her.
    ****
    She wanted him. Standing there, his hands folded in front of him, eyes for no one but her, he was the picture of masculine grace. And he was hers. With him, she knew her dreams for a full life would come to pass. He had told her he needed a change in his professional life. Together they would feed each other’s hopes. There was a lot they needed to talk about and plan. This day, she pledged her heart to him.
    At the end of the ceremony, they both turned around, flashed a bright smile and followed the bride and groom out of the church and into the sunshine. 
     
     
     

Epilogue
     
    One year later…
     
    “…and I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”
    Cole gathered his new wife in his arms and planted a sound kiss on her lips, followed by another, more languid one for good measure. Their tongues barely touched, but they could both feel the heat rising between them. They finally broke apart because they had to, or they’d be in too much danger of being arrested for indecent exposure. And also because they were distracted by the catcalls coming from below deck.
    The captain of the ship beamed at them in a grandfatherly way. He offered his congratulations to the happy couple and extended an invitation to join him at his table for a celebratory dinner that evening. Olivia gave him a tight hug and thanked him, then turned around and threw her bouquet at the gathered crowd of curious onlookers.
    It was caught by an eighty-year-old woman in a wheelchair. Well, it was never too late for love, was it? Olivia threw the lady a mischievous grin and blew her a kiss before Cole, impatient for a more private sort of party, dragged her all the way to their cabin.
    Their combined wedding and honeymoon had proved a fantastic idea. Not only would they get to visit London, Paris and Florence in a few days, but the idea of a transatlantic cruise made it possible to have the private wedding they desired. If anything, they didn’t have to listen to Chad and Fiona’s bickering, and they had the perfect excuse to spend the next few weeks alone—just Cole, Olivia, their love and their unborn baby.
    It took a while for them to realize that Olivia was pregnant. In the past three months, they’d been so engrossed in all the changes going on in their lives and the preparations for the trip that it came as a complete—albeit delightful—surprise.
    They had also invested much energy into tying some loose ends with respect to their jobs and their lives. Three months after they started dating, Olivia moved into Cole’s much bigger New York apartment. Cole tendered his resignation from the law firm a few months later. His financial and property investments had paid well, and some land he had purchased in the last year was now approved for development. The prospects were plenty and good.
    Olivia had also moved to greener pastures. She’d resigned from her job even earlier than Cole and was spending her days glued to her computer, getting re-acquainted with her long-forgotten creative side. She loved it! Her first novel would be due in about four months, and the powers that be at her old company, quite surprisingly, had agreed to