should probably go find Gemma. She’ll be waiting for you.”
“I meant what I said. You’re going places,” Margaret told her as Henry started leading her toward the dance floor. “Send me those pictures.”
“I will,” she promised.
She might not be able to have Ian but she had other dreams that might still come true, with enough work.
It was small consolation, but consolation nonetheless.
* * *
HE COULDN’T REMEMBER a wedding he had enjoyed more. His own would certainly not even make the top twenty.
Ian moved around the dance floor with his daughter, savoring the night and the stars and the music.
Everything about the event was magical, from the setting to the flowers to the company.
He was beyond happy Gemma had found a man who fit her so perfectly and brought out the best in his sister. She had been through so much and deserved every ounce of happiness she had found with Josh Bailey. He foresaw a future of joy and contentment for both of them.
“Dad! You’re not counting right.” Amelia sounded more exasperated than annoyed.
“Sorry. You know I’m not much of a dancer. When I have to dance, I mostly stand in one place and sway, I’m afraid. If you want true dancing, you may have to stick with your little brother. He seems to be slaying it.”
They both turned to admire Thomas, who was currently dancing with Samantha. Ian’s son was gyrating his little heart out while she mostly stood by and watched him with a delighted smile that seemed to arrow straight through to Ian’s own heart.
He adored that she seemed to love his children. He could tell it was genuine, too, not an act she was putting on in an effort to impress him.
“Weddings are fun,” Amelia said with a happy sigh. “Can we go to another one sometime soon?”
“I am afraid we don’t know anyone else getting married any time soon. At least not that I can think of right now. Most of our friends are already married.”
Amelia didn’t appear bothered by that. “We could always go to weddings for people we don’t know.”
“That’s not the way it works, usually,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
He imagined dressing up in wedding finery with Amelia and crashing weddings of people he didn’t know, simply for the fun of it. The idea made him smile as he twirled his daughter past his parents on the dance floor. Margaret and Henry looked perfectly matched, as always.
The music ended at that moment and his father dropped his arms from his wife. “I believe I would like to cut in, if you don’t mind,” he said to Ian. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to dance with my granddaughter. Though I must say, she looks entirely too grown up tonight. When did you become such a lovely young lady?”
Amelia giggled, clearly pleased. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Stop growing,” her grandfather ordered. Unfortunately, for all Lord Henry’s influence and power in certain sectors, he held no sway when it came to the inevitable progression of time.
Soon enough, Ian would be the father of the bride at Amelia’s wedding. He stood watching his daughter whirl off with his father, a little bereft to think about her one day dancing with her own bridegroom.
His mother cleared her throat and he realized with some dismay that she was waiting for him to do the polite thing and ask her to dance since her partner had just deserted her.
“Mother, would you like to dance?” he said instantly.
“You don’t have to do that,” Margaret said, eyes twinkling. “Especially since I imagine there’s someone else here you would rather be taking out onto the dance floor.”
Ian felt his cheeks heat and had to force himself not to look for Samantha, whom he could see on the periphery of his vision still dancing with his son and apparently enjoying herself immensely.
“You are the only one I want to dance with at this moment,” he said chivalrously, though he earned only a disbelieving harrumph in return.
His mother didn’t move with the grace he remembered from his youth, afflicted with arthritis that she never complained about. She needed a knee replacement but had been postponing it for months.
He didn’t like thinking about either of his parents growing older, any more than he wanted to think about Amelia some day marrying some nameless, faceless man who had best treat her right.
“It’s been an unforgettable day, hasn’t it?” Margaret said softly.
This time he couldn’t help his gaze from shifting to Samantha. She