His mother laughed. “Now that you’re married, I’ll relinquish the title.”
Megan held out her hand. “Mrs. McMillan . . . I’m so happy you came.”
His mother ignored her outstretched hand and hugged her. “None of that Mrs. McMillan stuff. Call me Marla.”
She squeezed her one more time, and Josh let out a sigh of relief. So she wasn’t going to hold this impromptu wedding against either of them.
His mother gave him an ornery grin. “And why are you calling her Megan Vandemeer? She’s Megan McMillan now.” Worry filled her eyes and she hastily added, “Unless, of course, you plan on keeping your maiden name. I realize women do that nowadays.”
Megan laughed and wrapped her arm around Josh’s, leaning her temple into his shoulder and looking up into his face. “No. I like the sound of Megan McMillan.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I like the sound of that, too.”
His mother smiled. “I can’t wait to get to know you better, Megan. Anyone who can make my son beam with so much happiness is a very welcome addition to our family.” Her gaze landed on Noah, who was joking around with Libby. “Now if Noah could just settle down with a good woman.”
Josh snorted with a grin. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
Knickers had outdone herself with the reception as well. The dinner was served under a huge organza-draped tent filled with flowers and candelabras. After the dinner, the guests made their way to the makeshift dance floor on the lawn, dancing to music played by a band.
Hours into the reception, the open bar had helped the atmosphere shift from formal to fun-loving, but Noah still hadn’t made his move. Finally, Josh saw Miriam head up to the administrative building, where the restrooms were located. Noah followed about thirty seconds later, with Libby close behind. The heavy sense of responsibility that had been plaguing him finally sloughed away.
Josh spun Megan around on the dance floor under the stars. The band Knickers had hired was surprisingly good. He knew they should be mingling with their guests, but he couldn’t bring himself to lose this perfect moment with her.
A couple of dances later, Megan noticed his attention drift up the small hill, and she glanced around. “Where’s Noah?”
Josh gave her a knowing look. “He’s getting our proof.”
“Do you think he’ll get it?”
He grinned. “Yeah.”
“What about my dad?” Worry lines wrinkled her forehead.
“Hey.” She looked up at him. “Let’s find out what Miriam tells Noah, then go from there.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Did you get the marriage license from Noah yet?”
Josh had told the minister he’d take care of mailing the license, but he’d seen the minister hand the stamped envelope to Noah, who’d been evasive about it all evening. “No. But I’ll get it. I promise.”
“Josh! What if Noah loses it?”
He stopped dancing and kissed her, making them both forget about Noah and what he was up to. “How much longer do we have to stay at this thing?” he asked, his lips brushing hers. “I’m very eager to start our honeymoon. Although, I just now realized that I have no idea where we’re staying tonight.”
She giggled. “As much as I love making love to you under the stars, I need a bed tonight.”
A wicked gleam filled his eyes. “All this talk about beds is only making me want to drag you away now.”
“Patience, Mr. McMillan.”
His gaze returned to the small hill. He had to at least stay and see how Noah’s scheme played out.
Ten minutes later, Noah emerged from the administrative building, searching the crowd. Josh nodded, then gave Megan a lingering kiss.
“Keep that up and I’ll want to skip the rest of my own reception.”
He grinned. “Hold that thought. I need to talk to Noah.”
“Okay.”
“Your mother has been shooting us dirty looks for the last five minutes. Why don’t you go appease her, and after I finish with Noah, I’ll steal you away.”
“Deal.”
He made his way through the crowd and met Noah at the edge of the tent Knickers had rented for the reception.
“Did you get it?” Josh asked, keeping his gaze on Megan.
“Piece of cake. Peterman’s kid put her up to it. His dad didn’t want to make him a part of the firm, so he needed to give them something they couldn’t refuse. We were at the same conference, and Peterman knew about the design because I ran my mouth a bit too much. His girlfriend was with him, and you know the rest of that part.”
Josh scowled. “It’s the next part I’m interested in.”
“Drew gave the plans to his dad, passing them off as his own.”
“So no one else knew they were stolen?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“But what about the email from the attorneys in Bart’s personal email?”
Noah grinned. “I cracked his email.”
“What? When?”
“While you and Megan were busy making goo-goo eyes at each other during dinner, I kept trying different combinations until I broke it.”
“Combinations of what?”
“His nicknames for Megan.”
That made sense. “And . . . ?”
“It looks like Bart caught wind of our application being denied. He realized that Drew had acquired the plans illegally. He was checking to see what ramifications it would have on the firm, given that the other principals had no prior knowledge of the crime.”
“That means Bart is innocent.”
“In this? Yes.”
Josh lifted his eyebrow in question.
“There’s still the issue of him taking money from his company, but that’s their problem, not ours.”
“So we won?” Josh asked, incredulous.
Noah looked over at Megan. “You won, all right.”
Libby slipped out the side door of the building and walked over to them, a sly grin on her face.
“Has it been taken care of?” Noah asked.
Libby’s grin widened.
A man walked up to the party, his gaze scanning the crowd. He looked to be in his early thirties, with dark hair and a medium build. He wore jeans and a polo shirt, so he obviously didn’t belong at the wedding. Something about him set Josh’s nerves on edge.
But something else told him that Libby and Noah were the more immediate concern. “Has what been taken care of?”
“Your wedding gift,” Libby said.
Libby had his full attention. “Why am I suddenly scared?”
“There’s no reason to be scared,” Noah said. “It’s exactly what you wanted. Megan.”
Josh’s chest tightened. What had they done? “I already have Megan.”
“This is more permanent.” Looking pleased with himself, Noah slapped Josh’s arm. “Libby put your marriage license in the mail. I told you this was the real deal.”
Terror washed over him. What was Megan going to say? Would she think he tricked her in this, too? “Get it back!”
“No can do, Joshy.” Noah laughed. “It’s a public mailbox. Breaking in is a federal offense.”