by Robert Hass
Sloan had heard about this moment. The moment when a groom sees his bride coming toward him in her wedding finery. He’d never quite believed the stories, but now he did. Oh, man, did he ever!
His whole body reacted like a tuning fork, tuned especially to the melody that was Annie. His Annie. He thought maybe his heart really would fly out of his chest and go to Annie because it had always belonged with her in the first place.
She was a vision, her gown of palest gold shimmering in the sunlight, the perfect complement to pale hair and green, green eyes.
She stepped off the porch and started down the stone path, leaves dancing and whispering in joy against the flowing skirt. The path he and Justin, Jace and so many others had repaired and replaced to make this day as perfect as possible for Annie.
The trip was short but along the way she stopped for hugs and good wishes. When she reached Sloan, he murmured, “Took you long enough.”
She laughed out loud and the wedding party chuckled. Sloan took her hand and tucked it into his folded elbow. A tingle of pure pleasure ran through him. Finally. He could hardly believe this day had come.
Pastor Parker, who had become a mentor and a friend, began the ceremony in the traditional way. Sloan’s heart beat so loudly, he wondered if he’d hear a word. And oh, how he wanted to treasure every word, every breath of this long-awaited day.
He focused on Annie as they repeated their vows, and was humbled by the light and love shining in her face. They exchanged rings with promises to love and honor one another with Christ as the center of their home. A few times they laughed. Several times they whispered “I love yous,” and the unrehearsed moments of pure joy brought sighs and ahhs from the guests nearby.
At one point Sunny Case, in a pure soprano, sang “Give me Forever” and Sloan thought how perfect the words, because forever with Annie was all he wanted.
“Annie and Sloan,” he heard the pastor say, “have chosen to close their ceremony in a special symbolic manner. Some of you may not be familiar with the salt covenant, so let me explain.” He turned to a small altar behind him and retrieved a curving, elegant vase. “In Old Testament times, salt was very important and the salt covenant was a common, binding way of sealing an agreement. The symbolism is powerful. God says we are the salt of the earth. Salt mixed together cannot be separated, thus the covenant is unbreakable as marriage vows should also be unbreakable.
“Annie and Sloan, Delaney and Justin,” he said, refocusing on them. “Each of you have individual vials of salt. Those vials symbolize your separate lives. They represent all that you are and all that you’ll ever be as an individual. They also represent your lives before today. Four individuals who today are joined together as a family.” He nodded to Sloan. “Sloan and Annie will now bring their vials.”
Sloan slipped the tiny vial from his inner pocket and waited while Annie untied hers from a small ribbon on her bouquet, then handed her bouquet to a grinning Jilly. Pastor Parker held the pretty, curving vase where all could see. Together Sloan and Annie carefully emptied their vials into the waiting vase. As they did, Sloan felt the power of his promise to Annie. Like grains of salt mixed in a vase, their lives were forever joined.
“With this covenant,” Sloan murmured the words they’d written together, “I join all that I am and all that I’ll ever be with you. And with God as our guide and witness, nothing, nothing will ever separate us.”
Heart in her eyes and fingers shaking just a bit, Annie repeated the words and emptied her vial with his. Sloan couldn’t help himself. He took her fingers and kissed them.
“And now the children.”
Sloan could hear the sniffles from the onlookers, and to tell the truth, he felt a little teary himself. With chest about to explode, he watched while his new son and daughter solemnly joined their lives to his.
A family. A real family. More than he’d ever dreamed possible. God was truly good and merciful.
“Just as these grains of salt can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so is your marriage a binding commitment, an unbreakable covenant of love.” Pastor took the newly filled vase, capped it and set it on the table. “Now that you have pledged your lives together, it is my great and unique pleasure to pronounce you, Sloan, and you, Annie, husband and wife.” Pastor Parker smiled at Sloan. “And as if you needed any encouragement, you may now kiss your bride.”
Laughter and applause echoed over the garden as Sloan swept Annie into his arms and kissed her. Laughter bubbled up between them and he could practically feel Aunt Lydia and his mother looking on with tear-filled smiles.
“I love you, bride,” he said, too thrilled to remember he was supposed to be walking her down the aisle.
“I love you, too, groom.”
Two pairs of arms encircled them. Delaney and Justin. Heart full to overflowing, Sloan welcomed them into the circle. And there the four of them, the new family bound in love and covenant, looked into each other’s eyes and laughed, bubbling over with love and happiness and the promise of tomorrow. For today—this blessed and beautiful day—God in his mercy and love had erased all the hurt and loneliness and had changed their mourning into joy.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading The Wedding Garden, book two in my new series, REDEMPTION RIVER. Sloan Hawkins is a special character, a hero I won’t soon forget. He and his inner wounds arrived in my head fully developed and he insisted on having his story told. When a character really gets to me the way he did, I’m always a little sad to let him go when the book is finished. At the same time, I was glad to give Sloan his happy-ever-after with Annie and the children, though I shed a few tears on the journey. I hope you did, too.
I love hearing from my readers so feel free to contact me at Steeple Hill or through my website at:
www.lindagoodnight.com.
Thank you again for reading, and don’t forget to meet me again in Redemption River, where healing flows.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
This book takes place in a fictional Oklahoma town founded during the Land Run of 1889. How did you envision the setting? How was it significant to the story?
Who is your favorite character in The Wedding Garden? Why? Describe him or her. What made that particular person stand out?
Who are the main characters? Did you like them? Could you empathize with them in any way? What are their issues?
Annie claims that Sloan has a skewed perception of his hometown. What did she mean? Do you agree?
The Wedding Garden is significant to the story both literally and symbolically. Discuss this significance, especially as it relates to Sloan’s character.
Sloan believed the citizens of his hometown judged him for the sins of his father and mother. Did they? How did his perception affect his life, both past and present?
Aunt Lydia told Sloan that the truth would set him free. What did she mean? Was she correct? Is there a scripture reference for this?
There was great animosity between Sloan and Annie’s father, Police Chief Dooley Crawford. Discuss some of the reasons for this hostility. Do you think Dooley’s guilt had anything to do with his treatment of Sloan?
Sloan considered himself “a bad seed” because his father was a murderer. Is such a thing possible? Can a child bear the consequences for a parent’s actions? How?
Did you suspect that Justin was Sloan’s biological son? Do you think the revelation was handled realistically?
Justin is an angry boy. Why? Could Annie or Sloan have done anything more to help him heal? Did Sloan do the right thing by expecting Justin to work and pay for the broken windows?
The Wedding Garden is full of small town secrets. Discuss some of them. How did each dark secret affect the lives of the main characters?
Sloan says getting run out of town by Chief Dooley was the best and worst thing that could have happened to him. What does he mean?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5567-2
THE WEDDING GARDEN
&nb
sp; Copyright © 2010 by Linda Goodnight
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.SteepleHill.com
*The Brothers’ Bond
*The Brothers’ Bond
*The Brothers’ Bond
**Redemption River
**Redemption River