by Emma Easter
Tears welled up in her eyes, and her heart ached. Lord, please help me, she silently prayed. She bit her lip after the prayer. Would God really help her now, knowing she’d done such harm to this man?
And then Bryan’s face appeared in her mind. If she left on their wedding day in order to repay a debt, she would also be breaking his heart. He would be devastated. She took another deep breath and said softly, “Derrick, I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you; for all that I might cause in the future. But I can’t leave my Bryan. I can’t do that to him. He and I were made for each other.” She sighed as she looked at Derrick. Even though she had just clearly added to his pain with what she had said now, there was nothing she could do about it. She added, “I know you’ll find someone else soon. I’ll specifically pray about that every day.” It was the least she could do.
His expression suddenly turned furious, and she backed away as he snarled, “You’ll pray for me? Really, Sienna, think about it.” He sighed loudly, and then the angry look faded. He gave her a small smile and said, “I know you always want to do God’s will. Isn’t God just? You left me first, and so I think in God’s eyes, I am the one you are supposed to marry.” He took a step toward her. “And as someone who wants to always do God’s will, are you certain God wants you to marry that Bryan?”
Sienna sharply sucked in her breath. Oh Lord, maybe he’s right. I never asked if you wanted me to marry Bryan. I’m probably just following my own lustful desires. Tears slipped down her cheeks as her heart twisted in pain. No, I love Bryan. I love him so much.
A voice whispered in her mind, But is your love for him from God or is it really just lust? Are you totally sure God wants you to marry Bryan after jilting Derrick?
Her heart stopped. All the awful anxiety and shame that had left came rushing back, threatening to suffocate her. It felt just as bad as the day she nearly killed herself. She doubled over, grasped her throat and began to hyperventilate.
Derrick came and held her. “Breathe, Sienna. Breathe. You only need to do the right thing, and it will go away.”
She began to breathe in and out, over and over again, but the panic didn’t leave.
“Will you come with me?” Derrick said.
“Lord, I just want to do your will,” she whispered.
Derrick said, “Marrying me is God’s will. And remember, your father trusted me. He would have approved of us if he were alive.”
She trembled as he said that. He was right. He’d been her father’s right-hand man when he was alive.
Maybe he is God’s will for me, and I would be disobeying the Lord if I married Bryan.
“Will you come with me, and marry me?” Derrick asked again.
She nodded, and he held her hand and led her into his car.
Chapter Twenty
Bryan glanced again at his wristwatch and gritted his teeth. He paced the chapel, anxiously running his fingers through his hair.
Where are you, my dearest Sienna?
She was more than an hour late now. Chaplain Lincoln was already complaining. He had a seminar in Chicago, and he had to leave for the airport soon.
Bryan walked to the door and looked out. He walked back to the altar and sighed heavily.
Dr. Lincoln said, “Bryan, I’m sorry. I have to leave now!”
“Please, Chaplain, she will be here soon.” He took out his cell phone from his suit pocket and redialed her number. Her phone rang, but as usual, there was no answer. He let out a loud sigh laden with anguish. He would go look for her, but if he left, Chaplain Lincoln would go, and they would not be able to get married. Only God knew when next the chaplain would be back.
He sat down in the front pew, trying to rein in his jumbled-up emotions. Why wasn’t Sienna here yet?
Chaplain Lincoln said, “Bryan, have you considered the fact that she may not come at all?”
Bryan shook his head. “She’ll be here,” he said. But the chaplain’s words haunted him.
What if, like her former fiancé, she’s left me on our wedding day?
He shook the thought away. She would never do that. They loved each other. A more troubling thought immediately replaced it. Knowing she would never leave him at the altar, what if something terrible had happened to her, like an accident? What if she was lying dead somewhere?
He put his hand on his head, trying to shake away the terrible thought that had gotten hold of his heart. He had to think positively. He couldn’t afford to entertain any more of these negative thoughts.
He gathered himself together and whispered, “The Lord will bring her here safely.” But after he said it, he looked at his watch again, and all the fear returned. It was an hour and a half past the time they’d agreed to meet here. What could possibly delay her from being here now except something really dire?
He covered his face with his hands and prayed fervently that God would keep her safe.
*****
Sienna tried to stop hyperventilating as Derrick drove her out of Rosefield. In her heart, she kept crying out to God for help, over and over again. But instead of relief, she felt like her whole body was about to explode. Bryan’s face stayed in her mind. What would he be thinking now? How would he feel?
She knew how he would feel; the same way she felt now— like she was being stabbed multiple times in the heart with a sharp knife. “Lord, how can I live without Bryan?” she cried out.
But if this was what God wanted her to do, what her father would have wanted . . .
“Sienna, relax!” Derrick said harshly.
Sienna winced, and tears poured down her face. “Bryan,” she whispered. “Lord, please help me!”
Love is enough!
She jerked her head up. That voice! It was clear, clearer than even Derrick’s beside her. It came from within her but also from outside of her.
Was that the Lord’s voice, and if it was, what exactly did He mean? Was He saying His love was enough through this trying time or . . . ?
Her eyes widened as she realized what the Lord was saying. Derrick’s was the voice that fed her guilt and shame. Before she started going out with him, he’d told her that her father would want them to be together. She remembered that even when she had tried to end their relationship just before they got engaged, he had used her father’s supposed wish to guilt her into staying with him. Now, he was doing the same thing, feeding on her anxiety to make her return to him.
But Bryan hadn’t coerced her. Rather than feed on her fears, he’d helped her out of them. He truly loved her. Derrick didn’t. If she chose love, she chose God’s will. She turned to Derrick and whispered, “Love is enough. I choose love.”
He frowned. “What did you say?”
“I choose Bryan,” she shouted.
His face twisted into a mask of rage. “No, you don’t! You are going to marry me!”
“No, I’m not! I want to get out of the car now. I’m late for my wedding.”
The look on his face became menacing, and he snarled at her, “You will marry me and tell me what Barrel’s fortune means!”
She didn’t know what he was talking about and she didn’t care. “Stop this car right now, Derrick!”
He drove faster instead, like a crazy drunk.
“Stop the car!” she screamed at him.
He increased his speed again.
She bit her lip in fear as she looked at him. He had a crazed look in his eyes that let her know her life was in danger. She glanced out of the window. She could barely make out the trees as the car tore down the road at breakneck speed.
They began to approach an intersection. Cars zoomed by in different directions. Sienna took a deep breath. She had to do something now or be killed, as it didn’t appear Derrick was going to slow down.
She discreetly loosened her seat belt and then turned to him. “Derrick, if you just slow down, I’ll willingly go with you.”
He turned sharply to her, and she was afraid they were going to get into an accident if he didn’t face the road again. She f
orced a smile, praying he would.
He did and slowed slightly.
Just before they reached the intersection, he slowed a little more. A police vehicle was parked on the side of the road, its doors open.
This might be my only chance, she thought.
Without thinking any further about it, she took a deep breath as her heart drummed, opened the door, and jumped out of the car. She rolled and tumbled for what seemed like forever, and then stopped a few feet from the police car.
Derrick’s car screeched to a stop a foot away from her. Sienna grimaced as he came out of the car, his face red. A policeman got out of the police vehicle and ran to her, and she looked up at Derrick. He gave her a death stare, got back into his car and raced away.
“Are you okay?” the officer asked.
“I’m good.” She tried to get up, but it seemed her legs didn’t want to move.
“Hold tight,” the man said. He radioed for help and then looked down at her. “Why did you jump out of a moving vehicle?”
“That man . . . tried to kidnap me?”
“Do you know his car number?”
She remembered Derrick’s number clearly from when they were a couple and dictated it to the policeman. He radioed again, this time calling for backup.
“I need to get to my wedding,” she said, her legs throbbing and her heart in the same painful condition. She knew Bryan would be heartbroken. He would think she had left him at the altar just like she’d left Derrick. She couldn’t let that happen.
The officer shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. You have to stay here until the paramedics arrive.”
“I have to get to my wedding!” she yelled, and then she sighed. “I’m sorry. Please, can you help me?”
The paramedics began to pull up, and she told them the same thing. They ignored her and began to check to see if her legs were broken. After a few minutes, one of the men said to her, “You are lucky. It doesn’t appear that it is, but you need to stay off it until . . .”
She cut him off, “I can’t! I have to get to my wedding now!”
His eyes widened in surprise as he couldn’t tell if she was crazy or not, and the policeman said to her, “Okay, ma’am. Are you really serious about getting to your wedding now, or are you just delirious from the fall?”
“I am serious!” She told the man her fiancé was waiting for her at their college chapel. “I hope he isn’t gone by now!” she cried, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Calm down!” the officer said, and then sighed loudly. “Okay, I’m a sucker for love, so I’ll help you.”
The tears spilled down Sienna’s face, and amidst the tears, she smiled in gratitude. “Thank you so much.”
The policeman carried Sienna into the car and sped off. All the way to the Bible College, Sienna prayed, asking the Lord for one thing—that she would still be able to marry Bryan today.
*****
Bryan pleaded with the senior chaplain, “Please, sir, just a few minutes more. She’ll be here.” He looked at the clock. She was more than two hours late. Something had definitely happened to her.
Or she has left you at the altar just like she left her ex-fiancé? a voice in his head mocked him.
He felt like weeping, but he held himself in check. She wouldn’t leave me at the altar. I know she loves me.
The chaplain shook his head and picked up his briefcase. “It’s time for my flight. I have to go.”
“Please, just a minute more.”
“I can’t. I have no choice.” He walked away.
Bryan held his head in his hands and sat on the steps of the altar, his emotions raging. She couldn’t have just left him waiting here. Why won’t she answer my calls?
He called her again and groaned when she still didn’t answer. “Lord, please . . .” His head jerked up as he heard a loud commotion outside. He stood and hurried out the door. A police car was parked right in front of the chapel. On the lawn and a policeman was helping a girl out of the car.
His heart soared. “Sienna!” And then he saw she was walking with a limp. Her dress was torn, and her hair was in a mess. He ran to her and frowned. “What happened?”
A small crowd of students had gathered around the entrance of the chapel, watching and whispering. He held her hand and ran his fingers over her hair, worriedly gazing at her. He was breaking the rules, but he didn’t care.
She shook her head. “I’ll tell you about it all later. Let’s just get married.” She pointed at the chapel. “Is Dr. Lincoln still there?”
Bryan shook his head sadly. “He left. Just now.” He held her right arm while the policeman held her left. Together, they took Sienna into the church. After she was sitting in the front pew, Bryan said, “Let me go see if I can still catch up to Chaplain Lincoln and get him to come back.”
He ran to the college parking lot as fast as he could. As he ran, a voice in his mind kept telling him he was wasting his time. Even if Dr. Lincoln were still at school, he would probably not agree to wed them today as that would mean canceling his flight.
I have to try, Bryan told himself as he ran.
He got to the car park and spotted the chaplain getting into the back of his car. Moving as fast as he could, Bryan reached him just as the senior chaplain’s driver started to reverse the vehicle. He waved for the car to stop, but it didn’t. He yelled, but the car sped off.
Bryan’s heart sank, and then the car began to back up.
His heart soared again.
The chaplain stuck his head out of the window as his car stopped beside Bryan. “What is it?” Chaplain Lincoln asked.
Bryan told him that Sienna had finally arrived. He explained that she was late because she had been in an accident. “Her leg is broken, sir,” he said, “but she still came because she really wants to marry me. And I really want to marry her.” He held his breath as he looked pleadingly at the chaplain, hoping he would reconsider and agree to marry them.
Dr. Lincoln sighed loudly and then said, “Fine. Since you are both so determined to get married now. Who am I to stand in the way of true love?”
Bryan whooped and thanked the man, excitement surging through his body.
They got back to the chapel, and Bryan’s eyes widened in surprise. The place was packed with students. He walked down the aisle, looking at them. He and Sienna had invited no one, but it seemed as if almost all the students in the school were here. He sighed as he bent to kiss Sienna and said, “Well, at least we have more than two witnesses to our wedding.”
She smiled and brushed her nose against his.
The chaplain began the wedding with a prayer and then a short sermon on love. Bryan’s heart skipped with excitement. He looked down at Sienna who was sitting on a slipper chair beside him. Even though her dress was now dirty and torn, she was glowing. She smiled up at him.
Chaplain Lincoln asked them to repeat the marriage vows after him while they exchanged the wedding bands. After the traditional vows, he nodded at Bryan. Bryan had told him he and Sienna wanted to declare their love for each other at the altar to seal their marriage. He had considered writing his declaration down, but had decided against it. Instead, he’d chosen to speak words that spontaneously came from his heart.
He took Sienna’s hands and began: “Sienna, I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. I think about you all the time, and when we are apart, I can’t wait to be reunited with you. You’ve become a huge part of me, and I can’t live without you. I’ll love you forever and thank the Lord for bringing you to me every single day of my life.”
He ended and smiled at her. Tears were shimmering in her eyes.
She looked deep into his eyes and said, “I don’t even know how to express just how much I love you, but I’ll try. This past year has been one of the most trying times of my life, but also the sweetest because I met you. I was a mess, but you loved me through it all . . .” she stopped for a moment, her voice choked with emotion. She continued again. “
Because of you, I now know how much God loves me. Next to the Lord, you are my very best friend. I love you with every breath in me, and I can’t wait to start my life with you.”
Bryan wiped the tears from his eyes, overwhelmed by her declaration of love. He smiled and mouthed, “I love you.”
Chaplain Lincoln looked at both of them and said, “Now, by the power vested in me by God and the state of Idaho, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He turned to Bryan. “You may kiss your bride.”
Bryan leaned in and gently kissed her. He beamed at her, his heart bursting with joy.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
“I love you more,” he said.
Dr. Lincoln said, “Everyone, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Larson.”
Bryan turned around with Sienna, and the students clapped and roared. He held her hand as they exited the chapel. When they were outside, he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. He drew back and winked at her. “Now, the whole school knows we belong to each other, we can kiss whenever we want to.”
She giggled and then kissed him again. “I can’t wait to grow old with you,” she said.
“Nor can I,” he replied.
Chapter Twenty-One
As Audrey drove back from work, she inhaled and then let out her breath slowly. It had been a long day at work, not to talk of a very eventful week in the house.
Sienna had visited a few days ago with a limp and with her boyfriend, Bryan. Only he wasn’t her boyfriend anymore. Sienna had surprised her and Trisha by announcing that she and Bryan were married.
In addition to that, Audrey found out that Sienna’s ex, Derrick, had tried to kidnap her after he went raving mad. He was in custody now at the police station, continually whispering something about Barrel’s fortune. She’d decided to discontinue interrogating Derrick and was making arrangements for him to be moved to a psych ward as he had clearly lost his mind. But as crazy as the guy was those words, Barrel’s fortune, sounded strangely familiar to her.
Trisha had gone the opposite direction as Sienna. She had gone ahead with the divorce proceedings, thank God. She’d also taken over the house she’d shared with Stan while he moved out.