I laugh and then grab my dress, hike it up a foot, and start running down the aisle toward Jonathan, whose face lights up with surprise. The guests roar with laughter as I pass. What it must look like to see a bride flying by! My veil has to be flapping behind me like a cape.
I reach the altar, a little out of breath. Jonathan is nearly belly-laughing at me as he pulls me next to him. The pastor looks horribly confused but is nevertheless stretching a smile across his face.
“Okay This brides in a hurry, isn’t she?” He offers me a grin.
“Yes to everything. Yes, yes. Yes!”
The pastor looks baffled again.
Jonathan laughs, shakes his head, and sort of nods apologetically to the pastor. He puts an arm around me and pulls me close. “You’re awesome.”
Pastor Landry opens his little black book and puts an authoritative tone into his voice as he begins. “We are gathered here today to see this man and this woman wedded in holy matrimo—”
Gosh, I’m impatient. I turn, grab Jonathan’s face and kiss him. And kiss him again. And before I know it, I’ve melted into his arms, and the world around me has vanished.
Until the pastor clears his throat.
I slowly release Jonathan, and he releases me. We laugh and so do the guests.
Pastor Landry raises an eyebrow.
“What do you expect?” I declare. “I’m finally the bride!”
I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. We decided to hold the reception at our new home, out back on the grassy hillside that overlooks the ocean. The breeze from the water washes over all of us.
Jonathan holds me tightly as we dance to “I Only Have Eyes for You.” He dances just like God, or maybe God dances just like him. Whatever the case, the moves are familiar and I let him guide me. It’s nice to be directed.
“I love you,” I say. “I hope you like greeting cards.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve got a sack of about fifty that I’ve been saving my whole life to give to you.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he says.
We finish the dance, and I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn. It’s Officer Garrety and his partner Lakeland.
“Hello, Officers.”
“I should arrest you,” Garrety says to me.
My heart skips. “Huh?”
“It should be illegal to be this happy.” He smiles.
Lakeland gives a goofy smile. “Of all the criminals I met, I was hoping you’d be the one that ended up turning out okay.”
I laugh. Me, a criminal. That’s funny.
Jonathan squeezes me. “I’m going to go mingle with guests.”
“All right. I’ll be right there,” I say, leaning to the side for a better view of something that catches my eye. Brooklyn is chatting with the old man in the white tuxedo. God, my Father. My hand finds my heart as I watch the two interact. She’s engaged and at ease with Him. I stand there for I don’t know how long, just watching them, longing a little to be with Him again like that.
Two arms wrap around me. “Come on. It’s time for us to go.”
My body tingles with excitement as I take Jonathan’s hand. He leads me through the house and to the front. The guests are lining the sidewalk that leads to the veranda, ready to throw—I laugh as I see it—miniature M&M’s.
A horse-drawn carriage awaits us. The driver stands at attention.
Everyone is smiling and cheering.
“You ready?” Jonathan asks.
“Almost. Just a second.” I walk forward a little to where Brooklyn is standing, clutching her bag of M&M’s. “Thank you for standing up for me today.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I saw that guy you were talking to during the entire reception.”
Brooklyn’s face lights up. “I know! Wasn’t he hot?”
“Hot? The old guy?”
“Come on, he’s not that old, for heaven’s sake. I mean, if thirty’s old then you’re ancient, Sis. Loved the spiky blond hair. And his eyes. Can’t even describe his eyes.” She looks at me. “Don’t look so worried. Goodness. It’s not like he proposed. I mean, we were just getting to know each other. He was very respectful. You just don’t find that quality in a lot of men these days.” She pulls me into a hug. “I love you, Sis. My whole life I thought we were so different. But you know what?” she whispers. “I want what you have.”
“Somehow, I think you might just get it.”
I step back next to Jonathan. He looks down at me. “So are we going to walk like two civilized people, or should we bolt like crazed, in-love maniacs?”
“I vote for maniacs.”
“Then let’s do it!”
Hand in hand, we race past the M&M’s and our family and friends. We climb into the carriage and wave as it pulls away. I notice the sunset over the water.
“Look at that,” I say to Jonathan, leaning in to him.
“It’s like it was designed just for us, just for our day.”
“I think it might’ve just been.”
acknowledgments
From Cheryl McKay:
Whenever I tell anyone about this project, they look at me with intrigue: “Your screenplay is being adapted into a novel? Isn’t that the opposite of the normal order?” Yes, indeed it is. Rene and I are happy to blaze this unusual trail together.
First, I must thank God for inspiring me to write this story. He definitely took charge of the “purple pen” I used to develop this idea. He also let me live some of its angst. God is the master at turning pain into humor; my life is no exception. I am so thankful to know God as my matchmaker, my best friend, my counselor, my Father, and my true husband, just as the character in my story comes to know Him.
I must thank Rene for taking over the purple pen in translating this from script into novel, for being so faithful to the story while adding her own incredibly talented and comical flair. (I loved watching her get inside my head!) I’m truly grateful to our agent, Janet Kobobel Grant, for her support of this project.
I also appreciate my writing mentors who believed in this story when I first started writing the script: Susan Rohrer, Dean Batali, Key Payton, and Gil Elvgren, as well as those who’ve invested in my development as a writer: Regent, Act One, and Art Within. Grateful acknowledgment goes out to Producer Cecil Chambers of Triumphant Pictures. I’d also like to thank Rick Eldridge for hiring me to write the screen adaptation of The Ultimate Gift. Rick was instrumental in introducing me to Rene when he hired her to novelize my screenplay for The Ultimate Gift.
Many thanks to my incredible friends and family who supported me in this process: Darin, Denise and Mark, Ashley Peggy Dawn, Coach Mahr, Louis, John, Kendal, Sheri, Lisa, Lana, Caroline, Ali, Laura, Connie, my parents—Tom and Denise—and my sister, Heather. To all of you: your encouragement and prayers mean the world to me.
Finally, I am so grateful to the team at WaterBrook Multnomah for believing this was a story worth telling and for doing the unconventional by adapting a script into a book. Special thanks to Shannon Hill Marchese, Heather Gemmen Wilson, Laura Wright, Sandra Holcombe, and the rest of our amazing team.
Please visit www.cherylmckay.net
From Rene Gutteridge:
I was first introduced to Cheryl McKay through her writing after I was hired to write the novelization for The Ultimate Gift. I remember reading and rereading her screenplay and being completely taken by the story, the characters, the words, the dialogue. I knew before I ever wrote the novelization that I was blessed to be a small part of the much bigger picture of The Ultimate Gift.
As I got to know Cheryl better and better, I found a passionate, intelligent, highly creative, and immensely warm woman. We became instant friends and knew we’d work together again.
When Cheryl told me about her screenplay Never the Bride, I had to read it. I loved every moment of it and knew I had in my hands not only a terrific and entertaining story but also a message of God’s love, devotion, and delight in
His children. Never the Bride tested my ideas of God’s love for me, and I had to dig deep in myself to find the courage to understand how much God really loves me. Jessie Stone challenged me to get to know my God in a deeper and more intimate way.
I am thoroughly blessed to bring this story and the character of Jessie Stone to you in novel form. It was fun to dive into the inner life of one of the most delightful characters I’ve ever had the chance to get to know. I hope you have enjoyed her as much.
So much goes into the writing and production of a novel, and doubly so in a collaboration. I’d like to thank Cheryl McKay for her wise and passionate voice and true storyteller’s heart. Also thanks to Shannon Marchese, Laura Wright, Heather Gemmen Wilson, Sandra Holcombe, the entire staff at WaterBrook Multnomah, and Janet Kobobel Grant—it’s always a delight to work with all of you.
And with great love and appreciation, I offer thanks to my husband, Sean, my children, John and Cate, and my friends and family who continue to support what I do. Thanks also to ChiLibris, to my beloved Kansas Eight, and to the Flock that Rocks. My final thanks to God my Father, whose sacrificial love continues to beckon me.
Please visit www.renegutteridge.com.
NEVER THE BRIDE
PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for the use of select lyrics to “Love Unseen” and “Don’t Want to Know You,” copyright © 2009 by Louis Rodriguez. Used by permission.
eISBN: 978-0-307-45790-5
Copyright © 2009 by Rene Gutteridge Inc. and Cheryl McKay
Published in association with the literary agency of Janet Kobobel Grant, Books & Such, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of The Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.
WATERBROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gutteridge, Rene.
Never the bride: a novel / Rene Gutteridge and Cheryl McKay. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
I. McKay, Cheryl. II. Title.
PS3557.U887N48 2009
813′.54—dc22
2009001790
v3.0
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