by Cathie Linz
“Your day will come,” Rad warned him with a glare.
“So will yours,” Striker said. “I decorated the limo like you did for me at my Texas wedding.”
“Did you add one of your Texas-sayings bumper stickers too?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see now, won’t you?”
Rad was tempted to tell them that he and Serena weren’t taking the limo to their ocean-side reception, that the groomsmen and bridesmaids were, but then decided he’d let them discover that piece of intel on their own.
“Are you ready?” Serena’s dad asked her as he joined her at the foot of the stairs leading down from her apartment.
Serena nodded. Her father was giving her away and he looked distinguished in his dark suit.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I…uh…I’m real proud of you, pumpkin.”
Serena squeezed his hand and blinked the tears away. “Thank you, dad. I’m real proud of you, too.”
And she was. He’d come a long way in the past six months. They both had.
“Okay, the music is starting,” Lucy noted. “Go on, girls.”
Serena’s goddaughter Becky and Amy were both acting as flower girls. Both were dressed in cute white dresses as they carried a basket of red rose petals that they tossed onto the white carpet that had been laid over the asphalt.
Serena didn’t appreciate how lovely the canopied area was until she got closer. The folding chairs, the same ones she’d borrowed from the church for her book signings, were covered with ivory slipcovers while trellises stood on either side, providing a natural wall of climbing blush roses in bloom.
The wedding flowers were done by Jane and Hosea, and they’d done an outstanding job—from the stunning bouquet they’d created for her out of red-and-white roses, to the displays adorning the dais where the minister waited for them.
Serena took a deep breath as she caught sight of Rad. He looked stunning in his dress blue uniform.
As she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, Serena noted friends in the audience—Heather and many other customers from the store, Ellie’s friends and now hers, Latesha and Cyn, and even Clay and Heidi. But her main attention remained focused on Rad.
This was the man of her heart. She had no doubts about her decision to marry him. No doubts at all.
The wedding went by in a flash for her, yet she also enjoyed every moment of it—from the spring breeze that lightly ruffled her gown to the feel of Rad’s hand on hers as he slid the wedding band onto her finger. And then there was the kiss—a culmination of all the love they felt for one another.
When the minister proclaimed them husband and wife the entire crowd applauded their approval. The Marines in the audience shouted “ooohrah!” as Serena and Rad made their way down the aisle.
Once they were outside, Rad hurried her away from the limo waiting and instead led her to the side of her…their building. “I’ve arranged for a more romantic mode of transportation,” he told her with that slow smile of his, the one that lit his eyes.
“What is it? A Humvee or a tank?” she teased him.
“Oh ye of little faith. I thought I’d take a page out of one of those romance novels that sell so well in your store. Ta-dah!” He gestured to the horse-drawn carriage waiting for them before scooping her in his arms and depositing her inside.
“Are you impressed?” he asked as he joined her.
“Absolutely,” she purred, running her hand over his broad chest before drawing his head down to hers. “Let me show you how impressed I really am.”
“I think I’d like that, wife.”
Their heated kiss was interrupted by the arrival of the crowd of well-wishers as the horse-drawn carriage began moving.
“My hero,” Serena murmured with a grin. “My Marine.”
“You’ve got that right.”
And she had. Serena had gotten it right by marrying the man she loved with all her heart, the man who loved her back with honor, courage, and commitment. The Marine Corps way.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5445-2
THE MARINE MEETS HIS MATCH
Copyright © 2004 by Cathie L. Baumgardner
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*Men of Honor
†Three Weddings and a Gift