by Linda Turner
Giving in, she reluctantly stepped back. "All right," she grumbled. "Come in, if you must. But I think you're making a mistake."
So did Sara McBride. As protective as a mother hen with ruffled feathers, she frowned disapprovingly at the sight of him. "This is not at all proper, Nick," she scolded. "Merry's in the rest room putting the last finishing touches on her hair. You have to leave before she comes out."
"I just need to see her for a second—"
"You will, dear. Just as soon as the wedding starts."
He might have talked his way around Janey, but Sara McBride was a whole different matter. Her gaze steady and unblinking, she stood between Nick and the door that led to Merry, as immovable as the Rock of Gibraltar. With nothing more than a look, she stopped him in his tracks.
"C'mon, Sara. I just want to tell her I'm here—"
"I'll tell her—"
Behind her, the door to the rest room abruptly opened. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't worry," Merry began, only to stop abruptly at the sight of Nick. "Nick! You're here!"
The relief in her voice was all the encouragement he needed. Lifting a brow at Sara, silently asking her permission, he waited until a wry smile curled the corners of her mouth before he quickly stepped around her. In the next instant, he had Merry in his arms.
He hadn't meant to touch her—he'd come just to assure her that he was there, in the church, and would be waiting for her at the altar. But she looked so beautiful in her wedding dress, and when her face lit up at the sight of him, all his good intentions went right out the window. He reached for her, desperate to hold her.
"I love you."
"I love you."
They spoke at the same time, saying with three little words everything that needed to be said, and never saw Janey and Sara smile. The whole world could have been watching and they wouldn't have noticed. They saw nothing but each other, heard nothing but their own soft sighs when they went into each other's arms, felt nothing but the love that filled their hearts as brown eyes locked with blue.
He swore he wasn't going to kiss her, not until the minister said he could kiss the bride, but Merry had other ideas. Ignoring her mother and Janey, she stood on tiptoe, lifted her mouth to his, and kissed him.
Emotions poured through him … love, joy, tenderness, passion … clogging his throat and squeezing his heart, and with a quiet murmur, he pulled her closer. His arms banding her tight, he was sure he could never let her go long enough to let her walk down the aisle to him. But then her mother quietly sniffed, wordlessly reminding them that they had a whole church full of people waiting for them, and with a groan, he slowly, reluctantly, ended the kiss.
Her blue eyes sparkling like diamonds, Merry smiled up at him happily. "Now that we've got that settled, shall we meet at the front of the church in say … ten minutes?"
"Make it five," he said with a grin, giving her another quick kiss. "I don't think I can wait any longer than that."
Beaming, she watched him walk out and couldn't stop smiling. When the door shut behind him and she turned to find her mother and Janey grinning at her in understanding, she had to hug them both. "I can't believe I was worried," she laughed. "This is going to be wonderful!"
* * *
Overflowing with love, her heart thumping crazily, Merry gathered in the foyer of the church with her family and fought the sudden need to cry. She'd pictured this moment a thousand times in her head, sure she knew exactly how it would be. But nothing in her imagination could have prepared her for the absolute perfection of the moment.
The church couldn't have been more beautiful. Just as the organist started playing "Precious and Few," sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, setting a rainbow of pastel colors cascading across the altar and the spring flowers that decorated it. The crowd caught its breath with a nearly silent, reverent gasp. In the sudden hush, Merry would have sworn she could hear a choir of angels singing with joy.
"Mom, look," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes as Nick and Joe, who was his best man, came through a side door and crossed to a spot in front of the altar. Both dressed in black tuxes and looking incredibly handsome, they stood framed in the sparkling sunlight like two heavenly beings from above.
Her face alight with love, Sara hugged her close. "This is why Thomas didn't show up in June," she said softly, her own eyes bright with tears. "He wasn't the one you were supposed to be with. Nick is."
Merry didn't doubt that for a minute. Unable to take her eyes off Nick, she felt her heart swell with love. How long, she wondered, had she loved him without even knowing it? It must have been always.
"The organist is waiting for our signal to start the wedding march," Janey reminded her quietly. "If you're ready, Zeke can escort Mom to her seat, then we can get started." Her smile crooked, she nodded to the front of the church, where Nick was watching their every move. "Nick is already impatient. If we take any longer to get this thing started, we may have a kidnapping on our hands."
Chuckling, Sara gave Merry one last hug, then stepped back. "We wouldn't want that. The poor boy's waited long enough, as it is. Zeke, let me have your arm, dear."
When they had rehearsed the wedding the night before, it had all seemed so simple. It was a small wedding party, made up of only her family and Nick, so everyone knew their duties. Once Nick and Joe took their places at the front of the church, Zeke would escort their mother to her seat, then return to the foyer so that he could give Merry away. The organist would start the music, Janey would precede them down the aisle, and the wedding would begin.
But as Zeke started to offer their mother his arm, Merry realized that the wedding she'd thought was going to be so perfect wouldn't be everything that she wanted it to be if she didn't make an immediate change. "Wait!" she cried softly.
Surprised, Zeke stopped in his tracks, arching a dark brow at her as her mother and Janey turned back to her with a frown of concern. "What is it, honey?" her mother asked. "What's wrong? You haven't changed your mind, have you?"
"Yes! I mean, no!" she corrected quickly when she realized how that sounded. "Not about Nick," she assured her mother. "You know how much I love him, Mom. This is the right thing for us. It's walking down the aisle I want to change."
Frowning, Zeke tried to understand. "You don't want to walk down the aisle? Then how are you going to get married? Check her pulse, Janey. I think she's having some kind of breakdown."
"No, I'm not," she laughed. "Stop that. I just want to make a few adjustments to the original plans."
"What kind of adjustments?" Janey asked. "The minister's waiting, Mer. And so is Nick."
Glancing down the length of the church to where Nick waited for her in front of the altar, she saw his sudden frown and smiled reassuringly at him. When she glanced back at her family, fresh tears glistened in her eyes as she reached for Zeke's hand first, then her mother's. "I know you're standing in for Dad," she told her brother huskily, "and I'm happy about that. But I have another parent, and I want her to give me away, to."
Her smile hesitant, she glanced at her mother. "Mom? Is that okay with you? Would you walk down the aisle with me and Zeke and help give me away?"
Caught off guard, Sara McBride gasped softly, sudden, unexpected tears welling in her eyes and spilling over her lashes. She'd known she would cry later during the ceremony, but she'd never expected this. Touched, her beautiful smile the exact replica of Merry's, she squeezed her hand. "Oh, honey, you know I will if that's what you want," she choked. "This is your day. I want it to be perfect for you."
"That's what I want, too, Mom," she said huskily. "And it will be if you and Zeke both give me away."
She didn't have to ask twice. Beaming, her mother said, "I'd love to."
His own voice suspiciously gruff, Zeke growled, "Thank God that's settled! Can we start the wedding now?"
For an answer, Merry signaled to the organist, who immediately broke into broad grin and began the wedding march. Janey, quickly stepping i
nto place in front of her mother, Zeke, and Merry, smiled serenely and started down the aisle.
Her heart thumping madly, Merry stood between her mother and brother and waited for the nerves to hit. She was about to take the biggest step of her life—anybody in their right mind would have to be nervous at this point. But as her gaze slipped past Janey to where Nick stood waiting for her with the minister and Joe, a peacefulness unlike anything she'd ever known settled over her and her heart slowed to a sure, steady beat. This was the man she loved, the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. How could she be nervous when the one thing she wanted most in the world was to be with him?
Her right arm looped through his left, Zeke held her close and looked down at her with brotherly affection. "They're playing your song, Mer," he said as Janey reached the front of the church and the organist broke into a loud, rousing rendition of the wedding march. "You've waited a long time for this. Let's give everybody a show."
Laughing, she glanced at her mother, who only grinned and winked. Together, the three of them started down the aisle.
* * *
Standing at the altar, feeling as if he were standing on air, Nick watched Merry walk toward him with her mother and brother on each side of her and couldn't stop smiling. Lord, she was something! He'd waited a lifetime for her, but at the moment in time, as images of her at six and sixteen and twenty-eight flashed before his mind's eye, it seemed like only seconds had passed between the first time he'd laid eyes on her and now. And all he could think of was that he wanted more. More laughter, more tears, more time to hold her and love her and make love with her. He'd never realized how much until now. She was the other part of his soul, and he didn't just want to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted eternity.
Did she know how much he loved her? Too late, he realized he'd never explained his feelings in just that way to her, and that was something that every woman longed to hear from the man she'd promised to spend the rest of her life with. He should have told her—she needed to know.
But there was no time. She stopped before him at that moment, turned to kiss her mother and Zeke, then stepped to his side. A hushed silence fell over the church as the music faded to a whisper, then a memory. In the quiet stillness, he took her hand, their fingers entwined, and her eyes, shining with love, lifted to his. And just that easily, he knew she knew exactly how much he adored her. Because everything he was feeling was right there in her eyes.
They smiled at each other, totally oblivious to the friends and family members who smiled with them, sharing their joy. Then hand in hand, they turned to face the minister and heard the words they'd been waiting a lifetime to hear.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"
* * * *