Midnight Secrets
Page 51
The clergyman said stirring words, read appropriate scriptures from the Bible, then asked them to exchange their vows. For a while, none of the four was aware of their guests. The older couple went first. Ben faced Nandile as their words were spoken from deep within their hearts. For them, this day was a glorious victory following a thirty-year conflict.
Stone gave Ginny’s hand a gentle squeeze as he watched his parents speak their vows. He realized they were as much in love as they had been when they met so long ago, a powerful love that had given him birth, one that had never dulled over the years and never would. Nandile wore a pale-blue dress that enhanced her dark-brown eyes, tawny skin, and silky black hair that flowed down her back like a tranquil river. Stone thought she was beautiful and radiant. He glanced at Ginny, who was clad in a soft yellow dress that brought out the sunny highlights of tresses that tumbled down her back in waves and curls. His breath caught in his throat and tightened his chest. She was his forever.
Ginny noticed how handsome the two grooms looked in their dark suits, white shirts, and polished boots. She trembled in elation and anticipation of this special moment they were sharing and of what would follow soon.
“Do you, Stone Chapman, take this woman, Virginia Anne Marston, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish her in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for richer and for poorer, until death do you part?”
Stone gazed into her hazel eyes as he replied, “I do, with all my heart and all I possess.” Shu, she looked so exquisite! He quivered with desire. Thank the Good Spirit he had found her and won her.
“Do you, Virginia Anne Marston, take this man, Stone Chapman, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish him in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for richer and for poorer, until death do you part?”
Ginny’s softened gaze remained fused with Stone’s engulfing brown one. “I do,” she said, then added the same stirring words he had, “with all my heart and all I possess.” No words or emotions had ever been truer, more meaningful, or sweeter to her.
“The ring,” the minister prompted Stone, who seemed lost for a time in the wonder of his love. He lifted it from the young man’s palm. “A circle without an end, as true love and marriage should be. Slide it on her finger, and repeat after me: With this ring, I thee wed until death.”
Stone slipped the gold band in place, kept his fingers on it, looked into her eyes and said, “With this ring, I thee wed until death.”
Ginny clasped his hands and repeated after the minister, “This ring I accept as a bond of our wedlock until death.”
Ben and Nandile looked at each other and smiled. They were ecstatic by what they witnessed and shared with their son. They had come full circle like the ring on Sunflower’s finger: the three were together again as a close family. The young woman joining their lives today was responsible for their joy. They would all be grateful to her forever.
The clergyman had each of the four place their left hand on his Bible, one atop the other, then covered them with his own. “By the authority granted to me by our Heavenly Father and the great state of Texas, I pronounce you man and wife,” he said to Ben and Nan. He looked at Stone and Ginny. “I pronounce you man and wife. What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Gentlemen, you may kiss your brides.”
At last, Ben and Nan thought, they didn’t have to conceal their love. At last, they could hold hands, embrace, and reveal their feelings in public without fear of exposing their forbidden love. If anyone scorned them, so be it. They deserved this moment, each other, and the sunny future beckoning them onward. They hugged and kissed.
Ginny and Stone wished they could mesh their mouths longer, but this wasn’t the time and place. Later, it would be … They listened as the preacher spoke his final words and said a prayer to end the bonding ceremony.
He turned the newlyweds to face their guests. Standing between them and with an arm around the shoulder of each, he said, “Friends, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Bennett Chapman.” He moved to do the same with Ginny and Stone. “I also present to you Mr. and Mrs. Stone Chapman. May both of your unions be long and happy. God bless you all. Amen.”
The witnesses cheered and congratulated the glowing couples. A merry party ensued. Ginny chatted with her friends, who were excited and intrigued by her many adventures, though they weren’t told about Stone’s secret mission to foil the Red Magnolias. The incident was disguised as a jewel theft that he was assigned to solve and that he couldn’t act until the gang was exposed. Ruby, Mary, Lucy, and Ellie whispered mirthful and romantic advice to the blushing bride.
Food and drink were abundant. Stone and Ginny danced, laughed, fed each other treats, and had fun with friends. Others watched and joined in on the activities. Even Lucy with her gimp ankle moved around the dance area with her husband. Everybody’s fresh beginning seemed to be working out, evidenced by the cheerful smiles, elated moods, and genial behaviors of all.
Ginny danced with her father seveial times, and they chatted about Hattie again. She suspected there might be another wedding soon, in Colorado. She shared Matt’s happiness at finding new love and believed Hattie to be a good choice. Yet she didn’t press him about a decision and acknowledgment of his feelings. She wanted him’ to enjoy the heady mystery and stimulating chase of a special experience, his second one.
When she took a break to refresh herself, Ginny thought about the doll lying on her bed in the house. She wished her mother could share this day with her. Perhaps, as withJohanna, both women were observing her happiness.
Stone whirled Ginny around and around as his gaze refused to leave hers. The August heat almost went unnoticed, as their minds were filled with other thoughts of what awaited them later. They were eager to be alone to consummate their vows with fiery passion.
At seven, the guests realized it was time to head to their homes before dark overtook them on the road; and it was time to leave the two pairs of newlyweds in romantic seclusion. Congratulations and best wishes were offered a final time. Farewells were exchanged and plans for future gatherings were made. At last, all friends and ranch hands were gone.
Ben glanced at his son, winked, and flexed his sturdy body. “I don’t know about you two, but Nan and I are exhausted from so much activity at our ages. We’re turning in. Cleanup can wait until morning.”
Stone sent his father a smile of gratitude. “So are we. Young or not, we’re tired, too. Ready to call it a day, Mrs. Chapman?”
Ginny glowed as she replied, “Yes, my husband.”
Ben looked at Nan. “You ready to call it a day, Mrs. Chapman?”
Nan grinned at Ginny and used her same words, “Yes, my husband.”
Embraces and kisses were shared before they parted for the night.
Later in their bedroom, Ginny revealed, “Something was supposed to happen the day we arrived here, my love, but it didn’t, and hasn’t, yet.”
A beguiling grin flickered over his face and settled in his dark eyes. “What was that, woman? What did I forget?”
Ginny unbuttoned his shirt, peeled it off his shoulders, and snuggled against his chest. Her fingertips made tiny circles there. “You didn’t remember not to get me pregnant before we stood before a minister.”
Stone captured her face and lifted it to look into her compelling eyes. “Are you sure, Ginny love?”
She raised on her tiptoes to kiss him before admitting, “No, but my monthly visit has never been late before. If it’s true, it happened at Hattie’s or the cabin or on the way here, so I’m not far along, a month or less.”
“That’s wonderful news, my love. A baby… Our baby … If it’s true, Ginny Chapman, we’ll have our new home finished just in time for his birth—or hers. A father… Me, Stone Chapman, a father…”
Ginny saw how his dark eyes glowed with joy and pride. She knew he would make an excellent parent. He would shower their children with love, protection, and attention. He would ma
ke certain they were happy and would never suffer as he had. He was free of his bitter and imprisoning past, and he belonged to her. Never again would another midnight secret come between them.
Stone scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He lay half across her body as a playful grin danced in his eyes. “Wait until Warren Turner hears about this news. He’ll be as stunned as he was about my retirement. If Washington weren’t so far, he’d have come to the wedding. This isn’t another one of your daring deceptions to make me stay home to watch you grow with our child, is it, my clever filly?”
“No, Mr. Suspicious Chapman. If I ever tricked you again, you’d send that tough and demanding scout, Steve Carr, to abduct me and punish me. We have so much to be thankful for, Stone. We’re going to be so happy.”
“Yes, my love, we are. What shall we do now?” he teased.
“I bet with a little cunning and investigating, my ex-Special Agent, you could find a clue to lead you in the right direction to solve your current mission. With your skills and prowess, your job shouldn’t be hard.”
Stone nuzzled her face with his and murmured in a voice made husky with love and desire, “This is one job I’ll gladly scout for.”
Virginia Marston Chapman grinned and enticed, “Then let’s ride, my love, toward paradise together,” and they did.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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Until we meet again on the pages of my next novel, I wish you fun reading, great romance, and an exciting fantasy or two of your own.
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eISBN: 978-1-4201-2751-5
Copyright © 1992 by Janelle Taylor
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Third Printing: August, 1995
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