The Providence Trilogy Bundle: Providence; Requiem; Eden

by McGuire, Jamie

  “All right, enough chitchat. We’re not in the church, yet,” Cynthia said, orchestrating another transfer. She lifted the hem of one side of my dress while directing Beth to lift the other, and together we climbed the steps.

  Inside, Lillian waited. Once recognition hit, her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together, quickly bringing them to her mouth. “Oh. Oh my goodness,” she said, tears glossing her eyes. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.” She looked to Cynthia. “It’s so good to see you,” she said, hugging her old friend.

  “As it is you,” Cynthia said with a warm but demure smile.

  Lillian blotted her eyes with a tissue and shook her head. She looked upon me with pure love and adoration. She had always regarded me with an adulation that I never quite understood, but the look in her eyes was new to me.

  “May I seat you?” Bex said to Cynthia, offering his arm.

  “Yes, thank you,” she said, walking with Bex into the church.

  Lillian watched them disappear behind the door and then leaned into my ear. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment. You’ve always been family, Nina. I can’t explain it,” she whispered. A sweet, innocent laugh escaped her throat. “Some nights, after Jack and Cynthia took you home after I’d made you all dinner, I would cry.”

  My eyebrows popped up. Lillian was always so candid about her feelings for me. Even so, her words surprised me.

  “Gabe used to shake his head. He always thought me to be irrational when it came to you. But each time you left my home, I felt I was letting my daughter go away to live with someone else. I must sound crazy. It sounds silly to say out loud. I . . . I just wanted to tell you how happy it makes me that after today . . . I can call you my daughter.”

  I hugged her to me. The intensity of emotion in the room was overwhelming. I didn’t hear crazy. Lillian’s words sounded like love.

  “No, no, no, no . . .,” Beth said, pulling a tissue from her purse. “Don’t cry. Your mascara is waterproof, but it’s not magic. It could smudge.” She carefully dabbed under my eyes. “You’re only marrying the man of your dreams soon. What’s to cry about?”

  I smiled. “Touché.”

  The music sounded. Beth handed me an exquisite bouquet of pink and white tulips, winked at me, and then slid out of the double doors to take her walk. I stood alone in the vestibule, in my dress, holding my favorite flowers—the same Jared presented to me on our first date. I was amazed, then, at the coincidence. Now it just made me smile. Why he was ever nervous about whether I would fall in love with him was a mystery. Not only was he the most thoughtful, most selfless, and loving person I knew but he was also armed with the knowledge of all my likes and dislikes. He was armed to win me over more than any other man. The tulips were perfect. Jared had sent me this very bouquet many times over the course of our relationship. It just occurred to me that these flowers had also been sent to me before our relationship—on birthdays and my high school graduation—and I remember feeling comforted by a wreath at my father’s funeral bearing the same flowers. Jared had never mentioned it before, but I knew they were from him. That thought made me smile. He had loved me for a long time, and now I was about to walk down the aisle of our chapel on our island to pledge my eternal love to him. Life had never felt so right.

  I thought about my father and wished he were next to me. I imagined him in a smart tuxedo with teary eyes, fawning over my dress and telling me how beautiful and grown-up I looked. As a little girl, I imagined him giving me away at my wedding, and now he would have to do it from Heaven.

  “I know you can see me, Daddy,” I whispered, closing my eyes.

  Suddenly, I was no longer alone. Someone was beside me, with an arm hooked around my elbow.

  “Hope you don’t mind a wedding crasher. Jack sent me,” Eli winked and tightened his grip.

  “N-No,” I said, shaking my head. “Of course not.”

  “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He stretched his neck and shoulders. “Looked like fun.”

  “Thank you,” I said, as the wedding march began to play in the chapel.

  “Ready, kiddo?”

  I smiled and took a deep breath. “Ready.”

  Both doors swept open, held by two young local boys, and our small audience stood.

  Eli leaned into my ear. “You are breathtaking, by the way.” He took a step, and I followed his lead. Together we walked slowly down the aisle.

  The sanctuary was a bit dim, with beams of sun breaking through the windows and spotlighting the different faces of our friends and family. The dust motes slowly floated in and out of the sunshine, delicate and graceful. I saw Jared’s Uncle Luke first. I was surprised to see him, and it must have shown, because he and his wife Maryse chuckled softly at my expression. I was glad to see Chad sitting next to my mother; although it wouldn’t have occurred to her to feel . . . well, anything . . . I didn’t want her to be alone. Lillian, Luke, and Maryse sat together in the first of the heavy wooden pews, parallel to Cynthia and Chad. Luke whispered something into his sister’s ear, and Lillian nodded, taking a deep, satisfied breath.

  And then, I saw him. Jared stood next to Bex at the head of the chapel, at the top of a few steps that led to the pulpit and the rest of the stage. Eli waited before he took a step, sensing that I had stopped in my tracks. Jared was dressed in a khaki suit with a white-button-up shirt. The top button was undone, and he skipped the tie. He looked perfect, and his bright blue-gray eyes were locked on me, over a slightly nervous, beaming smile.

  Without thinking, I took a step, now more anxious than ever to be next to him. Eli picked up his pace as my feet insisted on placing the rest of me next to the man I loved more than life itself. My love for Jared surpassed needing normal, enough to conquer fate and beat death. In that moment, I couldn’t fathom why I had waited so long, and I wanted to be nowhere else but in that chapel, making the easy promise to love him forever.

  The reverend was short, swallowed by his officiant’s gown. His brown skin was dull and wrinkled, but his kind smile brightened his face. He spoke in a thick accent. “Hello, Nina. I’m Father Julian.”

  I nodded, my gaze returning to Jared.

  “We gather here, in the presence of God and this company, that Jared and Nina be united in Holy Matrimony. We’re here to celebrate and share in the glorious act that God is about to perform—the act by which He converts their love for one another into the holy and sacred state of marriage.

  “This relationship is honorable and sacred, established by our Creator for welfare and happiness of humanity, and approved by the Apostle Paul as honorable among all men. It is designed to unite two sympathies and hopes into one and rests upon the mutual confidence and devotion of husband and wife. May it be in extreme thoughtfulness and reverence and in dependence upon divine guidance that you enter now into this holy relationship.”

  Jared didn’t take his eyes from mine. Just a few feet away from him, Father Julian stepped down to meet me. He looked to Eli and spoke with a thick accent. “Being assured that your love and your choice of each other as lifelong companions are God’s will and that you have your families’ blessings, I now ask, ‘Who gives this woman to be married to this man?’”

  “We do,” Eli said with confidence. He spoke for my father, for Cynthia. He might have even spoken for Gabe, but I felt Heaven was smiling on the moment.

  Eli lifted my hand to his lips, kissed my knuckles, and then took Jared’s hand, placing it gently beneath mine. With a small, tender squeeze, Eli left us alone at the bottom of the steps, disappearing behind the double doors he had just helped me through.

  Jared raised an eyebrow, a permanent smile etched on his face. “That was unexpected.”

  “Jack sent him,” I said, feeling my eyes gloss over.

  Jared touched my face once, and then the reverend spoke again. This time his voice blurred into the background as I watched the blues and grays of Jared’s eyes shine in ways I’d never seen them. His ex
pression was relaxed and nervous, happy and concerned; every emotion he’d ever felt collided inside of him in a beautiful display of the barely noticeable shifts in the skin around his eyes and mouth. No one could have noticed it but me, and I read each one as he struggled with a lifetime of duty and the relief of hearing me promise myself to him.

  “Jared Ryel?” Father Julian said. “Are you ready to enter into this marriage with Nina Grey, believing the love you share and your faith in each other will endure all things?”

  “I am,” Jared said simply.

  “Nina Grey?”

  “I am!”

  Our small audience laughed at my haste. Jared chuckled as well.

  Father Julian regrouped and then finished his part. “Are you ready to enter into this marriage with Nina Grey, believing the love you share and your faith in each other will endure all things?”

  I waited for the minister to correct his mix-up, but he never did.

  I nodded quickly. “To Jared Ryel. Yes. I’m ready.”

  Father Julian didn’t skip a beat. “Nina, do you take Jared to be your wedded husband? Promise to love him, to honor and cherish him, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to be to him in all things a good and faithful wife as long as you both shall live?”

  “Yes.”

  Father Julian repeated Jared’s vows. The closer he came to the end, the tighter Jared’s fingers were around mine. Finally, when it came time for Jared to speak, he didn’t hesitate.

  “Yes, and after that,” Jared said, “for a thousand years and then a thousand more . . . I will love you.”

  A smile stretched across my face. His hands were cupped around mine a bit too tightly, and his body leaned into mine eagerly. This was the moment he had waited for, and he seemed to want to take it all in and rush it at the same time so nothing could keep him from it. That moment in time was the light switch in a dark room, the doorway at the end of a scary hallway. It was anything and everything that had ever saved anyone.

  Father Julian closed his eyes. “Father in heaven, You ordained marriage for your children, and You gave us love. We present to You Jared and Nina, who come this day to be married. May the covenant of love they make be blessed with true devotion and spiritual commitment. We ask that You, God, will give them the ability to keep the covenant they have made. When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity; when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength; when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness; if suffering becomes a part of their lives, give them a strong faith and an abiding love. Amen.”

  I opened my eyes to see Jared looking at me with total love and devotion, more so than I’d ever seen in the proud eyes of my father.

  “What token do you give to perform your vows?”

  Bex opened his hand, and Jared plucked a white gold band from his brother’s palm.

  “Nina,” Jared said softly. He closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then looked into my eyes. “What can I say to you that I haven’t already said? What can I give you that I haven’t already given? Is there anything of me that isn’t yours already? My body, my mind, my heart, even my soul—everything that is me—belonged to you long before this and shall be yours long after this. I will follow you anywhere and everywhere you lead. I will keep you and anyone created with our love safe from all harm. From this day on, I choose you, my beloved, to be my wife; to live with you and laugh with you; to stand by your side and sleep in your arms; to bring out the best in you always; and, for you, to be the most that I can. I promise to laugh with you in good times; to struggle with you in bad; to wipe your tears with my hands; to comfort you with my words; to mirror you with my soul; and savor every moment, happy or sad, until the end of our lives and beyond.”

  A long pause followed Jared’s words. No one moved; an awe-inspired silence swept the chapel as everyone took in his breathtaking promise. He took my hand and slipped the ring onto my finger. It glided over my skin and rested next to my diamond engagement ring, as if it were returning home.

  “D-do you,” Father Julian stuttered, “Nina, have a token to perform your vows?”

  I turned to Beth, whose mascara streaked her cheeks. She opened her hand to reveal Jared’s simple wedding band. I took it from her and turned to face him.

  He grinned, waiting on my promise. I had thought about my vows many times after we decided to write our own. Our relationship had never been traditional, so we chose to make our promise to each other unique to us. I took a deep breath. Nothing I could say would be nearly as articulate and beautiful as what he had said, but I knew well enough by now that he would love every syllable.

  “Jared,” I whispered. I held his hand and then placed the ring around the tip of his finger. “I choose you as my best friend and my love for life. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, and my most tender care. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you. It wasn’t until just now that I recognized that this wasn’t coincidence or a battle. We were always meant for each other. Our love is heaven sent, and I promise to honor that forever and always. From this day forward, you won’t walk alone. My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home.”

  The mixed emotions scrolling across Jared’s face disappeared; the only one left was happiness. I pushed his ring over his knuckle, and he squeezed my hand.

  Father Julian put his hand over ours. "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Jared and Nina have consented together in Holy Matrimony, witnessed the same before God and this company, have pledged their love and loyalty to each other, and have declared the same by the joining and the giving of rings. By the authority of the state, I pronounce that they are husband and wife."

  A small sigh emanated throughout the chapel, and Jared let out a breath of relief, followed by a small smile.

  “Kiss your wife,” Father Julian said with a smile.

  Jared cupped my cheeks, looked into my eyes, and then pulled me to him, touching his soft lips to mine. He kissed me gently at first, and then wrapped his arms around me, his lips forgetting everyone and everything around us. We were married. He was my husband and I was his wife.

  He pulled away. His eyes brimmed with tears, and he looked as overwhelmed with happiness as I felt. I pulled him to me by his shirt to kiss him one last time.

  “I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Jared Ryel,” the minister said loudly.

  Jared’s smile faded and he gritted his teeth.

  “Not today,” he said, closing his eyes.

  3. Trial

  The inside of the chapel darkened. The sunlight coming through the windows dimmed, but it was early afternoon. The air around us grew cold and stale. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Fearing the worst, I was desperate for a mundane explanation. “A storm?”

  Jared’s eyes darkened. “I’m sorry.”

  The sound of the tropical winds that regularly blew against the building was noticeably absent, and soon the only light was the dim flickering of a few sconces along the walls of the church. I shot a nervous glance over my shoulder at our friends and family below. They were frozen in time.

  I quickly walked down the stairs, with Jared just behind. My movement didn’t faze the small crowd, and I gasped, falling to my knees. “Lillian?” I said, reaching out.

  Her hands were folded daintily in her lap, a small smile suspended on her face. I stood and took a step to the next pew, realizing in horror that the living statues’ eyes were all still fastened to the space Jared and I once occupied.

  “Beth?” I whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek. Her skin was still warm. “She’s not breathing,” I said, looking back to my new husband. Bex stood at Jared’s side. He frowned before looking to his brother. Only the humans were affected.

  “He must have claimed a grievance,” Bex said.

  “Shax?” I asked.

  Jared shook his head. “Michael . . . for murdering his son.” He closed h
is eyes and took my hand, holding it against his chest. “No matter what happens, Nina, stay with Bex,” he said.

  “What do you mean? Where are you going?” I said. He took a step toward the double doors of the chapel. With my free hand, I grabbed at the fabric of his jacket. “Jared,” I whispered. His demeanor terrified me.

  The double doors opened, and Eli stood in the entrance, his expression blank. “I’m sorry, Jared. This can’t wait.”

  Jared nodded and then tilted his head to the side, speaking under his breath. “Don’t speak, Nina. Let me handle this.”

  I agreed without words. Jared led me through the doors, to the top of the chapel steps. The sky was black, the darkness filtering down to surround our chapel. Several dark forms stood in formation at the bottom of the stairs. Jared continued. With each step closer to the unknown, my heart seemed to be punching through my chest. Finally, I was face to face with Jared’s accusers, but they remained a mystery. Their faces were obscured by the hoods of black cloaks. If they were angels, they were much more frightening than any I’d encountered.

  Eli stood on the other side of Jared, waiting patiently for something, but I knew better than to ask. After a few moments, the black forms parted, and two figures, differing dramatically in size, walked forward. Eli made a subtle motion with his hand, and the air around the small assemblage created its own light, leaving a muted glow. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and he winked at me. I was the only one unable to see clearly through the darkness. Eli lit the surroundings solely for my human eyes.

  His consideration set me somewhat at ease. He won’t let anything happen to us.

  Any feeling of comfort offered by Eli’s small gesture didn’t last long. The two forms were now recognizable, and a lump formed in my throat at Claire’s nervous expression as she walked alongside Samuel.

  “What are you doing here? Where’s Ryan?” I asked.

  Jared squeezed my hand, and I remembered too late his rule of silence. A man at the front of the opposing group ripped away his hood, revealing his enraged eyes. “You are not allowed to speak here!” he said. His body shook as he spoke.