That was when Mariel had realized that her sister was going to be just fine without her.
Not that either of them was going anywhere for good—at least, not for the time being.
Leslie and Jed had moved into their new home a few blocks from the old one.
Mariel was leaving, but only temporarily, in a few days, while they were on their Hawaiian honeymoon.
At last, she was going to Europe. She was going to see London, and Paris, and Rome, and she would be traveling with Noah at her side. That was the incredible part, the miracle.
They were using some of Mariel’s savings and some of Noah’s severance pay from the agency, along with the security deposit he had gotten back on his apartment. Tammy Harper down at All Aboard Travel had nearly fallen off her seat the day Mariel walked in to book the trip.
“Sure is a far cry from Syracuse, Mariel,” she had commented.
“Sure is,” Mariel had said sweetly.
They would return to Rockton by Labor Day, just in time for Mariel to begin teaching the new term at school. And Noah would have all the time and space and peace he needed to work on his screenplays. Maybe one of these days, he would sell one.
But if he never did, he told Mariel, it wouldn’t matter.
Not as long as they had each other.
And she believed him.
She watched her sister and Jed kiss each other passionately as rose petals drifted down around them.
Then she turned her head and searched the crowd of well-wishers gathered on the green lawn below the church steps.
She spotted Noah there, beside her father, his hand on the older man’s arm to steady him as he stepped backward to take a picture of his daughter and his new son-in-law.
Mariel caught Noah’s eye, and she flashed him a grateful smile, nodding her head toward her father, silently thanking him for looking out for Daddy.
Noah smiled back.
Daddy was beaming, Mariel thought, watching him snap another picture of the newlyweds. This was probably one of the happiest days ever—though he would be even happier when he had a grandchild on the way, as he had reminded Leslie and Jed during his toast at last night’s rehearsal dinner.
Mariel and Noah had exchanged a glance when he said that.
Daddy still didn’t know about Amber. Someday, perhaps, they would tell him, and Leslie and Jed. When the time was right.
And someday, perhaps, they would have other news to share, Mariel thought blissfully.
The bride and groom descended the steps, and she followed, careful to hold the hem of her pink maid-ofhonor gown high above her shoes.
“You look gorgeous, sweetie,” Katie Beth said, stopping Mariel. Her youngest child was asleep on her shoulder, and Olivia clung shyly to her hand. Patrick was beside his wife, one toddler in his arms and another clinging to the leg of his dark suit pants.
“You look gorgeous, too,” Mariel told Katie Beth, admiring her green dress.
“I do not,” Katie Beth said, leaning toward her to whisper in her ear, “This dress is so damned tight around my stomach, I can’t breathe. But believe me, there’s a good reason.”
When her words registered, Mariel gasped, then hugged her friend, and Patrick, too.
“Congratulations,” she said whole-heartedly. “Five children?”
“Believe me, we were even more surprised than you are,” Katie Beth said dryly. “I guess we had a little too good a time when we went away for that long weekend without the kids in April.”
Mariel laughed. “Where are you going to put them all?”
“We’ll fit them in,” Patrick said, and Katie Beth nodded, contentment sliding over her pretty face.
Watching them, Mariel felt strong arms slipping around her waist from behind, and she looked up to see Noah. Her heart beat a little faster. It always did when he was near. She wondered how long this romantic giddiness would last.
Then she looked at Katie Beth and Patrick, who were gazing at each other past their children’s heads, and she knew that it could last forever.
“Can I have the first dance at the reception, or do you have to share it with the best man?” Noah asked, his voice low in her ear.
“You are the best man,” she said teasingly. “The best man for me, anyway.”
He kissed her. “That’s right, and don’t ever forget it. Not even when we’re old and gray and we have hordes of children and grandchildren to distract us.”
“I won’t,” she promised with all her heart.
And she didn’t.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
If you would like to receive a current Janelle Taylor newsletter, bookmark, and descriptive flyer of other books available with pictures of their covers, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (business size best) to:
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Janelle Taylor
eISBN 978-1-4201-2729-4
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Copyright © 2001 by Janelle Taylor
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