Love in the Details
Page 10
He kissed her. And she kissed him back. And he kissed her more for good measure. There, with the altar’s cross watching over them and the day’s last sun rays pouring through the stained glass like a benediction.
Holly’s heart soared with amazement and gratitude and love. Josh! Josh loved her.
He pulled back a few inches. “I lied about needing your help to find a rehearsal dinner location. My assistant booked the olive oil farm months ago. I misled you because it was the only way I could think of to spend time with you.”
“Your assistant booked the olive oil farm?” she asked, like one of those parrots that repeats things. It was hard to think straight at this particular moment. He’d just incinerated her with his kisses and sent her whole world spinning with the declaration that he loved her.
“Yes.”
“Months ago? Your assistant had the very same idea that I had and booked the farm months ago?”
He nodded and swept a section of her hair away from her cheek. “I’m sorry for deceiving you.”
“You’re forgiven. And also, by the way, you have a very good assistant. Has she considered turning her attention to brokering peace in the Middle East?”
His expression warmed with amusement. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“I’ll stay in Martinsburg,” he said. “I can work from anywhere.”
“So can I, Josh. I’m a writer.” Her hands were still intertwined behind his neck. Oh, the happiness of this! “Relocating to Paris for a while doesn’t actually sound too shabby to me.”
“It doesn’t?”
“If this is Paris, France, home of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and croissants that we’re talking about, then no. It doesn’t.”
“You’d move to France?”
“Yes,” she answered, growing more sure of it. “I would.” He’d given her an irresistible motivation to grab hold of her very own real-life adventure.
“I love you, Holly.”
“I love you, Josh. Now kiss me some more.” She was grinning and crying at the same time. “But be quick about it. You’re the best man and we have a wedding reception to attend.”
Miracle of miracles, God had brought Josh back to her. And this time, she wouldn’t let him go. This time, Josh wouldn’t leave her behind.
This time, the timing was perfect.
Holly,
Today is our wedding day. In just a few hours I’ll get to see you in your wedding dress, you’ll walk down the aisle to me, and before God we’ll promise ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives.
Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. For loving me. For showing me what matters in this life.
Neither the years we spent apart nor the distance between us had the power to change my love for you. My heart was, and is, and always will be yours.
Je t’aime, Holly. I love you. Till death do us part, my love.
—Josh
“There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under the heavens.”
—Ecclesiastes 3:1
1. Holly and Josh were one another’s first love. Did anyone here marry their first love? Name one thing that you still remember clearly about your first love.
2. At its heart, Love in the Details is about the perfect nature of God’s timing. When in your life did you face a disappointment, only to later realize that God’s timing was ultimately best?
3. Near the end of the story, Holly realizes that her almost subconscious belief that she’s not enough for Josh is holding her back. We all struggle from time to time with deceptive self-talk that assures us that we’re “not good enough” or “not worthy enough.” When has this most been a stumbling block for you? Share a story of how God has helped you have victory in this area.
4. How would you characterize Becky Wade’s writing style? How was it different and/or similar to the style of other writers included in this collection of wedding novellas?
5. How is Holly and Josh’s love story a picture of God’s love for us?
Becky Wade makes her home in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three children. She’s the Carol Award and Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award-winning author of contemporary Christian romances My Stubborn Heart, Undeniably Yours, Meant to Be Mine, and A Love Like Ours.