Mary had detested the ruby from the very first time Eddi showed it to her. She had ungraciously asked, “If he’s so rich, why can’t he buy you something better than that dinky ol’ thing?”
Eddi sighed and glanced at Jenny, who tugged on her mother’s arm. “Mom,” she said, “Eddi’s ready. You and I should go on down and wait in the recreation room with Calvin and Dad and the minister.”
The doorknob rattled and Edward Boswick’s voice floated through a hairline opening. “Is it safe to come in?” he asked.
“Yes, Dad!” Eddi called.
Edward, dressed in a dark suit, stepped inside and glanced around the room. “All the Boswick women together in one place. What a lucky man am I,” he teased and closed the door behind him.
“Oh, stop it!” Mary slapped at his arm.
He ignored her and stepped toward his daughter. Without a word, he pulled Eddi close for a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you,” Edward rumbled, and Eddi thought she detected an unexpected dash of emotion in his voice.
When they parted, Eddi blinked against her stinging eyes. “Oh, Dad,” she said. “Thanks.”
“You’ve chosen a man better for yourself than I ever could have.” He lowered his voice and continued, “If you weren’t my daughter, I’d envy what the two of you have.” Edward touched her veil. “How did you get to be all grown up?” he asked.
Eddi gripped his arm. “Go on with Mom,” she squeaked. “You’re going to make me cry and that won’t do.”
“Okay, okay.” Edward dabbed at his eyes with his handkerchief and raised his voice. “I’ll go with your mother and her nerves. They and I have become such good friends through the years, you know.”
“Oh, stop it!” Mary demanded from the door. “Come on, now. Calvin’s waiting on us!”
After patting Eddi’s back, Edward followed his wife and eldest daughter from the room. Before closing the door, he gave Eddi the thumbs-up sign. She returned the gesture as her mother’s voice seeped back through the doorway. “I believe I love Calvin almost as much as you, Edward. I declare . . .” The closing door cut off the rest of her words.
The favorite son-in-law, Eddi thought. At least Mom’s favorite, she added and recalled the summer trout fishing expedition that had bonded her father and Dave.
Baby Nicole released a shriek that demanded something be done about her empty stomach. “Oh no!” Linda bleated as she tried to convince Nicole to take the bottle. “She won’t have it. I was afraid of this.” She lifted the bottle from the baby’s face. “This is what I get for breast feeding.”
“Here, let me have her,” Eddi offered.
“You can’t help her!” Linda huffed.
“I know, I know,” Eddi agreed and reached for the baby. “But I can keep her occupied while you get ready for her.”
“Okay, thanks.” Linda released her baby to Eddi’s arms and began to wrestle with her dress zipper. “I’m just glad this is happening now and not in thirty minutes—in the middle of your wedding vows.”
Eddi half listened to her sister, who had turned into “mother superior” once Nicole arrived. The whole family had watched in amazement as motherhood blossomed Linda into a level of maturity she hadn’t demonstrated before. Eddi cooed at the baby and ran her index finger across her cheek. For the thousandth time, she thanked God that her soon-to-be-husband had interfered in Linda and Rick’s lives. While Rick wasn’t the perfect husband, he, too, had undergone a metamorphosis once Nicole arrived. The diminutive creature in Eddi’s arms had somehow done what no other female could. She had wrapped Rick Wallace around her tiny fingers, and there he remained tightly affixed. Much to Eddi’s surprise, there were no signs of Rick’s committing adultery or abusing Linda. According to Dave, he had even stopped smoking pot for good and was attending church of his own free will.
A firm knock sounded on the door. “Linda!” Rick’s concerned call mingled with Nicole’s new cry.
Eddi strode to the door, bent, and twisted the knob while holding tight to her bundle. “She’s in here.”
“I was in the hall and heard Nicole cry,” Rick said, his brown eyes full of fatherly concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, she’s just hungry.” Linda stopped struggling with her dress. “Could you help me here?”
“Sure,” he said before reaching for his daughter.
Eddi extended the child to Rick. “Here you are,” she said. “I’m ready to go down anyway. I’ll just leave you two with your problems,” she said through a smile.
“Don’t laugh at me, Eddi,” Linda demanded. “You’ll be doing this sooner than you know.”
“Who’s laughing?” Eddi blew a kiss to Linda. “I think it’s all great.” She reached for her bouquet in the wingback chair beside the door, stepped into the hallway, and clicked the door closed.
When she looked up, Eddi stared straight into the eyes of her fiancé. Compulsively, she raised the bouquet in front of her face and gasped. “What are you doing here? You aren’t supposed to see me before the wedding!”
Dave laughed. “It’s my house, remember? You aren’t supposed to be out here in the hallway.”
Eddi lowered the bouquet and peered at Dave over fresh roses, whose fragrance reminded her of Mrs. DeBloom.
“Did your aunt come?” Eddi asked and glanced toward the stairway. As of last month, Mrs. DeBloom was still praying that Dave would repent and marry Brittney O’Reilly.
“Yep. She’s here,” Dave said with a proud nod. “I told you she’d come around.”
With a sigh, Eddi relaxed. “I’m so glad. I don’t like her disapproving of me.”
“She’s got a heart of gold, really, Eddi,” Dave claimed. “She just doesn’t always show it.”
You got that right! Eddi thought but held her tongue.
“Brittney is here, too,” Dave said, “with her parents. She brought a friend of the masculine variety.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Oh, good,” Eddi breathed. “I was wondering how I was going to stand her hanging all over my new husband at the reception.”
“I wouldn’t have allowed it,” Dave growled and wrapped his arm around Eddi’s waist. “You’re the only woman I want hanging on to me.”
Eddi’s heart warmed. Dave looked better than ever, all dressed up in his black tuxedo and cream-colored shirt.
“You look so good,” she breathed.
“Hmmm.” Dave adored her with his eyes. “And you look scrumptious, Mrs. Davidson,” he said.
“I’m not a Mrs. yet,” she said over a giggle.
“No, but we’re really close,” Dave purred into her ear. “So close I can almost taste it.” He playfully nipped her ear, and Eddi released a faint squeal.
“Stop it!” She shoved at his chest. “You’re going to mess up my hair and tilt my veil!”
“That’s the whole point,” he teased.
Breathless, Eddi gazed into his eyes as the harpist’s music crescendoed into a classic love ballad.
“You’re so beautiful,” Dave whispered. “I can’t believe you’re almost mine.”
“Oh, Dave,” Eddi complained, “I’m not half as beautiful as some of the women you could have had.”
“Like who?” he challenged. “Name one.”
“Laura Schock.” Eddi pronounced the name without one trace of affection.
“Ah, but my dear,” Dave crooned, “you’ve got something no other woman has ever had—not even Laura Schock.”
“And what might that be?” Eddi asked.
“Me,” he said and pressed his lips against hers in a promise of things to come.
About the Author
Debra White Smith continues to impact and entertain readers with her life-changing fiction and nonfiction books, including the JANE AUSTEN SERIES and the LONE STAR INTRIGUE series, Romancing Your Husband, and The Divine Romance: Experiencing Intimacy with God. She has been an award-winning author for years with such honors as Top-10 Reader Favorite, Gold Medallion Finalist (Romancing Your
Husband) and Retailer’s Choice Award Finalist (First Impressions and Reason and Romance). Debra has 60 titles to her credit and over a million books in print.
Debra and her husband of 35 years co-pastor a small church in East Texas, and she speaks at ministry events across the nation. She has been featured on a variety of media spots, including The 700 Club, At Home Live, Getting Together, Moody Broadcasting Network, Fox News, Viewpoint, and America’s Family Coaches. She holds two graduate degrees—an MA in English and an EdS in Education—and is a PhD candidate at Northwest Nazarene University.
To write Debra or contact her for speaking engagements, check out her website, www.debrawhitesmith.com
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First Impressions: A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and Prejudice Page 30