by Tiana Laveen
She sat inside a tented area with her bridal party, all receiving the finishing touches on their hair and makeup. Keeping a stiff upper lip when needed and laughing at her best friend’s jokes in a timely fashion, she was determined to make it through the ceremony without a hitch. She’d kept her dizziness to herself on her special day, taking extra-long sitting breaks by blaming it on her heels being a wee bit too tight. Everyone would have believed her, but she couldn’t fool Chancellor.
The man approached her, shaking her out of her carefully crafted guise of perfect health, pretending to be her best.
Someone got to him… Someone in here is on to me and being a snitch!
People made way for the tall, broad shouldered man. She wasn’t certain who’d ratted her out, but now she was betting on her mother who she recalled asking her multiple times if she was okay.
Mom … it was you!
Her mother obviously believed Chancellor would get the truth out of her, when she hadn’t been able to. There he stood, glaring at her, looking magnificently handsome. Yes, he was seeing her before the nuptials, something they’d agreed not to do, but before she could protest, he dropped to one knee and placed a finger over her lips. Her eyes watered. She dropped her gaze from him and stared at the long hem of her dress, which covered her feet. All she could do was shake her head—not in sadness, but in anger at her diagnosis.
Quietly, gently, he took her into his arms and hugged her tight.
“You have to tell people when you’re not feeling well baby.” Several of her friends indicated their agreement and one came and gave her a comforting rub along her back. “They’ll do things about it … you don’t have to suffer alone. If I have to carry you down that aisle, I will!”
A happy tear trailed down her cheek and her bridesmaids listened in, their expressions filled with both sympathy and jubilation. Chancellor placed a tender kiss on her lips, then pulled back and looked at her. In his eyes, she saw his dreams, her goals, and their world mixed together, and love sat smack dab in the center of it all. He slowly got to his feet.
“Thank you, baby. I’ll be okay, but yeah, it’s been a rough morning. Just you being here makes me feel better.” She gave him a flirty wave before reaching for her glass of water to take a much-needed gulp. He turned and walked away, reluctance in his gait.
“I’ll see you in a little bit,” he called out, blowing her a kiss from over his shoulder and leaving the tent. The makeup artist waltzed casually back up to her and re-applied her lipstick, making her realize the man of her dreams had removed the fine natural ombre job on her mouth. Moments later, she was outside. Soft classical music played and Chancellor waited for her at the end of an ivory aisle runner under the gazebo. A minister stood to his right, and her bridesmaids waited there too. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry, ruin that fine makeup job, as her step-father wrapped his arm around hers and escorted her down the aisle.
In that moment, her mind was clear—no headache, no dizziness, nothing but pure bliss. One foot in front of the other, she made it, a big smile on her face. People stood and took photos. Chancellor’s mother and sister sat next to his son and she couldn’t help but see the broad smiles on all three of their faces. None of those, though, could compete with Chancellor’s. He looked like the happiest man in the world, and that warmed her soul. All that joy exuding from him was triggered by the fact they were about to share their lives together.
The ceremony went without a hitch, but as they neared the part where they exchanged rings, the crowd burst in laughter. She looked about, confused, while Chancellor took a few steps away from her and whistled.
“Come on! Don’t freeze up on me now. Do it just as we practiced.”
Bernie pranced down the aisle, a bright blue bowtie around his thick, fur-covered neck. The minister chuckled, and she found it impossible to hold back, too. Chancellor bent down to fiddle with the bowtie around the dog’s neck, then, one of his friends took the leash and led Bernie away. Chancellor stood up holding two gorgeous wedding bands, with diamonds that gleamed under the summer sunlight. He handed her the larger one.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t in Bernie’s mouth,” she whispered, causing Chancellor to chuckle as he slid the ring on her finger. Before long, they’d both said, “I do,” and her new husband was crushing her lips in a knee-buckling kiss.
The world became a blur, a cradle of frantic, lovely energy, full of laughter and happy tears. She’d just become a step-mother to a wonderful young man, and a wife, too. As they prepared to take photos before the start of the reception, Chancellor wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close for a kiss.
“Now that you’ve signed on the dotted line, you have no idea what trouble you’ve gotten yourself into,” he teased.
“Oh, really? Well, my middle name is trouble, so you’re in for a surprise!”
They both chuckled and kissed once again.
I could look into his eyes all day long…
I don’t need saving, but if I did, he’d be the perfect man for the job.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I don’t want to see the sun rise and the moon wane without him by my side.
Love is the motivator. It’s the true definition of a man on a mission.
He has the key to my hopes, dreams, fears and desires.
He found it on his own and unlocked what was deep inside of us…
He is an ambitious man who has earned my utmost respect and undying love…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Potholes in Our Lawns…
“Damn it!” Chancellor shut off the lawnmower and looked at yet another deep hole Bernie the burly bastard had dug into his backyard. The mutt acted as if he were being paid handsomely to do such destruction. He couldn’t grab hold of the dog and shake some sense into him, even if he wanted to, and Bernie was far too silly and old for obedience training … or perhaps he wasn’t. Chancellor rolled the thought around in his mind, turning it like the fresh soil the K-9 had gotten his paws into. He smiled.
You can teach an old dog new tricks. Well, sometimes…
The windows of the house were wide open. He took note of Bailey in the kitchen holding a cup of tea in one hand and a script in another. The woman had been burning the candle at both ends in the past week, despite his warnings, but her hard work had paid off. She was now signed to do a Nickelodeon cartoon, the voice of a female lion named Luna. He restarted the lawnmower, this time effectively moving around the pits, then shut it down again to retrieve a few stray branches.
“Chaaaaaaance!” she called out. “Dinner will be ready in thirty.”
“Okay, baby. Thanks!” He paused to take another glimpse at her. She looked so beautiful clad in a white T-shirt and denim capris, her lovely hair pulled into a simple ponytail. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Was all this just some crazy dream come true? They’d been married a little less than three months, and yet, no one could convince him that this woman wasn’t his very best friend in the whole damn world. They did everything for each other, encouraged one another. She was his conscience, a reminder that sometimes a gentle hand got better results than a stern admonishment. They had each other’s back, and that was all he needed.
He went back to work, firing up the lawnmower and beginning the precise work of putting lines in the grass at a perfect forty-five-degree angle.
had learned a lesson of a lifetime…
Sometimes ambition is not the pursuit of monetary gain, climbing the corporate ladder, or broadening your stock options. Sometimes ambition was seeing the ugly truth in yourself, the holes left unfilled in your own backyard. It was the aching, broken heart of a love that got away, an unfulfilling marriage that left both parties emotionally bankrupt, an internal, simmering rage that colored one’s entire world black and bled out onto the unwitting public like a molten nightmare. Chancellor paused as he came across yet another hole in the yard, but this time, he smiled…
Only love and whimsy, the appreciation of eac
h day in life could fill the holes in his heart, make the landscape whole again. He had a new lease on life, on what being ambitious truly was. Sometimes ambition was going to a meeting and opening up, apologizing for not being the best man you could be, and allowing yourself to fall in love all over again. Not only with a lovely lady who is wise beyond her years and sexy as the day is long, but finally falling in love with himself too.
~THE END~
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About the Author
Tiana Laveen was born in Cincinnati, Ohio though her soul resides in New York.
She is the USA Today Best-Selling author who has written over 30 novels. She lives inside her mind, but her heart is occupied with her family and twisted imagination. She enjoys a fulfilling and enriching life that includes writing books, drawing, painting, listening to music, cooking, and spending time with loved ones.
Tiana Laveen is a uniquely creative and innovative author whose fiction novels are geared towards those who not only want to temporarily escape from the daily routines of life, but also became pleasantly caught up in the well-developed journeys of her unique characters. Tiana creates a painting with words as she guides her reader into the lives of each and every main character. Her dedication to detail and staying true to her characters is evident in each novel that she writes.
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