Beyond I Do

by Jennifer Slattery

She whirled around to see Dixie standing beside her, propped against the kitchen doorway. “I used to have me a man like that but I let him get away. Done settled for a life of regrets instead.”

  Ainsley blinked and stared at the closed door.

  Chris straightened some papers on his desk and closed his laptop. Crunching numbers for an hour didn’t erase the memory of Ainsley’s soft eyes, moistened with unshed tears. With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet. There was nothing more he could do. At least when he thought she believed the lawsuit, he had something to fight against. But now he knew. The woman didn’t love him. How could he fight against that?

  He flicked off the light and shuffled down the dim hall, his footsteps echoing through the empty café. Standing at the counter, he dipped his head in prayer.

  You’ve done some amazing things here, God. And I’m grateful. I really am. Pain stabbed at the back of his throat. But somehow I thought Ainsley would be part of this.

  He grabbed his keys and turned off the lights, the glimmer of streetlights and passing cars casting long shadows on the stained concrete floor.

  A silhouette filled the doorway, flanked by two others bundled in tattered garb. Chris hurried to the door and threw it open. He ushered his guests inside.

  “I didn’t think you’d come.” He guided Albert and his friends to a table and grabbed a Bible from a nearby shelf. “Vanilla latte, whole milk, right?”

  Albert nodded. “Don’t burn your tongue. It’s hot. Steaming hot in a plastic foam cup.”

  “And for your friends?” Chris studied the wind-chapped faces in front of him, trying to catch their darting gazes. “Three lattes it is.”

  He returned a few moments later with a tray loaded with toasted bagels slathered in strawberry cream, and steaming espresso. After distributing the drinks and food, he set the tray on an adjacent table. He flipped a chair around and straddled it, draping his hands across the backing. “So, I told Albert I’d introduce him to my best friend, Jesus.” He flipped to John chapter John 14:1-2. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.” He continued through verse 6. “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’”

  For the next twenty minutes, he answered questions and read numerous other passages while Albert and his friends drank their coffees. As he spoke, his heart swelled within. The pain of losing Ainsley remained, but the joy of seeing wounded hearts turn to Christ numbed his sorrow.

  “Let’s pray.” He held out his hands and Albert and his friends stared at them. “It’s OK.” After exchanging glances, they slid their hands in his. Everyone bowed their heads as Chris prayed. “Holy Father, thank You for sending Your Son. Thank You for Your free gift of eternal life. And thank You for the promise of heaven.”

  The door chimed open and he looked up. Ainsley stood in the doorway.

  His heart burned as he rose to his feet. “Excuse me.” Balling his hands, he fought the urge to run toward her.

  “Ainsley, I . . . He reached for her, stopping with his fingers an inch from her face, then let his hand drop. Why was she here? To quit? Tell him she’d found a job sooner than expected?

  “I’m sorry. I . . . Can we . . . ?” She pulled her lips in over her teeth as a tear slid down her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

  His heart leapt. “Oh, Ainsley.” He wiped her tear away with his thumb then traced it along the edge of her jaw. Her skin was so soft. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I can’t imagine how it must have felt to see that picture.” He shook his head. “I was disgusting. Completely selfish and irresponsible.”

  “You don’t have to explain your past.”

  “I want to.” He searched her eyes, his reflection mirrored in them. “I need to.” He motioned toward a table a few feet away, and they walked there together. They sat across from each other. “Before I became a Christian, I was a complete jerk. Nothing but a cocky jock who felt entitled.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m ashamed at who I was.” He shook his head. “But then I met Christ, and everything changed. I changed.”

  She studied him. “And that lawsuit?”

  He shrugged. “The lady who made those claims once worked as my assistant. She was OK for a while, but then she started slipping. I think she was an alcoholic who fell off the wagon, but I could never be sure. Long story short, she wasn’t cutting it, so I fired her, and she became bitter, vindictive.” He paused. “The case was long and drawn out. Cost me a boatload of money in lawyer’s fees and lost time. Obviously, I wasn’t stupid enough to represent myself. Through discovery, we learned she’d filed bankruptcy half a dozen times, but the judge wouldn’t allow that in.” He shook his head. “Even so, she had a weak case. We thought for sure it’d be dismissed, but it wasn’t. We were shocked when the jury ruled in her favor.”

  “Any idea why they did?”

  He nodded. “A reporter talked to one of them later. She said they never believed I harassed her, but they were upset with me for firing her.” He shrugged. “She was a single mom with a kid at home, and this was at the height of the recession when conspiracy theories and employer hatred ran high. Of course, that wasn’t what the headlines read.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, and that I wasn’t more . . . understanding. Trusting.”

  “You’re here now. Oh, sweet Ainsley.” He stood and moved to her, his gaze locked on hers, his heart hammering so fast it hurt. “If you only knew how much I love you.” Folding her hands in his and pulling her close, burying his face in her hair as her tears dampened his shoulder. Pulling away, he looked her in the eye and dropped to one knee.

  “Oh, Chris!” Hand to her neck, laughter lit her eyes, her entire face.

  “I didn’t realize how much I loved you until I thought I lost you.” His voice went husky. “I don’t want to lose you again. I don’t have a ring, but . . . He searched his pockets for something that might work then sighed. “But I’ll get one.”

  She giggled, her eyes dancing.

  “Will you marry me, Ainsley Meadows?”

  She bent down and cupped his face in her hands. “Yes, Chris Langley. Yes!”

  Clapping sounded behind them. They rose to find Albert and his friends gathered around, grinning.

  Chapter 51

  insley stood behind a wooden partition and peered out into the crowd. Women from the shelter, customers from the café, and a few of their street friends, cleaned up and dressed in thrift store suits, filled the folding chairs lined in front of the simple gazebo. To her right, a hummingbird flittered around the flowers lining the quaint cabin while a red-breasted robin serenaded them from the trees.

  Ainsley once again read the card in her hands, tears stinging her eyes. It was from Richard, apologizing for his actions and wishing her and Chris the best. Her heart warmed as she thought of how hard she’d prayed for him. That somehow God would break through to his hardened, deceived heart. Though she had no idea where the man stood spiritually, clearly God had been at work. Such an ever-faithful, ever-patient Savior, proving yet again, no one was beyond His reach.

  Gina approached, her eyes dancing. “You ready?” She bounced on the balls of her feet.

  Ainsley nodded and handed the card over. “Hold this for me?”

  Gina looked at it, her eyes widened, then smiled. “Of course.”

  “Let’s do this.” Ainsley grinned and pulled her veil over her face.

  Music drifted from a gilded harp nestled in the shade of an oak tree, and the wedding party—Gina, Rose, William, and Wanda—assumed their places.

  Ainsley’s father came to her side and looped his arm through hers. “You look so beautiful. My little angel.” He cupped her chin and brushed a kiss against her cheek.

  Unspoken words drifted between them, and Ainsley blinked away a rush of tears as she thought how closely she’d come to missing this—to robbing her father of the privilege of wal
king her down the aisle.

  “Shall we?” Her dad smiled, and she let him guide her around the corner and down a petal-strewn pathway. All eyes turned to her as she made her way to the altar. She paused at the final row to look at her mom, who sat with tissue wadded in her hands, tears streaming down her face. For once a man didn’t sit by her side.

  Ainsley reached out and squeezed her mother’s hand.

  Her father took his seat, and she joined Chris at the altar.

  His eyes glimmered in the early morning sun.

  The reverend stepped forward and read from a well-worn Bible. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’” [Genesis 2:18 NIV]. A helpmate—a partner, united as one, not for personal pleasure or self-fulfillment, but to demonstrate the love of Christ. Ainsley Meadows and Chris Langley, may your marriage be a living testimony of grace and may the two of you, united, serve God with reckless abandon.” He closed his Bible and looked at Chris. “Do you, Chris Langley, take this woman, Ainsley Meadows, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do you part?”

  Chris grinned. “I do.”

  The reverend turned to Ainsley. “And do you, Ainsley, take Chris Langley to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, encouraging, uplifting, and offering respect, till death do you part?”

  Joyous tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away. “I do.”

  “Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  The music stopped and everyone moved to the edge of the dance floor. Ainsley giggled, clutching the bouquet to her chest. She shot Gina a wink, but Gina stepped back, shaking her head and waving her hands in front of her.

  Turning with her back to her guests, Ainsley offered a prayer for blessings over whoever caught her bouquet then hurled it over her head. She turned around to see it sail through the air before landing in her mother’s arms. Her mom stared at her with wide eyes and for a moment the room went silent. Then a whoop sounded near the back and everyone clapped.

  Ainsley smiled. Her mother was a miracle waiting to happen, but God was in the miracle-making business.

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