by Treva Harte
She saw Jack make a quick gesture and then stop. Neither of the men moved for a moment.
She felt the tears begin to fall on her cheeks. It was over. She had finally said it. No more dreams, no more wondering, no more torturing herself over what could have been, should have been.
Then Victor made a noise in his throat. It hurt to listen to it. Jen was dreadfully afraid it sounded close to that of an animal in pain.
"I should have stayed away then," he rasped out. "This was for nothing."
"No!" Jen put her hand to her throat. "I couldn't bear to think of you missing. Dead. Neither could Jack. Oh, Victor, I am so sorry."
"Vic." Jack stepped forward. "If you want to take it out on me, God knows you're entitled. I probably deserve anything you want to dish out. But Jen doesn't deserve all this. She's too important to us both."
"Do you expect me to say get married with my blessing? Sorry. My limp won't let me dance at your wedding," Victor told them, evenly. "To hell with you both."
Victor was gone then and Jen looked at her fiancé. He stood absolutely still, just as Victor had, but he watched her. Jen put her hands in his this time. His hands stayed quiet a moment, then shifted and gripped hers until she almost felt bones crunch. She knew then that he hadn't been sure of her before. He truly had wondered if she would forget him and choose Victor.
"I had a choice, Jack." Her voice wavered and then grew steady. "I had longed for a choice all this time. Then I got one. This time my choice is you. It will be you forever, from now on. You first, always—"
His lips were on hers and she couldn't say any more. When he let her go, she sighed and held him.
"Now I can ask," Jen said. "If I had said—Jack, I changed my mind. I want Victor after all. What would you have done?"
"Knocked Victor down before he got to you and then have had my way with you on the floor 'til we both killed ourselves from pleasure—or at least until you changed your mind." His response was prompt but the smile in her eyes wasn't reflected in his.
"You can say that now, you beast, but, really, what would you have done?"
"Let you go, I suppose." His face voice turned resentful. "You want it all, right, Jen? OK, here goes. I love you. There's a reason I never wanted to admit that. Now that I've said it I have to admit I'm yours. You pretty much can do what you want to me and I'm still yours. I want you to be happy more than I want to be happy. Damn you. This is humiliating for a grown man to have to say out loud."
Jennifer blinked back tears. He'd said it. It didn't matter that he looked as if it had been tortured out of him. That only made her surer he really meant the words.
"But—"
"What? There's not a but to this. That's the way it is for me. You've got me by the two most vulnerable parts of my body. And the most vulnerable part is my damned heart."
"But you can say that because you know I wouldn't hurt you, Jack. You know me. I want you. Just you. It took me so long to admit it, so long to sit down and think about what I wanted from you, because I didn't want to feel faithless. I didn't want to admit I could love someone other than Victor. I pretended I was blindly in lust with you for weeks. But the truth is that I love you more than I ever did Victor. You love me with everything you have because I love you the same way back. I'm willing to give up things for you, but you won't let me. I wouldn't do it to you, either. Because I'm yours, too."
There was a silence.
"Hell, the marriage vows are going to be simple after this." Jack cleared his throat. "And a lot less embarrassing."
"Then let's go do them." Jen began to smile again.
When she and Jack had come back into the room, Molly told her briefly and quietly that Cee Cee had followed Victor out of the house.
"Jennifer, I didn't know whether to stop her. I decided not to try," Molly whispered. "I don't know what she's going to do with him or how long it will take before she comes back."
Jen said, "She'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. But we won't wait for her return. I don't want to wait."
Even though the magistrate had indulgently agreed they could add a bit to the civil ceremony, the wedding was brief. Jen thought she would be distracted, but the words they'd chosen were still meaningful. Jen almost wept when Molly softly gave the one brief reading Jen had picked. The look on Jack's face made her want to cry more—it was both stunned and adoring.
Was this all too perfect?
She looked at the wedding ring Jack slid on her finger and was afraid to touch it. For one horrified moment she wondered if everything that had happened here was a dream—she had had so many before and then awakened.
No. Everything felt sharp and in focus and her movements were precise and graceful. She could smell the flowers. She could feel the rings. Jack was kissing her. This wasn't a dream.
"How are you, Jen?" Jack asked, as he pulled back from their first kiss as man and wife.
"Wonderful. I don't have to dream any more, Jack. What I have now is real. You're real. I'm so glad I picked just one reading for the wedding. It was the right one."
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.
--The End--
Also by Treva Harte
Perfect
Why Me?
The Deviants
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
www.ellorascave.com