by Mary May
Charlie covered her heart with her hands. “I have never felt like this before! I feel like I need to protect it…it’s precious!”
Laying her hands over Charlie’s, Sabrina nodded. “It is precious…so precious! The Bible tells us to guard our hearts, so that feeling is correct. We are to guard our hearts with His Word.”
A knock at the door then a voice asking if Charlie was all right had them hugging once more before going out.
Chapter 22
Charlie watched with mixed feelings as Nate and his parents approached her. It appeared as if they had worked everything out, but she wasn’t sure she was up to seeing them. Realizing that short of being downright rude she couldn’t avoid them, she pasted a smile on her face and vowed to be polite.
“Charlie, my parents have something they would like to say to you.”
Kate Jackson stepped forward first with a hesitant smile. “Charlie, I need to apologize to you for the way we treated you in California at the hospital. I could stand here and give a list of reasons why we behaved so horribly, but it wouldn’t excuse it. You see, we were caught in a situation much like yours, but we didn’t have a strong Christian family to pull us out of it. It lingered for years and pulled us in deeper and deeper.”
Looking to her husband for support, she took a deep breath before continuing. “I know that Nate told you about Ellie. Losing her destroyed something in me. I felt like I had died with her but my body wouldn’t quit. In a way my bitterness and anger toward God made my insides start to decay. It took nearly losing Nate to make us see that we couldn’t live our lives like that any longer. Losing one child doesn’t exempt you from being a parent to your remaining child, and that’s what we had to face when Nate came home. We have asked Nate his forgiveness and now we ask it of you.”
Charlie glanced over to see Nate smiling with a sheen in his eyes. That started the flood once more in hers. Wiping her tears, she smiled at Kate, a real smile. “Of course, I forgive you! I never should have judged you so harshly. My mama kept telling me that things are not always what they seem. But I couldn’t see past the obvious. I’m sorry…Can you forgive me?”
No words were needed as Kate pulled Charlie into a warm hug then passed her to Ricky, who did the same. Charlie was all smiles until Nate’s dad passed her to him. Looking up into the face that she had built all of her dreams around, she waited for the searing pain to come flooding back…but it didn’t. All she felt was a tender fondness.
“Hi,” Nate said with a soft smile.
“Hi, yourself.” Charlie responded. “Nate, I’m…”
“Charlie, I’m,” they both laughed as they tried to apologize at the same time.
“You go first,” Nate insisted.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she smiled once more. “I’m sorry for punching you that day by the lake. Mama said I really have to find a better way to express myself.”
Rubbing his jaw, Nate winked at her. “Well, sometimes it takes a hard knock to the head to make people see reason. You have nothing to apologize for…I hurt you so badly… more so than I had realized. So again I ask you for your forgiveness. I’m so sorry, Charlie. You are the last person on this earth I would ever want to cause pain. I love you so much…” He stopped as he realized what he had said.
Charlie stared up in shock as Nate’s words hit her hard in the heart, causing it to trip out of rhythm. Looking past his shoulder, she saw that they had hit someone else hard, too. Logan’s face grew cold as he looked from Charlie to Nate. Then spinning on his heel he turned and walked out the door.
“Logan! Logan! Please stop!” Charlie sprinted across the yard, trying to reach Logan before he made it to his truck, but she was too late. Flinging gravel, he sped past her without even looking back.
Sabrina came running out to see what was happening. “Charlie! What happened?”
She looked at her mother, shaking her head. “I don’t know…I mean I do…but…it’s all such a mess!”
Nate and his parents walked over to where she was standing in the middle of the driveway.
“Charlie, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to cause you more trouble. I meant what I said, but today wasn’t the time to say it. I just didn’t want you thinking that I didn’t love you anymore. I thought maybe that was part of the problem.”
“Nate Jackson! I swear you make me crazy! First you push me away then you tell me you love me. No wonder I resort to violence when you’re around!” She looked again at the dust trail that Logan had left.
“But right now you’re not my first concern. I have to talk to Logan.”
Charlie finally caught up with Logan two hours later at the local bar. Realizing she wasn’t old enough to go in, she kept asking people to go in and tell him she was out there. Finally he came out looking like he was about to blow something up.
“What do you want, Charlie? There really isn’t anything left of my heart for you to stomp on, so I don’t know what else you think you can do to hurt me.”
She glanced down at the beer bottle that he held loosely in the fingers of his left hand. “How many of those have you had?”
Shrugging, he lifted the bottle up as if it might have the answer. “Enough.” He put the bottle to his lips and took a long pull on it.
Charlie snatched the bottle and flung it across the parking lot. “Is this how you plan on dealing with all of our problems? Drowning them in booze? If so, you are not the man I thought you were, Logan Russell!”
Watching his bottle sail through the air then smash into a million pieces on the ground, he glared down at Charlie.
“What do you care how I solve my problems anyway? You are getting back together with soldier boy, a GI-Joe all- American hero! Be all that you can be! In the Armmyyy!!” He sang in a mocking tribute.
Crossing her arms, Charlie wondered just how much of what she was going to say would even get through his alcohol- induced stupidity.
“Logan? Tell me exactly what you heard before you ran off.”
“Nate said he loved you.”
Nodding her head, she continued. “What did I say in return?”
Sneering down at her, he answered. “Nothing! Because you didn’t get a chance…but I know what you would have said anyway, so it don’t matter!”
“It kind of does matter, Logan. I was surprised by Nate’s declaration, I won’t lie, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I love you, Logan…I made a promise to you that I fully intend to keep.”
That seemed to sober Logan up a bit as he finally fully focused on what she was saying. “You really mean that, Charlie? You still want to marry me?”
“I really do…I will marry you today if that would prove anything to you,” she said with a laugh.
“Don’t tease me like that. I would give you my last name in a heartbeat.” Charlie studied him closely for a minute.
“I know you would. I have no reason to wait until next summer…if it will prove to you that I truly do love you. I say let’s do it! We can either go to the courthouse and do it, maybe not today…since we have to get a license, but tomorrow!”
Logan pulled her up onto her tiptoes, kissing her deeply. “I know you want a wedding and you deserve one. So, I can wait a little bit longer. How about this June instead of next June? Will that be enough time to plan something nice? It’s nearly six weeks.”
“That will be perfect!”
The next few weeks flew by in a flurry of activity as Charlie and Sabrina along with Lakyn, who was her Maid of Honor, and Keelie, who was making her dress, all worked like mad getting everything arranged. The bridal party was a fun-filled occasion with everything wrapped in peach, white and dark pink to match Charlie’s chosen wedding colors. Logan was thrown a bachelor party that consisted mostly of standing around a fire and hanging out with his friends. Toward the end an unexpected guest arrived. Nate walked over then held out his hand toward Logan.
“I just wanted to drop by to say that I really do wish you and Charlie all
the best. I won’t lie and say that I don’t wish this was my party, but if I can’t be the one to make her happy, then I’m glad it’s you, because I know you will.”
Logan shook the other man’s hand. “I appreciate that, Nate. I really do. I promise that I will do whatever I need to do to make her happy. I give you my word on that.”
Slapping him lightly on the shoulder, Nate nodded then walked away.
Charlie and Logan’s wedding day dawned bright and beautiful. The June sky was blue with white puffy clouds dotting the horizon. The house was a beehive of activity as everyone scrambled to take care of his or her assigned tasks. Standing in front of her bedroom window, Charlie watched as Devon and the twins hauled pews down to the spot beside the pond that she had chosen for her wedding. They had completed the archway last night and it was truly beautiful. Dozens of peach, white and deep pink roses covered the archway. Beside the archway she had placed two posts with white antique lanterns that, along with the pews, had come from the church where she had attended most of her life. Even though her ceremony was being held outside, she wanted her home church to still be represented, and Pastor Eddie had agreed to perform the ceremony.
The pews were adorned with more roses and pink tulle and even the nearby trees were given the wedding treatment. It was exactly the way she had envisioned it.
Keelie had worked nothing short of a miracle designing then putting together Charlie’s wedding dress. It hung on the back of her bathroom door just waiting for her to step into it and be transformed into a princess. A knock on her door pulled her from her daydreams. “Come in!” She smiled when she saw Catherine’s head poke inside.
“Hey, sweetheart! I just wanted a minute with you before everything got really crazy.”
“Sure, come on in…Keelie will be here soon to help me with my dress. Did you see Kinsley’s dress? It’s so pretty!”
Catherine hugged Charlie close. “Yes, it’s beautiful…So is yours! I loved the fact that you designed it. It’s so you!” Then she grew silent for a moment.
“What’s wrong, Mimi?” Charlie asked.
Catherine smiled. “Oh nothing! Just an old woman having old woman thoughts, I suppose.”
Charlie laughed. “You’re not old, Mimi! You have lived is all. Nothing wrong with that! Besides, someone as lovely as you would never be considered old.” Reaching out she patted her granddaughter’s cheek.
“Thank you, sweetheart, I was just thinking of when you were born. I had never in all my life seen such a beautiful baby. I literally gasped when I saw you for the first time. You were a perfect little china doll, with smooth porcelain skin and a little rosebud mouth. Even though that was before I had given my life to Jesus, I knew there had to be a God because I was looking at an angel.”
Charlie smiled as she hugged her grandmother again.
“Now look at you! All grown up and getting married! Where on earth has the time gone? I believe you grew up even faster than your mother. Now I won’t take up your time today. I just wanted to tell you that your grandpa and I love you so very much. We are proud of the young woman that you have grown into. I would like to take just a minute and pray over you and your marriage.”
Charlie smiled then bowed her head.
“Lord, I thank you for the gift of this young woman in my life. She has brought this family so much joy and laughter. Your light shines from the depths of her soul and I thank you for that. Father, I ask that you keep your hand firmly on her and her young man. Bless them with the abundance of love and harmony above all else. Bless their children and their grandchildren and whoever else may come along in their lives. Keep them safe and keep them filled with contentment and with the knowledge that no matter what this life may throw at them that you will always guide their steps. Amen”
After her grandmother’s prayer, Charlie hugged her once more and thanked her for her beautiful blessing.
Soon after Catherine left, Keelie came in and the preparations began. Charlie sat down at her makeup mirror and watched as Keelie lifted her hair, running her fingers through it to loosen the curls.
“So, did you have a particular hairstyle in mind, Charlie?”
“How about a style that says it’s June and pretty warm outside? Can it also say that my hair curls up and frizzes when I get hot?” she said with a grin.
Keelie laughed. “Alright, I think I have something in mind that says all of that.”
Charlie watched as Keelie divided her hair then started braiding on the left side of her head and continued all the way around until she had a soft braided crown. She left out her long bangs and pulled free a few curls to frame her face. Charlie sat in awe at the simple style that was both carefree and elegant at the same time.
“Oh, Keelie! That’s so pretty! I never could braid my hair like that. Thank you!”
Keelie squeezed her shoulders, bending down to brush a kiss on her cheek. “Be happy, Charlie!”
Next Sabrina came and helped with her makeup, not that Charlie needed or wanted much. Keeping it simple, she swept some light peach shadow on her eyelids then smudged in just a touch of a bronze brown color in the creases. Taking that same brown, she smudged it under Charlie’s lower lashes and along the top outer corners of her eye. Two coats of velvet black waterproof mascara and her eyes were done. Next she dusted the apples of her cheeks with a soft peachy pink blush then added some lip gloss in rose petal, a soft pink shade that looked as if she had bitten her lips.
“What do you think?” Sabrina looked over to Keelie, who smiled and nodded.
“I think she looks perfect…so beautiful!”
“Charlie, what do you think?”
She looked up into her mother’s eyes and tried not to cry and mess up all of her hard work. “I can’t believe that is me! I hope Logan doesn’t expect this every day, or I’m in trouble.”
Sabrina laughed. “Oh, sweetheart. Logan loves you for you! Besides, you are gorgeous without all the fuss of makeup. But on special days sometimes just a little extra effort can go a long way and on you it goes on forever! Ok! Dress time!”
Charlie jumped up and hurried off into the bathroom, grabbing a big square box on her way.
Keelie raised a brow at the box.
“Wedding boots.” Sabrina explained.
“Oh? Have you seen them?” Keelie asked. Shaking her head, Sabrina sat on the side of Charlie’s bed.
“No, she said she wanted me to see everything all together. I just can’t imagine how cowboy boots and a wedding dress will go together.”
Keelie reached over and took her hand. “So how are you doing?”
Sabrina laughed. “You know this sudden change in the wedding date has actually been a blessing. I haven’t had to think about it. I’m sure after the wedding I will have a meltdown.”
“It’s natural. Don’t feel like you shouldn’t cry. Do you know where they will live after the honeymoon?”
“They are renting a house just outside of town. Charlie will turn twenty-one in the fall; then she will have her full inheritance. I think they will buy something then.” Sabrina sighed as she rubbed her arms as if she were cold.
“What’s wrong?” Keelie asked with concern.
“Nothing really. Don’t get me wrong…I like Logan very much. I think he is a wonderful young man but…”
Keelie smiled in understanding. “But he isn’t Nate?”
“No, he isn’t. I asked Charlie so many times if she was sure about this that she started to get annoyed. I know she loves him, I know he will be good to her and make her happy but…” Lifting her hands helplessly, she didn’t finish her sentence.
“Sabrina, I think we were all surprised that Nate wasn’t the one she chose. But we have to trust that God knows best. If Logan weren’t the man that He wanted for your daughter, then something would have stopped it. We don’t know what the future holds; we can only trust the One that does.”
Smiling, Sabrina hugged Keelie tightly. “Thank you for that. It lifted a burden off of
me that I didn’t realize had grown so heavy.”
A brief knock on the door had both women turning to see Lakyn poking her head in.
“Hi! Is she dressed yet?”
“Not yet, she is putting on her dress now. You look very pretty, Lakyn!” The young woman blushed as she smoothed the cotton material over her hips. The dress had a similar halter-top design as Charlie’s. It was a light peach and stopped just above her knees. Pretty dark brown cowboy boots with a swirling silver inlay actually looked pretty with the simple cotton dress.
“Thank you! I was hoping I would make it in time for the big reveal!” She had no sooner spoken the words than the bathroom door opened and Charlie stepped out.
“Oh. My. Gosh!” Lakyn sputtered out. The other two women were too awestruck to say anything. Charlie was a vision! The dress was a deep cream in color and made of satin with a lace overlay. The bodice hugged her breasts and waistline then flared out slightly, stopping just above her knees. A belt that fastened the lacy train at her waist had a silver buckle that sparkled with rhinestones. It fit Charlie like a dream. On her feet were the wedding boots made of white leather with a small three-inch heel. They had the same swirling silver inlay that matched Lakyn’s. Charlie looked at her mother, who hadn’t said a word.
“Mama?” she questioned.
Sabrina looked up and the tears flowed. “Oh, my baby… you are so beautiful! I’m not ready for this! I’m not!”
Charlie rushed over to her now-sobbing mother. “Mama! Look at me!”
Sabrina looked up, sniffling and wiping at her overflowing eyes.
“Mama, I’m going to be just fine! I will be right up the road less than six miles. I will be over here every day tending to the horses. You won’t even realize I’m gone.”
Sabrina shook her head as she held on to Charlie. “I will too know! A mama knows! Charlie, are sure about this? If you’re not completely one hundred percent sure, we can stop this right now!”
Charlie laughed then looked to Keelie for help. “Yes, I’m a thousand percent sure. If you keep asking me that, I’m going to start thinking you don’t like my groom. That’s not true, is it?”