Perfectly Matched

by Lois Richer

  “Say yes, Shay,” Maggie chanted, her dark eyes shining.

  “Yes,” Shay repeated. “I love you, Nick.”

  Nick didn’t need anything else. He pulled the gorgeous Shay Parker as close as he could and kissed her. He poured everything into that kiss—his worry about her and Maggie, his relief that God had answered his prayers in a way he’d never expected, and his dream of a future with the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. He would have kept on kissing her but a small hand tugged so hard on his pant leg, it broke his concentration.

  “Excuse me a minute—don’t go anywhere,” he said to Shay. He peered down at his grinning niece. “What?”

  “Are you and Shay going to get married?” Maggie asked.

  Nick looked at Shay. She smiled at him. “Yes,” they said together.

  “Can I be in it? I’d practice ever so hard to carry the rings or whatever you want. I promise I wouldn’t mess up or…”

  Shay eased out of Nick’s arms and hunched down to lay a finger over Maggie’s lips to stop her words. Then she drew the girl close.

  “Maggie, my darling Maggie,” Shay said. “Do you think Nick and I would even think about getting married without you?”

  “I don’t know,” came Maggie’s muffled response.

  Shay turned to smile at him, and Nick’s knees turned to mush. Lord, he loved this woman. He squatted down beside them and folded them both into his embrace.

  “You’re the one who brought Shay and me together in the first place. You’re the one who taught us to trust God. We watched your faith and we learned how to trust Him.” He smiled at her. “You have to be in our wedding, Maggie-mine.”

  Maggie beamed. “Good. Can I wear a pink dress? I love pink.”

  “You can wear whatever you want, sweetheart,” his wife-to-be said. “Maybe Uncle Nick will wear a matching pink tie.”

  “Pink? Shay, come on.” He straightened, ready to plead his case.

  “And we could get a big pink ribbon for Hugs,” Maggie agreed. “He has to be part of the wedding, too.”

  “No. Absolutely not. That dog is a—” Nick stopped short. His two ladies were looking at him as if he’d doused them with water from the lake. His heart melted. “So, is this what it’s going to be like?” he asked meekly.

  Shay grinned. “Want to back out?”

  “Not on your life.” He held out a hand, pulled her upright and pressed another kiss on her mouth. “We are getting married, pink ties and dogs and bows notwithstanding. You hear me?”

  “I hear you, Nick. I can hardly wait.” Shay wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back with a fervor that drew no complaints from Nick.

  He checked his heart and felt only anticipation about their future and what God would show them.

  “Not that kissing again,” Maggie grumbled. “I want some breakfast.”

  Nick burst out laughing. “Okay, Mags, we’ll go get breakfast.” He took her hand and helped her down the path, glancing at Shay, delighted to see the same joy reflected on her face that warmed his insides. “But if you’re going to be in our wedding, I’ve got a condition.”

  “What condition?” Maggie planted her hands on her hips.

  “I get to kiss Shay whenever I want and you don’t get to complain about it.” He set her inside his truck and fastened her seat belt. Then he held out his hand. “Deal?”

  With a heavy sigh, Maggie shook his hand. “Deal,” she agreed.

  “Good. Now sit tight for a minute, will you?” He closed the truck door then turned to face his best friend. “I don’t know how this will turn out,” he said. “I have a verbal contract with the team. I might have to go back and work a couple of months until they find someone else.”

  “God will work something out,” she said, her lovely face glowing. “However He does it, we’ll keep trusting Him to lead us.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Conscious of Maggie’s peering eyes, Nick contented himself with one last quick kiss.

  “Nick, I remembered something important last night.” She took a deep breath. “I know who the stalker is. I remembered him talking to the maintenance man one time, and the man called him ‘son.’” She smiled at his quick intake of breath. “It should be enough for the police to catch him, shouldn’t it?”

  “It should be more than enough, sweet Shay.” Nick hugged her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, thank God. I am very okay.” She hugged him hard. “Let’s get on with the rest of our lives.”

  “Deal.” He helped Shay into his truck and drove to his mother’s house, where Maggie, after wiggling out of her grandmother’s arms, broke the news about their upcoming wedding.

  “I’m so delighted.” His mom hugged him then embraced Shay. “You’ve always been a daughter of my heart. This will make it reality.” She stopped. “How was it up there? I remember you told me you had a fear of the desert at night.”

  “I gave all my fears to God,” Shay explained. “I don’t know what He has planned for my future, but with Him by my side, and Nick,” she added, grasping his hand, “I know I can do anything He sets before me.”

  “That’s quite a lesson.”

  Shay gave Mrs. Green a smile. “I learned it from someone very special, and very wise.”

  A few minutes later Jaclyn, Kent, Brianna and Zac arrived while Shay was on the phone with the NYPD. Once her friends had heard the story of the cave ordeal and her returned memory, Shay told them she and Nick were getting married. After a lot of hugging and congratulations, the ladies tipped their heads together and began wedding planning. Nick led the men out to the deck, where they sat drinking his mom’s lemonade.

  “So what will you do in Hope?” Zac finally asked the question Nick figured was on everyone’s mind.

  “I have no idea. Odd jobs, maybe.” Nick shrugged, pretending it didn’t matter. “I’ll do something. The important thing is that I stay here.”

  The other two men were silent for several moments. Finally Kent spoke, scuffing his toe against the deck as he said the words slowly. “I think the Lord’s got more in store for you than odd jobs. I think He brought you back here for a reason.” He slapped Nick on the back. “Just hang in there. He’ll show you His plan soon enough.”

  Nick opened his mouth to respond but a squeal from inside had the three men jumping out of their seats.

  Brianna stuck her head out the screen door.

  “Kent, you need to get your wife to the hospital. Apparently she’s been having contractions for a while but didn’t want to interrupt the search. Well?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “Why are the three of you staring at me like that? A baby’s coming.”

  “Baby. Right. Hospital.” Kent jumped up and stalked toward the truck—without his wife.

  Nick started laughing. “You hold him there,” he told Zac. “I’ll go help Jaclyn. We’d better follow them in. I have a hunch he’s going to need us before this day is over.”

  “What are friends for?” Zac high-fived him. “Congratulations, by the way. You and Shay are perfect for each other.”

  “Perfectly matched,” Jaclyn agreed as she stepped onto the deck. Then she groaned and grabbed her friends’ hands. “Oh, boy.” She puffed through the contraction with Brianna’s coaching, then muttered, “I need to leave. Now.”

  “You think?” Nick said as Kent roared up, lifted his wife into the truck and roared away.

  “Keep praying, Mom,” Nick whispered in her ear as he hugged her. “This is a turning out to be a day when we need a lot of God’s help.”

  “All we have to do is ask.” She nudged him. “Now, take Shay to the hospital. Maggie and I will work on the wedding. We know exactly what we want, don’t we, honey?”

  “Pink,” Maggie said with a nod. “Lots and lots of pink. It’s Shay’s favorite color.”

  “I see.” His stomach clenched at the thought of what the two of them would create, but he tamped down his misgivings, helped Shay into his truck and followed the others.

  “
Is your favorite color really pink?”

  “No.” She laughed. “But it really doesn’t matter, does it? I just want to marry you.”

  He picked up her hand and kissed her palm.

  “Now, that’s what I call having your priorities sorted,” Nick told her. “Because I want to marry you, too. And soon. As soon as possible.” He turned to look into her beautiful face. “What do you know about women having babies?”

  “Not a thing, but I guess we’ll trust God to teach us something new.”

  For the first time in a long time, trusting God sounded absolutely perfect to Nick.

  Epilogue

  “I can’t believe a world-class designer just gave you this wedding dress. It’s spectacular.” Jaclyn sat on the living-room sofa holding her sleeping daughter, Lily Grace. Liam Kent lay nearby, wide awake but quiet in the blanket Shay had made.

  “Evan is a dear friend and an amazing designer. I love his work. His dresses have always made me feel as if I’m a princess. This one certainly does.” Shay smoothed a hand over the feather-light silk creation, a one-of-a-kind design made especially for her, more beautiful than anything she’d ever worn.

  “I can’t believe you look more lovely today than you ever did on any magazine cover,” Brianna said as she watched Shay bend to press a tender kiss on each baby’s cheek.

  “Well, thank you, Jaclyn. But what I can’t believe is how a doctor can be pregnant with twins and not know it! You always were an overachiever, Jaclyn.”

  Jaclyn grinned as Shay and Brianna admired the babies.

  “Those things are all true, of course. And wonderful besides. You girls are right to notice them. But what I can’t believe is that the New York police finally caught Shay’s stalker.” Mrs. Green shook her head. “That memory she had in the cave with Maggie was certainly God timing, wasn’t it?” She asked Shay to give them more details.

  “Dom was the son of the building maintenance guy. He was supposed to be helping his dad but he’d often disappear for hours at a time. His father thought he was playing video games or something since it had been happening for years.” It didn’t bother Shay at all to talk about it. “Maybe that was true when he was younger, but when the modeling agency bought the building as a shoot site because of its roof terrace, Dom apparently became mesmerized by the models. Of course he had access to everything and he’d keep the pink telephone message cards we threw away. He started spying on us and got fixated on me.”

  “Who wouldn’t?” Jaclyn asked with a proud smile.

  “Nick said he started by stealing some of the jewelry you were modeling,” Mrs. Green said.

  “Yes, but his dad found out and put it back. He never knew Dom was following me or threatening me. And that only started because Dom saw me give away some flowers he’d sent. Though I didn’t realize that.”

  “I’m just glad they got him. That Dom would have gone on deceiving women and terrorizing them if you hadn’t remembered who he was and given the police enough information that they set a trap that he couldn’t get out of. Now, thank God, he won’t hurt anyone again.” Mrs. Green reached out to brush Shay’s cheek with her hand, a fond smile lighting her face. “God answers. He always answers.”

  “Yes, He does,” Brianna agreed. She checked her watch. “Hey, we’ve got to get this woman to the church on time. Let’s move it. Where’s her veil?”

  “Where are the flowers?” Jaclyn asked.

  “Where’s my phone?” Shay said as the familiar peal sounded. She found it and saw Nick’s number. “I have to take this,” she said. “It’s my groom.” Her heart swelled with joy as she said his name. “Nick?”

  “Hey, gorgeous. Why aren’t you at the church? I’m waiting.”

  “I’m on my way. Be patient,” she said. “After today we’ll have forever.”

  “Yes, we will. Listen, God really came through for us, sweetheart.” Nick sounded ecstatic.

  “What’s going on?” Surely nothing would go wrong now—no. Trust God, Shay ordered herself. He didn’t bring you this far to leave you. “You sound excited, Nick.”

  “I am. We just received the most perfect wedding gift.”

  “You opened it without me?” Shay asked.

  “I was told to. It was a letter. You won’t believe this, Shay. Thanks to a little push from Chief Burger, the town of Hope just offered me the job of activities director,” he told her, his voice jubilant.

  Shay closed her eyes, her heart exploding with praise. “Go on.”

  “They said that while I was in Seattle working out my notice to the team, they realized there were so many groups that had worked with me that they needed someone on staff to keep them running. I am employed full-time starting the first of next month.”

  “Praise God,” she whispered, trying not to cry and ruin her makeup.

  “You’d better double that praise, sweetheart.” His excitement transmitted clearly over the phone. “Because they’ve also initiated a fund to create that wellness center you and I proposed. They believe it will benefit the whole town and are anxious to get together with us as soon as we return from our honeymoon to hammer out details!”

  “Fantastic!” Shay couldn’t help but whisper a prayer of thanks.

  “I love you, Shay Parker.”

  “That’s soon-to-be Mrs. Green, to you, buddy. And I love you, too, Nick.” The enormity of the love that filled her heart and soul swamped Shay.

  “Uh-oh. Maggie just texted me.” Nick chuckled. “She wants me to get my boutonniere. Now.”

  “You’d better obey our ‘wedding planner.’ I’ll follow shortly,” Shay promised.

  “And then we’ll begin our future,” he murmured. “I can hardly wait.”

  “Me, either.” Shay saw her friends gesturing at the clock. “I love you. Bye.”

  “The flowers are at the church,” Mrs. Green said, emerging from the bedroom. “Someone put them in the fridge in the basement. That’s why we couldn’t find them. We’re good to—oh, Shay. You look so very happy.”

  “Because I am.” She explained about Nick’s new job. “Thank you all,” she said, studying each dear face. “You’ve made this the most wonderful day of my life.”

  “Well, us and Nick,” Brianna teased.

  “Yes, especially Nick,” she agreed.

  Jaclyn looked at her watch. “We’re behind schedule. Is Kent here?”

  “Outside with the limo,” Mrs. Green confirmed. “Give me one of those babies to carry, Jaclyn. Brianna, you help Shay. We don’t want the bride to be late for her own wedding.”

  They arrived at the church and were escorted into the bride’s dressing room by a very excited Maggie, who looked sweet in a pink sundress that Shay had picked out for her. She held Shay’s bouquet and a small rectangular box.

  “This is for you, Shay,” she said holding out the silver box. “With lots of love from Uncle Nick.”

  “Oh.” Shay lifted the lid and found a silver filigree necklace with a tiny heart nestled inside. In the center of the heart sparkled an emerald.

  “It’s lovely,” Mrs. Green said. “Shall I put it on for you?”

  “Yes, please.” Shay leaned over while the necklace was fastened. Then she drew out a tiny card that said, You have my heart, Shay. Always. Love, Nick. “It’s the perfect wedding gift,” she whispered, eager to tell him thanks in a more personal way.

  “Here, Shay!” Maggie said, holding out a sheaf of dark pink sweetheart roses. “These are from Uncle Nick, too. He chose them from Grandma’s garden.”

  “They’re lovely.” Shay sniffed. She glanced around, overcome by the generosity of everyone who’d helped make her wedding happen in such a short time.

  “I just wish we could have finished renovations on the church before your wedding,” Jaclyn said, tracing a finger across the worn paneling on the wall.

  “I don’t think we’ll ever be done with that,” Brianna said. “We’ll probably still be working on it when all of our kids graduate from college and come
back to Hope to be married. That’s how it should be, isn’t it? The church growing and changing as our lives do?”

  “I like the sound of that,” Shay murmured as she set her veil in place.

  “Brianna and I wanted to give you a special gift, because you’re our best friend and because we’re glad you joined us in the clinic, and because we’re so happy you and Nick are getting married.” Jaclyn grinned.

  “Yes.” Brianna smiled at Jaclyn. “We wanted something really special and something lasting. So we’re going to make a special donation to the wellness center you and Nick put forward. It will be funding earmarked for a children’s section so that no child who uses it will ever pay a fee.”

  “I can’t imagine a better gift,” Shay said, embracing the pair. Of course she was crying. Of course it took a few moments to repair the damage. But her joy was so great that nothing could dim it.

  “Shay, Uncle Nick is waiting at the front,” Maggie said after she’d peeked out the door. “The church is full and everyone’s ready.” She clutched the door. “Can we start now?”

  “Yes. We can start now.” Shay nodded. Maggie opened the door wide. They all walked to the back of the church. “Thank you for making our day so special,” Shay whispered to Maggie. The little girl started down the aisle first, walking proudly with no limp. Shay’s heart gave a bump of pride. God had certainly brought her to this place—Maggie was confirmation of that. Brianna followed in a lighter pink press, then Jaclyn in the palest pink of all. Both of them stood next to their husbands, Nick’s best men. The organ sounded and the congregation rose. Shay fixed her eyes on Nick.

  Shay spared a thought for her father. He’d have been so proud to walk her down the aisle. She missed him desperately, but she knew he was watching.

  She focused on Nick until she was finally by his side. His gaze held hers as Brianna and Jaclyn, Kent and Zac linked their hands together. Cherished and protected in his grip, Shay listened as he recited the age-old words that would bind them as husband and wife before God for the rest of their lives. Nick said his vows slowly, his eyes locked with hers, his voice quiet, the promise meant for her ears alone. He didn’t stumble over the words as he’d teased he would. And when he slid the ring on her finger, it was as if her heart locked with his.