Everlasting Love
Page 16
A slight breeze lifted the edges of her veil and ruffled her hair. Change was in the air. Soon, the Ozarks would be awash with the bright colors of fall. And even sooner, she would be Mrs. James Harris.
Her mother had helped her into her long white dress, then kissed her before going to sit in the front row of folding chairs next to Roxy. The girl had wisely placed herself as a buffer between their parents, allowing their father and his new wife and son to sit on her other side. James’s family had sent polite regrets.
Breaking with tradition, Megan had asked Zac to give her away, much to everyone’s astonishment—including Zac’s. She’d been afraid he was going to turn her down until James had offered to take him shopping for clothes and shoes and had also promised to coach him so he wouldn’t make any mistakes in etiquette.
As an added blessing, Zac and Bobby Joe had been placed in James’s custody until a suitable, two-parent home could be found for them. Megan had every intention of becoming their mother as soon as possible, her first move being to marry their foster daddy as a prelude to filing necessary adoption papers.
Megan held tight to Zac’s arm and waited for the service to begin. The boy looked amazingly suave and fully composed, though he still had a slight limp.
“You okay, Ms. Megan?” he whispered.
“Sure. Just scared to death,” she answered softly.
“Hey, don’t worry. Mr. Harris’ll catch you if you faint or something.”
“I’m not going to faint.”
The boy exhaled noisily and wiggled his eyebrows. “Whew! That’s a relief.”
She couldn’t help but be amused at his antics. “Behave yourself, mister. Getting married is serious. If you make me laugh, we’re both going to be in trouble.”
“No kidding it’s serious,” Zac said. “I never figured on wearing a suit, ever. This tie’s about to strangle me.”
“Zac…”
“Okay, okay. That lady over there’s waving at us to go. You ready?”
“Ready.” Megan looked down at the boy and smiled. There was something about his grin that gave her pause. She scowled. “What’s up? You look funny.”
“Nothing’s up,” he said, all innocence.
“Then take your other hand out of your coat pocket and stand up straight like James showed you.”
“Can’t,” the boy said. “Rocky’s getting kind of restless. I wouldn’t want him to run away.”
After her worrisome trip down the aisle with Zac—and the hidden flying squirrel—Megan was more than glad to be with James instead. As their reception line was forming, she quietly told her new husband about the uninvited wedding guest dozing in Zac’s pocket.
“That little stinker,” James said, chuckling.
“Who? Rocky or Zac?”
“Zac. I made him promise a lot of things before today but I didn’t think to ask him to leave out the animals.”
“It’s okay. It could have been a lot worse.”
“The way that squirrel takes to you, it sure could have.” He laughed softly. “Would have made a good shot for the family album, though. Real unforgettable.”
James reached into his inside jacket pocket. “Speaking of forgetting. I almost forgot to show you this. Gray handed it to me right before the service. It’s our wedding present from him and Stacy.”
“That’s nice, I—”
Megan gasped and almost dropped her bridal bouquet when James unfolded the paper. It was the deed to the Camp Refuge property. “They gave us this? Just gave it to us? I didn’t know they were rich. They seem so normal. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I never think of them as being different. Gray’s just my old friend. Has been for years. Most of the time, I forget he’s loaded.”
“Do you realize what this means? We can reopen Camp Refuge ourselves instead of having to look all over for another place to work.”
“I know.” Pensive, he refolded the deed and slipped it back into his jacket pocket. “I can hardly believe it.”
“I can.” Megan beamed. “It’s the answer to our prayers.”
“You think so?”
“Don’t you? Sure looks like it to me.”
“I don’t know. I’m still pretty confused about all this spiritual stuff. To be honest, I’d expected my life to run a lot more smoothly once I got tuned in to God. It sure hasn’t worked that way. Seems like things are even more hectic than before.”
Megan gave him a loving smile. “I hate to break this to you, but our faith gets tested all the time. That’s one way we grow.”
“Now you tell me.”
She laughed at his feigned expression of dismay and patted his hand. “Don’t worry, honey. Now that we’re married, we can start getting into trouble as a team.”
James pulled her close and kissed her, much to the delight of their assembled guests, then whispered, “I can hardly wait.”
Dear Reader,
The Scripture I chose to inspire this story is sometimes hard to accept or understand. Many times, new Christians falter because they mistakenly believe that once they turn their lives over to Christ, their problems will cease. That’s seldom the case. However, those of us who have been believers for a longer time have seen how God shepherds us through the hardest, most trying circumstances, always providing the solace we need.
Look for joy in everything. Celebrate the life He has given you. Do the best you can to use your special talents (yes, we all have them) and give thanks even when you don’t understand why your plans haven’t worked out the way you’d hoped. God knows what He’s doing. If you belong to Him, trust Him. If you’re questioning whether or not you’re truly His child, all you have to do is surrender your pride, ask Him to forgive and accept you right now and He will. It’s that easy.
I love to hear from readers. The quickest replies are by e-mail—VALW@CENTURYTEL.NET—or you can write to me at P.O. Box 13, Glencoe, AR 72539, and I’ll do my best to answer as soon as I can spare time away from my latest manuscript. And www.centurytel.net/valeriewhisenand will take you to my Internet site.
Blessings,
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0470-6
EVERLASTING LOVE
Copyright © 2004 by Valerie Whisenand
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*Serenity, Arkansas