by Dana Corbit
“I still can’t believe you decided not to keep your maiden name. Or at least hyphenate.” Turning away from the mirror, Jenna glanced at her quizzically. “What happened to my feminist sister?”
“She’s still here.” Caroline brushed a hand down the front of the simple silk bodice of her wedding gown. “But I couldn’t go around with a different last name than my sisters, could I?”
“You know, most married sisters actually do have different last names.”
“Oh. Right. But then they’re not the Scott sisters, either.”
They stepped together for a warm hug. As they pulled apart, Caroline held on to Jenna’s arms.
“Thank you again for sharing your wedding day with us. I know how important it was for you to plan an incredible wedding.”
“Are you kidding? Today couldn’t be more in credible.”
Someone knocked on the door, interrupting them.
“Are you ladies coming?” Haley called from out side.
With one last peek at the mirror, Jenna and Caroline continued out into the hall. Haley stood there, looking radiant in the bridesmaid’s dress that Caroline originally was supposed to have worn. It had been hemmed for Haley’s more petite height, but it had required no major alterations.
“Have I told you how fabulous you look?” Caroline told Haley as she hugged her. “Little Evan isn’t even a month old, and you already can wear a fitted dress like that?”
“Thanks.” She lifted on her tiptoes to kiss her sister’s cheek. “But I can tell you this. I’m not outshining either of the brides. You’re the two belles of the ball. Now can we get back to the reception?”
As Jenna and Caroline reentered the hall, their new husbands came over to escort them over to the two cakes, different but complementary designs made by Margie and Kamie just for each couple.
Logan leaned close and kissed his bride’s cheek. “Are you having second thoughts?”
Caroline rolled her eyes at him. “No. Never.”
“I’ll remind you of that after I smear wedding cake all over your face.”
“You’d better not or I’ll—”
“What will you do, Mrs. Warren?” he said with a chuckle.
After they finished cutting the cake and feeding each other a bite—with Logan setting Caroline’s primly on her tongue—they crossed the room to the table where their mothers were seated.
“Well, you all did it.” Trina stood and lifted her cheek for Caroline’s kiss and then Logan’s.
“Yes, we did,” Dylan called out as he led Jenna over to the group. Both bent to hug Amy in her wheelchair.
The two couples switched sides so that Jenna and Dylan could greet Trina and Logan and Caroline could hug Amy. At the sound of a baby crying, they all turned to see Matthew pulling a bottle from a diaper bag and popping it in Evan’s hungry mouth. Lizzie was oblivious to it all, dancing around the room in her pretty flower girl dress.
Trina glanced across the room at the pair of cakes. “If those cakes are any indicator, everything’s going well at the bakery.”
“It will be even better when Mrs. Warren starts back next month,” Caroline told her.
“Don’t know…about that.” But Amy smiled as she said it, and her hand went up to touch her hair.
Logan stepped over to his mother and patted her shoulder. “It will be great when you’re back. I sure wish I could be there more, but it’s good being back at the park, as well.”
“Don’t worry about him. He doesn’t have to miss the cakes too much,” Caroline said. “We’re both doing well in our second cake-decorating class, but he’s still better than I am with decorating skills.”
Logan shrugged. “I have to be better than her at something.”
Dylan and Logan went over to the buffet table to bring slices of cake for everyone, and when they returned, they had Frank Kellam with them. He, too, was carrying party plates filled with cake, and he handed the first one to Trina. Caroline knew she had to be mistaken, but she was almost certain her mother was blushing.
“Well, Mr. Kellam, it’s so nice to see you again,” Jenna said, grinning over her at her mother.
Trina must have missed the look because she didn’t frown back.
The older gentleman kissed Jenna’s cheek and shook Dylan’s hand. “It was a lovely wedding, you two.” He turned Logan and Caroline. “And you, too.”
Logan shook his hand. “I hear it’s been a good day for you, as well.”
Mr. Kellam grinned like child who’d just been given candy. “Yes, it has.” He touched Trina’s arm and turned back to her daughters. “Your mother has finally agreed to have coffee with me.”
“Oh, she has, has she?” Haley said as she approached, rocking the baby in her arms.
Trina shook her head, clearly embarrassed. “It’s no big deal.”
“Whatever you say, Mom,” Caroline said.
“No big deal?” Mr. Kellam asked, easily fitting in with the Warren-Scott family humor. “I thought she would never agree to go out with me. But Amy told me—”
He stopped himself, but not before Trina jerked her head to look at him, her gaze narrowed.
“Oh. I wasn’t supposed to say that.” He glanced around nervously.
Logan grinned as he turned back to Amy. “Mother, have you been matchmaking again?”
“Not me,” Amy answered and then turned to wipe her mouth with a napkin.
“Amy…?” Trina studied her.
“Somebody had…to make sure you…weren’t alone,” she said without a hint of an apology.
“Amy told me Trina would be a tough one, but I wasn’t to take no for an answer,” Mr. Kellam said. “And I didn’t.”
They all shared a laugh over the matchmaker who’d just been matched. “Oh, you,” Trina said, smiling. “Just wait a few months. We’ll have to start looking for someone for you.” She paused, thinking. “What about Max Carlson or Bill White?”
They all laughed again. When the laughter died down, Logan moved through the crowd to Caroline and drew her into his arms.
“Happy?” He brushed his lips across her brow.
“Absolutely.” Not worrying about the others around them, she turned her head so they could share a sweet kiss before she drew back. “Do you think this was what our moms had in mind when they started this matchmaking business?”
“Maybe something like it, but as your mom said, ‘God does have a sense of humor.’ It didn’t end up quite the way they planned.” He kissed one of her cheeks and then the other before dropping a third kiss on her nose.
She smiled up at him. “And He knew exactly what He was doing.”
Logan lowered his head and kissed Caroline again. His kisses felt like a series of promises. Of love, laughter and family. Of forever.
Dear Reader,
I have never been known for my patience. Just ask my high school journalism adviser. I walked into newspaper class my freshman year, already planning for when I would be editor. I later held that position for my last two years of high school, but in that and in many other parts of my life I have struggled with waiting for things to happen in God’s time.
But over the years, I have finally learned that God’s time is perfect.
Of all the heroines in the WEDDING BELL BLESSINGS miniseries, I relate the most to Caroline, who is driven to achieve and impatient for results. For Caroline, the need for success is tangled with her desire to hide from life, but she must learn that the answers to all of her questions will come if she is only patient and waits for God’s will in His time. Logan comes into Caroline’s life when she least expects it, and the timing is perfect.
I pray for you, my readers, to have patience to wait for God’s perfect time.
I love hearing from readers and may be contacted through my Web site at www.danacorbit.com or through regular mail at P.O. Box 2251, Farmington Hills, MI 48333-2251.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What subject does Caroline bring up every time Logan gets too cl
ose and makes her nervous? How does this subject distance her from him?
Why is Caroline so bothered by Reverend Boggs’s sermon on her first Sunday back in Markston? Why is Mark 10 such a problem for her?
Logan correctly assumes that it is a man who caused Caroline to rule out the possibility of ever marrying. Who hurt Caroline, and how did that hurt affect her?
Why is Logan afraid of ever building a long-term relationship? How has he avoided committed relationships with women so far?
Logan loves to spend time in prayer and feels closer to God in a scenic spot in the state park where he works. Is there anyplace where you go alone to pray? Is there a place other than church where you feel closest to God?
Why does Jenna pick out such a special bridesmaid’s dress for Caroline? Who ultimately wears this dress?
How does Logan’s birth order influence how he was affected by his father’s desertion when he was only ten? Are children in the same family really affected differently when their parents divorce?
Why does Trina Scott turn down Frank Kellam when he first invites her to lunch?
Caroline must deal with the working woman’s concept of having it all. Can a woman really have it all without at least one part of her life having to give?
Amy Warren’s stroke is central to this story. Why is Logan unwilling to even think about the fact that his mother would not be able to return to work at her bakery?
Logan tells Caroline she is hiding. What is she hiding from, and what is she using to shield herself?
Caroline believes she is saving Logan when she offers to help run the bakery, but Logan often ends up saving her. In what ways does Logan help Caroline?
Have you ever known someone who suffered a stroke like Amy? Was that person able to recover and live a productive life? What might you say to someone in a situation like that?
Caroline has trouble fitting regular church attendance into her life in Chicago because she works Sundays. How important is attending regular services to living a Christian life?
Who is ultimately responsible for matchmaking Caroline and Logan?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6503-9
WEDDING CAKE WISHES
Copyright © 2010 by Dana Corbit Nussio
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.SteepleHill.com
*Wedding Bell Blessings
