Vanessa didn’t want to look at him. If she did, he’d be able to read her like a book and know exactly how she felt about him. She tried to turn her head to the side. “Look at the horizon. We’re going right toward the sunrise!”
“I don’t need to look out there to see today or tomorrow.” He exerted gentle pressure and had her staring up at him.
Vanessa could scarcely catch her breath.
“I’m already walking on clouds, Van, and when I look at you, I see all of the bright days ahead.”
He caught her gasp with a toe-curling kiss. When he lifted his head, he smiled. “I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile.”
“Oh, my.”
“I’ve already gone to your dad and mom. We have their blessing.”
“Their blessing,” she echoed, hoping she understood his meaning but afraid she was letting her wishes run wild.
“I know this is our first date, but I’m going to court you for a lifetime. I can’t wait, though.” Nathan’s arm cinched tighter around her waist. He dipped his head and nuzzled her ear. “Marry me, Vanessa.”
“Was that a request or a command?”
“It’s a requirement.” He pulled away a little and pressed his forehead to hers. “Live with me and love with me and laugh with me. God fills my soul, but you fill my heart.”
There under a zigzag rainbow fabric canopy, soaring toward a sunny day, Vanessa didn’t have to give more than a second’s consideration to his proposal. “Yes, Nathan. I’d love to be your wife.”
“Seal it with a kiss,” he said in a husky tone.
After a kiss that promised happily-ever-afters, he cuddled closer. “Happy?”
She nodded, stood on the tiptoes of her slippers, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I never want to touch down. I’ve been going crazy, loving a man who was so blind.”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “Sweetheart, I can see forever from here.”
Epilogue
Vanessa sat in the bride’s room, brushed on a touch of mascara, and winked at Della. “I have a feeling you like these clothes better than our baseball uniforms.”
Della fluffed her hair. “Don’t you just know it? You taught me how to bat and how to snag a ball. Think you can teach me how to catch a husband?”
“We’ll have to see if Nathan invited any good prospects. I’ll have him introduce you and Valene to them at the reception.”
Valene groaned.
Vanessa gave her twin a saucy smile in the mirror. “Guess what I just figured out?”
“What?” Valene adjusted the skirt of her smoky blue maid-of-honor dress until it hung with sheer grace.
Her twin had been fussing all morning, and Vanessa suspected it was because she hated to be on stage at all. Even being a maid of honor was more spotlight than she’d prefer to handle, but she filled the role because sisterly love trumped shyness. Vanessa decided to tease her to help lighten her anxiety.
“When we walk down the aisle, it’s the last time in my life I’m going to be the last one. Alphabetically, I’ve always been dead last.”
Della snorted. “What did you expect? With a last name like Zobel, you were sunk.”
“No kidding,” Val agreed.
“Yeah, but you still came before me,” Vanessa said to her sister. “Val, then Van. My married name will be Adams.” She stood and twirled about in her rustling satin slips. “And the last shall come first. . . .”
Mom made a worried sound and started to take the bridal gown off of the hanger. “If you don’t get into this gown, you’re not going to be first or last. You’ll be an old maid.”
“Are you kidding? Nathan would marry me if I walked out there in my ugly orange baseball uniform. He proposed to me in my rainbow slippers.”
Della gave her a silly look. “Let me get this straight. He was wearing your slippers?”
“And you all think I’m daffy? Of course he wasn’t. Have you seen the size of his feet? I was wearing them when he kidnapped me. It was so romantic.”
Val held part of the bridal gown, and Della took hold of another section. “Come on. Let’s get this woman into her gown before she gets so besotted with those stupid slippers, she wants to get married in them.” They lifted the gown so Vanessa could slip into it.
As Val started to do up the zipper of the dreams-come-true satin-and-lace bridal gown, Vanessa worried aloud, “You all have everything you need, right? Jeff will stay with Val for the next few days, then he’ll go stay with Mom and Dad. Mom, you and Dad will stop by Nathan’s and get Lick tonight? He’ll tear up Val’s condo. He needs your big backyard to romp in.”
“Stop worrying,” Val chided. “You’re chewing off your lipstick.”
“Girlfriend, you need to get your head examined.” Della shook her finger at Van. “You’re going off on a romantic honeymoon to Ireland and Scotland, and you’re fretting about a dumb dog?”
“That dog and a silly goldfish are what brought them together,” Valene said loyally.
“Yes.” Vanessa dipped down so her mother could help her pin on an airy veil. She left the blusher veil back out of the way for the present. “And so did the grace and mercy of God.”
Someone tapped on the door. Della opened it.
Dad stuck his head into the room. “We’re ready.”
Jeff nudged past him and stared up at Vanessa. His little mouth dropped open. He blinked, then said in an awed tone, “You look like a fairy princess.”
“Yes, Kitten, you do.” Her father’s voice sounded choked.
Jeff walked all the way around her and asked, “Do I get to call you ‘Mom’ now?”
“That would make me so happy!”
“Okay, Mom. Daddy said he wanted you to hurry up. He said he’s waited long enough for his sweetheart. Did you know that’s what he called you?”
“Yes.” She smiled at the way Jeff wrinkled his nose. At the rehearsal the day before, Nathan had been eager to sweep her into a theatrical dip and give her a heart-stopping kiss. Jeff ended it all with a loud, “Eww, yuck!” Nathan later borrowed her strawberry lip gloss and let Jeff take a whiff. After that, Jeff decided his dad hadn’t gone crazy, after all. His favorite bubble gum smelled like that. Nathan then had extracted a pledge from his “honor’ble” son that he wouldn’t make any noises during the real wedding ceremony.
They all went to the narthex. Mom gave Vanessa one last kiss and allowed Kip to seat her before he took his place as best man. The music started, and Jeff carried a satin pillow with the rings tied to it. He stopped partway down the aisle to scratch his knee, then continued on with all the decorum of an English butler.
Della stepped off, and Val turned to Vanessa. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t need to. They’d always been able to communicate at moments like this with just a look. She nodded, smiled, and headed down the aisle.
“Kitten, he’s a good man, a godly man. I had some real doubts awhile back, but I know he’s the man I prayed for God to bring to you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” She gave him a kiss, accepted his fumbling help to pull down her blusher veil, and took his arm.
Vanessa walked down the aisle with every assurance that waiting for this moment was worth every prayer she’d ever whispered. When she could see Nathan at the front of the church, she knew she’d never known a more handsome man. Love and happiness shone in his eyes. Daddy gave her away, and she stood beside Nathan, then knelt at the altar.
They’d consulted and counseled with Pastor MacIntosh, and now he began to read the Scripture they’d requested for their wedding. It was from 1 Corinthians:
“Love is patient. . . .”
About the Author
Cathy Marie Hake is a Southern California native who loves her work as a nurse and Lamaze teacher. She and her husband have a daughter, a son, and two dogs, so life is never dull or quiet. Cathy considers herself a sentimental pack rat, collecting antiques and Hummel figurines. She otherwise keeps busy with reading, writing, baking, and being a prayer
warrior. “I am easily distracted during prayer, so I devote certain tasks and chores to specific requests or persons so I can keep faithful in my prayer life.”
Dedication
To those who love and sacrifice and to those who patiently walk alongside and wait. God bless you.
I’d like to thank Rick Wilcox of Guide Puppies for the Blind. He was a wonderful resource. All of the right information about the dogs is his; any mistakes are mine.
A note from the Author:
I love to hear from my readers! You may correspond with me by writing:
Cathy Marie Hake
Author Relations
PO Box 719
Uhrichsville, OH 44683
Love Is Patient Page 15
