Deep in the Heart (50 page)

“
And please, dear God,” Keith said, startling Maggie out of her reverie, “let Maggie say, ‘Yes.’”

Her gaze slid to his in incomprehension. He smiled at her. “Amen.”

“
Amen,” Peter echoed, and Maggie could hardly get her gaze off of Keith long enough to remember Peter was still in the room.

She pushed herself to her feet, wobbling on the weight she found standing. Her two fingers knew what to do, which was a lucky thing because no rational signals were getting from her brain to her body. She kissed them and pressed them softly to Peter’s forehead. “Good night, sweet prince.” With that, she turned and headed for the door.

“
Night, slugger.”

Her heart flipped over at how natural this all felt. In the hallway she waited for him, and she had to steel her breath when he joined her. Those arms, that presence—if anything it had gotten stronger since they’d last stood here.

When the door was closed, Keith turned to her. He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head. “Man, I hope God was listening.” He stopped for only one moment, and then he knelt on a single knee. “Maggie…”

Astonishment swept over her, and she put her hand to her mouth. Gently he reached up, took it from her mouth, and pulled it down into his. “Maggie Montgomery, I don’t ever want to spend another day away from you. Please make me the happiest man in the world. Say you’ll marry me.”

Breath was her only answer for a long moment. “I… Yes. I’ll marry you.”

He stood, swept her into his arms, and kissed her like she’d never been kissed before. Then holding her in the safety of his embrace, he backed up and smiled at her. “I’m sure glad God was listening.”

“
I thought you said you wanted a simple ceremony,” Keith’s father said as he picked his way down the rocky path. “Haven’t you ever heard of an aisle?”

“
It gets better over there,” Keith said, pointing to the tree as he helped his dad and Vivian down the steep slope. However, even the happiness in him snagged when he caught sight of Maggie, standing with the children under the tree waiting for them. The falls beyond sang with the fresh rain that had fallen the night before. Washed clean the scene was so perfect the fact that God had created it was the only logical conclusion anyone could have surmised.

The ground leveled out, and Keith let them go to travel on their own.

“
Oh, Conrad. This is beautiful,” Vivian exclaimed. “I didn’t even know this was here.”

His father was equally stunned. “I’d forgotten that it was.”

Stepping from their presence, Keith walked over to Maggie. With Peter and Isabella gazing up at them from her side, he put his arms around her. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel like this,” he whispered to her. His smile shone from the depths of his heart as he took in the soft gaze, the gentle face, yes, even the new gold-toned glasses that he’d accepted so reluctantly—he loved them all because he loved her.

“
You ready?” she asked, gazing up at him.

“
More than.”

Maggie’s hand stayed in Keith’s as they turned to the preacher. If there was an ounce more joy in her, she felt like she would burst right open.

“
Keith and Maggie, have you come here freely and without reservation to declare your love before God and man?”

“
We have.” Her voice mingled right into his, harmony personified.

The preacher motioned for them to look at each other, and Maggie had the feeling that she was falling more in love with each passing second as he held her with his gaze. As the preacher said the words, Keith said them to her, and his voice blended with the melody of the falls.

“
I, Keith, take you, Maggie to be my lawful wedded wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

Her smile drifted through her heart to her eyes and right to him. “I, Maggie, take you, Keith to be my lawful wedded husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

“
The rings please.”

Keith let her hand go to reach into his pocket. He gave the rings to the preacher and took not a second more to have her hands in his once again. The preacher blessed the rings and gave Keith the simple gold band.

“
Maggie, take and wear my ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Her hands were shaking so badly, Maggie was afraid she would drop his. But she managed to get it from the preacher’s hand onto Keith’s finger. However, even when it was on, the emotion gripped her, and she wasn’t at all sure she could get the words out. However, she looked at him, and his smile flowed through her spirit.

“
Keith, take and wear my ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” She slid the ring to his knuckle, and he slid it all the way on without ever dropping her gaze from his. A breath and his hands were once again supporting hers.

“
Now, by the powers vested in me by the State of Texas,” the preacher said. “I now pronounce you man and wife. Keith, you may kiss your bride.”

Maggie’s heart filled to overflowing as he took her in his arms and brushed his lips to hers. One kiss and then one more. He backed up and then with a laugh swept her up once more and kissed her soundly. One thing was for sure, being with him would never be boring. When he finally let her go enough to put air between them, wonder was in his eyes.

“
May I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Keith Ayer.”

With his arm securely around her, Keith hugged the moment to them. The others clapped, and then his father stepped up to them.

“
Maggie, Keith, I probably should wait until the reception later, but…” He looked out to the falls, and when he looked back to them there were tears in his eyes. “I want you to know I have taken the liberty of setting up two foundations to be run by the two of you. One, run by Maggie for the benefit of the foster care system, is to be called the James and Christina Montgomery Foundation. It will be seeded with ten million dollars and will no doubt benefit many of the children Peter prays for every night.”

Speechless, Maggie looked at Keith, who was equally stunned.

“
And Keith.” His father looked at him. “I do not know who you are meant to help in this world, so I have left the exact mission of the Bonnie Ayer foundation open-ended. I do know, however, that you’ll do the right thing with it.”

Tears flowed down the old man’s cheeks as he pulled them into a hug. “God bless you both.”

“
Keith!” The voice from the rocks crashed through the celebration. “Keith… Keith… Maggie…” Stumbling down the path came Jamie with Tanner right behind her. She had a cell phone up in the air. “I know. I know, but this call just came in, and I knew you would want to take it.”

Maggie’s gaze went to Keith as he took the cell phone from Jamie. “Hello?” His gaze traced down to her. “Yes, this is Keith Ayer.” The pause set her pulse racing as she tried to figure out what was going on. “Already?”

He looked at her, and she read every word. Stunned disbelief smashed into her. “Already?

“
Yes. Yes, ma’am. We can be there tomorrow morning. Yes. Thank you. Yes, thank you, Ma’am.” He squeezed Maggie to him as he beeped the phone off. Love surged through her like a gigantic fountain. After a moment for just the two of them to enjoy the news, his gaze swept over the others and then down to Maggie in confirmation. “Well, we were going to wait to tell you this, but I guess it’s kind of late now.”

Her gaze stayed on him as love so strong it swept the rest of the world from her gushed through her.

“
We applied to be foster parents, and well…” He looked down at her again. “They have a little girl they want to place with us in the morning.”

Ohs and gasps criss-crossed the little group.

“
It was a little unconventional,” Keith said, gazing at Maggie who was lost in his words and his eyes, “but they pulled some strings, and it’s for real. Elisa Marie will be with us by tomorrow night.”

She let out a long breath as Keith turned to her once again and pulled her into his embrace. Never could Maggie have guessed she could feel for another person what she felt for him at that moment. They were together. They were a team, and deep in her heart she knew this moment had been in God’s plan from the very beginning. God had taken everything life had thrown at them and stitched something very, very good from it. She now had a husband and a family, and tomorrow she would be the bridge for a little girl to learn that even life’s trials aren’t the end of the story if you trust God to open the doors you were meant to walk through.

Somehow, she had always known that to be true, and as Keith hugged her to him once again, any questions that had remained on that count faded away forever.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

--Ephesians 2:8

For more about becoming foster parents, please visit:
The Bair Foundation
http://www.bair.org/

“
Don’t give me that, bro. Come on. We want details. Lots of details.”

At the stainless steel refrigerator in the kitchen, Ben Warren grabbed the handle as he smiled. “Oh, no. I don’t kiss and tell.” He reached in, snagged three cold ones, and headed back for the large round table currently taking up a good portion of his living room. Setting the other two beers on the table, he sat down and twisted the cap off his before taking a long drink.

Friday night and the living was good.

“
Since when?” one of the guys called.

“
Yeah, come on, Ben,” Kelly Zandavol, Ben’s best friend since high school said as he nailed Ben with an I-don’t-believe-that-for-a-minute look. “You can’t leave us hanging like that. What’s she like?”

“
No. Uh-huh.” Ben shook his head even as he took another drink. “You ain’t getting any more.”

“
Dude,” Logan Murphy said, surveying his cards although there was only sparse attention to the actual game, “you know that you’re our in with the ladies. Now you’re gonna freeze us out just when it’s getting good? What’s up with that?” He rearranged the cards in his hand though presumably that didn’t help. God Himself couldn’t help Logan with cards or with the ladies as he called them. “If I can’t live through you, I’m doomed.”

“
Not to mention the shape Kelly’ll be in,” Todd Rundell added. “You know what that marriage thing can do to a guy.”

“
Hey. Hey.” Kelly lifted his chin. “Speak for yourself there. Me and my lady are doing just fine.”

“
Uh-huh.” Todd put down his beer, picked up his cards, and shuffled them back and forth in his hand. “That’s why you’re over here at nearly midnight on a Friday night.”

“
That’s better than you turkeys,” Kelly retorted. “At least I’ve got a woman to go home to.”

Logan laid three cards on the table. “Three.” He waited for Kelly to deal him three new ones. “The man does have a point. Yes. Yes, he does.”

Ben took one more drink of the beer before setting it down and getting down to the business of raking more of his friends’ money to his side of the table. “Well, I’ll take beer and cards over having some chick looking over my shoulder all the time an-y-day. Two.” He waited and accepted the two cards Kelly gave him. He fought not to let the disappointment in the hand show, but it didn’t work very well. “Dang, Kelly. I think you need to go back home to that lady of yours. This dealing thing is not your forte.”

“
Ha. Ha. Funny-man. You in or out?” Kelly nodded to the table, indicating the betting had begun.

A long breath that Ben exhaled very slowly. Finally he pushed his cards together. “I’m out. No sense playing trash like that.” He stood to go back into the kitchen, figuring if no one was leaving, they might as well get some sustenance. Pushing the unbuttoned and rolled sleeves of his blue pin-striped work shirt up to his elbows, he reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bag of chips and another of pretzels. With two rips he had them open. He didn’t bother with the dish. The guys didn’t care about that kind of stuff anyway.

“
Ah, dude! Aces? You’re kidding me!” Logan exclaimed as Ben headed back.

“
Hey, you play, you pay,” Kelly said, raking all the money in the middle to his side of the table. “So, are you at least gonna tell us her name?”

Ben put the bags in the center of the table. He pulled a chip out and sat down, crunching loudly. Truly, truly, he wished they would stop the questioning. If they didn’t, he might have to resort to making things up.

Unfortunately, Kelly had known him too long. He stopped gathering the cards and looked right at Ben who was crunching and drinking but not really looking up. “You don’t know it, do you?”

“
Know what?” Ben asked as if he had no clue what Kelly was talking about. Then he shrugged and grabbed another chip. “Of course I do. It was…” For one second too long, his brain went on vacation. “Cheris. Her name was Cheris.” He bit into the chip and smiled widely. “See. I told you I knew it.”