Her Lifelong Dream (21 page)

"The woman has to be Brittany's mother," Terry said.
"They're all tall with blond hair."

"Yes. I think you're right. She's lovely ... and that dress
is stunning."

Chris led the woman to the front pew on the bride's side,
kissed her on the cheek. He then strode back to the entrance
of the chapel. The wedding party had begun to line up and
Leedy saw the minister, groom, and best man take their
places at the front of the church.

The wedding party entered the chapel, the bridesmaids
proceeding first. They were dressed in identical, tea-length
creamy ivory-colored gowns. The gowns were silk with a
fitted bodice, the skirt flowing softly around their legs.
They carried bouquets of charming yellow roses.

The matron of honor followed the bridesmaids. This was Brittany's older sister, Jane. Her gown was similar to the
others, but there was more detail around the neckline and
hem. She was stunning, and there were tears in her eyes.

Following closely behind Jane was her three-year-old
daughter, Elena. Next to Elena was Jane's son, six-year-old
Michael. Michael held Elena's hand, firmly but gently, as
he led her down the aisle, carefully watching his mother
for cues. Elena carried a basket filled with red rose petals
and, every step or so, would grab a handful of petals and
toss them onto the floor. Michael clutched his ring bearer's
pillow and mugged for the adoring audience.

Just then the organ music began to play the wedding
march. Everyone turned to watch as Brittany walked down
the aisle, holding tightly onto the arm of her proud father.
Brittany wore a long, body-hugging silk gown in the perfect shade of ivory. In her arms, she carried a large bouquet
of red roses that cascaded down the front of her dress. A
veil covered her face, but Leedy could see that Brittany's
eyes were focused on Mark who was standing at the altar
waiting for her, his face a mixture of terror, determination,
and love.

Brittany slowly walked down the aisle, taking slow controlled steps as she pulled her father along. She paused for
a second when she passed Leedy and gave her a joyous
smile. Leedy smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. When
Brittany and her father finally reached the altar, her father
turned her over to Mark, who quickly stepped forward.
Brittany's father shook Mark's hand, kissed his daughter
on the cheek, and then joined his wife in the front pew.
The bride turned and faced the groom and he took her hand
and squeezed it lovingly.

"Dearly beloved," the minister began. "We are gathered here today to join these two young people, Brittany Nicole
Richards and Mark Thomas Ellis, into the glorious bonds
of holy matrimony ..."

Leedy brushed away a tear and looked at Terry to see if
he noticed. But he didn't mind that she was crying. He only
smiled reassuringly and squeezed her hand.

". . . I'll digress for just a moment," the minister was
saying, "to say that I've known Brittany since she was a
child. And I've known Mark for several years as well.
They're intelligent, ambitious, attractive young people. I'm
honored to be here today for them. I'm also happy to be a
witness to this blessed event. For you see, this couple-or
should I say these intelligent, ambitious, attractive young
people, are blessed in the way God wants his children to
be blessed. Because Brittany and Mark are deeply in love.
I'm here today for the same reason you're here today. We
are here together to witness and celebrate the first moments
of Brittany and Mark's new life together. And what glorious, blessed lives they will see."

Leedy felt a lump in her throat and she could no longer
stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. It was so
beautiful. "I know, I know," Terry whispered. "I feel the
exact same way. What her father must be paying for all
this . . ." Then he put his arm around her waist and hugged
her tenderly. But underneath the softness of his touch,
Leedy felt something else. A tremble to his fingertips that
told her he too, was moved.

"Do you, Mark Thomas Ellis, take this woman to be your
lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day
forward, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health,
as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you, Brittany Nicole Richards, take this man to be
your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from
this day forward, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in
health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

Leedy managed to pull herself together by the time Mark
and Brittany walked back down the aisle, but it was a
super-human effort. Only Terry's strong arm wrapped
around her waist prevented her from bawling her eyes out,
right there in the church. "Come along, Miss Collins," he
said, leading her. "Let's go greet the newlyweds, shall we?"

He led her up the aisle. Out of necessity, he stood closely
to her as they waited for the swarm of delighted wedding
guests to make their exit. His hand was touching Leedy's
back and she could feel the warmth and strength of his
fingertips. Leedy felt a sudden dizzying warmth throughout
her body that started in the depths of her being and spread
until she felt tingly all over. "Are you all right?" Terry
asked. "You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine," Leedy said, enjoying the soft, sexy intensity
of his voice. He slipped his arm around her waist and led
her out of the chapel. Leedy thought about skipping the
reception, if only to have him all to herself that much
sooner, but she knew Brittany would never understand. Or
maybe she would.

The receiving line was long but the mood was so boisterous, Leedy and Terry didn't mind the wait. "Lovely wedding," Terry said, shaking hands with Brittany's father
when they finally were at the head of the line.

"Beautiful," Leedy added.

There was much hand-shaking and slaps on the back, until Leedy and Terry found themselves standing in front
of Chris.

"You did a splendid job," Leedy said, and hugged him.
"Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Chris said. He was watching Leedy and
Terry with a keen interest.

"Beautiful wedding," Terry said, shaking Chris' hand.
"You're a friend of my niece, right? Her name is Deanna
McQuinn?"

"Yes," Chris said. From the look on his face, Leedy realized the boy was startled. "I wasn't sure if Deanna had mentioned me to you. I'm Chris. Chris Richards. As a matter of
fact, I invited Deanna to be here tonight. But she-"

"But she thought I would drop to the floor in a faint?"
Terry asked.

"No. What Deanna described was closer to some kind of
crazed, homicidal rampage."

"I see," Terry said, shaking his head thoughtfully. He
waited a moment before speaking again. "You know, Chris,
that's nonsense."

Chris' young face broke into a relieved grin. "That was
exactly what I tried to tell Deanna! But she thought you
would have a cow or something."

"When you get home tonight, please call Deanna and tell
her that you have been formally invited to our house tomorrow," Terry said. "We can all go to a movie and grab
a bite of dinner and clear up this whole misunderstanding."

"Thank you," Chris said, shaking Terry's hand again.
"I'd like that, sir."

"Say about six o'clock?" Terry asked.

"Six o'clock is fine. We'll see you then."

Terry led Leedy out of the church and they breathed the
cold evening air. "Ready?" he asked, taking her hand.

"Ready," Leedy said, and she was. Ready for anything.
He led her to his Corvette and opened the door.

"I wish we could take down the roof," Terry commented.
"I like the look you get in your eye when Susie hits eighty.
But it is too cold for that tonight and I don't want to mess
up your beautiful hair. At least not yet anyway."

"Oh?" she said, smiling coyly.

"Not yet," he said, flashing her his perfect smile. "As for
later, I can't make any guarantees."

They kissed in the car. Ordinarily Leedy would have
never considered taking part in such sophomoric, giddy behavior, but it felt more like stealing sweet, wonderful kisses
than acting like love-struck teenagers. Smooching in the
car, she sighed. Wouldn't Brittany be pleased?

The reception was in full swing by the time they arrived
at the banquet hall. Leedy made a mental note to recheck
the dimensions of the back room of what had once been
the bakery's storage room. Maybe thinking about the restaurant would make her forget about the aching need that
had developed in the pit of her stomach. A need only Terry
could fulfill. She already knew the dimensions of the old
bakery's storage room. She already knew that the RyanRiley Inn's banquet hall would be much larger than the
hotel's reception hall, but rechecking details is what Leedy
did best. She pulled out a worn pad of paper from her purse
and flipped through the pages. Yes, she thought looking
over the crowded room. Their banquet room was bigger.

The hall was decorated in a lovely shade of creamy yellow. A color that was tastefully used in the starched linen
tablecloths and in the helium balloons that had been arched over the doorway. At the head of the room was a long
banquet table set for the wedding party. Off to the side, a
band played jazz music on a bandstand that stood before a
small dance floor. The rest of the room was filled with large
round tables covered with more crisply starched linen tablecloths. Each table held a gigantic centerpiece of white
roses.

"We are at Table Number Eight," Terry said, holding up
the small white card that had been laid out on a table when
they entered the hall. He took Leedy's hand and led her
through the crowded room. They passed Tables One
through Seven without any difficulty and then found Table
Nine.

"Okay," he said. "Here is Table Ten and Table Eleven."

"Table Twelve and Fourteen," Leedy said, confused.
"There is no Table Thirteen either."

"Here is Fifteen and Sixteen," Terry looked as baffled as
she did when he spotted a small table in the corner. "What
is this?" he asked, leading her to the farthest corner of the
room. "This is it," he said, perplexed. "Table Eight."

Leedy looked at the little white card in the center of the
table that proclaimed the table to indeed be Table Number
Eight but it was a much smaller table than the others. Leedy
and Terry looked at each other, both with puzzled expressions on their faces. Table Eight, unlike all the other tables,
was a table set for only two. And instead of the pale yellow
linens that adorned all the other tables, the tablecloth was
a deep emerald green, Leedy's favorite color. Also, the
vases on the other tables held sprays of white roses. The
vase on this table held a single red rose.

"This is cozy," Terry said, smiling. He pulled a chair out
for her. "Maybe they ran out of room at the big tables."

"It really doesn't work that way," Leedy told him, mystified. "They would have worked us in with the others
somehow."

"What then?"

"I think I smell a rat."

"Hello," a waiter said, bringing them crystal wine glasses
and a bottle of white wine. "You must be Leedy and
Terry?"

"Yes, we are," Terry said, the perplexed expression returning to his face.

"I've been expecting you," the waiter said. "I'm Bradley
and I'll be your server this evening."

"Hi Bradley," Leedy said. "How come we're not at the
big tables with everyone else?"

"Not that we're complaining," Terry added.

"We were wondering the same thing ourselves," Bradley
told them. "But, I can assure you, this is no mistake. This
was by special request from the bride herself. Mrs. Ellis
wanted you two to have a table all to yourselves." He
smiled broadly and poured white wine into their glasses.
"But don't worry. I will not forget about you. As a matter
of fact, you're my only table. I'll personally see to it that
you have a wonderful time." Bradley poured them each a
glass of wine, bowed, then disappeared back into the crowd
of guests.

"That brat!" Leedy said to Terry after the waiter had left.
"Brittany set this whole thing up!"

"I don't mind," he said, leaning toward her. "In fact, I
think I might donate another place setting of that china she
picked out. This is the best seat in the house. And the best
seating arrangement I've ever seen at a wedding."

Leedy blushed, but she too thought it was the best seat in the house and the best seating arrangement she had ever
seen at a wedding. She sipped from her glass of wine and
smiled up at him. "I guess I can live with it," she said.

They listened to the jazz music and talked, neither one
having any desire to mingle with the crowd. The company
of each other was enough for them. Suddenly, the room
became loud and an excited buzz swept across the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the band leader said into the
microphone. "May I present to you, for the very first time,
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Ellis!"

The room went wild when Brittany and Mark swept into
the room, making a grand entrance to the roaring applause
of the approving crowd. Leedy tried to catch Brittany's eye,
if only to stick out her tongue, but to no avail. It was obvious the bride had other things to attend to, what with
greeting her guests, dancing with the groom and looking
radiant. Leedy decided she would thank Brittany later.

Bradley was true to his word: he didn't forget about Table Eight. Terry and Leedy drank the good wine and enjoyed a delicious dinner. But the filet mignon didn't take
her attention away from the handsome man who was sitting
next to her. As a matter of fact, with each passing moment
her thoughts increasingly turned to the tantalizing possibility that he might kiss her again. Leedy could almost imagine what his body would feel like next to hers. She closed
her eyes and let the desire wash over her. She could hardly
wait to feel his arms wrapped around her.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, as if he was reading her mind. She nodded and he softly slipped his arm
around her waist and led her to the dance floor.