Her Wedding Wish (15 page)

“Gladly.” She kissed him, so he would feel how she felt. Suddenly her hopes were sky-high again. Her joy taller than the grandest mountain. She thought of those secrets they’d kept from one another. Her fears. His fears. Anger at the gunman who had shattered their world.

Well, it was whole now. They were going to be all right. She could tell by the way he was looking at her, as if he loved her every shortcoming, every flaw, every strength. Dani swiped the last of the tears from her eyes. Already there was the brightness in her heart that his love had put there.

Yes, she could see he was strong enough to lean on. Just as she was strong enough, too.

Bare feet padded across the linoleum and suddenly little arms wrapped around Danielle’s middle. “Mommeee! I want kisses, too!”

“Who is this out of bed?” Jonas growled, gently, teasingly as he grabbed up the little pajama-clad girl and swung her into his arms. “I think she needs to be punished.”

Over the top of Madison’s curls, he winked at her. Danielle laughed, she felt so happy. “Someone definitely needs a big punishment.”

“No, Daddy! Mommy, no!” Madison squealed, wiggling even before Jonas smacked the first kiss on her appled cheek.

“That’s one kiss.” Danielle snuggled close to leave a smacking kiss on Madison’s other cheek. “Two kisses.”

“No-ooo!” She giggled.

“Three kisses.” Danielle waited while Jonas did the honors, and then she added the next one to Madison’s forehead. “Four kisses.”

“And a tummy tickle.” Jonas’s baritone rumbled with laughter as he tickled her.

Maddy giggled with delight. “No! Daddeeee!”

More footsteps sounded behind them. Lucky come to see what the commotion was about, followed by Tyler, still yawning and sleep tousled.

“Do you know what I think?” Jonas hugged both kids before he climbed to his feet. “We ought to celebrate. Hot chocolate and cookies for everyone.”

“Cookies!” Madison agreed with a shout.

“Yeah! Hot chocolate!” Tyler pumped his fist.

Lucky barked, his tail whapped and nearly toppled a chair.

Danielle laughed and felt pure joy sift into her heart. It was like dawn after a stormy night. A sandy, sun-kissed shore at ocean’s end.

She let Jonas take her hand and they went into the kitchen together.

Two weeks later

D
anielle peered through the windows of her grandmother’s house into the sun-swept backyard full of her friends and family. Blooming roses adorned the garden and the arbor, where Jonas waited for her.

Jonas. Her soul filled from simply gazing upon him. In his black tux, he looked like her own personal hero come to life. Which was exactly the truth.

“Oh, you look beautiful, baby.” Her mother tapped into the room, lovely as always. “Where are the girls?”

“They ran off to get me the borrowed and blue stuff.” Danielle stepped away from the window, but kept it in sight. There was her husband, chatting with their pastor, who had squeezed them into the schedule despite the busy wedding season—and the completely booked church. It hadn’t been easy planning a last-minute wedding, but it had been a labor of love.

“This might not be your first wedding, but it’s a real one nonetheless. We can’t go bucking tradition.” Dorrie tapped over to brush at her hair and straighten the veil. “There. You look nervous. Take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.”

“I know. It’s silly.” She glanced at the beveled mirror above Gran’s bureau. The woman staring back at her was swathed in the white of her original wedding dress, but she was no longer that young starry-eyed bride from their first wedding photos.

Time and the challenges of life had changed her. There were a few lines on her face—she really wanted to try to ignore seeing those—and she had a more mature look. The love she felt for Jonas had changed, too. Tested by fire, purified in the process, it was stronger. While their bond had been sound before, it was invincible now. The hidden blessing of Jonas’s injury.

Heels tapped down the hallway and there was Ava, in her rose-pink bridesmaid dress. “I’ve got the penny for your shoe. Off with it, Dani.”

“Like that’s easy in this dress.” Danielle couldn’t help laughing as she waded through the silk and ruffles for her white satin slippers and was grateful when Dorrie bent to remove the shoe. Danielle stood on one foot, holding on to the chair, while her sister and mom placed the penny and then she wiggled her foot back into the slipper.

“I’ve got something that’s both old and borrowed.” Aubrey, newly returned from her honeymoon, swept into the room in her bridesmaid dress holding something small in her hand. “I remembered you wore this in your first wedding. It’s Gran’s cross.”

Emotion burned in her eyes as she gave her sister a kiss on the cheek and bent down, holding back her hair—Mom grabbed the veil—so Aubrey could place and latch the delicate gold chain.

When she straightened, the beautiful jeweled cross gleamed like love. It had been a wedding gift to Gran from Grandpop, and it was like a sign that this new phase of her marriage would be as blessed as the first eight years had been.

Rebecca rustled into the room, also in her bridesmaid silk, and handed over the bouquet. “I have something blue. I tucked a violet into your roses.”

Lauren followed her, the final bridesmaid. “I have something new. It’s from your husband.”

“Jonas?” That was just like him to think of a gift. She took the box out of Lauren’s hand and fingered the quality, beautifully linked chain.

“It’s for your old wedding ring,” Lauren explained. “He wanted to surprise you with a new one, which is stunning, I might add. This chain is so you can wear your old ring next to your heart.”

Yes, that was just like Jonas. As she struggled to get her ring off her finger, she caught sight of him through the window. There went her heart again, soaring up to the sky. Love filled her up so there was no room for anything else.

“It’s time to marry your husband.” Dorrie took her hand to steady her.

“I can’t wait.”

With his ring next to her heart, she let her mother and sisters guide her down the stairs—tricky with the dress and train—and into the back doorway.

While she waited for her sisters to precede her down the aisle between the rows and rows of folding chairs, she was joined by two important visitors. Her dad, come to give her away again, and her daughter, dressed up in frothy pink, her maiden of honor.

“Mommy! Look!” Madison twirled until her dress spun out around her and she came to a dizzy stop. “I did it lotza times!”

“I saw.” Danielle straightened the girl’s pink rhinestone tiara and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Guess what, princess? It’s your turn. Go straight down the aisle to your daddy.”

“Okay!” Madison stopped on her way down the aisle to twirl prettily and shout, “Look at me, Mommy.”

Then it was her turn. Everyone stood to watch as she stepped out into the sunlight on her dad’s arm. The presence of the onlookers, the lull of music from a hired string quartet, the beauty of Gran’s backyard and her own nerves faded to nothing. All she saw—all she would ever see—was the handsome man waiting for her at the arbor. His gaze was only for her—his eyes never left hers as she took every step, closing the distance between them.

“I’m s’posed to take your flowers, Mom.” Tyler stepped forward in his matching black tux, the most handsome best man in any wedding ever.

“Thank you, sweetie.” There had been nothing in her life sweeter than this moment. Tyler took her flowers and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Madison was spinning more circles and Rebecca was gently trying to get her to stop.

Jonas—her treasured Jonas—reached out to take her hand. The moment she laid her fingers on his wide palm, her entire being sighed with joy. Their hands met, and their souls did, too, connected once again, closer than they’d ever been. When he looked upon her with boundless love, she knew the truth. That God had taken a terrible tragedy—an act committed by a desperate man—and turned it into His good. Into a greater love.

“You are my beloved,” Jonas whispered in her ear, holding on to her as if he never intended to let her go. “For now and forever.”

“As you are mine.”

The breeze stirred the leaves in the trees and teased the fragrance from the many roses. The minister began the ceremony, and so they were married with summer sunshine falling over them like grace.

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for choosing
Her Wedding Wish
. I hope you enjoyed Danielle’s and Jonas’s story as much as I did writing it. When their perfect world is shattered after her husband is shot, Danielle does not turn to despair but to her faith and to her love. Love, which is strong enough to see them both through Jonas’s recovery—and strong enough to turn tragedy to triumph. We have all had hardship come into our lives at one time or another and often, as in Jonas’s case, unfairly. I hope Danielle’s and Jonas’s struggle through hardship toward love speaks to your life, too.

Wishing you the best of blessings,

1. At the beginning of the story, when Jonas and Danielle arrive home after his extended stay in a rehabilitation clinic, what are their primary concerns? What does this say about their characters?
   
2. What is Jonas’s initial behavior toward the children he doesn’t remember? What does this reveal about him? About his faith and his values?
   
3. Danielle has shouldered a lot of burdens over the past year. How has that affected her? What does that reveal about her faith and her values?
   
4. At the beginning of the story, both Danielle and Jonas believe they can recapture the past. How does this change? How do they both handle this challenge? How do they both face the reality of Jonas never being able to remember?
   
5. How important is the theme of family in this story?
   
6. How does Danielle hold on to her hope? Jonas?
   
7. How important are the themes of compassion and service to others in this story?
   
8. How is God’s leading evident? What do you think God’s plan is for Danielle and Jonas?
   
9. What do you think Danielle and Jonas have learned about anger and forgiveness? About love?
   
10. How do Danielle and Jonas turn tragedy into triumph?
    
11. What role does the dog play in the family’s healing?
    
12. How does Danielle’s love change Jonas?