The Bridal Veil (39 page)

Without Rose.

Without Luke.

Emily felt her eyes well up and she
struggled against it. She couldn’t fall apart now and scare Rose.
Emily had had no one to depend upon for so long, she knew she could
count on herself. She must be strong for them both.

“
What’s that?” Rose cocked
her head.

“
What?” Emily asked. “I
don’t hear anything.” Then over the sound of the creek and the wind
and rain, she heard a distant voice. It rose and fell with the
gusts.

“
Emily! Rose! Where are
you?”

“
Oh, thank God! It’s
Luke!”

They both started yelling at
once.

“
Here we are!”

“
Daddy, we’re down here!
Down here!”

In a moment, two heads emerged over
the edge of the fallen-away bridge. In the gathering gloom, Emily
recognized Luke and Chester Manning.

“
Don’t you worry, ma’am.
We’ll have you out of there in a jiffy.”

“
Are you hurt?” Luke called
down.

“
No, we’re all right. Just
dirty, wet, and cold,” Emily answered.

“
I’m coming down to get you.
Rose first, then you, Emily.”

Emily waited with her heart in her
throat as Luke lowered himself down the hillside to their little
perch. Watching his long lean body as he carefully threaded his way
over the mud and roots was a special torture for Emily. She knew
that she would never be held by those strong arms again, or cradled
against that broad chest. Or ever hear him tell her he loved her.
When he touched down, in the fading light she saw that he was just
as wet and dirty as they were. He’d tied the end of a rope around
his waist, and now he untied it and secured it around
Rose.

“
The other end of this is
tied to the wagon. Chester!” he called. “Here comes Rose! Back ‘er
up!” From above and below, Luke and Chester guided Rose as she
reached the road.

Emily watched anxiously until Chester
reached over, grabbed the girl, and lifted her the rest of the
way.

When Rose had both feet safely on the
ground above, Luke turned to Emily. He gripped her shoulders in his
hands while rain poured off his head. The storm seemed to fade away
and all she saw were his dark eyes, all she felt was his hands on
her once more.

“
Emily, Emily, God I was
such a fool! I saw the ring on the kitchen table. You can’t leave
us. I never should have listened to Cora. That wicked-hearted old
bitch could have gotten all of us killed with that lie she made up.
Please—” he said, squeezing her shoulders and looking into her
eyes, “—please try to forgive me. And
please
don’t leave us. I’m begging
you, as a man and as your husband. I love you and I need you. So
does Rose.” He released her shoulders and took her hands, kissing
them through the mud and scraped flesh. “Until this moment, I
wasn’t sure if I could love anyone again. After I lost Belinda, I
couldn’t imagine caring for another woman. But I can’t let you
go.”

Emotion and reaction set it, and Emily
began shaking like someone with St. Vitus’ dance. She leaned
against him for a moment, relieved, exhausted, elated. “Luke, it’s
all right, it’s all right. I forgive you. I’ll stay. Dear God, I’ll
stay. I’m so glad you don’t hate me.”

“
Hate
you,” he repeated. “Honey, I have two shining lights in my
life, two—you and Rose. I know I said awful things—I was worried
and scared for Rose, and I—”

Emily put her hand to his lips. “Hush.
None of that matters now. Let’s just go home.”

He kissed her hands again and nodded.
Then he tied the rope around her waist and had Chester back up the
wagon to pull her up. When all of them had been lifted from the
creek, the two men stacked Luke’s lumber order across the road,
about thirty feet from the edge of the drop off.

“
We can’t do anything about
the other side. We’ll just have to hope that no one comes along in
the dark and falls off into the creek,” Luke said.

Just as full darkness settled over the
land, all four of them were safely back in the wagon and headed
toward the Manning farm.

“
By God, wait until that
town council gets an earful of this,” Chester grumbled as they
reached his place. “I’ll give ’em an ass-chewin’ they won’t likely
forget. By the time I’m done with them, they’ll not only offer to
build a brand new bridge, Luke, they’ll be begging to name it after
the Becker ladies. We’ll get them to replace your lumber for that
henhouse, too, and with first-grade stuff.”

From the back of the wagon, Luke
barely listened. He just kept his arms wrapped around Rose and
Emily, kept them tucked against his heart.

Jennie Manning was waiting for them on
her front porch, and when she learned what had happened, she had
her children bring out blankets and hot coffee.

“
Are you sure you won’t come
in?” she fretted. With her shawl wrapped tightly around her, she
waded through the mud to the wagon to check on the Beckers herself.
“I hate to send you off like this, wet and cold.”

“
Jennie, we appreciate it,
but we’ve had a really terrible day.” Emily glanced at Rose, then
Luke. “We we want to get home and clean up.”

She nodded, obviously understanding,
but worried just the same. “All right. But please be careful, and
take care of yourselves. I’ll come by tomorrow and see how you’re
doing.”

They all waved goodbye and Luke got
the wagon rolling again, this time for home.

This time, for good.

~~*~*~*~~

“
This is where you belong,”
Luke said, as he entered Emily. The bed creaked under the weight of
their bodies and his slow rocking. “You are the love of my life,
and this is where you belong. In my arms and in my
heart.”

They had washed and eaten and both
shared the task of putting Rose to bed. Luke had given his daughter
an extra hug, and promised to talk all she wanted in the morning.
Then, to reaffirm their love and their lives, Luke had brought
Emily to the shadowy stillness of his bedroom to make slow, sweet
love to her.

She gasped with pleasure and a feeling
of completion as he joined her. “Yes,” she responded, rocking her
hips toward him. “And this is where you belong. Always in my
heart.”

Emily had never felt so alive, so
certain of the purpose of her existence, as she was at this moment.
She had been born to love Luke Becker and to be loved by him in
return.

He honored her with his body and
spirit, with urgent, whispered words, the promise of a lifetime
full of tomorrows. Pushing her to her climax, he held her while she
wept his name and convulsed beneath him. Then he sought his own
release and solace in her.

At last, when they lay spent and
exhaustion was about to claim them, Luke rolled Emily to her side
and pulled her snug up against his torso so they matched like
spoons.

“
We’ve had our share of
disasters around here, haven’t we?” Luke commented. His whisper
lifted the hair at her nape. She snuggled closer. His arms
tightened.

“
More than our share,” she
returned. “What are you going to tell Rose?”

“
What I should have told her
in the first place—the truth. At least as much of it as I think she
should hear for now.” He put a kiss on her bare shoulder. “You were
right all along, Emily.”

“
I wish that I hadn’t been.”
She interlaced her hands with his. “If Cora hadn’t known, you would
have been safe to let things stand.”

“
Yeah, and I should have
known better. She threatened me a couple of times over the years
that she’d tell Rose I’m not her father.”

“
What will you do about her,
Luke? Will you still let Rose see her?”

“
For now, Rose doesn’t want
anything to do with her, and who can blame her? Cora’s idea of love
is a twisted thing. If Rose changes her mind later, we’ll talk
about it. But as far as I’m concerned, our relationship with Cora
Hayward is finished. She could have gotten you and Rose killed
today.”

The truth of his statement sent a
chill through Emily, and they fell silent for a moment.

“
I think the rain is finally
letting up,” Emily said at last. It wasn’t pounding against the
glass anymore. She felt Luke’s lips against the back of her
neck.

“
That’s good,” he murmured,
and then she heard the sound of his slow, even breathing and knew
that he slept.

“
Yes, it is. It’s all good.”
And Emily released her hold on wakefulness to join her
husband.

EPILOGUE

“
Can anyone present show
just cause why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony?”
From his place on Luke’s front porch, Reverend Ackerman directed
his question at the assembly of people gathered in the Beckers’s
front yard behind Emily and Luke. It was a beautiful day in late
June—this was just about the time it stopped raining around here,
Luke had told Emily. Birds twittering in the trees were the only
response to the reverend’s question.

“
All right, then.” Ackerman
led the wedding couple through a traditional ceremony for a wedding
that was anything but. “Luke, the ring—”

Emily’s heart sank. She hadn’t been
able to find her wedding band again after she took it off and put
it on the table that awful day. Luke had said nothing about it, but
she knew he must have noticed that she wasn’t wearing
it.

Now he took her hand and pushed a
beautiful wide, gold band onto her ring finger. She looked up at
him, surprised, but he just winked at her.

“ 
. . . vested in me, I now pronounce you man and
wife. Luke,” he nodded at the groom, “kiss your bride.”

Luke lifted Emily’s fine silk veil,
then took her into his arms and gave her a brief but heartfelt
kiss. The neighbors behind him cheered and applauded.

Emily laughed, even as tears streamed
down her face. Their neighbors crowded forward to wish them well,
but Jennie and Chester Manning led the group. “I haven’t seen a
bride so pretty since I married my little gal, here,” Chester said,
pecking Emily on the cheek. “Luke, congratulations! I’m glad we all
lived to see this day.”

Luke pumped his hand and clapped him
on the shoulder, overwhelmed by the feeling of support and
belonging with his neighbors that he’d never known before. “Thanks
for everything, Chester. Everything. I owe you the life of my wife
and child.”

The farmer looked
embarrassed. “Oh, damn it, Luke. I was just payin’ you back for
saving
my
family
last year. That’s what neighbors are for!”

“
Yeah, but you got the town
council to replace the bridge and pay for my lumber, you organized
this wedding and got everyone to help with building the henhouse.
God, that’s more than any man could ask for.”

Chester waved off any more thanks.
“Now you just have some of Jennie’s fried potatoes and enjoy your
day. But watch out for the punch—I think old Jobie might have
spiked it with that white lightnin’ he makes up there on the
mountain. So of course, I’m having me a taste of that.”

“
Not too big a taste,”
Jennie warned, overhearing this. “I don’t want any more broken legs
around our house, after that fall off the barn roof last
year.”

“
I wasn’t drinkin’ that
day!” Chester protested.

“
No, and look what
happened,” she teased. She pressed forward to take Emily’s hand.
“You look beautiful.”

“
I felt a little odd about
wearing my teal dress with this veil, but I think it’s all
right.”

“
Of course, it is. Lots of
brides are choosing wedding dresses that they can wear again,
anyway.”

“
You
are
beautiful, Mama Em.” Rose stood
beside her, lovely in her restored dress and carrying a small
nosegay, as befitted the maid of honor. Her hair was tied back with
Emily’s pink satin hair ribbon. She learned from Rose that Cora had
made her return the gift when Emily had given it to her. Emily was
happy that it now belonged to Rose.

And they had decided that “Mama” must
always be Belinda. But “Miss Emily” was too formal and having a
child call her by her first name was unacceptable to both Luke and
Emily. So they decided on Mama Em as a compromise, and everyone was
happy with it.

“
Thank you, Rose.” She
leaned over and pressed her cheek to the girl’s. “Someday you’ll
wear not only this veil, but the dress that goes with it as well,
if you want.”

“
Ohh, really?” Rose
beamed.

“
Yes, when you find a man as
good and kind as your father,” Jennie said, tipping a smile at
Emily.

“
Everyone—” Chester raised
his voice to be heard above the crowd. “We all know why we’re here
today—to see these fine folks married off right, and to build them
a new henhouse. So let’s eat our wedding breakfast and get to work.
Afterward, the Duffy brothers will provide the dancin’ music, and
we might be able to coax our fine ladies into feeding us supper,
too.”