Learning to Love Again (24 page)

SIX WEEKS LATER, NICOLE STOOD ALONE IN THE Bride’s Room at the church, staring at her reflection in the mirror.  She heard the door open, and she looked over to see her aunt, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, honey, you are so beautiful!”  Helen stepped over and pressed her cheek to Nicole’s.  “I’m sorry your parents aren’t here to see this.”  She adjusted the fall of the veil and fluffed her dress a little.

“I am too, a little.  I wish Daddy were here to walk me down the aisle,” Nicole’s eyes met her aunt’s in the mirror.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done, both this summer as well as the past fifteen years.”  She wrapped her arm around her aunt and they stood, looking at their reflection in the mirror.

“I wish your mother had confided in me.  I’d have supported her when she found out she was pregnant with you.  Maybe Steve and I could have found your birth father for her.  But she couldn’t see past the mess of Jack’s mom.  And she was scared, for you as well as herself.  But she never got to experience true love was,” Helen turned to her niece, clasping both of her hands in her own.  “And that was her loss, not to experience what you and Jason share.  Don’t ever let that hold you back again.  You deserve every bit of happiness that man wants to give you.”

Nicole’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded at her aunt.

“Hey you two no more mushy stuff,” Carly stepped into the room and handed Nicole her bouquet.  “You’ll ruin your makeup!”

The three women stood side by side, looking at their reflection.  “We sure do make this family look good, don’t we?”  Carly joked, causing the other Nicole to giggle.  “They’re about ready for us.  Jack’s on his way up.  Are you ready to do this?” Carly asked, smiling at her friend.

Nicole smiled back.  “I’ve been ready.”  She glanced over at her aunt.  “Why don’t you go let the usher seat you now?”

Jack was stepping into the room as Helen reached the door.  As she passed by him, he leaned down to kiss her cheek.  Carly gave Nicole one last smile and followed Helen out the door, leaving Jack and Nicole alone.

“Hey, kid.  How are you holding up?” he stepped over to stand in front of her.

“I’m fine.  How are the guys?”  She reached up to straighten his bowtie.  Mitch and Jason had tried to outdrink Jack the night before at the bachelor party, but had forgotten to make Jack drink something other than whiskey.  So while they were struggling with the hangovers from hell today, he was his usual chipper self.

“We poured enough coffee into them that they’re somewhat sober.  At least they didn’t scream in agony when we forced them to remove their sunglasses.”  Jack chuckled and offered her his arm as they left the room and moved to the stairwell.

The doors to the chapel were closed, the ushers at the ready to open them once The Wedding March started to play.  Jack laid his hand over hers where it rested on his forearm.

“This is it, kiddo; one last chance to run screaming in the other direction.”  Jack jerked his head towards the front door, and she smiled up at him.

“No, thanks, I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with the one I love.”  Her brilliant smile spoke volumes.  Jack gave her hand one last squeeze as the opening strains of The Wedding March played, and the ushers opened the doors.  She was aware of the packed church as she and Jack walked down the aisle, but her attention was on Jason, as his was on hers.

All of the butterflies in her stomach settled down as their eyes met.  The love in his eyes was there for everyone to see.  There were times she still pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, but this was the real deal.  He was her life now and she was his.

Jack paused to kiss her cheek when they reached the alter.  “Be happy, little one,” he whispered, handing her over to Jason.  Jason took her hand and looked down into her eyes as the minister started to speak the old familiar words.

She wouldn’t remember what prayers the minister said, or the verses he read, but she’d never forget the pure love that was shining out of Jason’s eyes as he held her hand and promised to love, honor and cherish her for the rest of their lives.  She cried as he slipped the diamond studded wedding band on her ring finger.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”  The minister proclaimed as he took her in his arms for their first kiss as husband and wife.

“You are so beautiful.  I love you,” he murmured as he held her close.  They turned towards their family and friends, who erupted into applause and cheers as they made their way back down the aisle.

It took an eternity for the church to empty and the photographer to finish with the shots of the wedding party and family.  Jason helped her into the limo for the ride out to the ranch and the reception, climbing in after her wrapping his arms around her once the door was closed.

“Hello, wife,” he whispered, bending his head for a kiss.

“Hello, husband,” she whispered back, tucking her head against his shoulder as the car started moving.  “How’s the head?”

“Damn that Jack and his whiskey.  How can that man drink as much, if not more, than Mitch and I did and still walk around as if nothing was wrong?”

“Something about his metabolism, he told me once.  He never suffers a hangover.”  She informed him, laughing.   “At least he stuck around to sober you up in time for the wedding.”

He grinned down at her and leaned his head back against the seat of the limo.  “How long do we need to stay at the reception?”

“Dinner, toasts, cake and dancing, I’d say a couple of hours, at least.”  She looked up at him.  “Why?”

“I’m looking forward to helping you out of this dress.”  He fingered the lace of her bodice and grinned down at her.  “I can tell the driver to take the long way…” slapping at his fingers, Nicole laughed.

“Uh-huh.  I’ve been too nervous to eat today, and I’m hungry!  Besides, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave for our private honeymoon.”

“Nervous, what did you have to be nervous about?  I was the one standing up at the front of the church looking at a set of closed doors, wondering if you were ever going to step through them,” he teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and keeping her close to his side as the limo started down the long driveway to the ranch house.

“And I was nervous because I saw Mitch when he stumbled home this morning.  As bad as he looked, I was sure you looked worse and would ruin my wedding pictures.  You two should have known better than to get drunk with Jack.”  She elbowed him in the ribs as the car coasted to a stop in front of the ranch house.

The ranch hands had helped construct an arch and trellis, and laid out a red carpet for everyone to walk from the driveway around to the backyard for the reception.  The guests were already lined up, awaiting their arrival.

Jack stepped to the microphone on the bandstand that been erected for the occasion as Jason helped her climbed out of the limo.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, please help me welcome the guests of honor, Jason and Nicole Morrow!”  Mitch and Carly handed glasses of champagne over to them as everyone raised their glasses in a toast.

They made their way through the crowd of people to the head table and took their seats, flanked by family and friends.  Mitch and Carly had served as best man and matron of honor, and three of the doctors Jason worked with had served as the ushers.  The band was playing in the background, while the caterers’ staff moved among the tables, serving drinks and bringing out the food.

Her estimation, and his hope, of having to stay at the reception for only a couple of hours proved correct.  After they ate their dinner, they began to circulate around the tables.  They danced their first dance and listened to the toasts made by Mitch, Carly and Jack.

As soon as they’d cut the cake and fed it to each other, Jason pulled Nicole up on stage and over to the microphone.  “All right, y’all.  I hope you are all having fun, but Nicole and I are going to be leaving now.  Y’all are welcome to stay and enjoy Helen and Steve’s hospitality, but we will see you in two weeks.  If you try looking for us before then, you’d better be ready to run!”  He swung her up in his arms and, with Mitch and Jack leading the way, carried her back out to the limo.

“If you want to toss the bouquet, darlin’, you’d better do it!” Jason instructed as he waited for the driver to open the door.

She grinned up at him and turned herself in his arms so that her back was to the crowd and tossed her bouquet over his shoulder, turning to see one of the nurses from the hospital catch it.  Her date turned red in the face, as the doctors near them started teasing the couple.

She paused before getting into the limo to kiss her family one last time and then he was urging her into the limo and climbing in behind her.  The driver shut the door on them and hurried around to the driver’s side.

“Whew!” he grinned down at her.  “What a day!” he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  “I’m ready for a vacation, how about you?”

“I’d like to know where we’re going,” she snuggled close.

“The Bahamas.”  He played with one of her curls, sending shivers down her spine.  “We leave first thing in the morning.  Tonight, we’re staying at a hotel in Austin, near the airport,” he nuzzled her neck with his lips.

“Jason…” she leaned back from him and looked pointedly at the privacy window.

“Spoilsport,” he laughed and pulled her back into his arms.  “Relax.  He’s taking us over to the airport and we’re catching the commuter flight to Austin.  We fly to the Bahamas tomorrow morning,” wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in closer to him.  “I missed having you in the condo this week.  I still can’t believe Helen made you move back to the ranch.”

“Be grateful it was only for the week.  She made Mitch and Carly split up for the month preceding their wedding.”  Carly had reminded her and Helen of that fact many times over the last month.

“I missed you, too.” she admitted.  “Thank you.”

“For what?” he looked down at her in puzzlement.

“For giving me my happily ever after,” Nicole told him with a grin as she slipped a hand around his neck and tugged his mouth back down to hers.  Just before he claimed her lips again, Jason whispered a single word to her.

“Always.”

Kelli grew up all over the East Coast but her family finally settled in Cincinnati long enough for her to finish high school and college.  She has always loved to read books and write her own stories.  In high school, she used to pass around the latest chapter of the story she was writing for her friends to read.  There is more than one high school teacher out there that can probably remember telling her to put the book down and pay attention to the lectures.

Graduating from the University of Cincinnati with her BS in Nursing, she left Ohio for Texas and the U.S. Army.  She received a medical discharge for a knee injury, but was able to meet the man she'd one day call her husband first--thanks to some mutual friends who insisted they would be perfect together.  And what do you know--they are!

She continued to read books by the dozens and write her own stories.  And then one day, a friend dared her to enter a contest.  She didn’t win, but the feedback she received from the judges convinced her that maybe people were interested in the stories she wanted to tell.

She still lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two children and 2 dogs.