“Hi,” she said shyly as they met and he took both of her hands in his.
“Good morning. So you couldn’t sleep either?”
“Not a wink. And you?”
He got a mischievous look in his eye. “Actually, I was sleeping quite soundly, until I heard the voice.”
Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “The voice?”
He nodded gravely. “Yes. This voice spoke in my ear and said, ‘Get up and go outside. Out on the street you’ll find a vision as lovely as anything you’ve ever seen in God’s creation.’ ”
She blushed prettily and ducked her head. “Oh, Matthew,” she chided him softly, but deeply pleased.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. “Sure enough,” he declared. “The voice was right.”
She kissed him back, then leaned against him. “It’s finally here, Matthew. Can you believe it?”
He shook his head slowly, reaching up to touch her hair. “Every night for the last twenty-two months I’ve thought about this day. There were times when I thought it would never come, when I thought I would never leave England.”
“Me too,” she murmured. “It seemed like forever.” Then suddenly she pulled back, frowning. “This is supposed to be bad luck, you know.”
“What?”
“Seeing the bride before the actual wedding.”
“Hmm,” he said, pulling her back to him and putting his arms around her. “I need all the bad luck I can get.”
Laughing, she nodded. “That’s good. I feel the same way.”
He turned her around and started walking up the street, going back the way from which she had come, following her footprints in the damp earth of the roadway. After a moment, she laid her head against his shoulder. He looked down at her. “What were you thinking while you were walking?”
She slipped her arm through his and held it tightly. “I was thinking how strange life is.”
“In what way?”
“Well, think about it. The Mormon War in Missouri was a great tragedy. People were killed. Thousands of people were driven from their homes. Most lost everything.”
“Yes?” This turn of her thoughts surprised him a little.
“Joshua was shot and nearly killed.”
Now he understood and nodded. “But if he hadn’t been . . .”
“If he hadn’t been, your family would never have needed a place to hide him while he recovered.”
“And Derek would never have thought of asking your mother if she would offer her home as that place.”
“Exactly.” There was a quick shudder, as if she had taken a chill. “And you wouldn’t have come up with them to care for Joshua, and I would never have even met you.” She shook her head in wonder. “And because of that one simple turn of events, even though they were tragic at the time, here we are today. I could still be out there on the plains of northern Missouri, hoping someday to meet the right man, not knowing anything about the Church or Joseph Smith. Never knowing that I could have been your wife. I—” Tears sprang to her eyes and she had to bite her lip. “Never knowing I could be so totally happy that I feel like I’m just going to burst wide open.”
Matthew pulled her in more tightly against him. “I’m happy too, Jennifer Jo. More happy than I thought it was possible for one person to be.”
She looked up at him, her eyes large and filled with love. “I’m glad.”
At that moment, the tip of the sun cleared the eastern bluffs and the first rays of sunlight lit her face. She turned slightly, squinting a bit against the brightness. Then suddenly she was all business. “Oh, Matthew, we’ve got to get back. It’s time to start getting ready. I’ll bet Jessica is already up and wondering what happened to me.”
Turning to face her, he reached down, put a finger under her chin, and tipped her head back. “I love you, Jennifer Jo McIntire.”
“And I love you, Matthew Steed. Oh, how I love you.”
He kissed her, only reluctantly letting her go. They turned and walked back to Jessica’s home. As they reached the front gate, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly. “Remember, you can’t tell anyone we were out here. It’s bad luck.”
“Right.” He squeezed her hand and gave her a gentle push toward the cabin. “See you in a little while.”
As she ran up onto the porch, Matthew turned around and looked up and down the street. Then he cupped his hands and tipped his head back. “Hey!” he shouted loudly.
Jennifer Jo whirled around, completely startled. He paid her no mind. “Hey, you Steeds!” he roared. “Get yourselves out of those beds. Don’t you know there’s a marriage to be done here today?”
Her head tipped back as she laughed merrily at this crazy man she was going to marry. He spun around on his heel and looked at her with great seriousness. One finger came up to his lips. “Remember,” he whispered conspiratorially, “not a word to anyone.”
At Jessica’s house, they had made Jennifer Jo and Kathryn’s bedroom into the bride’s dressing room. Caroline had brought a full-length mirror over and now it stood against one wall. Jennifer Jo was standing before it in her petticoats and corset, watching as Lydia and Rebecca and Jessica pinned the hem of the petticoats all the way around. Mary Ann stood back, eyeing the space between the hem and the floor with a careful eye. Finally, as the others stood up, she nodded. “I think we’re ready.”
Kathryn turned to Caroline. “Can Livvy and I get it, Aunt Caroline? Oh please!”
“Yes, Mama,” Olivia begged. “Please! We’ll be careful.”
Caroline laughed. “All right. It’s on the table at our house.”
As Olivia and Kathryn darted out of the room, Jessica stepped forward. Her eyes were soft and misty as she looked at Lydia, who was holding a long ribbon in her hand. “May I?” she asked.
Lydia nodded and handed it to her. “Of course.”
The others stepped back as Jessica moved behind Jennifer Jo. Watching her foster mother in the mirror, Jennifer Jo smiled as Jessica reached up and carefully took her hair. She pulled it back over the crown of her head and tied it there with the ribbon, making a small bow and letting the streamers hang down over her back. Then Jessica went up on her toes and kissed Jennifer Jo on the top of her head. “Your mother would be so pleased to see you now,” she whispered.
Jennifer Jo nodded quickly. “I was just thinking about Mama. How I wish she were here.” But then she turned and laid one hand on Jessica’s arm. “But you’re my mother now,” she said, her eyes filled with gratitude. “You’ve been all that a mother could ever be.”
Jessica hugged her quickly. “And I couldn’t be more proud if you were my own flesh and blood.”
The door opened and Olivia and Kathryn trooped in with a long flat box held between them. They set it on the dressing table as everyone gathered in closer to see. Kathryn stepped behind her sister and put her hands over her eyes. “You can’t see it until we get it out of the box.”
“That’s right,” Caroline agreed. “Keep them covered.” She removed the lid of the box and carefully lifted the dress out, holding it up at full length. There was a soft intake of breath. “Oh, Caroline,” Lydia exclaimed. “It’s beautiful.”
“I can’t stand it. I want to see,” Jennifer Jo cried.
Caroline shook it once to let it fall completely out, then nodded at Kathryn. “All right.”
Kathryn withdrew her hands and Jennifer Jo opened her eyes. Instantly they widened. “Oh, Caroline!”
Caroline smiled, pleased at the reaction. The dress was more of an ivory color than just white, and the color gave the material a lustrous, rich look, even in the limited light of the bedroom. It was made of lightweight taffeta, and the design was simple but elegant. Chantilly lace came down off the shoulders in front and back, forming a gently scooped neckline just below the throat. The sleeves were puffed to the elbow and tight at the wrist. The skirt was full, with two deep flounces edged with matching lace all around. Caroline and Lydia had scoured every store in Nauvoo and then in Quincy looking for material and a pattern that were suitable. Nothing was satisfactory. So Caroline had simply told Joshua to move up by two weeks his next trip to St. Louis and to take her with him. Picking a wedding dress was simply not something you left in the hands of a man.
In a moment they had the dress on Jennifer Jo and were buttoning it up the back. When they finished, Jessica turned her toward the mirror, and they all stepped back to admire it with her. There were oohs and aahs, but Mary Ann said it about as well as any of them. “Olivia,” she said with a smile, “you’d better go warn Matthew. When he sees this young lady, he is going to be knocked right off his feet.”
“Just hold still,” Joshua growled. “You’d think you’d never had on a jacket before in your life.”
“Not one like this,” Matthew said, holding out his arms to get a better look.
“Well, it won’t do to have you looking like some sodbuster on your wedding day.”
“But this is way too much, Joshua,” Matthew protested. “I can’t believe what you must have paid for this.”
Derek was walking around him, looking carefully up and down. “He did the same thing for me and Rebecca, if you remember. I tried to tell him no, too.” He grinned. “Didn’t do a bit of good.”
“I feel like the Duke of Buckingham,” Matthew said, turning around slowly.
“Then I assume the Duke of Buckingham is a proper dresser,” Joshua retorted. He might not know anything about picking out a wedding dress, but when it came to choosing what clothes fit the man, Joshua was not one whit behind Caroline. He had chosen fawn-colored trousers and a deep blue double-breasted coat. On Matthew’s long-legged frame they looked very trim and fashionable. There was a white waistcoat which had a high collar and a cravat to match the coat.
Nathan and Benjamin were sitting on chairs, watching. Now Nathan stood and stepped to Matthew. He laid an arm across Matthew’s shoulder. “Little brother,” he said with soberness, “Joshua and I couldn’t be more proud of you. We’re proud to be part of your family.”
“Amen!” Joshua said softly.
Benjamin took out his watch and stood now too. “If we’re going to make it to the grove by ten, we’d better get started.”
Rebecca opened the door wide and stepped back. As she reached the doorway, Jennifer Jo stopped, looking around at the women who would very shortly officially become her family.
“Are you nervous?” Mary Ann asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said, giving her a crooked smile. “I can hardly get my breath and my hands are cold as ice, but no, I don’t feel nervous.”
They all laughed at that, and then Kathryn stepped forward. “We have one more little surprise for you.”
“What?”
“Step outside.” She took her by the hand and pulled her through the doorway.
As she stepped onto the porch, Jennifer Jo stopped immediately. Lined up before her were the five Steed family granddaughters. Each one had on a brand-new dress, which, like the wedding dress, had just a week before been residing in one of the finest dress shops in St. Louis. Each one carried a small bouquet of wildflowers in her hand. On their heads were circlets of wildflowers, interwoven with long streamers of ribbons that fell down their backs. They were trying to hold still, but the excitement was too much and so they were wiggling and squirming like little worms boring into an apple.
Kathryn and Olivia had set this whole thing up and trained them carefully. “What do you say, girls?” Kathryn asked.
They did a little curtsy, five cousins as different in personality and looks as any five could be, but in this one thing acting in perfect coordination. “Good morning, Jennifer Jo,” they said in chorus. “Congratulations on your wedding day.”
“Oh, thank you,” Jennifer Jo responded, clapping her hands together in delight. “Don’t you all look absolutely perfect?”
Caroline looked at them proudly, letting her eyes come to rest on her own daughter. “Savannah, do you have something for Jennifer Jo?”
Savannah nodded gravely. She stepped out of line and walked to the corner of the porch, moving more like a queen’s escort than a four-year-old. Reaching down behind the chair there, she carefully picked up a large bouquet of fresh flowers whose stems were wrapped in a damp cloth. Turning, she came back to Jennifer Jo. The red hair bobbed softly up and down as she walked. The blue eyes were wide with excitement. She held the flowers out. “These are for you, Jennifer Jo.”
Taking them carefully, Jennifer Jo lifted them to her face and breathed deeply of their fragrance. “Savannah, thank you. These are so beautiful. Did you pick these for me?”
“We all did,” sang out Emily, Lydia’s older daughter. “We went around last night and asked people if we could have some of their flowers.”
Jennifer Jo looked up and down the line, touched by their eager innocence. “Well, thank you, every one of you. These are just perfect for today.”
“Aunt Jennifer?” Savannah said.
“What, dear?”
“Wanna see my dress twirl?”
Jennifer Jo laughed softly. “I would like that very much, Savannah.” She straightened and stepped back.
Savannah, very serious now, stepped forward. She held out her arms and then spun around on one foot. Her dress swirled outward, then settled back again.
Jennifer Jo looked down at these wonderful little girls who before the day was out would all become her nieces, and her face softened. “Do you want to see
me
twirl?”
“Yes!” came the instant chorus of replies.
Handing her bouquet to Kathryn, Jennifer Jo held out her arms, then spun around once, then twice, then a third time, smiling radiantly at the girls and the women, who applauded her as she finally came to rest again.
“Bravo! Bravo!”
Jennifer Jo turned in surprise. The men were just coming up the street from Benjamin’s cabin and had witnessed the whole thing. It was Matthew who had cried out. Now he opened the gate and walked swiftly up the path. As he reached the women, he stopped. His eyes moved slowly up and down Jennifer Jo’s figure. His mouth opened slightly as if he were going to speak, then shut again. He could only stare at her.
“Come on, Matthew,” Lydia teased. “Aren’t you going to say anything to your bride?”
“I can’t,” he finally answered softly, stepping up to take Jennifer Jo’s hands. “There are no words that could possibly describe what I’m seeing right now.”