Mission pulled out the index card where he’d scribbled down a few of his thoughts. “Kristie,” he said, and a faint breeze lifted her veil and let it settle again, as if even the air wanted to look full in her face. He swallowed, but the lump sitting there stayed.
“I promise to be your constant champion, let you bake as much as you want, host chocolate night at our house, and get as many horses as you want.”
“Oh, boy,” someone said behind them, and a smattering of laughter moved through the crowd.
“I thank God every day that He allowed us each to get out of our own way and start living our lives together instead of apart. I’m grateful you forgive me, and I’m glad I have you to set me straight when I feel crooked.”
His emotions surged again, and Mission tucked his card away, as he didn’t need it. He lifted his free hand toward the mountains and then took hers in his. “I love you. Yeah, that’s it. I love you, and however many dances the Lord gives us, I’ll take them all.”
Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and she cut a quick glance at Pastor Benson, who gestured for her to go ahead with her own vows.
She looked at him again, and Mission grinned at her, so glad his part was over. “Mission,” she said. “Something about you has called to me since the moment we met. It used to irritate me to no end, and I thought it was because you were arrogant and rude.”
He ducked his head, though he’d heard all of this before.
“But being quiet is not the same as being arrogant. Being knowledgeable and speaking the truth doesn’t make you rude. You have taught me so much about how to be myself, and I love that you live a life according to exactly who you are.”
She released his hand and reached up to wipe the corner of her eye. “I promise to love you for exactly who you are, because I know you’re doing that for me. I want to bake and bring home horse rescues and sit on the rooftops and watch the sun go down.”
Mission met her eyes, wanting all of those things too.
Kristie wiped her eyes again. “And I know you’ll let me bake when I’m happy, and when I’m sad, and when I’m upset, and I think you’re going to regret letting me have as many horses as I want.”
Mission chuckled and shook his head.
“I’ve loved dancing with you for the past year, and somewhere in there, I’ve learned the steps to peace. I promise to hold that with you, to follow and to lead, to love you in the wide daylight and the narrow night.”
Mission couldn’t stop smiling, because those promises were beautiful, and they both looked back to the pastor.
“That was wonderful,” he said. “Let’s do the most important thing, shall we? Then we can move on to the second most important thing—dinner.”
Mission laughed again, quickly sobering when Pastor Benson said, “Kristie Jenise Higgins, do you take unto yourself, Mission Hawkeye Redbay, to be your legally and lawfully wedded husband? And do you give yourself unto him to be his legally and lawfully wedded wife, in honor, trust, and fidelity, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Kristie said, not a hitch of hesitation in her voice at all.
The pastor turned toward him. “Mission Hawkeye Redbay, do you take unto yourself, Kristie Jenise Higgins, to be your legally and lawfully wedded wife? And do you give yourself unto her to be her legally and lawfully wedded husband, in honor, trust, and fidelity, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” he said, relieved he hadn’t stuttered or sounded like he’d swallowed rusty pennies.
“Then, by the power vested in me by the state of Colorado and the Good Lord Above, I pronounce you husband and wife.” He lifted both hands toward the corners of the tent. “Everyone, Mister and Missus Mission and Kristie Redbay.”
He smiled for all he was worth and gestured for Mission and Kristie to seal their union with a kiss. Mission pulled her flush against him and pressed his lips to hers as the crowd whooped and hollered and applauded.
Their adrenaline rushed through him, and when he pulled away, he tucked Kristie against his side. “Our first dance,” he shouted over the still-cheering crowd.
Oh, and the country music, which suddenly blasted its way into the tent. He grinned at her, and Kristie smiled right on back.
Then he took her hand and they danced their way down the aisle in perfect time to the song they’d danced to at the Summer Stroll last year.
thirty-six
Opal Crow sat on her front porch, her precious Mari snuggled into her chest. She patted the baby’s bottom, though the little girl had been asleep for the past thirty minutes.
Her parents should be here any moment, and Opal’s pulse skipped though the scene surrounding her testified of pure country stillness.
Blue sky, rich earth that Tag had just overturned this past week in preparation for planting season, a gentle breeze through the new leaves that had just come back to the trees.
“It’s a beautiful day, baby,” she whispered to her infant daughter. “Daddy will be home soon, and Grandma and Gramps are coming today too.”
