She gave a choking laugh. “I can do that.” Her eyes brightened slightly. “As long as I get to be your maid of honor.”
Once Madison was taken care of, packing up was the next hardest thing. Putting twenty-four years of memories into boxes as my mother sobbed happily wasn’t exactly my idea of the best day ever, but Dad put on a good face, and then we all went out for boba after, which cheered Mom immensely.
The whole time, she kept repeating, “I’ve always wanted you to be happy. And now you’re all grown up, and it’s here.” Then she’d burst into sobs again as my dad and I exchanged looks.
There were times, especially as I tried to finish the year with my kids in a portable with very few teaching supplies, that I never thought the wedding would arrive. But Derrick kept me upbeat and laughing with awful pranks and his terrible teasing as the day drew near. And eventually, it arrived.
Waking up the morning of my wedding was somewhat like a dream. For just a second, I was still in my room in my bed, and it was just another Saturday. Then I blinked as the morning light spilled through my blinds, and I knew. This would be the last morning I’d wake up alone. Because this was the day I’d no longer be my own.
Our pastor’s wife oversaw all the details with a finesse I was sure most professional wedding planners wouldn’t have attained. And in no time at all, I was standing in the lobby for what would be my last time in a long while. My gown made me feel even more a princess than I remembered from the gown shop, and the little gold silken slippers beneath made me feel a lot less likely to fall than the heels the shop lady had recommended.
Jade, who stood in front of me, sported her own little princess dress. Derrick’s mother had asked a seamstress to make one that complemented mine, and she couldn’t have been prouder. All by herself, she went on her cue and dropped rose petals all the way up the aisle. She had that determined look that said she wasn’t stopping for anyone. Which made it all the funnier when she paused in front of Derrick and curtsied before continuing her petal work all the way to her seat.
Madison and my other bridesmaids made their way up the aisle, as did our grandparents, the ring bearer, and parents, minus my dad.
Then it was my turn.
I gripped my dad’s arm as the doors opened to the sanctuary. We’d practiced yesterday, of course, but this…
This was like something out of a movie. Garlands of ribbon and flowers hung from vaulted ceilings. The windows all had flowers as well, as did the pews. The music began, and though I knew it wasn’t Pachelbel’s Canon, as I despised that song, I suddenly forgot what song was even playing. Because at the end of the aisle, just before the pastor, stood Derrick.
His hair was freshly cut with sharp new angles, and he stood tall in his dress blues. He was every part the American warrior any girl might dream about. He was also my protector. And my friend. I felt my breath leave me as I watched him watching me, those blue eyes drawing me in like the flashes of a lighthouse, beckoning me home. And if I’d felt any nervousness or had second thoughts about leaving all I knew behind, they went up in smoke as I floated toward him.
He had been right. Change came whether I wanted it to or not. And my home was no longer with my parents or in Little Rock. It wasn’t Phoenix or anywhere else I’d ever laid my head. Home was with Derrick, and where he went, I would go. Where he stayed, I’d stay. And if the military sent him somewhere I couldn’t be, my heart would go with him to the ends of the earth, as would my love and my prayers.
Our pastor smiled at us, his eyes warm and very possibly glistening slightly. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he said, gesturing for the audience to be seated. “Thank you for joining us as witnesses to the union of this woman and this man. May what God makes one, no man ever seek to part.”
No, I thought as I gazed into his face. This was for the long haul. And I couldn’t wait to start.
48
Happily Ever After
Epilogue
“Texas is a weird state.” I stared at the map as we hit a pothole. “On one side, it’s all short trees and green fields, and on the other, it’s red dirt and…” I looked up. “More red dirt.”
“Well, I hope this little addition of red doesn’t dampen your spirits.” Derrick brought the truck to a stop. I groaned as I stuffed my phone in my purse and turned to look at the house. But when I saw it, my disgust fled and my heart fluttered.
The house was old, made in a sixties style, a one-story red-brick building with a slightly slanted roof. Its shutters and door were painted light blue, and the garden in the front below the main front window was bare except for a skinny rose bush. But the grass was neatly trimmed, the shutters were painted to match the door, and there was a sweet little window that would be perfect for a Christmas tree. The siding above the brick was clean and white, and the way the sun was coming through the back window I could just barely make out through the front window made me want to curl up in its rays with a warm book. Something inside me warmed the moment I took it all in. I couldn’t say exactly how, but somehow, I knew.
“This is it,” I said, staring with love at the little L-shaped house.
Derrick laughed. “We haven’t even been inside. And you’ve said that about the last two houses they’ve shown us.”
But I was already out of the car, unable to look away. “This is it. I know it.”
Derrick shook his head and turned off the engine. But when he caught up to me, he intertwined his fingers with mine and dug into his pocket for the key the base housing office had loaned us with his other hand, and my heart jumped even more. This was going to be our house.
The inside wasn’t grand. The countertops were linoleum rather than marble, and the kitchen floor, also linoleum, had several stains on it. There was carpet instead of hardwood, half-closets in the bedrooms instead of whole, and it was easy to see where holes in the wall from picture frames hung by former renters had been painted over. But just as with the outside, there was a hominess to it that even Derrick couldn’t deny. From the big windows, which would be perfect to showcase a Christmas tree next winter, to the cozy little rooms, everything was perfect for us. And for one of the first times in my life, I was completely at peace.
“You sure you’re okay with this?”
I turned to see Derrick studying me.
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” he scratched his neck, “this isn’t exactly the ritz. Especially after the house your parents have.” He shook his head. “I guess I’m just not convinced you’re ready to move just yet.”
