Epilogue
On her wedding day the following spring, Rachel stared at her reflection in the cheval mirror in the bride’s room at the local church. She was floating. Her mother was at her side, along with her best friends from Sweet Mountain and those she had worked with at the school in Columbus, Ohio.
Her friends had been ecstatic when she called and told them she was getting married and wanted them to be her bridesmaids. When they learned who she’d marry, they had been dumbfounded. Her friends from Columbus had no idea Levi had grown up on a ranch and was a cowboy at heart.
They weren’t the only ones who were dumbfounded. The media interviewed experts trying to determine why Levi chose to marry a girl from his small town. The bride-to-be wasn’t even a girl. She was a twenty-nine-year-old woman. He could have chosen any of the celebrities or socialites he’d dated.
“If they knew God, they would know,” Levi said dryly one day when he, Rachel and Madeline drove to their favorite picnic area they had dubbed the climbing tree. He turned off the radio.
Madeline was filled with questions about the trees, the mountains and the creeks they passed. He seemed glad to answer her questions rather than listen to the experts analyze him.
When he and Rachel told Madeline they wanted to adopt her, she had been confused at first. She’d heard the word but wasn’t sure of the meaning.
“What will I call you?” she asked with child-like innocence.
“Whatever you want.” With tenderness, Levi looked at the little girl who would soon be his daughter. “You can continue to call me Daddy Levi or just Daddy.”
“I like just Daddy,” she said with a smile.
“Then that’s what you’ll call me,” he said.
When Madeline learned she’d be Rachel’s flower girl at the wedding, she was excited, though she wasn’t sure exactly what that meant either. She helped Rachel pick out her dress and practiced walking through the living room with a pretend basket filled with rose petals that she sprinkled as she practiced.
“How are you doing, honey?” Rachel’s mother’s reflection appeared next to her in the mirror. She wrapped an arm around Rachel’s shoulders.
“Nervous, excited and everything in between.” Rachel tried to laugh.
“You’re doing great,” her mother said gently.
“I’m glad you think so,” Rachel said with a laugh. “If it weren’t for you, the wedding planner and Paige,” she said referring to her maid of honor. “I’d be in full panic mode.”
“You’re calmer than I was on my wedding day,” her mother said. “I was in heaven when your father proposed.”
“Daddy is wonderful,” Rachel said. “Madeline talks about him all the time.”
The door opened and the wedding planner leaned her head through the doorway. “Are you ready, ladies?”
“So ready,” Rachel said.
She followed her mother, Madeline and the bridesmaids into the hallway. The bridesmaids lined up.
When they stepped into the hallway, Jonathan was waiting for them. He looked handsome in his groomsmen tuxedo. He glanced at Paige, who suddenly seemed shy, before he looked back at Rachel.
“You look great, Rache.” Jonathan grinned and hugged her.
“Thanks,” she rasped and winced.
“Are you going to be okay?” He looked concerned.
“Yes, but this is all new for me,” she said, then made a face. “Which is only logical.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine,” he said. Turning to their mother, he offered her his arm, then escorted her down the aisle to her seat before taking his place next to Levi as his best man.
The bridesmaids lined up.
Rachel’s father stood next to her, looking as handsome as Jonathan. “He’s right. You will do fine. You can lead thirty anxious students in their lessons. Not many people can do that.”
“Somehow that seems easier than walking down the aisle.” She exhaled softly.
Her father took her hand and patted it.
The music started and the bridesmaids made their slow procession down the aisle. The music changed. Rachel’s heart pounded as she and her father followed Madeline.
Rachel’s gaze on Levi, she couldn’t stop smiling. This wonderful man was about to become her husband.
The ceremony barely seemed to start before the minister introduced Rachel and Levi as Mr. and Mrs. McSweeney. The cheers filling the church gave Rachel a start before she burst into laughter.
When she and Levi arrived at the reception hall, the wedding planner skillfully guided them through the dinner, the cutting of the cake and the tossing of the bouquet and garter. Rachel wasn’t sure she could handle any more excitement and was relieved when the wedding planner whispered to her and Levi that it was time to go. In a torrent of rose petals, she and Levi dashed to his truck decorated with streamers and a just married sign.
Levi’s parents would watch Madeline for the night as Rachel and Levi would spend their wedding night in the bridal suite at the local inn. The next day, they’d pick up Madeline and fly to the Caribbean for a family vacation.
She and Levi were laughing when they rode the old-fashioned elevator to the third floor that opened into the bridal suite.
“This is amazing.” Rachel stepped into the spacious living room decorated in cream and beige. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. Plumped satin pillows sat on the curved sofa. The upholstered coffee table held a tray of elegantly wrapped tidbits. A bottle of nonalcoholic champagne iced in a crystal bucket.
Before Rachel could speak, Levi swept her into his arms. She gave a soft yelp as he carried her into the suite’s living room, then set her gently on the plush carpet. Holding her close, his mouth took hers in tender, warm kisses.
“Hmm.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I could get used to this.” She relished his affection.
“That fits perfectly into my plan.” Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her through open double doors into a dreamlike bedroom filled with a canopy bed. The pelmet held rose bouquets. The lights in the chandelier twinkled softly.
She stood before him looking into his eyes as he unpinned her veil and set it on the nightstand. Wrapping his arms around her, he laid her gently on the bed. The love in his eyes filled her with warmth and excitement, knowing this was the first night of the rest of their lives.
As she sank into his passion, she thanked God for His blessings. She received Levi’s love that carried her with its hot, rushing tide. She sank into a sea of joy and love as she welcomed the man of her dreams into her life.