Epilogue
Riverton Church
One Week Later
“You look so very beautiful, Helena!” Poppy exclaimed for the hundredth time as she tugged on a piece of pink satin fabric here, pulled on another fold of embroidered lace there, and adjusted the pink roses crowning her hair, holding up the dainty veil.
Her eyes were as bright and as happy as she had ever seen them.
Helena had noticed the difference in her friend the second she had seen her at the auction weeks ago.
Gone were the dark circles under Poppy’s eyes. Her skin had taken on a slight tan, which suited her so much better, and she had also put on a little bit of weight, which made her look healthier and stronger. But today, wearing a stunning yellow satin dress, Poppy was glowing.
“Thank you, darlin’,” she replied with a giggle. “So do you! You look radiant!”
Poppy’s eyes went wide, and she put her finger over her lips as she fanned herself with a lacy handheld fan.
“You hush!” she whispered. “This is your day, Helena! Yours and Paul’s. I want you to be the center of attention!” Helena smiled at her, fanning herself with a matching fan. It was close to noon, and the day promised to be a sunny and warm one. Summer had definitely arrived in Riverton.
“Before we go out there,” she said as she grabbed Poppy's hands, “can we pray?”
Poppy’s eyes sparkled, and she smiled brightly before stepping closer to Helena and lowering her head. Helena did the same, and as she often did, she let Poppy start the prayer.
“Dear Heavenly Father,” she began. “We thank You for watching over us today. We thank You for guiding us to this day, for bringing us here to celebrate a union of love and friendship. Without You, we would not have found this blessed life. Dear Lord, we would not have found these two amazing men for whom we thank You with all our hearts. You brought our souls together in Your grace.”
“Let us speak our vows in front of You and invite You into our midst today,” Helena continued.
“Please, Father, bless this marriage. Teach us to be there for each other, to learn from our disagreements, to grow together. Please bless our little family and also our bigger family. Protect all of them and let us thank You for helping us every day to live the best lives we can in Your glory, and in Your name.”
Helena opened her eyes and saw Poppy smiling at her.
“Amen!” they said in unison.
“Are you ready?” Barley exclaimed as he ran through the door into the tiny room at the back of the church. “They’re all waiting!” Then he stopped in his tracks, and his smile grew wider. “You look so pretty,” he said, blushing slightly.
Helena beamed at him. In those short days since her arrival, Barley had clearly fallen in love with her, and she with him, hence the reason she had asked him to walk her down the aisle today.
“Thank you, Barley!” she replied happily. “I’m ready.”
“See you in church,” Poppy said excitedly before she gave Helena a small kiss on the cheek. Then she disappeared to the outside.
Helena kneeled down to adjust Barley’s golden satin cravat. According to him, he had never worn a suit before, so she and Poppy had immediately remedied that by making him one for this special occasion.
“You look handsome, too!” Helena told him, and Barley promptly pushed his little chest out.
“I have to,” he declared proudly. “My role is of utmost importance.”
“It is indeed,” confirmed Helena with a warm smile. They took each other’s hands, and Barley made sure to open the door for her. They walked along the outside of the church toward the front steps. Barley made sure that he held her hand tightly so she wouldn’t fall as she climbed them.
At the top, both of them took a deep breath, and Barely—with a solemn expression on his face—opened one of the double doors for her.
She stepped through, and her heart began to race when she saw Paul standing there at the very end in front of the altar. He looked so very handsome in his suit, waiting there with the warmest and brightest smile.
The church was surprisingly full. Helena hadn’t expected to see so many people attending their wedding, but as it turned out, half the town had showed up. Poppy had been equally surprised, but she had been all the more excited about it. Everybody rose when she appeared in the doorway.
Barley took her hand, raised his chin with a serious expression on his face, and they began to slowly walk down the aisle. Poppy’s beaming face in the front pew almost made Helena giggle, but she wanted to match Barley’s solemn attitude and held it back. She focused on Paul instead.
How could it be possible to fall in love with a man so deeply in merely a week?
Granted, they had written a lot of letters to each other beforehand in which Paul had finally confessed his love for her and she to him, but actually being with this man had been magical.
He was so loving, so respectful, and so good, Helena sometimes had to pinch herself.
Now she was marrying him.
And among all of these people, in front of her best friend and the man who saw her for who she truly was, Helena saw her story as one of true redemption.
***
Poppy was so emotional watching Helena getting married that she had to keep dabbing pesky tears from the corners of her eyes. At some point, she saw Neil pull out his handkerchief and hand it to her.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he whispered with a soft smile.
Poppy nodded, but when she looked up into his warm gaze, which looked at her with so much adoration, more tears began to flow. She loved this man more than she ever imagined possible.
And today was the first day she had seen him in a suit, which had completely thrown her for a loop.
The dark jacket emphasized his broad shoulders, and the black satin cravat made his golden colored eyes look like molten honey in sunshine.
The suit made him look even taller and seemingly even more polite, which was impossible because Neil had turned out to be this perfect gentleman.
Since the ordeal with Finn and Lucy, not a day had passed without him treating her like a queen. The more she learned about him, the more she realized how good his heart was and that she had married a caring man of utmost integrity and true love for his family.
“Are you sad that our wedding wasn’t as nice as this one?” he whispered, and there was true worry in his face.
Poppy was shocked that he’d even think that.
“What? No!” she whispered back to him, shaking her head vehemently. “All of what happened led to this right here. So no, I’m not sad.”
Neil took her hand, smiled at her, and sneakily kissed the back of it. Poppy blushed. This was not the right place for that. At least it made her smile.
“Maybe it was God who led us here,” he whispered to her, which made her blink twice.
Since the incident, Poppy had only been able to visit church three times.
Her injuries had been bad enough that she and Sophie, as well as Neil and Paul, had to recover for a while.
It hadn’t been anything major, just sprains and bruises that needed to heal in their own due time, but as soon as she could, she had gone to church.
Neil had visited the sermons with her, but she always thought that he did that for her, not because he had found God again.
“What makes you say that?” Poppy asked, but he wasn’t able to answer, because Pastor Nickelson raised his hands, and everybody got ready. Neil only smiled at her.
The congregation started to sing a hymn, and Poppy immediately joined in, singing her heart out, because she always knew that this was the best way to speak to God. Sophie smiled at her with bright eyes when she took her little sister’s hand.
Then Poppy heard her husband sing. Loudly. Neil sang with abandon, and Poppy saw him nod toward Paul with a soft smile. When they sat back down, she turned to Neil with a curious look on her face. But she didn’t want to miss her best friend’s wedding vows, so she turned toward Helena and Paul.
When Pastor Nickelson announced that Paul may kiss the bride, Poppy’s heart almost exploded. They were such a beautiful couple. Helena beamed at her, and Barley seemed so happy he almost climbed to stand on the pew.
After all was said and done, Paul and Helena walked out toward the front of the church, and everybody filed out after them.
There were many well-wishes to the new couple as Paul paraded Helena around proudly and introduced her to the town folk.
It was extremely sweet, and Poppy could see how happy Helena was to be included and welcomed that way.
Meanwhile, there were also some who spoke to Neil, enquiring about the incident with Finn and what had actually happened.
Since the case was still being discussed in court, Neil didn’t have any specific news regarding the sentences.
On top of that, so many additional charges had come to light—including several pertaining to other people who had been scammed out of money and land—it was almost certain that Finn would never get out of prison again.
However, as it turned out, Lucy had apparently shown her true colors when she had thrown a fit in the courtroom.
Taking into account her criminal record, the judge had immediately declared her mentally unstable and sentenced her to spend several years of her life in the newly opened Illinois State Hospital for the Insane for a medical evaluation.
Poppy silently thanked God that no one—not her, Sophie, her newfound family, or anyone else—would ever be hurt by them ever again.
***
Later that evening, when Paul and Helena followed Neil and Poppy’s buggy back home to the ranch, Poppy finally remembered her question from church.
“There is something I want to know,” she said, directly looking at him. “We were interrupted earlier, when I asked you.”
“I remember,” Neil said with a soft smile. “I also knew you would bring it up again.” Poppy smiled at that. They had learned a lot about each other, and Poppy liked the fact that Neil spoke with her openly about everything now.
“So?” she asked with a grin, tilting her head to the side. “What was all that about?” she repeated. She couldn’t help the hopeful expression that spread across her face. Neil’s mouth pulled into an awkward smile.
“The thing with God?” he asked tentatively.
Poppy nodded. “Well, we have spoken about it a lot lately, and Helena and Paul talk about it, too. The way things have happened can’t just be coincidence anymore.
Just the fact how you and I met. What are the chances that I meet a woman from far away who is so perfect for me?
And now Paul and Helena, who are so very much in love they almost rival ours. ”
Poppy raised a single eyebrow at that, and Neil held up a finger.
“Almost,” he repeated, which made Poppy smile. She grabbed his finger and kissed the back of his hand.
“Almost,” she confirmed. Her heart wanted to overflow when she looked at him.
“I love you more than you will ever know,” Neil continued.
“It has a lot to do with the immense gratitude I feel for having met you. But the more I think about it all, the more I come to understand that God might have had a lot to do with it. So yes, maybe it was God who brought you here because He knew that I needed you. You healed my heart.”
Poppy had to blink faster. Her eyes filled so rapidly with tears she was unable to see ahead of them.
“I am pleased to hear that you’re willing to let Him back into your life,” Poppy said with a warm smile. “You have no idea how glorious God really is.”
There was something else she had been meaning to tell him, although Poppy was a little reluctant to change the subject just yet. Hearing Neil talk about God like that gave her a deep sense of peace. She could feel it in her bones.
“Do you know who else should come back into our life?” she finally said, this time with a cheeky grin. Neil shook his head.
“Who?” he asked curiously.
“Maeve,” Poppy replied.
“Maeve?” Neil asked, surprised.
“Yes. She wrote to me,” Poppy explained. “She said she wanted to come back and asked if we were hiring.” Neil frowned.
“Okay, but we don’t actually need her right now,” he said, contemplating. “You manage perfectly without her. Or not?”
“I do,” Poppy said nonchalantly. “But we do need her because I will need help when the baby comes.”
“Whose baby?” Neil asked, and Poppy couldn’t help but giggle when he didn’t immediately comprehend what she was saying.
“Yours, Mr. Albright! We’re expecting a baby!” she exclaimed, laughing.
Neil almost steered the buggy into the ditch.
THE END?
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