EPILOGUE
WHITNEY
On this early fall day, Whitney watched from her bedroom window as her family gathered on the front lawn of the cottage. Battery-operated candles were placed in a circle lending enough light in the darkening dusk for people to see but giving the impression of stars fallen to the ground.
Her father would walk her into the circle of her family—her mother, GG, her sisters and their fiancés, Nick’s mother, and, of course, Nick. He was looking handsome as always in dark slacks and a white shirt. Everyone had honored her wishes for a simple ceremony, plain attire, and soft music.
Melanie Perkins had found them a harp player and then had announced that she was qualified as a Notary Public to conduct the ceremony for them if they should choose. She now stood next to Nick while the musician sent harmonic notes aloft in the air from her place on the porch.
Sighing with satisfaction, Whitney turned and faced her father.
“Ready?” her father asked, his eyes already shiny with tears of joy.
Whitney glanced into the mirror and trailed her hand down the satiny feel of the simple white dress she wore. A garland of orchids ringed her head. The diamond studs in her ears coordinated with the solitaire diamond hanging from her neck, a gift from GG.
Her father took her arm, and they went down the stairs and out to the front porch. Pausing a moment, Whitney gazed at the people she loved. This is where she belonged and with whom.
Her heart beating with anticipation, Whitney and her father made their way downstairs, onto the porch, and out onto the lawn to join the others in the circle of light. The sound of the harp music made it seem to Whitney as if angels were singing. But then, to her, this was a holy event, a coming together of souls.
Nick held out his hand as she approached him, and she took it, her lips quivering when she saw him struggling not to cry.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured before kissing her.
Melanie, quiet and subdued in a robe of black, whispered, “You’re supposed to wait to kiss the bride. Ready to begin?”
Whitney smiled and nodded. This felt so right.
As words were spoken and the lights shimmered around her, Whitney felt as if she were in a dream.
Nick took both her hands in his.
“I love you, Whitney. I always have and I always will. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, raise our children together, show them what true love is. I want to be that person who fills you with happiness, knowing how much I treasure you. I trust you to be here for me so I can do my job to keep you safe and warm and happy just as I’ll be here for you and your work. You are my star, the shining love of my life.”
When it was her turn to speak, Whitney said simply. “I love you, Nick. What we share is so much deeper because of our earlier love—the love of children who were meant to be together. I promise to be beside you through good times and bad, to have faith in you in your work, to help you heal from past wounds, to become the best mother I can be for our children. This I promise with my heart because your love is my greatest joy.”
“Lovely,” said Melanie. “Let’s all share love and best wishes with the bride and groom. Nick, you may now kiss your ride.”
Amid applause, Nick swept her up in his arms. As his lips met hers, Whitney knew this wasn’t the first night they’d make love under the stars as a married couple, and always, even with her eyes closed, she’d feel their love shimmering like the stars above.