“ALL RIGHT,” THE PHOTOGRAPHER SAID IN A LOUD voice. “Look at me and smile while you pretend to cut the cake.”
There was no need for the bride to be told to smile. Penny couldn’t stop smiling even if she tried.
Half an hour later, the last of the photographs had been taken, and Penny and Trevor looked out from the wings of the stage, his arm around her waist. The fellowship hall of the church—filled with lifelong friends and neighbors and a few Nashville guests as well—buzzed with happy voices that rose and fell like the waves of the sea.
She saw her dad, looking handsome in his morning coat. He’d lost weight, a healthy weight loss, since improving his diet. And his new exercise routine, started because of the diabetes, had improved his back as well. Beside him—looking pretty in a lavender lace dress—was Dot Reynolds. It occurred to Penny that her dad and Dot would make a very nice couple. They were already good friends. She wondered—
“Stranger things have happened,” Trevor whispered.
She laughed, loving that he’d read her thoughts. Then she allowed her gaze to roam the large room again.
She spied Grant and Skye Nichols, Skye looking ready to have her first baby any day now. Perhaps at any moment—which would certainly add a unique twist to Penny’s wedding day.
Next to them were Buck and Charity Malone. Last summer, their outdoor wedding in the town park had been the biggest event Kings Meadow had ever seen. Penny had thought it lovely, of course, but her choice had been a smaller affair. Only a maid of honor and one bridesmaid. A wedding gown found on the sale rack at the bridal shop in Boise. Wildflowers for her bouquet.
Sprinkled throughout the crowd were the men who had done so much to help the Cartwrights during her dad’s illness and recovery. Men like Chet Leonard, Ollie Abbott, Rand Foster, Patrick Lester, and Tom Butler. And their wives beside them, who had provided food for the family when preparing meals was the last thing anyone wanted to do.
A fresh appreciation for the people of Kings Meadow welled in her heart. She remembered once wanting to find a job outside of Idaho. Now she found it hard to imagine ever wanting to leave.
This was home. Her home. Hers and Trevor’s. And someday, God willing, their children’s home too. Out of the ashes of pain and anger and bitterness of a year ago had come an unexpected joy and peace and a future for her to share with Trevor.
She didn’t bother to thank her lucky stars. She didn’t believe in them. But she did take a moment to thank the Keeper of the stars. It was a good way to begin a marriage.