I can’t see him! Wendy’s heart pounded as she looked down from the balcony. Where is he?
Before her, a winding staircase curved gracefully down to a room that blazed with the dancing flames of a thousand candles. Below her bouquet, ivory silk and lace billowed out into a full skirt.
As she started to search for him again, an arm tightened around hers. The man standing beside her, whose arm encircled her own, gave her a nudge forward. They began walking toward the staircase, though her legs felt leaden.
As they neared the top step, she looked down at the group of people waiting below, beatific grins on their faces. Her gaze locked onto the man at the bottom of the staircase, and a smile bloomed on her face. He’s here!
His blue-green eyes, set off by the black of his curly hair and tuxedo, glinted with love as he watched her. The music rolled into Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, drowning out the rustle of her dress as it beckoned her forward. The stem of her bouquet felt as though it might slip from her sweaty hands. She was only three steps from where she’d started, yet it seemed as though she had been walking for an hour. Get down there, a voice—a feeling—urged.
A flush of heat washed over her as she tried to continue walking, to get to him. He waited, rocking slightly, endearingly nervous. Her foot was poised above the first stair leading down. She tried to take another step, just one step closer…
Wendy jerked straight up in bed, her body covered with a layer of perspiration. She searched the darkness of the room, the ghostly shadows slowly taking familiar shapes. No Victorian home, no wedding, no man at the bottom of the stairs. Just like all the other times she woke from her attempt to reach him. She’d been having the dreams since her father’s death almost three years ago.
She rinsed a washcloth in cold water and blotted her face. Her frazzled reflection stared back at her, haunted brown eyes searching for answers. She tried to smooth her wild curls with trembling fingers.
Wait a minute! This dream wasn’t exactly like the other times. I finally saw his face!