Cayce and I renewed our vows in early September.
Jess stood as the best man and Claire was my maid of honor. And of course the same judge that had wagged his finger at me, approving Cayce’s spanking strategy with a handshake all those months ago, was the one we asked to officiate the ceremony.
In all, our guest list consisted of about a hundred and thirty humans, twenty-three dogs, two ostriches wearing saddles, four ponies, a hawk and one very nervous rabbit.
Sadly, in the three months since our courthouse marriage, we lost Ellen to another stroke. We mourned her loss despite what she did. She never learned what we had discovered and, when the time came, we dug into our pockets to pay for her funeral and burial expenses.
But there was also a lot of good news to balance out the sad. It turned out that Howard was almost as big a deal around my company as he thought he was. His golf buddy, the head of my department, called me into his office with an “early exit option” and a signed letter of recommendation attesting to what a wonderful employee I was and wishing me all the best in my future endeavors—as long as I was somewhere else.
I took the money and ran.
It didn’t make us rich, far from it. It didn’t even pay off the mortgage or even make a big dent in our debt. But it allowed Cayce to absorb Old Doc Bailey’s practice, giving him a newly graduated veterinarian and an expanded list of clients, while Bailey got extra money for fishing poles and a lot more time to use them.
The cash from being let go also allowed me to start up my own office, even if I was operating it out of daddy’s study at the farmhouse. Toby Addams, who ran the books for almost every business in our town and quite a few other small cities in the area, was retiring. He couldn’t sell me his clients, but he introduced me to every last one of them and I already had the smaller accounts transitioned over. I was even looking at having to hire some help.
So there we were—Cayce and I—on a cloudless September day, the tiny baby Gerard growing inside me not yet noticeable and not yet announced to our guests. Cayce had finished reading his vows and everyone was looking at me to see what would come out of my mouth.
Already sniffling, I turned to Claire, took a sheet of paper from her and handed her my bouquet to hold. The paper was folded in three, the writing on it more than a year-and-a-half old. Up until May, it had sat in an envelope in Mr. Dabney’s office safe.
To Ashley Heather Gerard…
Hands shaking, I unfolded the paper.
“I wanted to read a letter my father wrote to me before he died. He wrote it in anticipation of this day even though Cayce and I seemed to be traveling different paths.”
Swallowing down a thick lump of emotion, I began to read.
My darling Ashley, the apple of my eye and your mother’s, our sweet girl. I hope you know how precious you were to us. I wish I had done more these last few years to show you. I know I changed after your mother left us for Heaven. In the far future, after you have lived and loved your time on earth, you will come to where your mother and I await you and find me restored as the father I always was in my heart.
Pausing, I took a deep breath and wiped at my tear-blurred eyes.
Today, you are embarking on a great adventure and have chosen a soul as special as your own to make the journey with you. At times, you might be tempted to doubt your choice. I pray that when the tasks ahead seem too overwhelming, you will think on what I have written here.
I sucked in another deep breath. Cayce moved to stand next to me as my body sagged with emotion.
For this journey, you don’t need a great man, you need a good man, one who will work himself beyond exhaustion to take care of his family and still have the strength to wrap his arms around you and let you know how loved you are.
Cayce slid his arm around my waist. His cheek pressed against my hair as he gave my hip a subtle, private squeeze.
You don’t need an infallible man. They don’t exist. You need a man who will admit his faults and never stop trying to make himself better for you.
You don’t need a rich man. A family’s needs go far beyond money. You need a man who spends his time on you, who showers you not with gold but with love.
My voice and hands started shaking too much to go on until Cayce brushed aside a layer of my hair and kissed my cheek.
If you’re reading this, baby girl, you found that man. And however long it took, however many tears were shed along the way, it was the path God intended. Never doubt this. And never doubt your husband’s love for you. I have seen it shining in Cayce’s eyes for as long as he has known you, just as I have seen love for him blazing in your sweet gaze.
I turned to Claire, both of our faces swollen from crying. She took the letter and handed me the simple silver band Cayce and I had selected.
Gulping at air, I looked at my husband.
“He was right,” I said, sliding the ring on his finger. “You’re all those things. I promise to be all those things for you, to work long and hard for you and the children we will have, to always keep trying to be a better person, to never give you reason to doubt that I love or respect or cherish you.”
My knees went weak. Cayce pulled me to him. The rest of my words dissolved into a fresh flood of joy. Judge Hays pronounced us married—again—and everyone began clapping and cheering. A few of the dogs started to howl, then they all did. The ostriches strutted and the ponies whinnied. Cheers turned to good-natured laughter.
I kept right on weeping, my face buried against Cayce’s broad chest until he tilted my chin upward and kissed me.
“Don’t cry, love,” he whispered, his lips caressing the side of my ear. “This is just the beginning of our happy ending.”