The whole town showed for the wedding—or at least it seemed that way from the glimpses of the sanctuary Lawson managed to glean through the crack in the foyer door. Ellie was tucked out of sight in the storage/bride’s room. He’d sent everyone else away in preparation for this moment. He swallowed and straightened his tie a moment before the door opened.
“Nathan said you wanted to see me.”
Lawson braced himself before meeting Clive’s gaze. The man seemed just as nervous as he felt. Lawson cleared his throat. “I guess you were surprised to receive my invitation to come here for the wedding.”
Clive allowed a nod. “I was surprised and pleased. Ellie is a wonderful young woman. I’m sure you two will be very happy.”
“Thank you. The real reason I asked you here was to tell you something important.” He pulled in a deep breath. “I forgive you.”
“You forgive me?”
“Yes.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it may seem presumptuous for me to say that since you haven’t said you wanted it but it’s there all the same.”
“I do want your forgiveness. I just didn’t dare ask for it.” Clive wiped his eyes, which had become suspiciously red. “What made you decide to forgive me?”
“First of all, I knew God wanted me to do it. Then I realized that despite how it may feel sometimes, I’m not that little boy you left behind anymore. I am a grown man who has been blessed enough to know the love of family, friends and a good woman. The past can’t be rewritten. It is what it is. Now it’s time for me to plan my future.”
Clive stopped trying to hide his tears and scrubbed his face with a handkerchief. “I know it is too soon for this but I hope that one day that future might include me.”
Lawson stared at the broken man before him. For the first time, he looked deep enough to see the regret, vulnerability and pain staring back. Gathering his courage, he held out his hand. “It isn’t too soon, Clive.”
Clive froze in stunned disbelief. Finally, he reached out and grasped Lawson’s hand in a hearty shake. His voice was solemn. “Thank you.”
Kate stepped out of the bride room and quietly interrupted the scene. “Ellie is almost ready, Lawson. I think you can go to the altar now.”
With his past behind him and the future promising nothing but happiness, Lawson smiled. “I’m ready, too. Will you tell her I’m waiting for her?”
“I will.” Kate smiled, then slipped her arms around him in a quick hug. “You’ve always been a part of our family but I’m so glad it’s going to be official.”
“So am I.” He turned to Clive and grinned. “It’s time to watch your son get married.”
* * *
The ceremony was short and sweet. As the rest of the town migrated toward the hotel where the reception would take place, Ellie and Lawson slipped out the back of the church. Ellie wrapped her arms around Lawson’s waist and kissed his cheek. “I am so proud of you.”
He chuckled. “Why?”
“Kate told me that you and your father seem to be on better terms. That must have taken a lot of courage.”
He shrugged, then nodded toward the graveyard before them. “So does this.”
She followed his gaze to her parents’ tombstones. She sank to her knees in front of them, heedless of the stains the grass might cause on her ivory dress, but aware of Lawson’s supportive presence behind her. Pulling two roses free from her bouquet, she laid one on her mother’s grave, then one on her father’s. Her hand rubbed the names inscribed in cold stone. “I wish you could be here today. Sean walked me down the aisle and Kate helped me get ready. Y’all would have been so proud of them.
“Y’all would have been proud of me, too.” She smiled and glanced back at Lawson when he stepped forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Y’all would have loved Lawson. Perhaps not as much as I do but that’s how it should be, seeing as I’m his wife and all. I love you both. I’ll see y’all one day and when I do I want the longest, fiercest hug any of us have ever experienced. Until then, I’ll just appreciate everything God has given me.”
She stood to meet Lawson’s gaze and smiled. “He sure has given me a whole lot.”
“And me.”
She placed a stilling hand on his when he lowered his head toward hers. “Don’t forget that the whole town is waiting for us at the hotel.”
“Let them wait.”
She allowed him one more kiss, then grabbed his hand and hurried him down the sidewalk into the hotel ballroom. The moment they stepped inside, the town burst into applause and the hotel band struck up a waltz. Lawson sent her a sideways glance. She shrugged. “I didn’t do any of this. It was all the town’s idea.”
“Well, this explains why my mother insisted I brush up on my dancing.” He held out his hand to her. She stepped into his arms and allowed him to lead her around the dance floor. Pretty soon Kate and Nathan joined in, then Sean and Lorelei. Finally, the dance floor crowded with people. As they whirled around the floor, Ellie pulled back slightly to look up at him. “About that Bachelor List...”
“What about it?”
She held up a folded piece of paper. “It’s finished. Should we burn it?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know but I think I’m entitled to look at the finished product first.”
She tugged him away from the dance floor to a secluded spot near the door to the garden. “Can you believe I did this?”
“Yes,” he said heartily. She sent him an unappreciative look, which only caused him to laugh. She handed him the list, then watched his eyebrows raise as his gaze darted back and forth from the list to the crowd. Finally, he let out a low whistle. “It would be an awful shame to destroy that valuable information.”
She searched his face. “Do you really think that I was right—that this works?”
“Well, it worked for Jeff and Maddie.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “It worked for us.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose it did in a way.”
“Maybe you were right about all of them.”
“That is highly improbable.”
He smiled. “So what are you going to do?”
She eyed the list, then surveyed the room full of swirling dancers. Her gaze stopped on one slightly morose figure standing sentry behind the punch bowl. Ellie took the list from Lawson and squeezed his arm. “I think I know.”
She wound her way to the punch bowl and stopped in front of Amy. The girl rushed around the table to give her a hug and exclaim about Ellie’s wedding dress. Ellie thanked her then stepped slightly closer to lower her voice. “I want to give you something. What you do with it is up to you but do try to keep it safe and private.”
Amy’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“The Bachelor List.” Ellie slipped the folded paper into Amy’s hand.
Amy froze. She stared down at the paper, then immediately slipped it into her pocket as though sensing its secrecy. “Why did you choose me?”
“I can’t say, exactly. It just seemed right.”
Amy nodded gravely. “I’ll keep it safe.”
Ellie gave the girl a parting hug then returned to her groom, who waited for her away from the hustle of the reception, on a secluded nook of the hotel’s garden porch. “Did she take the list?”
“She did.” She pretended to dust off her hands. “I believe my work here is done.”
“Either that, or you started something else entirely.”
“That’s what I meant.” She gave him a saucy wink.
He grinned. “What am I going to do with you?”
“You’ll figure something out.” She stood on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss on his lips.
His arms caught her around the waist before she could step away. “I think I just did.”
“Hmm.” She lifted an eyebrow and glanced down at her left hand then back at Lawson. “I bet this means you’re going to kiss me all the time now.”
He caught her hand and kissed it. “What do you think?”
Her lips curved into a smile, issuing a standing invitation. “I think you’d better.”
And so he did.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt of A Royal Marriage by Rachelle McCalla!