Breaker's Reef (32 page)

Blair followed her and looked in. On the other side was her father’s closet, much the same. His shoes, lined up on the floor, said so much about his habits. His gardening shoes with dirt still
on the bottoms, his deck shoes for boating, his church shoes for preaching, his tennis shoes for walking. As long as they’d left them here, just as her parents had, it had seemed like they were coming back, picking up where they’d left off.

But Blair knew better than that. “Someone can use all these shoes, and the clothes. They’re in good shape. Mama had good taste.”

“I don’t know if I can do it.” Morgan’s words came out tight, strained. “It’s too hard.”

“I’ll help you. When Cade and I get back from Maui, we can do it together.”

Morgan swallowed. “I’ll think about it. But not today.” She blinked back the tears rimming her eyes and laid the sleeping child on the center of the bed. “Today you’re getting married. And I know Mama and Pop wouldn’t want one minute of sadness for you. They prayed about this day since you were born, and if they’d searched the whole world, they couldn’t have found a better husband for you.”

“It’s too good to be true. Mama would never have believed it.”

“Yes, she would. I think in their hearts, she and Pop always had Cade picked out for you. Pop was so close to Cade. Remember how he took him under his wing and discipled him? It’s almost like he knew he was training him to be a godly husband.”

Blair blinked back her tears. “So they truly are a part of this.”

“Of course they are.”

Blair went to the window and gazed out again. She saw Sadie, already dressed in her bridesmaid dress, walking toward the house, her arm around the girl who’d called earlier. She was small, skinny, and wore a pair of cutoff shorts and high heels. Her hair strung into her face, and she looked scared as they walked toward the porch.

“That girl’s here.”

Morgan came to look out over her shoulder. “She actually came.”

“She’s just a kid. Probably a runaway.”

“We’ll deal with that. Right now, I think she just needs a safe place, away from the world she was in.”

“So you’ll take her without an application?”

Morgan just looked at her. “Sadie promised to help her. What do you think Mama would have done?”

“Morgan!” She heard Sadie’s voice coming up the stairs.

Morgan opened the door. “We’re in here, honey.”

Sadie stepped into the doorway. At the sight of Blair, she threw her hands over her face and giggled. “Oh, Blair! I’m breathless.”

The reaction gave Blair confidence. She hoped Cade would feel the same way.

“There’s somebody I want you to meet.” She brought the girl into the room. “This is my friend, Tina.”

Tina looked like she wanted to turn and run. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on you while you’re getting ready.”

“It’s okay,” Blair said. “I have more than an hour before the wedding. I’m just trying to kill time until the photographer gets here. Come on in.”

Morgan took Tina’s hands. “Welcome to Hanover House. I’m so glad you came. I know what a big step that was for you.”

Tina burst into tears, and Morgan pulled her into a hug. “Oh, honey, don’t cry. This is your new beginning. We don’t have a room ready right now, but I’m sure Sadie won’t mind sharing hers until we can get another room cleared out.”

Tina looked at her through her tears. “Really? You’d let me stay here?”

“Didn’t Sadie tell you that we’re here to restore people? Jesus said he came to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free. We’re just continuing that work. God considers you His treasure, and we’re going to help you find your luster.”

Sadie laughed and put her arm around Tina’s shoulders. “See? I told you they’d take you. And it’ll be fun sharing a room. But, Morgan, which room are you going to clear out? Since you fixed up the nursery for little Wayne, there isn’t a vacant room upstairs. Are you putting her in Mrs. Hern’s room downstairs?”

“No, I’ll put her upstairs.” Blair met Morgan’s eyes, and she saw the peace in them. “It’s time Jonathan and I moved into this one. That would free up our room.”

Sadie’s smile faded. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Morgan swallowed hard and turned back to her baby, picked him up, as if she needed to cling to the new beginning that made such a good-bye possible. “Now, Sadie, why don’t you go find something of yours that Tina can wear to the wedding?”

Tina shook her head. “Oh, no, I can’t. It’s okay. I can stay inside …”

“No way,” Sadie said. “You’re coming with me.”

As the two girls left them alone again, Morgan turned her tear-filled eyes to Blair.

“There you go. Mama
is
still here. She’s in you, Morgan.”

With her free arm, Morgan hugged her the way her mother would have done, and the sadness for her parents’ absence seemed to fade away.

A
n hour later, Melba Jefferson knocked on the bedroom door and stepped inside. Her mother’s best friend looked on the verge of tears. “Oh, honey, you look like a princess. I just know your mama and daddy are giggling in heaven, tickled to death that things have turned out the way they have. But it’s time for the wedding to start, hon. Are you ready?”

Blair drew in a deep breath. “I think so.”

Morgan picked up the veil. “Then let’s get this on you. Turn around.”

Blair turned back to the window and looked down. The lawn was full of guests, hundreds of friends taking their seats. The string orchestra that Cade had hired from South University had already begun to play.

Excitement bubbled up inside her. It was really going to happen. Today she would become Cade’s wife.

C
ade took his place on the raised altar that Horace Jenkins had built for the occasion, and tugged at his collar. The
tux was unbearably hot for such a warm day, but it was worth it.
Thank You, God, for giving us such a glorious day.
Blair deserved it. The guests all smiled at him, and he began to feel self-conscious. He glanced over at Joe McCormick, his best man.

“Kind of makes you wish you could tap-dance, huh?” Joe muttered.

Cade laughed and turned back to the crowd. Some of the guests were still being seated, and the City Council members who were up for reelection were making the rounds, shaking hands and politicking, as if they thought the event was for them. Sarah Williford’s hat was so huge she looked as if she might become airborne if a strong wind blew. He felt sorry for anyone sitting behind her.

The music began, and he watched, amused, as everyone hurried to their seats.

The police officers on his force lined the aisle in full dress uniform. The child-sized police car was brought to the end of the aisle, and Sadie put Caleb into it. With her small bouquet in one hand, she took the floral rope in the other and pulled the little car slowly up the aisle. The crowd laughed softly as the toddler bucked and laughed, clutching the pillow that had their mock rings sewn on, and waving like royalty.

Caleb was the hit of the show, Cade thought. At least until the bride came out.

When they got to the front, Sadie took Caleb out and, holding his hand, went to stand next to the gazebo. Caleb was compliant for now, but if he started to get disruptive, Melba Jefferson would swoop him away.

Sadie’s dress was the color of sunshine, beautiful against the backdrop of the ocean, and she had flowers in her hair. She looked radiant. No one would have ever imagined that she’d been held prisoner in a pit just a month ago. Cade thought of how he’d found her, two years ago, beaten up and sleeping on the beach. She’d come such a long way.

And then came Morgan, walking slowly and smiling, in her own yellow dress. He’d always thought his best friend’s wife was beautiful, but he had to admit that she’d never been more lovely than she was since having the baby. Her skin glowed with
contentment and joy, and she wore her hair up, with some of her stray curls cascading down to her shoulder.

Finally, the music changed, and the strings launched into the famous wedding processional.

And there she was. He saw her all the way across the street, floating like an angel out of Hanover House, on Jonathan’s arm. She was beautiful, more radiant than he’d ever expected, and he fought the urge to break and run for her, scoop her up in his arms and carry her, laughing, down the aisle. But he knew the walk was important. It was the walk that every little girl dreamed of.

And boy, did she walk it. The guests came to their feet, and he heard their collective gasp as they caught sight of her. Tears stung his eyes as she started up that long aisle. He’d wanted her for so long, and now she was going to be his.
Thank You, God.

Their gazes met as she came closer, and he could see that she had tears shimmering in her eyes under that veil. She could have come barefoot down the aisle, in a terry cloth robe, and he would have thought she was beautiful. But forever he would remember the sight of her in flowing white, that pure white veil covering her shoulders, framing her in light …

As Jonathan brought her to him, he took her hand. Jonathan pulled her veil back over her head and kissed her on the cheek.

Then he stepped into the preacher’s spot and turned to face the audience.

The crowd chuckled at his double role.

“We are gathered together to join Matthew Cade and Blair Owens in holy matrimony …”

A
melia and her parents got to the wedding late. She had changed her mind about coming at the very last minute, even though Nate’s accomplice hadn’t been caught. She’d hidden out for a month now, but she longed to be at the wedding. So many of the residents of Cape Refuge had prayed for her while she was missing, and she’d been barraged with cards and letters from them expressing their joy that she was all right. She wanted to meet them and to see her sister and little half-brother dressed up in wedding clothes. It had suddenly become important to her.

She decided she would feel safe enough, with so many police officers there. Surely no one would hurt her at the police chief’s wedding! Her parents agreed to come with her, so they’d all hurried here.

Blair had already gone down the aisle when they arrived, so they went to join the standing crowd at the back. Caleb stood up at the front, next to Sadie, squirming and trying to break his hand free of hers. He looked
like a little doll, dressed in a miniature tuxedo that looked comically uncomfortable.

She watched him tug at his tie, trying to get it off. Sadie whispered something to him, but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Finally, Sadie looked out into the guests, and a sweet-looking woman came forward, picked Caleb up, and whisked him away.

Amelia was glad she’d come. She smiled at the picture before them, struck by the purity of this ceremony and the newness it represented. The sky was so blue, and the ocean so quiet. Sadie looked beautiful, and the police officers lining the aisle looked sharp in their dress uniforms. Blair’s dress looked like something from the cover of a bridal magazine, and Cade looked as if he’d never been happier.

Jonathan came to the question that stopped every wedding. “If anyone here has reason that these two should not be joined together, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

There was a moment of tense quiet, and then the crowd erupted into laughter.

“Guess we can go on with this,” Jonathan said with a grin. The crowd began to cheer.

Amelia listened, warmth in her heart, as they exchanged their vows.

“I, Cade, take you, Blair, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward …”

Hope bloomed inside her. For the past few weeks, since Jamie’s death and her captivity, Amelia had felt a lingering sense of hopelessness and defeat, as though she lived on borrowed time. For the first time in a month, she found herself looking past today, to a future in which she was the bride, standing at an altar with the man God had chosen for her. Would that day come, or would her time in that pit, at Nate’s mercy, keep her from ever trusting a man again?
No
, she thought. She wouldn’t let him steal that from her.

“I, Blair, take you, Cade, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward …”

She hardly knew these two, but she felt somehow a part of this union, as if she had a stake in its success, just because she’d witnessed it.

Jonathan pronounced Cade and Blair man and wife, and told Cade to kiss his bride. Amelia held her breath as he took Blair’s face in both his hands and kissed her so sweetly that an “Awwww” went out over the crowd.

Then they turned to face their friends and family.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Cade.”

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Amelia applauded with the rest, caught up in the joy around her. She laughed as Blair and Cade walked back up the aisle they’d come down, their faces beaming with joy.

She waited as Morgan and Sadie made their way up the aisle, then the uniformed police officers made their way out. Finally, Jonathan invited them all to the reception in the backyard.

As the crowd broke up and began to move out of their rows, Amelia sought out Sheila. She saw her in her wheelchair, and a girl walked beside her. She squinted in the sunlight, trying to remember where she’d seen her before.

The girl turned and met her eyes … and then she knew.

It was that girl Tina from the Flagstaff.

Her heart constricted, and a sense of apprehension fell over her again.

“Sweetheart, are you all right?” Her father touched her arm. “You look a little pale.”

She nodded. “I’m fine. I just … saw the girl I told you about from the Flagstaff.”

Her parents followed her gaze to the girl walking next to Sheila. “Are you afraid of her?” her mother asked.

“I have no reason to be. She wasn’t involved. It’s just that … well, she was there that day.”

She watched Sheila as she rolled across the street, toward the reception in the backyard. She hadn’t yet seen her, and Amelia thought that might be for the best, at least while Tina was with her. She didn’t think she was up to talking to the girl right now.