For Better or Worse (7 page)

Harold had been so good. He was always good. Steady. Faithful. Reliable. Everything she needed in a husband. Everything the girls needed in a father figure, even if Zoey didn’t realize it yet. Even after her daughter’s temper tantrum at Thanksgiving, Harold loved Kelly. And he loved the girls. Each one of them.

Releasing a long sigh, Kelly walked into the adjoining bathroom with her sweater draped over her arm. Before she put the sweater over her head, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror.

At thirty-eight and the mother of three children, her body was definitely not that of a young woman. Normally, she paid little mind to the imperfections—but with the wedding only weeks away, insecurities she thought she’d put long behind her seemed to creep their way into her mind. Though not overweight, wrinkles, crinkles, and stretch marks had fashioned their way through Kelly’s physique, and she cringed at the sight of them.

“Oh dear Lord, I want to be pleasing in Harold’s sight.”

A scripture that one of the older women from her Sunday school class said surfaced in her mind. Kelly had heard the verses many times before, but never in the context of marriage. Her wise friend knew Kelly would endure a time of uncertainty regarding her body. For that reason, Kelly had promised to tuck the verses away in her heart.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” She quoted the verses aloud.

Thinking about the verses in terms of marital intimacy seemed funny to Kelly. She’d quoted the verses many times to her daughters to encourage them to remain pure before marriage, but Kelly’s seasoned friend’s words were right. Once wedded, her body would be still be God’s temple, but as a married woman.

Yes, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Harold will be pleased with me, because my body is Your temple, and You’ve chosen us for each other
.

Kelly slipped on the sweater then stepped into her pants. Within moments, she’d accessorized with a long silver chain necklace and matching earrings. She added a few spritzes of Harold’s favorite perfume and stepped into her slight-heeled black shoes. She glanced at her reflection again. This time she smiled. “Not too shabby, future Mrs. Smith.”

She glanced at her alarm clock. Harold should be there any moment. This was their last official date before the wedding. Harold was taking her to dinner and a movie; then they would stop by the mall to pick up a couple of Christmas presents.

The doorbell rang, and Kelly made her way to the door. The younger girls had gone to Cam and Sadie’s house for the evening, and Zoey was working at her new part-time, fast-food job. She opened the door and before she could say hello, Harold had wrapped her into his arms and planted his lips on hers.

“You look beautiful tonight,” Harold mumbled against her lips.

Kelly giggled and she gently pushed him away. “You haven’t even had a chance to look at me.”

His gaze never left her eyes. “I don’t have to look at what you’re wearing to know you look beautiful.”

Her heart skipped a beat as she threw herself back into his arms. “Harold, I love you.”

His fingers found their way to the base of her neck then up through her hair as he pressed his lips against hers again.

Kelly pushed away again and sucked in a long breath. She turned and grabbed her purse off the table and pushed him out of the doorway. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Harold furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?”

Kelly took long strides down the sidewalk and toward his truck. “Because the girls aren’t home.”

Realization etched across his face. “Yes, we do.”

Kelly waited while he opened the passenger door for her. She slipped in then watched his large frame cross in front of the truck then into the seat beside her.

“This is going to be the longest two weeks of my life,” Harold growled as he turned the ignition.

Kelly felt his frustration to her core. “Tell me about it.” She picked at a piece of lint on her slacks, begging her mind to drift to something besides their wedding. In only a matter of moments, they’d left their small town and were heading toward Wilmington. “So, where are we going tonight?”

“It’s a bit of a surprise.” Harold placed his hand on her knee. “Would you mind if we didn’t go see a movie tonight?”

Kelly felt a smile bowing her lips. She lifted her hand to one of her silver earrings and twisted it around her fingertips. “We’re not going racecar driving, are we? I’m way overdressed for that.”

Harold laughed and tapped the top of the steering wheel. “No racecar driving tonight.”

Kelly lifted her eyebrows. “Are you sure? I’m willing to go home and change.”

Harold laughed again. He peeked at her for just a moment, and the merriment in his eyes sent Kelly’s nerves into a spiraling gyro. How she loved this man! “We had a lot of fun, didn’t we?”

Kelly moved as close to him as she could without unbuckling her seat belt. “The best.”

“Tonight won’t be quite the adrenaline rush.”

Mischief rippled through Kelly and she raised one eyebrow. “Just being with you is an adrenaline rush.”

Harold howled. “That’s right. But tonight, no movie. Okay?” He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Kelly smiled, relishing the smell of his cologne on his neck. “That’s fine with me. I love your surprises.”

“It’s settled then.” He turned toward the mall. “We’re going to pick up those last couple of presents you needed to get, then we’ll head to dinner.”

Kelly shrugged. “Okay.” She opened her purse to find her lipstick and Zoey’s cell phone fell out. “Ugh!” Kelly growled. “She stuck this in my purse at the store because she was wearing sweatpants. She must have forgotten …” She turned her body toward Harold. “I have no way to get in touch with her.”

“Do you want to run it by her work?”

Kelly bit the inside of her lip. “Well, she works until eleven tonight, and you’ve planned the evening. When’s the best time to take it to her?”

A Cheshire-cat smile formed on Harold’s lips. “Since we’re already in Wilmington, we’ll wait until we’ve finished our date to take it to her. I can have you over there by nine o’clock.”

Kelly looked at her watch. It was four. She figured dinner and a movie would have had her home a bit later. She had no idea what Harold had planned, but she knew she would love it.

Harold touched the small of Kelly’s back as they followed the guy, maître d’, or whatever the fancy host person was called. Cam had told Harold the Hotel Dupont would knock Kelly out of her socks if she could stay there on her wedding night. So, before they headed out for Hawaii, they would spend their wedding night in this hotel.

He would have been just as content in a cardboard box on his wedding night, as long as Kelly was with him. But he’d learned one pretty big lesson in the year he’d dated Kelly—and her three daughters. Women were very different than men.

Kelly gasped as they walked into the dining room.
Wow. The place sure was something
. His soon-to-be brother-in-law wasn’t lying. The most fancy, dark red curtains he’d ever seen hung over humongous windows. The room was paneled in thick, dark oak wood. Large chandeliers twinkled from the ceiling with matching chandelier-looking lighting between each window on the walls. The tables and chairs were the snazziest he’d ever seen with soft white tablecloths and cloth napkins and fancy flowers and lamps on the tables. Musicians played a light tune in the background. It was a bit overwhelming for a simple, plumbing-and-heating guy, but he had to admit the historical feel of it nearly knocked him out of the shiny, black dress shoes he’d bought for the wedding.

He sneaked a peek at Kelly. Her expression of complete awe and thrill filled his chest with happiness that he’d chosen to bring her here. Standing in this hotel, he may feel like a square pipe being shoved into a circular hole, but he’d be just fine if Kelly had a good time.

He pulled out her chair, and Kelly slid into it. “Harold, this is amazing.” She touched the tip of one of the fancy-folded napkins. “I’ve always wanted to come here.”

Harold sat in the chair across from her. He looked at the array of glasses and silverware and whatever else was sitting in front of him and realized he had no idea how he was supposed to eat at this place. He looked up and into Kelly’s sparkling eyes. “Cam told me you would love this place.”

“I do.” Kelly traced her finger around the top of one of the glasses. “But do you have to pay to stay at the hotel to eat here? Probably not. I’m sure they set up reservations, don’t they?” Kelly furrowed her eyebrows. “This has to be awfully expensive. Harold, you do too much. You’re too—”

Harold lifted his hand to stop her. “Kelly, I’m forty years old. I own my own business, and I’ve been a bachelor all my life. I can afford this, and it was part of a …”

He hesitated. He’d planned to wait until dessert to tell her this was where they’d spend their first night as man and wife. He’d hoped to watch her have a wonderful meal and then surprise her about the plans. She still didn’t know they would be going to Hawaii for their honeymoon, and he planned to keep it that way.

The worry that etched her brow urged him to share his plan early. “We’re going to spend our wedding night here.”

Kelly gasped again. This time her eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Harold noticed the tips of her fingernails were a bright red and she had candy canes painted on both of her ring fingernails. He almost chuckled aloud at the irony of the scruffy plumber with the dolled-up teacher.

He grabbed the hand that covered her mouth. Lifting her knuckles to his lips, he kissed them gently. “Since we’ll be at our reception the night of the wedding and then we’ll be leaving for our flight in the early afternoon the day after the wedding, we won’t be able to enjoy one of the Dupont’s famous dinners on the night we stay here. I didn’t want to take that treat away from you, so I arranged for us to share our Hotel Dupont dinner today.”

Kelly leaned closer to Harold. Her free hand reached up and touched the side of his jaw. Harold’s skin seemed to burn at her touch, even more so as their wedding drew nearer. “You are so good, Harold Smith, so, so good. How I praise God for you.”

Harold smiled at her compliment. It was he, the old, scruffy, nowhere-near-as-educated bachelor who felt humbled and awed that she would accept him.

Before he could respond, a waiter dressed in a getup that may have cost more than the coat and tie Harold was wearing approached their table. He and Kelly opted for soft drinks, and Harold tried to focus as the man rattled on about goat cheese and mushroom cappuccino and other things he’d never heard of that they would choose from to be their first plate. Harold tried to appear interested and able to understand what the guy was saying, but who had ever heard of mushroom cappuccino? It sounded gross.

His frustration must have been apparent as Kelly smiled at him when the man had finished. “Honey, if you’ll try the chicken broth, medley of vegetables and chicken meatballs, I’ll try the field greens and tomato carpaccio, and cantaloupe-peppercorn emulsion and maybe we can taste a bit of each other’s.”

Harold wasn’t sure he understood what Kelly was getting, but he knew the words chicken and meatballs were for him, and that sounded good enough. He looked up at the waiter. “I think she has a good plan.”

“Wonderful.”

Harold reached over to take Kelly’s hand in his, but the man began to prattle on about second dishes. Oh boy. Again, Harold tried to figure out what the guy was talking about, but all he could do was focus on the small mole on the guy’s neck. It was in the shape of a star. He’d never seen a mole look like that.

Kelly saved him again, ordering some fancy shrimp for his second dish. When the man went on to the third plate,

Harold wondered how long this would take. But this time, he heard the words “black Angus” and Harold knew what that meant. A good steak. Now, the guy was talking Harold’s language. What red-blooded American man didn’t love a good steak?

The guy finally left and Harold leaned toward Kelly. “You know I have no idea what I’m eating—except the steak.”

Kelly giggled. She took the napkin from the center of the plate and placed it gently in her lap. “You know I would have been just as happy at a regular old steakhouse, as long as you were with me.”

Harold smiled at the sweet woman beside him. “I know. But I also know that you love that we’re here right now. I want to make you happy. Next time we’ll go to that regular old steakhouse.”

“Deal.”