Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (23 page)

The justice of the peace was waiting for them,
since the minister had been unavailable. The flowers were on either side, and
they stepped between them, facing out to the audience. A hush fell and then the
ceremony began. They'd opted for something very simple, with additions of their
own.

"Beth Carter, I take you to be my wife. I
promise to love you always and respect your choices, caring for you in sickness
and health, joining my life to yours forever. On the stage of life, I have
found my purpose, and meaning, my all, in you."

He slipped an emerald cut diamond on her finger
along with the simple plain band.

Beth took a deep breath. It was funny, she thought
in that second, that even though she was on a stage, she felt more real than
any other time in her life.

"William Christopher, I take you to be my
husband. I promise to love you with all my heart, body, and soul, to care for
you in sickness and in health, and to make my life with you forever. No matter
how much theater we have in our world, I promise what we have will always be
real."

She put the platinum band on his finger.

They took a step toward each other, and slowly came
together in a kiss that felt magical. She felt as if she could kiss him like
this, right here, forever. But then she heard a loud noise and realized the
audience and the family behind them were clapping and cheering. Blushing, she
looked up and waved to the audience, and then she and William walked back to
join the family.

* * * *

"Of course it was all Mary Jo's idea. She
started people talking about it, and they decided it would be a good way to break
in the Playhouse, so to speak," Frank was saying to William and Beth at
the reception. "The truly funny thing, though, was that nobody told
Maelynne! She wasn't even there."

"Thank goodness," William said. He was
still stunned by how the town had showed up for the wedding, but everyone
seemed sincerely happy for them.

Holly and Jason had opened up their house, which
had some large patios for entertaining outside. Fortunately, it was a nice
spring day, with warm air still in the evening. William was pretty sure
everyone in town had stopped by at some point.

He glanced over at Beth, who was listening to the
old lady, Violet, giving her advice. He smiled when he noticed Beth looking at
her rings repeatedly. He'd surprised her with the three-carat diamond. They'd
only talked about simple wedding bands due to the short period of time
beforehand. He was glad he'd gone ahead and had Lucretia get it for him.

Beth looked up at that moment and smiled at him,
her face full of love. His heart was overflowing with happiness.

That night, back at the house, they made love with
tenderness and almost a sense of relief. They were together now, for always.
William heard Beth whispering over and over, "I love you, I love
you." And he knew he was where he belonged.

* * * *

Beth jumped back into rehearsals the very next day
after the wedding. The play was coming together well, and the chemistry between
all the actors was clicking.

William had taken to trying out new colors of
shirts every few days. The whole town agreed with Beth that the days of the
mustard-colored shirts were not good. And pink was also not his color. But he
continued to experiment, and left the all-black days behind, which pleased Beth
enormously.

Finally, the big day arrived, and Beth was a
nervous wreck on opening night of the play. But once she set foot on the stage,
it was like the nerves just melted away. Here, on this stage, was where she
felt comfortable, she realized.

The play was attended by not just townspeople, but
also critics and investors from the city that'd learned William was the
director. The next morning, Beth was stunned to read glowing reviews of her
performance as Corie.

"I thought I'd have to wait years to read
something this good about my acting," she told William over their early
breakfast. "Can this be real?"

"I told you, you are good," he said,
smugly.

"Because I have a great director," she
said with a smile.

"Well, of course, that's a given."

She tossed a muffin at him.

Later that day, William got a call that brought
him running through the house to find Beth. "William...what's wrong? You
look...stunned."

"This call I just got. They want to put on a
play, our choice Beth. With you as lead actress and me as the director. In the
city, this fall. These are the big-time investors, my love. You've made
it!"

He picked her up and whirled her around, while
Beth felt like she was in shock. A play in the city? The big-time?

"For real? This is happening?" she
asked, in a dazed voice.

"Yes! Our choice! It's amazing."

And that night her performance sparkled even more
than the night before. The run of the play in Sully Point was a huge hit
playing to packed crowds every night and matinee.

When it was over, the whole family gathered on the
beach at Sam and Anna's house to celebrate with a clam bake. Which of course
included lobsters, shrimp, corn on the cob, and more.

Rose had settled into houseboat living. Sophia and
Ed were planning to move into a newly-built house designed by Jason in a few
months. Maggie was looking bigger than ever as she waited for the birth of her
baby.

Joshua now spent regular amounts of time each week
with Eric at the computer lab. It was becoming more and more apparent just how
special he was, and the family members worked hard to give him as normal a
childhood as possible.

As Beth sat on the beach, leaning against William
and surrounded by family and friends, she felt more than blessed. She felt
touched by the stars.

"You know what, Mr. Director?"

"What, leading lady?"

"I love you more than I have words to
say."

"That's good. Because I love you at least as
much."

"Is it possible to burst with happiness? Can
it be too perfect?"

"No," he replied. "It's absolutely
right for us."

And he bent his head to hers and kissed her, as
the sun set on another day in Sully Point.

# # #

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