Marrying Mallory (21 page)

Epilogue

A few months later

“Thank you for coming to our wedding. I know you had to
drive far.” Mallory smiled at Seth’s aunt and uncle before giving them each a
hug. She was glad they decided to have the traditional receiving line. They’d
talked about skipping the line and visiting each table of guests after the
dinner. Seth’s mother suggested having the reception line so they wouldn’t have
to spend time table-hopping. Fortunately, the group wedding pictures inside the
church didn’t take as long as they did at Elizabeth’s wedding. Before the
ceremony took place, Mallory enjoyed taking photos with the mothers, her
bridesmaids, the flower girl, and her amazing son Josh. He loved being the ring
bearer and being included in the bridal party. Seth’s mother had been right
insisting they have a traditional formal wedding. After all, it was Seth’s
first marriage.

“I couldn’t miss my favorite nephew’s wedding.” The elderly
woman beamed at them. “When we received the invitation, we were worried that
the weather might turn nasty in November, but it’s a perfect and lovely day to
have a wedding.”

Mallory nodded. She’d been so happy when Seth officially
proposed to her in July, but was even more elated that he wanted to get married
as soon as possible. They decided to wait until November to have enough time to
plan for their special day. Their wedding day only had a bit of a chill in the
air with a bright blue sky and gorgeous sunlight. A few trees still had
colorful foliage so the photographer used this spot to take a few shots of Seth
and her. Choosing early November proved to be a great time to marry her
surgeon. Gazing at her handsome husband in his black suit, Mallory realized how
blessed she was. Faith in God had brought her to this wonderful moment.

Seth kissed his aunt’s cheek, and said, “Now Aunt Esther,
you can stop praying for me to find the right woman. Your prayers and mine were
answered.”

His Uncle Tom chuckled. “She wants to see Amy married next.”

Amy, dressed in a black dress, stood next to Elizabeth in
the receiving line. “I heard that Uncle Fred.”

“We better move on, Esther. Other people want to offer their
best wishes to the couple.” Uncle Fred gave his wife a slight push.

After they finished greeting the remainder of their guests,
Seth leaned down and gave Mallory a long kiss.

A flicker of passion quickened deep within her heart as she
returned Seth’s kiss.

“Let’s just escape for a few minutes. How about it?”

Before Mallory could answer Seth, Henry appeared with Josh
and the other groomsmen. “The disc jockey is ready for us to enter the
reception room so we better line up.”

Heather, her maid of honor, gave her a hug before getting in
line next to Henry, the best man. Her three bridesmaids wore black dresses and
carried red roses while the groomsmen wore black suits with red ties.
I
can’t wait to throw my bouquet of red roses. I hope Heather catches it. I have
a feeling the next wedding will be Heather’s. Jeremy and she make such a great
couple.

She grinned at Seth. “I’m glad you want to escape with me
and not from me.”

“As much as I’m enjoying all this, I’m really looking
forward to our honeymoon.”

“Me too. I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii. I can’t wait to
spend alone time with you.” Two weeks in Hawaii worried her a bit because of
Josh, but he seemed thrilled to stay with her mother and Alan. He’d be going to
school during the day so that would help. She hated to leave her students
during the school year, but there were three days off for conferences so the
school only had to get a sub for her classes for seven days. In December, they
planned on moving into their new brick house. Selling the house she’d shared
with Toby had been a good decision. Seth said they might need a bigger house
anyhow with the future children they hoped to have.

Josh pulled on her hand. “Don’t forget to watch me dance
when they announce my name.”

“I’ll be sure to watch. You’ll be awesome.” Josh had been
more excited about his name being announced when he walked in at the reception
hall than walking down the aisle with the pillow in his hands. He thought it
was pretty cool that the DJ would say his name into the microphone in front of
all the guests. She looked down at her flower girl, Ally. “You look very pretty.
The photographer will take your picture when you two walk in.”

“Remember, Ally, to smile,” Elizabeth said.

Her mom looked lovely in a maroon dress. “Mom, are you and
Alan still going to dance your way in? You don’t have to. You could just wave
to the audience.” Her mom hadn’t been on board at first about dancing to music
during the introductions. But when Seth’s parents said it’d be fun for all of
the bridal party to dance, then her mom and Alan agreed to dance too.

Her mom nodded. “I’m looking forward to it. Alan and I’ve
been practicing our moves.”

“Your mom’s a great dancer.” Alan smiled fondly at his wife.

The disc jockey, a young man in his early twenties, appeared
in front of them. He said to the bridal party, “Okay, we start with the parents,
then the ring bearer and flower girl. I’ll announce your names as soon as you
enter the hall. I’ll wait around thirty seconds in between couples so that the
guests and photographers can take your pictures as you enter the main reception
area. That should give enough time for each couple to dance. Heather and Henry,
you walk in before the bride and groom.” He gave a quick glance at Mallory and
Seth. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“After Seth and I do our wedding dance for a couple of
minutes, invite everyone to join us on the dance floor.”

The DJ nodded. “I will. Have fun and relax.”

Within minutes everyone became quiet in the hall. The dance
music started as her mom and Alan entered the huge room.

While waiting for their turn, Seth said, “If anyone ever
asks me what the happiest day of my life was, I’d have to say it’s today. I’ve
never been so happy. I’ll love and cherish you the rest of my life.”

“I love you so much too.”

Henry snapped his fingers. “Hey, you two, Heather and I are
leaving for our grand entrance.”

Nervous energy flowed thru her body as she realized
everyone’s eyes would be on them soon. But that was okay because she had her
husband to share the spotlight with.

“Please stand for Mr. and Mrs. Seth Whitman,” the disc
jockey announced.

“Are you ready, Mrs. Whitman, to do our dance?” Seth asked.

“For you, my love, I’m always ready.”

The
End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diane Craver met her husband while teaching at an orphanage.
While raising their six children in southwestern Ohio, Diane started writing
nonfiction. Several nonfiction articles of Diane's have been published in
Woman’s
World Weekly, The Catholic
Telegraph, Virtue, Down Syndrome Today,
WritersWeekly.com
, and several other publications. Later, she decided it
would be a nice escape to write fiction.

Diane has published through a variety of houses, including
Samhain, Whimsical Publications, Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery,
Booklocker.com and Victory Tales Press. She writes fun and inspiring stories
filled with memorable characters. Diane gives thanks to God daily for all her
wonderful blessings.

Learn more about Diane and her books at:

http://www.dianecraver.com/
,
http://www.dianecraver.com/blog

http://www.jewelsofthequill.com/