Yellow Rose Bride (25 page)

She nodded, echoing the familiar verse:

 

A time for birth and a time for death,

A time to plant and another to reap,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

A time to destroy and a time to build,

A time to laugh and a time to cry—

 

Their lips met, lingered. Moments later he whispered, “It's finally our time to love, Miss Taylor.” He tilted her face upward, looking deep into the depths of her tear-filled eyes. “Nothing on this earth will ever
separate us again. Will you marry me, again, Vonnie? This time I promise it will be forever.”

She nodded through a veil of mist.

“Till death do us part?”

“In sickness and in health,” she vowed.

He drew her closer, holding her tightly. “Forsaking all others?”

“Oh, Adam.” She wound her arms around his neck and held him so forcefully he knew he would never slip her grasp. “Yes! Yes.”

Forsaking all others—that was a given this time.

“There is one thing,” she murmured, between snatches of adoring kisses.

“Vonnie, please, no more problems. We've had enough of those—”

She laid a finger across his lips to still him. “No problems, but I'd like us both to go to Beth and tell her what's happened—why there is and always will be an irreversible bond between us.”

Smiling, he kissed the tip of her finger. “That would be a good place to start our new life.”

She grinned and kissed him again. “How do you feel about Friday?”

“To talk to Beth? What's wrong with today?”

“No, you goose.” She looped her arms more tightly around his neck. “To get married.”

1. What made you want to read this book? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?
   
2. Discuss the book's structure. Does the author weave an intricate trail? How does this affect the story and your appreciation of the book? How do you think it might have been different if another character was telling the story?
   
3. Have each member read his or her favorite passage out loud. How does this particular passage relate to the story as a whole? What does it reveal about the characters?
   
4. Talk about the time period in which the story is set. How well does the author convey the era? Did you have a sense of whether or not the author remained true to the events, social structures and political events of the time period?
   
5. What new details about the time period did you learn from the book—what aspects of the time period were a surprise? How do people today use stories from the past to guide them?
   
6. Is it difficult to keep our own, modern-day experiences from influencing the reading of an historical
   tale? What tools do you use to put yourself in the place of the historical characters?
   
7. Forgiveness posed a problem for Vonnie, particularly since she couldn't discuss her trials with her friends—what advice would you have given someone in her situation?
   
8. The memory of a person's first romance is a lasting one—how can an early romance affect your life today? Would Vonnie have been able to quash her emotions? Why or why not?
   
9. How would you have resolved the misunderstanding between Vonnie and Adam? How did their youth affect the outcome?