Blood Red

Blood Red Page 19

It was the most gorgeous wedding. The church was filled with flowers in dozens of colors. A royal blue runner ran down the aisle and out through the church doors.

There were old friends in attendance.

And new ones.

The groom was handsome, tall and dark.

The bride was far more than beautiful. Her happiness literally glowed.

She entered to the strains of a beautiful love ballad.

"That's gorgeous," Deanna whispered to Heidi where they stood waiting at the altar.

"He wrote it," Heidi whispered back.

Lauren kept walking down the aisle on the arm of Big Jim, who was giving her away. He wore a smile broader than Texas as he handed her over to the groom.

The vows were as beautiful as the song that had accompanied the bride's progress. Mark and Lauren had written their vows themselves. Not everyone in attendance fully understood them, but many there did. The promise to love through eternity, come what may. The vow that love was undying. The usual words in some ways...dramatically different in others.

They left the church in a rain of rice and cheers.

The reception was held on the grounds of Montresse House, where the smells of barbecue and gumbo fought for dominance. As afternoon turned to evening, Big Jim's band jammed, and the groom even joined them for a while, until he saw his bride watching him with something private in her eyes.

Then he was done playing. He left the stage and walked over to her.

"The truth, the whole truth," he told her, "is that I love you."

She laughed and said, "I would never doubt you."

The moon glowed down, and it seemed as if they were dancing on brilliant white clouds and that they would do so forever.

Perhaps some things were eternal.