Chapter Twenty-seven
You cannot wear that.” Lizzy was absolutely aghast that Sunday morning. “You are getting married, not going to stand on the street corner to solicit business.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day. I like red, and Blake is wearing a red tie so this is it. Besides remember our roots, Lizzy.” Allie smiled. “I’ll be the hooker bride. You can be the snow white virgin bride.”
“I’m not a virgin. Haven’t been since I was eighteen,” Lizzy said tersely.
Allie leaned in close to the mirror and applied eyeliner. “You might as well be one as long as it’s been since you’ve had a good romp in the bed. When your Mitch comes home, take him to a motel and jump his bones. It’ll make you feel a hell of a lot better.”
“That wild cowboy has made you as rowdy as he is.” Lizzy laughed.
“Yes, he has, and I love it and him for doing it. Now let’s go to church and have a wedding afterward, then we can eat all that lovely food. And Lizzy, thank you one more time for helping me move all my things over to the Lucky Penny. I can’t believe I’ll be waking up tomorrow in my new home.”
Lizzy laid a hand on her shoulder. “Or that it’s this close to Mama and Granny. I envy you, sister.”
Allie turned around and hugged Lizzy tightly. “I’m not going to think about you having to live all the way up there in the city. I’ll miss you so much.”
“Don’t talk about it or we’ll both cry and mess up our makeup. I’ve got to stand up beside you at the wedding and I don’t need to have black streaks down my face. Who is Blake’s best man? Deke?”
Allie took a step back. “No, it’s his brother, Toby.”
“Well, you will have a few months before he moves in to enjoy the honeymoon,” Lizzy sniffed. “At least Mitch and I won’t have another person living with us.”
“But Grady will be there every day, I betcha. And with Deke in and out every day, we’re already used to an extra person around,” Allie told her.
Allie’s hands had started to sweat when the preacher took the podium. He laid his Bible down but didn’t open it and smiled out at the congregation. “Today, we aren’t going to have a service, but we are going to have a wedding. In my opinion there isn’t a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to unite two people who are very much in love in the bonds of holy matrimony.”
“I thought he was going to preach first,” Blake said.
“So did I.” Allie nodded.
The preacher’s wife hit a few keys on the piano and Lizzy stood up in her cute little off-white lace dress. She pulled a small bouquet of tiny little white flowers mixed with half a dozen red roses from a small cooler at her feet. The white ones reminded her of that tiny little snow flower that Blake had brought her that day and the roses—they reminded her of the roses that grew on the barbed wire fence between the Lucky Penny and Audrey’s Place in the summertime.
Folks looked around to see where Mitch was and from the expressions on their faces, Allie could tell that they thought Lizzy was the bride. But then Lizzy laid the bouquet on the altar and took her place on the stage.
Blake and Toby rose to their feet at the same time. Some folks might say they walked up the aisle, but from where Allie sat, there was no doubt that was a Texas cowboy strut or swagger. It definitely covered much more than a walk. She waited until they made it to the front to start down the aisle.
Blake caught her eye and everything else disappeared. She didn’t hear the whispers about her tight red dress or the gasps, or even thumbs working frantically as some of them typed in text messages. All she saw was the man she loved, the wild cowboy she’d been waiting on her whole life. She picked up the bouquet and joined him on the stage.
“You are beyond beautiful today. Words could never describe what a stunning bride you are,” he whispered.
“I love you,” she said loud enough for everyone in the church to hear.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to unite Alora Raine Logan and Blake Alan Dawson in holy matrimony…” the preacher said.
“I just realized what your initials are,” Allie whispered. “I really did fall for a bad boy.”
“And I fell for an angel.” He grinned.
She handed Lizzy her flowers and held both of Blake’s hands in hers. Six weeks ago she hadn’t even known this man and now she was standing right there before God and her friends and family saying that she would love, honor, and cherish him until death parted them. Not one doubt filled her heart when she said a loud, “I do!”
The ceremony ended with a prayer and the preacher said, “You may now kiss your bride, Blake.”
She wasn’t expecting him to bend her backward in a true Hollywood kiss and then sweep her feet off the floor and swing her around the stage twice before he set her down and kissed her again.
But he did and the whole congregation applauded.