Catherine Mckenzie 3-Book Bundle by Catherine McKenzie

Author:Catherine McKenzie [McKenzie, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443426336
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

Chapter 13

To Have and to Hold

Jack knocks on my door at noon.

“Anne, it’s me. Are you ready?”

I check myself one last time in the mirror. I’m wearing the cream-colored dress, and I’ve pulled my hair back from my face, leaving the rest loose and wavy. My eyes look wide and scared.

Here I come, ready or not.

I open the door. “Ready.”

He looks me up and down, his hands behind his back. “You look great.”

He’s wearing a tan suit and a light green shirt. His hair is still slightly wet from his shower, and it curls tightly on his head. He’s even shaved. He looks younger without the beard, more vulnerable.

“You look nice too.”

“Thanks.” He brings his hand from behind his back. He’s holding a small bouquet of colorful flowers. “I thought you might like to carry these… unless you already have some?”

I’d decided not to have a bouquet, not to make too big a deal out of this. Out of today. That’s fantasyland, but I can pretend with the best of them.

I bring the bouquet up to my nose. It smells like summer.

“Thank you, Jack, they’re beautiful.”

“Shall we go?”

With my heart in my throat, I walk with Jack, hand in hand, to the lobby. We ride the elevator to the fourth floor and follow the signs to the room where the weddings are taking place. Ms. Cooper is standing at the entrance with her usual clipboard in hand. She checks off our names. “You can go right in.”

Jack thanks her, but I can’t speak. Is this really about to happen?

Jack squeezes my hand tightly as we enter the room. There’s a wall of windows at the far end, looking out over the cerulean ocean. The view is spectacular, beautiful, peaceful. A classical processional plays quietly—Pachelbel, I think.

We walk slowly down the aisle toward a small altar. A dark-skinned man in his mid-forties stands in front of it, holding a small black book. He introduces himself as Pastor Rodriguez and asks if we’re ready to begin. When we nod, he begins reading the simple ceremony. I feel an odd urge to laugh, which I try hard to contain.

Jack notices me struggling. “What is it?” he whispers.

“Nothing.”

Pastor Rodriguez keeps going, repeating the ageless words. I’m barely listening. Then he says something that gets my attention.

“Do you, John Graham Harmer, take this woman, Anne Shirley Blythe, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Jack says firmly.

“And do you, Anne Shirley Blythe, take this man, John Graham Harmer, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?”

I look at Jack. He takes my hands in his and looks into my eyes. I feel weak in the knees. But I take a deep breath and say,

“I do.”

“Do you have the rings?”

Jack reaches into his suit jacket.

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