Summer Inferno by Christy M. Jones

Author:Christy M. Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Christy M. Jones
Published: 2017-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

She clutched an elegant bouquet of peonies and roses between clammy palms. A rice-paper runway stretched before her, a manufactured path leading her to a new life. She imagined her smile when she took that first step, and then another, only to slip on the wrinkled paper and fall flat on her face. She cursed her wedding planner for putting that thought in her head. “Aisle runners are not a bride’s friend.” She dismissed the dismal warning. Long ago, her mother enlightened her on the importance of this overlooked tradition, and she never forgot it.

“Legend says the aisle runner acts as a barrier, protecting you from evil spirits lurking beneath the church. It’s an age-old custom you can’t break, like the groom seeing the bride before the ceremony.”

Her eyes misted with tears.

I hope you’re right, Mom. My ghosts are never far away. I need all the ammunition I can get.

But there was more to her paper runway than superstition and danger. Since that summer, she often thought of herself as a low-fueled plane at the end of a long, overseas flight, feverishly scanning that night sky for those lights to guide her home. And now, seeing this fabricated strip unfold between festively lighted pews, her search was over, and home was within reach. Her sins would disappear, fading behind her like the white contrails of a speeding jet.

The blare of the organ broke through her musings, and she placed a shaking hand on her father’s tuxedoed arm. She looked up into his sad eyes, knowing the struggle this day would be for him without her mother waiting in the front pew. He gave her hand a comforting pat, and together, they took that first step toward her new life.

Floating to a stop in front of Reid, they held hands, and with eyes locked, they repeated their vows, voices rich with conviction.

Later, the reception was an all-out affair, and when father and daughter danced to “Butterfly Kisses”, a dry eye couldn’t be found. Then it was time for their Hawaiian honeymoon, and with flower petals raining down on them, the laughing couple dashed out to the waiting limousine.

Twenty-four hours later, they were in a private villa on a lonely stretch of beach with the Pacific Ocean as their front yard. Warmed by the sun and seduced by the moon, Reid made love to her as often as the changing tides. And if the flutters he aroused in her eventually evolved into tiny feet and hands, she would rejoice at the prophetic sign, because forgiveness was finally at hand. Things once lost always do find a way back.

Two blissful weeks later, the joyful couple flew back to Montana and settled into their newly built six-bedroom home, a gift from her new husband’s affluent family. A hedge fund job awaited Reid at the family business, and Everly signed a first-grade contract with a local elementary school.

As the days turned into months, she impatiently waited for her body to blossom with child. She knew exactly how her pregnancy would be announced to the world.

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