© Copyright 2004
by Elizabeth Delayne
The Final Part in the Store of Love Trilogy!

“Hold still.”

Haley closed her eyes as Carmen patiently pinned the simple crown that held her veil. Her friends had turned her away from the mirror to finish her look. She tried not to fidget and held her hands in place in front of her, turning the watch she wore on her wrist.

“What should I do with Jason’s watch?”

Carmen stepped back and looked down at Haley’s wrist for the first time, her own hands still pinning Haley’s hair. “Why do you have Jason’s watch?”

“Because it’s new,” and she’d been so excited she’d taken it out and slipped it on her wrist as she left the store. “I picked it up from the jeweler on the way over this morning. It’s a gift for Jason. Pastor Joe told me Jason was giving me a gift. His mom helped me pick it out.”

“You’re not going to wrap it or something?” Carmen asked as she went back to pinning Haley’s hair.

“I forgot to get it done when I picked it up this morning,” Haley answered simply.

“What do you think his gift is?” Molly asked.

She shrugged and received a good natured grumbled warning from Carmen. “I don’t know, but I think it’s something that means something to him. We haven’t talked about it or anything, but his mom got teary-eyed when she thought about it.”

“She really loves you.”

“I’m a little in love with her, too. And she’s been very patient with my mom.”

Carmen stepped back, studied her work, then smiled. “Speaking of gifts, Molly and I have something for you.”

Haley ran her fingers down the front of her dress.

Molly snatched at her hand. “If you’re looking for your overall straps, you’ve got to remember Jason’s finally gotten you into a dress.”

Haley scrunched her nose. She liked working in her overalls. The pockets held her equipment and the material was baggy enough the she could move with freedom.

“He’s seen me in a dress plenty of times.”

But not this one, or in this way. She was getting married today.

“Here you go,” Carmen handed Haley a large box wrapped in glittering white.

“More bridal paper,” she said and giggled as she ripped it off—ribbon and all. If they were to have lots of kids based on a silly tradition then let the kids come. Inside was a white album with a heart embossed in the center.

Carmen took the box and paper and set it aside as Haley opened it.

“My pictures.”

“We took the photos from the night you told Jason you loved him and put them all together, with the stories that went with them.”

Haley smiled as she turned the pages, noting that Carmen had added other photos, all neatly matted and placed, of the nights in question. She’d taken him to different places that had meant the most to her where he’d been part of her life.

“Where did you get this?” She laughed, running her finger gently over a picture of Jason and Carmen’s husband making faces in the student union building. Other pages held similar photos. Pictures of them, with their friends. Memories of the good times.

She heard the shutter of a camera. Jane, her mentor and boss, was back in the room.

“I wasn’t going to cry today.”

Carmen placed a hand on her shoulder as she turned to the last page.

The last photo was of the night Jason had come back for her, the night before Carmen’s wedding. Haley was standing with Jason in the front lawn of Carmen’s sister-in-law’s house. They were lit by the streetlight. Her feet were bare, her pajama pants clashed with the oversized shirt. His arms were around her. He was chuckling as he kissed her.

Surrounding the photo were messages written by all the girls who were inside that night, watching from an upstairs window.

Instead of tears, she felt suddenly just right. At peace. Here was the man who held her heart.

The man who’d come back for her.

“It’s perfect.”

“We would have given it to you before, but the more we worked on it, the more photos we remembered we could add—so that took phone calls and waiting. And Laura just got in last night. She wanted to sign it.”

She thumbed through the book again as Carmen and Molly went back to fixing her veil and dress, tucking pieces of hair into the right place.

She hadn’t realized that she’d been nervous until the nerves were calmed by the book. Jason loved her. God was bigger then the things that lay down the road before them.

“All right. Let’s turn you around.” Carmen lifted her train.

“Close your eyes,” Molly ordered. “Give yourself the full effect.”

Molly took the book from her and set it aside.

Haley closed her eyes and allowed Carmen to lift her train as Molly turned her. She shutter clicked again.

“Now?”

“Nope.”

She felt Carmen and Molly tucking and shifting cloth around her.

“Has anyone checked on my mom?”

“I was just with her,” Jane answered. “Jason and his mom are with her. She’s calm and smiling.”

“He’s learning what life with my family will be like just in time.”

Her mother had burst into tears even before Haley was fully in her dress. Her mother’s hysterics had worked their way into Haley’s nerves.

She supposed if her mother had handled Haley’s father’s death and her own father’s Alzheimers better, then Haley wouldn’t have felt so desperate or overwhelmed for nearly three years.

Her grandfather on her father’s side was constantly telling jokes, making an already awkward situation even worse. Her aunts were angry at each other, miffed at Haley for not choosing their husbands to walk her down the isle.

I wish my father could be here with me, God. Tell him I’m happy with Jason. Tell him he’s even more of a terrific guy then I first thought. And if he can see me on this day, then I believe You’ll give him that chance.

She put a hand to her stomach. She missed her father so much.

“We’re ready if you are.”

Carmen’s pronouncement had a smile on Haley’s lips. She opened her eyes.

The shutter clicked, locking forever the memory of Haley with her closest friends, seeing herself as a bride.

She reached for their hands.

“I’m getting married today.”

And it felt just right.



Jason walked into the sanctuary. The door behind him closed, echoing in the empty room.

He supposed it was normal to be nervous. It seemed to balance well with the anticipation.

Much like Jimmy had done, they were taking photos before the wedding. He and Haley would have time together alone, then time to pray with their pastor before the wedding party came in. Weddings were traditional, and the traditions were meaningful, but they were changing things, keeping God at the center.

When the door at the back opened, Jason turned and saw his heart.

She took his breath.

“Haley.”

Her name barely formed on his lips as she walked down the isle toward him, the skirt of her dress carefully lifted in her hands. She was smiling, struggling with the tears.

“You are so beautiful,” he said when he could reach out, touch her.

A tear fell, slid down her cheek. She placed a hand gently on the lapel of his tux. “You’re dashing. My prince.”

When she smiled, the tiny dimples appeared and he had to grab her hand, grab onto something steady.

“Jane said you were with mama.”

“She’s fine, Haley. She talked about your father. I think she needed to be able to talk about him. My mom and dad are with her.”

“I miss him.”

“I know,” he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small wrapped box. “I got you something.”

Delighted, she took the box and unwrapped it. He watched her smile when she opened the top and looked at the diamond earrings.

“I guess I could have gone for larger diamonds, but I wanted little ones that reminded me of your dimples. See,” he said, and shifted the box. “They sparkle.”

She handed him the box. “I want to put them on.”

She took off the simple pearl earrings and handed them to him. He slipped them into his pocket as he held the box with his other hand so she could take them one at a time and place them through her ears.

And seeing her raised hand, he noticed the large silver watch.

When the earrings were in and he’d taken a moment to admire them, he grabbed the hand, turned her wrist. “What’s this?”

She shrugged, her smile still in place. “No pockets.”

“And you’re used to your pockets,” he murmured, twinning her fingers with his. She seemed to sparkle all over; the diamonds, her dimples, her eyes. It was hard to think, much less look away.

She took the band off and handed it to him, the back of the watch held up so he saw the inscription.

Friendship and love are forever. The waiting has come to an end. Haley.

He smiled at her as he slipped it over his hand and hooked it to his wrist, taking off his old watch.

“You could wear this. The something old.”

Laughing back the emotional tears, she took his old watch and slipped it over her own hand. “I will—until Molly or Carmen make me take it off. Old or not, they might object and I think that tradition is left up to the bridesmaids, anyway. It was hard enough for them to let me wear your new one out here, but Jane pointed out that you wouldn’t notice it.”

“She was right,” he said and reached up to trace a finger down her cheek where a tear had fallen. “We’re making this our own.”

He fought off the almost desperate urge he had to kiss her. The anticipation of the kiss they would share, later, in a ceremony with their friends, was far more precious.

Jason would walk her down the isle. Their pastor would talk of how he’d watched them slowly, reverently; give their lives to each other.

And he would pledge his love, his belongings, his life to this woman with a sparkling smile and eyes that would treasure, and seek to preserve, their memories.

HEY! and don't forget to e-mail me if you have a comment!







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