Don’t faint, he thought as she took a step in his direction. Do not faint.
Chapter Six
Rebekah’s heart fluttered in her chest like the wings of a butterfly as she stared down the aisle at Eric. She grinned when she noticed he was wearing his Converse and a T-shirt under an expensive tuxedo. Perfect attire for him. Perfect man for her.
Dave’s wheelchair sputtered and zoomed, sputtered and zoomed as he tried to keep pace with Brian Sinclair’s electrifying rendition of the wedding march. Rebekah tore her gaze from her waiting groom to look down at her brother.
“Having problems?” she whispered.
“I hate this thing,” he grumbled before hooking an arm around her waist and tumbling her onto his lap. She patted the wide skirt of her dress down, laughing as Dave zoomed up the aisle at a more constant speed. They must have made quite a sight because every person in the room was laughing by the time they arrived at the front of the church with her train dragging the floor beside his chair. They waited for Brian to finish his Wedding March guitar solo and then her dad said, “Who gives this woman to this man?”
“That would be me,” Dave said.
Dave tipped her off of his lap, and she swept her dress out of the way of his chair. He surprised her by clutching her forearm and hauling himself to his feet. He took her hand, placed it on his arm, and labored forward three steps. He handed her off to Eric. “Take her, she’s a pain in the butt, and all yours,” he said before lifting her veil. “I love you, baby sis,” he said.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her cheek and forced his uncooperative legs to take several more steps before collapsing in the pew next to Isaac, leaving his wheelchair abandoned in the aisle.
Rebekah smiled when Isaac’s eyes met hers. She was so glad he was there. They were no longer lovers, but he was still her dearest friend. She hoped one day he and Eric could get along. They were a lot more alike than they were different. Neither of them seemed to recognize that, but she did.
She lifted her head, and her breath caught. The smile on Eric’s face could have cleared the cloudiest of days. It made her glow beneath its radiance.
She stared into his loving blue eyes as her father outlined the expectations of marriage and as they repeated their standard vows. She was scarcely aware of what she was saying, but she felt every word deep in her heart.
“Do you have the rings?” her father said.
Rebekah’s heart skipped a beat. They’d forgotten to get rings!
Eric turned to Jace, who handed him two slightly tarnished silver bands. Her lip quivered when she recognized them, and she tore her gaze from Eric’s palm to her father’s misty-eyed stare.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
He smiled and nodded reassuringly.
She couldn’t believe he was letting them wear the rings that had been passed down his side of the family for five generations. She knew how much those rings meant to him. He wouldn’t have given them to Eric unless he truly accepted him as part of the family. Oh, thank you, Daddy. Thank you.
“Wear them well,” her father said, and then he blessed the rings and their wearers with words she’d heard dozens of times. Yet this time the lifelong blessing, the forever blessing, was for her and Eric. Before she could get too choked up, her dad said, “Do you have anything you’d like to say to Eric as you take him as your husband?”
Rebekah nodded, her vision blurry through the tears in her eyes. She took the larger of the two rings from her father’s palm and slipped the ring onto Eric’s left ring finger. Her heart gave a little skip of joy to find it fit his long, slender finger perfectly, as if he were destined to be a part of the family. She stared up into Eric’s eyes as she said the words she’d prepared. The ones she would later have tattooed on her skin.
“Eric, I promise to live beside you like there is no tomorrow, love you like you’re the only perfect man on Earth, and laugh with you like no one is watching. You bring so much joy into my life, give so much love, awaken my passion, stir my soul, rock my body.”
She heard her mother click her tongue with disapproval, but she didn’t care. These were her words to Eric, and they had nothing to do with her mother or anyone else.
“You’re my heart and soul, Eric. I can only hope that I will make you half as happy as you make me. I want to spend my whole life trying. I pledge my heart, my soul, my life to you, my love. My husband.”
Eric gnawed on his lower lip, looking at her like he’d just won the lottery.
“Do you have anything you’d like to say to Rebekah as you take her as your wife?” her father asked.
Eric jumped, as if he hadn’t realized they weren’t alone. Rebekah completely understood that feeling.
He swallowed hard, took the ring from her father’s hand and with trembling fingers, slid it on her left ring finger. He blew out his cheeks, squeezed his eyelids together, and then opened his eyes to gaze into hers. His trembling lessened as he stood there for a long moment just searching her gaze and then he spoke.
“Forever was just a word until I met you. Now it’s a promise. A dream. My cherished reality. I love you forever, Rebekah. My love. My wife.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her wedding band, staring deep into her eyes. “Forever.”
“Forever,” she repeated, unable to take her eyes off his.
Her mother sniffed loudly behind her. There were several other sniffles from the front pew.
“Do you all have allergies or what?” Eric asked. His voice sounded extra loud in the quiet church.