Once a Wife by Patricia Keelyn
EPILOGUE
Sarah wanted sunshine for her wedding.
It wasn’t a lot to wish for, except in late December. Standing at her bedroom window, she looked out at the yard of the Crooked C. Winter had settled in, stripping the trees of their leaves while covering the ground with a layer of snow and shielding the sun with a blanket of clouds.
Sarah shivered. A cold day. When it should have been warm.
“Well, don’t you look pretty,” Millie said from behind her.
Sarah turned away from the window. “Is the dress okay?” She moved to the full-length mirror to check her appearance for the dozenth time. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
She’d chosen a simple two-piece silk dress in off-white. She’d liked the clean lines and the way the delicate fabric felt against her skin. Now she wondered if she’d made the right choice. Maybe she should have picked something with a little more style.
“He’ll love it,” Millie said, walking over and adjusting one of the blue silk flowers she’d earlier helped weave into Sarah’s braid. “Of course, if you’d waited until June, like normal folk, these flowers would be real.”
Sarah smiled, remembering why she and Reece hadn’t wanted to wait. Earlier in the month, the fall term had ended, and Sarah had resigned her position at Oaksburg High. Then she and Lyssa moved across the state to the Crooked C. Living three hundred miles from Reece had been hard. Living in the same house, without the benefit of marriage, had been harder still.
“We have two preteens in the house,” she said. “Remember?”
Millie laughed abruptly. “Don’t remind me.” She took a step back, appraising her work. “It’ll have to do.” After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Are you all right? You look a little peaked.”
“Just a mild case of prewedding jitters,” Sarah said, trying to make it sound like nothing.
Millie assessed her for a moment. “It’s Drew, isn’t it?”
Sarah laughed nervously. It had been nearly two months since she and Reece had decided to remarry, and Drew still had not fully accepted her. “You’re as bad as my grandmother.”
“Why? Because I can tell when something’s bothering you?” Millie took Sarah’s hand and patted it reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I know that boy. He’ll come around. Either that, or his sister will have his hide.”
Sarah grinned. “She does tend to be a little domineering.”
“She’s a wonder, all right.”
Sarah leaned forward and kissed the other woman on the cheek. “Thanks.”
Millie flushed. “For what?”
“For being a friend.” For once, Millie seemed at a loss for words, and Sarah laughed again, feeling better now. “Go on,” she said. “You need to get yourself ready.”
“You sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’m fine.” Sarah moved back to the mirror, pretending to fuss with her makeup. “Will you send Lyssa in when she’s ready?”
Millie hesitated a moment longer and then moved toward the door. “Sure. I’ll send her in.”
Once Millie left, Sarah deserted the mirror and wandered back to the window. Millie was probably right. Drew would come around. Already, things were better between them—at least he talked to her now. When he had to.
“May I come in?”
Sarah spun around. “Elizabeth. I didn’t expect … I mean, we didn’t think you’d …”
“You didn’t think I’d come?” Elizabeth stepped into the room. “Well, to be honest, I didn’t plan to.”
For a moment, Sarah was at a loss for words.
At first, Reece hadn’t wanted to invite his mother to the wedding, and Sarah had to admit she’d had mixed feelings herself. Eventually, he’d changed his mind, however, and admitted he’d hoped to talk things out with Elizabeth. But when they hadn’t heard from her, they’d assumed the worst—that, as she’d done thirteen years ago, she was going to refuse to acknowledge her son’s marriage.
Finally Sarah said, “I’m glad you’re here.” And she meant it. “It will mean a lot to Reece.”
“Yes. I expect it will.”
Again Sarah didn’t know what to say. She would have liked to make peace with her husband’s mother, but she didn’t know how. “I really love him, you know.” It wasn’t what she’d planned on saying, but it was the truth. And the only thing she could offer Elizabeth.
“I know. I knew eleven years ago.”
“Then why?” Although, as a mother herself, Sarah thought she understood Elizabeth better than she ever had before.
“You were both so young. How was I to know it would last?”
“And now?”
“You still wouldn’t be my first choice. But …” She shrugged.
“But?”
“You’re the woman my son has chosen and the mother of his children.” She hesitated a moment and then went on, “So I imagine we’ll just have to learn to deal with each other.”
Sarah smiled. It wasn’t much. But it was a start. “I imagine we will.”
“Mom, how do I look?”
Both Sarah and Elizabeth turned to see Lyssa, who stood in the doorway, a young lady in a calf-length dress the color of the clear Wyoming sky. Millie had pulled Lyssa’s golden hair away from her face and pinned flowers at the crown of her head. The rest hung in long curls down her back and over her shoulders.
“And who is this pretty little miss?” Elizabeth asked.
“This,” Sarah answered, feeling a little taken aback at how mature her daughter, her baby, looked, “is Lyssa. Lyssa, come in and meet your grandmother Colby.”
Lyssa entered the room, her charmer smile firmly in place, and gave Elizabeth a hug. “I’m so glad you came, Grandmother.”
“Oh, dear, you mustn’t be so formal. Call me Grandma.” She held Lyssa at arm’s length to get a better look at her. “You’re lovely.”
“Absolutely gorgeous,” Sarah agreed.
“Come on now,” Elizabeth said, without releasing Lyssa’s hand. “There are guests waiting downstairs, and we need to let your mother finish getting ready.” She started to lead Lyssa out the door but stopped on the threshold. “By the way,” she said to Sarah, “that dress is lovely.”
Sarah’s heart softened toward her mother-in-law. Maybe there was hope they’d more than just “deal” with each other.
“We’ll send someone up for you when they’re ready downstairs,” Lyssa called as she and Elizabeth disappeared down the hall.
The wait wasn’t long, but the last person Sarah expected to come for her was Drew. He appeared in the doorway, fidgeting uncomfortably in his new blue suit.
“You look very handsome,” she said.
Then she spotted the buckle, Reece’s silver buckle, and her heart skipped a beat. It was far too big for his twelve-year-old body. But it looked wonderful.
Following her gaze to his waist, Drew said, “Tod attached it to my belt for me.” He shifted from one foot to the other and then looked back at her. “I hope it’s okay if I wear it.”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears, only this time they were tears of joy. Millie was right. Everything was going to be all right. “It’s perfect.”
“Uh, well, if you’re ready then, I can walk you down.”
“I’d be honored.” She crossed the room to her son and slipped her arm through his.
He looked up at her then, and she saw the caution in his eyes. But there was a warmth, as well, and maybe the beginnings of renewed trust. Suddenly, he looked behind her and broke into a huge smile. “Hey, Mom, look. The sun’s out.”
It was a moment before Sarah could move. Drew had called her Mom.
She turned toward the window to see a sliver of sunshine dance its way across the floor. It was beautiful, but nothing compared to the light she felt in her heart. Nothing compared to her son’s acceptance of her as his mother.
A few moments later, Drew walked her downstairs. The living room had been set up like a chapel, with rows of chairs and a long white runner leading to a wooden arch covered with silk flowers.
They were all there. The people she loved.
Her grandmother, nodding and grinning. Joseph Bright Eagle, sitting next to her, looking too large for the rented metal chairs. Millie, in her best Sunday dress, a handkerchief clutched in her fist. Tod, sporting clean jeans and a brand-new shirt. Lyssa, her hand still firmly anchored in Elizabeth’s, and Drew, who’d walked over to sit on the other side of his grandmother.
Then Reece moved up beside her, and she forgot everyone else in the room. She saw only him, his warm blue eyes shining with love and a smile that promised more than he could say aloud in a room filled with people.
“Are you ready, Sarah?” he whispered. “To become my wife?”
She smiled up at him, feeling his love wash over her. “In my heart, I’ve always been your wife.”
The End
Continue reading for an excerpt from the next book in the A Mother’s Heart series:
Where The Heart Is.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patricia Keelyn is the pseudonym for author, editor, and writing teacher, Pat Van Wie.
Pat’s published eleven novels for three major publishers, including: Ballantine, Bantam, and Harlequin. Her last three books were hardcover suspense novels released under the pseudonym Patricia Lewin.
In 2010 Pat crossed to the other side of publishing when she took a position as senior editor for Bell Bridge Books to build their mystery and suspense list. Early in 2015, she left that position to once again concentrate on her writing.
Pat has also taught writing workshops and classes in various formats and lengths around the country and is currently teaching creative writing at her local Community College.
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