grabbed her cousin’s hand and rushed to their seats.
“Too bad this is about as good as it’s going to get for those two unless that groom gets his act together,” EmmaJean said to Natalie drawing attention from Geraldine and a few others sitting nearby.
Smooth wordless melodies filled the atmosphere with soft rhythms that could compel the stiffest listener to sway to its percussions. Not more than fifty listeners sat in the seats eagerly waiting for both bride and groom to join the minister underneath the arched bouquet. Just beyond the wall behind the minister, there was a door to the long hallway that curved right – practically at a forty-five degree angle – until it ended at another door. On the other side of the door was the back entrance to a spacious honeymoon suite occupied by a young couple, waiting to exchange what they never would have expected to exchange again just one year ago.
It was their second time to share their wedding vows with one another. As the two closely faced each other in the room’s dining chairs, the groom held his bride’s trembling hands. He spoke as tenderly to her as he always had, unless they were exploding in one of their frequent war of words. “I’m just as nervous as you are and I still consider you my wife. I can’t promise everything is going to be perfect. But one thing I do know is I’ll always, always love you.”
She lifted her worry-stricken eyes to meet his. Her attempt to steady a trembling voice could last only so long, she reasoned within her heart. So, she condensed all that she ached to say to him with one core concern. “Can you promise me you’ll never cheat again? Can you honor our wedding vows the second time around?”
The astonishment in his face revealed he had expected a response that was a lifetime of difference from what confronted him in her question. The artless drop of his head exposed the guilt by which he was constantly stung. But his instinctive response to her squeezing grip didn’t fail her. He lifted his hand to caress her face and whispered, “I promise.”
She longed for more assurance than a vocal promise. So, she earnestly searched his eyes for answers. In them, she could see his sincere determination for their fallen marriage, previously ripped by infidelity and divorce, to be officially restored. She could see his hope. And she could see his love in the form of admiration, attraction, and desire. But something was missing. She could only hope that the missing part of her enigmatic circumstance with the love of her life could develop over time – and hold their marriage together the second time around.
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