new future.
“Read it,” Ana demanded. “If you’re not going to, I’ll be happy to do it for you.”
“No.” Using her fingernail, Sophia slit the seal. Inside she found an embossed white card. The front read Congratulations! Inside, the specifics of her upcoming nuptials were spelled out. Upcoming wedding between Ezekiel and Sophia Hannah, and then the date and time and place.
“That’s it?” Sophia said. “Nothing more? I find this cold and rude and, quite frankly, insulting.” Her anger surprised her. And Ana, too, whose eyes had gone huge and round.
“Well, at least it’s official.” Briskly, Ana changed the subject. “What’s the story on him? The guy who just left?”
Sophia considered. “He’s new,” she said carefully. “Apparently, Thomas brought him in from the outside. I have no idea why.”
Pursing her lips, Ana swallowed as she digested Sophia’s words. Though Sophia could tell the older woman wasn’t enamored of the possibility, she also knew Ana would never dare express disapproval about anything Thomas did. After all, Thomas only acted at their leader’s discretion. And everyone knew that everything Ezekiel did was always, without question, for the best of his Chosen children.
“Well—” Ana dusted her hands on the front of her shift “—we’ve got more important things to worry about. We have a wedding to plan.”
Sophia stared. While she didn’t want to hurt Ana’s feelings, she had always figured she and her best girlfriends would plan her wedding. After all, she’d certainly helped with all of theirs. Sophia knew they’d all be over-the-top excited once she gave them the news. Until they found out her intended husband was an old, old man.
She sighed. “Of course we do,” she said softly. “But first I have to let my friends and the rest of the family in on the news. I’m pretty sure I’ll have lots of help getting everything set up.”
Narrowing her eyes, Ana nodded. “You do understand that this can’t be just any wedding, right? You’re going to be marrying our leader. Think back to his last wedding, if you’re old enough to remember. Now that was a spectacle. You’ve got to think big, flashy and showy. You know Ezekiel will finance whatever you want.”
All three of the adjectives Ana had just used were the antithesis of what Sophia had wanted. When she’d dreamed of her wedding, she’d planned more along the lines of classic, understated elegance. A quiet ceremony and later a joyous celebration of the love she and her new husband shared.
She didn’t have that, either. There would be no love, no joy and certainly no celebration. At least on her part, though she knew she’d have to put on a show.
Did Ezekiel still even celebrate? After at least twenty-five or thirty marriages, she figured this would be old hat to him now. Since she didn’t know him, she had no idea how Ezekiel felt. Though as far as she and everyone else was concerned, his feelings were everything. All that mattered was keeping Ezekiel happy.
What Ezekiel wanted, he got. And right now, he apparently wanted her.
Later, after arriving home to the house she shared with her best friend Rachel and two other single girls, she tried to summon up the appropriate excitement to deliver the news. Luckily, all the others were younger than her and had enough abundant glee to cover her lack.
“You’ve been chosen by our leader?” Rachel squealed, wrapping Sophia in a tight hug before spinning her around the room. “What an honor! I can say I knew you before!”
Her best friend’s unbridled happiness finally coaxed a smile from Sophia. “It’s kind of weird, though. He’s never even spoken to me. I don’t even know how he came to know of me.”
One of the other girls, a quiet, mousy brunette named Cheryl, snorted. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
The others giggled.
“I’m sure he must have seen you somewhere.” Heather, who shared a room with Cheryl, smiled. “He probably took one look at you and knew you were the one he wanted for his next wife. You’re so lucky.”
She did look in the mirror—every single morning when she got ready for her shift at the medical clinic. She knew some might consider her features pleasing if not ordinary. Brown hair, brown eyes. Definitely nothing extraordinary enough to draw any man’s attention—witness her lack of marriage offers. And really, if one considered the fact that the only man even remotely interested in becoming her husband was nearly four times her age, the “struck by her beauty” explanation didn’t work.
Cheryl, who was always up for a good party—hurried into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of homemade red wine. “We need to have a toast!”
“Yes, we do,” Rachel agreed, going for the juice glasses. She brought six—all mismatched—out on a round tray. “I hope it turned out good.”
Heather, who made the wine in secret, grinned. “Oh, it’s good. Believe me. I tried some last weekend. Even Danny liked it.” As usual, she blushed after saying her boyfriend’s name. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Danny petitioned to become her husband. Some girls got lucky that way.
In fact, every single one of Sophia’s married friends had been ecstatic over the man they’d been joined with in matrimony. Leave it to Sophia to be the lone exception.
“Hey.” Rachel sidled up to her, handing her half a juice glass of wine. “You seem lost in thought. What’s wrong?”
Sophia blinked, suddenly aware that everyone had stopped talking and now watched her intently.
“Are you all right?” Rachel asked, her low voice radiating genuine concern.
Wondering what would happen if she blurted out the truth, Sophia swallowed hard and tried to summon up a smile. She didn’t know how they’d react if she shared with them her concerns. Later, she knew she could confide in Rachel. And she would, as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
For now, she needed to laugh and pretend to celebrate with her roommates.
Of course everyone wanted to offer their ideas on decorating for the wedding. Sophia made a face and relayed to them what Ana had said.
“You know what? She’s right,” Rachel said thoughtfully. “This won’t be an ordinary wedding.”
“I wonder if Ezekiel will assign some of his staff to plan the ceremony. Provide the decorations and everything?” Heather put in.
The other women murmured their agreement. None of them had ever been a part of something so big before. Speculations ranged from the outlandish to the ridiculously expensive.
“I’m thinking Sophia will want classic elegance,” Rachel insisted. Since she knew Sophia better than anyone else, no one argued.
Classic elegance. Sophia wasn’t even sure if such a thing could be applied in this situation. Glumly, she realized she didn’t even care. For most of her life, she’d spent a lot of time imagining how her wedding would be. The colors, the dresses, the flowers. Where, when and the poignant reactions of the guests to her and her groom’s individual, self-written vows.
None of that mattered now. She
