Heather Burch - One Lavender Ribbon

Taking her place opposite the two men, she pivoted and waited for Sara.

When Sara stepped in, there was a gasp that rippled through the crowd. A bouquet of white gardenias was clasped firmly between her hands. She drew in a shaky breath. Pops nodded admiringly, coaxing her forward. His face beamed with pride as he basked not only in her beauty but in the happiness emanating from her.

The ceremony began, Pops and Sara standing hand in hand, as the preacher spoke to them about love and commitment. Adrienne was lost in the fairy tale, wondering how weddings could be so similar and yet so different. Her eyes drifted to Will, the man she loved. Her mind strayed to the hospital. Their love was certainly unique. At the moment she thought Will would break her heart, he had instead cradled it, protected it. She remembered the poem she’d once shared with Sammie.

Where have all the poets gone?

Rhyme with passion left unsung,

Even now my heart it yearns,

Until my poet-prince returns.

Could Will Bryant be her poet-prince? Was it possible? Love was so much more than deep emotion; it was sacrifice, forgiveness. It was comfort. It was joy. She willed herself back to the ceremony as the preacher asked if there was anyone who saw any reason for these two not to be wed.

When she heard Will’s voice, her blood stopped moving.

He stepped forward. “Pastor Vernon, I do.”

Uncertainty darted around the room, bouncing off the candlelight.

Will swallowed, pulled a breath. “Until I say what I need to, I don’t think this wedding can continue.” He looked at Pops. But Adrienne noticed Sara, who turned to Will with a delighted look on her face.

Adrienne’s eyes burned from lack of blinking and being open too wide. A smile formed on Pops’s lips and he nodded, urging Will on. Then, Pops turned and winked at Sara knowingly.

“Say what you need to, Will,” she said.

Taking a deep breath, Will stepped past the couple and over to Adrienne, whose face was on fire. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he mumbled.

Pastor Vernon flashed a look that seemed to say, “how did I lose control of my ceremony?”

“Adrienne,” Will took her hands in his. “Until recently, I didn’t really understand what love was. But now I know. I’m not perfect. But I have two men who have helped me be—and will continue to help me be—the best man, the best husband anyone ever had.”

She sucked in a breath. Here? Now? “Will, we should talk about this later,” she whispered, eyes shooting to the group of waiting guests. Beside Pops, Sara beamed. Didn’t she realize Will had just interrupted the wedding. Her wedding. Through clenched teeth Adrienne said, “Later, okay?”

“Everyone here is our family.” With a wave of his hand he gestured to the crowd. “They love us and most of them would never forgive me for letting this moment pass.”

Adrienne’s pleading eyes went back to Sara but found no help as Sara anxiously awaited how this would play out. Then she turned to Pops—no help either. Surely, the preacher would be the voice of reason. But when her eyes met his, he had closed his Bible and rocked back on his heels, grinning and waiting.

“Adrienne, this is one of the things I learned from you.”

Her brows went up, head jutting forward slightly.

“You’re a risk taker. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

She heard Sara say, “She certainly is.”

Adrienne felt faint.

Will rolled his eyes. “I mean, at first, it was one of the things that drove me crazy, but you’re willing to put your heart on the line for someone else. How could anyone not love that?”

“ We love it.” Sara again.

Her mind spun. This wasn’t happening. Couldn’t be happening. Besides, her plans had already been set in motion. “Will, I’m leaving in three weeks.”

The smile that had animated his face disappeared.

She shook her head. Yes, she loved him. But her life was moving in a different direction. “I was accepted at the school in Tallahassee.”

“Fine.” He nodded, taking only a moment to decide. “I’ll go with you.”

Again her breath left her. She swallowed hard. “You can’t just pick up and move—your job, your house.”

“There are banks in Tallahassee. Adrienne, you deserve to make your dreams come true. Every dream. And if the culinary school in Tallahassee is what you want, then I want to help make sure you get it.” His thumb grazed her cheek. “But you also deserve a hero. You should have someone who understands your complexity and will let you act like a woman one day and act like a kid the next. I don’t think I can trust anyone with that job but myself.”

The lump in her throat wouldn’t go down. “You . . . you would do that? Lose everything just to go with me?”

“I wouldn’t be losing anything. I would be gaining everything.” Will shot a quick look over to Pops. “Once, a really wise man told me that life is best when you find someone to love and you pour your heart and soul into them. Let me do that for you, Adrienne. Please.”

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. He was ruining everything.

Will leaned into her, his words soft, only for her to hear. “Marry me. If Tallahassee is where you want home to be, then so do I.”

Marry him.

The words rolled over and over in her head. Marry him , not so the world could revolve around him, but so his world could revolve around her. He was willing to do it. He was willing to sacrifice his whole world to make her dreams come true. The reality of this soaked into Adrienne. It was warm honey through her heart, slowly, completely and forever leaving its mark of sweetness. But sweetness had a way of turning bitter and . . . Quietly, she whispered, “That’s not what I want.”

All of the air left Will. His face became parchment, devoid of color. And she could see everything. Right there in his face and feel it in the breath he’d blown toward her. It was love and fear and pain.

Her head dropped, and she stifled a cry because she couldn’t bear to see such hurt. “I don’t want to go to Tallahassee. I don’t want to leave here. Leave my family.”

Will swayed toward her.

Adrienne gestured at the older couple. “I want to go on boat rides in the Gulf and eat vegetables out of Pops’s garden. I want to sit on the porch swing and visit with Sara.” Tears streamed down her face, landing on the silk dress she wore. “And I . . . I want to marry you.”

He grabbed her, hugged her, held her. Sara squealed and clapped her hands.

“I’m already home,” Adrienne whispered into his ear. She was only vaguely aware of the applause that rolled through the room.

Not wanting to let her go, Will reluctantly stepped back to his position as best man.

Pastor Vernon reopened his Bible. “Now, if no one else has any objections, I’d like to continue.” He gestured to Sara. “I believe you have something to share?”

Sara nodded, then unfolded the letter in her hands with trembling fingers.

Dear William,

For many years I wondered what my life would be like if the man I loved were beside me. Many days I stared down an empty road, hoping you would somehow appear. Many nights I cried myself to sleep. For all the wondering and dreaming I’ve done, it doesn’t compare to the joy in my heart. I promise to redeem the years. We may be old; our bodies may be tired and worn down. But I make you this promise: We will live, William. We’ll devour every opportunity given to us. And if I’m whisked away on the wings of angels before you are, I’ll leave you letters.

Tenderly, old hands found their way to her rosy cheeks, now wet with her own tears. Pops kissed her with all the passion of a man half his age.