A Veiled Reflection (38 page)

He checked his black suitcoat a second time and picked furiously at several pieces of lint.

“You're gonna wear a hole in that suit or this floor if you don't settle down,” Mary chided.

“I don't know why I feel so nervous. I mean, she's already my wife. She can't back out now,” he said with a stilted laugh.

Mary chuckled and came to help him on with the coat. “You need to be gettin' on over to the church. We'll have just about enough time to walk leisurely.”

Mac nodded. “I'm glad you're here, Mary. I don't know what I would have done with myself if you hadn't been.”

“Could I have a word with you?” Colin Danvers called through Mac's open door.

Mac straightened and tried his best to look self-assured and confident. “Of course, come in.”

Mary squeezed his arm. “I'll be waitin' for you at the church.” She slipped out the door just as Danvers opened it. “Good to see you, Mr. Danvers,” she said.

He tipped his bowler hat to the old woman, then turned to Mac. “I've come to say something—something important.”

“If you're hoping to talk us out of getting married, it's too late. Remember?” Mac said, trying to sound amused. In fact, he was quite guarded and fearful of what Danvers would try. He didn't want to see Jillian's special day ruined, but he knew this was just the man who could do the job.

Danvers fidgeted with his hat and cast his gaze downward. “I've actually come to apologize.”

Mac stood completely silent, uncertain what he should say. “Apologize?”

Danvers squared his shoulders and looked Mac straight in the eye. “I was wrong, and when I'm wrong I say so. I shouldn't have tried to interfere with your life or with Jillian's. If you and my daughter are happy here, then I should find that satisfactory.”

“And do you?”

Danvers smiled. “I'm learning to. It won't be easy. Jillian and Judith have been the light of my world, along with their mother.”

“I'm not sure Jillian's ever known that,” Mac replied. “I'm not sure she has either. I'm not sure any of them know it, but I intend for them to learn. If you can forgive an old fool, I'd like to offer this as a wedding gift.” He handed Mac a bank draft.

Looking at the generous sum, Mac said, “I don't know what to say. This seems like an awfully large wedding gift.”

Danvers laughed. “It's only money, my boy. I think I can see that now.”

“And you aren't trying to buy us in some way? After all, you were the one who said everyone had their price,” Mac said suspiciously.

Sobering, Colin Danvers nodded. “I said a great many things that I regret. You proved to me that not all men can be bought off. I respect that in you, and I know my daughter is getting a decent man for a husband. I won't worry that someone else will come along to entice you to leave her. I won't worry that you'll put your profession ahead of her well-being.”

Mac nodded. “I might have been that man at one time, but I'm someone different now. I promise that I love your daughter with all my heart. I'll never willingly hurt her.”

“If you do, you'll answer to me,” Danvers replied gruffly, then with a smile he nodded toward the door. “I think we're going to be late if we don't hurry.”

Mac watched Jillian come down the aisle of the small church on the arm of her father. A vision in white satin and lace, he smiled proudly at the knowledge that this woman belonged to him. Through the filmy veil that covered her face, he could see her smile at him. It was almost as if she was now reassuring him instead of him reassuring her.

Next, Gwen came in on the arm of Sam Capper. Gowned in a simple creation of bleached muslin and lace, she looked no less regal as she took hold of Zack's arm.

The ceremony itself was brief but lovely. Mac felt a surge of sheer delight when Reverend Lister pronounced them husbands and wives and allowed for a marital kiss to seal the ceremony.

“Mrs. MacCallister, I believe,” Mac said, lifting Jillian's veil.

“Dr. MacCallister,” she whispered as his lips closed over hers.

The congregation burst into applause and cheers, and before he knew what was happening, Mac and Jillian were headed out of the church and on their way to the Harvey House for what promised to be an exceptional celebration.

Catching sight of the prune-faced Mrs. Everhart and her daughter, Davinia, standing in front of the Indian Affairs office, Mac nudged Jillian. “Did someone not get their invitation to the wedding?”

Jillian giggled. “They were invited but chose not to attend.”

Mac nodded. “Good. Isn't there some superstition about having a sour-faced, bitter old woman at the wedding being bad luck?”

“Oh, Mac,” she laughed. “Behave yourself. You know we don't believe in those things.”

Inside the Harvey House, the wedding party went on until nearly midnight. Jillian and Mac danced and ate and laughed until they were both certain they would drop from sheer exhaustion. Mac felt a deep sense of gratitude when Mary pulled them both aside and shoved them toward the back door.

“Get out of here, you two. You've been here long enough.”

Jillian leaned over and kissed Mary on the cheek. “Thank you for everything.”

“Get on with you,” Mary said, waving her off. “You'd do the same for me.”

Jillian stopped in her tracks and looked at Mac. “Now there's an idea. We need to find a husband for Mary.”

The old woman's laughter threatened to bring down the house. “That'll be the day!” she declared, slapping her knee in a very unladylike manner.

“You never know,” Mac said teasingly. “I once said I'd never marry again.” He looked back to Jillian and reached out to touch her cheek. “But I was walking against the wind, and somehow it seemed the better course to change directions and walk with it.”

Jillian reached up to place her gloved fingers over Mac's hand. “God has a way of pointing us in the right direction, even when we aren't expecting it,” she said softly.

Mac realized his heart was near to bursting with love for this woman. She had touched him in a way that he was only now beginning to realize. She made him laugh and she brought him to his knees in prayer over her sorrows. Everything he had ever longed for in a wife was found in the lovely form before him.

Tucking her arm close to his side, Mac grinned at Mary. “Don't look for us for about a week.”

“What will Mr. Harvey do without Jillian to keep his customers happy?” Mary teased.

“Mr. Harvey will just have to make do,” Mac replied. “She's taking care of this customer, and I can be a very needy soul.”

Jillian rolled her gaze heavenward, then cast a glance over her shoulder to Mary. “Just tell Mr. Harvey that I fulfilled his contract and have set out on another. A contract of the heart rather than of the stomach.”

Mary's laughter rang out as Mac pulled Jillian out the back door and across the street. “Does that mean you don't intend to feed me?” he questioned as he lifted her into his arms to carry her once again across the threshold.

“Did I forget to mention that I can't cook?” Jillian asked almost sheepishly.

Mac kicked the door shut with his foot and smiled. “I have it on the best authority that you are quite trainable.”

She grinned. “I
can
boil eggs.”

“See there, we shan't starve. We'll feast on love and boiled eggs.”

She frowned in mock distaste. “Maybe we can just eat at the Harvey House.”

Mac nuzzled his lips against her throat. “Maybe they'll deliver.”

Jillian sighed in unmistakable satisfaction. “I love the way you think, Dr. Mac.”

“I just love you,” he said, the contentment in his voice matching hers.

And without a doubt, Mac knew that their future was set on a course that would engulf them in love and hope. They would strive together to right the injustices of the world—or at least of their little town. God had been good to drive away his demons of the past and give him a second chance at love. It was a gift, pure and simple. A gift he didn't intend to waste.