Angel In The Saloon (Brides of Glory Gulch) (32 page)

Paul smiled at her. “Thank you, Miss McCormack.”

“Mr. Strupel, you should have seen her! She was the
most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen in my whole life! She almost looked like an
angel! Honest!”

“I believe you.” He smiled at the thought of his
lovely Angel.

“Well, if I’d have known that’s all it would take to
calm you down I would have gone over there myself thirty minutes ago,” Jeremiah
said when he saw the grin on Paul’s face.

Paul sat in the Pastor’s chair again and leaned back,
putting his hands behind his head and smiled and said, “Fifteen more minutes.”

His thoughts retraced the events of the last four
months. He remembered everything so vividly, and now in fifteen more minutes
his life would change forever. Even the young teen said Amelia looked like an
angel. He had known that from the moment she first stepped into the saloon back
in July. She had stepped right into his heart at the same time. And now Amelia
Jackson was going to be his wife.

“Jeremiah. I don’t think I ever told you this, but I
prayed for Amelia to come almost eight months ago.”

“You didn’t even know she existed until four months
ago.”

“Yes, I did. I knew that somewhere out there in the
world, God had the perfect woman for me to marry. I knew that somehow He would
bring us together. I prayed for her to be a Godly woman with strength of
character, unwavering depth of her convictions, intelligent, and pure. I even
prayed that if it were all right with Him, I wouldn’t mind a little outer
beauty too.”

The door opened, and the Pastor smiled at them. “It’s
time.”  

Paul jumped to his feet. “Is my tie straight?”

Jeremiah laughed again, but realizing that the door was
still open and the people in the church could hear, he quieted himself, took
Paul by the shoulder and looked him squarely in the eyes. “Paul, your tie is
fine. I have a feeling Amelia Jackson would marry you today even if you were
wearing one of my buckskin jackets and no tie. I’m very proud of you, you know.
Proud to be your best man, proud of the man you’ve become. Back when you first
came here, you were quite a hellion, remember?”

Paul smiled and shook his head.

“Well, who’d have thought you’d be marrying the most
beautiful young lady this side of the Rockies?” He paused a moment. “I know
this probably isn’t the right time, but I thought you would like to know. I’ve
been doing a lot of studying on all the things you’ve been saying to me this
past year and I’ve been watching you and Amelia. Well, I don’t think there two
more genuine, loving, caring people anywhere else on this earth. It’s because
of you two that I think I’m ready to commit myself to God, like you did last
year.”

“There’s never a bad time to hear that kind of news!” Paul
said as he hugged his dear friend. “Come and see me in a couple weeks. We’ll
talk and pray. You know you’re my favorite brother and I love you.”

The organist began to play the wedding music and they
quickly dried their eyes.  Jeremiah turned to the groom and whispered, “Do you
think that if I prayed, God might send me an Angel, too?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”

The men stood straight and tall when they walked out
of the room to take their places at the front of the church. Paul’s eager eyes
stayed on the door that would soon yield his lovely bride. First, a small girl
from the church congregation sauntered down the middle aisle, dropping petals
from dried wildflowers for the bride to walk on---wildflowers that had been
gathered by the two on their frequent jaunts to the mountains. Wildflowers to
remind them of the first time Paul kissed her.

Next Corrin sashayed into the church, her crutches
barely an obstruction at all. This was a controversy which appalled many of the
Church folks who thought it was blasphemy to have the Saloon proprietor
involved in a church wedding. Several of them weren’t in attendance because of
Corrin’s presence there. But Amelia wouldn’t dream of having a wedding without
her.

Corrin looked lovely in her pink toile gown, her hair
strewn with wildflowers, her face beaming with pride. This was one day she had
never dreamed could happen to her. Paul and Jeremiah both smiled at her, and
when she had passed the last church pew, she winked at them in typical Corrin
style.

The music changed to the traditional wedding march and
the congregation stood, obscuring Paul’s view of the church door. He could tell
by the whispers and smiles and nodding heads that Amelia was coming down the aisle.
His heart pounded faster. Then he saw her. He forgot to breathe as he beheld
his bride adorned with a wedding gown of ivory satin, lace and pearls. He
thought he might actually be looking into the face of a real angel. Her fair
skin was aglow; her cheeks were rosy pink from the innocence of her youth. Her
blue-gray eyes peeked from behind a layer of delicate lace gently gracing the
front of her face, and her hair had become strands of fine, luminous silk. P

Although the only thing left to complete the vision
would be a pair of angel wings attached to the ivory gown that enhanced the
contours of her perfect figure. His heart soared as his love went out to her,
first filling the church, then the whole town, then the country. His love
filled the entire earth and still could not be contained.

Amelia walked tall and straight and proud, arm in arm
with her father, her pink, silver tipped cane gently tapping in front of her.

Paul smiled when he thought of the funny look she gave
him five days ago when he asked her to clutch a piece of clay. ‘It’s a surprise
for you. You’ll just love it,’ he had told her. He had the cane turned at the
mill and then painted it pink with some old paint Mrs. Conner had leftover from
her daughter’s doll house. Beau made a mold using the clay and poured pure,
fine silver into it to make the handle. Paul thought of the clever, silver tip
to keep the end from splintering like her old one had. The embrace and kiss she
gave him when he presented her with the new cane yesterday was worth all the
effort.

Her father gave Amelia away to him, and Paul tenderly
took her arm and led her to the front of the church where the Pastor awaited
them. He couldn’t take his eyes from her and he knew that late he wouldn’t be
able to recall the order of the ceremony. But it didn’t matter. He was marrying
his exquisite Angel today.

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Amelia blushed at the nearness of her groom. Her heart
always beat faster when he was close, but today she was marrying him and she
was acutely aware of his imminence. She felt the gentle touch of his gloved
hand, yet was cognizant of its strength and power. Her arm was wrapped in his
as she had done a myriad of times before, but today she was more aware of his
ample muscles, how her arm touched his body that moved with every breath he
took. She could almost hear his heart calling to hers.

They faced each other now, her hands disappearing into
the depths of his. They were warm and gentle and tender and strong. She knew he
would be looking at her and she hoped he was returning her smile.

He was. Paul looked ardently through the lace into her
slender face. Love was written in her smile. He squeezed her hands slightly. She
squeezed back.

The Pastor wanted him to repeat his words.

“I, Paul Allen Strupel, take thee, Amelia to be my
lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health, from this day forward, until death do us part.” His
voice was gentle and laced with his love for her.

Then came Amelia’s turn to repeat the precious words. She
had trouble finding her voice. “I, Amelia Corrin Jackson, take thee, Paul, to
be my lawfully wedded husband, to love and obey, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health, from this day forward, until death do us part.”

Paul saw a small tear trickle down her cheek and he
reached under the veil and caught it with a trace of his gloved finger.

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Corrin wept uncontrollably. Her niece had been named
after her! She hadn’t known that. She never read the documents she had signed
the day Mr. Johnston had brought Amelia into her life.

If only she could get all those years back when she
chose to shut Grace out of her life. . . If only she had let go of her stubborn
bitterness and pride. How grateful she was to be able to have Amelia as an
integral part of her life now. Such a precious, priceless gift she had been
given.

She found herself thanking Amelia’s God for giving her
this treasure to take care of as her own.
Dear God, I’ve never been one for
religion
,
but Amelia and Paul both believe in you and they are so happy.
Thank you for giving her to me and for showing me how to love somebody once again
and thank you for this marvelous feeling of being loved. When Alister left me,
I shut out all love, both ways. Please forgive me for my foolish, stubborn
pride. It cost me twenty years of my life and I don’t want it any more. My life
has changed so much because of Amelia. She’s always talking about you being a
God of love and forgiveness. Well, if she’s proof of your existence then I
believe you truly must indeed be such a God!

Suddenly Corrin overflowed with love for Amelia, for
Paul, for Jeremiah, and even Alister Jackson. She could hardly contain herself,
and she felt so new and alive inside. She couldn’t understand what had happened
to her, but it seemed like the heavy, black locks that bound up her heart where
she had sheltered secret bitterness and hatred had been opened with a golden
key, and had been emptied and washed clean of all the ugliness that was hidden
there. Corrin wanted to go to her niece and embrace her and tell her, but this
was a wedding, and she would simply have to wait to talk to her niece about her
new found love.

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“I now pronounce you man and wife.” The Pastor turned
to Paul and nodded. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Paul dropped Amelia’s hands, drew the veil back from
her face, and cupped his hands over the contours of her cheeks He bent over
slightly and kissed her tenderly. But his heart pounded with excitement.

Arm in arm they followed Corrin, Jeremiah and the
flower girl back down the aisle through the approving crowd, beaming from ear
to ear. Uncontrollably, undeniably happy.

The newlyweds rode in the sleigh back to the Saloon
for the reception, which was another point of contention among several members
of the church community. But this had been Amelia’s home and she didn’t care
what they thought.

Per Paul and Amelia’s request, the bar was closed,
although Corrin couldn’t think of a better time for celebration with spirits,
but they had persisted, and she finally yielded, serving only a soft punch. Corrin
and some of her friends had decorated the Saloon with pink and white paper
streamers and dried wildflowers. She had an ample supply of finger foods and
delicacies to eat along, with the huge wedding cake adorned with pink frosting
ribbons and sugar roses.

A group of musicians had been hired to play for the
guests who poured into the hall, greeting the bride and groom on their way in
to the reception.

After the guests had all congratulated Paul and
Amelia, the couple was about to turn and join the festivities when Jeremiah
stopped them.

“Hey, I didn’t get to kiss the bride.” He held her
chin at an upward slant and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “If you ever get
tired of this rogue, you know where to find me.” He smiled impishly at Paul and
entered before them into the Saloon.

The wedding couple was ushered to the table containing
the cake and was instructed to cut it. Paul placed Amelia’s hand around the
knife and wrapped his around hers, skillfully guiding the knife through the
luscious confection. He gave a small piece to her and instructed her to hold it
out for him to eat from her fingers, which she did.

He then took a piece and told her he would do the same.
He suspended the cake in front of her face and she opened her mouth to wait for
him to help her take a bite. But Paul stopped to look mischievously at the
crowd. Many of them were prodding him to smash the cake into her face, and when
she realized what was taking place, she fumbled to grasp his arms to prevent
him from his dastardly intentions. She tried to push his hand away. The crowd roared
with laughter. Amelia was no match for Paul’s strength, so she simply backed
away from the table, but he caught her around the waist with his free hand and
pulled her close to him, still waving the cake in front of her.

 “I owed you one, remember? Now we’re even.” Paul
smashed the small piece of cake into her mouth.

The guests cheered and everyone, including Amelia
laughed. After all, his knack for being unpredictable at times was one of the
many traits she loved about Paul. He cleaned her face with a napkin and kissed
her.

“Mm, you’ve never tasted sweeter.”

Amelia slugged his arm and then hugged him.

The newlyweds mingled with the crowd, getting
separated sometime during the evening. But Paul kept a watchful eye on her at
all times, sometimes to the annoyance of guests who were trying to hold a
conversation with him. He was so enamored of her and enjoyed watching her talk
with the guests. He could easily spot her in a crowd across the room; she was
glowing and she never stopped smiling. She would frequently push her veil away
from her face and chatter excitedly to someone. Once in awhile, she would
either hug someone or be hugged, and a couple of times, she held out her hand
to show off her ring. He watched as Corrin and Amelia took turns speaking in
each other’s ears, then both cried and hugged each other generously. She was
his wife and Paul couldn’t think of anything else but her.