Page 101 of Goodbye Paradise
I was speechless for a second. But he came over to shake my hand, and his firm grip shook me out of my silence. “It’s really good to see you. Didn’t know you were coming.”
“Told Maggie I wanted to surprise you.” He turned around as a pretty dark-skinned lady in a polka-dot dress came into the room. “This is Brenda,” he said. “My love, meet Caleb, that troublemaker I’m always telling you about.”
“Wow,” Josh said at my elbow. He looked as speechless as I’d been. “You’rehere?”
Brenda laughed. “He said, ‘honey, we’re going to go to a wedding next weekend. There’s two boys I need you to meet.’”
Maggie put a hand on my shoulder. “Aw. Let’s go, boys. Time to tie the knot.”
“Go on,” Washington said, putting an arm around his wife. “It ain’t every day that I see two runaways get married.”
Josh tugged my hand, and together we made our way over to the pastor. She smiled at us. “Are you nervous?”
I glanced at Josh. “Being married doesn’t scare me.Gettingmarried is a little weird.”
Everyone laughed, including the pastor. “It only takes a few minutes, and it won’t hurt a bit.” She turned toward our little crowd of supporters. “Friends and family who have meant so much to Caleb and Josh this past year, we are gathered here today to celebrate a holy joining of hearts and spirits. Two men who have always been there for one another will declare their union before God and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
I’d pasted a rather stiff smile onto my face, because I didn’t like being the center of attention.
“Before I read the wedding vows, Maggie wants to say something.”
Maggie handed Chloe to Daniel and faced our small circle of friends. “It was fifteen months ago when I got a phone call out of the blue from Caleb, telling me he’d run away from the Compound with Josh. And my reaction was —finally!I’d been waiting for someone from my old life to come and find me. There’s so much more to life than obedience and subservience. My own journey from that wretched place to where I am now was not easy. But I’m so glad I did it. And I’m so happy to have Caleb and Josh and Miriam to share it with.”
Maggie swallowed hard, and her eyes glittered. “Josh and Caleb, it was brave of you to start a new life. Don’t ever stop being brave. I know it’s hard to stand here and declare your love in public. You aren’t used to being accepted for who you are. But what you are isstrong. Andbeautiful. I just want you to know how proud I am to know you.”
Cecilia gave a little whoop, and everyone clapped.
I didn’t hear much of the prayer that the pastor recited next, because I was watching Josh. He was stealing looks at all the people in the room, his eyes full of wonder. It calmed me to look at him. Because this was the view I was going to have all my life, now. And it was an excellent one.
“I, Joshua,” the pastor began reciting Josh’s vow, “take you, Caleb, to be my partner and husband.”
“I, Joshua…” He continued to repeat the words she gave him.
“…To be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health… In times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph… I promise to cherish and respect you, to care for and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity.”
Well, hell. Those were beautiful words. And I wanted to do all those things, too. And now Josh was saying the same, repeating the vows in a clear and steady voice.
And I was so, so not worthy.
“I, Caleb,” the pastor turned to me. “Take you, Josh to be my partner and husband.”
My throat was dry like a desert. “I, Caleb…” I pushed forward. “Take you, Josh to be my friend and husband.” My eyes were hot, too. This didn’t bode well.
The pastor gave me the next lines, and I muddled through. Until “…to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity.”
I opened my mouth to repeat those last dozen words. But I made a crucial error, and that was looking straight into Josh’s gaze to deliver them. Looking back at me were the steady blue eyes I’d been admiring my whole life. And his handsome face was tilted up toward mine, as if I’d hung the moon. The intensity of all that love just stopped me in my tracks.
There was a silence, because I forgot what I was supposed to say.
Our pastor tried to bail me out. “To comfort and encourage,” she prompted. “And to stay with you for all eternity.”
My voice broke as I repeated it. And a big fat tear ran down my cheek.Christ on a cracker, as Maggie would say. I was crying at my own wedding.
Josh’s eyes became round with empathy. But then his lips quirked into a tiny smile. And I freaking loved that smile. So I focused on the sexy curve of his lips. And that was distracting enough that I bucked up a little and held myself together.
The pastor asked Josh if I took him to be my lawfully wedded husband. “I do,” he said calmly.
She asked the same of me. “I absolutely do,” I said, sounding only a little bit wobbly.
