Page 7 of Forever Fascinating

“After twisting hundreds of feet of floral wire and developing a callus on my index finger,” Emily smiled in agreement. “I’m thinking that if I take the plunge someday…never… that elopement does sound pretty good.”

“Never say never,” Karen smiled, getting this faraway look on her face that made Jana envious. “Jace certainly took me by storm, surprising me, and we’ve never looked back.”

“Not everyone is as lucky as you two.”

“That’s for sure…”

“And there are some real duds out there…”

“Preach it, sister,” Emily chuckled. “I’m tired of rejects.”

“Omigosh yesssss,” Jana hissed, rolling her eyes. “Sooo many rejects out there. Is it so hard to want to find a guy who has a job, is halfway decent, and sets your blood on fire? I mean, I didn’t think so, but I sure haven’t found him yet..”

“Girl,” Emily said flatly, commiserating with her. “Neither have I. Truthfully, I will happily deal with two out of the three qualifiers at this point. I mean, half-way decent and attractive? I can certainly deal with unemployed…”

“Or what about employed, sets your blood on fire, but is a complete loser…”

“I’m still in,” Jana laughed openly, high-fiving Emily who was giggling in amusement.

“Truthfully, if he has a job, is a nice guy… but is like a brother…”

“Maybe not,” Jana said flatly – immediately thinking of X-Ray.

The guy was so nice, so kind, but man it was like trying to hold a conversation with her dad or brother. The spark just wasn’t there. He had a job, was a decent guy or seemed to be, but yeah… unless he turned out to be drop-dead gorgeous?

She truly wasn’t interested, and this was a hard pill to swallow after pestering Karen and Jace about having someone to talk to because she was lonely and wanted to find her own ‘special person’.

Jana couldn’t even bring herself to address him as ‘John’most times unless it was mentally forced… he was just ‘X-Ray’.

A buddy.

“Ladies, do not settle…” Karen chuckled. “He’s out there – I promise.”

“Surrrre…” both women said at once, before looking at each other and laughing again.

CHAPTER3

JANA

Jana was fidgetingas she tried to smooth her dress into place. She was nervous… and she wasn’t the one getting married!

No, she didn’t know if it was the atmosphere of the day or just picking up the energy of Karen, but this was a big moment… and she could feel it deep within her bones.

Emily was taking photos with Karen’s cell phone as the bride got ready, while a woman named Delilah, who was the wife of Armadillo, one of the pilots, was taking photos with a large, very professional looking camera.

“Y’all are so incredibly sweet, renewing your vows like this…” Dixie said gently, smiling at Karen and moving a curl into place before spraying it with hairspray.

“You don’t think this is silly to do something like this when we are already married?” Karen replied nervously, looking almost pale, as if she was scared to do this… and it was silly because Jana couldn’t think of anyone more perfect for each other in that moment.

Jace was completely head-over-heels in love with Karen, and it showed. He talked about her all the time when the family was together, held her hand, kissed her, hugged her, his eyes watched her… it was pathetically sweet.

… And those stupid pajamas on Thanksgiving morning? That was priceless… and very telling.

The dork was inwuuuvvvv.

“My brother may not say much, but I can tell you this is extremely important to him. He’s the quiet, steady, sort of man that is entrenched in his beliefs. I’m actually more surprised that you went to the justice of the peace back home… because that’s not like him,” Jana said knowingly, fluffing the veil. “He truly loves you – and I’m happy for you both.”

“How’s X-Ray?” Karen asked politely.

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