Page 10 of Forever Fascinating

The handsome man was watching her again.

Who was he?

Her eyes dropped to his clasped hands in front of him to see that he made a small movement, as if to wave hello inconspicuously, and couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips.

She did the same.

Except she wasn’t sure if he could see it because of the bouquet she was carrying. In that moment, she saw a slight smile touch his lips and knew he’d seen her subtle movement in return.

Jana melted and hoped it wasn’t obvious.

Distracted, she visibly hesitated to see her brother move forward to block her view of the pilot and realized he was moving to take his place beside Karen. Jace shook Karen’s father’s hand politely as Mr. Marks took a seat in a pew nearby, directly beside a woman who was already emotional.

The ceremony began and Jana kept her focus on the couple getting married. She was almost afraid to look at anyone else, to possibly give them the wrong idea, or maybe come off as weird before having a chance to say ‘hello’.

Her sweet sentimental brother had insisted that he and Karen would write their own vows – and as Jace spoke? Jana listened unabashedly, feeling her eyes fill with tears as she listened to him pour out his feelings.

Where was the dork who used to cut her Barbie’s hair or snap the wings off her My Little Pony Pegasus dolls? The dweeb that knocked out both his front teeth when he fell off his bike, whistling when he spoke for months on end. Where was the brother who would argue, nitpick, and fight about Star Wars with her, throwing popcorn at her head?

Before her was a man she barely recognized – professing his love for a woman that was basking in the glow of it… and within her own self, was a very lonely little girl who desperately wanted a magical fairytale of her very own.

Jana let out a shaky sob, quickly wiping her eyes.

“I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to tell you just how miraculous your love and devotion to me is. I never dreamed that this could happen, thatyouwould happen… especially after our first meeting,” her brother chuckled, as well as several men in the audience.

“… And then there you were,” Jace whispered reverently. “Your soul shining so brightly and speaking to mine, that I knew I would do anything just to have you pay attention to me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Karen.”

Emily, beside her, let out a sigh of envy that made Jana feel a little better as she chanced a glance towards the men standing opposite of them – and saw ‘Mr. Greek God’was looking at the wedding couple, listening intently, before glancing at her again.

Jana snapped her eyes away quickly, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“I would wear stupid jammies just to make you smile. Breathing the same air as you makes me feel alive, and holding your hand in mine makes me feel connected. When I say that ‘I love you’… it’s not me just saying the words aloud, but rather it’s a promise, because when I say that simple sentence? It’s me, in the most basic form, telling you that I recognize what a miracle this is between us… and I love you even more for giving me a chance to earn your heart,” her brother said, pausing for a moment before speaking again, his voice so emotional that he was stuttering.

Yep.

There was her dorky brother – and she loved him so!

“I love you s-so m-much, Karen Marie Marks Sorensen, for as long as the tides rise and fall, my beloved Tinkerbell.”

Jana drew in her breath as Emily handed her a tissue, before dabbing at her own eyes. The two women looked at each other knowingly. Both of them desperately wanted to find ‘the one’and had talked about it a few times over the last week.

Karen began to say her vows and Jana listened, hanging on every word.

“We met very strangely, and I will forever picture you in my mind, in that moment, standing before my car and holding up a sign that said ‘Hot Cakes’. Then you happened…”

Karen paused, looking up at Jana’s brother, her eyes full of love.

“You came into my life, so full of smiles, laughter, and joy… that you made me recognize that this was supposed to be how life was, this was supposed to be what love was between two people, Jace. You treated me with so much respect, so much tenderness, and you were the exact opposite of the man I’d been cautioned several times about…”

They had told Karen to stay away from her brother? Really?Jana thought in surprise.

Jace was a good guy, dorky as could be, but actually decent! He certainly had two out of the three criteria that she and Emily joked about… but he could have missed out on being with Karen because of their warning?

“That was us,” two men stood up at that point, smiling. “We were wrong and freely admit it… this one time.”

Jace and Karen both laughed – as well as most of the church that were there to witness the renewal of their vows.

“You are everything to me,” Karen continued, speaking directly to Jace… and Jana slid her eyes towards the pilot that held her fascination completely, seeing him watching her once again.

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