[Canadian West 02] - When Comes the Spring (7 page)

"With your cheeks glowing and your eyes shining so, Elizabeth, no one will be able to take their eyes from your face."

Understanding, I smiled at Father as he stepped closer, and I
reached up to kiss him on the cheek.

We formed a close circle, the four of us-Father, Mother, Julie and
I-our arms intertwined as we stood together for one last time in the
hallway of brother Jon's lovely Calgary home. Father led in prayer, asking that the Lord would make my home, wherever it might be, a place
of love. "Might there always be harmony and commitment, love and
happiness. Might there be strength for the hard times, humor to ease
the tense times, and shoulders always available for the times of tears,"
he prayed. I found it difficult to keep the tears from falling now, but I
did not want to reach the church with swollen eyes and a smudged
face, so I refused to allow myself to cry. Mother blew her nose softly
and wiped at her eyes, and then we hastened to the car.

As I stood waiting at the entrance of the church, my eyes on the
back of the man whom I would soon be joining at the altar, my heart
pounded wildly. Father must have sensed it, for he reached a reassuring
hand out to me and held my hand tightly. I watched Julie slowly make
her way down the aisle with proper and graceful steps, her soft skirts
swirling out gently as she went. For a moment it had a dizzying effect
on me, and I closed my eyes. It was my turn next, and I must be ready.

I was still standing with my eyes tightly closed when Father took
his first step. Startled, my eyes quickly opened and Father hesitated, to
let me get in step with him. It was time-time for me to walk down
the aisle to meet Wynn.

I was completely oblivious to all the people in the pews. I don't
even remember seeing the preacher who stood directly at the end of
the aisle. All I remember is Wynn's face as he turned to watch me make
that long, long, short walk to him. In a few minutes, I would be his
wife! My husband, Wynn, was the refrain in my thoughts as I moved
toward him. Lord, make me a worthy wife to this man.

With a gentle pressure on my arm, my father stopped me. Had he
not checked me, I'm sure, I would have kept right on walking until I
could take Wynn's hand. My thoughts began to sort themselves out,
and I hurriedly went over the ceremony in my mind. I was to wait
here with my father until he responded to "Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?" Then I could step forward to be at Wynn's
side.

From then on, I concentrated very hard on the ceremony and was
able to make the right responses at the right times. I was very, very
conscious of Wynn by my side, of the significance of the words we
were saying. As the soloist sang "The Wedding Prayer," we looked
deeply into one another's eyes, secret messages passing between us.
Wynn was saying, Are you absolutely sure? And I answered without a
moment's hesitation, I've never been so sure of anything in my life. We
had time for each to add, I love you so very very much, and Wynn gently
squeezed my hand.

The ceremony was over, and we walked back down the aisle
together. Husband and wife. From now on, I would be with Wynn
always. There would be no separation. Nothing would ever come
between us.

The entry of the church was packed with well-wishers. Anna and
her entire family were there. I did not even have opportunity to ask
them how they had come. We hugged one another and she kissed my
cheek, telling me how beautiful I looked. I greeted the children. Lars
had grown noticeably, even since I had last seen him. Olga grinned and
whispered a few well-rehearsed phrases about my future happiness, but
Else stopped and cautiously reached out a small hand to caress my
dress.

"It's beautiful. Did you make it?"

"Yes, I did," I answered her.

"It's beautiful," she said again. "So soft and smooth. You're a good
sewer, Miss Thatcher."

I did not notice the familiar title, but Wynn did. "Whoa now,
Else," he laughed. "It's not `Miss Thatcher' anymore."

. Else flushed slightly but laughed with Wynn. She put a small hand
to her mouth and giggled, "I mean `Mrs. Wynn,"' she corrected herself.

We let that go. Mrs. Wynn. It sounded rather homey. I wouldn't
mind being called Mrs. Wynn at all.

After we had been greeted by those who had shared our day, we
returned to Jon and Mary's house for the reception. I don't remember much about the reception. I guess I was just too excited. I'm sure the
lunch was delicious, but only because I heard other people say so.

The meal was cleared away and we opened our gifts. We received
so many lovely things, it kept me busy imagining how much they
would add to our little wilderness home. There would be no problem
in making it cozy and homelike. I also reminded myself of the last busy
day we would have when we returned from our honeymoon-all of
these additional things would have to be carefully packed. I was too
excited to give it further thought now. I must take one thing at a time.

It was finally time for us to change for our train trip to Banff. I
went to the room I had shared the night before with Julie and eased
the satin gown carefully over my head to keep from disarranging my
hair. I stepped out of the brand-new shoes that pinched slightly and
kicked them from me. It would be nice to wear something more comfortable.

I decided to take a quick bath before dressing for the train. It
would take only a few minutes and would help me to be relaxed and
fresh.

Afterward I donned a summery-looking suit of teal blue that
Mother had brought with her from Madame Tanier's shop. I loved
being so stylish way out here in the West! Father had chosen the hat,
they said; I carefully put it in place, pleased at how well it suited me. I
then picked up my bag and, with one last glance in the mirror, went
to join Wynn.

Jon was driving us to the station, so it would mean saying goodbye
to my family before we left. I would have hated leaving them had not
the future held so much promise. To enter the new life meant to say
goodbye to the old. There was no way to hang onto both. Even I knew
that.

But it was hard to leave all those I loved. Our goodbyes were rather
long and tearful, and repeated a number of times. Yet I was eager to be
off, and finally we were able to pull ourselves away. Jon's car left the
drive at a bit faster pace than normal. It would never do for the Banff
train to leave without us.

We reached the station just in time and, with a flurry of bags,
managed to board the train.

At first I was still in a whirl. Though my body had ceased to rush
about, my mind still raced back and forth. Part of it was back with my
family; part of it was reliving the wonderful, the harried, the tense, the
busy moments of the wedding. Part of it was busy imagining my new
life with Wynn. I tried to ease myself into the cushiony seat of the
Pullman; but neither my body nor my mind would cooperate.

Wynn seemed perfectly relaxed. He stretched out his long legs and
smiled contentedly. He looked at me, and his eyes told me he would
like to sweep me into his arms. Respecting my reserve in front of an
"audience," he refrained because of the many other passengers on the
train. Instead, he gave me a wink that made my heart leap. He reached
for my hand and I clung to him. He must have felt the tenseness in
me, for he began to stroke my fingers, talking softly as he did so.

"It was a lovely wedding, Elizabeth. I don't see how it could have
been nicer even if you had had all the time in the world."

My whirling thoughts went over a few things I had overlooked or
mixed up or that were not as I would have planned them.

"Your gown was beautiful; did I tell you that?"

I managed a little smile. "Father said no one would notice," I murmured.

"I almost didn't," Wynn admitted. "Then I remembered a note of
advice from brother Phillip. `Be sure to take a good look at the dress,'
he told me. `She will expect you to know every detail, each row of lace,
and the number of buttons.' Well, I will admit, Elizabeth, I didn't
count the buttons, nor even the rows of lace, but I did take a good
look at the lovely silk dress."

"Satin," I corrected.

"Satin," Wynn repeated, still rubbing a big finger softly up and
down the back of my hand. "How would I know silk from satin? All I
know for sure is that it wasn't serge or denim."

In spite of my preoccupation, I laughed. It eased my tenseness
some. I thought of Father's prayer about humor for the tense times! I
hadn't realized before how important a bit of laughter could be. Wynn's
pressure on my hand increased.

"What will you remember about today, Elizabeth?" I knew he was
trying to help me relax, and I appreciated it. I tried again to let my body snuggle against the back of the seat, but it was still stiff and resistant. I turned slightly to Wynn, making my voice even and light.

"The rush. The last-minute flurry. The fear that I would never
make it on time and that you would be waiting at the church, furious
with me for being so late-and maybe even change your mind about
getting married," I teased.

Wynn smiled. "Oh, I wouldn't have changed my mind. There were
at least three other single ladies there-I checked, just in case."

I pulled my hand away in a mock pout. Wynn retrieved it.

"What else?" he, prompted.

I became more serious then. "Father's prayer. He always prays with
us before any big event in our lives. I remember when Margaret was
married. I was her bridesmaid, so I was there for Father's prayer. It was
so beautiful. I remember thinking, `If I don't ever get married, IT miss
that.' Still, I wasn't convinced that the prayer was sufficient reason to
risk a marriage."

"You're serious?"

"At the time I was. Honest! I didn't really think I would ever feel
inclined to marry."

"Here I was taught to believe that every young girl is just waiting
for the chance to lead some man-any man-to the altar."

"I guess some are."

"Then why not you?"

"I don't know, really. I guess it wasn't because I was so against marriage. I just didn't like the insinuation that it was all a sensible girl
thought about-that women were just for the marrying, that if I didn't
marry, I was nothing. I didn't like that-that bigotry."

I wasn't exactly calming down as Wynn had intended. The
thoughts from my past and the ridiculous beliefs of some of the people
I had known were stirring me up instead. I pulled slightly away from
Wynn and was about to expound further on the subject.

"Women are quite capable-" I began but was interrupted.

"Hey, take it easy, Mrs. Delaney. You don't need to convince me. I
believe you. I watched you in the teacherage, remember; and I'm sure
that you, as a single woman, could handle anything. But I'm glad you
didn't decide you must prove your point for an entire lifetime. You might not need a man-but I need you. That's why women marry,
Elizabeth-to give their inner strength to some weak man."

His face was serious, but I knew there was a certain amount of
teasing there, too. I slumped back against him and let the intensity die
quickly from my eyes.

Wynn reached over and lifted my chin, tipping my face slightly so
he could look into my eyes.

"Your inner strength-and your outer beauty, Elizabeth-I need
both."

I wanted to lean over and kiss him, but my upbringing forbade it.
Instead, I looked back at him with my love in my eyes and then leaned
against him, my body finally relaxed enough to comfortably fit the seat.
After a few moments of silence, I took up Wynn's little game.

"What will you remember about today, Wynn?"

There was no hesitation. "The look on your face when we said our
vows. The way your eyes said that you meant every word of them."

"I did," I whispered. "I do."

"The dimple in your cheek when you smiled at me."

Self-consciously, I put a hand up to my cheek.

"The way your hair glistened when the sun came through the window."

I waited for more.

"The softness of your hand when I held it." He caressed the hand
now, looking down at it as he did so.

"The beautiful color of your eyes, so deep and glowing."

I looked at him teasingly and added one for him. `And my `silk'
dress."

He laughed. We were both completely relaxed now. The long,
beautiful, tiring, tense day was over. Our wedding had been lovely, but
it now was in the past. Our whole future lay before us. Our marriage.
I think that at that moment, as never before, I determined in my heart
to make my marriage a thing even more beautiful than my wedding
had been.

Perhaps Wynn felt it too, for he whispered softly against my hair,
"This is just the beginning, Elizabeth. We have today as a memory, but
we have all of the tomorrows as exciting possibilities. We can shape them with hands of love to fulfill our fondest dreams. I wasnt much
for marrying either, Elizabeth, but I am so glad you came into my life
to change my mind. I've never been happier-and with God's help, I
plan to make you happy, too."

Banff was beautiful. There are no words to adequately describe the
beauty of those mountains. I wanted to look and look at them-to
carry them always in my heart.

The next morning we arose to another glorious day of sunshine.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the hotel's terraced dining room and
watched the sun turn the valley rose and gold as its fingers reached into
the depths. After some inquiring, Wynn discovered a church, and we
took hotel transportation into the sleepy little town of Banff to attend
the morning services. Afterward, we found an inconspicuous little cafe
where we enjoyed our lunch of mountain trout and then spent a lazy
afternoon walking through the town, enjoying the sights and feel of
the mountains and the enjoyable companionship of one another.