Going to the Chapel (19 page)

“
I love you, Caroline. I don’t want
to lose you again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you
making up for the past.”

God, she was going to cry
again.

“
We can’t change the past,” she
murmured, her voice strained.

“
You’re right. We can’t. But we can
make the future. And I want to make it with you.” He dropped to one
knee. “Stay. Be my wife.”

Caroline smiled, unable to hold
back the tears now spilling down her cheeks. “I love you so much,
Chase. But I’m afraid.”

He pulled her down to sit with him
on the steps. “I can’t guarantee you that we won’t have hard times,
Caroline. And maybe there’ll even be times when we’ll both be
convinced that we made a mistake. But I can guarantee you that I’ll
love you and you alone for the rest of my life.”

The sound of vehicles arriving drew
her attention to the long sloping drive that led from the highway
down to the meadow surrounding the chapel. Dozens of cars and
trucks rolled into the parking area.

People streamed out of the vehicles
and came toward them. Henri and Shane led the drove. Both Caroline
and Chase stared in complete surprise.

“
Thank God for those pesky cell
phones or we might never have found you two,” Henri said as she and
Shane stopped a few feet away. She leveled a gaze on Caroline. “We
don’t want you to go, Caroline. We need you here,” she added, her
voice thick with emotion. “If you won’t stay for Chase, stay for
us.”

“
That’s wight,” Shane put in,
nodding his head adamantly.

“
Stay, Caroline,” another voice
added.

“
We need you!” echoed through the
crowd.

Caroline looked back to Chase. He
smiled. “Looks like you’re outnumbered,” he offered
gently.

She nodded. “I guess I’ll have to
stay.”

“
Is that a yes?”

Her smile trembled. “That’s a
yes.”

“
Well, in that case,” the minister
said from the door. “Come on inside and we’ll make this
official.”

Caroline met Chase’s gaze. He
nodded. They rose together and followed the minister inside and
down the long red-carpeted aisle. The crowd moved in behind them,
filling the pews.

“
Dearly beloved,” the minister
began.

The rest of his words were lost to
Caroline as she looked deeply into the eyes of the man she loved.
The man she had always loved. The man she’d waited her whole life
to marry. Right here in this very chapel. It wasn’t until her name
was mentioned that she turned to the minister once more. “I do,”
she said, pledging her heart and the rest of her life to Chase
Garrett.

“
And do you, Chase Winston Garrett,
take Caroline for your wife. To have and to hold, to love and to
cherish until death do you part?”

“
I do.” That Garrett smile cut
loose, full wattage, on her then. “I definitely do,” he
added.

“
By the power vested in me by God
and the great state of Tennessee, I pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss the bride.”

Caroline closed her eyes as Chase’s
mouth covered hers.

In the deepest recesses of her soul
she knew that they would be together...forever.

Epilogue

“Julie.”

Julie looked up when Caroline
called her name. It was Friday and Julie was her last patient.
Thank God.

Julie pushed out of her chair with
difficulty. “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

Caroline had to smile. They’d found
out months ago that Julie was having twins. She definitely looked
it at this point.

“
I swear, Jules, if you get any
bigger we’re going to have to buy special chairs.”

Julie patted Caroline’s growing
belly. “I wouldn’t be making wise cracks, my dear, you’re no slim
Jim yourself.”

Caroline pressed her hand to her
own belly. Chase had felt the baby move for the first time last
night. He was ecstatic. Shane couldn’t wait for his baby sister.
They were pretty sure at this point that the baby was a
girl.

“
Okay, I’ll cut the fat jokes,”
Caroline agreed.

“
Whew!” Julie huffed by the time
she’d made it to the exam room. “Just tell me these boys aren’t
coming until after tomorrow. I don’t want to miss Rob’s
wedding.”

Caroline arched a skeptical
eyebrow. “Sherry can tell you that I have no control over that
decision. They will come when they come, friend.” Caroline looked
forward to Rob’s wedding as well. She’d worried when Julie and Zac
first married that Rob might never find happiness. But the couple
who’d bought Caroline’s grandmother’s house had remedied that
problem. The lady of the house had a lovely, single sister who fell
in love with Rob on sight.

“
Well, I tell you what, Jules, you
keep your feet up tonight and tomorrow morning and you might just
make it to that wedding.”

Julie smiled. “Good.”

“
Oh,” Caroline said abruptly. “Did
you hear the other good news?”

“
What news?”

“
Marvin asked Henri to marry him
and they’ve set the date for late next month. A Valentine’s Day
wedding.” Caroline smiled, happiness blooming in her chest. “Looks
like we’ll be going to the chapel yet again.”

“
I’m not complaining,” Julie put
in. “Going to the chapel is one of the best parts about living in
this town.”

Caroline nodded her agreement.
“It’s legendary.

In a secret place in her heart
Caroline knew that she and her friends would live happily ever
after, and the legend of the wedding chapel would live
on.

One day their children would be
going to that same chapel.

Image:debra.png

DEBRA WEBB
,
born in Alabama, wrote her first story at age nine and her first
romance at thirteen.  It wasn’t until she spent three years
working for the military behind the Iron Curtain—and a five-year
stint with NASA—that she realized her true calling.  A
collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then
she has penned nearly 100 novels. Visit her at www.debrawebb.com
.

Recent Books by Debra Webb:

DIRTY, Pink House Press

ANYWHERE SHE RUNS, St. Martins Press

EVERYWHERE SHE TURNS, St. Martins Press

FIND ME, St. Martins Press

NAMELESS, St. Martins Press

TRACELESS, St. Martins Press

MISSING(The Colby Agency), Harlequin
Intrigue

VOWS OF SILENCE, Harlequin Books