Winter Winds (41 page)

Taking a deep breath and telling herself that all the ghosties and ghoulies were at home around their fireplaces instead of out in the snow, she unlocked her door and stepped out. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was off the road. She was safe.

A halo of light bathed her. A car from the direction of Seaside. She hadn’t seen it coming through the snow, and the suddenness
of the lights made her jerk which in turn made her slip which caused her to fall. The inch of snow did nothing to cushion the shock of hitting the macadam with first her rear, then the back of her head. She lay, stunned.

She was dimly aware of the car skidding to a stop. Could it be Trev? Could he get here that fast? She didn’t think so. Well, if it was a serial killer, she was out of luck. The world was still spinning too wildly for her to make an escape attempt.

One door opened and closed, then another. Suddenly a giant with a bald head and a gold hoop earring loomed out of the snow. He was scowling fiercely as he stared down at her.

She knew it was the end.

Oh, Lord, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to live for You like I wanted. Forgive me for my sins. And thanks for that last conversation with Trev. At least he knows I meant to come home
.

A blonde woman peered around the giant. “Oh, Barney, is she okay?” The woman looked nice, sort of angelic with the snow starting to coat her hair like a fluffy halo. She looked much too nice to hang out with serial killers who looked remarkably like Mr. Clean.

The giant knelt beside Dori. “Are you okay? Where did you hit?”

Dori just stared, waiting for the coup de grace.

“I think you’re scaring her, Barney.” The blonde gave the giant a little shove. “I know you’re a pushover, but she doesn’t. She just sees a big, bald guy scowling at her.”

“I am not scowling.”

“Yes, you are. Let me talk to her.”

The giant moved over a bit. The blonde knelt and took Dori’s hand. “Can you sit up? I don’t think you should be lying here in the snow.”

“Okay,” Dori said, finally realizing they were here to help. Messengers from the Lord? The giant slid an arm under her and helped her sit up, then assisted her to her feet, the blonde chattering the whole time.

“Can you believe this snow? I haven’t seen anything like this here at the shore for a long time. What are you doing out here? Are you going to Seaside? We just left there. Me and Barney are going to—”

“Jo-Ellen, honey, why don’t you go open her car door so I can help this nice lady inside?”

The blonde stared at him a minute, then with a wide grin sashayed to Dori’s car on stiletto-heeled boots that Dori knew would have given her cramps in her calves, to say nothing of bunions for life.

“That’s my wife, Jo-Ellen Barnhouse. I’m Tom,” said the giant.

Dori heard a gurgle of laughter from Jo-Ellen who stepped aside so Tom could lower her to her seat. Whatever was so humorous to Jo-Ellen was going right over her head. It was probably the thunk it had taken.

“Thanks for your help,” Dori said, holding out her hand. One thing the blonde was right about. The giant—Tom—was a nice man. “My husband’s on the way to get me.”

“Do you want us to wait with you?” Tom asked.

“Say,” Jo-Ellen said. “Do I know you?” She was squinting at Dori as she sat in the glow of the dome light.

Dori studied the woman. “I don’t think so. I’m—”

Headlights cut through the snow, distracting her. A car slowed and stopped behind the Barnhouses’. The driver’s door flew open, and Trev jumped out.

“I’m Dori Trevelyan,” she said, getting to her feet. “That’s my husband, Pastor Paul Trevelyan.”

Jo-Ellen and Tom looked at each other in amazement and laughed some more as they made their way back to their car, but Dori barely noticed. Her eyes were fixed on the man running to her.

“Dori, Dori!”

She moved toward him, all aches forgotten. She opened her arms. “Here, Trev. Here forever, my love.”

D
ORI ADJUSTED THE WHITE VEIL
that hung down her back. She hadn’t planned to wear a lovely bridal gown, all
peau de soie
and seed pearls, but Trev had insisted.

“It’s a waste of money,” she’d protested. “I’ll just get a pretty dress I can wear afterward.”

“You were cheated of the fun and splendor of a wedding the first time around. This time we’re doing it up right. Get a gown. Let Pop walk you down the aisle to me. I want to see a vision of grace and beauty.”

She didn’t know about the grace and beauty, but she did feel like a princess. She fiddled with her veil again.

Maureen batted at her hands. “Uh-uh. I’m maid of honor. Fixing the veil is my job. You leave it alone. It looks great. You look great. A beautiful bride.”

Dori grinned. She stood in the narthex of Seaside Chapel, ready to walk down the aisle to her husband. Pop had wrung the promise from them that they would live together just six months ago, so today’s date was an anniversary of sorts. Pop stood beside her, ready to escort her to her husband, happily convinced that he was solely responsible for today’s event.

“I’ve looked forward to this day for years,” he said, handsome and healthy in his tux.

Dori reached up and adjusted a tie that didn’t need adjusting. She kissed his cheek. “Have I said thank you? For everything?”

“About a million times, but you can say it again.”

They grinned at each other.

Dori turned to Honey, ready to be escorted to her seat on Phil’s arm. “And to you, too, Honey. What would we have done without your none-too-gentle push?” The women embraced, both blinking back tears. The last thing either of them wanted were raccoon eyes from runny mascara.

“I love you, Dori. And I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be the mother of both the bride and groom.” She kissed Dori, then Maureen, smiled a come-hither grin at Pop, and walked into the church on Phil’s arm. He seated her in the second row, right in front of the three Graces, who kept peering over their shoulders for their first glimpse of the bride.

The music changed. Randy and Sam had driven down from New York City to play for the day, much to her delight. She couldn’t imagine where they had found an arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for keyboard and guitar, but it sounded amazingly good. And seated in the audience were Meg and Randy, Sr., who had flown in from San Diego a week ago. What a joy to spend time with them and let them come to love Trev too.

Maureen recognized her cue. Dressed in a royal blue that made her eyes brilliant and carrying a bouquet that was a floral rainbow of summer blooms, she started down the aisle. Dori watched her friend go, knowing that in a month she would be trading places with her. She would be matron of honor as Maureen and Phil married.

There were a satisfyingly large number of people in the pews, come to witness the renewal of vows of their pastor and his wife. Mae Harper was one of them, still walking with a cane, but back at Harbor Lights and delighted at the cosmetic changes Dori had made to the place.

They had reached an agreement that had Dori working part-time and responsible for the look of the place as well as the development of the fiction and music areas. Their business over early summer was strong, and Mae was a happy woman.

Dori surveyed their guests. She hoped that Trev understood
that their presence was but one more proof that Seaside Chapel was delighted to have him as their pastor. The meeting in which all the secrets of their strange marriage were aired had been hard on Dori. She had felt so foolish and so responsible.

“Trev’s only mistakes were to love me and to love you,” she told the people that night. “He didn’t want to deny either. Don’t punish him for that. Our marriage is now stable and getting stronger each day. Our commitment to each other is total, as it has always been. Dr. Roger Quentin, Trev’s mentor from seminary, talks with us weekly for marriage coaching. I am growing daily in my walk with the Lord, and my primary model for the Christian life is my husband. He is a man who loves God with his whole heart. With your agreement, we would like the opportunity to remain here in Seaside and serve you.”

“It was never my intent to deceive you,” Trev said, facing his congregation. “I came originally to be interim for the summer. I thought my marital state wouldn’t make a difference for that short a time. But I didn’t leave. I should have told you from the beginning about Dori and me, and I ask your forgiveness for not doing so. Please know I never meant harm to the chapel or the cause of the Lord. We would love to stay and continue to serve the Lord with you here in Seaside, but even more than that, we want God’s best for this church. May the Lord give you wisdom as you decide.”

“He’s all a charade,” Jonathan Warrington had railed when it was his turn to speak. “He and his ‘wife’ have come here to steal the testimony of Seaside Chapel. They make a mockery of marriage and of commitment to the Lord. They are wolves in sheeps’ clothing, an embarrassment to all of us. He must go. If he doesn’t, I fear that we Warringtons cannot stay, and I’m sure there are others of you who feel the same.”

Dori always thought it was that ultimatum that was the deciding factor. Whatever the reason, the vote was strongly in Trev’s favor.

The Warringtons had left as threatened, and Jonathan, Judy, and Angie were attending another church where, if rumor was correct, Jonathan was already making waves. Bob Warrington was in the process of divorcing Shannon so he could marry Penni. As
far as Dori knew, the two of them weren’t attending anywhere.

Shannon herself still had plenty of bad days, but they came less frequently. She and Grayce Warrington had become family for each other since Jonathan no longer spoke to his mother or his ex-daughter-in-law. After all, they had supported Trev. Dori and Shannon met together weekly with the Graces who prayed over them both. Dori didn’t know about Shannon, but she herself was growing in the Lord by leaps and bounds under the godly tutelage of these amazing older women.

The music changed again, and Dori knew it was her turn. She and Pop moved to the doorway. He patted her hand.

“Ready?”

Foolish question. She looked down the aisle to Trev, so handsome as he waited for her. Phil and Ryan stood beside him, Ryan so proud he could hardly stand it. Of course the boy had made the required complaints when told he had to wear a tux, but when he saw himself in the mirror at the fitting, he’d blinked in surprise.

“Whoa! Cool.”

Though he had gone home with Mae two months ago, he frequently came over to visit. Dori suspected Jack and Trudy were the real draws, but Ry was polite enough to refrain from saying so. He and Trev took the dogs for long walks on the beach, each holding a leash. Sometimes they let her come along, but she was careful to see that Ryan often had Trev’s undivided attention. What better way for the fatherless boy to see what a real man was like?

Her hand resting in the crook of Pop’s arm, Dori kept her eyes fixed on her husband who watched her approach with a smile that melted her heart. She thought of the wonderful secret she and her husband shared.

The bride was three months pregnant.

They planned to tell people the happy news after they returned from their two-night stay in Cape May. Their real honeymoon had to wait until fall because of the demands of the summer season. Then they would relax on a two-week trip through the Southwest, making a loop of the national parks: Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Dori had booked them into either the park accommodations or the most interesting bed-and-breakfasts she could find. She’d be quite chubby by then,
and long hikes wouldn’t be part of the program, but just being together alone would be enough.

The ceremony began. At the proper time Pop placed her hand in Trev’s and went to take his seat beside Honey. Trev wrapped his large hand around hers and held tightly. He lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers.

“I love you, Dori-girl,” he whispered. “Now and forever.”

Dr. Quentin continued with the service while Dori’s heart swelled to bursting. God had been so good to her, even when she didn’t deserve it. He had preserved Trev for her until she was wise enough to value him and her marriage and was strong enough to fight for them both.

The winter winds that had blown through their lives had often been painful. The coming year would bring the baby, and with him more changes, more adjustments, but this time the winds would be gusts of love, zephyrs of joy.

And as always at the center of it all there would be Trev, only Trev.

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