Always A Bride by Darlene Henderson

unsure where she stood with Harvey. He hadn't told her what he and Molly had discussed or what he planned…just to trust him. Alex hoped his reaction to being put on the spot would tell her what she wanted to know.
    “ Harvey, is that so? You've been sweet on Alex since you were just a boy. What happened?"
    "You'r e right, I have been sweet on Alex pretty much as long as I can remember. She was gone and I was busy and well, everything went astray. I'm trying to make things right now and I sure hope Alex will give me a chance. I know what you mean about the way I say her name. That's because it tastes like honey. I hope she'll let me look at her for the next sixty years just so she can see how much I do love her." Harvey stood on the other side of the bed, but the entire time he talked to her grandmother he looked at Alex.
    "Well child , I don't know what more you can ask for. Dr. Harvey here may have missed his calling. He talks like a poet." Alex's grandmother glanced back and forth between them.
    "I don't know Grandma. It's going to take more than some pretty words to make up for leaving me last night and causing my poor little heart to just about break." Alex held tight to the bedrail to keep from running to Harvey. Her grandmother was right. Everything she wanted to know was in his eyes. She gazed into his deep green eyes and knew, without a doubt, he loved her. There was a sparkle that hadn't been there when he looked at Molly at the bridal expo. This look was for her alone. “Maybe I can spend more time here at home and visit with you and Dr. Harvey, see if he can walk the walk as well as he talks the talk.”
    “ I don’t know which one of us would like that better. It’s been way too long between visits. For both of us,” Harvey said.
    “ I’ll be fixing that, Grandma. I’ll be visiting you more often for sure.” Alex kissed her grandmother’s forehead.
    “ And what about Grandma’s handsome doctor?” Harvey asked.
    “ We'll see.” Alex kissed Harvey’s forehead. “That is, if everything is squared away.”
    “ Everything is good. I’ll see you tonight. Now, if I can spend a little time with your grandma?”
    “ Sure. See you tomorrow, Grandma.” Alex turned to leave, her spirits lifted. “See you tonight, doctor.”
    When Alex got home , she paced around the house. She took a shower, fixed her hair, undid it and fixed it all over again. She wasted so much time killing time she was just putting on her lipstick when the car arrived.
    She had no idea what to expect when she got to the club. It was after seven when she arrived and there was already a small group in the room Molly had reserved. Mariah and Julie were chatting in one corner. Allison and Josh were at the bar. Ben was setting up his guitar on the stage. Seth and Brent were looking at the pictures on the wall. Several other people from high school sat scattered around the room in small groups.
    Even though she had been home over the years , she hadn't been to the club since high school. Nothing had changed. Of course, it was just like the other hundred country clubs she'd been to. There was the same dark paneling. The wood-framed furniture with leather upholstery was well maintained. She ran a hand along the back of a chair, surprised to find the leather still smooth and soft. Just it had been when she went into her bedroom at her mother's house, it was comforting to find some things hadn't changed.
    She was at the bar getting herself a drink, when Wesley and Greg came in to the room. She walked over to Allison. “Everyone is here except for Molly and Harvey.”
    “ Yeah, what’s up with that?” Allison replied. “This is all pretty weird.”
    “ It’s great to see everyone. Let’s see if anybody has any idea what's going on here. Josh, you go talk to some people.”
    “ Should we synchronize our watches, too? You girls are as silly as you were in high school,” he said. “Let’s just ask. It’s a small group.”
    Before