same.
She wasn’t sure she looked beautiful anymore, since the waves in her hair had
flattened and her makeup had mostly worn off, but people kept telling her so
anyway.
“We weren’t sure you were ever going to get married.”
She’d heard the same sentiment so many times—this week, this
month, and the last several years of her life—that she didn’t let it bother her
anymore.
Willow Park was a small town in an area with traditional
values. It didn’t matter that she had a good career and her independence. She
would be incomplete in their eyes until she got married. As wrong as she
believed that to be, she tried not to hold it against them.
Daniel put a hand on her back in a possessive gesture she really
liked. So what if they weren’t blissfully in love? They were partners in this.
They understood each other. And they could be happy.
“She was just waiting for the right man,” he said, amusement
in his voice.
Jessica smiled up at him, probably looking rather fatuous.
“That’s right. Who would have guessed it was the boy next door?”
“Isn’t there a song about that?” Miss Ross asked.
Jessica knew her musicals, and without thinking, she sang a
few bars from the song Miss Ross was referring to from Meet Me in St. Louis .
She was no Judy Garland, but she was at least on key.
Then she realized everyone around her had stopped to listen,
and Daniel was smiling in appreciative surprise.
She broke off. “Sorry. Is that the song you meant?”
There was a smattering of applause and laughter, and Daniel
slid his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.
“You should sing more often,” he said.
She felt vaguely pleased by the reaction, but she wondered
why she’d burst into song that way.
All her life, she’d made sure she stayed out of the
spotlight. That wasn’t going to change now.
***
That evening, she took a long
shower, shaving carefully and spending more time in the bathroom than she ever
had in her life.
She and Daniel were spending the night in the house.
They’d gotten all her stuff moved in last week, and he’d
been living here for the last three weeks. They’d agreed there was no reason to
go to a hotel for their first night as man and wife.
They weren’t doing a honeymoon. Daniel had just started his
job, and he couldn’t take time off during the Christmas season anyway—one of
the high points of the church calendar. Plus, Jessica couldn’t help but think a
honeymoon would be a waste of money.
Maybe later, they could take a vacation together, once they
were comfortable with being married to each other. But right now it would
awkward. It would place pressure on their marriage they didn’t need.
So their first night would be in their own bed, in their new
house.
She brushed her hair, which she’d kept out of the water in
the shower, and put on her new nightgown.
She wasn’t about to wear anything overtly sexy or romantic,
since she didn’t want Daniel to think she was trying to turn the evening into
something it wasn’t. So the gown she’d bought for tonight was simple and blue with
lace straps and a ribbon that tied off under her breasts.
It wasn’t likely to take Daniel’s breath away, but it was
pretty, and it matched her eyes.
She tried not to stare at him as she emerged from the
bathroom. He’d taken a shower before her, and now he was half under the covers,
propped up on pillows, bare-chested, and reading a book.
She wasn’t looking in his direction, but she felt his eyes
on her as she went to the corner, where Bear was begging at the base of the
dresser.
Jessica picked up the bone, which she’d placed on top of the
dresser earlier, and motioned to Bear’s bed.
The dog eagerly scrambled to the bed and greeted the bone
with enthusiastic mouth noises.
“Now, you stay,” Jessica told Bear, as she turned back
toward her own bed. Bear was usually well-behaved and probably wouldn’t try to
leap onto the bed to join them tonight.
Hopefully
She wasn’t sure she looked beautiful anymore, since the waves in her hair had
flattened and her makeup had mostly worn off, but people kept telling her so
anyway.
“We weren’t sure you were ever going to get married.”
She’d heard the same sentiment so many times—this week, this
month, and the last several years of her life—that she didn’t let it bother her
anymore.
Willow Park was a small town in an area with traditional
values. It didn’t matter that she had a good career and her independence. She
would be incomplete in their eyes until she got married. As wrong as she
believed that to be, she tried not to hold it against them.
Daniel put a hand on her back in a possessive gesture she really
liked. So what if they weren’t blissfully in love? They were partners in this.
They understood each other. And they could be happy.
“She was just waiting for the right man,” he said, amusement
in his voice.
Jessica smiled up at him, probably looking rather fatuous.
“That’s right. Who would have guessed it was the boy next door?”
“Isn’t there a song about that?” Miss Ross asked.
Jessica knew her musicals, and without thinking, she sang a
few bars from the song Miss Ross was referring to from Meet Me in St. Louis .
She was no Judy Garland, but she was at least on key.
Then she realized everyone around her had stopped to listen,
and Daniel was smiling in appreciative surprise.
She broke off. “Sorry. Is that the song you meant?”
There was a smattering of applause and laughter, and Daniel
slid his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.
“You should sing more often,” he said.
She felt vaguely pleased by the reaction, but she wondered
why she’d burst into song that way.
All her life, she’d made sure she stayed out of the
spotlight. That wasn’t going to change now.
***
That evening, she took a long
shower, shaving carefully and spending more time in the bathroom than she ever
had in her life.
She and Daniel were spending the night in the house.
They’d gotten all her stuff moved in last week, and he’d
been living here for the last three weeks. They’d agreed there was no reason to
go to a hotel for their first night as man and wife.
They weren’t doing a honeymoon. Daniel had just started his
job, and he couldn’t take time off during the Christmas season anyway—one of
the high points of the church calendar. Plus, Jessica couldn’t help but think a
honeymoon would be a waste of money.
Maybe later, they could take a vacation together, once they
were comfortable with being married to each other. But right now it would
awkward. It would place pressure on their marriage they didn’t need.
So their first night would be in their own bed, in their new
house.
She brushed her hair, which she’d kept out of the water in
the shower, and put on her new nightgown.
She wasn’t about to wear anything overtly sexy or romantic,
since she didn’t want Daniel to think she was trying to turn the evening into
something it wasn’t. So the gown she’d bought for tonight was simple and blue with
lace straps and a ribbon that tied off under her breasts.
It wasn’t likely to take Daniel’s breath away, but it was
pretty, and it matched her eyes.
She tried not to stare at him as she emerged from the
bathroom. He’d taken a shower before her, and now he was half under the covers,
propped up on pillows, bare-chested, and reading a book.
She wasn’t looking in his direction, but she felt his eyes
on her as she went to the corner, where Bear was begging at the base of the
dresser.
Jessica picked up the bone, which she’d placed on top of the
dresser earlier, and motioned to Bear’s bed.
The dog eagerly scrambled to the bed and greeted the bone
with enthusiastic mouth noises.
“Now, you stay,” Jessica told Bear, as she turned back
toward her own bed. Bear was usually well-behaved and probably wouldn’t try to
leap onto the bed to join them tonight.
Hopefully
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