Scrappily Ever After by Mollie Cox Bryan

had also invited himself to the wedding. As they disembarked from three cars, they saw the homemade sign that said W EDDING with an arrow painted up the hillside, around the bank from Rose’s home.
    Vera clutched one of Elizabeth’s hands and Eric took the other as they hurried up the hillside path. She wished Sheila was by her side, but she felt she couldn’t leave Donna.
    â€œOf course there’s a hill,” DeeAnn complained, surveying the hilly and rocky landscape.
    â€œStop your bitching and get a move on,” Paige said, playfully pushing her along.
    When Vera, Annie, Detective Bryant, DeeAnn, Paige, and Eric finally found Beatrice and Jon, they were standing near a rock arch decorated with flowers and ribbons. A small crowd was gathered.
    â€œMama!” Vera yelled out.
    Beatrice turned around. She wore an antique blue wedding dress and looked younger and more beautiful than she had in a long time. “It’s about time,” Beatrice said. A titter came from the crowd. She motioned for Eric and Vera to join them at their mountainside makeshift altar.
    Vera was profoundly happy that she’d found the note and tracked her mother down in the nick of time. She might have missed this. God knew Beatrice was going to get married right then and there, with or without Vera.
    It was a beautiful spring day with a perfect mix of sunshine and cool mountain breeze. The scent of lilacs filled the air and wild daisies bobbed in the breeze.
    Jon beamed in his tuxedo. Oddly enough, a French man in a tuxedo seemed quite appropriate at this outdoor mountain function. He looked at Beatrice—in fact, his eyes never left her. Eric squeezed Vera’s hand as Elizabeth went to her grandmother and stood beside her.
    Vera’s Aunt Rose, Beatrice’s first cousin, officiated the ceremony.
    â€œWe are gathered here today to celebrate love. The love between Beatrice Matthews and Jon Chevalier. I had the honor of being at Beatrice’s first wedding as her maid of honor. Today I’m here in another role. Some women, like my dear cousin here, don’t come into relationships easy. But when they love, they love long and hard, and, friends, be assured that this man is worthy.
    â€œHere’s one of Beatrice favorite poems that she wanted to share with us today.” Rose read over the “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman. The last few lines made even the most stubborn eyes tear:

    I give you my love more precious than money
I give you myself before preaching or law:
Will you give me yourself?
Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

    Eric and Vera’s eyes met. She felt tears beginning that couldn’t be denied. For the second time that day, she cried. Eric pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her.
    â€œAnd now,” continued Rose, “I understand that you have each written your own vows. Beatrice?”
    Beatrice cleared her throat. Vera thought she saw tears forming in her mother’s eyes as she spoke.
    After the vows were made and rings exchanged, Rose gave a final blessing for Beatrice’s and Jon’s marriage.
    â€œMay the glory, which rests upon all who love you, bless you and keep you, fill you with happiness and a gracious spirit. Despite all changes of fortune and time, may that which is noble and lovely and true remain abundantly in your hearts, giving you strength for all that lies ahead.”
    Jon and Beatrice kissed under the rock arch with ribbons and flowers dancing in the breeze. A fiddler began to play. Where did he come from? Vera wondered. She hadn’t noticed him before. She felt Eric’s eyes on her and she turned to face him.
    â€œEric, I love you madly. But I can’t marry you yet,” she said in a rush. “Listen, before you walk away, I have a proposal for you.” She reached for his arm to hold him in place.
    â€œA proposal?” he said. “I’m not