After the judge said a few words, he asked if we had vows to share.
I handed Vicki my bouquet and turned to Van. Our hands came together as we stared into one another’s eyes. There could have been hundreds of people or no one, no one except the two of us. It didn’t matter as Van’s deep timbre came forth, ricocheting through me as love and desire shone in his gaze.
“Julia, it is impossible to put into words what you’ve done to me. You’ve brought light and love into this house…and to me. You’ve torn down walls and exposed me to all that I’d sacrificed. You’ve shown me that more, bigger, and better exists in the unsatisfied. In you I found…” He smiled. “Satisfaction doesn’t begin to define what I found—contentment, joy, love. On that cold, frozen night, I found the only woman in the world to thaw my frozen heart. I want to spend my forever with you. And I want to make you proud of the man you married. Most of all, I want to grow old” —he paused and grinned— “olderwith you at my side.”
“Julia,” Judge Nichols said.
“I didn’t plan for this,” I admitted. “I was scared.”
Van squeezed my hands in his grasp.
As he did, I became lost in the golden flecks reflecting the fire’s flames. “I’m not scared anymore. I’m not. On that cold, snowy night, you opened my world. With you I broke free of others’ expectations. In the weeks that followed, you showed me what love truly was—what the word meant. In your expressions, your gaze, and your touch you tell me every day that I’m loved and desired. You also listen and talk. You’ve shared your secrets, and that is a gift I’ll always treasure. I want to spend my forever with you. I want to shelter with you when it rains and bask in the warmth on sunny days. Donovan Sherman, I am proud of the man you are. That man is who I want to marry. I want to be your wife.”
We leaned toward one another as our lips met.
“Oh, you’re jumping ahead,” Judge Nichols said as the guests softly laughed.
The next few minutes were filled with the giving and taking of rings. It was the judge’s final words that will echo in my memory forever. “I now pronounce you husband and wife.Now” —he emphasized the word— “you may kiss your bride.”
Van’s palm framed my cheek as our lips united.
When my eyes opened, I smiled at my husband. “We really did it.”
“Indeed,” the judge said. “May I be the first to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Donovan Sherman.”
Winking at Van, I whispered, “We can let it pass this one time.”
Van and I turned to the guests.
“You did it,” Vicki proclaimed.
Music filled the air as everyone softly clapped. Standing next to Margaret was a young man, tall and lanky—her and Jonathon’s son, Bradley. He wasn’t the only person in the room that I didn’t recognize. I’d met Connie on her multiple trips to the house, bringing Van things from town. The man at her side was, I assumed, her husband, Eric.
“If the five of us,” Judge Nichols said, “could adjourn to Mr. Sherman’s office and sign the marriage certificate, we can make this marriage not only official but legal.”
A hand came to my shoulder. Turning, I saw Lena’s smile.
“Congratulations, Julia. You do have a good man.”
I looked at Van and back to his friend. “Thank you.”
Van held tight to my hand as we led the way to his office. The license and certificate were on Van’s desk.
“Sign your maiden name,” the judge instructed.
My hand trembled as I wroteJulia Ann McGrath.
Handing the pen to Van, he grinned. “That’s the last time.” He signedDonovan Thomas Sherman.
“You kept Thomas?” I said as a question.
Van nodded. “It’s a secret.”
Lena’s gaze met mine. “I didn’t know that either.”
“You’re all sworn to secrecy,” Van said.
Vicki and Lena signed the certificate as witnesses and finally Judge Nichols signed, the final signature to verify our marriage.