Married for Christmas (Willow Park) by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online Page B

last.
    She glanced up and saw his expression had returned to
normal. At least he’d answered.
    “I was completely overwhelmed that day. I think everyone is
on their wedding day. But I was…”
    “You were thrilled,” she completed for him. She smiled at
him, trying to show that she was perfectly fine with his being honest about it.
She was perfectly fine. Trying to compete with Lila—in Daniel’s heart or
as a pastor’s wife—would be a losing battle for Jessica, and she simply wasn’t
going to do it. “She was thrilled too. Everyone could see that.”
    “Yeah.”
    Ridiculously, Jessica felt almost near tears at the thought
of how happy both of them had been that day eight years ago. How young they’d
been. How they’d expected a lifetime together.
    Why shouldn’t they have expected it?
    “It was a long time ago,” Daniel said at last. “We both know
it’s not the same, but I’m happy about this too.” He gestured between them to
indicate their own marriage. “It’s not the way it’s normally done, but that
doesn’t mean it can’t work. I think it will be good.”
    “Me too.” Her relief must have been evident in her tone, in
her smile. She stood up and put a hand on Daniel’s arm, wanting to be close to
him in any way she could.
    He reached out and drew her into his arms.
    She returned the hug immediately, instinctively, and they
hugged for a long time.
    She shook against him with emotion, although she wasn’t sure
why. Maybe it was just the aftermath of the wedding anxiety.
    His arms, his body, his breath was strength to her. Warmth.
Comfort. She needed it.
    There was one silly tear on her cheek when she pulled away,
and she had no way to hide it.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “I might scream if you keep asking me that.”
    He wiped the trail of the tear away with his thumb, his eyes
the kindest things she’d ever seen. He didn’t love her like Lila, but he did love her—in all the ways that were important, in all the ways she needed. She’d
be a fool not to see that and appreciate it.
     “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you scream,” he said, his
irrepressible humor emerging at last. “It might be worth giving it a try.”
    ***
    Their reception was being held in
the church fellowship hall. It wasn’t as fancy as another venue might be, but
it was a lot more convenient for their guests. The hall wasn’t a gym—the kind
found in a lot of contemporary churches—and it dressed up pretty nice. Since it
was so close to Christmas, the florist had used clusters of poinsettias,
garlands of pine and holly, and a few arrangements of red roses in the shape of
Christmas trees.
    Jessica was deeply relieved they’d decided against a
sit-down meal, since she wasn’t sure she would have made it through such a long
production. She wondered how women lasted through receptions that stretched
late into the evening after the stress of a wedding.
    She rushed the photographer through the pictures, since
she’d been to far too many weddings where she’d had to wait bored at the
reception for ages before the bride and groom finally made an appearance and
she could go home. Then she put on her favorite part of her wedding ensemble—an
adorable fake-fur shrug—and she and Daniel went to the fellowship hall to greet
their guests.
    She still felt the same jittery excitement she’d been feeling
since they’d gotten engaged, intensified now that the wedding had actually
happened, but she was also overwhelmed with the idea of so many people waiting
to hug and congratulate her. She didn’t like being the center of attention, and
constantly smiling was starting to hurt her face.
    To give herself motivation, she kept telling herself that she
and Daniel just needed to make the round of greetings. Then they could cut the
cake.
    Then she could get out of here.
    “You look so beautiful,” Miss Ross, her second-grade teacher,
said, giving her a hug.
    “Thank you.” Each conversation was almost exactly the