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“Are you sure about this?” Mertie asked as she looked up at the man who was going to pledge his life to her in less than thirty minutes.

“Of course. I’ve never been more sure about anything. There is no doubt in my mind that God worked out our love story.”

“But I’m bossy. And I try to control things and people. And I might end up saying something that’s going to cause problems in the church. I might not be a very good pastor’s wife.”

“You’re going to be a perfect pastor’s wife. And I know your faults. I’m not blind. But I also know that you don’t want to have those faults, and you’re working on them. And if I say, ‘hey, Mertie, maybe you’re being a little bit bossy right now,’ you’re going to know exactly what I mean and you’re going to want to try to fix it. I would rather have that than someone who sits in the corner and never says anything.”

“That’s not going to be me,” she said, irony in her words. She’d never been able to sit in a corner and allow things to go on around her without wanting to fix them and make them better. It was just part of her personality. Her sister, Olive, on the other hand, might sit in a corner and daydream and never pay any attention to anything that was going on.

But Garnet said that he didn’t want someone like Olive.

“Are you really going to be able to put up with me?” she asked, even though she knew what his answer was going to be. She just couldn’t believe that...

“Are you having trouble believing that someone could love you?” he asked, running his fingers over her cheek and through her hair, pulling her close to him, and wrapping his arms around her. “I can’t even tell you how much I love you. It’s a feeling, true, but it’s a feeling that makes me want to do everything I can to make your life as easy as possible. Which brings me to my concern, which is...are you sure you’re okay with being a pastor’s wife? This last week, where I got called to the hospital five times, and had to deal with a couple who were having an issue with their son, and with all of the other things that were pulling my attention, and we only have a small church. I’m afraid that sometimes you’re going to feel neglected. Sometimes it’s going to be hard, and I know it’s going to be painful at times. People can be harsh, and they expect the pastor’s wife to be perfect. The pastor’s family to be perfect. I mean, I love the people in our church, I think they’re awesome, but they’re human just like me and you.”

“I know. I’ve been in the industry long enough to know that Christians can sometimes be some of the harshest, meanest people on the planet. I’ve been hurt by them before, and I’m sure that my times of being hurt are not over.”

“That bothers me more than anything. I feel like I’m pulling you into something that is going to be painful, and I wish that there was something I could do to make it so that it was easy for you.”

“I don’t want easy.” She tried to make her words as forceful as possible so that he understood she knew exactly what she was saying and she meant it. “I mean, everyone would choose easy if they could, right? But I know that easy isn’t going to make me better. It’s only when I go through the trials that God has planned for me, and not a single trial is going to come into my life without God okaying it, and that’s how I grow. That’s how I become better. And I do want to become better.”

“That’s one of the many things I love about you. That you do want to grow and be better. That you think about things and don’t just have a knee-jerk reaction, being ideological and no one can reason with you. You’re willing to look at the bigger picture and see that you might possibly be wrong. I just hope I can do that as well as you do. You’re a really good example to me that way.”

“You’ve been a good example to me in a lot of ways. Your sacrifice. That’s probably the biggest one. You didn’t have to keep Dabney, but you sacrificed whatever was necessary in order for you to do that. Being a single dad, homeschooling, trying to raise her around working a full-time job. You are amazing. How could I not love you?” she asked, running her fingers through the hair at his temple and wondering to herself what had made God decide to give her such an amazing, almost perfect man. “I don’t deserve you.”

“That’s not true. You deserve better.”

They smiled into each other’s eyes. And she figured that it was probably a mark of the start to a really good marriage that neither one of them were thinking that the other was lucky to get them, but instead was thinking that they were blessed to have the other one. She’d seen way too many people who were so cocky and sure about themselves that they thought that they were doing their spouse a favor by marrying them. That their spouse had to earn their favor, earn their good nature, and continue to work to deserve to get to spend their life with them. Those kinds of marriages didn’t usually last, and they weren’t good for either party.

“I wish I could have given you a bigger wedding, more flowers, more guests, more everything.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want that. I don’t want the big show, big pomp and circumstance. I understand it’s a big day, but to try to make this day all about my fairy-tale dreams coming true is not just selfish, but foolish. It’s a waste of money, and it’s dragging people, mostly you, through a lot of decisions and difficulties when the wedding doesn’t have to be nearly that hard.”

“You deserve every good thing.”

“God will give me everything that I deserve, I’m sure of it. In the meantime, I love that you’re having Pastor Calvin marry us. That’s perfectly right. The baton being passed from one pastor to the next, and he was our pastor growing up. It’s just...perfect. And while he probably could have made it to the church, it’s so nice to do it here for him and be considerate of Mrs. Calvin and him.”

“I’m glad you see that.”

“It was just so much more low-key, so much friendlier to be able to say to the congregation, come if you want to. Bring food if you want to. Celebrate with us if you want to. No pressure.”

“No invitations to have to deal with, no caterer, no last-minute deliveries, no panic because something didn’t turn out right. But I would have liked to see you in a beautiful wedding dress.”

Had he meant that? Did he want that just because he thought that’s what she wanted? Or had he really wanted to see her all dressed up?

“For you or for me?” she asked, tilting her head.

“For you. Doesn’t every girl want to dress up in a pretty dress?”

“I think it would look out of place in the assisted living center. I think this is perfect.” She indicated the dress she was wearing. It was white with a shimmering gauze over it with blue flowers. Not a wedding dress by any stretch, but a pretty dress that made her feel beautiful and girlish, while still being solemn enough for the occasion.

“You look beautiful in anything.”

“Are these the kind of compliments I can expect for the rest of my life? Things that are blatantly not true?” she teased him.

“It’s absolutely true. When I look at you, I see beautiful. I know that’s probably not what you always see, but that’s just what I see when I look at you.”

She lifted her head up and kissed his cheek, and then he turned his head and their lips met. Maybe they shouldn’t have been kissing before the wedding, wasn’t there some kind of saying that said it was bad luck for them to see each other before they were married, but she didn’t believe in luck. She believed in God, and she believed that God had an amazing plan for the rest of their life together. She also believed that there was nothing wrong with kissing. In fact, it was very, very nice.

“Are you two ready?” Amara knocked on the door and then stuck her head in. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

They broke apart, just far enough so that they could look into each other’s eyes but not lose the connection of touching between them.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Mertie said.

“And we’re ready,” Garnet added without breaking the connection they shared both physical and with their eyes.

Mertie couldn’t say she wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, but she did know that what she was doing was the smartest thing she could possibly do. She also knew for sure that it was God’s will, and that is what made it okay.

“Dabney’s outside waiting to walk up the aisle,” Amara said.

“All right. We’ll be there,” Garnet replied.

“Thank you. Thank you for taking care of my daughter for so long and for believing in me. Not that I was a good Christian speaker-author or whatever. But believing that I would be a good mom.” If it hadn’t been for Garnet’s belief in her, this day would not be possible.

“I just believe in what I see. And it’s all there.”

He couldn’t possibly see her. He had to see Jesus somehow, and that made her smile. She reached up, kissing the bottom of his jaw, and then moved back until they clasped hands. “Let’s do this,” she said.

“I’m with you,” he replied, and they walked out the door. Toward the rest of their life.