COLLEEN: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (13 page)

"If it were up to me, I would marry you tomorrow," David said, and Colleen could tell by his voice that he meant it.

She chuckled. "The wedding is only a week away."

"It's going to be a long week."

They rode quietly the rest of the way home, but Colleen’s mind was spinning. An idea had come to her and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make perfect sense.

As David pulled into the drive, Colleen turned to him and said, "Let's do it. Let's get married tomorrow."

"Very funny," David said.

"I'm serious. Everyone who is coming to our wedding would be invited to your mother and father's surprise party anyway. I was just thinking that this could be the perfect way to surprise them. If we quietly get married tomorrow with just Julia and Liam there to stand up for us, that's all I need. Then we can have what seems like the big wedding next weekend, yet when everyone gets back to your parents’ house, it'll actually be a surprise party for them. They'll never suspect it."

"So the first wedding tomorrow will be the real one, and I won't have to wait?” He grinned. “I like it. We can get to church before the service and have the pastor marry us and no one will be the wiser," he said with enthusiasm.

"It is kind of last minute, though. Do you think the pastor would actually agree to do this?"  Colleen worried that as much as she liked the idea, it did sound a little crazy.

"Pastor Ben and I go way back. I'm pretty sure that he'll be thrilled." David hesitated for a moment and then asked, "But are you sure you really want to do this?"

Colleen smiled. "Yes, I am sure. I've never liked being the center of attention, and I really do like the idea of a tiny wedding and a simple celebration."

"Well, it sounds fantastic to me. After dinner at my parents tomorrow, they'll all think that I'm driving you home, and I will be, but it will be to our home."He pulled her in close, and kissed her softly on the lips,

"I can't wait till tomorrow."

Colleen hardly slept that night. She packed a small bag with most of her clothes and set it aside. She didn't say anything to Julia and Liam yet. She wanted to wait until David arrived so they could both tell them together. Part of her was worried that he might change his mind. When he arrived, he looked a bit nervous and immediately pulled Colleen aside and asked, "Do you still want to do this? Today?"

Colleen smiled. It was sweet that he was so worried. "Yes, I'm sure. I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

"Well, that's reassuring. Have you told Julia and Liam yet?"

"No, I haven't said anything yet. I wanted to wait until you arrived, so that we could tell them together. I was a little bit worried that you might change your mind too," she admitted.

He reached for her hand and smiled. "No need to worry about that."

David filled Julia and Liam in on their plans, and they both approved. Liam was his usual, enthusiastic self. "I think that's a great idea. Don't you think so, Julia?"

"Yes, I love it. I will miss you, though," she added a bit wistfully.

Colleen gave her a hug. "I'll miss you, too, but I'm not going very far. And I'll see you most days at the pub as well."

"What about someone finding out?" Julia looked David's way. "You'll have to tell Paul, of course." 

He nodded. "I'll tell Paul. But, no one else usually comes to the farm during the week. We should be fine. "

David took Colleen's bag and put it in the back of the buggy. They followed Julia and Liam into town and got to the church almost an hour ahead of the service. David went in to find Pastor Ben and ask if he'd be willing to marry them on such short notice. He was gone for about five minutes, and then came back wearing a grin.

"He's all for it," David said happily. "He said to come in right now, though, so we can get this done before people start to arrive."

They all walked inside, and the pastor motioned for them to come down to the front of the church. It hit Colleen then, that she was really getting married. She was excited and terrified at the same time. She looked at David for reassurance and he smiled back at her. He must've noticed the look of sudden panic on her face, because he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "We can wait, if you want."

Colleen swallowed hard. "No I'm ready."

They gathered around Pastor Ben and he started the simple service that would marry the two of them. They exchanged vows, repeating the words the pastor said first and then finally when they both said, “I do,” he pronounced them husband and wife. "You may now kiss the bride."

David leaned over and tenderly kissed her on the lips.

"Congratulations!" Julia and Liam said at the same time.

"Mrs. Donovan," David said. “I like the sound of that."

Colleen smiled at David and gave his arm a playful squeeze. "Me, too."

The rest of the day seemed surreal to Colleen. On the surface, it was the same as any other Sunday. Shortly after their wedding service, parishioners started to arrive, the rest of David's family among them. After church, as usual, they all headed back to Naomi and Jed's for dinner. It was a lovely afternoon. Jed was having a good day and everyone was excited about the upcoming wedding. Colleen did feel a little bit of guilt about that, but David reassured her that there was no need for her to feel guilty, because they were still going to go through all the motions of a full wedding again.

Elizabeth was looking forward to the wedding and especially the opportunity to wear her fancy new dress again, but she was even more excited about the fact that she now had three young men who had all expressed their intentions to court her. Naomi wasn't quite as excited about that. She still had some concerns about one of the men who, in her opinion, was much too old to be dating an eighteen-year-old girl, and she wasn't shy about expressing them.

"Jeremy Johnson is thirty-two years old. I just think that's too much of an age difference. I don't think it's a good idea." She looked at Elizabeth she spoke, and Colleen could tell she was hoping that she and the other girls would speak up and agree with her, so that Elizabeth would change her mind about dating him. But Elizabeth didn't wait for anybody else to weigh in with an opinion.

"Mother, I told you before, I like Jeremy. He's not too old for me. He's very interesting and successful." And then she giggled and added, “He's also extremely handsome and charming."

"It's the charming part that worries me," Naomi said.

"Oh, please, I'm just beginning to start courting and I'm not in any hurry to make any decisions. I just want to have fun."

Naomi just shook her head and then changed the subject back to the wedding.

"Do you know what kind of cake you would like?" she asked.

Colleen pretended as though she was thinking about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. What's your favorite flavor?"

"Chocolate, of course," Naomi said."What I like doesn't matter, though. It's your wedding."

Colleen smiled and said, "I love chocolate, too. Let's do that."

Colleen grew a little bit nervous on the way home. It wasn't that she wasn't excited to be married to David—she was. But she was a little worried about the physical part of being married. Suddenly, it seemed too soon. When they pulled into the drive and stopped at David's house, he helped her down and then brought her bag from the back of the buggy and they walked inside.

"Well, here we are." David set the bag down and closed the door behind them. He lit a gas lamp and then there was a somewhat awkward silence. Finally, he said, "Why don't I show you around, so you know where everything is?" He brought her into the kitchen first and showed her the general layout and where everything was kept. The kitchen was so spotless that it almost looked as though it had never been used.

"Do you cook at all?" she teased him.

He chuckled. "Not very much. Do you like to cook?"

"I don't mind it, but I do prefer sewing."

David smiled at that and led her in to the adjacent room which was like a small study with books along the walls. In the corner, there was something that made Colleen stop in her tracks.

"Do you like it?"

Colleen walked over to get a closer look, and marveled at the brand new sewing machine. "It's beautiful. Did you just get this? For me?"

He smiled shyly. "I know how much you love sewing, and how much you've missed it.”

Her eyes met hers then and Colleen felt something inside her shift. Neither one of them said anything for a moment, and then David spoke. “Besides, I needed to fill this room up. It was looking too empty. I actually bought it a few days after I met you. I was hoping it would be a good luck charm. Either that, or I was going to have to learn to sew."