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I’ll faint, or something equallydisastrous.”
    “You won’t,” Maggie returned confidently. “I promise. Right now everything’s overwhelming, but you won’t regret a minute of this in the years to come.”
    “I suppose not,” Janelle agreed. “This marriage is forever, and I want everything right.”
    “I’d want everything like this, too.” Maggie spoke without thinking and realized that when and if she ever married, she wanted it to be exactly this way. She yearned for a flowing white dress with a long train and lifetime friends to stand with her.
    Someone knocked on the door and, like an organized row of ducklings, the wedding party was led into the vestibule. Organ music vibrated through the church and the first bridesmaid, her hands clasping a bouquet of pink hyacinths, stepped forward with a tall usher at her side.
    Maggie watched her progress and knew again that someday she wanted to stand in the back of a church and look out over the seated guests who had come to share her moment of joy. And like Janelle, Maggie longed to feel all the love that was waiting for her as she slowly walked to the man with whom she would share her life. And when she repeated her vows before God and those most important in her life she would feel, as Janelle did, that her marriage was meant to last for all time.
    When it was her turn to step onto the trail of white linen that ran the length of the wide aisle, Maggie held her chin high, the adrenaline pumping through her blood. Her smile was natural, not forced. Mentally, she thanked Glenn for that, and briefly allowed her gaze to seek him out at the front of the church. What she found nearly caused her to pause in midstep. Glenn was standing with Steve at the side of the altar and looking at her with such a wondrous gaze that her heart lodged in her throat. This all-encompassing wonder was what Maggie had expected to see in Steve’s eyes when he first viewed Janelle. A look so tender, it should be reserved for the bride and groom. The moment stretched out until Maggie was convinced everyone in the church had turned to see what was keeping her. By sheer force of will she continued with short steps toward the front of the church. Every resounding note of the organ brought her closer to Glenn. She felt a throb of excitement as the faces of people she’d known all her life turned to watch her progress. A heady sensation enveloped her as she imagined it was she who was the bride, she who would speak her vows, she who had found her soul mate. Until that moment, Maggie hadn’t realized how much she yearned for the very things she had tried to escape in life, how much she was missing by hiding in her gilded cage, behind her money.
    As they’d practiced the night before, Maggie moved to the left and waited for Janelle and Steve to meet at center front. At that point, she would join her friend and stand at Janelle’s side. With the organ music pulsating in her ear, Maggie strained to catch Steve’s look when he first glimpsed Janelle. She turned her head slightly and paused. Her gaze refused to move beyond Glenn, standing with Steve near the front of the altar. Even when Janelle placed her hand in Steve’s, Maggie couldn’t tear her eyes from Glenn. The pastor moved to the front of the church and the four gathered before him. Together, they lifted their faces to the man of God who had come to unite Steve and Janelle.
    The sensations that came at Glenn were equally disturbing. The minute Maggie had started down the aisle it had taken everything within him not to step away from Steve, meet her, and take her in his arms. He had never experienced any sensation more strongly. He wanted to hold her, protect her, bring the shine back to her eyes, and teach her to trust again. When she had met him at the airport, he’d been struck by how lovely she’d become. Now he recognized her vulnerability, and she was breathtaking. He had never seen a more beautiful woman. She was everything