excerpt
She placed her tiny white-gloved hand in his outstretched one, and
her fingers curled around his as if they were grasping a lifeline.
“I just want to wish you happiness, Miss … uh … Mrs. Fielding.”
He glanced at Ben on the other side of the pickup. “You too, Ben.
Congratulations.”
With only a grunted acknowledgement Ben opened the truck
door and got in. Will looked into Sarah’s face which was on a level
with his own. The smile had faded and, as he had seen it do once
before, her lower lip began to tremble. With as much grace and dignity
as he could muster, Will Andrews opened the door and handed
Sarah into the vehicle. The look she gave him could only be described
as extremely grateful.
His gesture, Will knew, was not lost on the women who stood in
the street and gaped. O
In the bedroom she had occupied for the last four nights, Sarah
removed her hat and gloves and laid them on the dressing table. As
she did so she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. In spite of
the white dress she didn’t think she looked much like a bride. The
dress had been a concession to Elizabeth who had accompanied
her to London to shop for her trousseau. Sarah had wanted to get a
plain linen suit in a pastel shade for her wedding day but Elizabeth
insisted on something white.
“I don’t know whether you’re a virgin or not,” her friend said,
somewhat bluntly for Elizabeth, “and I don’t really care. But every
bride should at least look virginal.”
Sarah laughed and gave her friend a playful shove, but the reference
to her virginity made her remember Danny, and the memory
brought back the old familiar ache.
She had been teaching at a little country school in White Falls
when Danny was killed, and she had come so close to having a
breakdown that she quit her post in the middle of term. Her mother
had seen it as an opportunity to pressure Sarah into giving up her
career and staying at home. Mrs. Roberts could never understand
why her daughter had left in the first place. When Sarah’s father
died her mother expected the girl to stay at home with her remaining
parent. It took all of Sarah’s willpower to insist on the right to…
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 
