Perfect (Second Opportunities 2)

Listening to her, watching her, Zack didn't know whether to offer to write a check or teach a class.

"I know Rachel decided she couldn't give up her career as soon as you were married, and I—I have to tell you now I want to keep teaching in California, Zack. Adult women, not children. I want to get involved in that program," she said a little desperately.

"And that's why you wanted me to come here tonight," he said dryly, thinking how absurd the comparison was between Rachel's unbridled, self-centered ambition and Julie's desire to help her own sex.

Completely misjudging the reason for his tone, she lifted her eyes to his and said pleadingly, "I have gifts to give, Zack. I have to do this."

Zack snatched her into his arms and crushed her to him. "You're the gift," he whispered fiercely. "You have more sides than that diamond you're wearing, and I'm so damned crazy about all of them…"

When he lifted his head and relaxed his grip a little, she rubbed her finger over his patterned silk tie and gave him a hesitant look. "Debby's out of a job because the family she's worked for since she was a teenager is moving away. She isn't ready to do much yet except housekeeping…"

Zack tipped her chin up and gave in without a struggle. "I have a very big house."

Chapter 86

"Are you sure everything is ready at the church?" Zack demanded of Matt Farrell as he quickly shoved the tiny studs into the front of his tuxedo shirt.

"Everything is ready, but you," Matt said with a chuckle.

Because he'd had to be at the rehearsal dinner last night and couldn't make a phone call from the Mathisons' house without the risk of being overheard, he'd had to rely on Matt and Meredith, who'd flown in yesterday and spent the night at Julie's house, to relay last-minute information and instructions between Sally Morrison and himself.

"Is everyone here from California?"

"They're at the church."

"Did you warn Meredith to keep Julie from looking into the church before she starts down the aisle?" Zack continued, staring in the mirror and fastening his black tie. "I don't want her to know who's there. I want it to be a surprise."

"Meredith and Katherine Cahill have Julie firmly in hand. She won't be able to draw a breath without one of them seeing her do it. By now she probably feels as if they're glued to her side and she's wondering why."

Zack shrugged into his black tuxedo jacket. "Are you certain that Barbra is here?"

"She's here, with her accompanist in tow. I talked to her in Dallas at her hotel last night. By now, she's standing in the choir loft, waiting for things to get under way."

Zack ran a hand over his jaw to ascertain that his shave was close enough. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes to four. You have ten minutes to get to the church. Ted Mathison is already there. On the way, I'll go over the part you were supposed to have learned during rehearsal last night."

"I've already had a full-dress rehearsal," Zack said dryly. "I've been through this once before, remember?"

"There are a few major differences," Matt pointed out with a grin.

"Really, what?"

"You weren't this happy, but you were calm last time."

* * *

There was another major difference between his last wedding and this one, and despite his offhand remark, Zack knew it. He knew it even before he stepped out in front of a smiling crowd and stood before his future father-in-law in a church aglow with candlelight and perfumed with lavish bouquets of white roses tied with white satin ribbons. There was a reverence in him this time, a sense of quiet joy, as he waited for Julie at the altar. He watched Meredith walk down the aisle toward him wrapped in apple green silk, followed by Katherine and Sara in identical gowns, all of them beautiful and smiling and serene, as if they, like Zack, sensed the absolute rightness of what was about to happen. The organ music swelled to a crescendo, and Zack felt as if his heart would burst at the sight that greeted him.

Starting toward him in a drifting swirl of white appliquéd silk with a cloud of veil trailing behind her was the woman he had kidnapped and laughed with and loved. She moved through the candlelight, her face glowing, and in her eyes he saw all the love in the world, the promise of his unborn children, a lifetime filled with all the joy she had to give. He saw all that, and then he saw her eyes widen when Barbra Streisand's voice rose from the choir loft, and the song was the one Zack had asked her to sing when Julie came down the aisle.

Long ago and far away,

I dreamed a dream one day—

And now that dream is here before me.

Long the skies were overcast,

but now the clouds are passed—

You're here at last.

Chills run up and down my spine.

Aladdin's lamp is mine.

The dream I dreamed was not denied me.

Just one look and then I knew—

That all I longed for long ago was you.

Zack reached for Julie's hand and took it firmly in his, then they turned to the front.

Reverend Mathison smiled and raised the book he was holding in his hands. "Dear friends, we are gathered here together, in the sight of God…"

At the front of the church, Matthew Farrell gazed steadily into his wife's eyes; Ted and Katherine Mathison smiled softly at each other.

Near the back of the church, Herman Henkleman shifted his hand and reached for Flossie's, lacing his fingers tightly in hers.

In the row directly behind them, young Willie Jenkins observed the elderly couple's exchanged looks and clasped hands, then he nudged the little girl beside him and in a loud stage whisper laughingly announced, "I'll betcha Herman Henkleman won't go along with Reverend Mathison's bargain. He's too old to wait…"

To which the little girl primly replied, "Shut up, Willie, I don't know what you're talking about."

Undaunted, Willie said, "My older brother told me the bargain is for no kissin' until the wedding night."

"Yuk," said the little girl with a shudder, leaning as far away from him as she could get. "Kissing!"

Chapter 87

The reception in the park that Zack half-expected to be rather plain turned out to be a lavishly festive affair with twinkling lights in the trees and linen-covered tables groaning under an array of beautifully prepared food that equaled in taste anything Zack's caterers had ever provided.

Standing off to the side with Matt Farrell, he watched Patrick Swayze cut in on Harrison Ford, who'd been dancing with Julie, and he smiled to himself at the memory of her shocked face in the receiving line when Zack began introducing her to nearly all the men she'd mentioned being her favorite movie stars. After her initial amazement, however, she had recovered and handled her famous guests with an unaffected graciousness that had filled Zack with pride.