Mail Order Bride and The Mix-up (A Western Romance Book)(COMPLETED)

Epilogue

Two weeks later...

Ira looked in the hotel mirror at the dark gray suit he'd had Steven bring down for him from Mellow Pass. Austin was in charge of the rings, but Steven was in charge of making sure he looked good.

"Am I decent?" Ira asked.

"Looks good to me," Austin said.

Steven nodded. "I'd say so too. Just one more thing." He plucked a flower out of nearby vase and set it in his lapel. It was a bright pink and stood out against the dark gray.

"There," Steven said, "now you're perfect."

Anthony knocked on the door just then and came into the room. "They're ready for you," he said. Anthony looked Ira up and down. "Not bad," he said. "You clean up pretty well, but I daresay my sister has you beat in the looks department." He laughed loudly and held the door open.

Steven and Austin exited ahead of him. Anthony hung back though and waited for Ira to exit before falling into stride next to him.

"I just wanted to let you know," Anthony said, "that if you ever hurt my sister, I'll kill you." Ira looked at him and Anthony was smiling. He didn't think the man had meant it as a joke though. In fact, he was quite certain Anthony had never been more serious about anything in his life.

"I won't hurt her," Ira promised him.

"Good," Anthony said with a slow nod of his head. "You may be getting married in Angel's Reach, but you'll be living in Mellow Pass. That means I'll have no problems watching you. And I enjoy watching people."

Ira gulped and thought that Anthony had a dark side to him that few people probably knew about.

They descended the stairs and waited at the altar for Belle and her bridesmaids to make their appearance. The women of Angel's Reach had laid out a path of flower petals for them to walk on, and when Belle finally appeared, in a long flowing white dress, she appeared to be almost floating over a sea of pinks and reds.

Belle was the most beautiful bride he'd ever seen. She took his breath away all at once, and when it finally rushed back into him, his head felt light. It had been two weeks since she'd fallen into the hole, and her ankle had healed nicely. His had healed even faster, and he'd made her promise never to go out walking alone again.

She'd readily agreed to his request, provided that he agreed to one of hers. She did not want to wait to marry him—an opinion he shared with her—and she wanted to be married in Angel's Reach so that all of her friends could be there. She'd called this place home for several months, and he knew it was not easy for her to say goodbye to it.

He'd agreed without hesitation, and the wedding plans had begun shortly thereafter. Anthony, Austin, and Steven stood in a line at his side. Cadence, Gertrude, and Tabitha formed the line in front of Belle, Gertrude in the leas as maid of honor.

All three women were in dresses of pale pink, though all the dresses were different from each other. He wondered that they had been able to put such a wedding together at all in such a short time, and in a town that was still working to build up its resources. He'd offered to bring in people from the outside to put things together, but the townswomen wouldn't hear of it. Afraid he'd insult them by repeated offers, he'd kept his mouth shut thereafter.

Belle's face glowed as she moved down the aisle towards him. Her pink lips were soft and shiny, her cheeks a matching rose color that made his heart stutter. She would be beautiful to him whether her cheeks were pale or pink though, for it was the glow in her eyes that truly made his stomach flip. She was looking at him as if seeing a rainbow for the first time.