Marriage Vows Under Fire Mega Series 1: Gold Bands In The Fire. Lanette Zavala

the other dances and parties.”

      “Yeah,” he replied lighting up. “Just give a brother advanced notice on the prom though. I’m not trying to go stag. You know?” He nudged her arm playfully.

      “That’s fair.” She assured him with an understanding smile.

      “Now,” he began on a different note, “it’s already after midnight. Can I kiss you for the occasion?”

      Tiphany’s heart skipped a beat. She knew too well that on that night, she would dream of kissing Jimmy and would probably kick herself after waking up. But she gulped down a lump in her throat before forcing herself to tell him the only answer that could protect her heart.

      “No, Jee.”

      “But, Tip…It’s New Years!”

      “Happy New Year!” She turned on her heel and headed back toward the gymnasium under the lights of the fireworks.

      “Aw, come one!” He begged as he followed her intending to wrap his arms around her waist.

      “Get over it, Jee!”

      “Aw, Man!”

      December 10, 1993

      Under the dim lights, the projected sky-blue silhouette illuminated from wall to wall giving the appearance of elegant royalty inside an ancient castle. A one-inch elevated pool of pink and white rose petals flooded the small aisle between two columns of seats. Silk sashes decoratively covered the seats with the same shade of blue as those that draped along each wall in the hotel ballroom. Complex intertwines of pink roses and periwinkles arched seven feet high from the left foot of the altar to the right side.

      Geraldine Taylor entered the ballroom and headed for the far right aisle to take a seat. Her daughter, Natalie, and her niece, EmmaJean, followed behind from a distance whispering to each other about the beauty of the decorations. At the sound of music beginning and the usher’s direction, Natalie grabbed her cousin’s hand and rushed to their seats.

      “Too bad this is about as good as it’s going to get for those two unless that groom gets his act together,” EmmaJean said to Natalie drawing attention from Geraldine and a few others sitting nearby.

      Smooth wordless melodies filled the atmosphere with soft rhythms that could compel the stiffest listener to sway to its percussions. Not more than fifty listeners sat in the seats eagerly waiting for both bride and groom to join the minister underneath the arched bouquet. Just beyond the wall behind the minister, there was a door to the long hallway that curved right – practically at a forty-five degree angle – until it ended at another door. On the other side of the door was the back entrance to a spacious honeymoon suite occupied by a young couple, waiting to exchange what they never would have expected to exchange again just one year ago.

      It was their second time to share their wedding vows with one another. As the two closely faced each other in the room’s dining chairs, the groom held his bride’s trembling hands. He spoke as tenderly to her as he always had, unless they were exploding in one of their frequent war of words. “I’m just as nervous as you are and I still consider you my wife. I can’t promise everything is going to be perfect. But one thing I do know is I’ll always, always love you.”

      She lifted her worry-stricken eyes to meet his. Her attempt to steady a trembling voice could last only so long, she reasoned within her heart. So, she condensed all that she ached to say to him with one core concern. “Can you promise me you’ll never cheat again? Can you honor our wedding vows the second time around?”

      The astonishment in his face revealed he had expected a response that was a lifetime of difference from what confronted him in her question. The artless drop of his head exposed the guilt by which he was constantly stung. But his instinctive response to her squeezing grip didn’t fail her. He lifted his hand to caress her face and whispered, “I promise.”

      She longed for more assurance than a vocal promise. So, she earnestly searched his eyes for answers. In them, she could see his sincere determination for their fallen marriage, previously ripped by infidelity and divorce, to be officially restored. She could see his hope. And she could see his love in the form of admiration, attraction, and desire. But something was missing. She could only hope that the missing part of her enigmatic circumstance with the love of her life could develop over time – and hold their marriage together the second time around.