She took her time before speaking. The beauty of his words, his feelings for her needed a moment all their own. Finally she drew a slow breath, her eyes never leav ing his. “I, Lizzie Susan James, choose you, Jonathan Jack Ryder, to be my lawfully wedded husband. I will look to you when I can’t find my way, and I will lift you up, if ever you forget the hero you are.”
Tears tried to come, but Eliza refused them. Steady me, God. She was too happy to cry. “I will stand by you whatever life holds, and I will believe that every day together with you is not only a gift from God… but a miracle. I will feel your touch when I’m alone and remember your voice when I’m afraid.”
She grinned at him. “I noticed something when we were working together. When you breathed in, I felt life.” She paused. “And so it shall be forever and ever. Because you will always be a part of me. And I will always be a part of you. Undivided. Forever on this side of heaven… and that side.” She squeezed his hands. “I love you with every heartbeat. I always will.”
Pastor Joseph raised his brow. “I believe those might have been the most beautiful vows I have ever heard.” He gave a single nod. “I will ask the questions, then.” He looked at Jack. “Do you, Jonathan Ryder, take Lizzie Susan James, to be your wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”
Jack looked to the center of her heart. “I do.”
The pastor smiled. “And do you, Lizzie Susan James, take Jonathan Jack Ryder, to be your husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”
“Yes!” She had never been so happy in all her life. “I do.”
“Very well… will you two be exchanging rings?”
Eliza hadn’t even remembered the rings.
“Yes.” Jack grinned at her. “We have rings.” He pulled them from his pants pocket and handed his to Lizzie.
“You bought rings?”
“The week after I said goodbye to you in Cancún.” Tears glistened in his eyes, but his smile kept them from falling. “I’ve carried them with me ever since.”
Her ring held a stunning center diamond, as pure and brilliant and bright as their future. It glistened in the Belizean sun with small diamonds on either side of the larger one. Jack slipped it onto her finger… and it fit her perfectly. Like the two of them.
Next she put a simple gold band on his ring finger. “Jack,” she whispered, “the rings are beautiful.” She leaned closer and put her hand to the necklace he had given her on the beach in Mexico. The one she had worn every day since. “You kept your promise. You waited for me.”
“Every day, Lizzie. Every day.” He looked like he’d forgotten anyone else was there.
A chuckle came from the pastor. “I have a feeling this one’s going to last.” He looked from Jack to Eliza and back again. “By the power of the government of Belize, it is my privilege to pronounce you husband and wife.” He smiled. “Jonathan, you may kiss your bride.”
Jack worked his hands into her hair. Then he drew her into his arms. His kiss took her breath and she felt like she might float away. Because this wasn’t pretend. It wasn’t a mission or an act or part of a job they had to do.
It was forever.
Jack stepped back and smiled at her. “I can’t believe it.”
“Me, either.” Eliza kissed him this time, and a chorus of soft laughter came from the front row. She barely noticed. She was Jack’s wife now, and truly nothing but death could ever separate them.
When it was over, when she had Jack on one side and her mother and brother on the other, Eliza realized she had no idea where they were going to live or what life looked like moving forward. But it didn’t matter.
God had given her everything she ever needed. Right here.
In this single moment.
Seven Years Later CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Surely, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
—Psalm 23:6
Jack pulled out of the parking lot of the University of North Carolina’s Wilmington campus and turned left toward the interstate. He was teaching five classes in criminal justice this semester and school would be out in two weeks.
But today was a celebration all its own.
He had already changed into his Little Sluggers T-shirt and as he drove he grabbed his baseball cap from the passenger seat. Today was Luke’s first T-ball game and Jack needed to be there early.