The First Man You Meet

The First Man You Meet by Debbie Macomber

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Authors: Debbie Macomber
Tags: Romance
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moved out of his arms for the world. Breathing deeply, she buried her face in his chest.
    ‘‘But it’s a good kind of crazy.’’
    ‘‘Aunt Milly saw us together in her dream. She wrote me about a tall, blue-eyed man.’’
    ‘‘Who knows if it was me or not?’’ Mark whispered into her hair, and brushed his lips over her temple. ‘‘Who cares? If fate had anything to do with me finding you or if your aunt Milly’s wedding dress is responsible, I can’t say. Personally, I couldn’t care less. I love you, Shelly, and I believe you love me, too.’’
    She glanced up at this man who had altered the course of her life and smiled, her heart too full for words. ‘‘I do love you,’’ she said when she could. ‘‘An accountant! In a suit! Hardly the husband I imagined for myself.’’
    Mark chuckled. ‘‘I’d never have guessed I could find myself head over heels in love with a woman who wears the kind of clothes you do, but I am.’’
    ‘‘I do love you,’’ Shelly repeated and closed her eyes.
    T HE MORNING of her wedding day, Shelly, who was rarely nervous, couldn’t sit still. Her mother was even worse, pacing in front of her, dabbing her eyes and sniffling.
    ‘‘I can’t believe my baby’s getting married.’’
    Shelly had to restrain herself from reminding her dear mother that less than a month before, she’d been desperate to marry her daughter off. Thank goodness Jill was around. Without her best friend there to reassure her, Shelly didn’t know what she would have done. While her mother fussed with the caterers, complained to the florists and fretted about who had a key to the kitchen in the reception hall, Jill led Shelly upstairs to her childhood bedroom and helped her dress. When Shelly was finished, Jill stood back to examine her.
    ‘‘Well?’’ Shelly asked, smoothing her hand down the antique dress, loving the feel of the satin and lace against her fingers. It was probably her imagination but now thatshe was wearing the dress, really wearing it, she could almost feel a magic quality.
    Tears gathered in Jill’s eyes as she stared at her friend.
    ‘‘That bad?’’ Shelly teased.
    Jill pressed her fingertips to her lips. ‘‘You’re beautiful,’’ she whispered. ‘‘Mark isn’t going to believe his eyes when he sees you.’’
    ‘‘Do you really think so?’’ Shelly hated sounding so insecure, but she wanted everything perfect for this day. She was crazy in love—and crazy enough to give her mother free rein planning her wedding. Crazy enough to go through with a formal wedding in the first place. If it had been up to her, they’d have eloped weeks ago. But Mark had wanted the wedding and her mother certainly wasn’t going to be cheated out of this moment. So Shelly had gone along with it.
    Mark and her mother had defeated the majority of her ideas. She’d wanted to hire clowns to entertain at the reception, but her mother didn’t seem to think that was a good idea.
    Shelly had never been that fond of white wedding cake, either. She wanted something a bit less traditional, like Cherries Jubilee, but Mark was afraid something might catch on fire and so in the interests of safety, Shelly had agreed to a traditional cake, decorated with pink roses.
    A knock sounded on her bedroom door and Jill opened it. In walked Aunt Milly, looking absolutely delighted with herself.
    She introduced herself to Jill, then turned to gaze lovingly at Shelly. ‘‘So I see the dress worked.’’
    ‘‘It worked,’’ Shelly agreed.
    ‘‘You love him?’’
    Shelly nodded. ‘‘Enough to eat white wedding cake.’’
    Milly laughed softly and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hair had faded to gray, but her eyes were still blue andclear. It was difficult to tell that she was a woman well into her seventies. She clasped both of Shelly’s hands in her own.
    ‘‘Nervous?’’
    Shelly nodded again.
    ‘‘I was, too, although I knew to the very bottom of my heart that I’d

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