The Promise

By Denise

It was early Saturday morning when my sisters came bursting into my bedroom like they always had done. "Cassie it's time to get up. It's your wedding day!" They announced.

"Guys, what time is my wedding?"

"We are supposed to be there at 2."

"Oh," I moaned as I looked at the clock and it was only 7 a.m. "Would you please leave so I can get dressed."

"This is the day and I am going to get married," I said as I got out of bed and then tears filled my eyes. I don't know if I was crying because I was happy or if I was sad. Maybe it is because I was scared to death. Could I really go through with this? So I took a long hot shower hoping it would calm my nerves. I then put one of my housedresses and went down stairs to have some breakfast. I filled my plate and sat down as Leslie and Diana joined me.

"Are you nervous?" Diana asked.

"No, not at the moment."

"I know I would be," Leslie said.

"Are you my bridesmaids?"

"Yes!" they screamed.

"Who is my maid of honor?"

"Justine," Mom said as she came into the dining room. "I figured she would be your first choice."

"Yes, she is my best friend. Will Dad be there?"

"I don't know, he hasn't said."

"Where is he?"

"He left early this morning," Keith said as he come in and sat down at the table.

"Keith are you in my wedding too?"

"I will be Antonio's best man," Keith smiled.

"You will? So, the entire family will apart of my wedding."

"Yes," Mom said.

"You are the greatest!" I got up from the table and gave everyone a hug. "Thanks!"

***

When we arrived at the church my Mom helped me with my wedding dress. It was made of silk chiffon with a soft floral print design. The material was gathered gently around my breasts and then tapered down to my waist. It even had a v-neck so I could wear my sapphire necklace. I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "I am ready!"

Then the music started and my sisters were the first to go down the aisle. Then it was Justine's turn and then it was mine. I took Brendan's arm as we started down the aisle. As I came through the door I saw all of these people waiting for me, they all turned towards me as I proceeded down the aisle. When I saw my Antonio standing at the altar I forgot anyone else was in the room as my eyes focused on him. As I got closer I saw he was dressed in the gray suit that he wore last summer, when we attended this church together for the first time. I let go of Brendan's arm as Antonio reached out his hand to mine and stood before Pastor Hanson.

The ceremony began, but for some reason I couldn't hear a word of what the pastor was saying. All of a sudden, I felt dizzy and light headed as I grabbed hold of Antonio's arm. He looked at me with concern,

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I don't know. I feel like I am going to pass out."

"Do you want to continue?"

"Yes…just hang on to me." I felt embarrassed I didn't want to be sick on my wedding day as my mind drifted in and out of consciousness, not hearing a word that the pastor was saying, until he said my name.

"Cassandra, are you all right?" Did you hear what I said?" Pastor Hanson asked.

"No." I said softly. Then my legs gave out on me and I fell to the floor.

***

The next thing I knew I was lying on my bed in my room and I saw my mom standing in the doorway talking to Dr. Johnson, he had taken care of me since I was a kid. "Mom, Why am I here?"

My mom came over to me and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know. What happened?"

"You passed out and hit your head." She touched my forehead with her hand.

Then Dr. Johnson came over to me and sat down next to me to check my temperature, pulse and my breathing.

"I need to see Antonio," I requested.

"He's downstairs…I will go get him," Mom said.

While she was gone, the doctor took some blood. "Dr. Johnson, why are you talking my blood?"

"I just want to run some tests," he said as he stuck the tube of my blood into his bag. "Besides, I need to do this anyway so you can sign your marriage license. I will let you know in a few days what I find, okay?"

"Yes, I do want to know what is wrong with me."

"It's probably stress from the excitement of getting married, but I will do some tests and then I will know for sure."

"Thanks." Then I saw Antonio standing in the doorway.

Dr. Johnson stood up and greeted Antonio as he came into the room. "How is she?" Antonio asked.

"She will be fine."

"Thanks," Antonio said as the doctor picked up his things and left the room. A few minutes later my mom appeared in the doorway.

"Mom, would you please leave us alone."

"I don't think this is a good idea," she said.

"Mom, it's okay." She was beginning to annoy me.

She reluctantly turned around and left. "Antonio, will you lock the door?" I asked.

"She just wants to keep you respectable," he joked as bolted the door then came over to me and sat down on the bed next to me.

"I think it's a little bit too late for that." I could see the concern in his eyes as I sat up and gave him a hug. "I will be okay. I feel much better now that you are here." I touched his face and his lips with my fingers. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I could see the desire in his eyes as his mouth claimed mine.

Moment later he broke the kiss and quickly got up. "Cassandra, we can't…we can't do this!" He paced around the room and then sat down in the chair at my desk across the room.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" He said trying to avoid my eyes and then got up looking out the window.

I got out of bed and went over to him. "Are you turned on?"

"What do you think? I haven't touched you in almost a week!" he groaned. "And I didn't want to do this again until we were married."

I laid my head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"This wasn't your fault." His arm went around me. "Is anyone living in that cabin?"

"No. It hasn't been touched since you left. I had hoped you would return someday."

"Well I did come back to you."

"Yes, I knew in my heart that you would come back to me."

He turned me to face him and asked. "When do you want to try this again?"

"What…get married?"

"Yes."

"Let's get married today…I don't want to wait much longer."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I want to marry you."

"Everyone is downstairs waiting to hear if you are okay."

"Is Pastor Hanson here too?"

"Yes, I think he's more concerned about you than me," he joked.

"Why don't you go downstairs while I get dressed," I suggested as I softly kissed his lips.

While he was gone and managed to get my wedding dress back on and started to fix my hair when mom came into my room. "I understand you still want to go through with this today?"

"Yes."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Mom, I feel 100% better!"

***

We arrived back at the church and I was preparing to walk down that aisle again when my father came in the front door of the church.

"Brendan, I will take it from here." He said as Brendan stepped aside and went to stand at the altar with Antonio. "I want you to know…I am sorry…for what I did and how I treated Antonio. I saw what he did today…I was touched by the way he took care of you. I can see that he loves you and…I would like to have this opportunity to give you away."

"Thanks Dad," I said with tears running down my face.

The ceremony seemed to go slowly because I was anxious for it to be over so I could be with him again. It was his kiss and his love that gave me energy. It was finally my turn to say, "I do." The words I have been longing to say and then Antonio slid a solid gold ring onto my finger. Then the pastor said, "You may kiss your bride." My heart stopped as Antonio lifted my vale and pressed his warm luscious lips against mine. When he drew back, he winked at me as a promise of more to come. Then the pastor announced, "May I present to you Mr. & Mrs. Cardenas." Antonio offered his arm to me as we walked back up the aisle together.

We finally made it outside the church and I let out a big sigh. "Oh my…I can't believe I did this!" I mumbled as I paced around, trying to calm my nerves.

"You were great!" he assured me.

Everyone came out of the church greeting us with warm wishes and best of luck for the future. We had to stick around the church for pictures and then we went to the reception. It was suppose to be held in the park, but since it was getting dark, it was moved inside to the cafeteria of the high school.

Brett came to wish us good luck. He stuck his hand out to Antonio and said, "I am sorry for being jealous of you last summer."

Antonio returned his handshake and said, "I understand…I did take your girl away from you."

"Well…if is wasn't for my jealousy…you wouldn't have never left town."

"What do you mean?"

"I am the one who told Mr. Anderson that I saw you at Turret Falls."

"You did?" Antonio looked at me. "Well…I think leaving was for the best anyway," he said as he looked at Brett again. "I had a chance to clear my name from those murder charges and then started a new life."

"I just want to wish you guys luck and now I can see that you do make her happy," Brett said.

"Thanks Brett," I said as I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Take care," Brett said as he walked away from us.

"So, why didn't you tell me about Brett?" Antonio asked.

"I forgot about it until now."

"That's okay…I think if I hadn't left that day we might not have done this today."

"You are probably right."

The party was slowly winding down and everyone was starting to leave. I hugged everyone not knowing when I would see them again. Then I saw my dad talking to Antonio I decided I shouldn't interfere so I went and sat with my family until they were finished. I watched as my father offer his hand to Antonio and touched him on the arm. I was so happy that he finally accepted Antonio. My father walked away as Antonio came towards me greeting my family and then said, "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes."

Antonio then directed me to a carriage that was parked over in front of the church. I held my skirt up as I climbed into the carriage as Antonio sat next to me. "Where are we going?"

"I have rented a house for tonight." He said as he started out of town.

"Stop the carriage."

"Why?"

I ran my hand on the inside of his thigh. "Because I want you!"

"Cassie, I think we should get to the cabin."

"You are no fun!"

"It's getting too dark and we shouldn't be out here after dark."

"That's only because of the bears, mountain lions and other dangerous animals that could spook the horses."

"Well…that is a good reason to keep going, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose."

We finally stopped at a small cabin. Antonio helped me down off the carriage. I waited by the door as he took the horses into the barn for the night.

"So, how long are we staying here?" I asked as he approached me.

"Just for the night. We need to get back to Denver."

"Oh," I pouted. "I thought we could stay here longer."

He opened the front door to the house. He picked up the kerosene lanterns that hung on the hook by the door. "This is one thing I miss about the city." He then stuck a match to light both lanterns.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I like having electricity."

"Me too." I looked around the small one-room cabin. It had two chairs, a table, a wood stove, a dresser and a bed. "Why didn't we stay in a hotel tonight?" I asked as I sat down on the bed and took off my shoes.

He sat down in the chair and took off his shoes. "I thought you would like to be away from town. Besides that hotel wasn't very private." He then stood up to take off his jacket and vest then hanging them on a hook.

"Would you help me with this dress?" I stood up and turned my back towards him.

"Yes." He unbuttoned the back and then untied my belt. "Do you like this dress?"

"Oh I love it! Did you buy this for me?"

"Yes, I did."

"I sure was so surprised when Brendan gave it to me. I couldn't believe this was real."

"Well, this is real. You were so beautiful coming down that aisle…I wasn't sure if I could do this, but you gave me strength." He kissed my lips. "So, are you feeling better?"

"I wish I knew why I passed out?"

"Well, it could be from stress."

I finished taking my dress off and threw it on the chair. "Yes it could be…"

He kissed me softly and said, "I don't want to talk about it now." He then captured my mouth igniting the passion between us. He then laid me down on the bed and made love to me.

"Cassie, that was incredible!" he groaned.

"Yes I know." I sighed as I laid my head on his chest.

"See, this is what happens when we don't make love for a week."

"Tell me something."

"What?"

"Why did you keep this a secret?"

"I just wanted to do something special."

"When did you decide…all of this?" I looked up at him.

"Well, it all started that day you came into the bank. After you left, someone asked me when we were getting married and I told him I didn't know. He seemed concerned that we were living together and weren't married. So, it was then I decided to make this official. I called Brendan to see if he could arrange it for me here and I would plan what I could."

"Oh."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No." I kissed his chest, working my way up to his lips.

He then moved me aside as he got out of bed. "I will be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Outside for a moment…as you can see there is no bathroom."

"Oh." I laughed.

His skin was cold when he crawled back into bed and wrapped his arm around me, snuggling down under the covers. "Are you warm enough?"

"Yes. Very warm."

"When I stayed here last night, I put these flannel sheets on the bed so I wouldn't be cold. But I don't think tonight will be a problem." He softly kissed my lips. "Now let's get some sleep, it has been a long day." I didn't argue as we drifted off to sleep.