The Wedding
Chapter 1
Seattle was full of excitement. Christmas was about two weeks away. But most of the excitement and activities were about the wedding of Jeremy Bolt and Candy Pruitt which was to be in two days. The brides were busy helping Candy finish making her wedding dress and items for her new house, like quilts, curtains, and doilies. The loggers and mill hands were helping Jeremy make some furniture and building a barn for his horses. They were just about ready for the big day.
Jeremy drove the buckboard to the dormitory. Him and Candy had hardly seen each other all week. He had decided to pick Candy up and take her to their house as he delivered his bed there. He would kidnap her if he had too. They needed to spend a little time together, he thought. He missed her.
As he stopped at the dormitory, he noticed how quiet it was outside. He knocked on the annex door. Getting no response, he opened the door and went inside. He could hear talking and laughter coming from the dormitory side. He walked to the door and leaned against the door frame. He crossed one leg over the other and tucked his thumbs into his belt loops. He stood there watching his beautiful sweetheart and the other brides. They seemed to be having a lot of fun with all the laughing and giggling. He hated to spoil their fun, but he was determined he wasn't going to leave without his intended.
Finally Franny noticed Jeremy and stood up. "Hello, Jeremy. Can we help you with something?"
Startled, Jeremy stammered, "Um, yes. I-I just came by to t-talk to Candy." That darn stuttering had to show up now, he thought. He walked over and took Candy's hand. "Candy, I need to talk to you. Come on." As he was leading her into her room, he turned to the brides. "Sorry for the interruption," and then he closed the door.
"Jeremy, is there something wrong?" Candy questioned.
"Yes Candy, there is something wrong. Do you realize we have hardly spent two seconds together this week? I aim to fix that. You're coming with me to the house now."
"But Jeremy, I should stay here and help the girls."
"No! No, you shouldn't stay here. They'll be fine until you get back." He puts his arms around her waist and pulls her close. "Candy, I've missed you." He kisses her lips tenderly. "Haven't you missed me?" he says as he kisses her neck.
Candy puts her arms around his neck. "Of course I've missed you. I always miss you when we're not together." She returns his kiss on the lips. "But I have your locket so you are always with me. I've been looking at this locket an awful lot," she laughs and holds the locket for Jeremy to see. She gives him a quick kiss. "Wait right here." Then she goes back inside the dormitory to tell the girls she needs to help Jeremy with something and she'll be back later.
When she returns, she grabs her wrap. "Okay, Mr. Bolt. I'm all yours." She giggles.
They climb in the buckboard and drive to their house. Candy snuggles up to Jeremy. He turns and kisses the top of her head. "I love you, Candy."
Candy smiles and kisses his shoulder. " I love you too, Jeremy."
When they arrive at the house, Jeremy climbs down and helps Candy out. He goes around to the back of the buckboard and begins to unload. Candy asks, "My goodness Jeremy. What all do you have on here?" She laughs.
He gives her that big smile that she loves. "Only the most important piece of furniture we have. Our bed." They both blush. "I can hardly wait to try it out." He blushes even more.
When they finish setting the bed up, they sit down at the top of the staircase. Jeremy takes Candy's hand. "Candy, would you want to go to San Francisco or somewhere else for our honeymoon? I know it's short notice, but we do still have time to plan it."
Candy looks at him with so much love. She kisses his hand. "To tell you the truth Jeremy, I haven't even thought about us going anywhere. Would you be disappointed if we stayed here in our home? Just the two of us, I mean."
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Yes, Jeremy. That's what I want. This is our only chance to be by ourselves in our home. When Molly and Christopher move in, we'll never be alone. I want us to at least see what it's like to be just the two of us. Even if it will be for only a week."
Jeremy grinned. "A week you say. A week all alone with you in our home. I like the sound of that." He kisses her cheek. "But Candy, when everyone finds out we didn't go anywhere, they're going to be coming up here for the least little thing. We'll never be alone over a day or two."
"Well, we'll just have to have a talk with them. Tell them we'll be here but not be here for them. This is our alone time and we expect them to honor our wishes." She giggles. "We'll also lock the doors and not let anyone in. What do you think?"
"I think you have too much faith in people. I don't think it'll work, but it's worth a try. I'll do anything to be alone with you." He gives her a hug. "Besides, we can totally ignore them." He laughs.
"Oh Jeremy. Just think, in two days we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Bolt." A startled look appears on Candy's face. Candy gets up and hurries back into their bedroom. Jeremy follows.
Jeremy looks at her with a puzzled look "Candy, what's wrong?"
She takes a deep breath. With tears in her eyes, she looks at Jeremy. "Mr. Bolt, we have a problem. Or I have a problem."
"What? It can't be that bad."
Candy walks up to Jeremy and gives him a light kiss. "Jeremy, you know that I love you with all my heart. Right?" He nods. "And you know I want to be your wife and the mother to your children more than anything in this world. Right?"
Jeremy nods again. "Candy, just what are you getting at? I. . ." She stops him by placing her finger on his lips.
"Jeremy, please, this is hard for me to say." She moves her hand to the side of his face.
He takes her hand in his. "Okay, Candy. Sorry. Go ahead." He kisses her fingers.
"Jeremy, I'm afraid. Afraid of disappointing you." She pauses. "In the bedroom, I mean. I'm afraid I won't live up to your expectations." She looks into his eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Jeremy laughs. "Oh Candy." He starts to take her in his arms, when she pulls away.
"I don't see anything to laugh about Jeremy Bolt. This is hard enough for me to talk about. And you laugh at me." She is sobbing now and starts to run from the room.
Jeremy grabs her and spins her around to face him. "I'm sorry Candy. I didn't mean to be insensitive to your feelings. Please forgive me." He takes her in his arms and hugs her tightly while she sobs on his chest. He kisses her hair. "Candy, I laughed because I've been thinking the same thing."
She raises her head and looks at him horrified. "Jeremy, you've been thinking that I will disappoint you." She starts sobbing again.
"No. No Candy. That's not what I meant. I meant to say I've been thinking that I may disappoint you." He steps away from her and takes her hand. He leads her over to the only place to sit- the bed. They sit down. "Candy, we need to talk about this. I don't want to spend our wedding night with both of us being afraid."
Candy stops crying. "You're afraid too? Why are you afraid? I would think someone who's done this before wouldn't be afraid." She sniffles and looks at him questioningly.
"Someone who's done this before? Candy, I've never been with a woman that way. Why would you think such a thing?"
"I just thought that's what all men do. When they go out of town, that is."
"Well some men do. But not this man. Candy, I would never do that to you. I want you to be my first time just like I'll be your first time. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" He looks into her eyes with so much love. She nods her head. "We'll be all right. We may not know what we're doing, but I think we'll figure it out soon enough." He chuckles.
Candy throws her arms around Jeremy's neck and hugs him tightly. "I love you Jeremy Bolt. I want to be a good wife to you in all ways. Please, just be patient with me."
He wraps his arms around her. "I'll be patient with you, if you'll be patient with me in return. We may not know what we're doing, but just think of the fun we'll have trying to figure it out." They both laugh and blush. Then their lips meet. Their kisses get more passionate. They fall back on the bed. "I want you so much, Candy."
Their hands start to explore places they've never been before. "I want you too, Jeremy. But we can't. Can we?"
They continue to kiss and explore. "No, we can't. But I don't want to stop. You feel so good. And you smell so good, too. Oh Candy, I love you so much." He stops suddenly and stands up. He keeps his back to her while he bends over with his hands on his knees and takes several deep breaths. He finally straightens up and turns around. "I'm sorry, Candy. I didn't mean to get carried away." He is so embarrassed. "I love you enough to wait until we're married. No matter how hard that will be." He helps her stand up.
"I'm sorry too, Jeremy. It wasn't just you. I got carried away too." She pats her hair and smooths her dress. "At least we know how enjoyable our wedding night will be." Her face turns as red as her hair.
"Why Miss Pruitt! I'm shocked!" He laughs.
Candy takes Jeremy's face in her hands and looks deeply into his dreamy blue eyes. "I'll do whatever I have to, to make my man happy." She places her lips on his.
"We better quit this now. I don't know if I can stop myself a second time." He chuckles. "Besides, I need to finish unloading the wagon. Maybe some fresh air will cool us down. Come on." He takes her hand and they go outside to finish unloading.
On the way back to the dormitory, they talk of things that need to be done yet. "Jeremy, our cupboards are bare. We need to buy some food. Especially, since we'll be at home for a week."
Jeremy smiles. "I don't know how much eating we'll do, but I sure don't want to have to make a run to the store when I can be doing something else with my bride."
"Oh, Jeremy. What am I going to do with you?"
"I can think of some things you can do," he teases with a red face.
Candy blushes. "Behave yourself, Jeremy Bolt." They laugh. "Seriously, Jeremy. Do you want to go with me to Ben's tomorrow or not?" She waits for a reply.
"Sure. I'll be over around 9. Is that a good time?"
"That's fine." They stop in front of the dormitory. Jeremy helps her down but holds on to her a little longer than usual. "Jeremy, would you like to come for supper tonight?"
"I would love to. Thank you." He whispers in her ear, "And thank you for the enjoyable time we had together. I can't wait to do it again. When we don't have to stop."
"Me too. I'll see you tonight around seven." They give each other a tender kiss before Jeremy drives off and Candy goes inside.
