Chapter 1-

Devora frowned and flipped through the bridal magazine. Why had she let Marc convince her to plan a wedding in just under two months? Even with Beth’s help she had accomplished very little. She didn’t know how to plan a wedding!

The doorbell rang and she stood to answer it. Beth stood outside laden down with magazines. She pulled open the door and greeted her, soon to be sister-in-law, with a weary smile.

Beth grinned, “I know it’s crazy.”

“I never knew planning a wedding would be so hard,” Devora sighed and fell onto the couch.

Beth dropped the magazines onto the coffee table and sat down next to Devora.

“Men. They expect us to plan a wedding in a short amount of time, but it has to be nice, run smoothly, and everything has to look good.” Beth grimaced, “We should make them plan the wedding.”

Devora smiled faintly, “Then I’d end up getting married in the police station.”

Beth laughed and picked up the magazine Devora had been paging through. “Have you found anything?”

Devora shook her head. Beth frowned and continued to study the magazine.

“Did you call the church?”

Devora groaned, “No, I forgot.”

Beth grabbed the phone, “I’ll call them.”

“Thanks”

Beth nodded and headed into the small kitchen to make the call.

Meanwhile the doorbell rang again. Sighing, Devora stood and opened the door. She was met with two pizza boxes. She took them and smiled at her handsome fiancé, “Hey.”

Marc stepped inside and closed the door, “Hi.”

He kissed her lightly, before taking back the pizza boxes. “I knew Beth was coming over, so I decided to pick-up pizza and bring it over.”

She smiled, “You’re very thoughtful.”

He grinned, “I know….so, how is the planning going?”

Devora groaned, “Terrible. We haven’t found any dresses. I still haven’t ordered the flowers, the food, or the invitations. And I forgot to call the church.”

Marc set the boxes down and wrapped his arms around Devora’s small form. “It’ll all come together.”

Devora sighed, “I sure hope so…”

“Bad news,” Beth said. “The church is booked solid.”

“Why can’t anything go right?” Devora cried.

Marc stroked her hair, “We don’t have to be married at the church.”

“Where will we be married then?” Devora asked.

Marc glanced at Beth, “At our house.”

Beth and her husband, Jimmy, were still living with Marc, in the house Marc and Beth had inherited from their parents. They were planning to move, but they hadn’t found another house yet.

Beth smiled, “That’s a wonderful idea. We could set everything up outside in the garden.”

Devora nodded slowly. It did sound like a good idea. From her previous stay there she knew how amazing the gardens at their home were. “What if it rains?”

“If there’s rain in the forecast we’ll set up tents,” Marc stated.

Devora smiled, “All right.”

“Also with all the flowers in the garden, you won’t need to buy a ton of flowers to decorate,” Beth pointed out.

“That’s true; my bouquet could even be made of flowers from the garden.”

Marc nodded, “Now that, that’s settled. Let’s eat.”

They all agreed and settled down to enjoy the pizza Marc had brought.

………………………………………………………………………………

She stared into the murky darkness. Where was everyone? Then, suddenly, everything became clear. Before her she saw Marc dressed in a tux, Jimmy standing next to him and opposite was Beth. She reached the front and the ceremony began. When it came time for Marc to say his vows he hesitated. Then turned to look at her, “Devora, I can’t marry you, I thought I loved you, but I don’t…I think all along I’ve just pitied you, because of your past.”

Devora’s eyes widened with shock, “But you said…you said you didn’t pity me…you said you loved me!”

She screamed as Marc’s face disappeared and in his place Mrs. Skinner, the abusive woman who had once been her foster parent, appeared. She heard the hateful words once again….

“You’ll never marry! You’re a weak, cowardly girl and ugly to boot! No man will ever actually fall in love with you!”

Devora tossed and turned, lost in the nightmare. Suddenly, she shot straight up, gasping for breath. She groaned and wiped away the tears that were starting to fall.

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Merry Christmas, Camelot4551