Chapter Two

Prudence's father slipped into the dressing room. "You look beautiful, honey."

"Thank you, Daddy."

He hugged her, taking care not to wrinkle her gown, and kissed her cheek. "You remind me of your mother on our wedding day. You look so much like she did." He glanced at Pru's mother with a loving smile.

"Our little girl is all grown up and getting married to her childhood sweetheart!" Pru's mom said.

"Hard to believe." His eyes misted.

Pru and her mom chuckled. Her dad was the biggest softie. It wouldn't be her mom who shed tears at the wedding; it would be her father.

"She'll always be your little girl," Hope, her maid of honor, chimed in. "A son's a son till he takes him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all of her life."

"Thank goodness for that." Her father wiped his eyes. "I popped in to tell you everything is all set to go. As soon as William gets here, the wedding will start. "

"William's not here yet?" Her jaw dropped as irritation flared. William's chronic tardiness was his sole flaw, and one she usually overlooked, but not on their wedding day! He promised to be on time. I should have known better.

She took a deep breath and exhaled to release the tension. Let it go. Let it go. S he would hate to mar the happiest day of her life by getting pissed off or, worse, getting into a fight. She could picture herself stomping down the aisle in a snit and then smacking William over the head with the bouquet rather than tossing it to one of the single women.

"Technically, he's not late," her father amended. "The wedding isn't supposed to start for another five minutes. I'll go watch for him. Try not to get too mad at him."

"I'm trying." He promised!

Her mom kissed her cheek. "There will be plenty to fight about after you're married."

Despite her irritation, she chuckled. "You're right." Except for the tardiness, William was a great guy, the great love of her life. There had never been anyone for her but William. She'd never dated anybody else. Having known him practically all her life, she knew what she'd be getting by marrying him. There would be no ugly surprises.

Her mother followed her father out of the room.

"Men!" Hope shot her a sympathetic smile. "If it's any consolation, Krogan arrived late to pick me up when I landed. All the other brides had been met by their grooms. He left me waiting in an alien spaceport all by myself, wondering what the heck I was going to do—what the heck I'd gotten myself into."

Hope had married an alien through Cosmic Mates, a space-age mail-order bride program. Planet Caradonia desperately needed females after many of their own had perished in a viral pandemic.

"Krogan had a good excuse. He's governor-general. He was dealing with the pandemic. William loses track of time. I didn't want him to see me in my wedding dress before the ceremony. Bad luck, you know? I shouldn't have paid any attention to that old wives' tale. If we'd gotten ready together, he would be here."

"It's a sweet, romantic idea to surprise him. You look beautiful. Stunning." Hope giggled. "If your dad teared up, imagine the effect you'll have on William."

Prudence laughed. "My dad is super sentimental. But, yeah, I kind of wanted to wow William. "

"You will! You are the most beautiful bride ever. And your wedding gown is gorgeous! Your mom outdid herself."

"Thank you. She's been working on it for months." She fluffed the billowy tea-length white satin skirt. The hem was adorned with seed pearls and crystals, all hand sewn. Her mother had used the lace from her own wedding veil for the bodice and the long sleeves.

"She did a beautiful job on my frock, too." Hope wore a knee-length raspberry sheath. "It's so pretty." Her friend flashed a cheeky grin. "Not at all hideous like most bridesmaid dresses."

"Would I force my best friend to wear a hideous dress?"

"Your mom went above and beyond, altering the dress at the last minute so it would fit." Four months pregnant, Hope smoothed her hand over her baby bump. "After giving you my measurements, I found out I was pregnant, and I spaced and forgot about the dress. Sorry!"

"You had a good excuse. I'm so happy for you. And me. I get to be an honorary aunt! I'm thrilled Cosmic Mates worked out for you." Prudence hugged her. "Your Krogan is a hottie. His holograms don't do him justice." Like all Caradonian men, her friend's tall, muscular alien husband was drop-dead handsome with a smoke-blue complexion and dark-blue hair. "I'm honored you came back to Terra Nova for the wedding. I worried you might not be able to travel all the way because of the pregnancy."

"I worried too, until doctors reassured me the artificial atmosphere on the spaceship was controlled for comfort and safety," Hope said. "I would hate to miss your wedding. Krogan and I got married at the justice of the peace's office. The officiant almost put us to sleep with his dull delivery. Laughing about it brought us together. Your ceremony will be romantic and elegant—the way a wedding should be. I love how you decorated the gazebo. You picked the best time of year to get married. All the flowers around Bloomhaven are blooming."

"Almost like I planned it that way!" She grinned. Having dreamt of a fairy-tale wedding for years, everything had been planned out in her head.

Her tech-tab dinged with an incoming message.

"Maybe that's William telling you he's arrived and begging your forgiveness for being late," Hope suggested .

"It had better be." She grabbed her device, opened the message, and scanned it. Then reread it. Pressure built up in her face, and her ears buzzed.

"Pru, what is it? What's wrong?" Hope asked. "You're as white as a sheet."

"He's…not coming."

"Who's not coming?"

"William."

"What? What do you mean? He wasn't in an accident, was he? What happened?"

Her chest squeezed so tight she couldn't breathe, couldn't speak.

I'm sorry, Pru. I can't marry you. I didn't know how to tell you, but I've met someone else. We eloped this morning. I've always loved you, but I realize I'm not in love with you. You deserve more than I can give you. I'm sorry. – Will

"William…William…married somebody else," she managed to say.