Stolen Love (9 page)

Mr. Richards sat down by Ashley and said, “I don't know how to say I'm sorry for taking your little girl away, you wanted her so badly, and I wasn't there for you.”

Ashley remembered something Marley said and Ashley had said it to her father. “That was then and now is what matters. Daddy, I just want to start with now.”

Mr. Richards said, “Now that's good, now that I have my baby girl back.”

Meanwhile Andrew, Linda, and his parents went home, Dru and Charles's Grandpa walked around the ranch.

Tiffany and Grams put the Richards’ luggage in the apartment with Marley.

Grams said to Tiffany, “Let's go get them something to eat.”

Marley went ahead of them and she peeped through the door asking, “Can I come in?”

Her daddy said, “Sure, Baby!”

She climbed in her granddaddy's lap, talking to him and her grandma while Tiffany and Grams fixed plates of food.

Mr. Richards said to Ashley, “Marley looks like our Marley.”

Marley said, “That's my mom’s twin sister. I'm keeping her name for her.”

Granddaddy says to her, “Yes, you are.”

Dru and Grandpa came in and they all sat around the table talking while the Richards ate.

Later, Grams went to bed saying, “We’ll see you all in the morning. Marley, you come with me, young lady, and get ready for bed.”

Marley hugged everyone goodnight. Cousin Dru asked, “Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?”

Marley replied, “No!” Looking at her mother, “My bedtime story came true, didn't it Daddy?” Charles answered, “Yes, Baby. It sure did!”

Ashley remembered the letter and said what bedtime story. Charles stood up and kissed Ashley and replied, “You!”

Charles picked up Marley and took her upstairs to her room.

Ashley and Tiffany walked the Richards to the apartment where they would be staying. Then Ashley and Tiffany came back to the house and everyone went to bed.

The next two days the families had fun getting ready for the wedding. On the morning of the 19
^th
, decorators came in to prepare the house for the wedding.

The Reception was to be held on the beautiful terrace. The wedding was to start at 2 pm.

At 10 am, Tiffany left with Marley and Mrs. Richards. Grandma wanted to take her granddaughter shopping because she had missed a lot of
 
birhdays.

When they returned, everybody started getting dressed for the highly anticipated event. After Tiffany and Mrs. Richards got dressed, they went to help Ashley get ready.

Ashley told Tiffany, “Grams hung my wedding dress in a bag behind the door.”

Tiffany got the bag and opened it. Ashley exclaimed, “That's not the dress I picked out!”

Ashley’s mother said to her, “It's my wedding dress. Tiffany had it altered for you. They added some and took some off.”

Ashley said to her mother and Tiffany, “It's beautiful . . . I love it.”

The time was suddenly 1:45pm and the wedding was about to start. Ashley walked out to the room where her father was waiting.

She saw all the people that had arrived to be in her wedding. She turned to Tiffany and asked, “What happened to my small wedding?”

Tiffany replied, “You said just the family. We don’t have a small family, they’re all our cousins.”

There were many little boys waiting to escort the little girls, there were about twenty people in the wedding party!

One of her cousins was escorting Marley. Ashley told them they were all so very beautiful. She hugged all of the little children and teenagers.

Ashley said to Tiffany, “I'm sorry for not coming to your wedding, and you did all this for me!” She hugged and thanked Tiffany for everything.

Ashley's father whispered to her, “You are so beautiful. My beautiful baby is getting married.” He hugged her, then he hugged Tiffany and said, “Thank you, Tiff, for everything.”

The wedding started, Marley came out first with her cousin. Dru stood with Charles, both of them repeating how beautiful Marley was.

The rest of the wedding party entered. As Tiffany entered, Dru told Charles, “I would marry Tiff all over again!”

As the “The Wedding March” played, Charles saw the girl he fell in love with the first time he saw her on that
California
beach so long ago. He suddenly felt complete.

Everyone gushed about the beautiful dress, dragging so long in the back. Ashley looked around at all the people; she saw Tiffany's parents and several people from the law firm where she worked.

Ashley felt so blessed to have a loving family and friends showing their love for her that it made her cry.

Charles and Ashley wrote their own vows. Charles’ vows brought the Richards to tears, the verses were so loving and sweet.

The wedding was so beautiful. Everyone adjourned to the terrace for the reception.

The wedding party was seated.

The bride and groom’s first dance was to a song the groom picked for his bride.

The second song the groom selected for his new in-laws. The bridal couple joined the parents of the bride in the dance, then Marley and her escort, and finally all the others joined in.

Charles and Mr. Richards changed partners, and then Charles danced with Marley.

The reception went on until 6 pm.

Charles and Ashley prepared to take a flight that night for their Hawaiian honeymoon. Andrew and Dru took them to the airport.

Mr. Richards decided to fly back in the morning with Tiffany's parents.

Marley was planning to stay with Tiffany and Dru and they would be leaving in four days with Dru's parents.

Suddenly Marley asked, “Daddy . . . Mom . . . can I go with my Grandma and Grandpa until you get back?”

Mr. Richards offered, “We would love to keep her for you.” Ashley hesitated.

“Hopefully,” Mrs. Richards offered, “Tiffany can pick her up when she gets back. . . .”

Ashley slowly shook her head no. Her Mother implored, “Please, Baby, give me these four days.”

Suddenly something came over Ashley making her say, “That was then.” Charles chimed in and said, “Sure you can!”

Mr. Richards said to Charles, “When you come back, and when you’re ready for her to come home, I would love to take her back to Promise and spend some more time with her there.”

Charles answered, “That will complete my family.”

He picked up Marley and said, “We'll see the three of you in two weeks.”

Ashley walked away and looked to the sky and said “Thank you, Mrs. Roxenbury,”

Then she heard, “And, thank you, Mrs. Roxenbury.”

Ashley smiled as she walked up to Charles and hugged him. He held her close to him as if it were twenty degrees outside.

Mr. Richards looked at them and said, “That completes my family.”

She hugged her parents goodbye and bent down to Marley, saying, “I love you! We are going to have so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa when we get home.”

She hugged, kissed, and told her mother she would see her in two weeks and have fun.

Andrew and Dru took the new Mr. and Mrs. Roxenbury to the airport while Tiffany visited with her parents.

The family invited the Richards back to their home the next year since they were now all one family.

The Richards went back to pack.

Marley followed them telling them about her ranch, her horse, the new saddle that her Gramps made for her birthday, how she and her parents rode around the ranch, and all about the go-carts.

Chapter Six

The next morning, the Richard’s and the McKinley’s flew back home with Marley.

When the Richards arrived home, Grandma told Marley, “You can put your things in your mother’s room.”

Grandma showed her the door to the room. Marley entered the room as grandpa was coming down the hall.

Marley slowly looked around the room and saw that grandma had framed and hung all of her mother drawings on the walls.

Marley started putting her things away and saw her mother’s photo album. In the album, she found pictures of her grandparents, the twins when they were babies, and Ashley and Tiffany when they were her age.

She told Grandpa, “I look like my mother then, but she looks different now.”

She kept turning through the book-asking grandpa to name everyone.

On the last pages of the book, she saw pictures of her parents at the amusement park and on the beach with Tiffany and Dru.

Grandma came in and Marley told them the bedtime story her daddy told her; just by looking at the pictures, even the funny things her mother did at the beach and about Ashley cheating at the amusement park games.

Marley saw in pictures, what her daddy had always told her. Grandma told Marley she could take the book home with her, it was her gift.

Monday morning Grandpa left for work, kissing Marley, and saying, “I’ll see you this evening.”

Grandma owned her own shop where she sold her drawings and knick-knacks. Marley went to work with her each day.

Marley spied some drawings on the wall in her grandma’s office that grandma drew. Beside them was a drawing that Ashley drew.

Marley told grandma that she drew and painted, too.