Two Hearts One Love (4 page)

By nine
o’clock, she'd arrived at the church with her bridesmaids: Gina,
Kate, Lisa and Mary—Blake’s sister, who was also her maid of
honour.

Blake
would be arriving with his groomsmen. They had a stop to make for
something none of them would tell her about.

Whatever
it was, she was sure it would be just perfect. All that mattered
was that today she would officially become Mrs. Gibson.

****

Sarah
stood in front of the mirror admiring her dress. The beads on the
ivory-white strapless corset sparkled as she lightly ran her
fingers over the jewels. The satin material shimmered as the
sunlight hit it through the window.

She smiled as she remembered the day she
’
d
tried it on at the store after trying on dress after dress. It fit
perfectly. The lace-up corset backing caught her attention. She’d
fallen in love with it the very moment she'd caught sight of it in
a bridal magazine. She couldn't wait for Blake to see her in it.
She’d done everything she could to keep the dress a
secret.

Suddenly, her mobile phone began to ring. By the ringtone,
she knew it was Blake. She couldn't help but feel nervous. She knew
every bride experienced jitters but she’d been feeling so nervous
she could barely hold down anything she’d eaten. It was nausea
tinged with a touch of faintness.

"Hi,
baby," she said when she answered the phone.

"Hey.
You all ready to become Mrs. Gibson?"

Hearing
his voice made her happy. It comforted her and settled some of her
worries. Her nerves were definitely getting the best of her, no
matter how much she fought to control them.

"I can't
wait. Where are you?"

"I'm on
my way to the church with the guys right now."

"You
better hurry. You've got twenty minutes before the ceremony
starts."

"I’ll be
there. I wouldn't miss this day for the world. In a little bit,
you'll officially be my wife."

"And you
will be my husband. Oh, how I love the way that sounds."

"I’ll
see you in a little while."

"I love
you, Blake."

"I love
you, too, Sarah," he said before he hung up.

"Can I come in?" She heard a female
’
s voice on
the other side of the door.

The door
opened and Blake’s sister, Mary, walked inside. She was a
brown-haired, curvy woman who had been amazing to Sarah. She’d
helped with so much this last week and had managed to keep Sarah’s
stress levels at a minimum when things got crazy.

"You
need any help with anything before we get started?" Mary asked as
she closed the heavy wooden door behind her.

"No, I
think I'm done getting ready. How do I look?" Sarah turned around
to face her.

Mary
’
s eyes glistened and she wiped
away a tear."You look so beautiful. My brother is truly a lucky
man, and our family is so proud to have you become a member. Blake
truly loves you, as do we. I can't imagine you not being in our
lives," she said as she walked over and gave Sarah a
hug.

"Oh,
Mary, thank you so much. I love your brother more than words could
ever say. He's my soul mate and I can't imagine life without him.
He's my missing piece."

By
ten-thirty, the church was fully packed with all the guests. Family
and friends sat patiently as they chatted amongst each
other.

Sarah
nervously paced the room back and forth. Blake should’ve been here
by now. It wasn't like him to be late, especially today.

Mary had
returned to keep her company. Sarah glanced at her and saw that she
seemed to be wondering the same thing.

Where on
earth was Blake?

"I’ll go
check again, maybe he's arrived. He's probably stuck in traffic
somewhere or maybe got a flat. Try calling him again," she said as
she jumped out of her seat and headed toward the door.

Sarah
grasped the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Taking a
deep breath, she slowly pressed redial and waited as the phone
rang.

Nobody
answered. The voicemail service turned on again.

“
Hey, this is Blake. I'm not able to take your call but if you
leave me your name and number, I will get back to
you.
”

"Blake,
baby where are you? I've called you twice and you haven't answered.
The wedding’s supposed to have started. I'm waiting for you, the
church is full. Please call me. I'm worried," Sarah said before she
pressed the button to end the call. Her voice was starting to
crack; she could feel the lump in her throat get bigger and
bigger.

Was it possible he
’
d stood her up? Changed
his mind at the very last minute?

Her
hands trembled and she began to feel faint. Without giving it
another moment, she hurried toward the doorway. She needed fresh
air. She needed to get out of there. How was it possible that the
happiest day of her life was starting to become the worst day
imaginable?

With her
dress in her hands, she proceeded to make her escape. Tears had
begun flowing down her cheeks and the thought of what was happening
came crashing down like an asteroid. She ran down a long hallway.
Along the way, she passed the entrance to the chapel where all the
guests waited. She wanted to get by without anyone seeing
her.

"Sarah,
there you are. Any word from Blake?" A tall, blonde-haired male
said the moment he saw her. It was Darren, one of the groomsmen who
was supposed to be with Blake.

Sarah
quickly wiped away her tears."Darren, what are you doing here? No,
he's not here. I thought you guys were with him."

"We
were, but he told us to head over to the church and he would be
right behind us."

"He's
not here. Where is he?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know. I tried calling his phone but
it
’
s going straight to voicemail,"
he told her.

“
I
’
ve called him as well and left
him a message. He hasn’t called me back. Darren, tell me, is it
possible he changed his mind? Did he say anything when you guys
were together earlier? Please tell me.”

“
Sarah, don
’
t be a fool. The man adores you.
He would never do this to you. If he did, he would have a whole lot
of enemies. There
’
s got to be an explanation for
this. I
’
m going to keep trying to get a
hold of him,” he said as he placed his hand on her
shoulder.

She hoped he was right and Blake hadn’t abandoned her on
their wedding day. Something had to be keeping him away from her.
Deep down she couldn’t believe he
’
d done the
unthinkable. Not Blake. Never.

Before
Darren could say another word, Sarah rushed out the door as fast as
her legs would take her. Every part of her wanted to run and hide,
but for now she just wanted to be alone to think everything over
and get a grasp on it all.

An hour had passed and there was still no word from Blake.
All the guests were still restlessly waiting for the wedding
ceremony to start. No matter how much she didn't want to face it,
the fact was he
’
d changed his mind. Blake had
left her at the altar.

She
’
d spent the last hour in the
church garden sitting on a bench that was hidden by tress.
Countless phone calls to Blake went unanswered and she knew she had
to do the one thing she didn’t want to. She had to call off the
wedding. She couldn’t continue to have the guests waiting. It
wasn’t right.

Hesitantly, she stepped into the chapel, tears streamed down
her reddened face with each step she took toward the front of the
altar.

She
didn’t have to look up to know people whispered amongst themselves
as she passed them by. Poor Sarah, she got her heart broken by the
man she truly loved. What a pity. She grasped her phone in her hand
tightly with the glimmer of hope that Blake would call, tell her it
was all a misunderstanding, and that something had happened to keep
him away. She held on to the hope that the phone would ring and
everything would be all right.

Taking a deep breath, she stopped at the front and turned
around to face all the people who had come to share in her special
day. There was no way to delay this any further.
They
’
d probably come to the conclusion
already, but she had to muster the strength to do this.

“
I want to start off by saying how sorry I am for making you
all wait. It breaks my heart to have to stand here and do this,”
she said as she glanced around the room.

Sarah
could see everyone watching and waiting for her to get the words
out. She had to keep herself from breaking down.

“
I
’
m so sorry but the
wedding
’
s been...”

Before she could finish her sentence, the phone began to
ring. A part of her was afraid to lift it up and see who it was.
She was afraid that Blake may have decided to call her to break her
heart. Looking down, she saw his name on the call display. She
watched the phone ring; the noise echoed throughout the chapel.
What would she say to the man who
’
d ripped out her
heart—if he truly had decided to break things off at the very last
minute?

Her hand
trembled as she pressed the button to answer.

“
Hello, may I please speak to Sarah Wats,” the stranger on the
other line said.

“
This is Sarah, who is this?”

“
Ma’am, my name is Officer McNally. You were listed as the
emergency contact for Mr. Blake Gibson.”

“
What
’
s going on? Is Blake
alright?”

“
Ma’am, I
’
m sorry to inform you, but
there
’
s been an accident.”

“
What kind of an accident? Is Blake okay?”

“
Mr. Gibson
was in a head on
collision, and I’m truly sorry to have to be the one to tell you,
but he was killed.”

Sarah
’
s legs went weak and within a
second, they gave out from under her. She dropped the phone to the
ground as her body came crashing down seconds later. She could hear
screams as her head hit the hard marble floor. She heard the voice
of the officer on the phone as he continued to call out her name,
the room went dark around her. The cries and screams faded as
silence came and blackness engulfed her.

CHAPTER FOUR

One year
later...

Every
step she took on the fresh-cut grass felt like a knife through her
heart. Row after row of headstones and monuments stood, stuck in
time, commemorating the loved ones people had lost. Flowers and
candles lined their graves. Some flames lit, some extinguished by
the gentle breeze. Some with fresh flowers and others with wilted
ones. Some graves abandoned and forgotten with nobody to look after
them.

It hadn't gotten any easier coming here, even after a year.
Mornings would come when she
’
d awaken to the faint
scent of Blake
’
s cologne, only to vanish into
thin air just as quickly. Reality would hit. He was gone and
nothing would bring him back ever again. She would never feel his
gentle touch when he cupped her face, or his fingers entwined with
hers. She
’
d never feel the warmth of his
body as he wrapped his hands around her, or the sweet taste of his
kiss that left her breathless and wanting more. She would never
open her eyes as the morning sun arose and see his face as he
looked at her with such love.

No
matter how many times she’d come here, nothing took the pain
away.

Sarah approached the plot where Blake
’
s grave
stood. Someone had come by and left a bouquet of white roses on it.
Three candles slowly burned as the flames swayed with the passing
of a gentle breeze.

She bent
down and placed her own bouquet of red roses in between the
candles. Her heart ached and it tore her apart that he was gone.
He’d been taken away tragically on a day that was supposed to be
the happiest day of their lives.

A tear
rolled down her cheek as she glanced at the engagement ring she
still wore on her finger. She hadn’t found the strength yet to take
it off.

Sarah
wiped the tear away with the sleeve of her jacket.