Читать книгу Oops...We're Married? - Susan Lute - Страница 10

Eleanor Silks Rose sat in the church pew wishing more than anything that it was she standing at the altar becoming Dillon Stone’s new wife. It wasn’t fair that Joan Butler, Centennial High’s sweetheart, with her dark beauty and serene personality, had gotten the most perfect guy in the whole world to walk her down the aisle.

Squirming in pinching panty hose that she rarely put on for any reason, Eleanor watched the ceremony from a seat as far in the back of the small church as she could get and still see down the center aisle to where the couple stood taking their vows. She was oblivious to the soothing music, the serenity of lighted candles and the near tranquillity of the expectant hush as the priest said the words that would join Joan for life to the man Eleanor had secretly loved from the first moment she’d laid eyes on her foster brother Jake’s newest friend.

She’d been fourteen then, and still she would give anything to be in Joan’s white patent leather shoes, only Eleanor’s choice of elegant footwear ran more to new Nikes than anything shiny or with a heel. To be fair, it wasn’t the other woman’s fault Dillon had never noticed her, a ragtag tomboy, who would much rather go hiking or follow the boys fishing than do girl things like primp in front of a mirror, clean house, or cook. She would rather eat dirt than do more than pop something frozen into the microwave.

Of course, Joan did all those housewifely things. Tugging on a piece of hair that insisted on curling around her neck, instead of staying in the French braid she’d tried for the first time, Eleanor dropped her gaze as the ceremony ended so she wouldn’t see Dillon enthusiastically kissing his new bride.

At the start of the bold music that announced another couple had tied the knot, she looked up to see the happy couple start down the aisle toward her, sparkling in the congratulations of their wedding guests.

Her foster parents were always telling her she had her whole life ahead of her. But, to Eleanor, it sure didn’t feel like it.

She refused to cry.

Her heart was not broken.

Another woman had gotten the only man in the world worth considering spending the rest of her life with. King Arthur of Camelot and the Man of Steel all rolled into one, Dillon would always be the only man for her.