Eternally Yours - Brenda Jackson [117]
“Nervous?”
Syntel’s question brought Syneda’s thoughts back to the present. She looked up at him, nodding her head. “A little. What about you?”
He smiled. “I’m nervous a little, too.” He released a deep sigh before saying, “It seems so unfair.”
Syneda raised an arched brow. “What does?”
Syntel took her hand in his, to take his place at her side. “I just found my daughter. It’s a pity that already I have to give her away,” he said in an oddly hoarse voice.
Syneda looked at him and saw the sadness openly displayed in his eyes. “Be happy for me, Daddy,” she said, surprising him by calling him that for the very first time. Up to now she had always referred to him as Syntel.
“I’m marrying a good man. I think he’s the best. And don’t ever worry about you and me. Now that you’re in my life, you’re here to stay. Count on it.”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for loving my mother. I know she was only able to make it through all those years without you because she knew she had found true love once in her life. And I know each and every time she looked at me, she must have seen you. That’s why she often called me her most precious gift. I was a gift of life she’d received from the man she loved.”
Syntel’s eyes were misty when he hugged his daughter. “Thank you for telling me that and for believing it. I loved your mother deeply, and I love you. I’m honored to be your father.”
“I love you, too, and I’m honored to be your daughter.”
Clayton stood next to his father, who was his best man, and watched Jordan, who looked so beautiful dressed in a peach floor-length gown, walk carefully down the aisle, tossing rose petals on the red carpet.
Next came two-year-old Justina. She began tossing rose petals from her basket just like the nice lady had told her to do. She was doing a pretty good job at it until she saw her daddy standing at the altar.
“Daddy!” She tossed the basket down as if saying, “later for this,” and ran happily down the aisle to her father.
Justin scooped his daughter up in his arms, shaking his head. He looked over at Lorren who was grinning from ear to ear.
Next came the ring bearer, the four-year-old son of their cousin Felicia. He was followed by Vincent, Justin and Lorren’s eight-year-old son, who entered and gave a loud blast from a golden horn. He then proclaimed in a loud voice, “The bride is coming! The bride is coming!”
The sanctuary got quiet. And then the organ began playing the bridal march. In awe, the wedding guests stood on their feet and watched Syneda and her father begin their walk down the long aisle.
A knot caught in Clayton’s throat. He had never seen a more beautiful bride. She looked absolutely radiant. Her bridal gown was a soft white satin with a crystal pleated portrait neckline. That neckline gently curved around her shoulders to a cluster of dropped authentic pearls and sequin trim. A lace-trimmed train with embroidered appliques added the finishing touch to the gown. A romantic floral hat that was lavished with fabric flowers, authentic pearls, net pouf and a fingertip-length veil adorned her head.
Both pride and love burst within Clayton. The woman coming to him was everything he could possibly ever want in a woman. They were still both strongly opinionated and at times argumentative, but now they would have a different way of settling their disputes—he smiled—namely in the bedroom.
As he continued to watch her, the sermon Reverend Moss had preached on his grandmother’s birthday suddenly came back to him. “When a man loves a woman he places her above all else, and